1. Dumb and Dumber: A discussion between Ben Stein and Glenn Beck

Comment #175728 by pyota on May 6, 2008 at 12:00 am

watches like a right-wing infomercial

2. Are they running for President or Pastor-in-Chief?

Comment #134754 by pyota on February 28, 2008 at 7:12 am

to the short sighted people who write as if europe is some kind of well-heeled, diplomatic confederation: try foisting your argument on someone who has been at the receiving end of british, german, belgian, dutch, french, etc. colonialism. i don't think that person will see european 'civilization' in quite the same elevated manner.

3. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #117948 by pyota on January 30, 2008 at 3:42 am

the annoying thing about these debates is they allow too many people to speak, so everyone then has a shortage of time to make their points clearly! gnarr!

4. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #117946 by pyota on January 30, 2008 at 3:40 am

Blaspemy law! WTF? America may be full of fundies, but even we don't have laws like that.

5. Richard Dawkins on The Big Debate

Comment #117941 by pyota on January 30, 2008 at 3:19 am

a very interesting debate. richard dawkins made a great point about apostasy in islam (the important thing is that the answer had to come from the imam).

i went to catholic school starting in my teenage years (but i am from a secular family). fortunately having escaped childhood brainwashing, their propaganda had no effect on me except to strengthen my resolve to not be a christian!

besides faith schools, home schooling is also a problem: keeping children in isolation in order to shield them from dangerous ideas and perpetuate a distorted worldview. this is key to how faith replicates.

6. 'Irrational Atheist' trounces God-deniers

Comment #117547 by pyota on January 29, 2008 at 5:03 am

does anyone have a link to the pdf? i could not find it on his blog.

7. Canadian fossil makes waves in Huckabee's presidential run

Comment #111895 by pyota on January 16, 2008 at 1:10 am

for those who don't understand how american politics work: public opinion is intensely studied and the candidates are merely responding to polls when they state their 'beliefs'. who knows what mr. huckabee really believes. to quote woody allen: "he's a politician, that's like a notch below child molester".

8. The Mind of the Market

Comment #109880 by pyota on January 10, 2008 at 1:56 am

an interview with the author from new york public radio is available here: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2008/01/09/segments/91617

9. Way of the Master Radio talks about Dawkins' Christmas Comments

Comment #100610 by pyota on December 19, 2007 at 1:46 am

i would also like to admit that that this clip was amusing, but fear of being flayed alive for dissenting from the atheist herd mentality stops me ...

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

Comment #96265 by pyota on December 10, 2007 at 8:51 am

Peacebeuponme,

You wrote: "Nothing like a poster bowing out of the argument with a nice bit of ad hominem and trying to take the higher ground"

whatever. as you can see, the use of the internet as a communication tool has been utterly lost here, that's the actual reason i'm bowing out. as for trying to take the higher ground, as you put it, feel free to have it, i couldn't care less ...

have a nice day.

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

Comment #96260 by pyota on December 10, 2007 at 8:44 am

thank you, theocrapcy, for your kind and friendly response.

edit: having looked through your comment history, i see you are an angry person who gets off insulting people. how sad.

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

Comment #96254 by pyota on December 10, 2007 at 8:35 am

Peacebeuponme,

you say: "The millions and millions of men who life heathly lives with foreskins are testament that there is no good reason for a circumcision"

try telling that to someone who suffers from the aforementioned list of afflictions (and i'll add cervical cancer to the list).

but i tire of arguing with a herd of self-congratulatory foreskin lovers. feel free to enjoy high fiving each other in my absence ...

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

Comment #96242 by pyota on December 10, 2007 at 8:17 am

Peacebeuponme,

you say "If there are health benefits and you make an informed choice to have it done, then fine. Peforming the procedure on an infant who cannot choose is abuse."

so by your logic, any medical treatment of infants is abuse because it cannot choose. please, give us all a break.

i stand by my tooth cavity analogy. both cavities and foreskins are health liabilities which should be treated.

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

Comment #96234 by pyota on December 10, 2007 at 7:58 am

Marie-Louise,

as stated earlier, i cannot comment on the state of scandinavian health care.

as for the problems resulting from foreskins, i hope phimosis should be self explanatory. urinary tract infections and stds result from the foreskin harboring bacteria and thus can easily become infected (but also risks inflamation if cleaned too much with soap! talk about lose lose). and for cancer rates, i refer you to http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/105/3/e36

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

Comment #96228 by pyota on December 10, 2007 at 7:48 am

AdrianB,

why .. because i'm the only one here not proclaiming how much i love my foreskin?

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

Comment #96212 by pyota on December 10, 2007 at 7:04 am

Marie-Louise,

i am not sure why scandinavian doctors don't recommend circumcision, but if thats's supposed to be refutation, i'm afraid you'll have to do better.

btw where is "here"? unless "here" = israel, then i doubt religious reasons are the primary factor.

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

Comment #96200 by pyota on December 10, 2007 at 6:40 am

miss the point as in not agree with you i presume ...

yes, by "medical benefits" i meant increased occurrence of urinary tract infections, STDs and penile cancer in uncircumcised men, as well as phimosis, as evidence for why the procedure is still medically relevant.

you needn't respond, because i'm sure you will not agree and just repeat yourself so save your time.

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

Comment #96195 by pyota on December 10, 2007 at 6:30 am

i'm rather shocked to read all these anti-circumcision posts! weird. i can only suppose its further evidence that atheists are just another herd.

male circumcision is a health operation with about as much 'trauma' as getting a tooth cavity filled. the health benefits are well attested to by the medical community. the fact that jews practice it as a religious ritual has nothing to do with its practice in the secular world.

19. American kids, dumber than dirt: Warning: The next generation might just be the biggest pile of idiots in U.S. history

Comment #81631 by pyota on October 25, 2007 at 1:37 am

i give this alarmist article little credence; i think its always been like this. the intellectual elite has always been a tiny fraction of the population, and the rest are, well, sheep. the one disturbing change i do see in recent years is the rise of video gaming. these games are designed to be as addictive as possible and they sap away all the time that could be spent reading. i don't object to tv so much as it can be a learning tool (obviously 95% of 'content' doesn't qualify as educational, but that can be changed).

20. Debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox

Comment #76232 by pyota on October 5, 2007 at 6:58 am

thanks for the mp3 version - much appreciated.

i'm only half way through, but thus far my favorite quote has to be from john lennox: "i think the issue has nothing to do with zeus and so on, they are non existent dieties" !!!

21. Arrogance, dogma and why science - not faith - is the new enemy of reason

Comment #61828 by pyota on August 7, 2007 at 3:41 am

i looked up the author on wikipedia, just another creationist. i doubt this article would be very convincing to anyone who wasn't already infected with religion. but in defense of the daily mail, at least they gave away the new prince album for free!

22. God, sex, drugs and politics

Comment #22817 by pyota on February 23, 2007 at 10:48 am

what the economist article does not mention is that that Merck donates generously to both political parties, but about 70% goes to republicans. they also have a powerful lobby helping to fast track certain products. in the united states cervical cancer has dropped dramatically since regular pap smears have become normal. moreover, mandatory vaccinations are usually for air borne diseases. to me its clear this has more to do with profit than religion or public health.

see also http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2007/02/22#segment74010
and http://www.909shot.com/Diseases/HPV/HPVHOME.htm