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  • Julian
  • Member Since Jan 9th, 2008

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Recent Comments:

Caveman Cuisine: Is Paleo the Diet of the Future? {Politics Daily}

Feb 26th 2010 4:24PM This is pretty stupid. The majority of people in the past had very short life-spans, and the only reason they ate this diet was out of necessity. The human body HAS grown to adapt to more diverse cuisines and foods, especially after the Agricultural Revolution. There's no scientific basis for adopting a "paleolithic diet."

What it is is a fad and a sort of anti-modernist trend the likes of which are coupled with new age spiritualism and hocus-pocus healers. I'm sorry, but anyone who considers this a legitimate and better lifestyle are just suckers.

The majority of health concerns in the US can be confronted with exercise and smart food choices, whether your vegetarian (as I am), vegan or an omnivore. It has nothing to do with the past food diets of our ancestors. The silly things people adhere to sometimes...

Mickey Mouse gets his edge back {WalletPop}

Nov 6th 2009 11:15AM Translation: "Why not just make him everything I hate and don't understand and don't want to understand?"

It's a tad bit ridiculous that people are up in arms over a character who is reverting to his 1930s persona. It's not like he's taking on a new, 2010 super-villainous personality. Anything to fear and hate and to blame on others, right? So ridiculous.

It's a bit ironic and bizarre that some aspects of 1930s culture was less over-protective and anal-retentive than that of our modern era; what with our "helicopter-parents" and the vile, malicious spawn of the "Moral Majority" from the 1980s. Love to hate and proud to be afraid, what a way to live...

Maine Voters' Rejection of Gay Marriage Will Delay Activists' Day in Court {Sphere Lite}

Nov 5th 2009 12:16PM halfbreedftbl, there are homosexual members of the non-human animal kingdom, look it up. Secondly, considering it a "lifestyle choice" is so archaic and, at this point, debunked that it's laughable to still believe so. Finally, marriage as a "sacred union between a man and a woman" is a relatively recent idea, because marriage, historically, was more about the economic welfare and status quo than it was about love, if it even was. Most marriages were arranged by families who sought to control various economic factors, such as land, prosperity and family lineage. People of the lower classes who usually forced to marry in their class as to continue their service to their lords.

The strange sense of "power" that you anti-gay marriage proponents feel by denying people marriage based on little more than a religious dogma is puzzling. You say you want "gay advocacy" out of the political spectrum and out of government, but you're using religion to do so, which SHOULD BY ALL ACCOUNTS be left out of government, by decree of our forefathers. This new idea of an extremely right-wing, religious movement that began in the late-70s is one that a progressing world will not tolerate. Reactionary movements will only fail after they reach their highest peak, and considering how proud people are of being afraid and ignorant at this time in human history, that peak is soon to come. Cherish it, because it will fall quicker than you can say, "God, help me." No, I'm not a "gay socialist," I'm a straight, secular American male who's concerned that you people have no idea what's to come. You may gain some power soon, but the world will deny you the ultimate conquest that you strive for.

10 Worst Greatest-Hits Album Mistakes {Spinner}

Nov 1st 2009 4:08AM This is a really funny list. Boston's entry is probably the most warranted.

Doctors Call Boy's Recovery From Blindness a Miracle {ParentDish}

Oct 29th 2009 2:24PM In7t8,

I would just like to point out that you conveniently left out the definition that implicates a supernatural force behind what would be considered, "a surprising and welcome event."

Though miracle also has the definition you used, I'm near positive that they also mean to imply some sort of divine intervention. And if they don't, well, that's what a lot of people will take from it, anyway (read the other comments and you'll see).

That may not matter to you, but to me, it matters a great deal. I don't believe science and religious/spiritual beliefs are compatible. It's ridiculous to assert anything of the kind when they are at complete odds with each other. While science attempts to answer the same questions that religious/spiritualism pretends to already know, it doesn't jump to fantastic explanations to answer them. In other words, science searches for the simplest answers that have a footing in reality, whereas religion and spiritualism will jump to a far-fetched conclusion and consider the matter closed. That is unscientific and works against the whole reason and purpose of science.

Lastly, even though your attempt at belittling my comment by calling it a "little rant," and twisting my previous post to make it seem that I don't consider this an extraordinary event (I do, thanks to breakthroughs in gene therapy), I just want to make it clear that, even though I am upset at the use of the word "miracle," I don't consider myself "right," I consider myself far more reasonable than those who consider this "of the divine." There's a difference between unrelenting dogma coupled with blind faith and logical assertions.

Oh, and the fact that those doctors called it "almost biblical" negates the idea that they may have meant the world "miracle" as just an amazing event without any divine implications.

That's all.

Doctors Call Boy's Recovery From Blindness a Miracle {ParentDish}

Oct 29th 2009 10:57AM Patricia,

Thanks for your response. I used the term "right to sight" just because I thought it was catchy, though admittedly it might have been unwise of me to do so. I know that there isn't a "right" to being able to see, as, of course, it is an expected aspect of life.

Now, I believe I was clear in the implication that I am well aware that the same doctors who performed the gene therapy used the term, "miracle." My point is simple: that's misguided and unfortunate.

Even if spiritual/religious people accept science more because the same scientists and doctors label breakthrough, "miracles," it does nothing but perpetuate that science, on its own, is ineffective and not to be trusted. Many who rely heavily on what science has given them (i.e. computers, cars, television, air conditioning, centralized heating, etc) have a large distrust of science and the scientific community. Thus, spiritualist and religious answers look more appealing, and when they are attached to scientific and medical breakthroughs, it just encourages that distrust. "Only through GOD could they perform this!" or "GOD must have been involved in one way or another!" It's silly but it's also dangerous. It encourages laziness and ignorance.

I'll make no mystery of my disdain for religious/spiritualist beliefs, especially those that purport to be able to cure ailments or know the true answers to life (without the need for evidence), but it's not about my personal belief system; it's about the progress of science and medicine that is often stilted by these inane comments and beliefs. Besides, they only pick the good out of the bad for their "proof," despite the fact that there are probably more negative results in the constant search for scientific perfection than there are good. "He works in mysterious ways," is not a viable answer, by the way, because it offers no insight.

Anyway, I don't mean to sound like I'm "up in arms," but I feel these doctors and scientists that use words like "miracle" or terms like "near biblical" are doing themselves and science, as a whole, an extreme disservice. It's both dangerous and unaware of its true results.

Doctors Call Boy's Recovery From Blindness a Miracle {ParentDish}

Oct 29th 2009 8:42AM While this is fantastic news for a child who has been given the right
to sight (something I know we all take for granted), to call it a
miracle is as demeaning as it is fundamentally wrong. If it were
truly a "miracle," then all the hard work and effort put forth by
doctors and scientists to push for gene therapy and to actually
accomplish an amazing feat would be absolutely meaningless and
unnecessary, because a spiritual force would have already done the
job. There's this sort of spiritualist phenomenon that attempts to
attach itself to legitimate scientific concerns as if it has an equal
place in it. It does not, it should not and is an affront to any
breakthrough for science and medicine. To continue the growth of
ignorance by claiming this a "miracle" is a shame, as it will only
fuel the fire of those who are willing to remain ignorant and
zealous.

Doctors Call Boy's Recovery From Blindness a Miracle {ParentDish}

Oct 29th 2009 8:41AM While this is fantastic news for a child who has been given the right to sight (something I know we all take for granted), to call it a miracle is as demeaning as it is fundamentally wrong. If it were truly a "miracle," then all the hard work and effort put forth by doctors and scientists to push for gene therapy and to actually accomplish an amazing feat would be absolutely meaningless and unnecessary, because a spiritual force would have already done the job. There's this sort of spiritualist phenomenon that attempts to attach itself to legitimate scientific concerns as if it has an equal place in it. It does not, it should not and is an affront to any breakthrough for science and medicine. To continue the growth of ignorance by claiming this a "miracle" is a shame, as it will only fuel the fire of those who are willing to remain ignorant and zealous.

Today's Web Crush -- Peggy Wang, Blogger and Musician {Asylum}

Sep 22nd 2009 3:29PM I love The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and just knowing more about her makes me love them all that much more. Also, as a male/creepy aside, she's very attractive...

The 'Glenn Beck as Murderer' Meme: Vaccine or Infection? {Politics Daily}

Sep 17th 2009 2:41PM It's quite obvious that the website uses the same technique Glenn Beck uses in attacking a would-be opponent of "freedom." This is what Glenn Beck does:

1.) Report on a possible, heinous action or belief of the individual.
2.) Repeat the accusations over and over again until their instilled in ones head.
3.) Debate the topic with little or no resistance from an opposing viewpoint, or with people with exactly the same viewpoint.
4.) Finally, when complete, put it in a question and pretend as if this is all just conjecture, and there's no proof, but make sure you emphasize that there's also no proof otherwise.

Example: Is so-and-so the offspring of Satan, himself? Here's why I think he is! Of course, this is all just a theory, but he hasn't come out and said he wasn't!! Think about that!

So pathetically transparent it's ridiculous, but you brownshirts eat it all up, because, unlike other members of your mammalian family, you lack the mental capacity to think for yourselves.