@21:38
David Greer, MD,:

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This month is the 100th anniversary of one of the more storied maritime accidents of all time, the sinking of Titanic. Local maritime history buff and Titanic aficionado Charles Bailey dissects one of the more enduring myths surrounding this event. (more…)

I think we all understand that one season does not a statistic make, but the recent spate of tornadoes ripping through the American heartland is certainly enough to make one think about the consequences of global warming and the associated climate change that can occur when there is more energy (heat) in the atmosphere. According to a March 4th report on Discovery, the average number of tornadoes in the month of March is 87. Preliminary reports indicate that March 2nd saw 81 in a single day. Again, this is not proof of climate change, but it does show the sort of weather that could be expected in future.

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Those who follow Pharyngula, the science blog of P.Z. Meyers, will have seen regular postings from fans entitled “Why I am an atheist.” In reading them, and similar missives over the years, I have noticed a very common thread – anger at religion. They go on at length about religious atrocities, inconsistencies in holy books, and various indignations at a god they don’t believe in. Is this the best that people can come up with? I am often mad at the way our government does things (regardless of which party is in power), but I don’t want to tear the whole thing down and live without the benefits that our society derives from it. Just being mad at something is not a good enough reason to ditch it, or even say that it’s wrong. There must be a decent basis to propose an alternative.

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Many of us get into the ‘New Year’s Resolution’ thing, and for some it’s either flippant stuff (resolving to drink a little more or spend more time sleeping in), or well-meaning things that are quickly forgotten in everyday life. But there was one this year that I have actually stuck to (at least on the one occasion that it has come up since the new year), and I think it’s something we should all resolve to do.

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At a recent ASR pub night one of our speakers was told that he had used an ad hominem to describe some of the targets of his talk, and I immediately noticed that the accuser was incorrect. Our speaker was an erudite man, so rather than butt in I allowed him to handle the complaint. He explained his opinions quite well – but not why what he’d said was not an ad hominem. So let’s attempt to clear the air, because the reasoning is easily understood.

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I come from pretty strong religious roots. One of the things that was impressed upon me as a kid was that if I were ever faced with a difficult situation that was out of my control, I should pray. This was a way to keep me hopeful in times of strife, or in times of anxiety. It gave me a lot of comfort. However, during my self re-education and de-conversion, I’ve had to abandon these ideas in order to live my life based on a model of reality that made sense to me. I came out as an atheist about two years ago.

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You’ve probably seen umpteen numbers of e-mails that start something like this:

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As a species we can’t seem to tolerate incomplete pictures. We can’t accept that the ruddy, pitted and incomplete landscape of experience and knowledge is beautiful in its own right, full of potential and possibility. The extent of reality we currently know about is a mere drop in the ocean when compared to the questions we will be answering in the near and distant future.

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