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David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Reflections on Dawkins and the AHA

The AHA have just rescinded an award they gave to Richard Dawkins in 1996. It seems like this episode has created something of a hubbub in the skeptical community - itself a bunch of people loosely associating with each other by hanging around on atheist websites like this. Herding cats,

Figure 4-1: Tone of the news, 1945–2010
Source: Leetaru 2011. Plotted by month, beginning in January.

We're Still Not Going to Hell in a Handcart

I wrote about this years back when Steven Pinker produced his book The Better Angels of Our Nature, in which he set out that things, despite what we are constantly told, are not getting worse. In fact, they are getting better across pretty much every metric (overpopulation and environment aside)

Rose Lincoln/Harvard University, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Pinker, Political Ideology, and Reason

Religion and nationalism are signature causes of political conservatism, and continue to affect the fate of billions of people in the countries under their influence. Many left-wing colleagues who learned that I was writing a book on reason and humanism egged me on, relishing the prospect of an arsenal of

Minimum Wage Rises in UK with Barely an Eyebrow Raised

This is a tale of two countries. In the UK, even our conservative government realises what is good for both economic stimulation and addressing long-term economic issues. The iNews website reports: Rishi Sunak used his Budget announcement to raise the national minimum wage to £8.91 an hour, confirming the

Ted Cruz and His Erroneous Claims about Guns

Senator Ted Cruz never misses a chance to speak out against gun control and digs the Second Amendment. He does so to such a degree that ... he held a 2015 campaign event (during the presidential primary race) at an Iowa gun shop and range. Before he ascended to Congress (and

(Religious) Conservatives Aren't Really Conservatives?

Words aren't set in stone and can mean whatever we want them to mean. As long as we correctly convey the intended message, right? Sure. But often we get issues. And one of those issues is about "conservatism", the basis of the issue possibly being wrapped

Ryan's Rant

This is delicious. And it's good to see genuine anger at the complete ineptitude and moral abhorrence of the GOP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAAXr_Orki0 Perhaps Tim Ryan is one to watch for. Stay in touch! Like A Tippling Philosopher on Facebook: A Tippling Philosopher

A Right Royal Ruckus

An American friend asked why we bother with the Royal Family (RF). Good question. I'm a liberal, admittedly, but I do look at why I am so and what this means. The RF is largely a tribal affair in its support. I could give you arguments about economics,

Political Polarisation

Political polarisation is something that is becoming more and more of a concern in both UK and US politics. The recent presidential elections were a perfect example of this, but, then again, the two-party political landscape in the US has always been something that lends itself towards such polarisation. There

Christians Worship A False Idol

1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Jeremiah 10:2-5 Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree

What Do Some People Have Against the Environment?

For some reason, the environment is a trigger idea for right-wingers. The problem is that, as I have stated a number of times, the right takes free-market economics very seriously, but free-market economics cannot arbitrate for negative externalities. Negative Externalities What this means is that, if a company wants to

Kinzinger's Family Letter: God, the GOP and Conservative Media

Democratic Party

Kinzinger's Family Letter: God, the GOP and Conservative Media

There are three legs to the stool upon which public opinion over Trump and the impeachment sits: God, the GOP as a tribal entity, and conservative media in its incurably rabid form. Nothing exemplifies this more acutely than the letter that Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican House Representative who voted

God's characteristics

"God Herself"

So much I want to say about the impeachment... When it's not crazy late here... But. Wow. Woooow. Rep. Eric Swalwell on CNN just gave my favourite quote of the decade. "We could have called God herself and we still would not have received the votes from

Fighting Back against the Christian Nationalism Underpinning the Insurrection

As many of you who were looking closely (or not really even that closely) will have recognised about the insurrection at the Capitol, there were a good many "Jesus Saves" type flags. Pretty much every lawmaker has condemned the actions of the rioters, even if they are less

A Must Watch on Trump-Putin Collusion

Conservatives love to shout down any claims of Russian collusion when discussing Trump. What liberals could do with is some people who have done a tonne of research and spoken to top experts in the geo-political and intelligence arenas. Enter stage right Active Measures. Wow, how did I not know

The Best Analysis of the GOP I Have Heard

The video below is the single best analysis of the GOP, where it is at and where it is going, that I have yet heard. It is from FiveThirtyEight and it is probably so good because it involves a panel of three conservatives giving frank, honest and quality party-reflection. Galen

Natureofthought, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

conspiracy theories

Hawley and Greene Being Bankrolled by Conspiracy Theorists

Senator Josh Hawley and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene have become infamous representations of a large part of the Republican base. Some have distanced themselves from such insanity whilst many more seemed to have closed ranks around these two and the ideas they have espoused. My next piece will be on

Political Bots Being Used to Sway Opinion

Political Bots Being Used to Sway Opinion

This has just been happening on Twitter (as it has for years): En masse spelling mistakes aside, this is insidious and horrible. Public opinion is being swayed by simulated/dishonest/untrue creations. This is disinformation. Quite how the government can, on the one hand, rightly spout off about disinformation concerning

Irn, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Fantastic Ezra Klein Interview

[caption id="attachment_32779" align="alignright" width="188"] Irn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Ezra Klein, who now writes for the NYT and has a pocast of his own, is always interesting to listen to. I really enjoyed this particular interview;

Biden's Landmark Environmental Positioning

Just one more on politics (though this is about the environment) before I get back to talking God. I wanted to write this earlier this week but didn't have the time. I did say this elsewhere: Holy crap, I'm sad enough to be watching the climate

Capitol Double Standards

Crime & Punishment

Capitol Double Standards

As my friend said: This meme is making the rounds and misses a key point. Two years after his release, Kalief hanged himself at his parents' house. He was 22. Racism kills. To add to this... Fun fact. The 2018 Sunrise climate change protest had twice as many protesters

Non-Religious Public Officials Organize For Support, Dialog

This is from the Association of Secular Elected Officials: A new group will provide support, information and a sounding board for non-religious elected officials at a time when a growing number of people choose not to affiliate with a religion, organizers say. “By openly serving as secular elected officials, our

Such Competence and Moral Integrity

I could be talking about any part of the last 24 hours, other than Trump's own "farewell do", which looked like a wholly embarrassing affair (with desperate appeals for almost anyone to turn up). I am actually referring to the press briefing that I (being a

"Post-Truth Is Pre-Fascism"

Post-truth is pre-fascism, and Trump has been our post-truth president. When we give up on truth, we concede power to those with the wealth and charisma to create spectacle in its place. Without agreement about some basic facts, citizens cannot form the civil society that would allow them to defend

Tyler Merbler - https://www.flickr.com/photos/37527185@N05/50812356151/

Crime & Punishment

Unpicking the Capitol Fiasco

[caption id="attachment_32491" align="alignright" width="407"] Tyler Merbler - https://www.flickr.com/photos/37527185@N05/50812356151/[/caption] The last few days weeks years five years have been incredibly damaging to US democracy, the soft power and reputation the US has in