Café Philos: an internet café

The 11th Humanist Symposium is up at Greenbelt and it looks like a good one. Check it out here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your day be blessed with happiness.

A catastrophic cyclone has made landfall in Bangladesh with winds up to 150 mph (240 kph). The storm has so far prevented any accurate accounting of its devastation, but the potential is for many tens of thousands of people to drown.

BBC report.

Associated Press report.

Via WobbleWax

Eric, at the Primate Diaries, has posted his picks for the Intellectual Blogger Award here, while Hume's Ghost, at the Daily Doubter, has posted his picks here. Both have selected what look to be exceptional and excellent blogs for the award, well worth checking out.

UPDATE:

Ed, at Not Exactly Rocket Science, has put up his picks for the award here. They, too, look well worth checking out.

"There's No One Driving the Plane" is largely a political blog -- and one of the funniest I've come across on the net. It's written by Mark (a.k.a. "Marxsny") who brings to it not only his sharp sense of humor, but also his background in both science and business.

The articles are not overtly intellectual. They are neither footnoted, nor cry out for footnotes, and Mark sometimes buries the weight of his analysis under a sort of uncertain fatalism -- or perhaps, "a light hearted despair" -- that at the last moment turns away from emphasizing his conclusions in a typically intellectual manner. But those things are just issues of style: "There's No One Driving the Plane" is an intellectual blog.

Along with the exceptional analytical skills he probably honed by studying science and business, Mark uses sarcasm to cut through the smoke of politics and get to something approaching the truth -- as close as anyone ever gets to the truth. He is both incisive and insightful. But I sometimes think Mark would be happier writing about music and the arts than about politics. So far as I know, writing about music and the arts seldom makes you want to take a shower afterwards, whereas writing about politics so often does.

In a typical post, Mark strings together several seemingly unrelated ideas in a way that might disconcert someone who does not love ideas -- but if you love ideas, then it's easy to think of his string of ideas as a string of diamonds. At least, that's what I imagine them to be.

For those and other reasons, I am very pleased to tag Mark and "There's No One Driving the Plane" with the Intellectual Blogger Award.

As I was writing my tags for the Intellectual Blogger Award, the realization came to me that, time and again, when I've needed to be reassured there is beauty in this world, I've turned to Amuirin's blog, "Stop and Wander", to find beauty not only in the wonder of her poetic prose, but also in her wisdom. (Thank you, Amuirin!)

People sometimes complain that intellectuals are so in awe of ideas they turn them into clumsy, ponderous things. If so, Amuirin is certainly the exception. She is either such a gifted intellectual -- or she is such a gifted writer -- or she is both -- that she makes ideas dance.

She is so creative, unassuming, and even casual in the way she offers up an idea that you are almost never aware until later that she's actually smacked you upside the head with something quite profound. I find this is especially true of her writings on love, living, and spirituality.

She is an independent, creative thinker, who happens to be a beautiful thinker too, and so I am very pleased to tag her for the Intellectual Blogger Award.

Hume's Ghost is the author of "The Daily Doubter", whose motto is taken from Voltaire: "Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." His blog is one of the most perfectly intellectual blogs I've come across on the net, and so I am tagging Hume's Ghost and "The Daily Doubter" with the Intellectual Blogger Award.

What makes "The Daily Doubter" a perfect example of intellectual blogging at its best? To be sure, it is certainly not because Hume's Ghost writes mainly about politics. Instead, it's the almost unique way in which he writes about politics.

Most of the political writing I've come across on the net is far from intellectual. At times it's about political reportage, at times about drama, and at times about scoring points for one's own views, but it is rarely about the lasting and underlying principles involved in politics. "The Daily Doubter" is different.

Hume's Ghost has one of the most sure footed grasps of the principles at stake in politics that I've yet to encounter on the net. His insight into those principles makes his writing universal. Even though he is nominally talking about American politics, the fact he talks about those politics in terms of the principles involved should make his discussions relevant to nearly everyone. In that respect, he's very much like Mahendra, who created the Intellectual Blogger Award, and Nita, one of the first bloggers to win it. All three authors are capable of transcending their own cultures to get at things in ways that are universally relevant and important.

"The Daily Doubter" is also one of those blogs I turn to when I need to be reassured there is reason and sanity in this world. Hume's Ghost thoroughly documents his reasoning, fairly quotes the other side to any argument, and is prepared to change his views if presented with compelling evidence that contradicts them. His intellectual honesty is beyond reproach. He's the sort of person you could point an intellectually gifted child to, saying, "See! That's the kind of intellectual you should aspire to become!"

For those and other reasons, I am very pleased to tag Hume's Ghost and "The Daily Doubter" with the Intellectual Blogger's Award.

"The Primate Diaries" is one of those blogs I gratefully turn to after I've had a day dealing with the inanity and hysteria that, at times, so many humans seem slave to. Eric's combination of reason, insight and deep sense never fails to refresh me. On more than a few occasions, he's been an oasis.

Another reason I love "The Primate Diaries" is because Eric challenges me to think sharper and better, to improve my reasoning, and to grow in my understanding.

Some of the best articles I've read on the net have been Eric's. I'm especially fond of when he writes about how common human traits -- such as altruism -- came about through evolution. But Eric writes engagingly on a wide variety of subjects besides the evolutionary origin of human behavior -- including articles on politics, culture, and religion.

For all of those reasons and more, I am very pleased to tag Eric and "The Primate Diaries" with the Intellectual Blogger Award. Congratulations, Eric, and thank you so much for your wonderful blog!

Hear ye! Here ye! Let it be known far and wide by this proclamation that, by the powers invested in me by Mahendra, I hereby tag Ed Yong and his most excellent "Not Exactly Rocket Science" with the Intellectual Blogger Award.

Ed describes his mission thus: "This blog is my small attempt to celebrate science and to make it interesting and fun, by giving jargon, confusion and elitism a solid beating with the stick of good writing."

The thing is, Ed lives up to that mission. Anyone who wants to see a mission statement turn into reality (as opposed to empty words) should visit Ed's blog for that reason alone. But there are other reasons too, besides his integrity, that I'm pleased to tag Ed's blog.

What Ed has done on "Not Exactly Rocket Science" is make genuine science accessible to people who do not hold an advanced degree in the fields he writes about. His articles not only lay out the conclusions of scientific papers, but also the reasoning behind the conclusions. And he often corrects mistakes made by the popular media in reporting science news.

Beyond that, Ed is a superb writer. He is a genius at clarity, a master of the apt phrase, and he is even downright witty. I've said this before, but Ed's writing is not mere reportage -- it's literature.

I strongly suspect Ed of being a genius in more ways than in his writing -- how else can any one person read, understand, and explain the findings of so many different branches of science?

Ed richly deserves the Intellectual Blogger Award, and it gives me immense pleasure to tag him with it.

Since 1992, 636 journalists have been killed worldwide.

73% (or 462) were murdered.


Reference:

Committee to Protect Journalists

Mystic Eye has included a post from Cafe Philos in their carnival this week. Thank you, Mystic Eye! The post was "How the Existence of God is No Match for the Experience of God".

A poll released today by O.R.B. -- a British polling company that has tracked Iraqi public opinion since 2005 -- places the number of Iraqis murdered since the 2003 invasion at over a million.

A representative sample of 1,461 adults, aged 18 years or older, answered the following question:

How many members of your household, if any, have died as a result of the conflict in Iraq since 2003 (i.e. as a result of violence rather than a natural death such as old age)? Please note that I mean those who were actually living under your roof.

Seventy-eight percent of the respondents answered "none". Sixteen percent answered "one". Five percent answered "two". One percent answered "three". And a fraction of one percent answered more than three.

"Given that from the 2005 census there are a total of 4,050,597 households this data suggests a total of 1,220,580 deaths since the invasion in 2003."

The poll also questioned the people surveyed on what caused the deaths of their loved ones. According to the results, 48% died from a gunshot wound, 20% from the impact of a car bomb, 9% from aerial bombardment, 6% as a result of an accident and 6% from another blast/ordnance.


Reference:

O.R.B. Poll

When Kathy Griffin received a creative arts Emmy for her reality show last weekend, she is reported to have said, by way of an acceptance speech:

Can you believe this shit? I guess hell froze over. … a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. So, all I can say is, ‘suck it, Jesus.’ This award is my god now.

Which are not the most tactful remarks she could have found for the occasion, but tact is probably not what she was trying to convey. Instead, it looks very much like she was attempting to insult everyone who has ever thanked Jesus for an Emmy.

Now, why Ms. Griffin thought the occasion of receiving an Emmy such a wonderful opportunity for insulting others is a mystery to me. Perhaps she hates Christianity to the point of an obsession with it. Who knows? But the TV Academy and the E! Channel plan to edit her offensive remarks from the Emmy Awards program they will be showing Saturday. And while I am passionately opposed to censorship, I concede the Academy and Cable Channel have every legal right to censor Ms. Griffin.

I am as far from being a legal expert as possible but it's my understanding that the right to free speech does not apply to uninvited speech conducted on someone else's private property. I do not have a right, for instance, to enter your house to make a campaign speech for my favorite candidate unless you invite me to do so. Nor do I have a right to demand that you publish my speech in your newspaper, on your blog, or over your TV network. So, while I could be mistaken, I think the TV Academy and the E! Channel legally can pretty much do what they want to censor Ms. Griffin.

Yet, does the Academy and E! Channel have a moral obligation to air Ms. Griffin's remarks? Again, I don't think so. For once, I find myself on the side of the censors. Ms. Griffin's remarks strike me as inappropriate to their forum and -- worse -- as gratuitously insulting. There is no moral reason that I can see why the TV Academy and E! Channel must provide a forum for Ms. Griffin to insult everyone who has ever thanked Jesus for an Emmy.

Am I right about this, or should I drink some more coffee and re-think it?


Reference:

Griffin's Emmy Remarks to be Censored

Why are women expected to graciously put up with overt come ons for sex from heterosexual men who are strangers to them, but heterosexual men are by no means expected to graciously put up with overt come ons for sex from homosexual men who are strangers to them?

Why do the police assign officers to patrol public places to catch homosexual men who solicit sex from other men, but do not assign any officers to patrol public places to catch heterosexual men who solicit sex from women with catcalls, winks, lears, and rude "hey babe, wanna do its"?

What makes it acceptable for women to be harassed in public, but not men?

While I am absolutely certain that I have never met this person, he is equally certain he has met my penis.

I know he believes he has met my penis because he is not satisfied with it. It it is too short for him. Sometimes it is even too thin for him. But it is never just right. So, at any hour of the day or night, I am very likely to get an email from him insisting that I add "up to three inches" to my penis. Insisting that I do so. Demanding it, in fact. It is as if the only thing keeping him alive is his demented goal of vastly improving my penis.

I have thought of writing back to the deranged idiot telling him that if I wanted to vastly improve my penis I would tattoo a bold racing stripe down the side of it -- or better yet, a lightening bolt -- but that I am quite satisfied with its size, and perhaps he should get a life. But I have learned in my 50 years to never argue with idiots. It only brings out the worse in them, and I most assuredly do not want to see this particular idiot at his very worse.

I know I am not the only one he is concerned about. I have heard others complain that they too are the target of this demented fool's obsession with their penises. So, my real question is, "Who is encouraging him?" "Who is responding to him often enough that he is ever hopeful someone else will also buy his penis growth product?" And I can only imagine one group of people who are characteristically so naive, so stupid, and so gullible that they would respond to this guy's emails: Bimbo Talk Show Hosts.

Yes, it must be those Bimbo Talk Show Hosts. Who else is stupid enough to buy his product? Only the Administration comes close and even the Administration is smarter than the world's Bimbo Talk Show Hosts. The Administration would never compensate for their very small neocon penises by buying his scam growth product. Instead, they would compensate by invading a country or two. But Bimbo Talk Show Hosts -- that's another matter. They are so gullible I bet even the female Bimbo Talk Show Hosts have bought his product. Surely, Ann Coulter has. Worse, she is probably disappointed she hasn't seen any results yet.

Norman Finkelstein is a controversial historian. He has both criticized Israel's role in the Israel-Palestinian Conflict and also asserted that the Holocaust is being exploited for pro-Israel political ends at the expense of its actual survivors. He even had the gall to defend President Carter's book on the Palestinian problem.

All of that has made him quite unpopular with many pro-Israeli scholars and pundits. In June, they managed to persuade DePaul University in Chicago, where Finkelstein teaches, to deny him tenure. But merely denying Finkelstein tenure has not been enough for his many enemies who apparently want a proper lynching. Fortunately, DePaul University has obliged. From the Democracy Now website for Monday, August 27, 2007:

On Friday, DePaul administrators announced they’ve canceled Finkelstein’s remaining classes for the upcoming fall quarter. Finkelstein has one year left on his contract with DePaul. Both classes were filled to capacity. ... Critics say DePaul administrators caved to pressure from outside groups opposed to Finkelstein’s vocal criticism of Israeli government policies.

I personally don't know enough about Finkelstein's work to offer an opinion about it's merits. But I do know that DePaul's lynching of Norman Finkelstein is an outrage against academic freedom. It is an immoral, unfair and underhanded attempt to silence a critic. The perpetrators of this lynching are no better than inquisitors and fanatics: They deserve nothing but contempt.


UPDATE: The American Association of University Professors is urging an immediate reinstatement of Norman Finkelstein.


UPDATE II: In an email interview, Finkelstein said, “If the university attempts to impede my movements I intend to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and go to jail. If incarcerated I intend to go on a protracted hunger strike until DePaul comes to its senses. It is regrettable that I have been driven to such drastic actions to defend basic principles of academic freedom and my contractual rights, upon which DePaul has been riding roughshod for so long.”


UPDATE III: For those interested in following this struggle for academic freedom, Norman Finkelstein's website is here.

Is there any reason not to legalize, tax, and regulate prostitution?


Please note: By "prostitution", I am here referring to the sex trade and not to the far more common phenomenon of politicians, preachers, and pundits selling themselves out.

Without first checking with my landlord, I recently took the liberty of landscaping my backyard. As you can see, the results have been disastrous. The lagoon is too shallow, the palms are
crooked, the vegetation has fallen off the mountainside.... But I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "That's what he gets for using a cheap contractor." And you're right. I went with the lowest bid. Consequently, I have no one to blame but myself.

At the same time, the situation is intolerable. Something must be done to make my backyard livable again. And that's why I'm asking for help. Your help. The thought has occurred to me that I might be able to barely endure the situation if my backyard were full of scantily clad babes. So, if you're a babe, and you have a charitable streak in you, please ship yourself by overnight mail to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Please.

If you click on Eryn's photo in her post "Rugs and Alcohol" (which is directly below this post), the photo will expand to full size -- and reveal itself to be a quite dramatic work of art. Enjoy!