We take modern medicine for granted. It's something we hardly ever need to think about. The odds of dying of the flu are small; you're about as likely to die from that as from accidental electrocution. But it wasn't always this way. Just a few generations ago, before we had the ability to develop vaccines or antibiotics, infant mortality rates were frighteningly high. Children suffering from diabetes would ...

One of my recent tirades against Fox News prompted me to write about the degree of control mainstream media has over society. This piece is not meant to lay all the blame of society on their shoulders; rather it is an invitation to consider the fact that perhaps we do not all make rational choices based on a careful examination of the evidence. I am the first to admit it is often easier and more expedient t ...

I don't like you, Alberta. You aren't like the other provinces in this country which are generally reasonable. In the rest of Canada, religion and government don't mix. We generally try to be tolerant, polite, and nice. Now you apparently all want to be cowboys, having gone ahead and passed Bill 44. Congratulations, you have the distinction of being worse than Texas when it comes to education. How is this e ...

It's not only Ireland that is battling the Catholic church and their long list of abuses against children. In Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Diocese is attempting to keep thousands of pages of court files, numerous lawsuits dating back to 2001, from being released to the public. They attempt to show they have actively been fighting to prevent further abuses, but their obvious need to protect the identities of ...

The Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan is in turmoil. Although there is a German military base there, 600 soldiers have to patrol and defend an area the size of Massachusetts. The Taliban has been gaining ground rapidly, threatening to kill school girls if they try to attend class. School administrators are powerless to do anything about it, and scared parents are capitulating to the treats. If you rec ...

With Kim Jong-il getting on in years, it's difficult to imagine just what is going through his insane little mind. Technically, Korea is still under the command of his deceased father, just to show you the kind of weird shit that goes on over there. Now Kim is claiming they are testing nukes underground, and according to seismologists, this isn't a bluff. I'm not usually a fear monger, but this kind of news ...

When Ann Landers died (real name Esther Pauline Friedman), her daughter took over the family 'advice column' racket. She didn't, however, take on the famous moniker. Her column is a fairly innocuous and predictable affair, except perhaps for a recent letter she received: Our daughter started college a year ago, and we’ve noticed during her visits home that she’s not the sweet, innocent girl we sent away for ...

A few weeks ago I wrote an article about how poorly Muslims in England have integrated within their society, especially when compared to other European countries like France and Germany. Although I'm not in any position to speculate as to why that is, a recent story about MI5 and their campaign of harassment is telling me that relations are not about to improve anytime soon. It seems that the desperate inte ...

I hate the use of the word 'war' in reference to any particular conflict. When I think of a war, I think of the innocents who suffer at the hands of sadistic and murderous zealots that would do anything for power. Wars bring out the very worst attributes of mankind; in conflicts we are cruel, barbaric, and savage. Because we often fear for our very lives, this removes our natural impulse to be cooperative a ...

It seems like every time I read an article about atheism from an obviously religiously motivated individual, I'm always looking for the punchline. We've been accused of everything from spoiling everyone's good time to being overly dramatic, and now in this LA Times article, of being terribly boring. Charlotte Allen is the writer of the book: The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus. The title s ...