Monthly Archives: October 2011

The blind leading the more blind

Posted on October 7, 2011 by David Hume

Michael Totten points to this piece in The New Republic which sheds some light on the cult of personality around the Assad family which has developed amongst the Alawites. Based on the piece Totten declares that the Alawites are definitively … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | 8 Comments

On the Uselessness of Bioethics

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Of all the useless ‘disciplines’ that have come along in recent years one of the more irritating is bioethics (typified perhaps best by the waste of taxpayer dollars that was George W. Bush’s fatuous “Council on Bioethics”). Writing on Reason‘s … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Faith | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Machines That We Are

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Via the New Scientist: You can now experience the world through someone else’s eyes by tapping into their brain activity. Jack Gallant and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley developed a technique that uses brain scans to reconstruct what … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged | 2 Comments

Render unto the Taxpayer

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

From the New York Times: This weekend, hundreds of pastors, including some of the nation’s evangelical leaders, will climb into their pulpits to preach about American politics, flouting a decades-old law that prohibits tax-exempt churches and other charities from campaigning … Continue reading →

Posted in Church & State | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Did Dawkins Blink?

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Writing in the WSJ, Meghan Cox Gurdon reviews Richard Dawkins’s new science book for young folk: …That young people might come to see poetic magic in the scientific method and the natural world is not, however, sufficient for the author … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Faith | Tagged | 4 Comments

Other People’s Money

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

In its combination of sanctimony, self-importance and taxpayer-funded extravagance, here—from Germany—is a perfect little tale of today’s political class: Education Minister Annette Schavan flew to a personal audience with Pope Benedict XVI using a military jet, at a cost of … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Ismael & the Holy Thugs

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

From the Guardian, a reminder (as if one were needed) that religion will always be with us: In a country that wakes up every Monday morning to a dismal tally of weekend murders, it is no surprise that people have … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment