All entries by this author

And the Nominees Are

Oct 8th, 2005 2:42 am | By

Yippee!

You know how I’m always asking why people like Azam Kamguian and Maryam Namazie don’t get the kind of attention the MCB gets? How I’m always saying the BBC and the Guardian and, you know, the government, ought to talk to them as well as or in fact damn well instead of a lot of fundamentalists? You know? Well – well you already know what I’m going to say, probably, since I just put it in News. But I want to yell and squeal and dance and hop for a minute anyway. Bear with me. The day didn’t begin well – it began with the horrid shock of going online and finding dear old B&W turned into a mocking … Read the rest



Hacked

Oct 7th, 2005 12:04 pm | By

We’ve been hacked, so I’m going to have to take the server down for a while. I’ll get B&W up and running asap.

Bastard Spammers!… Read the rest



Nick Cohen on Anti-semitism on the Left *

Oct 7th, 2005 | Filed by

The issue is whether the liberal left is as keen on universal principles as it pretends.… Read the rest



Not This Again

Oct 7th, 2005 2:24 am | By

Here we go again. I still don’t get it. I don’t understand the basic point.

Unlike many pro-evolution types, however, he agrees with creationists and intelligent-design advocates that evolution often operates as not just a scientific theory about species, but also as a worldview that competes with religion.

One: and? If evolution does ‘operate as’ a worldview that competes with religion – what of it? Why should the worldview of religion not be competed with? Because fundamentalists don’t like it, yes, I get that, but why else? Two, if evolution does provide a better (more coherent, more warranted, less full of holes) explanation of how we got here, then it does. Why is that not part of the science, … Read the rest



Michael Ignatieff Recommends Accepting Truth *

Oct 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Canada matters as a liberal democracy struggling to build a society that includes all communities.… Read the rest



Carlin Romano Reviews Michael Ruse *

Oct 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Ruse claims evolution often operates as a worldview that competes with religion.… Read the rest



Irreconcilable Divide Between Science and Religion *

Oct 6th, 2005 | Filed by

One side sees matter and energy, the other side wants Something Extra.… Read the rest



Sartre and Beauvoir, Authenticity and Lying *

Oct 6th, 2005 | Filed by

How did Sartre justify deceptions? By resorting to ‘a temporary moral code.’… Read the rest



Investigating Happiness *

Oct 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Tragic legacy of Freud: many are bitter about the past, passive about the future.… Read the rest



Not the Edsel of Social Science After All? *

Oct 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Maybe questions about sexuality and homosexuality are central to diagnosing authoritarianism.… Read the rest



It Once Was Lost, But Now It’s Found *

Oct 6th, 2005 | Filed by

A stunning jazz concert in 1957 was thought lost forever, but then…… Read the rest



Vatican Restricts Media Briefings *

Oct 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Several bishops said too much information was getting out. … Read the rest



Desolation Row

Oct 5th, 2005 7:51 pm | By

Have things changed, or did we (I, you, they) get them wrong in the first place? It can be hard to tell, sometimes. Or perhaps I mean always. It can be hard to sort out misunderstanding from wishful thinking, confirmation bias from overcorrection, too much suspicion from not enough suspicion, too much suspicion of X from not enough suspicion of Y – and so on.

From Open Democracy:

Some of my friends and relatives tell me I’ve changed – that my politics aren’t as “leftwing” as they used to be during the anti-nuclear movement in Britain back in the 1980s. In a way, they are right. My core politics haven’t changed, but it seems to me that the world

Read the rest


Good News: Darfur Genocide Nearly Over *

Oct 5th, 2005 | Filed by

Because there’s almost no one left to kill.… Read the rest



Ever-stupider Questions, Ever-wickeder Answers *

Oct 5th, 2005 | Filed by

The fanatics look at Bali and see a load of Hindus selling drinks to a load of Christians.… Read the rest



So How Should Mass Murder be Stopped? *

Oct 5th, 2005 | Filed by

‘The left didn’t argue then that fascists needed to be “understood” and placated.’… Read the rest



Blogs as a Carnival of Ideas *

Oct 5th, 2005 | Filed by

Blogs let academics reach a wider public.… Read the rest



Long Alan Bennett Interview on Front Row [audio] *

Oct 5th, 2005 | Filed by

You don’t want to be in anyone’s pocket, that’s what it is.… Read the rest



Look Inside: Just More Machinery *

Oct 5th, 2005 | Filed by

Our sense of who we are and our feelings are a product of biological processes in the brain. … Read the rest



The Movie in Your Head *

Oct 5th, 2005 | Filed by

Is consciousness a seamless experience or a string of fleeting images?… Read the rest