Writings, Reviews, Cultural Criticism
How do we answer those who apply doubt to sway public opinion in favour of irrational views? How do we respond to the well-orchestrated media campaign that encourages people to doubt the credibility of evolutionary biology in favour of supernatural fiat?
The Atlanta Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed a new device to prevent the spread of stupidity.
I had forgotten to take my meds again. I had an “Oh shit” sinking feeling in the bottom of my stomach when I found a full bottle of pills on the window sill above the kitchen sink and realized a whole month had passed me by and still I hadn’t opened it, not even once.
Clear Heart Open Mind is a reflection on the Tibetan meditative practice of Chenresig. Those who follow my blog or are aware of my sometimes hyper-rational predilections may wonder why I’m reviewing a book about mystical practices. I beg your indulgence.
There was a third man, and wiser still, who built on water instead of sand or hill; the rains, the flood: unmoored, he rose and fell and shuddered to the rhythm of a deeper swell. Three thousand years enslaved by our tropes, the old salt spews bile on our hopes. Still, we insist that, while…
The United Church of Canada has responded to the atheist bus ad campaign by launching a campaign all its own.
The British Humanist Association has funded the atheist bus ad campaign in London: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
The gavel came down with a crack, which surprised me, because I thought that courts didn’t use real gavels anymore. I thought gavels were symbols of office, for decoration only, like a captain’s sextant or a priest’s bible. But there it was—a sharp stroke against the wooden desk that sounded in my head like a gunshot. Bang. My first criminal conviction. I had a record.
From Reuters we have the story of outrage at Chilean fashion designer Ricardo Oyarzun who is planning a show that dresses models in garb which borrows from the iconography of the Virgin Mary.
In our household, the division of labour is allocated so that, among other things, I do the laundry. This has given me considerable exposure to fashion trends in women’s undergarments — moreso in the last three or four years as my daughter has become conscious of such things and has demanded that our fashion shopping habits keep her in pace with her friends.
In its military “defensive” against Gaza, Israel’s chief weapon is spin. Like shells that soften the ground before the troops move in, Israel started lobbing little media bombs to soften up international opinion. Like Orwell’s Ministry of Truth, Israel has its National Information Directorate.
Of all the useless appendages,your earlobe is the loveliest.I’ve never nibbled on your tonsilsand know nothing of appendices.I whisper and it stirsthe white down that grows there.Like the soft sand of Normandy,it’s the beachhead of my advance.I order my words, and offthey go, over the top,to take the cochlea,the stirrup and anvil! With precisionand discipline,…
You know how the song goes: “When you’re in love with a beautiful woman, it’s hard….” That’s how I’ve always felt with Suzanne. I try to hide it, but there are times when my insecurities emerge low in my viscera and refuse to go away.
The election of Barack Obama has been accompanied by a mood of optimism: America (and the whole world for that matter) might at last enjoy some respite from the reactionary politics of George W. Bush and his caterwauling coterie on the extreme right.
Donations to charitable organizations are down this Christmas, largely as a result of the economic downturn we have experienced this fall. We have been hearing a lot from the Salvation Army in particular.