Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid (At Least Until November)
- At August 03, 2004
- By Bob Howe
- In Blog Posts
17
This morning the New York Times is reporting:
Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terrorist plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.
Arrgh! If Tom Ridge called me personally to say that the sun would rise tomorrow, I’d be inclined to stock up on flashlights and camp lanterns. My outrage meter has been pinned in the red for months by the administration’s willingness to politicize even the most basic functions of government.
The New Dark Ages, Part II
- At August 01, 2004
- By Bob Howe
- In Blog Posts
- 48
To fill a world with religion, or religions of the Abrahamic kind, is like littering the streets with loaded guns. Do not be surprised if they are used.
Richard Dawkins, on the September 11 attacks, in Positive Atheism
In The New Dark Ages I bemoaned the decline of science literacy in the United States, and laid the blame, at least partially, at the feet of religion. I think it is a valid indictment. But I think we also have to consider the possibility that religion is adaptive. By we I mean secular-humanists and atheists who believe in a mechanical universe; by adaptive I mean conferring a reproductive advantage to believers.
This Explains A Lot
- At July 18, 2004
- By Bob Howe
- In Blog Posts
- 10
This Is Just to Say
- At July 17, 2004
- By Bob Howe
- In Blog Posts
- 6
I bought some black plums at the grocery store a few days ago. The first one I has was a little woody and without much flavor. Tonight I had two more, and they were perfect: juicy, with the perfect combination of tartness and sweetness. One of those little gifts from the universe.
This Is Just to Say
by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the iceboxand which
you were probably
saving
for breakfastForgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so coldWilliam Carlos Williams, “This is Just to Say” from The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, Volume I, 1909-1939, edited by Christopher MacGowan. Copyright © 1938, 1944, 1945 by New Directions Publishing Corporation.
The New Dark Ages
- At July 15, 2004
- By Bob Howe
- In Blog Posts
- 29
To describe religions as mind viruses is sometimes interpreted as contemptuous or even hostile. It is both.
Richard Dawkins, “The Infected Mind”
A Devil’s Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love
The Wall Street Journal ran a story today on the increasing mobilization of the scientific community against the Bush administration. In Scientists Take To the Streets Against Bush (free link), reporter Antonio Regalado writes:
In a big shift for the normally docile scientific community, some leading researchers are mounting a political campaign to unseat President Bush this fall, accusing the administration of twisting scientific facts to fit its policies on issues such as global warming, sex education and stem-cell research.
Today the Associated Press reported that “A [U.S. House of Representatives] committee gave abortion opponents a victory Wednesday, voting to making it easier for hospitals, health insurers and others to refuse to provide or cover abortions.”
The reason why the Bush administration, and social conservatives in general, can pursue an anti-science agenda is that Americans are increasingly unfamiliar with, and scornful of, real science. I’m beginning to wonder whether, as a country, we’ve turned our back on the values of the Enlightenment. I was hesitant to use the phrase “dark ages” in the title, because it’s frankly alarmist, but I really am concerned that a new dark ages is where we’re headed.
One thing that’s true of all the novelists whose work I love: they read lots of poetry.
Read lots of poems.
With Republicans trying to rescind child labor laws, teachers packing heat, guns legal on campuses, the persistent persecution of LGBTQ, and the increasing stupidity of the American public, I'm putting forth my story "Blood Drive" as the most prophetic short story of the 2000's.
Just left the zoo and can confirm that this by @citizenspain in @mcsweeneys is still 100% accurate. https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-your-three-year-old-and-im-not-leaving-until-ive-touched-every-goddamn-garbage-can-in-this-zoo