November 2009
Frightened of God
Richard Dawkins: Let me ask you about another thing in the booklet, which was about AIDS and HIV, and I think somewhere it talks about AIDS being the wages of sin. Um, is that mixing health education with moralistic preaching?
Adrian Hawkes: I suppose the flipside of that is, if there is no God, if there is no law-giver, why does it matter what I do? Why is rape wrong? Why is pedophelia wrong? Why are these things wrong if there's no law-giver?
Richard Dawkins: Well, you've just said a very revealing thing. Are you telling me that the only reason why you don`t steal and rape and murder is that you're frightened of God?
From young Mozart to black holes, 350 years of... →
by Ian Sample, The Guardian
Britain’s academy of the sciences marks anniversary with online archive including letters from Newton and Captain Cook
vruz: or go straight to the Royal Society website: Trailblazing
http://trailblazing.royalsociety.org/
FriendDA -- Slightly more than a hearty handshake... →
by Rand
—via laurawhitehead:useful…. really useful indeed!
vruz: I might add one additional clause: “The Advisor” shouldn’t act offended in any of the situations described below.
This agreement is entered into this ___ day of ___ 20__ by and between _____________ (hereinafter “The Advisor”) and _____________ (hereinafter “The Keeper of the...
we won
advantage is already unsurmountable.
fearmongers back to the shelves.
back to work now.
“The enlightenment is under threat. So is reason. So is truth. So is science … We...”
– Richard Dawkings, from his introduction to “The God Delusion“ (via The Rise Of Atheism) (via atheistramblings)
vruz: it’s not a cultural war. it’s the everlasting day to day fight and vigilance for freedom. being able to develop thought to the full extent of human potential requires...
Learn the five secrets of innovation →
—via hiten
vruz: talking about ‘secrets’ and the always elusive ingredient or magic formula when referring to innovation is like speaking about management from the point of view of a medieval magician dazzling an audience with things that were then poorly understood. innovation is well understood, there’s plenty of research and practice in the field. what happens is that...
“…it is imperative that we continue to place the arts and our artists in the...”
– Fred Goldring: The Main Point: Musicians, Arts Education And The E Street Shuffle (via gcn)
“Deep, unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the...”
– George Eliot, Adam Bede (1859). (via ryanedwardmiller)
Damon Albarn Confirms Gorillaz LP Title, Cameos by...
—via twentyfourbit:
It’s been four years since Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett and company’s second Gorillaz LP, Demon Days, sold millions of copies and topped dozens of “best of” lists, but the animated, genre-bending group aren’t planning to rest on their laurels anytime soon. In an interview with the Guardian’s Paul Morley, singer/songwriter/producer Damon Albarn confirmed rumors about the...
How I Hire Programmers (Aaron Swartz's Raw... →
—via laurawhitehead sez: nice tips.
November 29th, you gorgeous motherfucker of a day...
—via chuckmore : vruz subscribes to this assessment.
“Going with the flow is a euphemism for failing.”
– Seth’s Blog: Boundary makers (via hiten)
it's election day (again) in these whereabouts. in...
“No sigas las huellas
de los antiguos
busca lo que ellos buscaron.”
– Mario Benedetti - Rincón de Haikus (PDF)
my translation: don’t follow the footsteps / of the ancient / search what they searched for
in which rails people discover real ORMs →
everything you've known in your lifetime, all the...
“I just don’t think it’s possible to be usefully pro-business and anti-science at...”
– Disinvesting In the USA
Rafer sez:My investment strategy differs greatly from Tim Bray’s, but this analysis of the Republicans is priceless.
(via rafer)
vruz: I don’t think the US will cease to be a superpower any time soon. I think becoming somewhat less dominant will be good in general,...
Colin Powell's Leadership Presentation →
vruz: one can only begin to imagine the pain powell was subjected to under a president that failed every leadership test.
—via rafer
“I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking...”
– Jorge Luis Borges (via bluechameleon)
“The thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I...”
– Soren Kierkegaard (via whokilled)
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners...”
– Marcel Proust (via danielholter)
Not just in Star Trek
by Josh Marshall, TPM
I just learned that the first national Tea Party convention will be held in February and both Palin and Bachmann will be headlining. It does raise the question/possibility whether it could lead to some sort of matter/anti-matter type blow up if they come into sustained contact with the non-crazy universe.
“It is as if he had spent his entire life wondering what he looked like, without...”
– Walter Benjamin on Franz Kafka. (via dailymeh:unburyingthelead)
