1. Teachers rebel over atheism promotion

Comment #45076 by Sam94720 on May 26, 2007 at 6:13 am

In my opinion, indoctrinating children with atheism ("You are an atheist. This is the right position. Others are wrong.") is almost as bad as indoctrinating them with a religion (I say almost because atheism is a reasonable default position and is unlikely to make them commit crazy acts of violence).

In my camp, religion would not be an issue getting particular attention. Everyone would be welcome, no matter what their religious background is. And together they would enjoy the wonders of our world. Discover how fascinating science is, experiment, discuss. I don't think it's necessary to convert people to atheism. If you succeed in getting them interested in science and encourage them to be skeptical, inquiring and ask questions, atheism will follow almost automatically (together with other traits that are beneficial to society).

2. Lightning damages Jesus statue

Comment #44342 by Sam94720 on May 24, 2007 at 11:41 am

It's funny that they thank God that no one was hurt, but don't ask themselves why he didn't just dispense with the whole exercise altogether. They should wonder why he decided to damage that statue or at least let it happen...

Reminds me of all those instances where an earthquake/tsunami/hurricane/bomb/etc. kills dozens or even thousands of people, but leaves a few unharmed. "Thank God that kid survived! It's a miracle!"

3. A Bunch of Monkeys

Comment #38446 by Sam94720 on May 8, 2007 at 5:56 am

We all know the proper classification, we are apes, not monkeys. But "monkeys" just sounds way funnier, don't you agree? "These are some messed up apes" - boring. "These are some messed up monkeys" - hilarious! It's not a scientific paper, it's poetry.

I find the comments of the "Nee-chee vs. Nee-chu" kind a bit saddening. Lots of great texts and videos are posted here, but somehow people always find a little fragment of a sentence, a single word or even just a pronunciation to argue about and these issues then dominate the dicussion. Shouldn't we focus on the main message and direct our attention to the important issues?

4. Root of All Evil? Discussion

Comment #20505 by Sam94720 on February 3, 2007 at 1:36 pm

Hosts tend to give the idiots more talking time because they are more entertaining and provoke stronger reactions, that's just how TV works and this show is no exception. I really like Avi Lewis, though. I think he asked tough questions in a witty way and didn't let people off the hook too easily. I'm rather disappointed with Larry King, for example, who is just nice to everyone (but I can understand why he does it, he wants his guests to come back...).

Anderson Cooper was a pleasure to watch in recent weeks, check this out if you haven't seen it yet (Randi vs. Sylvia Browne's business manager):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L9hki5Nlyo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts_To4zmEdE

5. Randi and 800 Other Amazing Skeptics

Comment #19223 by Sam94720 on January 25, 2007 at 4:10 pm

Check these out, Lancaster and Randi on Anderson Cooper 360:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKX5yB-H2tI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuPadpaTwKY