I was browsing on Arts & Letters Daily (again, as I do daily) when I found an article about the so-called “Brights” and the politics facing them. A snippet: What do you call someone who is not religious? Is there a need for a new name for such people? And should not politicians acknowledge them? Well, I have two thoughts on this. First, the term “Brights” to mean nonreligious people was just a stupid choice. It’s far too like to push too many sensitive buttons. I’ve met a number of really obnoxious atheists who think they are atheist because they …
Category: WTF
100% effective male contraceptive
That’s right. As posted on the Transhumanity webpage, the BBC recently reported on a 100% effective contraceptive for men. And you don’t even need to remember to take your pills daily. I don’t know if I’d be lining up to take it right now (I’d let some people try it for a few years to see), but then again I (sadly, waah waaah waaaaah) don’t need any contraceptives these days. Here’s the blurb, cribbed from the Transhumanity page: Male contraceptive 100% effective October 07, 2003 BBC – Scientists have developed a male contraceptive which was 100% effective and side-effect free …
Total Recall, Like, Totally
Yes. They made the Terminator a Governor. I thought people would have learned after that whole Reagan thing. This puts it more clearly than anything else I can imagine: Voters traded a career Democratic politician who became one of the state’s most despised chief executives for a moderate Republican megastar who had never before run for office. Davis became the first California governor pried from office and only the second nationwide to be recalled. What’s next? Van Damme takes over the Pentagon? Traci Lords for President? I thought a WWF wrestler as governor of Minnesota was as ridiculous as things …
Watchblog
Gee, I seem to be posting a lot about political stuff. Well, anyway, here’s one more, called WatchBlog. It’s a great multi-author blog that presents news and opinions on American politics from three different perspectives: Republican, Democrat, and Third-Party. While the scope of perspectives in American politics is rather limited in my opinion, it’s nice (and sometimes rather illuminating) to find examples and commentary on all three in the same venue. Personally, I think the whole left vs. right thing is pretty damaging to the public’s ability to reason about political issues. But it’s what America has to work with …
Anti-Americanism from a French point of view…
Having spent time online with a number of Americans, I know that there are three kinds of writing about anti-Americanism: the kind mostly by Americans, which I have little time to listen to because it’s usually rather decontextualized and whiney; the kind which is simply foreigners justifying anti-Americanism, which is boring as hell; and, finally, the kind that’s usually (though not always) by non-Americans, which is often interesting because it’s often a criticism of blind anti-Americanism which nonetheless still manages not to completely embrace pro-Americanism, or which celebrates non-American culture as well. As a Canadian, that being a person from …
Bush Administration Hides Global Warming Data
This is old news, but I never heard it. Listen to a piece from NPR : All Things Considered for Thursday, June 19, 2003. Here’s the blurb for that show: ‘N.Y. Times’ : EPA Report Omitted Global Warming Data The New York Times reports that the Bush administration edited out information on the effects of global warming from an upcoming Environmental Protection Agency study. The tone of the edited document puts more emphasis on uncertainties about climate change. Hear New York Times environmental reporter Andrew Revkin. Yeah, that’s what we need. Bush editing our science reports. And we trust this …
Friday Five
This week’s Friday Five question courtesy of William: Heinlein’s Number of the Beast theorizes that all realities, even ours, come from someone else’s imagination. And therefore, if you could learn to travel across dimensions it would be possible to find the worlds where every story occurred. The more fully realized story (and the better the story-teller) the more fully realized the world. So, What five fictional worlds would you like to visit once William perfects his inter-dimensional mini-van? I think I answered a question like this once on a mailing list, but the answer’s gone and anyway, I’m sure I’ll …
Genetic Engineering And Human Milk
Dairy giant Fonterra has bought the rights to use certain bits of human DNA… Does this disturb you? It doesn’t really bother me. After all, most humans are mildly allergic to non-human milk, but you’re never going to find a human-milk industry in mainstream agriculture on Earth, and any images of one are strictly for propaganda use. Yes, it’s a nasty image. Look at it up close, you can do that too if you want, and you should. And then remind yourself that it’s a dramatic bit of propaganda. There will be no human milk-farms, not in the next couple …
Technologies That Deserve To Die
Bruce Sterling has published a list over at MIT’s Technology Review, of Ten Technologies That Deserve to Die. You should especially look at the comments, there. I’m among them, but not one of the majority… most people are shrieking and wailing about how nasty and wrong and stupid they think Sterling is. Hm. I don’t get the frenzy. They must feel threatened.
Rove, hm?
A depressing look at the mechanics of things inside the White House… I don’t know what to say or think about this for now, but the angry Rove described in that article sounds like someone who would have leaked info like what happened in the Wilson/Plame scandal. Rather sad.