Posted on December 9, 2012 by Michael
An outright rejection of cursing has always struck me as wildly immature. I know, I know, the assumption is usually that a person who swears is immature, but that’s quite a false assumption. Language is expansive and should be treated as such; a person who swears too much is only slightly worse than a person who absolutely refuses to swear. On the one hand is an excessive embracing of a particular set of words and on the other hand is a distancing from certain words. Both are instances of linguistic restriction. It’s the sort of thing I expect out of a giggly child who substitutes “thingies” for breasts or testicles.
And, well, shit. There are just occasions where a person needs to sprinkle a little kick into the conversation.
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Posted on December 6, 2012 by Michael
From time to time I’ll see those on the right attempt to deflect their side’s tendency towards science-denialism by pointing out that it is often those on the left who favor homeopathic medicine or are highly weary of vaccines. Of course, it’s true that there is a lot of unscientific garbage on both sides of the aisles. Those on the right are undeniably the biggest offenders, what with their positions on the age of Earth, global warming, and evolution, but there’s plenty of crap on the left, too. Generally, the crap on the left, however, is also associated with New Age thinking and the ever-nebulous idea of spirituality. I bet you’ll never guess what underlies so much of this strain of thought:
Faith.
That’s the problem. Most of those on the right are filled with faith – people usually become Republicans because they’re deep into Christianity – so it isn’t a surprise when we see the vast majority of their positions in conflict with science. Nor, indeed, is it a surprise when we see those on the fringe left doing things like denying the efficacy of vaccines. (Of course, Michele Bachmann’s linking of vaccines to autism proves there is some common ground between our political parties.) It is faith – believe without evidence – that is the problem.
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Posted on December 4, 2012 by Michael
Sure, I’m an atheist (because there is no evidence for any gods), but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the Christmas season. It’s a joyous time during a period when it keeps getting darker earlier and earlier, and I definitely enjoy the family Christmas party. (I, unfortunately, will not be attending it this year as I will be in Argentina on a hiking expedition to the highest peak in the Andes. Woe is me.) I even like Christmas music. And here’s the real good news: Christmas has become a largely secular holiday. Of course, it still has its Christian background, but I don’t think it’s a religious day for most people any longer; the day has begun to turn back to its pagan origin – an origin so many Christians seem so fond of ignoring, sometimes even denying, whether through ignorance or blatant dishonesty.
So I say, merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Festivus, happy holidays, and all that. This really is a time for the secular and religious alike to come together to celebrate a season filled with holidays of both pagan and religious origins.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Christmas, Thought of the day | 2 Comments »
Posted on November 27, 2012 by Michael
I’m not sure which was more disturbing: the defense of Rush Limbaugh saying that women who have ‘too much’ sex are sluts or the promotion of the lie that the President ever said business owners didn’t build their own businesses.
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Posted on November 24, 2012 by Michael
What organized religion accomplished in 6,000 years was wildly surpassed after just a portion of the past few hundred years of serious science.
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Posted on November 20, 2012 by Michael
There should be a day each year devoted to making it a point to say “Thank you” to those who work in retail and customer service jobs. These people may be doing mostly low-skilled labor, but that doesn’t mean their jobs are free of stress and pressure. If you don’t believe me, get a seasonal job working at any retailer. Be sure you ask for a Black Friday shift.
I’m in a fortunate position where I have enough choices that I never have to work a customer service job ever again, but I’ve been there. I’ve had jobs at big box stores; I’ve bagged groceries and returned carts. It was a rare day that I didn’t feel like a faceless number, someone about whom neither the customer nor the employer really cared. But every so often there were those days where someone would sincerely thank me, maybe even mentioning something of our interaction to my supervisor. Those were the days when I didn’t feel faceless, where I felt like someone actually cared. Those were the days that made a difference.
So here is my proposal: Let’s designate one day a year to thanking the millions of people who specifically work in retail and customer service. They get beaten down all year by the relentless soullessness of so many of their jobs. They deserve a “thank you”.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Retail, Thought of the day | 2 Comments »
Posted on November 13, 2012 by Michael
This whole business with David Petraeus? It’s hardly a story at all.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: David Petraeus, Thought of the day | 1 Comment »
Posted on November 8, 2012 by Michael
Here are the reasons marriage equality for gays passed this time around in Maine, even though it failed just three years ago here:
- Opposition was far less active: The Catholic Church and other religious groups were not focusing all their efforts on this one issue, nor were they actively raising funds to the extent they did last time.
- As people have more time to think about this issue, the more mature their response becomes: New proposals are often a shock to people. In fact, it took 3 or 4 attempts just to get gays equal rights in employment, housing, education, and other areas here in Maine, but we eventually did it.
- It’s a Presidential election year: The last vote was in 2009, so the opposition to equality had an advantage. After all, it’s no secret that liberal ideas and candidates would do far better at the polls if every American had to vote. In 2009 we naturally saw a smaller sample size than 2008 or 2012.
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Posted on November 3, 2012 by Michael
People are often confused by the idea of how morality works in a world without God. “Why”, the argument goes, “without God, you have no basis for acting one way or another as a matter of right or wrong.” This is a bad argument and here’s why: It assumes that morality is something which must be objective in order to exist. That assumption is not only unproven, it’s actually incorrect. Morality has always been a purely human affair, and we have plenty of philosophical, logical, and even scientific arguments to bolster that fact. Simply because there is no objective grounding to morality does not mean it ceases to exist. And why would it? It’s something that’s evolutionarily and culturally emergent in the first place. To say it must be objective in order to be real would be like saying finding red heads attractive would need to be objectively grounded in order to be legitimate.
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Posted on October 31, 2012 by Michael
My advice last year was not to be cheap. The year before I advised people to give out Twix. This year I want to talk about slutty sexy cats:
Sure, a lot of us appreciate this costume when we see it, but look. It isn’t anything remotely new. It’s been done millions of times; it has to go. I mean, surely there is some other organism in the animal kingdom that lends itself to the excuse to flaunt one’s self, right? For instance:
Get a modified lion’s mane, some short-shorts, and half a shirt and I think we’ve got ourselves a new costume trend.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Costumes, Golden Lion Tamarin, halloween | Leave a comment »
For the Sake of Science 