tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276010172009-03-01T21:31:33.718-08:00Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-60422392975937418572007-06-02T09:30:00.000-07:002007-06-02T10:09:09.001-07:00

Here's something I've never thought about before: Charles Darwin and Karl Marx were contemporaries. Not only were they aware of each other's works, they corresponded. I'm currently reading Stephen Jay Gould's Ever Since Darwin, where he recounts some of Darwin and Marx's interaction:The most ardent materialists of the nineteenth century, Marx and Engels, were quick to recognize what Darwin had

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-21986319555540161092006-12-27T20:52:00.000-08:002006-12-27T21:01:47.997-08:00

I'm busy reading Richard Dawkins' latest book, The God Delusion. It's interesting, if quite opinionated and arrogant, but there are quite a few things within its pages that I was surprised to learn of. One example is the existence of Cargo Cults in the Southwest Pacific. From wikipedia: Cargo cults have been recorded since the 19th century. The cult participants generally do not fully

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-27392230660891672212006-12-16T22:11:00.000-08:002006-12-16T22:53:52.146-08:00

I read this interesting article the other day: Thatcher economist de-hypes climate debate"There is no greater threat to the people of this planet than the retreat from reason we see all around us today."I, personally, want to poke out my eyes when I read this article - but only because the author has a thesaurus stuck up his ass. What in the hell do ambit and adjure mean? But I do think he

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-63666647189790824922006-12-16T22:06:00.000-08:002006-12-16T22:09:50.103-08:00

Could the biotech revolution finally be producing some fruit? This disease kills thousands every year - have we entered bridge two? Diabetes Breakthrough

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-15569228114197603312006-12-08T11:00:00.000-08:002006-12-08T11:13:54.507-08:00

It's time for a revolution.I've noticed this for some time: I'm expected to show up for work at 9, but often I don't get into the idea of doing work until late morning. Then I break for lunch, and it takes a couple of hours to get back into the flow.When I've had consulting gigs, I've noticed that it's much easier to work. I sit down only when I'm ready to work, and I get up when I'm tired.

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-80027028077209926892006-11-08T15:12:00.000-08:002006-12-08T11:15:21.657-08:00

Here was are, a day after the election. The Democrats are rejoicing that they have "swept" the elections, and Rumsfeld has resigned. Finally, say Democrats and liberals, our voice will be heard! Our freedoms will not be run over roughshod!Or will nothing change?Normally throwawayyourtv.org has a lot of liberal clips on it, ranging from BBC documentaries to Daily Show clips. This one, however,

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-84800245563751531332006-11-04T11:03:00.000-08:002006-11-04T12:07:05.998-08:00

A recent episode of CNN's Broken Government series, Do Nothing Congress, made claims that Tom Delay was instrumental in creating the current political environment, through his escalation, to the expense of all else, of fundraising and re-election. Whoever caused it, it's becoming more and more clear to me that the center is no longer valued. Extremism, on both sides of the political spectrum,

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-85332827355005320032006-10-21T08:42:00.000-07:002006-10-21T08:53:22.643-07:00

In the last week, I've watched several video clips from this site: Throw Away Your TV.Just now, I watched a few recent posts that really scared me - about the direction our country - the one whose leaders we vote for in a few weeks - is taking us.Fear in Political AdsThis is a continuing and growing theme in the President's arsinal. Apparently, only our current President can stop terrorism - but

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-49015891212059164012006-10-08T17:43:00.000-07:002006-10-08T18:15:55.653-07:00

I can't help but continue to love Scott Adams.In his latest blog post, Sunday Blogging, he complains that the media fails to give him all the information he needs to make an informed opinion.For example, Iran has 25,000 Jewish citizens. The media made a big deal – and rightly so – about the president of Iran’s comments about “wiping Israel off the map,” and of his questioning the Holocaust. For

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-58216605216884225462006-09-30T08:44:00.000-07:002006-09-30T09:41:06.878-07:00

Well, the verdict is in: either we're destined to become a super-race living in a post-singularity society, or we're doomed, all in the next 94 years. Experts: Technology Could Save or Destroy Civilization This CenturyI was tempted to launch into a diatribe about how the smartest people all gathered in one room can only talk about the obvious, but then I realized that there was probably a lot

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-38868580516405349652006-09-30T07:56:00.000-07:002006-09-30T08:41:39.337-07:00

From joshvogel's livejournal blog:Bush's response to not acting on bin LadenSo, to summarize, we have a former President who sounds like he knows what he's talking about but is possibly factually incorrect, and a current President who makes no attempt to rebut the claims, choosing instead to spin his response into an answer about why he needs the power to wiretap our phones.

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-74021925932482328222006-09-24T18:04:00.000-07:002006-09-24T18:16:03.638-07:00

This interview has gained some traction, and is sparking some intense political bashing. Wallace-Clinton Fox News Sunday interview transcript:Fox News Sunday, Interview With President Bill Clinton, 9/22/06Here's a video, although it's chopped up a bit from the transcript:Video: Clinton vs. Wallace on “Fox News Sunday”It looks like you can watch the whole thing on Fox's site as well, but good

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-79142598748242687082006-09-24T01:34:00.000-07:002006-09-24T02:09:16.602-07:00

Back when I was writing Global Warming Pt III, I noticed that I had trouble finding scientists who supported claims that the evidence on global warming is inconclusive but that were also independent. Nearly everyone I found is involved with some an organization with a sciency name and funding from Exxon. It seemed fishy at the time, but I tried not to think about it too much - I mean, really,

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-29733475827461891202006-09-24T01:26:00.000-07:002006-09-24T01:33:38.140-07:00

The quest for ethical stem cells continues. After the last flap, which I described in Ethical Stem Cells Pt II, now it's been announced that you can take stem cells from embryos that look dead - that is, have stopped growing for 24 or 48 hours. The work is described here: Stem cells made from 'dead' human embryo"Regardless of how you feel about personhood for embryos, if the embryo is dead, then

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-45743053864271014902006-09-20T21:50:00.000-07:002006-09-20T22:04:49.367-07:00

I'm curious about the recent speeches at the UN General Assembly in New York. I'm tired of all this "Chavez claims Bush is the Devil" and Bush vs Ahmadinejad BS. I think a good place to start would be the speeches that they actually gave:Chavez: http://www.drudgereport.com/flash2.htmBush: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060919-4.htmlAhmadinejad: http://www.globalsecurity.org/

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-26012575966066383072006-09-18T21:29:00.000-07:002006-09-18T21:33:03.631-07:00

As I noted in a previous post, I am confused about the new hi-def DVD formats. Maybe I no longer need to be?Three's company: Warner patents all-in-one hybrid disc

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-43846597860961598382006-09-18T21:09:00.000-07:002006-09-18T21:28:55.099-07:00

Citizens of Middlesbrough, England, have a new Big Brother to welcome into their lives. Reportedly, police have begun installing loudspeakers on their existing public security cameras, and alerting wrong-doers when they are being watched. So far, the police have broken up fights at bars, stopped illegal bicyclists, and embarrassed litterers, all without stepping on the scene. They have yet to

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-38587502241850004022006-09-18T20:50:00.000-07:002006-09-18T21:09:01.326-07:00

My friend sent me this Newsweek link, An Alternate 9/11 HistoryThis article, I was surprised to learn, is actually offensive to me. I don't know who this columnist is - I doubt I've read him before - but his "opinion" is pure fantasy. I challenge this guy to name one president that has so clearly seen the issues, so effortlessly won over opponents, and so clearly done the right thing. He

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-86711690674287532472006-09-18T20:40:00.000-07:002006-09-18T20:49:34.743-07:00

I never know for sure where Iran is coming from. On the one hand, the President was widely reputed in American papers to have stolen the election. He's a reported hardliner. He doesn't say anything when his people shout "Death to America." His country supplies bombs to Hezbollah. On the other hand, he seems like a nice guy in this Time Magazine interview, and although he supports some

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-70338490940275709562006-09-11T20:25:00.000-07:002006-09-11T20:38:29.731-07:00

There's been a lot of speculation on tar Interweb about the coming video format wars: HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray. I'm not an expert on this nerdiness, but my understanding is this: HD-DVD has the advantage of being a cheap to manufacture upgrade to existing DVDs, while Blu-Ray has more storage capacity. I would think cheaper would be better, but with Sony putting their PS3 behind the Blu-Ray, it's

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-1157604150374246972006-09-06T21:24:00.000-07:002006-09-06T21:42:30.386-07:00

Last week in my post Ethical Stem Cell Lines I pointed out that the researchers who did the study actually ended up destroying all of the embryos. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed. Scientists defend "ethical" stem cell experiment"You made our job a lot tougher," said [Sen. Arlen] SpecterFrom what I can glean from the media's retarded coverage of this (well this article is a little

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-1157520859123013272006-09-05T22:21:00.000-07:002006-09-05T22:34:19.123-07:00

There have been some amazing discoveries by science recently. The earth is warming, ethical stem cells have been created, a supernova was witnessed happening, and a giant canyon in the Atlantic was mapped.Now, we finally have the answer to another burning question: Telephone telepathyRupert Sheldrake ... said on Tuesday he had conducted experiments that proved that such precognition existed for

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-1157520024267050482006-09-05T22:08:00.000-07:002006-09-05T22:20:24.276-07:00

I subscribed to some International related news feeds, in the hopes that I would get some non-US perspective about the news. A couple of the feeds deal with Asian news. I found this link today:Mao Zedong: the God of ChinaUnfortunately (for my personal goal to increase my own awareness), it appears this was not written by someone Chinese:Numerous Mao-backed movements, like the "Great Leap

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-1157092776553568902006-08-31T23:37:00.000-07:002006-08-31T23:39:36.553-07:00

This is a few days old. Scientists have created ethical stem cell lines, by taking stem cells from embryos without destroying them in the process. 'Ethical' stem cell lines createdToo bad they threw the embryos away anyway. "Unfortunately what Professor Lanza did was entirely unethical because he generated and manipulated 16 human embryos and then threw them all away."D'oh!

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27601017.post-1156126112668148212006-08-20T19:06:00.000-07:002006-08-31T23:36:48.496-07:00

Police Inspector Terry Van Dillen said the issue was one of "common sense".Hehe. Boobs on BikesI don't have a comment on this.

Skeptically Gulliblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12809176895779657111noreply@blogger.com0