I find many theists to be roughly this genuine when they claim to appreciate science.
Filed under: Humor | Tagged: Mystery Science Theater 3000, Werewolf | Leave a comment »
Thought of the day
Posted on August 6, 2010 by Michael
One of the worst argument I hear on a surprisingly regular basis is that objective morality is somehow evidence for God. It isn’t any such thing; it assumes the existence of God.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Thought of the day | Leave a comment »
Same-sex marriage ruled constitutional in Mexico City
Posted on August 5, 2010 by Michael
One of the things many founding documents and fledgling governments have done is enshrine rights as broad principles, open to slow, steady interpretation. This allows for the biases and prejudices of the majority to be counteracted with a rational basis. This has been a great source of achievement for civil rights because it offers a method to come to a greater internal consistency based upon liberty rather than the capriciousness of the morals of the day. The Mexican Supreme Court is a testament to that fact.
The Mexican Supreme Court has ruled, 8-2, that same-sex marriage in Mexico City is constitutional, dismissing arguments that it violated guarantees to protect the family.
Because same-sex marriage protects families.
Filed under: Rights, Same-sex marriage | Tagged: Gay, Liberty, Mexico City, Same-sex marriage | 3 Comments »
Philosophy experiments
Posted on August 5, 2010 by Michael
Go take a look at PhilosophyExperiments.com. Specifically, take a look at this thought experiment.
This activity is a treatment of some of the issues thrown up by a thought experiment called ‘The Trolley Problem’, which was first outlined by the philosopher Philippa Foot, and then developed by Judith Jarvis Thomson and others. But before we start properly, we need to ask you four preliminary questions so we get a sense of the way that you think about morality. There are no right or wrong answers. Just select the option that most corresponds to your view.
And it goes on from there.
The thought experiment is one of the most powerful tools in philosophy, so it’s worth following through.
There is also one about belief in God, but I found the wording on some questions to be pretty crappy.
Filed under: Philosophy | Tagged: Judith Jarvis Thompson, Philosophy experiment, The Trolley Problem, Thought Experiment | 2 Comments »
A second chance to see the Aurora Borealis
Posted on August 4, 2010 by Michael
It’s still possible to see the northern lights tonight, so I hear. I just took a look with somewhat clear skies, but I couldn’t see anything. Of course, something so spectacular is worth a second shot in a couple of hours.
Info and image via Starts With A Bang.
Filed under: Astronomy/Cosmology/Physics, News | Tagged: Aurora borealis, Northern Lights, Starts With A Bang | 1 Comment »
The best quote from Judge Walker
Posted on August 4, 2010 by Michael
Judge Vaughn Walker has made the decision today that California’s Prop 8 is unconstitutional. He lists a number of reasons it is an illegal amendment, but I think the best quote of his so far is this one:
“Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license,” Walker wrote. “Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples.”
Targeted persecution isn’t exactly allowed under the U.S. Constitution.
There’s going to be plenty said about this, especially when it gets to the Supreme Court, but I think the biggest complaint from bigots is going to be that this undermines the will of the people. That’s an intellectually dishonest, political, rhetorical, empty, lie of an argument. Rights aren’t dependent upon the say of the majority. As James Madison once said,
There is no maxim, in my opinion, which is more liable to be misapplied, and which, therefore, more needs elucidation, than the current one, that the interest of the majority is the political standard of right and wrong.
Or Ayn Rand,
Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).
Or Thomas Jefferson,
All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
And when the 65+ crowd starts to fade away, support for equal rights for gays will become the will of the majority. It’s just sad that, like in the greatest days of the civil rights movement, it takes a court to protect the obvious rights of a group. This does, however, shine some light on the current day bigots’ support for the past court decisions that brought some degree of equality to racial minorities – despite what the majority thought. Depending on one’s source, roughly 2/3 of Americans were against interracial marriage a full year after the Supreme Court knocked down the laws against it. If the current day bigots were honest – and they aren’t – they would be howling that past Supreme Court decisions were wrong because they were counter to the beliefs of the majority.
Filed under: News, Rights, Same-sex marriage | Tagged: Judge Walker, Just marriage, marriage, Prop 8, Same-sex marriage | 3 Comments »
California marriage ban struck down by judge
Posted on August 4, 2010 by Michael
I have limited time at the moment, but this is too important to not report upon immediately.
Proposition 8, California’s controversial voter-approved gay marriage ban, was struck down by a federal judge on Wednesday in a ruling that deemed the ban unconstitutional.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s 136-page decision ruled that the same-sex marriage ban violates equal protection and due process rights that are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
….
“Today, the sun shines a little brighter on the Golden State. A federal judge has affirmed what a majority of Californians know to be true: that love does not discriminate and that marriage is a civil right, not a privilege reserved for a select class of citizens. The decision handed down today in Perry v. Schwarzenegger reaffirms the notion that separate is never equal,” Villaraigosa said in the statement.
“Although this is a landmark case and one of tremendous importance, we all know that this will not be the final word on marriage equality. We will continue to fight as tirelessly as ever before to ensure members of the LGBT community and all Californians are afforded the same rights and privileges under the laws of our nation,” he continued.
Filed under: News, Rights, Same-sex marriage | Tagged: California, Prop 8, Same-sex marriage | 8 Comments »
Americans aren’t using sunscreen
Posted on August 4, 2010 by Michael
…thereby raising their risk of cancer.
Despite the attention of the healthcare industry on the role of sunscreen in preventing skin cancer, about 40 percent of Americans never apply sunscreen at all before going out and only 9 percent wear it everyday, the poll of 1,004 people, showed.
One of the regions with the lowest use of sunscreen was the South, where 46 percent of people said they never using sunscreen at all during the summer. The age group with the lowest rate of sunscreen use was 18- to 29-year-olds at four percent.
Men were also much more likely not to use sunscreen before going outside with 48 percent saying they do not wear it at all.
The biggest factor in the lack of sunscreen use, I suspect, is laziness. It’s a pain to put on every time one goes outside. Then there’s the fact that people don’t want to smell like the stuff all day. And, as the article cites, income gaps contribute as well. Unfortunately, that isn’t where it ends. There are also quacks who say irresponsible things like this.
First of all: realize that sunscreen blocks all UV activity to the skin. Your skin provides countless functions not least of which is the absorption and manufacture of the steroid vitamin D. Any sunblock chemicals used in moisturizers, lip balm, and make-up should be eliminated if vitamin D levels are to be properly maintained.
The ineffectiveness of sunblock chemicals has been known for over a decade. Even though it is clear that the use of sunblock does effectively prevent sunburns, the prevention of skin cancers has not been found in the research. Furthermore, it is now clear that at least some of the chemicals in sunblock cause cancer changes in the skin.
This is Richard Maurer, naturopath. I don’t think I need to go much further in explaining his quackeriness. Unfortunately, this sort of vitamin D obsession is common with the alt med crowd. They take something good and go all after it. I suspect part of the reason has to do with the ease in which they can recommend it since they are limited in just what they can prescribe, but it’s also probably partially that many big drug companies don’t have vitamin D as a major focus. If those guys aren’t pushing it, well, it must work, right? Evidenced be damned. (For the record, I’ve never read where Christopher Maloney has excessively pushed vitamin D or recommended against basic skin protection; the problem is still common with the alt med crowd, but that doesn’t mean it is universal.)
Wear sun block.
Filed under: News | Tagged: cancer, Christopher Maloney, Naturopathy, Quack quack quack, Richard Maurer, Sun block, Sunscreen, Vitamin D | 1 Comment »
Such an angry deity
Posted on August 3, 2010 by Michael
Speaking of projection, might it make a bit of sense that the few literate pig farmers from thousands of years ago who were making up (and rewriting and editing and significantly changing) the Bible were merely projecting their own personal views?
Filed under: Humor | Tagged: Mr. Deity, Pig farmers | 1 Comment »
Aurorae headed this way
Posted on August 3, 2010 by Michael
The Sun’s surface has erupted recently and the plasma is headed this way.
“This eruption is directed right at us, and is expected to get here early in the day on August 4th,” said astronomer Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). “It’s the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time.”
…
Aurorae normally are visible only at high latitudes. However, during a geomagnetic storm aurorae can light up the sky at lower latitudes. Sky watchers in the northern U.S. and other countries should look toward the north on the evening of August 3rd/4th for rippling “curtains” of green and red light.
That means tonight. Watch for it.
Filed under: News | Tagged: Aurora borealis, Aurorae, Leon Golub, Northern Lights, Plasma | 3 Comments »
For the Sake of Science 