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Jon Stewart, Healthcare.gov, and Ignorance
I want to talk about ignorance. I mean, I often talk about ignorance, but this post will be about addressing Jon Stewart’s ignorance, regarding Information Technology (IT), specifically as it applies to the healthcare.gov website. I understand that Stewart’s main goal is to ‘be funny’, and to poke fun at the politics and policies of the US…
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Anti-Fluoridation is Science Illiteracy
A few days ago, as part of a twitter conversation I was having with the basically anonymous @SafeWaterHfx, I was sent an article in support of their claims that fluoride shouldn’t be added to municipal tap water. The anti-fluoridation crowd make a lot of noise online (they’re not unlike the anti-wifi folk in that regard), but…
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Anti-GMO == Climate Change Denialism
I generally don’t like to reblog things, but this piece should be spread far and wide. It should be a deep embarrassment to progressives, but the truth is that anti-GM activists are as guilty of anti-scientific thinking with regard to their pet subject as the Koch Brothers or the American Enterprise Institute are on global…
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Integrity: Something Catholic Schools *Shouldn’t* Teach?
Sometimes, I read something that’s really quite awesome, like a bunch of High School kids protesting against the firing of the Assistant Principal of their school. Why was he fired? Because he was gay. I think that it’s a credit to those kids that they felt they should stand up against an injustice and a…
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Equality of Outcome
One of the tensions in the economic arguments about the world is whether we should focus on equality of outcome, or equality of opportunity. The short version of each reads as follows: Equality of Outcome: It describes a state in which people have approximately the same material wealth or in which the general economic conditions…
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47 Ronin and Appropriation
I was at the movies last night, and in the trailers I was subjected to a preview of “47 Ronin”. It seems like a pretty amazing movie, right? I mean minus that we have a white guy ‘saving’ a bunch of Japanese people (yes, yes, the character is “half-Japanese”. Which is simply an expression of…
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“Easy” University Credit
I do quite a bit of tutoring, so I thought I’d put together a few hints and tips for people seeking a tutor for the first time. Some of these may seem pretty obvious, but (in that case) you’d be pretty surprised how often they come up.
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Evidence For ‘Religion Causes People to do Evil’
I’ve been thinking about religion being the cause of people doing evil a little more recently, and I’ve been trying to think of what would make a more compelling argument. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely anti-religion, but I’m also anti-crappy-argument. (Although some people I’ve discussed this with online have taken my latter stance to mean…
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Georgia Police Kill Diabetic Black Man After Family Calls 911 Requesting Ambulance
I don’t have anything to add to this, I just want to spread the awareness around. Alicia Herron, Roberson’s fiancé and girlfriend of 10 years, says she called 911 to request an ambulance for Roberson out of concern for his diabetic condition. But police arrived at their home instead. Arguably, a simple mistake on the part…
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An Open Letter to Mark Mercer and Saint Mary’s University
Dr. Mercer, I recently read your article in the UBC’s Ubyssey, and I have to admit: it raised some serious questions for me. I’ve spent some time thinking on them, so I hope that you’re not immediately dismissive. These questions pertain to your being a Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy, and yet you fail to act…
