Monthly Archives: November 2020

This Week’s Facebook Memes

Quoted without comment. Opinions, not claims of fact; From Gloria Steinem: How about we treat every young man who wants to buy a gun like every woman who wants to get an abortion — mandatory 48-hour waiting period, parental permission, … Continue reading

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Lunacy | Leave a comment

Memoir Post: My Heart Attack

On Sunday October 25, 2020, I had a heart attack, though I didn’t realize what it was at the time. I woke up at 6:15 in the morning, and while lying in bed, had mild pain in my chest, such … Continue reading

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Links and Comments: Science, Reality Bubbles, and Stories

The most interesting one is at the bottom. \\ Scientific American: To Understand How Science Denial Works, Look to History, subtitled, “The same tactics used to cast doubt on the dangers of smoking and climate change are now being used … Continue reading

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Links and Comments: Obama; Conspiracy Theories; Big Government; Liberty

Guardian: review of Barack Obama’s new book. Obama makes clear he believes the whiplash from the 44th to 45th president is no accident. On the contrary, the mere fact that an accomplished, intelligent, scandal-free black man inhabited the White House … Continue reading

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Links and Comments: Christian Nationalism; Covid and Climate Denial

NYT: Trump or No Trump, Religious Authoritarianism Is Here to Stay, subtitled “Their unlikely ally may have lost the White House, but Christian nationalists still plan to win the war,” by Katherine Stewart. The 2020 election is proof that religious … Continue reading

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Links and Comments: Republican Shamelessness and Hypocrisy; Voter Fraud and Science Denialism

Mostly just links; the headlines and subtitles and quotes speak for themselves. NYT, Bret Stephens: The Conservative Movement Needs a Reckoning: subtitled, Just as ignorance was strength in George Orwell’s “1984,” shamelessness is virtue in Trump’s G.O.P. Trump lost for … Continue reading

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Bullets Dodged

A couple posts ago I listed several events in my life that, having survived them, provided a kind of “afterlife” that I would not have experienced in an earlier age, e.g. when medical procedures were not available to solve a … Continue reading

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The Afterlives, Part 2

I read a striking insight somewhere recently, but don’t remember where it was or who said it. The insight flips inside out the standard belief (at least among Christian faiths) that living a good life gets you into heaven, so … Continue reading

Posted in Evolution, Religion | Leave a comment

Principles and Moral Guidelines, Update

I polished my Principles page today, tightening a bit, and adding a section at the end listing my favorite alternatives to the Biblical Ten Commandments.

Posted in Humanism, Morality, Philosophy, Psychology | Leave a comment

The Issues that Divide Us (in the US at least)

I commented somewhere that the “issues” that divide the electorate today become more and more trivial the farther one zooms out to take a broader perspective of time and space. Issues so important at one time in history are irrelevant … Continue reading

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