Reading Time: 7 minutes A Little History of Creationism in the US Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. — Amendment […]
Bert Bigelow
Posted inComedy, Politics
Five Kinds of Guys
Reading Time: 3 minutes “All generalizations are dangerous, even this one.” ― Alexandre Dumas, fils From Wikipedia: Expressed in philosophical language, a hasty generalization is a fallacy of defective induction, a conclusion that has been made on the basis of weak premises. Unlike fallacies of relevance, in fallacies of defective induction, the premises are related to the conclusions yet […]
Posted inEthics and Morality
Who Gives More To Charity?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Conservatives frequently claim that they give more money to charities that help the poor than liberals do. Is it true? I did some digging and came up with some numbers. In 2010, individuals and their estates gave over $290B to charities. By far the largest category, (35%) of all charitable giving went to churches.[1] That’s […]
Posted inThe Secular
Robert Ingersoll’s Creed
Reading Time: 3 minutes Robert G. Ingersoll is one of my heroes. He confronted religious faith and showed that it was nothing more than primitive superstition. At the end of the 19th century, he had accumulated quite a following for what he called “freethought,” based on reason, logic and experience. Sadly, he died in 1899 at 66, far too […]
Posted inHealth
Abstinence Is Hard
Reading Time: 3 minutes Absence makes the heart grow fonder. -Anonymous The author of this proverb is unknown. Some say Shakespeare, but that is questionable. Nobody really knows…and that is good, because it is nonsense. I am immensely fond of my wife, but whenever I used to go on business trips, I did not become fonder. I got horny! […]
Posted inScience
On Human Cloning
Reading Time: 5 minutes Recent advances in stem cell research have reopened the controversy that has surrounded the issue of human cloning.[i] There is widespread opposition throughout the world to the reproductive cloning of a human being. Many countries have enacted laws prohibiting it. The UN struggled with the issue for years and finally enacted a non-binding Declaration on […]
Posted inEducation
Home Schooling
Reading Time: 5 minutes Some people do not like what their kids will experience in public schools, so they educate them at home. Is this good or bad? First, I must admit that I have some bias here. I come from a long line of schoolteachers. Most of my family…my mother, and most of my brothers and sisters and […]
Posted inPolitics
Religious Right – Defenders of Women’s Rights?
Reading Time: 2 minutes This was written before the last Presidential election, but it still applies to the current political situation. The Virginia state legislature passed a bill requiring women to have an ultrasound probe inserted into their you-know-what before they could have an abortion. Governor Robert McDonnell called it the “women’s right to know bill.” The idea is […]
Posted inEthics and Morality
Why is the Vatican a State?
Reading Time: 3 minutes [This was written a few years ago when the pedophile priest scandal was at its peak. The scandal seems to have died down, but the questions that were raised have not gone away.] The central office of the Catholic Church, The Vatican, is considered a nation. No other religion is accorded this honor. Why does […]
Posted inUncategorized
Where Have I Heard This Before?
Reading Time: 3 minutes I was reading an article yesterday about the history of the NFL, and some of the legendary teams that gained nationwide fame. The “front four” defensive linemen of the Los Angeles Rams were known as the “Fearsome Foursome.” The Minnesota Vikings had a great name for theirs: “The Purple People Eaters.” That name just stuck […]