“Dinosaur creationist theme park seized by government”

[…] The conviction culminated 17 years of Hovind sparring with the IRS. Saying he was employed by God and his ministers were not subject to payroll taxes, he claimed no income or property. You can invoke the God card to get away with a lot in this country — but the IRS card always trumps …

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“Princeton Scientists Discover Proteins that Control Evolution”

I’ve always been a big proponent of the theory of evolution. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s the only answer that doesn’t rely on supernatural forces to explain life. But in all the debates about it, it seems that those opposing it focus on two things: irrational religious convictions, and that it relies on random …

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There’s No Antonym of Authoritarian

In a conversation a while back, I needed a word to express the opposite of authoritarian. I couldn’t find one in my memory, which struck me as odd, so I later looked it up. It seems that there is no English word that describes the opposite of authoritarian; the closest thing I found, after perusing …

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Church Signs

There are two churches on a small stretch of a particular road we travel often. One of them usually has a Christian-oriented (but often humorous) saying on its sign. Recently it had a humorous saying that was somewhat… unexpected: Forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them more. Annoying people isn’t supposed to be a Christian attitude …

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“E-Mail After the Rapture”

I’ve always liked Bruce Schneier, a very well-known security professional. Earlier this month, he tackled the thorny question of how You’ve Been Left Behind, a post-Rapture service for those who believe in that Christian concept, secures the information that you give them to ensure that it won’t be stolen or prematurely released. If you’re not …

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“Lies We Tell Kids”

(I’ve been too busy over the past couple weeks to keep up with low-priority things, so now that I’ve finished part of a project, I’m playing catch-up.) One of the things that I like about Paul Graham’s essays is that they’re always thought-provoking. This one is no exception, and I recommend that anyone who has …

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