Social & Political Issues

Gadgets, Fashion, Freedom and Religion: Godgets

That should be the word, because that's what they are. New-fangled electronic devices are new-fangled Gods in agnostic hands. From the iPod to the Blackberry to the sleekest of the slickest cells, we no longer wear our faiths on our sleeves: we clip them to our belts in polytheistic, plastic holsters.

Evolution & Intelligent Design: What Debate?

Intelligent Design, if it wants to be a competing evolutionary theory, must attempt to explain the same data as other competing evolutionary theories.

Better Business Bureau Scam - the BBB is a scam

Until last week, I thought that the BBB was a government-run organization, funded by my tax dollars. I thought that it was a neutral observer of business standards and practices, a place where one could get information on a legitimate business or where one could lodge a formal complaint against a shady one. Just about none of this is true.

Alarm Clocks And Snooze Buttons: How We Can't Get No Satisfaction? ...

Essentially, the snooze button, for my purposes, is a metaphor for all sorts of other so-called "conveniences" that supposedly enhance our "productivity" and are absolutely indispensible for modern life. I've been watching myself for a while now, and the more that I engage in these things, the more that I let myself absorb the marketing, the pace of the images and ideas that bombard me in the media, in the car, in films, in music, on the Internet... everywhere: the more I notice, the more desperately afraid I am that I cannot turn back. And the more I feel the strains of addiction, pulling, nagging, thirsting for another convenience-fix. Like a simple push of the button for another four to nine minutes of bedtime bliss.

A Plea To Slow Down The Technology Band Wagon ...

We have gone completely out of control with respect to adopting more and newer technologies. Even when new technologies are labeled "tested", they are not yet "proven".

Productivity And Convenience ...

A combination of productivity tools and convenience solutions free up enormous amounts of time in any given day. We can get more things done. We can get things done faster than our ancestors. We are organized. We are efficient. We are calculators who can identify predictable, inefficient patterns and rectify them instantly. We are productivity machines, better oiled with each new technological generation.

The Great American Oil Spill ...

A long-standing policy of dumping and pressing asphalt on to the Earth's surface unquestionably counts as an oil spill. What makes the act all the more criminal is its deliberate nature — we have intentionally orchestrated a controlled dump, knowing the historically horrific impacts of chemical and oil spills.