I was out for a bike ride today, and was on a 2-lane road with no shoulder and fairly high speed (45 mph). It’s not the kind of road that I like riding on, but it’s the only way for me to get from Point A to Point B. Then a yahoo in a pick-em-up […]
It has been suggested by a commenter that I am only qualified to comment on hybrid cars and gasoline prices. Being a cell biologist, I’m not quite certain that that is truly my area of expertise, but I am a hybrid owner (although my preferred means of transportation involves two wheels and two pedals), and […]
A week or so ago, there was an article form Newsweek about Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon who is hawking a book claiming proof of heaven in his near death experience. Today, a similar story showed up on ABC news, as they are promoting an interview with him on Nightline. There are so many fallacies in […]
I just finished reading Free Will by Sam Harris. (quickest. read. ever.) In it, Harris makes the argument that free will is an illusion. Despite my best efforts, I can’t help but agree with him. Free will must be an illusion. Thinking about whether we have free will is a bit like thinking about time […]
The storming of embassies and tossing of Molotov Cocktails does far more to denigrate an entire religion than a ridiculous hack job film by a bunch of right wing zealots ever could. But the irony seems lost.
Paul Ryan claimed in an interview that he ran a marathon under 3 hours. Then he got called on it (by, among others, his own family). One does not run a 4:01:25 marathon and then remember having run it under 3 hours. I know my times in every significant race I’ve run, and the vast […]
I was a bit surprised to read this article on CNN about the supposed pluses and minuses of buying organic produce. I quote: Jen Matlack’s husband teases her about buying organic. It’s not worth the extra money, he says, but she insists. A new study promises to add fuel to their marital quarrel. Published Monday […]
Bill Nye (aka the Science Guy) has a short video where he stresses how counterproductive resistance to evolution is in raising a scientifically literate population. It’s a nice little bit that fairly succinctly summarizes the central problem with evolution denial: you can believe whatever you want, but the world doesn’t make any sense when evolution, […]
Two parents are suing a school district in California over its abstinence-only-based sex-ed curriculum. Good for them–I hope their lawsuit succeeds. Most of us would like our children to make smart decisions about sex. Children–teenagers in particular–do dumb things all the time, and the consequences of sex without forethought can be life-altering, or life-ending. Since […]
As we all know, Republicans as a whole (with the possible exception of their small libertarian wing) get orgasmically enthused about spending money on the military. As mentioned in this article about the Romney/Ryan budget “vision,” the GOP in general, and this ticket in particular, wants to gut discretionary spending for things like food stamps, […]
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