So Jesse Bering had a recent article in Salon in which he said we shouldn’t trust the godless — because psychology blah blah blah fear of an observant deity blah blah untrustworthy blah. Blah blah.
I didn’t like it.
So I wrote a quick rebuttal, and Salon has published it: Don’t trust the religious.
I’m sure the gay element here (I’ve heard rumors that there are a few of you) are happy with the news that Anderson Cooper has come out of the closet.
I’m here to detumesce you (not that your appreciation of the man was anything but intellectual). He’s also tossing god-bottery around.
In my opinion, the ability to love another person is one of God’s greatest gifts, and I thank God every day for enabling me to give and share love with the people in my life.
Sorry. But it’s still a brave bit of news. He wasn’t going to cuddle with you anyway.
Perhaps you missed it, but there was recently a paper claiming that gay parents were a perilous proposition. No surprises, as expected it was shoddy work promoted by religious social conservatives.
We got a fan letter. At last, I can stop crying, put down the ice cream, and Ecuador is saved!
I do so dearly love Stross’s books, and now he’s writing about writing on Reddit. I rather like his writing protocol.
I write exclusively using computers. Pens and typewriters can fsck right off — I wrote my first half million words in my teens on a manual typewriter (had to trade it for a new one due to keys snapping from metal fatigue) so I am not a pen or typewriter fetishist.
I write almost entlirely on Macs, because: Windows gives me hives. (I first ran into Windows as of Win 2.11/386, back in the eighties. It did not leave a good taste. I then became a happy UNIX bunny. Mac OSX is the last UNIX workstation class OS standing. So I’ve learned to put up with its other foibles.)
I have no set writing routine other than: plant bum in chair in front of keyboard/on sofa under laptop, and start going. Oh, and I drink tea pretty much continuously at a rate of around 1 imperial pint/hour, which sort of enforces screen/keyboard breaks.
Whoa, that sounds like my approach. I’m also sitting here with a cup of tea that I rise up regularly to refill, and also to, errm, release the Kraken. He must be a smart man.
Mano Singham has discovered a good analysis of the claim that circumcision has health benefits. I agree with it entirely, because I looked at those same papers and came to the same conclusion a year ago! So they must be right.
The analysis points out a few new things I hadn’t noticed, in addition to the bad experimental design and the inflated statistics: the results were confounded by the fact that the newly circumcised individuals also got additional counseling about safe sex, and were restricted in their sexual practices by their surgical wounds. It’s bad research coming to impractical and unrealistic conclusions, and they suggest that there are better answers than promoting this shaky idea that circumcision reduces the risk of AIDS.
Rather than wasting resources on circumcision, which is less effective, more expensive, and more invasive, focusing on iatrogenic sources and secondary prevention should be the priority, since it provides the most impact for the resources expended.
Exactly — the defense of circumcision is ludicrous, it’s an unnecessary cosmetic surgery promoted entirely for historically religious reasons, and it’s time to stop.
Today, I’m getting lessons from Narbonic.
Except, no, I haven’t been having an affair with any of our discharged ex-colleagues.
Also, sorry, Ecuador.
The latest Carnival of Evolution is online at Mousetrap.
I am an atheist because I was only ever a theist due to an emotional bond which had time to fade, and reason did not save it.
My mother is Catholic, and I was raised and confirmed in that tradition. Regardless of my present unbelief, the Church will count me among its ranks until the day I die. (Even if I convinced some priest or bishop to unhappily record my renouncement, I suspect he would not pass on the minus-one to the higher-ups.) As a child, I often quietly spoke to God as if He were a foot away and could hear my every thought. Every time I did this I would wonder if He was really listening, but it was nice to always have someone to talk to.
