http://ravingatheists.com/ocmpoma WITTICISM, n. A sharp and clever remark, usually quoted, and seldom noted; what the Philistine is pleased to call a joke. -Bierce Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:46:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This week's quote is a paragraph from "Funhouse Goddess" -- an essay in the current issue of Lapham's Quarterly (pp 183-189 of Vol I No 3). In the paragraph, which appears on page 188, Burnett explains a possible take on Charles Fourier's reasoning behind a rather liberated philosophy, involving really ... http://ravingatheists.com/ocmpoma/2008/07/04/weekly-quote-33-d-graham-burnett/ "I was watching the 1966 classic film, A Man For All Seasons, about the Thomas Moore's principled stance in opposition to Henry VIII's grab for power. Ultimately, Moore is found guilty of treason, and in the final scene, after giving his executioner the customary tip for a clean blow, tells ... http://ravingatheists.com/ocmpoma/2008/07/03/a-fabulous-delusion/ There's a popular expression about the Chinese pictogram for crisis is made up of two other characters which is, of course, too true to be correct. At any rate, here's an op-ed that originally appeared in the Financial Times (link to the original at the end of the CFR copy) about ... http://ravingatheists.com/ocmpoma/2008/07/03/crisis-dangerous-opportunity/ Several blogs over at ScienceBlogs are discussing a recent review of PLoS, a major open access organization, in Nature. Their opinions of the piece are not very high. Here's Gene Expression, whose post lists out several others on the subject; here's Greg Laden's Blog, which brings a broader discussion of ... http://ravingatheists.com/ocmpoma/2008/07/03/naturally-opposed/ I'm fortunate in that I live very close to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world: the coast of Big Sur. I've certainly grown to love Big Sur over the few years that I've spent stationed in Monterey; so the fact that ash from the fires clouds and ... http://ravingatheists.com/ocmpoma/2008/07/02/weekly-photo-86-coastal/ Bryan Caplan also* blames the voters: "1. Politicians predictably lie to get elected... 2. Politicians habitually accuse each other of something they virtually all do. 3. Voters largely ignore #1, but respond positively to #2. {snip} Just to be clear, I commend Westen for his candor about the political process. What's hard for me to ... http://ravingatheists.com/ocmpoma/2008/07/01/voters/ Via Mind Hacks, a link to a review at The Immanent Frame of a book written by Pascal Boyer which takes a cognitive science-based approach to religion, Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought. The review seems mostly dismissive, but it's description of the author's explanation is one to which ... http://ravingatheists.com/ocmpoma/2008/06/27/religion-as-spandrel-the-book/