TheEncogitationer

Simon and Jake,

A note about competition: You say this like it’s a universally bad thing.

Competition in the provision of goods and services in a marketplace makes for better quality of goods and services and it impels the competitors to better practices to produce these goods and services.

Also, Wafa Sultan noted that true civilizations do…[Read more]

Jake,

Who sings that song about Buffalo Soldier?

That was Bob Marley. Who not only sang in tribute to the Manifest Destiny-enforcing Buffalo Soldier, but he was also a misogynist, a homophobe, a rich Socialist hob-knobber, and just a crappy human being made worse by his Rastafarian religion.

The more I learn about celebrities, the less I am…[Read more]

Jake,

While i agree indigenous Americans which by the way the dating of their arrival keeps getting pushed back…i think latest i read is up to 40,000 yrs ago…engaged in slavery and war it was not nearly as systematic and degrading as the Atlantic slave trade which truly was an abomination and unspeakably horrible. But it is also true that sla…

[Read more]

Reg,

The tip-off that you were dealing with an “It” was that “It” got the date wrong and called the horrors of October 7th a singular “kidnapping” instead of a pogrom.

And, as a side bar absurdity, “It” also downgraded September 11th, 2001 by calling it a singular “kidnapping” instead of an attack on civilization as a whole.

I wouldn’t have…[Read more]

Strega,

You’re much more tribal here in America. People really like labels and grouping terms. Maybe it’s because you had to invade the land you live in, and had to manage indigenous peoples, so it’s a Cowboys and Indians mentality. Or Us vs Them.

What Jake has copiously said addresses this as a human condition, not exclusive to the U.S.A…[Read more]

Strega,

enco There is no perfection, and arguably no equality in real life. An example of equity might be the allocation of school bus costs on a headcount basis, even though some students live much further from school than others.

It is precisely because there is no such thing as equality, that equity steps into the breach.

It would probably…[Read more]

Strega,

Edited to add, an example of equity is having dedicated handicap parking spaces.

Most every private business and publicly open establishment in the States has these and some have dedicated parking spaces for pregnant women and Veterans.

All of these are good, nice things to have and I don’t object and would never park in these…[Read more]

Strega,

Thanks for the new word “kakistocracy,” and an apt word it is describing all sides and all places in our world today.

Now as for “Equity” and “Equality,” here is where you would need to define your terms, since the dictionary doesn’t suffice here.

If “Equality” and “equity” means equal dignity, equal rights, equal responsibilities,…[Read more]

Fellow Unbelievers,

The Scopes Monkey Trial a century on: A global mess that nobody won.

For this occasion, MST3K performed their Cliff’s Notes mash-up version of the Scopes Monkey Trial and it’s portrayal in Inherit the Wind. As with real-life, nobody really won here either but it was done with comic effect:…[Read more]

Reg,

From what I’ve read of the Aeon essay, this guy must have learned his biology from Jordan Peterson. Citing mythology and Sci-Fi and bad Roger Corman movies that didn’t even make it to MST3K and analogy and metaphor as evidence? And using the term “late-stage Capitalism” as if he knows it’s over (or even begun) or even knows what time it…[Read more]

Reg,

What’s it like to be a crab?

You mean all of my responses to this animal cosplay are not enough proof? 🦀😁

Reg,

How the Biosphere 2 experiment changed our understanding of the Earth.

One big thing Biosphere 2 showed is that the Thermodynamic principle of Entropy is real. In that closed system, things tended from order to disorder. It also showed that Real Nature (to use a redundancy) has all kinds of inputs and energy-converting interactions going…[Read more]

Jake,

Chalk up other reasons to homeschool or set up storefront Freedom Schools, such as those of the Civil Rights Era. Secularists s really need to cure themselves of the tic against those. Sometimes, those are the only refuge from schooling in a majority irrational society. A good way to get winners of National Spelling Bees too.

Simon and Reg,

Fortunately,I’ve found that the Bicycle Boys do respect “No Solicitation” signs and don’t come out as much in hot weather, so at least there is a limit on how far these practices spread.

Fellow Unbelievers,

There is much to be said against Trump, but we pawns in the game are the only ones who have that place, not Trump’s predecessors and not rich big-mouth pop stars:

George Bush launches rare critique of Trump
Former president makes thinly veiled swipe at US president’s cuts to HIV and AIDS initiative…[Read more]

Jake,

This philosophy professor in Belgium says the lefty religionists take the cake. The university is the secular church. You can quote me on that.

Actually, others have said as much too, but your pronouncement of this is welcome.

Mamdami has brought out a very perverse kind of ecumunalism and bipartisanism. Tucker Carlson, Marjory Taylor…[Read more]

Jake,

When will the woke left protest something legit? When Zionists can no longer be condemned. That is when. When Islam can be attacked as an idea. That is when. Until then it is one big secular Jew hating religion. When identity of the perpetrator’s of history’s horrors is no longer ascribed to certain groups. That is when. When com…

[Read more]

Reg,

I only got 44 percent right on the aAI or Human test, which kind of fits in with this article that confirms what I’ve khsaid earlier about AI:

Multiple Studies Now Suggest That AI Will Make Us Morons
https://gizmodo.com/multiple-studies-now-suggest-that-ai-will-make-us-morons-2000620811

Reg,

One solution is to teach children critical thinking as a dedicated school subject, like math or history. Teach children how to question, explore ideas, and understand the history of thought. Learn to spot the differences between valid and invalid reasoning and cause vs. correlation. Understand how arguments are constructed and defended by…

[Read more]

Reg,

American Atheists warns Mahmoud v. Taylor ruling undermines public education and pluralism.

As long as Unbelievers can opt out of compulsory reading of religious texts, I see no problem with Believers opting out of reading texts they may not like.

In fact, everyone who reads one thing automatically at that moment opts out of reading…[Read more]