Good And Bad Reasons For Believing : Richard Dawkins

Good And Bad Reasons For Believing : Richard Dawkins:
* * *
"What can we do about all this ? It is not easy for you to do anything, because you are only ten. But you could try this. Next time somebody tells you something that sounds important, think to yourself: 'Is this the kind of thing that people probably know because of evidence? Or is it the kind of thing that people only believe because of tradition, authority, or revelation?' And, next time somebody tells you that something is true, why not say to them: 'What kind of evidence is there for that?' And if they can't give you a good answer, I hope you'll think very carefully before you believe a word they say.

Your loving

Daddy"

The Oil Drum | Saudi Arabian oil declines 8% in 2006

The Oil Drum | Saudi Arabian oil declines 8% in 2006: "Saudi Arabian oil declines 8% in 2006"

Saudi's falling production????

according to OPEC data (discussed at length in this Oil Drum post on Friday). “Clearly Saudi Arabian oil production is lower. The magic question is: Why?” he asks. “Have they hit peak production on enough of their fields that they’re…at their all-time peak?

Energy Roundup - WSJ.com : T. Boone Pickens: Oil Production Has Peaked

Energy Roundup - WSJ.com : T. Boone Pickens: Oil Production Has Peaked

wsjblank

Dr Seuss poem wsjblank: * * *

"Then, when every last cent of their money was spent,
the Fix-It-Up-Chappie packed up and he went.
And he laughed as he drove in his car up the beach,
'They never will learn; no, you can't teach a Sneetch!'

But McBean was quite wrong, I'm quite happy to say,
the Sneetches got quite a bit smarter that day.
That day, they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches,
and no kind of Sneetch is the BEST on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars,
and whether they had one or not upon thars."

Counseling Center - 52 Proven Stress Reducers

Counseling Center - 52 Proven Stress Reducers: "52 Proven Stress Reducers"

Bill Rempel, a.k.a. NO DooDahs! - � My Stock Screens

Bill Rempel, a.k.a. NO DooDahs! - � My Stock Screens

The Braden Files : A Global Intelligence Briefing For CEOs

The Braden Files : A Global Intelligence Briefing For CEOs

Excellent!!!!!!!

An explanation, but not an excuse - Wizbang

An explanation, but not an excuse - Wizbang

An explanation, but not an excuse

Among the (well-deserved) outcry over conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, one question has been repeated over and over: how the hell did things get so bad there? And amidst the muddle, a lot of people have extended that argument in wrong directions: from "how can we treat our veterans so badly" to "how did the Veterans Administration let this happen?"

That little misunderstanding -- that Walter Reed falls under the VA -- was actually a pointer to some people.

Walter Reed is not -- repeat, NOT -- a Veteran's Hospital. It is owned and operated by the United States Army, and is for active duty personnel -- not former service members.

And as part of the Army, it fell under the last round of Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) cuts.

In 2004, a non-partisan commission took a long, hard look at our military installations, and made recommendations that many of them be reduced, consolidated, or eliminated entirely. And Walter Reed -- the Army's premiere hospital -- has been around for almost a century. The commission recommended that it be closed, effective 2011, and consolidated with the Naval National Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland.

Here are a couple of cold, hard facts that most likely contributed to the deterioration at Walter Reed:

1) The military has a finite amount of money to spend.

2) Any money invested in Walter Reed will, in essence, be "wasted" as the whole facility will cease to exist in about four and a half years.

What SHOULD have happened was that the shut-down should have been modified, with the worst facilities being closed down, modest temporary fixes applied where possible, and patients transferred to other facilities. Administrators of the hospital should have been performing architectural "triage" on the campus, sacrificing the most deteriorated buildings and focusing on their core concerns. Instead, it appears they just watched the clock, betting that things wouldn't get too bad before the whole issue became irrelevant.

That was a losing bet -- and our sick and injured service members are having to cover it.

This in no way excuses what happens there. It needs to be fixed, and fixed NOW. Those who made that bet need to be disciplined, demoted, reassigned, or fired. Courts martial might even be in order.

But the state of matters at Walter Reed are too big to be the result of negligence, of carelessness, of even malice. They are systemic -- and the BRAC decision was a major factor in perverting that system. It should have been anticipated that this might happen when one schedules the shuttering of such a huge hospital, especially during a time of war.

At this point, I don't care if we find someone to blame now, or go looking later. The main thing we need to do first is get those sick and wounded service members the hell out of those conditions. They've suffered far too much already in service to all of us; to leave them there while trying to pin the blame on whoever you don't like is to use them in the most obscene of political theatre.

If I were in their place, if given the choice between staying in the disgusting conditions in parts of Walter Reed and being used as a political prop, I think I'd stay with the rats.

will you?

will you?

VISTA

Bill Rempel, a.k.a. NO DooDahs! - � The Big Gainers of 2006

Bill Rempel, a.k.a. NO DooDahs! - � The Big Gainers of 2006

Boing Boing: Dating advice for men explained in electrical diagrams

Boing Boing: Dating advice for men explained in electrical diagrams

Econbrowser: Saudi oil production cuts

Econbrowser: Saudi oil production cuts

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countdown.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

The shame of our congress!!!

Anna Nicole's Will

Lots of comments

CHARMING, JUST CHARMING: Politically Correct ? Or Just Stating a Fact

CHARMING, JUST CHARMING: Politically Correct ? Or Just Stating a Fack
TEXAS FRED may not be politically correct but he is right. It is about time to move past this bullshit about race and move on to protecting the country. Am I biased? You gotdam right. I am a predjudiced sumbitch when it comes to not liking people who are dead set on destroying a country I love. I have no use for ragheads..and until the Moslem population in this country takes to the streets demonstrating against the ragheads that are trying to destroy us ...instead of trying to force the rest of us to abide by THEIR perverted religion ...I will include them as part of the raghead population of the world.

Here's the deal people. I don't give a rats ass about the color of your skin..we all bleed red. I don't really give a rats ass about your sexual choices as long as the goat agrees. I could care less about who, when, where, or how you worship provided you don't require me and mine to abide by your religious rules. But I do care about the government taxing hell out of me to provide housing and subsistance to a sub culture that happens to be primarily black..but there are also so low life whites in this group as well as Hispanics and others. Does this make me prejudiced? Yeah, according to the Politically correct assholes it does. I do care about trying to fight the left wing socialists and try to keep them from taking over the country..but I fear it is a losing battle.

But primarily I care about freedom. I don't ordinarily use the so called hate words suck as Kike and nigger and spick and mick. But I have the RIGHT according to the constitution of the USA to use these words if I so desire. No one has the right to NOT be offended. If I had the right not to be offended Hillary Clinton would be in jail because every time she opens her thieving mouth she offends me. It offends me that Ted Kennedy can get not only get by with manslaughter..the people of his state are stupid enough to keep reelecting him. It offends me that Jessie Jackson gets by with extorting money from big business. It offends me that American corporations rooled over for trade unions years ago and passed the cost on to me..the consumer. Yeah, there are a lot of things that offend me..but I have no right NOT to be offended. Not as long as I still live in a free country.

CHARMING, JUST CHARMING: RECORD TRADE IMBALANCE..AGAIN

CHARMING, JUST CHARMING: RECORD TRADE IMBALANCE..AGAIN
People, there ain't no free lunch. Business is in business for one reason and that is profit..not to provide social services nor jobs but PROFIT. When government and unions make the cost of doing business so high there is not enough profit business either has to shut down or move out of the country..either means loss of jobs. The public just can't seem to understand that all of the "feel good" laws that are passed for labor such a family sick leave and maternity leave adds to the cost of doing business and as such adds to the cost of the finished product to the consumer. The public demands all of these benefits and gets laws passed to mandate them and then wonders why business moves off shore. The problem in this country is that everyone wants $70,000 a year in wages but wants Wally World prices..

Michelle Malkin: al Qaeda on the run

Michelle Malkin: al Qaeda on the run

One Hand Clapping � Blog Archive � More on ethanol fantasies

One Hand Clapping � Blog Archive � More on ethanol fantasies