September 4, 2008
Category: Politics
Anyone surprised by how the Republican Convention is going?
The McCain campaign to this point has been nearly one hundred percent negative, and the convention has continued that trend. There are several reasons for this. One is simply that they have nothing to run on, having made a hash of everything they have touched for the last eight years. But the main reason is that mindless venom is something that comes naturally to the leaders, strategists and pundits in the Republican Party.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:58 PM • 68 Comments
Category: Evolution
I've already received quite a few submissions for the big Carnival of Evolution. Alas, I have also received a few submissions which, while good, were outside the parameters of what I had in mind. So let me offer two clarifications:
- I'm looking specifically for writing first posted on blogs. One of the main purposes of the Carnival is to provide publicity for good writing at undeservedly obscure blogs.
- I'm looking for recent writing, say, within the last two months.
Sorry if these points weren't clear with the initial announcement. I appreciate all the submissions. Keep 'em coming!
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:01 PM • 0 Comments
September 2, 2008
Category: Religion
In a number of recent posts I have remarked that when it comes to Biblical analysis, I think the young-Earthers have more going for them than is sometimes acknowledged. I have also commented that I have been generally unimpressed with the more highbrow sorts of Biblical exegesis I have seen with regard to the text of Genesis. Let me give you an example.
I just finished reading a book called Is God A Creationist?, an edited anthology of essays published in the eighties defending various sophisticated approaches to Genesis. One of the contributors was Owen Gingerich, a professor of Astronomy and the History of Science at Harvard. After an admirably clear exposition of some of the evidence for an old universe and a primer on modern astronomy, he writes the following:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:04 PM • 88 Comments
Category: Evolution
Good news! Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Daniel Brown, there is now a Carnival of Evolution. Better news! I will be hosting the next installment. So send your best evolution related writing to me at rosenhjd@jmu.edu. I'm looking for good, original writing on anything related to evolution, so make sure you proofread your stuff before sending it to me. It's always nice to give a little link love to undeservedly obscure bloggers, so here's your chance to get some publicity. The deadline will be September 14.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:22 PM • 1 Comments
August 30, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Time to wrap this up. So here are a few more interesting moments from the conference.
The one genuinely interesting talk I attended had nothing to do with science at all. It was entitled “A Critique of the Precreation Chaos Gap Theory,” and was delivered by John Zoschke, a pastor from Kansas. Zoschke was keen to refute one particular form of the Gap Theory, which, in an attempt to reconcile Genesis with the long ages revealed by geology, inserts a long gap of time between two of the early verses in Genesis. (Which two depends on the particular version of the Gap Theory under consideration.)
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:59 PM • 84 Comments
August 29, 2008
Category: Politics
By now I'm sure you have heard that John McCain has chosen Alaska governor Sarah “Teach the Controversy” Palin to be his running mate. I think The New Republic has the most sensible take, by Peter Scoblic:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:13 PM • 17 Comments
Category: Anti-Creationism
This article, from Mother Jones, has some smirk-worthy quotable bits. It's subject is the recent convention of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:48 PM • 5 Comments
August 27, 2008
Category: Mathematics
The big Monty Hall book is working its way through production. Just received the proposed catalog copy on my destined for a Pulitzer masterpiece. Seems my book is, among other things, “light-hearted yet ultimately serious.” Why yes, come to think of it, I suppose it is!
But we're having a little trouble coming up with a mutually agreeable subtitle. My editor suggested, "Mathematics's Most Perplexing Brain Teaser.” I'm not so sure. “Perplexing” is not my favorite word in the world. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. And I don't like making nouns that end in s possessive. How do you pronounce it? Mathematicsez? Sounds weird.
My suggestion was “The World's Most Frustrating Brain Teaser.” Alas, it has been pointed out to me that “Frustrating” is not exactly a happy word, especially in the context of a math book. Perhaps I don't want that right in my subtitle. Point taken.
Well, I'm out of ideas. Of course, that's partly because I have go teach my calculus class in a few minutes, which doesn't exactly put me in a creative mood. So I figured I would turn the problem over to all of you. I will expect answers upon my return.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:18 PM • 58 Comments
August 26, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Here are a few more vignettes from the big conference.
A fellow named Mark Matthews gave a presentation arguing that the Earth was located at or near the center of the universe. Most of the talk was given over to a discussion of the so-called “Fingers of God.”
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:28 PM • 74 Comments
August 24, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
An interesting exchange took place during the Q and A of a talk entitled “Georgia Public School Board Members' Beliefs Concerning the Inclusion of Creationism in the Science Curriculum.” The speaker was Kathie Morgan of LIberty University.
The talk itself was unremarkable, even by the crushingly low standards of creationist scholarship. The premise was that there are ways of bringing creationism into the classroom, in the form of supplementary materials beyond what the state requirements mandate, that do not run afoul of any Supreme Court rulings. Morgan and her colleagues decided to investigate the relationship between the personal beliefs of school board members, and their receptivity to the idea of bringing creationism into the science classroom.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:11 PM • 78 Comments
August 21, 2008
Category: Mathematics
As the Beijing Olympics comes to a close, let us take a moment to congratulate the United States Team for their third place finish in the recently completed International Mathematical Olympiad, held in Madrid. The U.S. Team included Alex Zhai, who obtained one of only three perfect scores in the entire competition.
China placed first, Russia took second. If you're feeling ambitious, go have a look at the problems (PDF format). Congratulations to the team!
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:51 PM • 9 Comments
Category: Anti-Creationism
Only time for quick blogging today, so go have a look at Peter Buckland's interesting post in response to my reports of the big creationism confab. Here's a taste:
That stereotype exists, but it's not nearly complete as I have surely learned by attending local Science and Religion forums at a local church. Most people are interested and thoughtful. There's a lot of thought.
It's just bad thought.
Well said!
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:23 PM • 2 Comments
August 20, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Some of the comments to my posts on the creationism conference reminded me of a scene from the movie Heat, released in 1995. Al Pacino played Vincent Hannah, a detective for the LAPD investigating a crew of professional bank robbers. Robert DeNiro played Neil McCauley, the leader of the crew. (Short review: Pretty good movie, but marred somewhat by being too long and by Pacino's occasionally cartoonish overacting. Better the second time through, since you know when you have to pay attention.)
Roughly two-thirds of the way through the film Hannah knows everything about McCauley, but does not yet have enough evidence to make an arrest. McCauley has done his homework as well, and knows everything about Hannah. The two meet for coffee at a local diner, and after a lengthy and tolerably pleasant conversation they exchange the following dialogue:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:59 PM • 32 Comments
Category: Mathematics
My account of the big creationism conference will resume shortly, but I really must take time out to discuss this article by Brian Hayes of American Scientist. He is discussing the Monty Hall problem, you see.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:27 PM • 40 Comments
August 18, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Here's a picture to warm your heart:
It comes from the closing presentation of the conference, entitled “The Creation Model: It's Past, Present and Necessary Future,” by Andrew Snelling. Here's another one:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:10 PM • 78 Comments
August 17, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Usually I write these accounts in strict chronological order. I will break from that tradition this time since one of my most interesting experiences at the conference came right near the end. I had made a pest of myself during several of the Q and A's after the talks, meaning that by the third day of the conference I had a bit of a reputation. Late in the day a pleasant enough fellow approached me in the bookstore, and we had a conversation.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:12 PM • 95 Comments
August 13, 2008
Category: Evolution
My account of the big creationism conference will go up soon, but in the meantime you can tide yourself over with this op-ed from yesterday's New York Times. Olivia Judson explains a few of the reasons it is important to teach evolution in science classes. I especially liked this:
The third reason to teach evolution is more philosophical. It concerns the development of an attitude toward evidence. In his book, “The Republican War on Science,” the journalist Chris Mooney argues persuasively that a contempt for scientific evidence -- or indeed, evidence of any kind -- has permeated the Bush administration's policies, from climate change to sex education, from drilling for oil to the war in Iraq. A dismissal of evolution is an integral part of this general attitude.
Well said. Go read the whole thing.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:49 PM • 39 Comments
August 1, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
EvolutionBlog will be going dark for the next two weeks or so. I will be leaving my cozy digs in Harrisonburg to enjoy some serious wandering. First is a drive up to Pittsburgh for the International Conference of Creationism. How could I pass that up? Then I will explore the fine points of the Pennsylvania Turnpike as I shoot on over to visit the 'rents in my New Jersey office. There follows a quick train ride up to New York for the big blogger meet-up. I will also be sure to take care of the two most important things in any trip to New York: The visit to big bro over in Brooklyn, and the procurement of a most excellent black and white cookie from The Donut Pub. Looks like I'll have plenty of blog fodder when I return!
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:53 PM • 12 Comments
Category: Miscellaneous
The all-consuming, all-devouring, ScienceBlogs collective has assimilated another victim. Go say hi to Matt Springer, who blogs about physics over at Built on Facts. Matt is a graduate student in physics at Texas A & M university. He writes:
New posts generally appear every morning, including weekends. I can't promise the schedule will be absolutely rigidly adhered to, but it's been a while since I've missed a day.
Why do I feel so lame all of a suuden?
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:41 PM • 2 Comments
Category: Evolution
A few posts back I engaged a discussion about Richard Dawkins' metaphor of “Cimbing Mount Improbable” for the proces by which evolution by natural selection crafts complex structures from simpler precursors. Since I did not have his book in front of me at the time, I was working from memory.
As it happens, earlier today I was browsing through The God Delusion and I came across a description of the metaphor which, I am pleased to say, expresses precisely the view I attributed to Dawkins. You will find this on pages 121-122:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:27 PM • 16 Comments
July 31, 2008
Category: Religion
Karl Giberson offers up the usual cliches of the genre in in this essay for Salon. Those mean ol' atheists are trying to make a religion out of science, but savvy clear thinkers like him see the problems with that little project. Blah blah blah.
P.Z. has already spanked Giberson in this post. Nonetheless, there was one paragraph that really caught my eye:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:01 PM • 42 Comments
July 29, 2008
Category: Mathematics
Continuing my perusal of the new Notices of the American Mathematical Society, I came across this review (PDF format) of John Allen Paulos recent book Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up. The review is by mathematician Olle Haggstrom. Paulos' book has been sitting on my shelf for a while, but I have not yet gotten around to reading it. My impression from flipping through it is that it will provide nothing new to people familiar with these arguments, but provides a decent overview for people only vaguely familiar with them.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:31 PM • 64 Comments
July 28, 2008
Category: Mathematics
Via Mark Chu-Carroll, I just finished reading this article by mathematician Keith Devlin. He writes:
Let's start with the underlying fact. Multiplication simply is not repeated addition, and telling young pupils it is inevitably leads to problems when they subsequently learn that it is not. Multiplication of natural numbers certainly gives the same result as repeated addition, but that does not make it the same. Riding my bicycle gets me to my office in about the same time as taking my car, but the two processes are very different. Telling students falsehoods on the assumption that they can be corrected later is rarely a good idea. And telling them that multiplication is repeated addition definitely requires undoing later.
Reminds me of a joke.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:10 PM • 31 Comments
July 24, 2008
Category: Miscellaneous
Time for lighter fare. There are some really good movies out there...
Warning: A few minor spoilers ahead.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:28 PM • 22 Comments
July 23, 2008
Category: Evolution
There's an interesting discussion going on between Larry Moran and Richard Dawkins. The subject is the title of Dawkins' 1996 book Climbing Mt. Improbable. It started with this post over at Larry's blog. He included Dawkins in his list of good science writers who were nonetheless excluded from Dawkins' recent anthology of science writing. Along the way, Moran offered this thought:
Dawkins is also a master of metaphor but, sometimes the metaphors are misleading and can give an incorrect view of evolution (e.g. Climbing Mt. Improbable).
Personally, I loved the metaphor of Mt. Improbable. We shall return to this point momentarily.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:00 PM • 41 Comments
July 22, 2008
Category: Religion
James Carse directed the Religious Studies Program at New York University for thirty years. In this interview with Salon, regarding his new book The Religious Case Against Belief, he gives us a taste of what he learned from all that study:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:04 PM • 59 Comments
July 21, 2008
Category: Mathematics
The new issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society turned up in my mailbox today. It features an interesting, if slightly disturbing, editorial (PDF format) by CUNY mathematician Melvyn Nathanson. He wonders about how confident we can really be regarding the proofs that appear in our research journals:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:52 PM • 22 Comments
July 14, 2008
Category: Literature
For Part One, go here.
Let us return now to the weighty topic of great locked room mysteries.
In Part One I focused on the works of John Dickson Carr, who is certainly a central figure in the history of the genre. There are plenty of other works to be acknowledged, however, and we turn to that subject now. This will certainly not be anything like an exhaustive list, which would be impossible in any case. I will simply list a few that made an impression on me, and I invite the commenters to mention others. The ever-useful Wikipedia has an interesting reading list, including quite a few with which I am unfamiliar.
Quick spoiler alert: Below I reveal the endings of the stories “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Poe and Conan Doyle respectively. Otherwise there are no spoilers.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:18 PM • 23 Comments
July 12, 2008
Category: Religion
Andrew Sullivan was not amused by P. Z.'s post:
It is one thing to engage in free, if disrespectful, debate. It is another to repeatedly assault and ridicule and abuse something that is deeply sacred to a great many people. Calling the Holy Eucharist a “goddamned cracker” isn't about free speech; it's really about some baseline civility. Myers' rant is the rant of an anti-Catholic bigot. And atheists and agnostics can be bigots too.
But wait a minute! Wasn't Sullivan leading the charge in defense of the Danish newspapers that published caricatures of the prophet Muhammed? Yes, I believe he was. So here he is desperately trying to explain why what is obviously a double standard is, in fact, not a double standard:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:51 PM • 53 Comments
Category: Religion
As I was mulling over what I wanted to say about the PZ Myers / William Donohue kerfuffle, I came across this post (via Bora) by Jeff Fecke, that said perfectly exactly what I was thinking. Go read it.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 1:33 AM • 17 Comments
July 10, 2008
Category: Literature
Somehow I'm not in the mood for a heavy post today. So how about an essay on another of my favorite topics: Locked Room mysteries.
Here are the first two paragraphs of what I regard as the finest detective story ever written:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:09 PM • 18 Comments
July 8, 2008
Category: Evolution
Let's see. An op-ed in the New York Times entitled “Doubleday and Darwin”, with the following opening paragraph:
As I sat in my high school math class one day, my teacher asked a question that I doubt will find a consensus opinion in my lifetime: “Was math invented or was it discovered?” To this day, I still scratch my head.
Yeah, I think I can be persuaded to read the whole thing.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:27 PM • 15 Comments
July 7, 2008
Category: Religion
Remember a few posts back, when we saw Michael Ruse lecturing Richard Dawkins as follows:
More seriously, Dawkins is entirely ignorant of the fact that no believer-with the possible exception of some English clerics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries-has ever thought that arguments are the best support for belief. Saint Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers of Western civilization, devoted but one paragraph in the City of God to the proofs. Saint Thomas was categorical that the proofs are second to faith.
In light of that it is with some amusement that I direct you to the current issue of Christianity Today. It's cover story, which bears the headline, “God is Not Dead Yet,” discusses all the spiffy, sophisticated arguments philosophers have devised in support of God's existence. It's author is William Lane Craig. Looks like someone thinks rational arguments are central to an informed religious faith.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:46 PM • 147 Comments
July 6, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
During my recent trip to the Creation Museum I picked up a copy of David DeWitt's book Unraveling the Origins Controversy. DeWitt is the Director of the Center for Creation Studies at Liberty University. It's been a while since I've read an actual YEC book, and I was growing nostalgic for the experience.
And wouldn't you know it! Almost as soon as DeWitt turns from religious questions to scientific ones, the quote-mining begins. Consider this:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:40 PM • 5 Comments
June 30, 2008
Category: Religion
I've just got back from a road trip to Marrowbone, KY (!!). Mostly I was there for a friend's wedding. Here's the church where the wedding took place. Pretty, but truly in the middle of nowhere. And, yes, I did find time to pay another visit to the Creation Museum, even though it is in an entirely different part of the state. How could I not? They've opened the Dinosaur Den and the Petting Zoo since the last time I was there!
The largest towns near Marrowbone are Burkesville and Tompkinsville, which have a few thousand people between them. My motel room had the Burkesville/Tompkinsville yellow pages, which looked more like a magazine than any phone book I have ever seen. Just out of curiosity, I looked up “Churches.” Twenty-four options to choose from. Alas, I didn't think to look for synagogues.
And under bookstores? One entry. And that was for the Verizon Directory Store. Somehow I don't think you can pick up The Origin of Species there.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:37 PM • 6 Comments
June 25, 2008
Category: Evolution
Theistic evolutionists have a bumper crop of books to choose from this summer. I've already reviewed Ken Miller's new book Only a Theory. Michael Dowd's Thank God for Evolution! is on deck in my “To Read” pile. The subject for today, however, is Karl Giberson's Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution. Giberson is a professor of physics at Eastern Nazarene College.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:35 PM • 97 Comments
June 24, 2008
Category: Religion
Over at Slate, Christopher Hitchens provides some much needed pushback against the deluge of Tim Russert hagiography:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:41 PM • 4 Comments
June 23, 2008
Category: Chess
The new issue of New in Chess magazine arrived in my mailbox this weekend. It contains an article by British grandmaster Daniel Gormally about what it is like to be addicted to the Internet Chess Club. I know the feeling well, and can affirm that this is only a small exaggeration:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:14 PM • 5 Comments
Category: Politics
George Carlin was absolutely the very best stand-up comedian in the history of the business. Only Robin Williams in his prime was even in the same league. I have quite a few of his albums, and I find I can still listen to them with pleasure even though I have most of the routines memorized. The cadence of his voice and the strength of his writing make them enjoyable even long after their impact as humor has worn off. You will learn more about good teaching from observing his technique than you ever will in a teaching seminar or education course. The New York Times has a good article about his life. It closes with this worthy paragraph:
Still, when pushed to explain the pessimism and overt spleen that had crept into his act, he quickly reaffirmed the zeal that inspired his lists of complaints and grievances. “I don't have pet peeves,” he said, correcting the interviewer. And with a mischievous glint in his eyes, he added, “I have major, psychotic hatreds.”
Below the fold I've placed one of his best recent routines, one which well illustrates his skill at word play and his keen observations of modern times. He will be missed.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:55 PM • 6 Comments
June 21, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
I have spent the last few days working my way through Ken Miller's new book Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul. (OAT) Short review: Worth reading, but also a bit disappointing. Now for the long review:
My first published piece of writing on evolution was a review of Miller's book Finding Darwin's God, (FDG) for Skeptic magazine. My reaction to the book was probably typical among atheists. The first half of the book is a masterful smackdown of creationism and intelligent design. Miller's arguments were clear and convincing, and written in graceful prose that was a pleasure to read. In particular, his refutation of Behe's arguments regarding irreducible complexity remains one of the best I have seen.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:25 PM • 35 Comments
Category: Mathematics
Thanks to David Killoren for directing me to this excerpt from Bloggingheads. Science writers John Horgan and George Johnson spend a few minutes disucssing the Monty Hall problem. Johnson recently reviewed Leonard Mlodinow's book The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, which contains an explanation of te problem. After Johnson gets frustrated trying to explain the problem to Horgan, the following exchange takes place:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:18 PM • 15 Comments
June 20, 2008
Category: Science
That's the title of an interesting article from the current issue of The Atlantic, written by Nicholas Carr:
Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn't going -- so far as I can tell -- but it's changing. I'm not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I'm reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I'd spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That's rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I'm always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.
I'd say more, but I'm afraid I conked out after the first few paragraphs... :)
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:54 PM • 15 Comments
June 12, 2008
Category: Administrative
I'm going to be hitting the road this weekend for one of my periodical tours of some of the great highways in the Northeast. I'll be visiting the 'rents at my New Jersey office, will jaunt on up to Brooklyn to see big bro and the niece and nephew, and will probably putter around Princeton for an afternoon or two, being sure to take advantage of their most excellent math library. Regular blogging will resume at the end of next week.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:46 PM • 5 Comments
June 10, 2008
Category: Religion
Here's a delightful article from today's New York Times:
The operation in the private clinic off the Champs-Elysees involved one semicircular cut, 10 dissolving stitches and a discounted fee of $2,900.
But for the patient, a 23-year-old French student of Moroccan descent from Montpellier, the 30-minute procedure represented the key to a new life: the illusion of virginity.
Like an increasing number of Muslim women in Europe, she had a hymenoplasty, a restoration of her hymen, the thin vaginal membrane that normally breaks during the first act of intercourse.
“In my culture, not to be a virgin is to be dirt,” said the student, perched on a hospital bed as she awaited surgery on Thursday. “Right now, virginity is more important to me than life.”
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:02 PM • 38 Comments
Category: Religion
It seems giraffes are now considered kosher:
I don't know how this escaped me, but a rabbi named Shlomo Mahfoud (which sounds like a made-up name, in the “Zohan” sense) has declared that giraffe meat is kosher. This must come as a huge relief to the vast Jewish population of the Serengeti.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:17 PM • 4 Comments
June 9, 2008
Category: Politics
From Robert Novak's column in today's Washington Post:
Shortcomings by John McCain's campaign in the art of politics are alienating two organizations of Christian conservatives. James Dobson's Focus on the Family is estranged following the failure of Dobson and McCain to talk out their differences. Evangelicals who follow the Rev. John Hagee resent McCain's disavowal of him.
The evangelicals are not an isolated problem for the Arizona senator. Enthusiasm for McCain inside the Republican coalition is in short supply. During the four months since McCain clinched the nomination, he has not satisfied conservatives opposed to his positions on global warming, campaign finance reform, immigration, domestic oil drilling and how to ban same-sex marriages.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:36 PM • 13 Comments
June 8, 2008
Category: Religion
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Wheaton College English Professor Alan Jacobs argues that religion is overrated as a social force. My SciBling Razib has already written a lengthy response.
Jacobs gets down to business in the third paragraph:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:58 PM • 57 Comments
June 7, 2008
Category: Evolution
Here's an interesting essay from Michael Ruse, published in the Georgia newspaper the Rome News-Tribune:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:18 PM • 7 Comments
Category: Chess
An interesting article from today's New York Times:
The rapper RZA, a founder of the Wu-Tang Clan, sat in a suite on the 48th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel overlooking Central Park, staring at a chess game through a pair of sunglasses. His hand was frozen a few inches above the board as he looked for a strategy to thwart his opponent.
Chess has long had an important role in the aesthetic of the Wu-Tang Clan, which has songs about the game. In “'The Wu-Tang Manual,” a 2005 book about the group and its members, RZA (pronounced RIZ-a) wrote that chess is part of the Wu-Tang essence “because it's a game of war -- it's about battle. And Wu-Tang was formed in battles, from challenging each other.”
It seems RZA has founded his own chess website. Guess I'll have to go check it out!
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:45 PM • 1 Comments
