tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146952572009-12-20T13:24:26.464-08:00reflections on life as I see itBruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.comBlogger402125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-261083150743502642009-12-12T21:23:00.000-08:002009-12-12T21:23:00.650-08:00

Wow:

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-51754965505450807552009-12-12T07:45:00.000-08:002009-12-12T09:42:38.455-08:00

I've never formally articulated my comment policy, but a few recent comments have made it clear to me that I need to outline what type of comments I will not accept.No, I'm not referring to the ongoing debate in Where's the Climate Data? Disagreement — even sharp disagreement — is fine.I'm talking about the commercial spam. If you leave an advertisement as a comment, it will be deleted.When I

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-32195838713091383702009-12-08T22:57:00.000-08:002009-12-08T22:57:46.425-08:00

Since 9/11, several atheists — most prominently Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett — have stepped up their criticism of religious beliefs. To these "New Atheists", religious moderates are as bad as religious extremists:Here's Dawkins:However, the moderate, sensible religious people you've cited make the world safe for the extremists by bringing up children --

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-1410799875550197982009-12-01T22:58:00.000-08:002009-12-01T22:58:46.020-08:00

In a late comment to my September post titled Has the World's Climate Date Really Gone Missing? William Shields asserts:Well, this all looks very different in light of the released emails from CRU that show deliberate moves to block FoIA requests and then delete relevant data, which is actually a crime.The problem with this allegation is the same weakness found in the original tabloid-style

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-35474910448927606922009-11-23T23:11:00.000-08:002009-11-23T23:33:28.537-08:00

It sounds like a scene from a low-budget sci fi/horror film:A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net. Within minutes, hundreds more were being hauled up, a pulsating mass crowding out the catch of mackerel and sea bass.But for Japanese fisherman, it's all too real:This year's jellyfish swarm is one of the

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-42124767428541929722009-11-18T22:59:00.000-08:002009-11-18T23:00:02.254-08:00

Dr. Georgia Purdom of the young earth creationist organization Answers in Genesis (AiG) takes a look at "Intelligent Design" (ID):The definition of ID can be best summarized as a theory that holds that “certain features” of living and nonliving things were designed by an “intelligent cause” as opposed to being formed through natural causes.1 The ID concept does not name the intelligent cause, nor

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-79380522114671419362009-11-16T00:01:00.000-08:002009-11-16T00:01:00.530-08:00

Humans have known for a long time that dolphins are intelligent creatures. But the more we study them, the more intelligent we find they are.At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, dolphins are trained to clean their own pools; if they bring trash to the trainers, they will receive a reward of fish.One dolphin named Kelly has figured out how to maximize her payoff:When people

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-8346190952607370332009-11-13T15:37:00.000-08:002009-11-13T15:38:02.163-08:00

All you need to do is distance yourself from the situation:According to the construal level theory (CLT) of psychological distance, anything that we do not experience as occurring now, here, and to ourselves falls into the “psychologically distant” category.…According to CLT, psychological distance affects the way we mentally represent things, so that distant things are represented in a

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-53966523935129444202009-11-10T22:24:00.000-08:002009-11-10T22:24:16.738-08:00

Karen Armstrong and Richard Dawkins offer their answers to this question.

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-71495576876497287412009-11-03T21:17:00.000-08:002009-11-03T21:22:41.867-08:00

Joel O$teen i$ back with a new book and it'$ not about him! Crazy, huh? But true. Thi$ time around it'$ all about YOU.More $pecifically--your TIME.And according to Pa$tor O$teen, it'$ your time NOW to purcha$e hi$ new book, It's Your Time: Activate Your Faith, Achieve Your Dreams, and Increase in God's FavorSee the full review at Jesus Needs New PR. Hat tip: Bad Alice via Twitter.

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-68555435857014224202009-11-01T21:39:00.000-08:002009-11-01T21:39:07.425-08:00

When Rebecca Middeke-Conlin's church sent out invitations for her installation service to other churches in her area, they probably weren't expecting the reply they received from one Baptist pastor:We, desiring to please Almighty God, have separated ourselves from the Lutheran churches as disobedient to the Scriptures and from Rebecca Middeke-Conlin as a shameful person, for thus saith the

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-65626330282894123932009-10-30T08:26:00.000-07:002009-10-30T08:29:16.412-07:00

According to a recent study:People who work hard at improving a skill or ability, such as mastering a math problem or learning to drive, may experience stress in the moment, but experience greater happiness on a daily basis and longer term…See the full story.

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-39587674071563266012009-10-22T22:29:00.000-07:002009-10-22T22:33:28.819-07:00

Eddie Arthur points to a post by Karl and Sun Dahlfred, asking whether long-term missionaries are obsolete.The post was spurred by a conversation Dahlfred had with a U.S.-based pastor who believes that sending someone to live in another country is just not strategic or cost effective.This pastor and his church conduct many short-term training events and seminars throughout the world, gathering

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-13289925252791286682009-10-20T21:51:00.000-07:002009-10-20T21:53:54.743-07:00

“I don’t go to church, Parson. I’m a bit turned off with the church. I’m not a Christian. I’m just a follower of Jesus.”See the whole story from the Questing Parson.

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-79471555723535388662009-10-17T22:07:00.000-07:002009-10-17T22:10:32.597-07:00

…to the tune of We Didn't Start the Fire.

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-63869618877724545152009-10-14T21:07:00.000-07:002009-10-14T21:07:48.743-07:00

Some people just have all the luck. But according to psychologist Richard Wiseman, there is more to luck than mere chance:I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs, whereas the lucky people took just seconds. Why? Because the second

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-44533114575161398592009-10-12T21:30:00.000-07:002009-10-12T21:30:14.638-07:00

Michael Spencer has travelled a road many of us have travelled. He grew up accepting young earth creationism and hearing horror stories about evolution. Then he went to college:My views on the relationship of scripture and science were more affected by my college Bible classes than my science classes. I learned that scripture must be rightly interpreted. It must be understood within its world,

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-18525182837375436232009-10-07T22:02:00.000-07:002009-10-07T22:02:35.331-07:00

A website that calls itself "The Truth Problem" looks at what it would mean to take the Garden of Eden stories literally, and concludes that no Christian actually does.Evidence tells us that in the early Christian Church, most theologians and leaders believed that the Creation account was at least partially, if not wholly symbolic. Many modern Christians, however, especially in America, say that

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-87867633169975337512009-10-06T22:01:00.000-07:002009-10-06T22:01:46.556-07:00

This guy really understands what it means to put his faith into practice.

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-42772713127071159442009-10-04T16:40:00.000-07:002009-10-04T16:40:57.553-07:00

From PsyBlog:What is the mind's default position: are we naturally critical or naturally gullible? As a species do we have a tendency to behave like Agent Mulder from the X-Files who always wanted to believe in mythical monsters and alien abductions? Or are we like his partner Agent Scully who was the critical scientist, generating alternative explanations, trying to understand and evaluate the

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-20455581126024414892009-10-01T06:49:00.000-07:002009-10-01T06:49:17.031-07:00

When is our own self-interest best served by going against what reason tells us is our own self-interest?The two teens were caught red-handed, literally. Officer Kotcha just happened to be driving by as the teens launched the brick through the window of the jewelry store. Kotcha's heart rate accelerated as he realized these might be the perpetrators of a string of break-ins in the city. The boys

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-76248080764163318882009-09-28T22:24:00.000-07:002009-09-28T22:24:20.916-07:00

Exelon, the United States' largest public utility, has announced that it will sever ties with United States Chamber of Commerce because of the Chamber's opposition to climate change legislation.Last year Exelon launched its Exelon 2020 strategy to reduce its carbon footprint by 15 million metric tons by the year 2020.Exelon CEO John Rowe explained in a speech at the American Council for an Energy

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-70651583259344927732009-09-28T12:01:00.000-07:002009-09-28T12:01:00.602-07:00

According to John Hobbins, we must:It’s not just biblical texts that believers must complain about. It is God himself. Biblical literature is clear on this point: it is connatural to a believer to criticize God. That’s what Moses and the prophets do. That’s what David and his fellow psalmists do. That’s what Job does. That’s what Jesus does from the cross, in the words of Psalm 22: “My God, my

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-3851902133370996212009-09-27T20:00:00.000-07:002009-09-27T20:03:24.083-07:00

from Bearish News:There are two arguments for curbing pay on Wall Street. The two sides argue bankers should not receive such huge compensation because:Socialist view: No individual should be allowed to earn such a disproportionate salary.Capitalist view: Government intervention allows banks to be so profitable, at cost to other members of society.Bank apologists always attack the socialist (

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695257.post-90510357784338524172009-09-26T21:12:00.000-07:002009-09-27T22:44:21.677-07:00

The climate change deniers are raising another stink. Global Warming ate my data, frets Andrew Orlowski in the Register. The Dog Ate Global Warming, pines Patrick J. Michaels in the National Review.What exactly has been eaten here?Michaels asks us to:Imagine if there were no reliable records of global surface temperature. Raucous policy debates such as cap-and-trade would have no scientific basis

BruceAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013588487417582411noreply@blogger.com4