The Anti Dawkins

From The Sydney Morning Herald Aiming for knockout blow in god wars.

I have to confess I have never heard of the "ethicist" Margaret Somerville but a quick Google search reveals her to be the author of "The Case Against 'Same-Sex Marriage'” and "The Case Against Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide". Hmmm, I can't say I have read either of these writings but they smell more like theology than ethics to me?

She says, "By attacking religion Dawkins thinks he is going to eliminate the world's evils, but he is so negative, so destructive in his approach, that he is escalating the conflict between warring cultures at a time when we should be seeking common ground,"

Dawkins is "a dangerous man"? Never mind the people flying planes into skyscrapers, murdering doctors in America, and blocking the use of condoms in AIDS ravaged Africa. Apparently, Dawkins is the dangerous one!

Hmmm, "escalating the conflict"! I do have some sympathy for her position. People who believe in supernatural beings do tend to be some what un-hinged. And as Dawkins and his contemporaries such as Sam Harris have been trying to point the out, religion is a big problem which needs attention. But, I can't say I think Ms Somerville's, "Sssh, let's tiptoe around the loonies lest we disturb them" approach has much merit.

Let's hope Richard Dawkins continues his evangelism of science and his thoughtful reasoned critique of religion. Let's shine a very strong light the superstitions religious fundamentalists and moderates hide behind. Let's not let them influence our governments to create laws based on "bronze age myths".

Peter Garrett

• What happened to Peter Garrett?


• Is the Labor Shadow Minister for Climate Change Peter Garrett, the same Peter Garrett that used to front Midnight Oil?.


• Peter Garrett?

Supping With The Devil

This cartoon by Leunig made me laugh although I couldn't help but think there was something missing. Put George Bush in there and the ménage à trois would be complete.

I don't think it would surprise anyone if John Howard wasn't the only guest during the sleep over at George Bush's ranch. If my memory servers me correctly, I do recall Vladimir Putin also having a sleep over. Considering the rate at which Russian Journalists who write anti Putin stories die, perhaps Vladimir Putin is the devil?

The God Delusion

I have just finished reading the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. What a fantastic book! Dawkins examines religion from almost every possible angle exposing all the contradictions, inconsistencies and often utter nonsense that lies at the heart of most if not all religions. I found the book after listening to a podcast from the Background Briefing program on www.abc.net.au. Unfortunately they have taken down the mp3 file but you can read the transcript. If you find the transcript interesting you'll like the book.

Naturally Dawkins has come under some criticism from the religious and those sympathetic with people of 'faith'. They interpret Dawkins 'evangelising' of atheism as an attack on their sacred faiths which they believe deserve a respect not afforded to any other belief. I find this incredibly hypocritical since the religious relentlessly attack Dawkins for his beliefs! Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist which puts him in conflict with those who believe in creation and a world that is only 6,000 years old. Dawkins has as much right to speak critically and dismissively of religion as the religious do of evolution.

If spirituality interests you at all this is a must read book.

The Governator!

I'll have to start this post by eating a fairly large serve of humble pie. When the citizens of California elected Arnold Schwarzenegger governor I thought it was something of a joke. A bit like George W. Bush getting re-elected. I don't have to eat humble pie on that one, George W. Bush has proved himself an unethical, incompetent, fool many times over.

But The Governator is proving to be something of a progressive liberal. He's pro-choice, takes global warming seriously and advocates Universal health care for Californians. Astonishingly he is a Republican! Perhaps now that George Bush doesn't have a weekly conference call with outed sodomist Ted Haggard he could slot in the Governator. He could certainly learn a few things from Arnie.

Do You Use Firefox?

If you don't, why not? According to Brian Krebs , from the Washington Post, Internet Explorer was unsafe for 284 Days in 2006. Firefox by comparison was unsafe for 9 days!

"For a total 284 days in 2006 (or more than nine months out of the year), exploit code for known, unpatched critical flaws in pre-IE7 versions of the browser was publicly available on the Internet."

"Mozilla's Firefox browser -- experienced a single period lasting just nine days last year in which exploit code for a serious security hole was posted online before Mozilla shipped a patch to remedy the problem."

Why do people persist with IE, especially considering most of us use online financial services such as, Internet banking, shopping, ebay, etc? If you have not tried Firefox you can download it here. It is a smallish download and costs nothing.
Happy surfing.

A Land Of Droughts And Flooding Rains

I was having a clean up of my one of my machines when I came across these photos taken 2 years ago. Wow, what a contrast with today where it just doesn't rain at all. These shots were all taken around Melbourne and it's surrounding suburbs in January 2005.