Recently a friend of mine referred to me as a journalist and a political writer, but I am neither. Normally I would have been very flattered, if it weren't for my extremely low opinion of contemporary journalism. First and foremost, I am a novelist who writes detective fiction. I have also written several nonfiction books, and, of course, I blog here at my website. The more liberal members of my family seem to think I'm some rabid right-wing Republican who has been brainwashed by Rush Limbaugh. I do admit that I enjoy listening to Limbaugh's show occasionally. I think he can be pretty funny, and admire Rush for overcoming some really serious adversity -- the total loss of his hearing, and somehow managed to continue his career, with the help of a cochlear implant. I also think he's very smart, patriotic, and quite entertaining. But I don't agree with everything Rush says. Just most of what he says, and practically everything he says about liberal politicians. I don't really consider myself a Republican -- I'm more of a Libertarian who tends to vote Republican in most major elections, but certainly not someone willing to write checks to help fund the party. Currently, I don't make enough money that I feel like I can afford to throw any of it away on a political party. After all, my wife and I are about to be hit hard by Obamacare. I am not a person who refuses to vote for a candidate simply because they are a Democrat. In fact, I've voted for more than one common sensical Democrat in my career as a voter. I believe the last one was Zell Miller. Most … [Read more...]
The truth about the Scopes Monkey trial
I've been reading A. C. Grayling's most excellent book titled The GOD Argument -- after all, I don't have to agree with the man's opinions to admire his talent as a writer -- and a realization suddenly struck me, sort of like a bolt of lightning. Another article I've been working on and will publish soon discusses the some of the more interesting topics in Grayling's book, in much greater detail. For the remainder of this article, I'd like to focus attention on just one particular thing Grayling said in his book that I found to be very questionable. Then I plan to connect my observations on this comment to my own personal moment of revelation, that "lightning bolt" moment I mentioned in the first paragraph. Beginning on page 108, Professor Grayling wrote: Since the humiliating defeat of the literal six-day creationist lobby in the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 in Tennessee, religious groups have become increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to promote the idea that the universe and life in it were made by an intelligent agency, just as a carpenter makes a table; except that whereas a carpenter has his planks and nails to hand when he starts, the mega-carpenter did not have any materials ready beforehand, but made them too, from nothing. When I first read the passage above, I thought, huh? That paragraph is clearly giving the reader the distinct impression that the Scopes Monkey trial was an overwhelming victory for the Darwinian theory of evolution, and nothing less than a crushing defeat for young earth creationism. The problem with the impression … [Read more...]
The Happy Atheist
What makes an atheist happy? In the case of biology professor P. Z. Myers, the answer to that question shouldn't be all that difficult to discern, especially considering the fact he wrote a book titled The Happy Atheist. Though I don't know Professor Myers, should we ever meet, I suspect it is possible we could consider each other a friend, in spite of our vast difference in opinion about certain mutual topics of interest. One reason I think it's possible is because it seems that we share a few things in common. Also, I respect his honesty. For example, I agreed with him completely when he wrote that saying "abiogenesis is not evolution" is a cop-out and commend Professor Myers for his intellectual courage to admit it. After all, more than once I have asserted that life cannot evolve until it exists myself. The logical foundation for making the connection between life and its origin would seem to be inarguable -- but that doesn't keep some people from wanting to argue about it. Several of my atheist friends have tried to rebut the "Big Picture" argument presented in my book Counterargument for God by saying the ability for a living organism to change and the origin of life are two completely separate processes as unrelated as gravity and germ theories, which is just plain silly to even suggest. The hypothesis called abiogenesis might be an issue for chemistry and the theory of evolution a philosophical interest in biology, but biological organisms are created by chemical reactions forming complex structures. That little fact is undeniable. Going … [Read more...]
Narcissist nurse Kaci Hickox and the Ebola quarantine
Kaci Hickox has done her good deed. She went to Africa and helped people suffering from Ebola. Now she just wants her life to get back to normal. Immediately. You can forget about a three week quarantine for this modern day Florence Nightingale. The Clara Barton of the Sierra Leone made it crystal clear that no mere politician is going to tell her what to do. She lawyer-ed up to avoid spending three weeks in isolation out of concerns for public safety because, as she put it, Governor Chris Christie isn't a doctor. Neither is she, but that's beside the point. She knows what's best for her. Screw the general public. We're completely irrational to be afraid that a contagious disease with a high mortality rate and for which there is no known cure has come inside our borders for the first time in American history. Right? I know what my problem must be -- obviously, I'm just jealous. After all, Kaci figured out a way to experience her 15 minutes of fame. The New York Times. Meet the Press. The Huffington Post. Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC. The BBC. Even Saturday Night Live got into the act, adding to her claim to fame. In stark contrast, I've written five books that have been published. Three of them even won an award, and still almost nobody knows who I am. The best I've managed to do thus far was a brief interview by the American Thinker people on the Dennis Miller Radio Show and a few one-hour long interviews with Dr. Robert Rose on his web blog radio show. Pathetic, by comparison. I haven't even been asked to write an op-ed for the Dallas … [Read more...]
The University of Georgia, Todd Gurley, and the NCAA’s growing credibility problem
[FULL DISCLOSURE: I am an alumnus of the University of Georgia, but not affiliated with the university in any official capacity. These comments merely represent my personal opinion and nothing more.] I need to vent my frustrations, before my head explodes. I need to express my anger, even though I have no idea how demanding the right thing be done will actually help or accomplish anything, except it might make me feel a little bit better. We can save the argument for another day about whether the NCAA should allow players to be paid. Though I think that players should be allowed to have some sort of income, it's irrelevant to the point that I intend to focus upon today. Likewise, for the time being, we can also ignore that the NCAA earns nearly $1 billion dollars per year in revenue, in spite of the fact the organization is treated as a non-profit by the IRS. Right now I don't even want to bring up the relevance of the Ed O'Bannon court decision to this suspension, even though the ruling would seem to be quite pertinent. It's also helpful and important to note that the NCAA lost that case. However at the moment, I only want to figure out the answer to one question: what is the NCAA going to do about its very serious and growing credibility problem? And what message did Mark Emmert and the NCAA think they sent the college football world by increasing Todd Gurley's suspension from two to four games? I agree with Bill King of the AJC, when he says their message is "honesty doesn't pay." While I believe most Georgia fans are proud of their school, their … [Read more...]
