All entries by this author

The Dope on the Pope

May 13th, 2005 2:01 am | By

Maybe – as a lot of people have said – it’s not such a bad thing that Ratzinger is pope. Maybe we should all be rejoicing, and singing Te Deums and lighting candles and pretending to see baby Jesus on our pizza. Maybe he’ll wake a few dozy people up to what the Catholic church is and what it’s for and what it’s about. It’s not a pretty silk brocade and red velvet backdrop for a sweet old guy who wanders the globe ‘blessing’ people, and it’s not the best place to look for social justice or equality or critical thinking or – much of anything good, really. At least nothing that I can think of. Just ask anyone who … Read the rest



Bullshit Guru *

May 12th, 2005 | Filed by

Surely there is more than one of those.… Read the rest



Ungolden Silence on Golden Rice *

May 12th, 2005 | Filed by

Funny how silent the media are about research that offers evidence favorable to GM crops.… Read the rest



New Skeptics’ Circle at Pharyngula *

May 12th, 2005 | Filed by

Should keep you busy for a few days.… Read the rest



The Science of Gender and Science *

May 12th, 2005 | Filed by

Steven Pinker and Elizabeth Spelke discuss the subject by discussing the evidence.… Read the rest



Lucubrations and Kakapitze

May 11th, 2005 9:27 pm | By

Joseph Epstein has a rather irritating review of Elaine Showalter’s new book on the academic novel. I don’t like Epstein’s writing much. It’s rather stale and uninspired and labored, I think.

The closest thing we have to these ideal anthropologists have been novelists writing academic novels, and their lucubrations, while not as precise as one would like on the reasons for the unhappiness of academics, do show a strong and continuing propensity on the part of academics intrepidly to make the worst of what ought to be a perfectly delightful situation.

Lucubrations. Perfectly delightful. Propensity. Intrepidly. Yawn. Yawn, yawn, yawn. About as fresh as last week’s oatmeal.

And in this review he says silly and very banal and untrue things … Read the rest



‘Commonweal’ Editor Told ‘You’re Next’ *

May 11th, 2005 | Filed by

Editor’s forced resignation has shocked Catholic journalists and academics.… Read the rest



Not Satan, Just Guy Who Changed Mind *

May 11th, 2005 | Filed by

Goat heads would look nice on wall. No they wouldn’t.… Read the rest



It Was Julian Wot Won It *

May 11th, 2005 | Filed by

Lib Dems owe their success to Baggini’s changes of constituency.… Read the rest



Even Slavery is Culturally Relative to Some *

May 11th, 2005 | Filed by

To others, ‘To excuse it as a cultural or religious normality is equally indefensible.’… Read the rest



Church of Fictionology Claims 450 Billion Members *

May 11th, 2005 | Filed by

Worship of Kool Aid man encouraged, unlike hidebound old Scientology.… Read the rest



Always the Last to Know

May 11th, 2005 2:30 am | By

Don’t I feel stupid. Sometimes I miss comments here. I don’t have one of them there RSS things, so no little bell goes off, no stoat leaps out of a hole in the corner of the screen, no spark ignites a small charge of powder to explode the ‘k’ key and get my attention. In short, nothing alerts me that a new comment has been posted, and so…if some days have passed…and I’ve forgotten what number they were on…then I overlook them. I feel guilty sometimes, as if I’ve been snubbing people, or ignoring them when they say something interesting. And I miss good stuff, too. I should get one of them there RSS things, I suppose. But I’ve been … Read the rest



Carlin Romano on Pope’s Lack of Indignation *

May 10th, 2005 | Filed by

Quickly sealing Ratzinger ‘Hitler Youth’ file with ‘compulsory’ is too simple.… Read the rest



Elaine Showalter on the Academic Novel *

May 10th, 2005 | Filed by

Sociological interest of pope-crowning-like search for new university president.… Read the rest



Revenge of the Republic of Letters on Sartre *

May 10th, 2005 | Filed by

He had lots of disgust and no artistic sense of play.… Read the rest



Vatican Dismisses Editor of Catholic Magazine *

May 10th, 2005 | Filed by

Scholars fear Vatican intends signal: disagreement with church is forbidden.… Read the rest



Look at This Watch

May 10th, 2005 2:18 am | By

Kansas, eh. I have to tell you, I’m having second thoughts about that move to Topeka.

This time, Darwin’s critics insist they are not religiously motivated creationists, but are scientists who believe that certain things in the universe, including human life, are too complex to be explained by natural causes and must be the product of an intelligent creator. They call this theory ”intelligent design,” and while they resist publicly declaring that a Christian God’s hand is at work, they also suggest that proponents of a key tenet of evolutionary theory — that changes over time can result in new species — are atheists or secular humanists.

Atheists or secular humanists – ew ick. Those nasty proponent people wouldn’t just … Read the rest



Irshad Manji *

May 9th, 2005 | Filed by

No community, no culture, no religion ought to be immune from respecting universality of human rights.… Read the rest



Knowledge in the Dock in Kansas *

May 9th, 2005 | Filed by

Like handing control of a blood bank over to a cabal of vampires.… Read the rest



Contradictions in Kansas *

May 9th, 2005 | Filed by

ID is science not religion, but evolution is for atheists and ‘secular humanists.’… Read the rest