Open for criticism

A while back I posted the first draft of a paper I was writing on scientific credibility. I had promised to also post the final draft when I was finished but then I forgot and went on with my life. Well, for anyone who is interested, here is the final draft that I turned in. I’d very much apprectiate any comments or criticism on my approach and/or writing style. I’d love to hear from anyone who has something to say, so read it after the fold and hold nothing back.

An update.

But this update will make most rational-minded people want to tear their hair out. I came across this article written by none other than Ben Stein on the Pharyngula blog and had to share it. Look it over for an example of the kind of intellectually vapid bile that is so common to people like Stein.

Aside from the blatantly homophobic rhetoric (which I don’t even wish to dignify with comment), he also spouts some ethnically insensitive (borderline racist) nonsense regarding the confederate flag:

Second, let’s look at George Allen. Now, he’s a bad guy because he has a Confederate flag. Let’s get it straight. To millions of our fellow citizens, this flag has zero to do with racism. It is entirely about respect for a time of unbelievable horror in our society, The Civil War, and respect for men who fought so brilliantly for a cause that was unquestionably — by decent standards — a bad cause. Moreover, the stars and bars are a beautiful design and show nothing whatsoever about a person’s views about non-whites. No one has suggested that George Allen did anything racist or anti-black in his work in the Senate or as Governor. For him to be judged by what historical relics he owns is pure thought crime.

He talks about the confederate flag as a historical symbol. It’s not a symbol of racism, but a tribute to those who fought in the name of racism. It’s an historical relic which, according to Stein, is not associated with racism and should be respected. Does anyone else see a problem with this reasoning? An OBVIOUS problem, I’d say, considering that Ben Stein is Jewish… If you think about it, the exact same reasoning Stein uses to defend the confederate flag can be applied to the swastika. What a douchebag.

What is most funny to me, is that the entire premise of his article is to point out the hypocrisy of democrats. Let that little nugget sink in for a minute… Ben Stein pointing out hypocrisy!

Finally! An add that makes sense!

The fine folks at NOM have released yet another commercial. I somewhat recently posted on NOM’s marketing attempts to spread bigotry and hate through television commercials, and it seems that they just aren’t going to give up!

Ok. So now I see what all the fuss is about! Apparently, if we allow gays to get married, then our kids will all turn into ugly little toads who can’t act. Either that or they might end up being gently coaxed by society into letting go of the prejudices of their parents. Oh NOES!!!

An update

I’ve decided that come hell or high water I would update this blog today. The problem is that I don’t have a whole lot to talk about! I usually write on here when I’m pissed off or irritated over something I see going on in the world. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things that bug me that I could talk about… There’s Oprah giving Jenny I-Like-To-Cause-The-Deaths-Of-Innocent-Children McCarthy her own TV show… There’s no end of conservative right-wing asshats saying and doing things that make me cringe for the human species… Hell, there is apparently some economic crisis going on right now. Who knew??

Once again, gay marriage is trying to ruin ALL of our lives…

Just listening to this bigoted Gallagher so-called ‘person’ made me want to vomit. I’ve seen the particular add they are talking about and quite frankly I thought it was a joke! It was so ridiculous it seemed like satire. Something the Onion would do.  Well, here’s the Hardball interview that set me off on this:

And here’s the original commercial. Tell me what you would think of it if you didn’t already know it was serious…

Oh good lord!

To think I used to live in IL. I’m going to have to go take another shower now to get the stupid off me.

Spring Break!!!!

Finally! I have a nice long break from school and all the inherent studying, stress, and cold, hard judgement involved with being a full-time student. Huzzah!!

I will also be travelling during break this year. It’ll be awesome! I’m going to spend a week camping out in Death Valley with a bunch of Stanford geologists and grad students. How freakin’ cool is that? Of course, that also means that I will have absolutely no access to internets during said trip. I know, I know… It’s going to be hard going cold-turkey like that, but sometimes we have to make these sacrifices. Once the shakes and the hallucinations have eased I’ll take lots of pictures of the trip and display them all in a blaze of glory upon my triumphant return to the world of cyber-space!

Wish me luck! I hear there are rattlesnakes and scorpions out there…

Don’t hate me.

I know I haven’t been posting all that consistently. I know this. Sorry. See, there’s this school thing that takes up some of my time and with exam week I just haven’t had the time. I guess I suck at this blogging thing.

In fact, I’ve been doing some thinking specifically about the blog. I’d like to streamline my writing on here. While the current format of spewing whatever nonsense is going through my head onto the interwebs works ok, I am developing an agenda. The blog will be more focused and theme-ish. One of these days.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Anything you’d like to see on the blog here? I want to have like some recurring themes or weekly segments that I can do. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.

I don’t know what is worse…

The fact that people this stupid exist or the fact that so many people agree with them. No wait, I know exactly which is worse! So, remember a little while back when I mentioned Ray Comfort’s new book? I just finished reading this article (found via Pharyngula) and I swear I’m about 10% stupider by volume as a result.

Jim Jeffries

I just saw this guy at a comedy club in San Francisco and I laughed my bloody arse off. Definitely watch the video if you have a few minutes and are not easily offended. This guy doesn’t hold anything back so be warned… The third video has some great religious cracks also.