It’s so good to see all this discussion on the dichotomy between the right-wing “Christians” and the followers of Jesus.
The former say: Obey me or burn in hell forever, and the latter honestly care for one another, especially for those who need our help the most.
Wonderful to see that Pope Francis is bringing a broad humanitarian spirit to Christianity.
I took a course on the philosophy of science during my freshman year in college. The professor, whom I adored, told us this story:
A swami in India had the following conversation with a student:
Student: What keeps the Earth from falling to the bottom of the universe?
Swami: It rests atop an elephant.
Student: OK, but what does the elephant rest on?
Swami: A giant turtle.
Student: I see, but what does the turtle rest on?
Swami: Oh, it’s turtles all the way to the bottom.
Our professor suggested that, whenever we come across a statement that has no meaning, we say, “Turtles!”
That’s how I respond to Clarence Thomas’ quote above. Can anyone suggest a possible interpretation that adds any workable insight into the plight in which the United States finds itself?
I would wager that virtually all these altercations come from arguments over masks. This can be eliminated by making this statement: “When you bought your ticket for this flight, you agreed to abide by this airline’s mask policy. At this point, anyone who refuses to wear a mask will be arrested and charged with assault. If it happens before we leave the gate, you’ll be escorted off the flight by police. If it happens after we’ve left the gate, you’ll be arrested at our destination.”
What Noam Chomsky says here is, of course, true. It’s a broader, more generalized statement than what we say when we talk about the externalities of the fossil fuel world. They keep the profits, we all pay the price of cleaning up after them.
The anti-vaxxers really are taking themselves out.
I don’t wish this death on anyone, but if someone has to die this way, I’m glad it’s not someone who did the right thing.
A reader sent me the photo here, noting: A very rare occurrence, the sun and the moon are visible at the same time in the horizon. This phenomenon is known as Selenelion. 
The “Arizona Audit” found that the accuracy of the count was 99.98%. Can’t this be the end to this bull****?
Now Trump is demanding a recount in Texas, a state he won? Can’t we have some level of rationality here?
And taxpayers are eating the cost of all this?
IMO, there is no reason to believe that DeSantis is mentally ill. He’s simply aiming himself for success in the sad state of current-day Republican politics, based as it is on anti-vax, anti-science, and citizens’ right to do as they please with respect to COVID.
Yes, this is destroying his state, but that’s the price Floridians have to pay for living there and electing him governor.
Scientism is “an exaggerated trust in the efficacy of the methods of natural science applied to all areas of investigation (as in philosophy, the social sciences, and the humanities).”
I think anyone would grant that applying science to moral philosophy is not a sound undertaking. For example, using science to evaluate the actions of people in certain societies as “good” or “bad” is going to be fruitless. There are countless similar examples. As shown below, the movie “Dead Poets’ Society” pokes fun at an academic who tries to quantify the excellence of a poem. (more…)
I got this from a reader who functions as a sales manager at a real estate agency, after graduating with a degree in liberal arts.
I would say that questioning the consensus reached by thousands of scientists who have spent their entire careers researching and publishing peer reviewed papers on a certain subject is, in fact, stupid.
Nobody cares what I think about anthropology. That’s because I don’t know anything about it, just like this guy knows nothing about virology.
