This is a neat story. Nova Scotia has apologized and granted a pardon to Viola Desmond, a black woman who was convicted for sitting in a whites-only section of a movie theatre in 1946. Premier Darrell Dexter apologized to Desmond’s family and to all black Nova Scotians for the institutional racism of the past. I …
Monthly Archive: April 2010
Apr 19 2010
CFI Debate: What’s Right and Wrong with Religion?
I had the distinct pleasure of attending an event co-sponsored by the Centre for Inquiry – a skeptical organization and Reasons to Believe – a group that promotes the harmonious co-existence of science and religion. The event took the form of two 30-minute presentations from a skeptic speaker and a believer: Dr. Hugh Ross (the …
Apr 19 2010
How inaccurate Nazi comparisons fuel anti-Semitism
It will definitely not be among my most controversial statements to say that Adolf Hitler was a bad person. It will similarly be unobjectionable to say that Nazi-ism is and was a deplorable and horrifying philosophy and practice. No-one aside from the handful of anti-Semitic nutjobs who deny the Holocaust believe that Hitler or Nazis …
Apr 16 2010
Movie Friday! – Dara O’Briain
It’s Friday. I like Fridays. Do you like Fridays? In honour of this auspicious day, I’m going to do something different. Instead of my usual old-cranky-man ranting about this and that, I’m going to post movies that I find interesting or funny. Today’s movie is making the rounds as a skeptic’s classic. The comedian is …
Apr 15 2010
Why I’m glad I live in Canada
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a big fan of free speech. Free speech means free societies. It also means it’s almost impossible to completely crush a minority group for being dissident to the majority rule. As a black man, I know why ‘majority rules’ isn’t always a positive thing. Which is why these news …
Apr 14 2010
A nice summary of the danger of the forces of stupid
Sometimes it’s nice to hear this stuff coming from someone else.
Apr 14 2010
Measles outbreak in Vancouver
I’m sure some of you have been following this story: The BC Centre for Disease Control asked health-care professionals and the public to be alert for measles on Tuesday after eight of the 14 cases were diagnosed in a single household with unvaccinated members. None of the cases identified to date had received two doses …
Apr 13 2010
Update: the niqab in Quebec
There’s another story in the news that is quite contentious that speaks to my post yesterday, so I thought I’d throw in some interesting reading. The issue concerns the niqab, which is to my eyes the same as a burqa. Recently the government of Quebec passed a law banning the wearing of burqas while accessing …
Apr 12 2010
Religious tolerance or cultural tolerance?
Canada is a unique place. The full explanation of this seemingly banal statement will come perhaps in another, longer post. I just want to highlight and juxtapose a couple of recent news items. Suffice it to say that because Canada lacks a national identity (or at least a strong one) and relies on immigration to …
Apr 09 2010
Cognitive Semantics – pt. II
This post originally appeared on Facebook on May 25th, 2009 After re-reading my post of a couple days ago, I realize there is a big piece missing from my discussion of “smart” decision-making: the concept of Value. I allude to it in my example about driving 2 hours to run for 30 minutes, but I …
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