Monthly Archives: March 2008

Is It Too Much to Ask For?

Posted on March 28, 2008 by arensb

Maybe I’m being too demanding, but five years after the start of the war in Iraq, wouldn’t it be nice if people at the US embassy, in the heavily-fortified Green Zone, didn’t have to worry about being killed by rocket … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Leave a comment

Masturbation Etiquette

Posted on March 26, 2008 by arensb

Every so often, I run across an Internet forum where people discuss how to stop masturbating. Now, I happen to think these people are misguided, but neither do I think everyone should just jack off whenever they feel like it. … Continue reading →

Posted in :-), Miscellaneous | 3 Comments

Fundamentalist Education

Posted on March 25, 2008 by arensb

Over at Pharyngula, PZ presents this appalling video: and points out The really awful pedagogy. Over and over again, the creationist says some stock phrase and then pauses, waiting for his kids to fill in the missing word. This is … Continue reading →

Posted in Creationism, Religion | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Great Christina

Posted on March 25, 2008 by arensb

Allow me to pimp Greta Christina’s Blog, for no other reason than that she’s worth reading, including a few articles that I wanted to write, but she beat me to it: Why Religion Is Like Fanfic compares religious apologetics (why … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Links, Religion | Tagged | Leave a comment

What’s Up With “Expelled”?

Posted on March 25, 2008 by arensb

On Saturday, I signed up for a screening of Expelled, and got a confirmation by email (two, actually, but that’s a different and altogether less interesting story) for the Apr. 1 showing in Owings Mills, MD. Now, however, that show … Continue reading →

Posted in Intelligent Design | 2 Comments

The Life-Dinner Principle and Creationism vs. Evolution

Posted on March 23, 2008 by arensb

I recently ran across the “life-dinner principle“. In evolutionary biology, two groups (whether different species, or groups within a species) are often in competition with each other. But the selection pressure may not be equal between groups: a fox that … Continue reading →

Posted in Creationism, Science | 6 Comments

Flipping the Argument Around

Posted on March 22, 2008 by arensb

A while back, I suggested that one way to see whether an argument for some religion is any good is to turn it into an argument for some other religion, and see whether it sounds convincing. I was just thinking … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | 13 Comments

Irony O’ the Week

Posted on March 21, 2008 by arensb

At the top of the “Blog” section of the site for the new creationist propaganda movie Expelled, it says: “It’s (EXPELLED) going to appeal strongly to the religious, the paranoid, the conspiracy theorists, and the ignorant –– which means they’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Intelligent Design | Leave a comment

A Sri Lankan Mystery

Posted on March 20, 2008 by arensb

The last thing that came out of recently deceased author Arthur C. Clarke’s printer was a sheet that said:

Posted in Geek, Miscellaneous | 7 Comments

RIP Arthur C. Clarke

Posted on March 19, 2008 by arensb

Well, crap. Arthur C. Clarke has passed away. Not that this was entirely unexpected, but it still sucks.

Posted in News | Tagged , | Leave a comment