Burnee links for Sunday (belated post - more soon)

Missed a post last Sunday - here's what would have been in it (probably) . . .

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"Website censorship erodes the very freedoms that the home secretary
purports to defend"

John Ozimek: A victory for the terrorists | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The UK's law banning the display of material that "directly or
indirectly" encourages terrorism is likely to be unenforceable.

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"There is no contradiction between creation and science, says Benedict XVI"

Stephen Hawking to address Vatican conference on evolution -Times Online

"The Catholic Church accepts evolution, but sees it as part of the
divine plan. Pope Benedict has been described as a 'theistic
evolutionist' who believes that God created life through evolution,
and thus that there is no inherent clash between religion and science.

"The Catholic Church does not take the Genesis story that God created
the world in six days literally, regarding it instead as an allegory.
However some Christians - not least in the United States - do take the
Genesis account literally and object to evolution being taught in
school."

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"A passion for conservative values has united diverse Christian
groups, giving them influence way beyond their numbers"

Religion remains fundamental to US politics | Susan Jacoby - Times Online

"To most of my European friends, an inexplicable aspect of American
culture is the quixotic persistence and social influence of religious
fundamentalism. They cannot understand how Americans could seriously
consider for the second highest office in the land a candidate who has
worshipped all her adult life at churches where congregants believe
the literal truth of every word in the Bible and practise 'speaking in
tongues'. Thanks to YouTube, we even know that Sarah Palin has been
blessed to protect her against witchcraft."

(Some of the comments on this article are discouraging, to say the least.)

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Vatican approves psychological tests for screening out homosexuals :: Damian Thompson

"The Vatican has given cautious approval to the use of psychological
tests to root out men with 'deep-seated homosexual tendencies' from
seminaries. Rome first used this phrase in 2005, when it said that
these tendencies were a bar to ordination; now, in a document released
today, it sanctions the use of tests to identify those 'deep-seated'
traits - but not without the seminarian's permission.

"Voluntary tests can also be used to identify men for whom the burden
of celibacy is too great and will cause emotional disturbance even if
they manage to keep their vows."

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Two posts from Tim Farley:
The Long Tail of Skeptical Web Sites « Skeptical Software Tools

Skeptics! Load your google bombs! « Skeptical Software Tools
If you've previously linked to Stop Sylvia Browne, you should now link to Stop Sylvia Dot Com, like this: Stop Sylvia Browne. Why is this important? See Tim's post.

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Iconoclasts - Andrew Keen - BBC Radio 4 (repost from other blog)

I didn't hear it live (I was watching a fireworks display at the time), but the programme mentioned on a previous post is available to stream for a few days more:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?radio4/iconoclasts

Website here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/iconoclasts/

The debate was bit of a mess, and nothing much was resolved. None of the participants addressed the fundamental issue - that new media technology has rendered the old gatekeeper-style of publishing obsolete. We live in a different world now, and there's no going back.

When the audio streaming link above expires, download the mp3 from RapidShare:

http://rapidshare.com/files/258029640/Iconoclasts_AndrewKeen_BBCR4i-20081105.mp3

YouTube - Palin Ignorant About Scientific Research

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wezdbLqRnzs



This video clip (in various versions) has by now done the rounds of the blogs and news sites, and it might seem superfluous to repeat it here. But this is just one more example of the continuous anti-science, anti-intellectual and anti-elite stance taken by McCain/Palin throughout the current US election campaign. Just one more to add to the list, which now includes:

'planetariums and other foolishness'
'overhead projector' - referring to the Zeiss projector of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago (a planetarium I have visited myself, and where I found the educational facilities especially impressive)
'fruit fly research, in Paris, France. I kid you not!'

This isn't dumbing down - it's dumbing off the bottom of the scale.

UPDATE 2008-11-03:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKrpnfTISaE



(From Wendy Chao, via Skepchick)

Andrew Keen and the end of new media (repost from other blog)

Internet curmudgeon Andrew Keen is at it again, moaning about people creating stuff for free, and telling them that they've got it coming:

Andrew Keen predicts the end of "free labor" online - Boing Boing
...which links to this article at Internet Evolution:
Economy to Give Open-Source a Good Thumping

Keen continues to judge Web 2.0 by mid-twentieth-century standards, but new media technology is fundamentally different from what we had back then, and many of the old criteria have ceased to apply. In the UK we'll be getting more of his doomsaying next week. Here's an extract from RadioTimes.com:

Iconoclasts

Wednesday 05 November
8:00pm - 8:45pm
BBC Radio 4

Edward Stourton chairs a live discussion series in which guests set out their strong views on a subject, before being challenged by a panel of experts. 2: Andrew Keen, one of the pioneering entrepreneurs of the internet boom, argues that Web 2.0 is an anarchic movement that destroys culture of real value.

It will be interesting to learn who's on the panel of experts. It's a live show, and the producers are asking for listener input during the broadcast: iconoclasts@bbc.co.uk. Until then I offer this quote from Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan: "What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."

My Confession - Elyse - Skepchick.org

Some people's path to scepticism is a gentle amble along a relatively unchallenging track. You learn some science and begin to question the beliefs of your childhood. The final break from the world of irrationality may be emotional, but short lived, and once you emerge into the clearing of rational, evidence-based reasoning, the relief can be its own reward.

It's not like that for everyone. Check out this awesome post at the Skepchick blog, where Elyse relates her own heart-rending story of sceptical awakening.

Burnee links for Sunday

So where are the links to the Atheist Bus, you ask? See my previous post: An Atheist Bus roundup

Burnee links follow:

Pharyngula: Where will you be after you're dead?

This is the article that PZ is talking about:
Never Say Die: Why We Can't Imagine Death: Scientific American

The soul? It may all be in your mind - The Boston Globe

Raise Your Voice | Edger

CFI Issues Statement on Religious Discrimination Exemption | Center for Inquiry

The Freethinker › Law Lords condemn sharia as unfair to women

An Atheist Bus roundup

"Organising atheists is like herding cats," someone once said. Well, the cats have been cool and have organised themselves.

Ariane Sherine: All aboard the atheist bus campaign | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

When I made my modest donation to the fund in the evening of the day it launched, there was a notice to say that the target (£5,500) had been reached shortly after 10 am. During the time it took me to enter my credit card details the fund increased by about £2,000. The last time I checked (while writing this post) the fund stood at £108,506.83.

There's been a good deal of adverse comment from both believers and non-believers in the press and online - but the important thing is that people are talking about the campaign. To facilitate further discussions I offer this roundup of comment:

The Freethinker › It’s a miracle! - Resurrected atheist bus campaign takes off like a rocket

No-God squad climb aboard the atheist bus | Joan Bakewell - Times Online

The Guardian has aggregated relevant articles from Comment is Free into a single page:
Comment is free + Atheism | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Atheism on a bus :: Nick Spencer :: Telegraph

D J Taylor: Beyond belief - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent

Howard Jacobson: So God 'probably' doesn't exist. Don't these atheists have any conviction? - The Independent