Monthly Archives: June 2007

Horrible historical irony

Posted on June 24, 2007 by acb

You know that silly trope about anti-Semitism: “You can’t call me an anti-Semite because that would mean I hated Arabs, too”. Well, it turns out to have had some foundation in the nineteenth century. According to Jamil Ragep, there was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God | 4 Comments

There is no God

Posted on June 24, 2007 by acb

Quick chart from the Wall Street Journal showing that Richard Dawkins has sold half a million hardback copies of The God Delusion, and Hitchens may have made a million dollars from selling 300,000 copies of his book. Poor old Dennett … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God, Literature | Comments Off on There is no God

Catholic bioethics: still crazy

Posted on June 23, 2007 by acb

One of the people we had to talk to us at the Templeton seminars was an official Catholic bioethicist, who was put up against two FRSs to defend or at least expound RC teaching on embryos. The session produced some … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, God | 3 Comments

Human spam

Posted on June 23, 2007 by acb

The FWB was reading a Travis McGee book, to celebrate the fact that we have at least completed our collection with the latest delivery from Amazon. “What’s an Avon Lady?” she asked. and I, reaching across the generation gap for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | Comments Off on Human spam

Proper blogging will resume tomorrow

Posted on June 22, 2007 by acb

In the meantime, here is the most completely outrageous EULA clause I have ever seen, from the download manager for the Bill Graham website mentioned last week: Concert Vault may change the EULA, and Terms of Use by posting a … Continue reading →

Posted in Net stories | 1 Comment

Sunday shorts

Posted on June 17, 2007 by acb

Thank you mefi. I could spend the whole weekend fooling around at this huge collection of legal streamed music, trying to put together the most perfect possible radio station of concerts promoted by Bill Graham. Language Log shows how to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 2 Comments

God knows no better than Heisenberg

Posted on June 13, 2007 by acb

I have thought for many years that the point of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle was that you could not measure a system without disturbing it. Hence the idea that your measurement of one aspect (say, momentum) must disturb another, like position, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God, Science without worms | 7 Comments

A snippet from the Culture Wars

Posted on June 13, 2007 by acb

An astrophysicist’s story: I was giving a talk in Houston and I was told that there was a group of people coming who were going to make their protest by walking out when they heard the word “Evolution”. So I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God | Comments Off on A snippet from the Culture Wars

Science and Religion (1)

Posted on June 13, 2007 by acb

One of the theological points of Pope Benedict’s speech in Regensburg last year was that the Muslim conception of God was flawed because it allowed him complete and unfettered freedom, even from logic: The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: “For the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God, Science without worms | 1 Comment

Miscellany post

Posted on June 12, 2007 by acb

I’m in Cambridge for the next ten days or so, working on a Templeton journalism Fellowship, but hoping to socialise in the evenings — hi, Bill! hi John! — with readers. I mean to put some of the little fragments … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, Travel notes | 1 Comment