Sunday school for atheists

Some insist science and religion remain non overlapping human endeavors. I don’t know. It’s a handy way to avoid political strife and allow science continued progress out from under religion’s thumb. There’s something to be said for that. But in the end aren’t both motivated by the desire to know profound truths about our universe? And in the relative end, hasn’t one delivered solidly, more reliably, than the other in recent times?

Lt Gov candidate in Virginia notes you are a vessel for Satan

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Pastor E. W. Jackson is running for the crucial job of Lt. Governor in Virginia. Can we dispense with which party he’s in? It’s a critical post in VA because that state’s senate is split and the Lt Gov casts the tie breaker. He’s quite a piece of work and exhibit A for why pulpits and ballot boxes mix like domestic bliss and anabolic steroids: [Read more…]

Here’s an interesting consequence from heart surgery

You know that hole between the two main chambers of the heart some babies have that has to be fixed? Well, it usually closes fine on its own, but when it closes up it leaves a weak spot behind, and guess how cardio docs get the cath through from one side of the heart to the other when they balloon clogged arteries or put in stents? That’s right, they shove it through the weak spot mother nature leaves behind. News to me.

Sometimes that newly created hole doesn’t close up on its own and I may be one of those lucky duckies. I’m told it’s relatively easy to fix, it means another cath, and in some cases they don’t have to do anything. My cardiologist will decide which group I belong to, but there’s no fear of another minimally invasive cath here and leaving a hole there can be a stroke risk, that’s one reason heart surgery patients have to take blood thinners for a year or more after getting a stent (Or bypass). I’d just as soon get it fixed asap and not fuck around.

Seems like just yesterday Ed Brayton and I were being monitored by the NSA …

I remember when I first virtually “met” Ed Brayton. Years ago there was and still is a venue called Talk Origins where I sent in an email inviting him to a chat room on MSN called Evolution vs Creationism. See, back in those days the MSN chatroom and associated community were all free. Unlike most chatrooms we could kick dishonest people out if they began trolling, it was greeeeat! Ed Brayton came in, someone pitched him the old Kent Hovind will give you a million bucks if you can prove evolution spiel, at which point Ed replied to the effect of “I’ll give you my entire networth right now if you can prove decapitation causes death using the same criteria Hovind uses for evolution,” and I knew I had met a kindred spirit. Ed was both hilarious and just devastating in debate, still is btw if you ever get a chance to meet him. Of course, nothing that good could last … [Read more…]