The NY Times has an article about science and the existence of the soul. There’s not really any substance to it, just discussions of what it could mean for science to show that the soul probably doesn’t exist. Of course, science can’t really do that; at best it could say that it’s unnecessary, which is […]

For some reason, the current front page over at Hit & Run (I have resisted their libertarianism for at least a year and a half, which is a good sign) is loaded with interesting/depressing news. A British labor union endorsing Hugo Chavez, George Will’s shrill screed on a free speech case he happens to be […]

I am declaring myself a non-citizen for the purposes of tax collection and a citizen otherwise. I thank you for your understanding.
Is it just me, or is the White House approaching crazy militia “I am a sovereign nation!” territory?

Mingle2 - Online Dating
I sort of wanted an X rating, but I imagine that would involve pictures and no one wants that.
(via Orac)

Obama talks about faith:
FORT DODGE — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama insisted Saturday that religious faith can play a central role in politics, but only if it’s used to tackle moral issues and not to divide the nation.
Moral issues like stem cell research, gay marriage, and abortion? Nope, not divisive at all there.

“But somehow, somewhere […]

Religious scholar Karen Armstrong is offended by ignorance of Islam:
RELIGIOUS scholar Karen Armstrong says she is defending Islam as it has been portrayed inaccurately in many ways, particularly in western countries.
She said when Islam, a religion professed throughout the world, is portrayed inaccurately and misrepresented, it offended her intellectually.
“When Islam is projected incorrectly, inaccurately and […]

Barna has a poll about the beliefs and activities of the atheist and agnostic segment of the population, which has some pretty interesting results. Among them:
Beyond the bestseller lists, however, a new survey shows there is indeed a significant gap between Christians and those Americans who are in the “no-faith” camp. For instance, most atheists […]

Look, a new poll on evolution. We get to be depressed about the support for creationism and the oddity of human response to pollsters.
First, we’re very agreeable. Two-thirds of use agree that creationism is probably or definitely true and 53% believe evolution is definitely or probably true. The way these two positions are defined in […]

I think this is amusing. The Second Circuit court of appeals overturned an FCC ruling about “fleeting expletives” and called them “divorced from reality.” Here’s one of the offending comments, at the Golden Globes:
After U2 frontman Bono said “This is really, really, fucking brilliant. Really, really, great” during an acceptance speech during the 2003 Golden […]

It seems that I’m pulling myself out of the drudgery rewarding and challenging experience in the software industry that is quality assurance and into programming. So now programming at work will not be loosely sanctioned goofing off, but fully sanctioned and encouraged goofing off.
Actually, QA wasn’t all that bad, for anyone looking at that kind […]