Monthly Archives: January 2010
On fear and risk
I haven’t had a rant/sermon in a while. My parents’ generation went through the second world war, fighting tyrants and ideologies that sought to control our everyday lives; for which reason they are sometimes called “the best generation”. Their parents’ … Continue reading
Filed under Censorship, Freedom, Media, Politics, Race and politics, Religion, Sermon, Social evolution
On tattoos in Latin
This is why I haven’t yet acted on my desire to have Linnaeus’ definition of Homo tattooed on my chest (that, and you’d never see the thing under all that fur)… “Quia ursus pusilli ingenii sum verba difficilia fastidio”
Filed under Humor
Woo medicine kills
A nice roundup from New Zealand; note the case of the baby with meningitis. The case is a coroner’s case.
Woo science kills: dowsing for bombs
The UK government has banned the purchase of a dowsing device that is supposed to “detect” bombs in Afghanistan. Even the Afghans know this doesn’t work. [H/T Russell McPhee]
Filed under Science
On nonscience smear campaigns
In Scientific American: … the only strong evidence we have that Oklahoma Senator James M. Inhofe isn’t a clown is that his car isn’t small enough.
Filed under Politics, Pop culture
More civil insolence
My disclaimer/policy on comments here has occasioned a bit of discussion on the tubes. Isis reckons that those who say it is a bad thing to piss on the rug will do it anyway when things get heated. Golden Thoughts … Continue reading
Filed under Philosophy, Truisms
Civil insolence
I am vaguely amused and slightly disgusted that the issue over which I left Science Blogs is still going. Henry Gee writes of it at the recent ScienceOnline2010 meet. I was mentioned in despatches, so I replied thus: The reason … Continue reading
Filed under Humor
Some interesting links
A speculative journal published by Elsevier may be dropped after it publishes AIDS denialism. The crisis of faith in rational economics of a Chicago economist… An article claiming that race as a biological concept got a bad rap. How Haiti … Continue reading
Filed under Epistemology, Evolution, History, Humor, Links, Media, Politics, Race and politics
