All entries by this author

Palin Will Run for President in 2012 Inshallah *

Nov 11th, 2008 | Filed by

Palin says she won’t hesitate to run for the presidency in four years if it’s God’s will.… Read the rest



The New York Times Has Lost its Mind *

Nov 11th, 2008 | Filed by

Runs a piece by a psychic about his excellent psychic adventure, no disclaimer in sight.… Read the rest



The Gospel of Matthew: A Book for Today?

Nov 11th, 2008 | By Edmund Standing

Earlier this month, the BBC reported that Pope Benedict XVI had opened a Synod of more than 200 cardinals and bishops from around the world to examine the modern lack of interest in the Bible.[1] As in many of his recent pronouncements, the Pope took the opportunity to repeat the same tired old claim that because modern Western society is apparently turning away from Christianity and the Bible, we are seeing the growth of ‘destructive influences’. Once again, secularism is blamed for the ills of modern society, while the Pope proposes that a return to ‘Scripture’ will solve our problems.

I decided it was time to take the Pope’s advice and re-read some ‘Scripture’.[2] Having previously come away from reading … Read the rest



A Useful Emetic *

Nov 10th, 2008 | Filed by

If you’ve just accidentally swallowed some poison, this is just the ticket. Otherwise don’t bother.… Read the rest



P J O’Rourke Looks Forward *

Nov 10th, 2008 | Filed by

‘The South Side of Chicago is what everyplace in America will be once the Democratic administration have etc etc’… Read the rest



Prop 8 Protests at Rick Warren’s Megachurch *

Nov 10th, 2008 | Filed by

Gay-rights advocates protested over Saddleback Church’s support of Proposition 8.… Read the rest



Secular v Haredi in Jerusalem Mayoral Election *

Nov 10th, 2008 | Filed by

Both candidates favour expanding settlements.… Read the rest



Joan Smith on Secularism in America *

Nov 10th, 2008 | Filed by

Or rather, its absence.… Read the rest



Untested ‘Cures’ Advertised on the Net *

Nov 10th, 2008 | Filed by

Leading medical experts are warning patients against using untested remedies advertised on the internet.… Read the rest



Education and Wishful Thinking

Nov 10th, 2008 | By Raymond S Mackintosh

The article by Charles Murray, discussed in a Note and Comment with a measure of disapprobation, raises awkward questions that need to be faced and which rarely are. The problem is that liberal-minded people, and I am one such, are not immune from falling into the trap of believing what we wish to be true rather than that which is true.

Let me first digress to tell a story. Almost twenty years ago, a senior colleague of mine became quite well-known for
writing highly regarded books on relativity and quantum mechanics (the `Uncle Albert’ series) that were targeted at
young teenagers. He gave our (physics) department a talk on the research that he did in preparation for writing
these books. … Read the rest



Victory to the elitists!

Nov 9th, 2008 4:58 pm | By

Of course one reason I was so pleased about the recent election is that it’s such a nice victory for elitism. About time.

Barack Obama’s election is a milestone in more than his pigmentation. The second most remarkable thing about his election is that American voters have just picked a president who is an open, out-of-the-closet, practicing intellectual.

Damn straight. A blatant, unashamed, undisguised, unapologetic intellectual, who doesn’t pretend to be thicker than he is in order to reassure the envious or the threatened or the hostile. Staggering, isn’t it?

Compare the ineffable Charles Murray, asked what he thinks of Sarah Palin:

I’m in love. Truly and deeply in love…The last thing we need are more pointy-headed intellectuals

Read the rest


CFI London: Science and Religion *

Nov 9th, 2008 | Filed by

Simon Singh, Mary Warnock, Jack Cohen, Stephen Law, 25th April, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square.… Read the rest



Armistice Day in the War on Brains *

Nov 9th, 2008 | Filed by

American voters have just picked a president who is an open, out-of-the-closet, practicing intellectual.… Read the rest



Anti-Semitism in 9/11 ‘Truth’ Movement *

Nov 9th, 2008 | Filed by

‘Texe Marrs outlines the eight pillars, or foundations, of the Zionist elite conspiracy to undermine the US.’… Read the rest



Visit the New Age Shop *

Nov 9th, 2008 | Filed by

Reiki; readings that combine tarot cards, angel cards and crystal dowsing; ‘Balanced Therapy’; much more.… Read the rest



Katha Pollit Says Sayonara to Sarah Palin *

Nov 9th, 2008 | Filed by

Palin models what feminism isn’t.… Read the rest



You can’t detect it, but you know it’s there

Nov 9th, 2008 11:33 am | By

As you may have seen in News the other day, David Colquhoun provides excerpts from ‘a lengthy set of notes for a first year course on “The Holistic Model of Healthcare”…from the 2005 course at Thames Valley University’ (along with a link to the whole thing). It’s fascinating stuff – and it raises a familiar question.

[T]he subject of Wholistic Nutrition transcends the area of human understanding for which science, alone, is appropriate. The reason is that it is ‘vitalistic’. It recognises the presence in all life forms including the human body, of subtle (or ‘etheric’) energy forces not easily measurable by the physicist’s equipment. It shares that position with the ‘energy medicine’ disciplines such as homoeopathy, traditional acupuncture and

Read the rest


Child-torture in Nigeria

Nov 8th, 2008 5:27 pm | By

Now for something more serious. Something intolerable.

Ostracised, vulnerable and frightened, she wandered the streets in south-eastern Nigeria, sleeping rough, struggling to stay alive. Mary was found by a British charity worker and today lives at a refuge in Akwa Ibom province with 150 other children who have been branded witches, blamed for all their family’s woes, and abandoned. Before being pushed out of their homes many were beaten or slashed with knives, thrown onto fires, or had acid poured over them…Many of those branded “child-witches” are murdered – hacked to death with machetes, poisoned, drowned, or buried alive in an attempt to drive Satan out of their soul. The devil’s children are “identified” by powerful religious leaders at

Read the rest


Faith, any faith

Nov 8th, 2008 5:19 pm | By

Michael Binyon in The Times slobbers over Charles for being interested in lots of religions.

[N]o monarch since the Stuarts has taken an intellectual interest in religion, and none has devoted time and respect to other faiths. The Prince, however, counts bishops and moral philosophers, rabbis, priests and Islamic scholars among those whom he regularly meets and with whom he discusses the spiritual dimensions of life in Britain today.

Find the odd one out. Got it in one. What are ‘moral philosophers’ doing in that mob? Does this beezer think moral philosophy is a ‘faith’?

For him, the concept of faith — any faith — is important in the crusade against the rising tide of secular materialism and scientific

Read the rest


Ireland: Priests Abused Children in Bulk *

Nov 8th, 2008 | Filed by

The horrendous scale of clerical paedophilia in the Dublin archdiocese since 1940.… Read the rest