Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 20th, 2009
This is a bad week to be a Saudi film buff, as the country’s only film festival was just cancelled: Many religious conservatives in the kingdom believe films from more liberal Arab countries such as Egypt could violate religious taboos. Some also view cinema and acting, as a form of dissembling, as inconsistent with Islam. [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 19th, 2009
Another book review! This one from “Marginal Revolution” blogger Tyler Cowen: I am a pro-religion non-believer, but if you wish to hear from an anti-religion non-believer, this is the place to go. He will tell you that your religion is false. In addition to its humor, I prefer the content of this book to the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 18th, 2009
Generally, I try to avoid debates on topics that contain more than 14 letters. Today I will make a rare exception. You see, there’s a new book, Unscientific America, arguing that scientific illiteracy threatens our future. I have no doubt this is true. Just last weekend I wore my Maxwell’s Equations T-shirt out to a [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 18th, 2009
Although I am a little bit frustrated with the local papers for never responding to the voicemails I leave them several times a day politely asking why they haven’t reviewed the free books I sent them, I do still get some joy from reading them every Saturday morning while sipping my coffee. This morning, for [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 16th, 2009
(according to Google News) 1. Fail to predict your best friend / employer’s sudden death: He never thought he’d be CEO material. And yet here he is, running the 6-year-old John Entwistle Foundation, working every day to get musical instruments into the hands of poor and sick kids. “If you want to make God laugh,” [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 15th, 2009
There are a number of popular paths to joining the clergy: getting your father to bequeath you his megachurch getting your father to bequeath you his radio ministry getting your father to bequeath you his evangelistic association getting your father to bequeath you his crystal cathedral getting your father to bequeath you his fundamentalist college [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 14th, 2009
Not only is Albert Pujols one of the greatest baseball players of all time, he’s also nuts: “I don’t believe in all that science stuff,” Pujols said. “I believe in Jesus Christ, who gave me the strength and power and talent to honor him. You can always try to figure it out and be scientific [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 13th, 2009
For various reasons, I need to move the site to a different server. I’m hoping this will be painless, but it’s possible it may be painful. If I temporarily vanish, this is why. Hey, it looks like it worked! Send me a mail if you have any problems.
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 13th, 2009
The early reviews of the new Harry Potter are in, and they’re pretty good: The Vatican lauded the latest Harry Potter film on Monday, saying Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince made the age-old debate over good vs. evil crystal clear. Wait, crystal clear? I read the book, and I’m pretty sure that the battle [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 12th, 2009
In recent years the Catholic Church has been creating new sins with abandon, including “causing social injustice [except when the Catholic Church does it],” “becoming obscenely wealthy [except when the Catholic Church does it],” and “road rage [except when the Catholic Church does it].” And if there’s one man you can count on to take [...]
