The Information Paradox

Step Away From the Book!

2009-02-12T11:23:00.003-06:00

If Authors Guild executive director, Paul Aitken has his way, soon reading out loud will be considered a copyright violation. As reported over on CNet yesterday, copyright holders are kicking up a stink about the newly introduced speech synthesis capability added to the second-generation Kindle ebook reader from Amazon. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the executive director of the Authors Guild, Paul Aitken, made the claim that by reading the book out loud Amazon was claiming “an audio...

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Kids Are Talking – Are We Listening?

2009-02-09T14:48:00.003-06:00

This past weekend I attended a meeting to discuss Kids and Atheism. It is a vast topic and became apparent during the meeting that more discussion is needed on the subject. The nature of Atheism does not lend itself to community connectivity and parents struggle when facing the task of managing outside religious influences while raising children. My own children are ages 14 and 20 so the issues that affect them have changed significantly. Where I once made an effort to limit the pressure...

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Jimmy Carter: A Better Man

2009-01-29T19:09:00.005-06:00

Catching up on Daily Shows, I watched the episode from January 27, which included former President Jimmy Carter as the guest. Mr. Carter is now 84 but remains the soft-spoken gentleman I remember from my childhood. As president, he faced a mountain of problems and upon leaving office he was considered one of our more ineffective leaders. He has since proven otherwise. Watching the segment with Jon Stewart a few things jumped out at me: First, Mr. Carter may not (or may) have known at the...

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Support Your Local Weatherperson

2009-01-26T20:58:00.000-06:00

Time and time again I hear local weatherpersons disparaged as having a dream job: They get to be wrong and still collect a huge salary. (This may have shifted a bit given recent economic events and the dream job may now belong to Wall Street CEO's.) While I can understand the frustration that goes along with inaccurate weather predictions it does always stun me a little that many of these people willingly equate meteorologists with psychics and never consider the science behind either. ...

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Why Believers are Ethically Bankrupt

2009-01-19T13:35:00.004-06:00

Last month a delightful article by Ben Shaprio pontificated on why atheism is morally bankrupt. His reasoning was simple: There’s only one problem: without God, there can be no moral choice. Without God, there is no capacity for free will. Sadly for Mr. Shaprio this reasoning is wrong - millions of people are considered to have excellent morals without god and since the concept of free will is derived specifically from religion it does not apply to the issue of atheism. On the other hand, it...

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Living In Fear

2009-01-13T09:00:00.000-06:00

Without exception, all of us are controllable by fear. Through the history of human-kind leaders have utilized this fact to their advantage and it is still used today. We respond to fear, we make decisions based on fear, we allow fear to guide our lives. And in every single instance we are wrong for doing so. Advertisers attempt to convince us that unless we purchase Product A our lives will be less meaningful, our self-worth diminished and we will be judged negatively by our family and...

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The Indoctrination of Secularism

2009-01-07T09:27:00.010-06:00

This article is from a site called The Moral Collapse of America, which appears to be yet another website crying about how oppressed the religious in America are. Wah. The article is about home schooling. Honestly, as far as I'm concerned they can yank their kids out of school and teach them that God 'designed' us and dinosaurs came over on Noah's Ark. Ignoramuses, the whole lot of 'em. Every time I read about Creationism I get a chuckle. I'm convinced that it's all a big joke - no one can...

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Adult Women Playing with Dollies

2009-01-06T12:24:00.004-06:00

I tried not to be judgmental when I read this article. I failed. Miserably. The snarky bitch has taken over completely. Many people like to stop and play with newborn babies, but now some adult women are playing house with fake babies. I cannot even fathom why an adult woman with all her faculties would find nurturing a dolly satisfying. I've tried to come up with a myriad of logical reasons how this behavior might be remotely justifiable but I'm drawing a blank. Now, I'm certainly not a...

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Bad Science

2009-01-05T08:46:00.007-06:00

*** Apparently someone at the Vatican discovered how to use Google over the holidays and unearthed an old study on contraceptives in public water sources, took it for a bit of a spin and promptly belched out this bit of 'news': Contraceptive Pill is Polluting Environment The problems with this are many but the thing that bothers me the most is the silence from the science community. The science community stands to benefit the most by encouraging skepticism in the face of such stories and had I...

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I Just Don't Get Facebook

2009-01-03T10:31:00.005-06:00

I joined Facebook a few months ago, mainly because a few friends were haranguing me to and I heard that Scramble was a fun game. So, I made my own little page and threw some pictures up there for all to see and figured that I'd just hang out in Facebook world and play some Scramble. Holy shit was I wrong. First of all, I simply do not understand Facebook -- what the hell is up with all those applications? Call me a bum humbug but I don't understand the point of throwing snowballs at my...

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Michael Flatley Can Dance But Still Unable To Think

2009-01-01T09:40:00.005-06:00

*** Famed step-dancer Michael Flatley is crediting his miraculous recovery to his 'energy healer': Doctors were unable to identify the virus and weeks of rest did not cure Mr. Flatley’s fatigue and muscle pain. But he told The Independent he had been treated by Michael O’Doherty, whose Plexus Bio-Energy Clinic specializes in “rebalancing the life-force energy within and around the body,” according to plexusbio-energy.com, its Web site.Uh huh. First of all, the phrasing 'rebalancing the...

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Paulson Plays Dumb...Again

2008-12-31T20:37:00.005-06:00

*** During his exit interview, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson revealed that he and the administration knew more than they let on...but did nothing. His waffling on intelligence is enough to make even the most calm persons blood pressure skyrocket. Here is his latest claim: "But we have been for some time in the frustrating situation of understanding much more than the public or even the Congress understood in terms of the magnitude of what we are facing."Okay, so they knew but chose to do...

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And What A Year It Was

2008-12-31T14:57:00.009-06:00

Looking back - and what a year this has been for the world, for the United States and for me personally. This was the year I lost my Louise and my father. My Winston was diagnosed with lymphocytic lymphoma. He's still blissfully unaware he is ill – so far, so good. This was the year the world economy tanked and the Wall Street big shots got their Golden Parachutes. So… this was the year I watched my life savings shrink more than 50%, so retirement is probably much further in the future...

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Yay! The Holidays are Almost Over!!

2008-12-29T08:42:00.003-06:00

I have finally recovered from my "holy crap it's the holidays" post traumatic stress that I've been fighting these past couple of weeks. It's not that I hate the holidays; quite the opposite, actually. I was the lucky one that hosted Christmas Eve dinner, something which greatly amused my mother since, not only am I an atheist, I also don't cook. Despite the fact that my oven smelled like burning dust when my sister-in-law turned it on (she was horrified, I think, but I DID warn her) and I...

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Thank you Majel Roddenberry

2008-12-24T20:22:00.003-06:00

*** I realize this memorial is a little past due, but we lost one of my cherished heroines December 18. Majel Barrett Roddenberry passed away from leukemia this month and she will be missed. The world of science fiction was my first introduction to women being treated as equals and it strikes me as almost funny that we recently had an election where a woman obtaining a position of power in this country was viewed as historic. Science fiction never held this as a novelty - it is one of the...

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On Superstition by George Hrab

2008-12-22T16:44:00.003-06:00

I was listening to the Geologic podcast from December 11 and George read this essay he had written for the Swift Blog on the JREF website. It was simply too perfect not to share and with Mr. Hrab's permission I am posting it here in its entirety. You can also download the podcast and listen to George read it to you - I promise it is totally worth it! I actually stopped whatever it was I was doing and just sat and listened - very rare for me. Please take a moment and enjoy: Early humans...

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Responsible Atheist Parenting

2008-12-22T10:45:00.001-06:00

*** During this time of year we often get strange storms – lightening, snow, rain, sleet…all at the same time. A few years ago a comedian (Lewis Black) made a reference to bizarre weather patterns and his punchline was “I know what comes next. Locusts!”. My son did not understand the joke. He would have, of course, if I had raised him in a religious atmosphere and given him a biblical education. Even before realizing that I am an Atheist, I rebelled against the idea of my children being...

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My Parents

2008-12-18T14:52:00.004-06:00

*** Last night I had dinner with them after picking up my sister from the airport. My parents are 78 and 79 but you would not know this to look at them - they both act and look as though they are in their late 50's, early 60's. During dessert (yeah, that's right - it was a full meal including homemade cookies for dessert. Quite the treat for me since I do not even cook much less provide dessert.) my parents started telling us about their recent volunteer work at the local senior center. My...

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When did the winter season become exclusively holy?

2008-12-11T13:00:00.001-06:00

*** For many, many years controversy has risen at this time of year in public schools with regard to how the season is to be addressed. School programs have undergone title changes and musical arrangement changes along with parties, art projects, decorations, etc. Their attempts to encompass all faiths have left quite a mess for teachers and administrators and more than one angry parent, they have effectively accomplished nothing. Admittedly it is a difficult and sensitive issue – should the...

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Please For To Come Home Soon!

2008-12-10T21:28:00.008-06:00

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. Way too many things going on that need my attention (death of a parent, force reductions at the Day Job, critters with serious health issues, etc. etc. etc). But I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER? had a picture today that touched my heart, so I thought I'd share. more animals I couldn't agree more.

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California Bishops Make a Funny Joke..Not Really

2008-12-10T19:48:00.010-06:00

*** "Hate the sin, not the sinner". That is the theme being taken up by some California Bishops in the aftermath of Prop.8. They are reaching out to the homosexual community and calling for a cease fire in the name calling...names such as bigot and pervert. (In a somewhat disgusting twist of reality, the California Bishops can fall into both categories.) But here is the punch line: "Your intrinsic value as human beings and as brothers and sisters continues without change," Mahony wrote....

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Bigotry Can Lead To A Group Of One

2008-12-10T16:01:00.004-06:00

*** Bigotry is an incredibly pervasive part of our society yet it is rarely discussed other than to be used as a sort of epithet at someone else. Growing up in the Midwest my environment was so white as to be albino. No blacks, no hispanics, no nothing - white people as far as the eye could see. During the winter it was hard to tell anyone lived there. Then de-seg hit and OMG! black kids where in my school. After about 5 minutes we all found out they were just like us. But I also...

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A Merry Atheist Christmas?

2008-12-09T15:58:00.008-06:00

*** A very long time ago Judaism was explained to me this way: Jews are not evil people, but they do not believe in heaven or hell so they make every attempt to hoard all the money while they are here.Naturally, this made some sort of sense to my young mind and for years I actually believed Jews had all the money. Now as an adult, I find this explanation humorous to the point that I make a running joke of it. My jokes are not intended to insult Jews, rather the thinking behind the explanation...

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The Fraud of CEO Capitulation

2008-12-05T15:40:00.001-06:00

*** I've been quietly seething about this economic crisis for months, afraid to tackle it publicly because the root cause is too deep for me to reach and the blame has spread far and wide. But this was sent to me by a friend and it caused a blood vessel to pop in my head: GM CEO Drives a Chevy Volt to Washington...Sort OfHere is the gist of it: GM CEO Rick Wagoner, aka Douchebag Supreme 3, drove a Chevy Malibu from Detroit to D.C. after getting publicly spanked for taking his private jet to...

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Everything Is Sh*t! A Review And Conclusion!

2008-12-05T08:05:00.007-06:00

JCE and I recently had the chance to review the book, Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit?: Insanely Annoying Modern Things. I am not going to do one of the things the authors ridicule and that is give a 'rave review', but I will say if you are looking to read a book that is a bit snarky, sometimes outright belly laugh inducing, but over all an entertaining read, pick this book up. As per the title, the book goes through a laundry list of pop-culture phenoms and fads and dissects each to...

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