"Should" is Not a Good Reason to Restrain Free Speech
Much press and debate has been created due to Rev. Terry Jones announcement that he would burn a Quran, the holy book of Islam. Jones, of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, had planned to burn the book on the 9th anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. As of this writing, he has recanted his desire to ever burn a Quran and the deed went unfulfilled.
What it sparked has been a…
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Added by Reggie on September 12, 2010 at 11:00am —
10 Comments
Usually, consensual sex that leads to a rape conviction has something to do with the legal age of consent and one of the consenting sexual partners being below it. Maybe the victim even lied about their age and the law showed no mercy for the hapless perpetrator. But, this is a novel case where two, consenting adults met and then had sex. Everything was legal until sometime later when the woman found out something about her sexual partner.
Sabbar Kashur, 30, was sentenced…
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Added by Reggie on July 20, 2010 at 9:02pm —
4 Comments
I started playing hockey again and one of the highlights of this is that some old friends have also dusted off their skates and are shaking off years of rust with me. Of course, the icing on this cake is the trip to the bar after the game, picking up where we left off in our mid-twenties and having a good time with the help of cold beer. I have been friends with these people since before I identified with atheism, and probably back to when I identified as a Christian, although I was never a…
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Added by Reggie on July 12, 2010 at 8:02pm —
12 Comments
I watched the SNL parody on the television of ICP's song Miracles before I was aware of the actual song. After discovering the source of the parody, I was beside myself at how little SNL had to do to parody this. It is so ridiculous, that it is its own parody. But it also worried me in that I know far too many people who not only embrace ignorance, but seem to celebrate it as a virtue.
The religious right is in the mainstream pushing their anti-intellectual and anti-science agenda. I…
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Added by Reggie on April 22, 2010 at 12:30pm —
20 Comments
Here is the newest political email I have received, although it does not appear to be all that new. But after the failure to block health care reform, this may be getting resurrected as the cause du jour for the crazy right. It has all the classic stamps of lunacy. From spending most of the email establishing outrage before presenting the "facts", to the "BETTER WAKE UP AMERICA" in all caps, to the call to arms at the end reading "This is bad.....real bad....these guys MUST be stopped, stopped…
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Added by Reggie on April 22, 2010 at 10:00am —
3 Comments
There is something I…
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Added by Reggie on April 1, 2010 at 10:30pm —
1 Comment
“It won’t be long until this is a communist country,” it was said today during a business meeting. The conversation was in regards to a Chinese supplier and their ability to expand space and operations. One co-worker jokingly stated that the government could just throw out the neighbors and raze the building, allowing the supplier to expand. The reason for this, my co-worker explained with a chuckle, is because they are communists. I retorted that it happens all the time here in the United…
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Added by Reggie on March 19, 2010 at 8:00pm —
6 Comments
Here now is a story that will sell newspapers. No doubt you have already heard of the Belgian man who, after an automobile accident, spent the last 23 years in a coma. After his family requested a new diagnosis, it was found through brain scans (of some sort) that his brain was functioning normally and that was when they realized he could communicate with a touch pad and a helping hand. The story that emerged is that he was fully aware during those 23 years and was "trapped", unable to speak or…
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Added by Reggie on November 25, 2009 at 10:30am —
5 Comments
Look out Higgs!
Geneva, 20 November 2009. Particle beams are once again circulating in the world's most powerful particle accelerator, CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This news comes after the machine was handed over for operation on Wednesday morning. A clockwise circulating beam was established at ten o'clock this evening.
You can follow the whole thing…
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Added by Reggie on November 21, 2009 at 5:37pm —
1 Comment
Well, it appears that she is headed the United States, for a short visit. She'll be visiting the 48th state to be inducted into the Union, also known as the Copper State. Where has she fled?
A) Kentucky
B) South Dakota
C) Arizona
D) Mexico
She wanted me to let you all know that she misses you godless heathens. She plans to buy a puppy dog and then travel to Mexico to train it as a…
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Added by Reggie on November 1, 2009 at 4:43pm —
4 Comments
November is shaping up to be a busy month. I'm ready to begin my career as an amateur astronomer. I had
written before about the Galileoscope, and they are very neat! I bought a $15 tripod from Amazon and I think it will work great. Now, if only these damned rainstorms would go away and give me some clear sky! Here is a picture of the setup. You are probably wondering how I took the picture and…
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Added by Reggie on October 31, 2009 at 11:00am —
10 Comments
Interesting article about Paul Haggis (Academy Award winning director of "Crash") leaving Scientology. I stumbled upon
this here and I have to say that this reporting style caters to my tastes, so be forewarned before you click. There are pictures of beautiful women kissing each other. It will make sense when you read it. Or not. I didn't care, I was just happy to see…
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Added by Reggie on October 26, 2009 at 8:23pm —
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Richard Dawkins wrote a very excellent book on, to borrow from Jerry Coyne's also excellent and eponymously titled book, why evolution is true. Dawkins went on his promotional tour, many times being thrown to wolves who had no interest in helping him promote his latest book or in evolution itself. Many of these television personalities were focused on taking a swipe at, what they must have perceived to be, the Pope of New Atheism and obsessing over his 2006 book, The God Delusion. Richard…
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Added by Reggie on October 24, 2009 at 12:00pm —
10 Comments
Lisa Miller, Newsweek's Religion Editor, thinks you are boring. Okay, actually she thinks that arguing over religion is boring. So stop it. Seriously.
She wrote an article title and subtitled so:
Two White Guys Walk Into a Bar … Let's move beyond faith versus reason.…
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Added by Reggie on October 23, 2009 at 10:30pm —
6 Comments
From CNN,
another story of a young girl being attacked by a family member:
Arizona police are looking for a man who they allege ran down his daughter and her friend because he believed his daughter had become "too Westernized."…
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Added by Reggie on October 21, 2009 at 8:00pm —
5 Comments
November is National Novel Writing Month! Many of us have always dreamed of writing a novel and just never got around to it. Well, now is your chance to accomplish this personal feat. The great thing about
NaNoWriMo is that it is merely a fun, personal contest to put 50,000 words or more together for a short novel.
From the NaNoWriMo site:
"
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel… Continue
Added by Reggie on October 20, 2009 at 11:09pm —
13 Comments
I've been looking to get into some astronomy of late and this post may be of interest to anyone in that same mood. Or, for those who are looking for a good gift for a budding astronomer.
Today I received two
Galileoscopes in the mail. They are low cost telescopes that seem perfect for amateur astronomers. Here is the product description from their site.
The Galileoscope™ is a high-quality, low-cost telescope… Continue
Added by Reggie on October 19, 2009 at 9:31pm —
7 Comments
Until recently I was content to let bygones be bygones in a heated debate with
Nix Manes on his
Texas Execution Looms After Jury Consult Bible blog post. The conversation was sidetracked by Nix Manes due to his accusations that lawyers and judges cause strife. I took exception to his sweeping…
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Added by Reggie on October 19, 2009 at 12:00am —
5 Comments
From PZ Myers'
Pharyngula blog:
Lose all faith in Catholicism, please. If you haven't already,
this story should help you on your way. If that's not enough, perhaps…
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Added by Reggie on October 18, 2009 at 1:42pm —
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Religion pervades all facets of life in the United States. From influencing who we vote for to how we respond to a sneeze, religion's influence on Americans is undeniable. Because these beliefs are so common place, not many people give much thought to the religiosity involved in everyday life. When a loved one is recovering in the hospital, the most common thing you will hear is how well wishers will pray for their recovery.
What is interesting is the link between childhood cartoons…
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Added by Reggie on October 13, 2009 at 10:09pm —
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