1. Ten Commandments' of race and genetics issued

Comment #213012 by stereoroid on July 18, 2008 at 2:22 am

#7: nonsense. There are medical conditions that are heavily biased towards specific races, such as sickle-cell disease (Africans) and Multiple Sclerosis (Caucasians). Should research in to the genetic components of those diseases be compromised by political correctness? I expect researchers in these fields will just laugh and go back to work.

2. Origin of the Novel Species Noodleous doubleous: Evidence for Intelligent Design

Comment #205572 by stereoroid on July 7, 2008 at 1:11 pm

One of the most basic laws in the universe is the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This states that as time goes by, entropy in an environment will increase. Evolution argues differently against a law that is accepted EVERYWHERE BY EVERYONE. Evolution says that we started out simple, and over time became more complex. That just isn't possible: UNLESS there is a giant outside source of energy supplying the Pot with huge amounts of energy. If there were such a source, scientists would certainly know about it.

3. Should Strident British Atheist Richard Dawkins Dictate Education Policy to US States? Barbara Forrest Apparently Thinks So

Comment #197106 by stereoroid on June 21, 2008 at 5:39 am

If Ms Forrest really said that it's a secret plot to get Creationism in to the classroom, she's not quite right: it's hardly secret, is it?

Besides, Science knows no borders, does it? While there are British and American scientists, there is no "British Science" or "American Science" per se. If American Creationists feel they are being unfairly targeted, why do they paint bullseyes on themselves by doing stupid stuff like this?

4. Darwinmania!

Comment #195299 by stereoroid on June 18, 2008 at 3:18 am

This article illustrates why it's not enough to have an idea, or even to write it down. We celebrate Darwin not just for his ideas, but for his synthesis of disparate influences in to a deep and coherent body of knowledge, the practical work he put in to support the ideas, and his ability to communicate them effectively. The difference between Darwin and his predecessors is the difference between Knowledge and Information, you might say. 8)

5. Behe's Empty Box

Comment #193074 by stereoroid on June 14, 2008 at 2:29 pm

The link to the H Allen Orr article on that page is bust, but it's online at Boston Review, here. Good stuff.

Also, Behe's responses to Orr and other critics are here. Sample quote:

"Professor Ruse asks if I have the right to appeal to design as a scientist. Well, many scientists already appeal to design. I mentioned the SETI program earlier; clearly those scientists think they can detect design (and nonhuman design at that.) Forensic scientists routinely make decisions of whether a death was designed (murder) or an unfortunate accident.

6. Intelligent people 'less likely to believe in God'

Comment #192543 by stereoroid on June 13, 2008 at 10:55 am

The Christian don't-think-tank Theos has responded to the piece, here. Only go there if you're bored, it's the usual.

7. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #190788 by stereoroid on June 9, 2008 at 2:52 pm

I saw this linked from a different site last week. I really didn't expect to see it here, it's muck-raking of the lowest stripe. Apparently "Canada Free Press" means "keep your mind so open that any old crap will fall in, then drip on to the keyboard in smelly chunks".

8. Blogger spreads the gospel of science

Comment #189310 by stereoroid on June 6, 2008 at 2:29 am

Kent is a city in the American sense i.e. incorporated as such. These days, it's better described as a suburb of Seattle, to the south past Sea-Tac airport, halfway to Tacoma. There's a map here.

9. Storm erupts over 'virginity' divorce

Comment #186478 by stereoroid on May 30, 2008 at 10:45 am

I've long thought that the emphasis on virginity, in primitive cultures, is related to sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs). A hymen is a quick, visual confirmation that a woman has not been sleeping around, and is thus STD-free. You could argue that it's a reflection of a preference against promiscuity, but I would argue that preference is also about STDs: the consequences of STDs are more serious and direct than the consequences of promiscuity.

In some cultures this goes to extremes e.g. the way some men in sub-Saharan Africa go looking for virgins, in the hope that raping them will rid them of a HIV infection. Yeah, that's going to work...

10. The Dissent Of Darwin - The World Of Richard Dawkins

Comment #180442 by stereoroid on May 15, 2008 at 1:11 am

I thought the testicles thing was an example of "good enough" evolution, where they evolved as far as they had to. If your other defences are good, the risk of injury there is minimized, and so is the evolutionary effect. How many guys ever suffer injuries there, sufficient to render them infertile? (Any kids here whose dads were skateboarders?)

11. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179289 by stereoroid on May 13, 2008 at 3:58 am

"She described Prayer at the Pump as "the ultimate Hail Mary."

Q: What's a "Hail Mary"?
A: You know, when the quarterback sends a long pass down field to a wide receiver, hoping to catch the defense off guard and score a touchdown.

12. Church of Scotland mediators to quell disputes

Comment #178255 by stereoroid on May 11, 2008 at 3:18 am

"For true love and friends wad draw ye thegither
Far better than roarin' the horrors o' hell. "

Aye, that an' some guid Hielan' whisky, eh? 8)

Honestly, I don't care whether it's a church, or a state regime, or a cult, or whatever, regardless of what they believe or not. Any time people are lied to, coerced, prevented from constructive free expression, or indoctrinated from a young age, I want it to stop. If we get that cleared up, the rest is details...

13. Faith in Britain today

Comment #177077 by stereoroid on May 8, 2008 at 2:14 pm

That surely is the question of our times. In achieving material abundance we yet still search for our moral and spiritual bearings. In achieving technical mastery, we still ask the question, "To what end?" How do we value ethics as well as science so that we do not arrive at a situation where we have unparalleled knowledge of what is and unprecedented doubts of what ought to be.

14. Science leads to killing people

Comment #170773 by stereoroid on April 28, 2008 at 1:46 am

I got to the end, probably because I had an episode of "Will & Grace" on in the background. 8)

I'm a bit lost for words at his flip-flopping on his background: one minute touting his Yale Law degree, the next claiming that universities produce nothing useful, and that the Law does not decide what is right or wrong. What are the odds that he's some Ben Guevara, who went to those institutions with the aim of bringing them down? Or, whom, after seeing how they work from the inside, dedicated his life to ridding the world of their poisonous influence? I thought so too.

I rarely allow myself to insult others directly, preferring to say nothing, but this pinball machine just got pushed in to Tilt. Ben Stein is an Asshole. See you on the next series of "America's Most Smartest Model", then.

15. Investigating Atheism

Comment #166836 by stereoroid on April 23, 2008 at 12:57 pm

I saw this mentioned on another site earlier today, and took a look. The page on "definitions of atheism" looked reasonable, but it's followed by many assertions about atheism and violence - saying (without backing) that RD etc. are wrong about Hitler & Stalin.

It goes off the rails altogether when it comes to Nietszche. A lot of guff about how Hitler loved the "Superman", and nothing about Nietszche's Nazi sister and her anti-Semitic distortion of his ideas.

16. Ben Stein Vs. Sputtering Atheists

Comment #165069 by stereoroid on April 21, 2008 at 2:50 am

Well, if this stuff has to serve any useful purpose, at least it brings traffic to this site.

Another article on creators.com is entitled: The Living Legacy of Maggie Thatcher: How the Politics of Conviction Saved Britain. Now, I've never been one to demonize Maggie, but there are limits.

17. Commentary: Democrats finally getting religion on religion

Comment #157872 by stereoroid on April 9, 2008 at 4:36 pm

"master's degree in Christian communications" ...

in other words, a degree in Evangelism? Ye flipping gods...

18. The books that inspire me

Comment #157337 by stereoroid on April 9, 2008 at 12:04 am

I've only read one Wodehouse that I can remember, but it was a cracker: Love Among the Chickens. Ah, for the days when one could just pack up, go and live in the country, and try to raise chickens...

19. John Templeton: God's sugar daddy

Comment #148517 by stereoroid on March 23, 2008 at 8:40 am

"We can cure all the malaria we want, but if we're living brutal, nasty, empty lives, it will only do so much good."

Good? Good for whom? Sounds like another version of Mother Teresa's "cult of suffering" - the idea that physical suffering is acceptable, as long as the rational thought about your condition is avoided.

There is no nobility in suffering, especially if that suffering is avoidable! Have I lost a week somewhere, and it's April 1 already?

20. Report: 32% Of Prayers Deflected Off Passing Satellites

Comment #147004 by stereoroid on March 19, 2008 at 4:46 pm

I wondered if this was some kind of Arthur C Clarke reference... but geosynchronous satellites don't "pass", they appear to be stationary overhead. 8)

21. Flipping particle could explain missing antimatter

Comment #146652 by stereoroid on March 19, 2008 at 8:58 am

I somehow knew it would all come down to flipping particles... 8)

Isn't it exciting? The new frontiers opening up as we seek to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the universe(s)... and to think there are those who would rather attribute nature to a man-made god, and get all their answers out of ancient books? Oh, but the books give you certainty, and answer all your questions while science gives you only uncertainty, and more questions. Never mind the useful applications of science - the god can take credit for them too, as he does for everything else.

22. The Atheist Apocalypse

Comment #146102 by stereoroid on March 18, 2008 at 3:56 pm

Nice to know that the world will be going Metric after the Apocalypse! (Check out the price of onions.)

23. Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Comment #141462 by stereoroid on March 10, 2008 at 1:09 pm

"allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA" ...

... such as the selective breeding of domestic animals? Cats, dogs, cows or horses? Then Brothers John and Thomas are going to hell..!

PS: one of the commenters on the Times site pointed out something I was unaware of: Gregor Mendel, founding father of modern genetics, was an Augustinian monk and Catholic priest. He didn't just perform genetic manipulation of plants either, his experiments later extended to animals such as honeybees. If anything, being in a monastery gave him space and time for his work - but now he's getting reassigned to Hell, apparently.

24. When blasphemy bit the dust

Comment #140521 by stereoroid on March 7, 2008 at 4:13 pm

Don't forget that 26 of the Lords are Lords Spiritual: Church of England clergy. The list contains a few familiar names: I wonder how many of them voted in favour of the change?

25. Rock-Bottom Loser Entertaining Offers From Several Religions

Comment #137005 by stereoroid on March 2, 2008 at 5:45 am

Many a true word spoken in jest. This hints at an important point: the way evangelists look for vulnerable people to pounce on. The classic example is the hospital chaplain, who'll come to your bedside to "comfort you" in your illness. Sure, they might not explicitly preach at you, just "help", but their agenda is unswerving, and it's one you ignore at your peril...

26. Church is paying a high price for its celibacy rule

Comment #132834 by stereoroid on February 25, 2008 at 9:09 am

I've long wondered what school Career Days are like, here in Ireland:
"Hi, young man, want to be an airline pilot? You get to see the world, and fly!"
"Sonny, join the Army, defend your nation, and bring peace to the world!"
"No, you want to become an engineer! The world needs smart and educated people to build the future."
"If you're really smart, and you care about healing people, become a doctor! The nurses are cute, too..."
"Join the priesthood! You don't have to worry about girls, ever again, since you can't get married. You get to spread Bronze Age myths which turn people in to sheep, but you get to be their shepherd. They will all trust you, especially the young children..."

27. Evidence can't shake your faith if your faith excludes it as evidence

Comment #132593 by stereoroid on February 25, 2008 at 2:43 am

I don't have a problem with that Fish quote at the start of the piece: if anything, it's an admonition to question one's assumptions, and try to see through them.

What I do have a problem with is Campos' interpretation of that quote as validating religious assumptions, and implying that Dawkins & his readers are labouring under a set of assumptions that is as valid as any other.

And there I was thinking that being an atheist allowed me to pierce the veil of assumptions: not just religious assumptions, but assumptions about people and why they say and do the things they say and do. Well, Campos is just the person to tell me that I'm doing it wrong.

28. Fleabytes

Comment #129743 by stereoroid on February 19, 2008 at 2:21 pm

"Either these writers genuinely can't get their heads round the concept of a life that isn't governed by the structures and observances of religious belief, or each of them thinks it's uproariously funny, witty and original to apply the terminology of faith to Dawkins and atheists in general."
Argghh... don't get me started. It got old real fast, to the point where it overshadows any points the writer might (theoretically) have had.

29. Smaller Version of the Solar System Is Discovered

Comment #128063 by stereoroid on February 16, 2008 at 2:32 am

This is coming up in the RSS feed as "Smaller Version of the Solar System Is Discovered by NY Times"... and the previous story as "Virus immunity 'created in lab' by BBC". I know these media organisations need to diversify, but I didn't think they'd go that far... 8-)

30. Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science

Comment #125558 by stereoroid on February 11, 2008 at 3:29 pm

When I saw this, my first thought was that Nigel Henbest would be a good candidate. He has written many books and articles, including "The Exploding Universe", the book which got me in to Cosmology. It made it easy for me to see how anaemic religion was in comparison to the universe, even the little of it that we understand. What's even more amazing is that he wrote that book in his 20s, something I would never have guessed, considering how authoritative it was. The fact that he didn't get on at Cambridge might count in his favour... ;-)

31. Sharia law in UK is 'unavoidable'

Comment #123672 by stereoroid on February 7, 2008 at 1:47 pm

If it's any consolation: Gordon Brown (PM) and Jack Straw (Sec. State for Justice) are at the head of the queue, of politicians lined up to stomp on the Archbishop's ideas: BBC News.

32. Scientists discover way to reverse loss of memory

Comment #118262 by stereoroid on January 30, 2008 at 2:17 pm

When you increase the gain in any analogue circuit, you potentially increase any noise that comes with the signal. What is "noise" in memory circuits - false memories? Hmmm...

33. Math Religion Trouble

Comment #116814 by stereoroid on January 27, 2008 at 2:12 pm

Which math-phobic among us has not beseeched God for help with another colon-clenching algebra or calculus exam?

34. Ore. Court: Boy Has Say in Circumcision

Comment #116344 by stereoroid on January 26, 2008 at 9:17 am

"Daddy, remind me again, what does God want my foreskin for? Is he making a coat?"

What happened to the that bit of the Hippocratic Oath that says "first do no harm"?

35. The New Theology

Comment #113166 by stereoroid on January 18, 2008 at 6:02 pm

I see a lot of "woulds", "coulds" "possiblys", "maybes"...

"The new theology of evolution can lead to a vision of a more humble God"? Sure, and expensive face cream "can lead to" a reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. That statement, like most of the article, contains so much weasel-word qualification that it hardly seems to be saying anything concrete.

36. Blind Faiths

Comment #108633 by stereoroid on January 7, 2008 at 11:19 am

I'm totally in agreement regarding the Romantic urge to Tribalism I see in the West - the urge to subsume oneself in a greater "mass" of humanity. It's visible (to me, an old fart) in apparently innocuous situations: mass culture, the explicitly Tribal nature of rave music (take E and Love Everybody), even "social networking" in the form of MySpace and Facebook. (No, I have not joined this site's "social network" either.)

As for accusations that Hirsi has aligned herself with Neo-Conservatives, I have to admit there's something to it. Some of what she said in the article had me thinking Ayn Rand, who's going to be re-exposed to public view when the film of Atlas Shrugged gets made by Brad and Angelina. I was reminded of the following quote from The Fountainhead:

Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.

37. Huckabee: Guns, God and rock'n'roll

Comment #106917 by stereoroid on January 3, 2008 at 5:17 pm

"...family, faith and freedom..."

He's got the family, he's got the faith... he's got the freedom to believe what his "good book" tells him to believe. Two out of three is something, I suppose.

38. Pope's exorcist squads will wage war on Satan

Comment #104667 by stereoroid on December 29, 2007 at 5:18 am

Well, if you have one set of people who think they have the power to cast out demons... and another set of people who thing they are possessed by demons, but that the first group is able to cast them out, then they deserve each other. The blind leading the blind, and all that.

I think I saw a documentary about exorcism, from the 70s. I remember they used Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" on the soundtrack too. Looked fairly realistic to me - though I think they edited some parts out. (Did they unscrew that poor girl's head at some point?)

39. 2 fleas for the Christmas week

Comment #103398 by stereoroid on December 25, 2007 at 12:25 pm

I was briefly tempted to start a book named "Flea Powder for Darwin's Rottweiler: A Refutation of the Refutations of The God Delusion". Unfortunately, when I started typing, the standard three dimensions of my world collapsed in to one, and I disappeared up my own fundament. Don't those people have day jobs?

40. Blair converts to Catholicism

Comment #102441 by stereoroid on December 22, 2007 at 7:34 pm

The best that can be hoped for for him is that the change opens his eyes to all the inconsistencies.

41. Christmas with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #102227 by stereoroid on December 22, 2007 at 4:47 am

There's a fair amount of Tom Lehrer on YouTube too - try "We will go together when we go", which has such memorable lines as:
"When the Earth becomes Uranious
We will all go simultaneous
Just three billion hunks of well-done steak..."

Eek!

42. Atheists are just as dogmatic as theists, and the only reasonable person is an agnostic.

Comment #98502 by stereoroid on December 13, 2007 at 7:28 pm

I make a distinction between my purely philosophical position (agnostic, because I don't have knowledge of the whole universe), and my practical position (atheist, because I have a life to live, and "there are no gods" means I have no one to praise or blame but myself). As noted already, these are not mutually exclusive positions. Also, I think theists often confuse our scepticism on two different questions:

Question one is the theoretical possibility of anything supernatural in the universe. Logically, any entity in our universe IS natural - because the universe IS nature. 8)
- If we ever find something god-like, it will still be natural and subject to scientific examination, won't it? See Clarke's Third Law, about advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic.
- If the claim is for something outside the known or knowable universe... how could we ever detect it? If that entity is to interact with us at all, it will have to enter the universe to do so, and will leave evidence in the process.
In other words: if it's in our universe, interacting with us: it's natural, and we'll want to examine the evidence for it. Until then, agnosticism can be a reasonable position.

Question Two is about the claims made by today's organised religions.
- These are not vague claims of "gods somewhere in the universe": they are specific about the gods and our relations to them.
- I am expected to respond to these claims by believing them, and when I don't, I'm damned, apparently.
- The claims are so specific that you'd think they were based on evidence, but on closer examination they all turn out to be based on testimony: things people say, reports of things they think they saw, or others saw... no actual physical evidence that backs up the claims.
- In response to those claims, and what I'm supposed to do about them, I'm willing and happy to call myself an atheist, because I'm not buying them or their implications.

43. What are your qualifications to question religion anyway? Just who are you?

Comment #98498 by stereoroid on December 13, 2007 at 7:07 pm

Tom in comment #2 beat me to it: the ability to ask these questions is a fundamentally human trait. If someone takes away that right, or you voluntarily relinquish it to become a follower of blind faith, you become a little less human than you were before.

44. An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins

Comment #96889 by stereoroid on December 11, 2007 at 4:02 am

How can he deny that people killed others in the name of religion, when those doing the killing were more than happy to explain, on the record, exactly why they were killing? The Crusades and the Inquisitions are not some Atheist propaganda, they are part of the accepted history of Western "Civilization".

45. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #96324 by stereoroid on December 10, 2007 at 11:00 am

Himes also says that the picture of the Twin Towers is meant to show that without religion, 9-11 wouldn't have happened. A suggestion that has upset Muslims, as well.

"This is an attack," said Houser.

"We ultimately believe that Christians have been persecuted throughout history," said Houser, "so this is nothing new."

46. Is Infant Male Circumcision An Abuse Of The Rights Of The Child?

Comment #96122 by stereoroid on December 10, 2007 at 3:13 am

Then how do you explain the vast number of circumcised men who are not Jewish? I know quite a few circumcised non Jewish men and I can tell you this is utter nonsense.

47. Is Infant Male Circumcision An Abuse Of The Rights Of The Child?

Comment #96090 by stereoroid on December 10, 2007 at 1:05 am

I didn't realize how endemic the practice was in the USA until that Sex & the City episode, in which one character was shocked to find her new boyfriend had a foreskin. She's never had a "Shar Pei" before, and ... couldn't handle it! The guy in question is also shocked by this, and decides to get circumcised then, weeks later, decides he shouldn't "waste" his new penis on just one woman...

So what if it gives you a percent or two lowered risk of STD infection?
- That's a finding based on recent research, but where is that in the Torah or the Bible? Nowhere: it's no justification for the ancient practice.
- However, it plays right in to the hands of the Catholic anti-condom lobby. Condoms also prevent pregnancy, and we can't have that, can we? Be fruitful and multiply, and if you catch a fatal disease in the process, that's less important than procreation, isn't it?
- I can just see the happy parents now, as the Mohel bites down, thinking "when he grows up, unsafe sex will be a tiny bit less unsafe, maybe!" Oy...

48. The art of the soluble

Comment #95732 by stereoroid on December 9, 2007 at 4:06 am

Yet Atkins, as a professor of science, must be aware of Sir Peter Medawar's famous adage, adapted from Bismarck, "Science is the art of the soluble". Scientists study only those aspects of the universe that it is within their gift to study: what is observable; what is measurable and amenable to statistical analysis; and, indeed, what they can afford to study within the means and time available. Science thus emerges as a giant tautology, a "closed system". It can present us with robust answers only because its practitioners take very great care to tailor the questions.

49. Of Dickens and Darwin

Comment #95579 by stereoroid on December 8, 2007 at 4:06 pm

I'll stop at "Modern", thanks. Don DeLillo's "Underworld" is the only novel I've ever thrown out a window. I guess I was too old, in my twenties, to give up such concepts as "Coherency" and "Narrative".

50. Double-checking Dawkins

Comment #92891 by stereoroid on December 1, 2007 at 5:07 pm

You think that's weird? Something I did a few years ago was take copies of large EXE files, import them into an audio editor, and play with them. EXE files are not tightly compressed, so there are gaps and patterns in them that can make them sound interesting. Subjec them to effects such as reverb or pitch-shifting and it gets even weirder.