According to this article, Barry Goldwater’s book, The Conscience of a Conservative, is being reissued. Timely reading? Depends on what audience at which this is aimed. I seriously doubt conservatives of the Rove/Norquist stripe will have much sympathy with Goldwater, who now seems admirable and even iconic compared to the…
In an article recently published on BldgBlog (HT: Boing Boing), there's an absolutely fascinating interview with Michael Cook, a Canadian writer and photographer who devotes himself to exploring the subterranean infrastructure - that is to say, the storm sewers, spillways, abandoned hydroelectric complexes, dams, and all manner of tunnels and…
Richard Dawkins is famous for his criticisms of organized religion. In this new two-part video (see here and here), he moves on to examine spiritualists, faith healers, dowsers, homeopaths, astrologers and others who shun evidence in order to practice their unsubstantiated trades. Much of this video is straightforward and succinctly…
I know that numerous chiropractors swear by homeopathy. I even know of a couple MD's who push homeopathic "remedies." It makes me shake my head because A) homeopathic theory (e.g., "the law of infinitesimals" and "the law of similars") makes no sense and 2) homeopathic remedies and double-blind studies don't…
In a recent poll, reading in America is revealed to be, well, less than appreciated by large swaths of the population. This ought come as no surprise. We live in a time of stupendous ignorance, which allows for the expression of epic stupidity. The Founding Fathers were suspicious of democracy…