Vanishing Foundations

One of the things mathematics taught me is that you have to start somewhere.  Some things you just have to accept.  Axioms are assumed to be true (usually because they are self evident) but are unprovable.

One thing discussions with atheists have taught me is that everyone (no one is excepted, here) finds it easier to see someone else's assumptions while often remaining ignorant of their own.

Let's have some fun seeing what that looks like.  David Hume raised the is/ought problem, also known as Hume's law or Hume's gillotuine.  When used in an argument, Hume's law might be deployed something like, "You can't get an ought from an is."

"School education is a shambles, we ought to put more money into schools."
This doesn't necessarily follow, for example
"School education is a shambles, we ought to stop wasting money on a broken system."

Which contention is correct needs to be established by further argument.

That's a simplified application.

But here's a really interesting application of Hume's law to Hume's law.

This is Hume's Law as he originally expressed it:

Doh Moments

Despite the great Australian tradition of the "Der" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYmPXD7OCmk&feature=related  Nobody does stupidity as well as Homer Simpson.  So this new category is to record Homer moments when and where they happen.
Doh moments.

Now Britney Spears is in trouble for a music video that seems at face value to be a naked attention grab in the wake of the London riots.  (Sorry, mentioning Britney and naked attention grab in the same sentence was an unintended pun)

I know what Hackney's MP is trying to say but considering Britney's track record and all the material on public record, this has to be one of the stupidest things ever uttered,

"Britney should really know better,"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042212/Britney-Spears-row-Hackney-Council-gun-toting-video-shoot-Londons-riot-zone.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

PS:  I guess there's nothing wrong with Hackney, but can you think of a better place name for Britney to trot out another music mush video from?

Born This Way - NOT

I was born this way.

What, with prosthetic shoulder, cheek and temple implants?

As much as the 'born this way' argument is appealling because it shuts down all opposition, Gaga herself shows what a lot of rubbish it is.

Whales Speak Oxford English

Optus and WSPA have combined forces to give wales a voice. Just not their voice.









This is the website: http://www.givewhalesavoice.com.au/?utm_source=Empowered&utm_medium=eDM&utm_content=URL&utm_campaign=Give_Whales_A_Voice

Apparently wales are one of the loudest animals on the planet, but they suffer in silence when hunted.

"But together we can make their voices heard"

The site encourages us to record a word from the Oxford English Dictionary, then this list of words will be sent to the waling commission.

Do wales want to speak with an Oxford English accent?

My whole problem with this campaign is my problem with the whole animal rights movement.

This ad talks about the wales' voice, but it's really our voice. People are making these recordings. It's not wales sneaking ashore and surreptitiously recording a word in Ahab's Internet Cafe.

People who get caught up in the animal rights causes do so because they have given human characteristics, human prerogatives, human feelings and human motives to animals.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm against animal cruelty, but that's not the same things as seeing animals as the same as humans. That's just bad logic, it's not empirical and it's just plain dumb.

I was talking about this very thing to someone the other day who mentioned their pet dog and how important he was. And I pointed out, gently, that it was your attachment to the dog, your human characteristics that made cruelty to the animal seem so wrong.

We are different to dogs. They don't actually mind cruelty (unless we teach them otherwise). Ever seen a dog play with a rabbit? Ever seen a fox rip a lamb out of a ewe?

Let's shepherd creation, fish the wales humanely and sensibly if we have to, and not at all if we don't have to. But let's keep things in perspective.

Making a human being out of a wale is making a mountain out of a molehill.

In fact, it is this effort to give wales a human voice that actually robs the wales of their own unique voice.

Knutty Environmentalists

Get some perspective. That's all I'm going to say.

Get some perspective.

Wake up to yourselves.

Two different articles in the same SMH bulletin.

The first one speaks for itself. Have a look around, PETA. Get some perspective. What's really important here?



The second one is the same tragic environmental myopia carried through to a sadly enviro-logical end.

A couple in Argentina attempted to kill one of their children, succeeded in murdering the other, then killed themselves and "wrote in a suicide note they were scared about the effects of global warming" (http://www.smh.com.au/world/baby-survives-three-days-with-bullet-in-chest-after-parents-suicide-pact-20100303-pgtm.html)

They don't have to worry about global warming now.

This sad story reveals the stupidity of the extremist end of environmentalism because this is the logical conclusion of the rhetoric.

Get some perspective. Take a breath. Pull your head out of the clouds of rhetoric and propaganda and have a look at the real issues that face the world.

I Really Admire Elton John

I really admire Elton John.

Wow, a PHD in history and ancient languages. The years of learning and wisdom that he has accumulated is impressive.

The thoughtfulness with which he constructs each senstence, his devotion to the true, the good and the noble.

His commitment to following the truth where it lead him rather than shaping the world to his own desiring. His-

Oh wait, That's not the real Elton John. That's a made up one.

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/people/elton-john-jesus-was-gay-20100222-oom2.html

Elton John: Jesus was gay
February 22, 2010

God botherer ... Elton John claims Jesus Christ was gay.

Sir Elton John has claimed Jesus was a "super-intelligent gay man".
The openly homosexual musician made the claim in a magazine interview and admits he admires the Christian Messiah because his aim was to spread peace and love in the world.
The Rocket Man singer - who is married to Canadian filmmaker David Furnish - told Parade magazine: "I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.
"On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving.
"I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East - you're as good as dead."
The Catholic League, the largest US Catholic rights group, condemned the comments.
"Jesus was certainly compassionate, but to say he was 'super-intelligent' is to compare the son of God to a successful game-show contestant,'' league president Bill Donohue said in a statement."More seriously, to call Jesus a homosexual is to label him a sexual deviant.''
Meanwhile, Elton also revealed he fears he could be killed by a crazed fan - just like John Lennon and Gianni Versace.
The 62-year-old singer was close friends with fashion designer Versace - who was shot dead in July 1997 on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion by Andrew Cunanan - and admits he decided to increase his personal security following the tragedy.
Referring to Versace and Lennon, he said: "Two of them shot outside their houses. None of this would have happened if they hadn't been famous. Fame attracts lunatics. I never had a bodyguard ever until Gianni died. I don't like celebrity anymore."
Beatles legend Lennon died in 1980 after being shot by deranged fan Mark Chapman outside his apartment building in New York.
Bang Showbiz and AFP

Leadership Integrity

Freedom

But What is the Unintentional Result

I know, let's make the ones who believe that stuff so uncomfortable that they have to leave. What would happen then?

Unity by Decree

I've been cleaning up...