I’m sad about the ruling upholding Prop 8, though I’m very glad that the 18,000 (!) couples who married in California during the legal window will continue to be legally married. I understand the court’s reticence to overturn the voters, but democracy differs from simple majority rule in that it protects the basic rights [...]

I was disturbed to learn that a recent Pew Forum poll on attitudes toward torture reveal that more-religious people are more likely to condone torture. Pew researchers point out that ideology is the strongest predictor of acceptance of torture–that is, conservatives are more likely to both be religious and to condone torture. But [...]

I just read the most surprisingly fascinating book: The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters, by Rose George. I did know that sanitation engineers and plumbers are the unsung heroes of civilization, but this book really opened my eyes to the huge ongoing problems with sanitation–both for places [...]

I hate to call attention to anti-science/anti-atheist strawman tirades like Stanley Fish’s op-ed in the Times today, but I can’t help but point something out. Religious apologists like Fish and the author whose book he’s summarizing assert that science can’t answer The Big Questions, such as “What is the meaning of life?” But, [...]