Poem of the Week: 11/8/09-11/14/09

This might be next week’s essay of the week. But if you have the time, you might want to read it now. The question of the hour is who told what and why. You can’t believe anything you read in such articles and yet it might all be true.

From Megan McArdle:“California has come up with a novel way to close this year’s budget gaps: it’s increasing withholding from the paychecks of its citizens.”

You can leave, but you can never talk. What would happen if a church tried to slap such a legal injunction on a pastor?

Lines that make you lose respect for Scientists: “”Early paleontologists recognised the distinction between adults and juveniles, but people have lost track of looking at ontogeny – how the individual develops – when they discover a new fossil.”

Poem of the Week: 11/1/09-11/7/09

Posted on November 1, 2009 by The Editor

This week’s poem of the week is “Epistle (to the author of The Three Impostors)” by Voltaire. This poem has widely quoted line “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him” in it. It is presented for education rather than for your enjoyment.

By reading it, you will come to understand to thing about Voltaire. He was smart and he was full of himself.

Rant of the Week: 11/1/09-11/7/09

Posted on November 1, 2009 by The Editor

This week’s rant of the week is “Going Norm Galt.”

Essay of the Week: 11/1/09-11/7/09

Posted on November 1, 2009 by The Editor

Did you know that there is lots of good evidence questioning whether the flu vaccine does any good? Did you know that in spite of this fact most of the medical profession considers it unethical to test the flu vaccine the way that other medical drugs are tested?

These facts come from this essay from Atlantic Monthly that should be required reading for those who buy into the flu vaccine hype. Most of the rest of us know from our own experience that it does not do much good.