1. Religious 'shun nanotechnology'

Comment #298714 by stereoroid on December 8, 2008 at 1:06 pm

There's a difference between concerns borne out of ignorance, versus those that come from knowledge. I too have some concerns about nanotechnology, but they're related to health, not morals. There's the semi-serious possibility of a runaway "grey goo" problem, and then there are the general health risks associated with dust-sized particles. If you inhale too much silica dust, you develop silicosis, which can be fatal.

2. Brain quirk makes eyewitnesses less reliable

Comment #298208 by stereoroid on December 7, 2008 at 4:24 am

I wonder if they saw that episode of MythBusters where they tested the effect of hypnosis? In a short single-blind trial, subjects were able to recall far more accurate details of an event when under hypnosis, without generating any false information. (Yes, I know, it's a TV show, but it's a jump-off point for further research - a bit like Wikipedia.)

3. Inner Workings Of The Immune System Filmed

Comment #297994 by stereoroid on December 6, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Let's see the IDers explain this away. "Hang on a minute... God did what?"

Speaking as someone whose immune system is like a dog chewing its own tail (MS), I think these are interesting times indeed. The amount of progress in these fields over the last few years is astounding, and I'm already better off for it. How could preachers or homoeopaths compete with this?

4. Just a little jab, won't hurt

Comment #289236 by stereoroid on November 23, 2008 at 10:58 am

As with vaccines against viral diseases, a certain critical proportion of people must be vaccinated before there is a chance that a disease can be eradicated. There's already quite a bit of opposition to the current HPV / cervical cancer vaccine, and not just on moral grounds: Merck, the drug company behind Gardasil, is making stacks of money off of the current drive to vaccinate all girls. Not that it's prevented their share price from slumping like everyone else's...

5. Gay Marriage Outlawed in California

Comment #279080 by stereoroid on November 5, 2008 at 2:14 pm

I want to know what happened to the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"...

6. Barack Obama Exposes The Bible

Comment #274952 by stereoroid on October 30, 2008 at 2:48 pm

The West Wing touched on the topic again in a later series, when an atheist (Arnold Vinick, played by Alan Alda) ran for President as a Republican. There's an excellent clip, here, where he discusses this with the current President (Bartlet) and then talks to the Press:

I don’t see how you can have separation of Church and State in this Government if you have to pass a religious test to get in this Government… if you demand expressions of religious faith from politicians, you are just begging to be lied to. They will all lie to you, or a lot of them will, and it will be the easiest lie they ever had to tell to get your votes.

7. Richard Dawkins embarrassed after death and subsequent resurrection

Comment #273894 by stereoroid on October 29, 2008 at 11:38 am

Does this mean the Professor is going to be Canonized? If so, I don't see why. Nikon have some decent cameras out too, and if you like to use old lenses, you can't beat Pentax.

What?

8. The Joke's on Him: Bill Maher could use a lesson in civility from Michael Moore

Comment #265389 by stereoroid on October 16, 2008 at 3:27 pm

"This is the creed of Bill Maher"...

Ding! By line 2, this article fails the "using religious terminology to describe atheists" test for lazy journalism. Two more transgressions in the first paragraph. In the currently fashionable vernacular, I believe this may be termed "Epic Fail".

9. Christian review of the Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing

Comment #253420 by stereoroid on September 24, 2008 at 12:17 pm

"Rubbing shoulders with Solzhenitsyn"..? Not any more, sadly - he died about 6 weeks ago.

In the list of scientists who might have made good dramatic characters, Richard Feynman was mentioned - and he has been the subject of a movie about his early years, Infinity, directed by and starring Matthew Broderick. Didn't do much at the box office, but I liked it...

10. Richard Dawkins infected with Satanic 'virus of mind', Christian group claims

Comment #251329 by stereoroid on September 21, 2008 at 11:20 am

"... your eyes are blinded and your ears will not hear any contrary view..."

Speaking for myself: my eyes are fine (with glasses), my hearing is excellent, and I have actually heard and listened to many religious arguments, over many years. Given all that, after a lot of thought, I can now safely describe those religious arguments as "bollocks". There are none so deaf as those who can't recognise bollocks when they hear it.

11. Genes might not be so selfish after all

Comment #249174 by stereoroid on September 17, 2008 at 4:10 pm

By the "heresy" in the subtitle, I could tell what we were in for. Of course environmental factors affect DNA - they are sources of mutation that are passed on to future generations. New Research into MS - a complex condition that exhibits uncertain blends of genetic and environmental origins and triggers - seems to back up the semi-obvious idea that Vitamin D deficiency is a factor. (Its prevalence increases at higher latitudes.)

However, to suggest that DNA changes in a response to the environment or external changes to the body is Lamarckianism. No evidence supports that.

12. Secularists have a right to maintain their ethos

Comment #240365 by stereoroid on August 31, 2008 at 11:54 am

"Awe hell. I need to go back to bed, I clearly did not wake up to reality today. "

Nah - you're fine, it's that Cardinal who's talking in his sleep.

PS: if anyone's wondering who Wolfe Tone was... no, he wasn't in a band. He was, in effect, the first Irish Republican, so you can imagine he's got a few statues in the 26 counties... and he wasn't even Catholic.

13. Plan to exhume cardinal is 'homophobic'

Comment #237295 by stereoroid on August 26, 2008 at 10:22 am

I wonder what they'll make of it here in Ireland? Newman was the first Rectum Rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, now University College Dublin.

I'm a (mature) student there, and can tell you that it's not a very Catholic place now. According to reports it's the Chlamydia Capital of Ireland. The gloves are ON, folks...

14. Sincerity no substitute for evidence

Comment #233556 by stereoroid on August 20, 2008 at 3:26 am

Sure, drug companies are biased: they are biased towards things that will make them money. Do you really think that they care about a drug's "alternative" origins?

An example I am personally familiar with: a drug called FTY720 (fingolimod), by Novartis, is well into Phase III trials as a treatment for multiple sclerosis. So far it's looking good, and it seems to have a major effect in preventing relapses resulting from nerve damage, or at least keeping them much further apart. It's looking likely that it will hit the market, possibly as soon as next year, and if it does it will be the first oral MS treatment: no injection necessary. Other applications are under investigation, including some possible cancer therapies. We're talking big bucks here, folks.

So, where does fingolimod come from? It's a chemical modification of Myriocin, an antibiotic and immunosuppressant derived from certain fungi, including Isaria sinclairii (genus Cordyceps). This is the "Vegetable Caterpillar" fungus, known also as Dong Chong Xia Cao.

If you search the internet for Cordyceps, it's being touted as a Chinese Herbal remedy for... just about anything, including low sex drive, and as an athletic performance enhancer. (Never mind that Cordyceps is a genus that describes about 400 different known species!)

Does that include multiple sclerosis? Not yet, as far as I can tell, but it wouldn't surprise me to see this one application, of a modified metabolite of one subspecies, as some kind of validation of all the claims made for Cordyceps. The truth is more complicated, as usual, but complication is just what devotees of alternative medicine do not want. Just take this, it'll make it all OK...

15. Unintelligent Design

Comment #231968 by stereoroid on August 17, 2008 at 11:28 am

A more prosaic example of unintelligent design: testicles. Wouldn't they be safer on the inside? Yes, but it just so happens that sperm production is higher at lower temperatures... so we've evolved to have them on the outside, where they're vulnerable to damage. Designed? Well, if that means that skateboarders and Jackass cast members have fewer children, well... that's Evolution, baby!

16. The rebellion of the child-brides

Comment #230367 by stereoroid on August 14, 2008 at 3:20 pm

This child marriage business confuses me somewhat, because I've had a (Sunni) Muslim friend tell me (paraphrased) "Mohammed (yadda yadda) was our Prophet, but he was still a normal person". They're not supposed to emulate him in every respect, I'm told.

So, it looks to me just like another case of "look for anything that justifies our desires". What Mohammed did is only important to those Muslims as a license to do what THEY want with children. I nearly called them a bunch of wankers, but: if only they were, it would be an improvement over their current status.

17. The Afterlife for Scientologists

Comment #229267 by stereoroid on August 13, 2008 at 9:45 am

This is one of the Slate Explainer series, which is also available as a podcast. I highly recommend it, even though it's naturally weighted towards things that baffle Americans. The previous piece by the same author was also highly informative: "Why do banks always fail on Fridays?"

18. Optimism in Evolution

Comment #229183 by stereoroid on August 13, 2008 at 7:56 am

greenlol asked "Why limit its publication to US papers ?". Well, I think there's a chance that this piece will appear in the International Herald Tribune too. IHT draws on NY Times and Washington Post content, since it's produced by the same publisher. Actually, I wish this piece appeared in the Washington Post too, where it could be seen by Congresscritters.

19. Breeding for God

Comment #221542 by stereoroid on July 29, 2008 at 6:15 pm

Yasser Arafat used to say "The greatest weapon of the Palestinian people is our women's wombs"

The demographics of the Gaza Strip make for interesting reading:
48% of the population is under 14 y.o.
Growth: 3.71% per year
Average children per woman: 5.79

20. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #218708 by stereoroid on July 25, 2008 at 3:52 pm

Village_Idiot: how about a warning before posting a link to that kind of site? It contains some very disturbing images. If that's supposed to make us sympathise with Hizbollah, you're in the wrong place.

I know that they do the same to Israeli children any chance they get, and do you really expect me to take sides with one bunch of religious nutters against another bunch of religious nutters? Neither side is justified in their beliefs.

21. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #213826 by stereoroid on July 19, 2008 at 2:05 am

A bit of a puff-piece, I suppose, but the comments are interesting.

There's one guy who wants RD to explain why the "Eye of God" will be seen in the solar eclipse that will occur on 1 August. No speculation as to how we know there will be a solar eclipse on 1 August...

22. Ten Commandments' of race and genetics issued

Comment #213012 by stereoroid on July 18, 2008 at 2:22 am

#7: nonsense. There are medical conditions that are heavily biased towards specific races, such as sickle-cell disease (Africans) and Multiple Sclerosis (Caucasians). Should research in to the genetic components of those diseases be compromised by political correctness? I expect researchers in these fields will just laugh and go back to work.

23. Origin of the Novel Species Noodleous doubleous: Evidence for Intelligent Design

Comment #205572 by stereoroid on July 7, 2008 at 1:11 pm

One of the most basic laws in the universe is the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This states that as time goes by, entropy in an environment will increase. Evolution argues differently against a law that is accepted EVERYWHERE BY EVERYONE. Evolution says that we started out simple, and over time became more complex. That just isn't possible: UNLESS there is a giant outside source of energy supplying the Pot with huge amounts of energy. If there were such a source, scientists would certainly know about it.

24. Should Strident British Atheist Richard Dawkins Dictate Education Policy to US States? Barbara Forrest Apparently Thinks So

Comment #197106 by stereoroid on June 21, 2008 at 5:39 am

If Ms Forrest really said that it's a secret plot to get Creationism in to the classroom, she's not quite right: it's hardly secret, is it?

Besides, Science knows no borders, does it? While there are British and American scientists, there is no "British Science" or "American Science" per se. If American Creationists feel they are being unfairly targeted, why do they paint bullseyes on themselves by doing stupid stuff like this?

25. Darwinmania!

Comment #195299 by stereoroid on June 18, 2008 at 3:18 am

This article illustrates why it's not enough to have an idea, or even to write it down. We celebrate Darwin not just for his ideas, but for his synthesis of disparate influences in to a deep and coherent body of knowledge, the practical work he put in to support the ideas, and his ability to communicate them effectively. The difference between Darwin and his predecessors is the difference between Knowledge and Information, you might say. 8)

26. Behe's Empty Box

Comment #193074 by stereoroid on June 14, 2008 at 2:29 pm

The link to the H Allen Orr article on that page is bust, but it's online at Boston Review, here. Good stuff.

Also, Behe's responses to Orr and other critics are here. Sample quote:

"Professor Ruse asks if I have the right to appeal to design as a scientist. Well, many scientists already appeal to design. I mentioned the SETI program earlier; clearly those scientists think they can detect design (and nonhuman design at that.) Forensic scientists routinely make decisions of whether a death was designed (murder) or an unfortunate accident.

27. Intelligent people 'less likely to believe in God'

Comment #192543 by stereoroid on June 13, 2008 at 10:55 am

The Christian don't-think-tank Theos has responded to the piece, here. Only go there if you're bored, it's the usual.

28. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #190788 by stereoroid on June 9, 2008 at 2:52 pm

I saw this linked from a different site last week. I really didn't expect to see it here, it's muck-raking of the lowest stripe. Apparently "Canada Free Press" means "keep your mind so open that any old crap will fall in, then drip on to the keyboard in smelly chunks".

29. Blogger spreads the gospel of science

Comment #189310 by stereoroid on June 6, 2008 at 2:29 am

Kent is a city in the American sense i.e. incorporated as such. These days, it's better described as a suburb of Seattle, to the south past Sea-Tac airport, halfway to Tacoma. There's a map here.

30. Storm erupts over 'virginity' divorce

Comment #186478 by stereoroid on May 30, 2008 at 10:45 am

I've long thought that the emphasis on virginity, in primitive cultures, is related to sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs). A hymen is a quick, visual confirmation that a woman has not been sleeping around, and is thus STD-free. You could argue that it's a reflection of a preference against promiscuity, but I would argue that preference is also about STDs: the consequences of STDs are more serious and direct than the consequences of promiscuity.

In some cultures this goes to extremes e.g. the way some men in sub-Saharan Africa go looking for virgins, in the hope that raping them will rid them of a HIV infection. Yeah, that's going to work...

31. The Dissent Of Darwin - The World Of Richard Dawkins

Comment #180442 by stereoroid on May 15, 2008 at 1:11 am

I thought the testicles thing was an example of "good enough" evolution, where they evolved as far as they had to. If your other defences are good, the risk of injury there is minimized, and so is the evolutionary effect. How many guys ever suffer injuries there, sufficient to render them infertile? (Any kids here whose dads were skateboarders?)

32. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179289 by stereoroid on May 13, 2008 at 3:58 am

"She described Prayer at the Pump as "the ultimate Hail Mary."

Q: What's a "Hail Mary"?
A: You know, when the quarterback sends a long pass down field to a wide receiver, hoping to catch the defense off guard and score a touchdown.

33. Church of Scotland mediators to quell disputes

Comment #178255 by stereoroid on May 11, 2008 at 3:18 am

"For true love and friends wad draw ye thegither
Far better than roarin' the horrors o' hell. "

Aye, that an' some guid Hielan' whisky, eh? 8)

Honestly, I don't care whether it's a church, or a state regime, or a cult, or whatever, regardless of what they believe or not. Any time people are lied to, coerced, prevented from constructive free expression, or indoctrinated from a young age, I want it to stop. If we get that cleared up, the rest is details...

34. Faith in Britain today

Comment #177077 by stereoroid on May 8, 2008 at 2:14 pm

That surely is the question of our times. In achieving material abundance we yet still search for our moral and spiritual bearings. In achieving technical mastery, we still ask the question, "To what end?" How do we value ethics as well as science so that we do not arrive at a situation where we have unparalleled knowledge of what is and unprecedented doubts of what ought to be.

35. Science leads to killing people

Comment #170773 by stereoroid on April 28, 2008 at 1:46 am

I got to the end, probably because I had an episode of "Will & Grace" on in the background. 8)

I'm a bit lost for words at his flip-flopping on his background: one minute touting his Yale Law degree, the next claiming that universities produce nothing useful, and that the Law does not decide what is right or wrong. What are the odds that he's some Ben Guevara, who went to those institutions with the aim of bringing them down? Or, whom, after seeing how they work from the inside, dedicated his life to ridding the world of their poisonous influence? I thought so too.

I rarely allow myself to insult others directly, preferring to say nothing, but this pinball machine just got pushed in to Tilt. Ben Stein is an Asshole. See you on the next series of "America's Most Smartest Model", then.

36. Investigating Atheism

Comment #166836 by stereoroid on April 23, 2008 at 12:57 pm

I saw this mentioned on another site earlier today, and took a look. The page on "definitions of atheism" looked reasonable, but it's followed by many assertions about atheism and violence - saying (without backing) that RD etc. are wrong about Hitler & Stalin.

It goes off the rails altogether when it comes to Nietszche. A lot of guff about how Hitler loved the "Superman", and nothing about Nietszche's Nazi sister and her anti-Semitic distortion of his ideas.

37. Ben Stein Vs. Sputtering Atheists

Comment #165069 by stereoroid on April 21, 2008 at 2:50 am

Well, if this stuff has to serve any useful purpose, at least it brings traffic to this site.

Another article on creators.com is entitled: The Living Legacy of Maggie Thatcher: How the Politics of Conviction Saved Britain. Now, I've never been one to demonize Maggie, but there are limits.

38. Commentary: Democrats finally getting religion on religion

Comment #157872 by stereoroid on April 9, 2008 at 4:36 pm

"master's degree in Christian communications" ...

in other words, a degree in Evangelism? Ye flipping gods...

39. The books that inspire me

Comment #157337 by stereoroid on April 9, 2008 at 12:04 am

I've only read one Wodehouse that I can remember, but it was a cracker: Love Among the Chickens. Ah, for the days when one could just pack up, go and live in the country, and try to raise chickens...

40. John Templeton: God's sugar daddy

Comment #148517 by stereoroid on March 23, 2008 at 8:40 am

"We can cure all the malaria we want, but if we're living brutal, nasty, empty lives, it will only do so much good."

Good? Good for whom? Sounds like another version of Mother Teresa's "cult of suffering" - the idea that physical suffering is acceptable, as long as the rational thought about your condition is avoided.

There is no nobility in suffering, especially if that suffering is avoidable! Have I lost a week somewhere, and it's April 1 already?

41. Report: 32% Of Prayers Deflected Off Passing Satellites

Comment #147004 by stereoroid on March 19, 2008 at 4:46 pm

I wondered if this was some kind of Arthur C Clarke reference... but geosynchronous satellites don't "pass", they appear to be stationary overhead. 8)

42. Flipping particle could explain missing antimatter

Comment #146652 by stereoroid on March 19, 2008 at 8:58 am

I somehow knew it would all come down to flipping particles... 8)

Isn't it exciting? The new frontiers opening up as we seek to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the universe(s)... and to think there are those who would rather attribute nature to a man-made god, and get all their answers out of ancient books? Oh, but the books give you certainty, and answer all your questions while science gives you only uncertainty, and more questions. Never mind the useful applications of science - the god can take credit for them too, as he does for everything else.

43. The Atheist Apocalypse

Comment #146102 by stereoroid on March 18, 2008 at 3:56 pm

Nice to know that the world will be going Metric after the Apocalypse! (Check out the price of onions.)

44. Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Comment #141462 by stereoroid on March 10, 2008 at 1:09 pm

"allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA" ...

... such as the selective breeding of domestic animals? Cats, dogs, cows or horses? Then Brothers John and Thomas are going to hell..!

PS: one of the commenters on the Times site pointed out something I was unaware of: Gregor Mendel, founding father of modern genetics, was an Augustinian monk and Catholic priest. He didn't just perform genetic manipulation of plants either, his experiments later extended to animals such as honeybees. If anything, being in a monastery gave him space and time for his work - but now he's getting reassigned to Hell, apparently.

45. When blasphemy bit the dust

Comment #140521 by stereoroid on March 7, 2008 at 4:13 pm

Don't forget that 26 of the Lords are Lords Spiritual: Church of England clergy. The list contains a few familiar names: I wonder how many of them voted in favour of the change?

46. Rock-Bottom Loser Entertaining Offers From Several Religions

Comment #137005 by stereoroid on March 2, 2008 at 5:45 am

Many a true word spoken in jest. This hints at an important point: the way evangelists look for vulnerable people to pounce on. The classic example is the hospital chaplain, who'll come to your bedside to "comfort you" in your illness. Sure, they might not explicitly preach at you, just "help", but their agenda is unswerving, and it's one you ignore at your peril...

47. Church is paying a high price for its celibacy rule

Comment #132834 by stereoroid on February 25, 2008 at 9:09 am

I've long wondered what school Career Days are like, here in Ireland:
"Hi, young man, want to be an airline pilot? You get to see the world, and fly!"
"Sonny, join the Army, defend your nation, and bring peace to the world!"
"No, you want to become an engineer! The world needs smart and educated people to build the future."
"If you're really smart, and you care about healing people, become a doctor! The nurses are cute, too..."
"Join the priesthood! You don't have to worry about girls, ever again, since you can't get married. You get to spread Bronze Age myths which turn people in to sheep, but you get to be their shepherd. They will all trust you, especially the young children..."

48. Evidence can't shake your faith if your faith excludes it as evidence

Comment #132593 by stereoroid on February 25, 2008 at 2:43 am

I don't have a problem with that Fish quote at the start of the piece: if anything, it's an admonition to question one's assumptions, and try to see through them.

What I do have a problem with is Campos' interpretation of that quote as validating religious assumptions, and implying that Dawkins & his readers are labouring under a set of assumptions that is as valid as any other.

And there I was thinking that being an atheist allowed me to pierce the veil of assumptions: not just religious assumptions, but assumptions about people and why they say and do the things they say and do. Well, Campos is just the person to tell me that I'm doing it wrong.

49. Fleabytes

Comment #129743 by stereoroid on February 19, 2008 at 2:21 pm

"Either these writers genuinely can't get their heads round the concept of a life that isn't governed by the structures and observances of religious belief, or each of them thinks it's uproariously funny, witty and original to apply the terminology of faith to Dawkins and atheists in general."
Argghh... don't get me started. It got old real fast, to the point where it overshadows any points the writer might (theoretically) have had.

50. Smaller Version of the Solar System Is Discovered

Comment #128063 by stereoroid on February 16, 2008 at 2:32 am

This is coming up in the RSS feed as "Smaller Version of the Solar System Is Discovered by NY Times"... and the previous story as "Virus immunity 'created in lab' by BBC". I know these media organisations need to diversify, but I didn't think they'd go that far... 8-)