Entries from August 2008

August 26, 2008

Blind Judo, Worship and Smiling Babies

Although the Beijing Olympics have now come to an end, less able-bodied athletes can be seen competing in the Paralympics that begin on Sept 6th. Regrettably, these games attract only a fraction of the audience, which is a sad indictment on our viewing preferences for the perfect body. However, my interest will be drawn to these [...]

August 19, 2008

Religion v Science v Supernatural

Last night’s final episode of “The Genius of Charles Darwin,” dealt with the rise of fundamental Christian belief in the West and the clash between creationism and natural selection. Once again, Richard Dawkins championed the cause of reason and evidence in deciding truth about the origins of species against a sea of believers who persisted [...]

August 13, 2008

The Holocaust Suitcase

Jennifer Anglim Kreder, an associate professor of law at Northern Kentucky University, has recently written an interesting piece on the legal and ethical implications when museums retain personal artifacts. In it, she identifies the conflicting interests of museums to display personal items and the wishes of relatives who want to have such items returned because of [...]

August 7, 2008

Dawkins on Darwin – Does Richard Have a SuperSense?

I am enjoying Richard Dawkins’ latest TV series, “The Genius of Charles Darwin” currently broadcast on UK’s Channel 4. I am sure it will rally the atheists and rile the religious.
Not only is Dawkins celebrating the brilliance of Darwin and the power and elegance of Natural Selection to explain the origins of species, he looks [...]

August 1, 2008

Overkill on Olympic Numerology

Numbers are amazing. If you have the time and inclination, then there are some really fascinating things about numbers. A cursory glance at the web reveals a plethora of sites. Personally, I am always astounded that for any true circle, the circumference divided by the diameter equals pi – a magical number that may go [...]