Watch a feather fall as fast as a hammer
Where can you see a feather fall as fast as a hammer? On the moon. Watch this delightful 1 minute demonstration by astronaut David Scott of Apollo 15:
Maher: American is the land of get nothing done
Bill Maher is distressed about America's lack of capacity to do good things and stop doing bad things. Our mechanism for meaningful change is completely broken.
Well, I hate to be a nudge, but why has America become a nation that can't make anything bad end, like wars, farm subsidies, our oil addiction, the drug war, useless weapons programs - oh, and there's still 60,000 troops in Germany - and can't make anything good start, like health care reform, immigration reform, rebuilding infrastructure. Even when we address something, the plan can never start until years down the road. Congress's climate change bill mandates a 17% cut in greenhouse gas emissions... by 2020! Fellas, slow down, where's the fire? Oh yeah, it's where I live, engulfing the entire western part of the United States! We might pass new mileage standards, but even if we do, they wouldn't start until 2016.What do we need?
a) leaders with balls, and b) a general populace who can think again. Barack Obama has said, "If we were starting from scratch, then a single-payer system would probably make sense." So let's start from scratch.I find Bill Maher to be especially insightful--he cuts right through the BS over and over. This particular article by Maher was especially well written.
Comedian Robin Ince discusses creationism and intelligent design
Here is a 3-minute comparison. On the one hand, we have natural selection. On the other hand, we have creationism/intelligent design. Brought to you by comedian Robin Ince.
Traditional Marriage
We often hear religious conservatives arguing that we need to preserve "traditional marriage." What do they mean by "traditional marriage"? At Daylight Atheism, Ebonmuse delves into the details of one conservative version of "marriage," and it's not about "1950s, smiling-wife-and-picket-fence families." It is not a partnership of equals. In fact, it appears to be a relationship based on power, where abuse of that power has no ill-consequences for the abuser.
The sad state of science in America
I was feeling discourage about all of the recent anti-science, including the attacks on evolution and politicians interfering with the decisions of FDA scientists. And then I found this cheerful distraction: a scientific experiment from Monty Python's Holy Grail: