Category: Ethics, Morality & Religion
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On the heels of the US Supreme Court’s decision on upholding the ban on partial-birth abortion, it was the first time I actually read the controversial legislation, denounced by pro-choice advocates and hailed by anti-abortion activists ( or, denounced by anti-life activists and hailed by pro-life protesters…err, I give up trying to find the politically…
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We are aware that Dick Cheney suffers from a serious and chronically poor heart condition. But his cardiac health goes beyond the common medical definition, spilling over into the metaphorical realm of heart disease – "cold hearted" indifference and … well, "heartlessness." Since early March, when his "friend" and trusted aide, Scooter Libby was convicted…
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We are currently in an endless loop of outrage over racially charged stories in the MSM -the flap over Don Imus’ nasty crack about the Rutgers women’s basketball team and the more chilling Duke Lacrosse team’s case involving false accusations of rape. Here is a relatively obscure incident involving blatant racism mixed with patriotic fervor and…
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Prompted by comments relating to Ruchira’s announcement that she intends not to post as frequently as usual, I thought I might at least contribute a cursory account of the conference I attended last week in D.C., the 101st meeting of ASIL. Let me note at the outset that Ruchira’s and Joe’s lapse into "blah"-ging has…
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This time the victims don’t want money. They want an apology and it is not forthcoming. Japan, for all its picture postcard beauty and colorful traditions, often has the most colorless, boring and sometimes corrupt politicians. That image was burnished by Japan’s recently retired prime minister, the charismatic baby boomer Junichiro Koizumi who was given…
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On March 19, 2003, I was in snowy Banff, Canada, enjoying a nice holiday. My husband and I watched BBC news (quite different from the coverage by CNN) with horror as round the clock reporting of the invasion of Iraq filled the TV screen with video game like imagery. (I have repeatedly wondered, if amateurs…
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Ruchira and I have been volleying e-mail messages behind the scenes regarding a cluster of recent articles dealing with "science and …"—fill in the blank with a miscellany of topics you might not have expected to find associated with science just a decade or two ago: mens rea and "neurolaw," laughter, the weather of the…
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A tragic and disturbing story from Norway. Another bitter fruit of Nazi philosophy whose seeds are still scattered in the battered minds of its vicitms. Living hell of Norway’s ‘Nazi’ children In his tiny flat on the edge of Oslo, Paul Hansen shows me his family album. It doesn’t take long. He only has three…
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The recent article in New York Times magazine, Darwin’s God looking into the debate over religion and evolution has sparked energetic discussions on several science blogs. The question being asked by scientists (evolutionary biologists, cognitive scientists, anthropologists among others) revolves around two central points. Is human religiosity, superstition, belief in the supernatural and "hope beyond…
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Since 9/11/2001, those wishing to obtain a US visa for travel, business, education or immigration have to go through a stringent (some say humiliating) screening process. The US Department of Homeland Security adopts a uniformly ham handed approach to ensuring security that does not distinguish between a visiting professor from an Arab /Asian country and…
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