tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192651182011-12-17T01:45:40.621ZAdorning the Internet with the crisp, spicy seasoning of uninformed rambling from an opinionated student.The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-15025229450945808822011-12-17T01:14:00.007Z2011-12-17T01:45:40.629Z

This is more-or-less cross posted from an internet message board, and originally written in July, but has obtained new relevance with a cheeky little Fox News Story.The CRU has obtained the permission of the national meteorological services from which it used weather station data to release all of the data supplied by them, except 19 of Poland's weather stations, the met office of which

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-78770429078597329392011-08-05T16:41:00.002Z2011-08-05T16:47:50.199Z

I hate quotation.-Common misquotation of Ralph Waldo Emerson, written May 1849 (Emerson, Emerson and His Journals, 1984 ed. Joel Porte.)Quote mining does not refer simply to taking a quote out of context -Conservapedia, Quote Mining, actually making a very daffy point which I've cleverly hidden by quote mining them. Accessed this morning if I get my bum in gear writing this. -Mike Walter

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-12228012214788635052011-07-15T14:54:00.010Z2011-07-15T15:22:32.776Z

Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the "body of fact" that exists in the mind of the.general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy. -Brown & Williamson internal memo, 1969. In such cases teachers should not teach as true only one competing view, just the Republican or Democratic view of the New Deal in a history class, for example. Instead

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-16792944120707819992011-06-27T14:42:00.004Z2011-06-27T15:07:35.042Z

Welcome to the most exciting, the most thrilling and the most sexually anticipated series of posts on this inane blog. I thought up most of this text while falling asleep once, and then forgot it all. These are the dregs of my somnambulance. Embrace them. Falling Asleep Denialism is the employment of rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of argument or legitimate debate, when in

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-21703502584856412052011-06-11T13:58:00.005Z2011-06-11T14:43:50.177Z

First France banned the face veil, and then Belgium, of course, followed suit. Much talk was made of protecting Muslim women from discrimination, of protecting France and Belgium's cultural heritage.For many Muslims, although of course certainly not all, the hijab, the religious requirements of modesty, require an almost-complete covering of the body for women, including a covering of the face

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-88170103885622562142007-11-30T11:16:00.000Z2007-12-01T20:24:54.094Z

And such sweet sorrows it brings. Updating will probably be very irregular - how a good year between posts is not irregular is anyone's guess.So, agnosticism - fence sitting, stealth atheism, weak atheism, non position, and so forth. As mentioned previously - and rather long ago - there are many different definitions of agnosticism, as there is of atheism, making explanations referring to atheism

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1148074689920030892006-05-19T22:32:00.000Z2006-05-19T21:38:09.993Z

Hello, friends! My computer at unviersity exploded - a rather unfortunate circumstance and one which meant I ended up ignoring this poor, flailing blog even more than usual. I should really have prepared an entry for what is turning out to be a somewhat wet return; instead I figured I'd do some vaguely and annoyingly introspective post about my rehabilitation, in the hope that inspiration

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1145507381911409612006-04-20T05:24:00.000Z2007-11-30T11:16:51.812Z

I'm at home, and my critically slow internet connection combined with my passionate desire to be lazy means that I thought I'd pounce on a story which didn't require much research.Hm! Quotations from this article unless otherwise noted.Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant. Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1143244096677217652006-03-24T23:41:00.000Z2006-03-24T23:48:16.706Z

Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from two, it's research. -The Rev. Schmitt.

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1141956061637193612006-03-10T02:10:00.000Z2006-03-10T10:29:55.106Z

A quick gander at the Internet before I do some more detailed entries:THE BBC prints, hot on the heels of the most ironic article ever, an article entitled Can Acupuncture beat Addiction? The BBC's conclusion: yes. Mystery solved!It is 'nothing new', 'based on ancient Chinese medicine dating back thousands of years', helps with something very sciencey called 'detoxification' and two

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1141610065036278842006-03-06T01:49:00.000Z2006-03-06T01:55:02.673Z

Posted without comment.Oh, alright: my biggest regret with this article is that I will not get to see Ben Goldacre's face when he reads it.-The Rev. Schmitt.

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1140563293435262042006-02-21T23:03:00.000Z2006-02-21T23:10:42.163Z

In the interests of promoting a clean, high-brow primness to proceedings: a photodiary of peoples' first introduction to the phenomenon known as Goatse. Only mildly amusing, until you recognise one of the photographed:-The Rev. Schmitt.

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1139554659778917842006-02-10T06:49:00.000Z2006-02-10T06:58:10.836Z

And happily corrected. From my earlier post:Even acknowledging that the protestors are a small minority, the response from Muslim organisations well known for their moderation and peacefulness in condemning the nature of some of the protests which extend to clearly wrong behaviour has been somewhat tepid.Soon after I wrote that the archetypically unexpected has started to kick off: British

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1139170721434448492006-02-05T20:06:00.000Z2006-02-10T05:55:38.636Z

I was going to write about the Muhammed cartoons a few days ago. (Actual images here, explanations here.) Some of them genuinely are ridiculous, insulting, and seriously don't seem to have a purpose other than infuriating Muslims. A couple are immensely childish. As much as I can't stand religion I can respect and love the people who have it - I disgaree with everybody on some level. But hey,

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1138752424884899562006-02-01T00:03:00.000Z2006-02-01T00:07:04.910Z

Er, wow. My apologies about the long absence to my readers (both eternally precious and dear to my heart) - I had no idea it had been over two full weeks since my last post. University and my disgusting simulacrum of a social life had decided to impugn on my time wasting...time, with a test, large periods spent sitting around having nothing to do, and another test. Uni currently seems to be

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1138750150938618402006-01-31T23:26:00.000Z2006-02-01T06:14:18.613Z

I pride myself on my intellectual honesty. Even when it would result in ridicule, embarrassment or humiliation I have aspired to confront and admit my mistakes. I have done a great disservice to a scientist, a singular man in the evolution-Intelligent Design debate, whose unique and fresh look at the discussion deserves far more limelight from both sides.I am talking about DaveScot. He is a man

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1137477987509690272006-01-17T05:49:00.000Z2006-01-17T06:06:27.520Z

This is the guy known as 'the robot'? What the Hell is wrong with you people!I watched the Kerry-Bush presidential debates and thought both of them were tepid, ill informed and almost identical in policies (when either were coherent enough to have a stated policy.) I've never seen Al Gore speak and assumed his speech style was similar to the eyes down droning of Kerry (don't get me wrong,

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1137410223453252412006-01-16T10:44:00.000Z2006-01-16T11:38:38.766Z

Shorter Matt (because God knows it's needed): my post was factually flawed because I was responding to a non sequitur. I was arguing that peoples' opinions about race had changed, so pointing out that this wasn't the case - anti-miscegenation laws were changed against public opinion by the judiciary - twisted my argument. 'Natural' has any meaning I'd like it to have because it can be be an

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1137135083651089072006-01-13T06:50:00.000Z2006-01-13T06:51:23.666Z

Bow before our porcine masters!-The Rev. Schmitt.

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1136969641882470842006-01-11T08:20:00.000Z2006-01-16T09:45:16.870Z

We find, in our public service, a blog post. It is not a very good post, oh no. It lacks all justification and reference, it rambles, it makes things up. It is in short a creature of darkness. But it is comprehensive enough that I can use it to discuss things. I’ll begin with a simple statement: gay marriage is not the same as the civil rights movement. English is a frigid mistress, her

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1136414991756689252006-01-04T23:26:00.000Z2006-01-04T23:48:02.020Z

I have hoped to keep this blog as a topical and professional filter into the things which interest me most. As one year segues into the next and coursework deadlines actualise into terrible and very real opponents to my continued happiness (or at least a happiness-flavoured substitute,) my priorities similarly become clear and obvious. So, sad to say, in the interests of self preservation, and

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1135717163378834102005-12-29T02:53:00.000Z2005-12-29T03:25:21.130Z

On Sadly, No! Brad R. has posted a categorical mockery of David Kupelian's compassionate attempt to save our souls from the propaganda implicit in fiction the novel video games movies, able to overwhelm and beguile the unwary human mind as no other media before it. Being long accustomed to the enlightened musings of America's finest on politics, I have to say that I'd rather they stick to what

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1135479565230057442005-12-25T02:56:00.000Z2005-12-25T14:18:42.250Z

This'll be brief because damn it chaps I'm posting on Christmas day! Also I am sleepy.Merry Christmas, and happy holidays to those of you wacky enough for such things. Although I haven't had the time to do as much blogging as I would have liked (university and an almost pathological laziness are considerably inconsiderate about the things which truly matter,) this has been a fun couple of months

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1135102898231602962005-12-20T18:34:00.000Z2005-12-29T16:30:39.553Z

I am currently at home, and so will probably end up blogging lightly (if a lower posting rate is even possible.) But! Something amusing this way comes!Kiztmiller et al, v Dover Area School District et al is the first legal challenge to the teaching of Intelligent Design in schools. Specifically, the Dover Board of Education decided in 2004 that this statement would have to be read out whenever

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1134554294961977032005-12-14T09:44:00.000Z2005-12-14T10:23:31.383Z

Another cross post from an earlier, diary thing, once again with minor edits. These statistics have been around for a while now, but are still rather relevent. I knew about the UK government census results regarding Britain's religious beliefs - 72% Christian, 14-23%+ atheist or agnostic, and the largest minority religion is Islam, at approximately 3%.Based on the YouGov poll results 35% of

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1134021518535260022005-12-08T05:45:00.000Z2005-12-10T15:28:28.623Z

The Panda's Thumb reports the science standard rankings (and in order of score) as determined by the Fordham Foundation. (Iowa is missing because it does not have statewide science standards.)Bear in mind these don't necessarily reflect the quality of science education in the separate states - they just represent the quality of the published science standards. Kansas' recent antievolution (and

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1133496518344750522005-12-02T05:00:00.000Z2005-12-02T20:58:50.610Z

Archaeopteryx is an extinct bird. The first bird, in fact. All Archaeopteryx fossils have been discovered in limestone deposits in Solnhofen, Germany. They date from the late Jurassic era of the Mesozoic, during the zenith of the age of dinosaurs. Many of the previously discovered and described fossils of the first bird have been beautifully preserved, displaying incredibly detailed

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1133466205219012272005-12-01T19:01:00.000Z2005-12-01T19:50:22.706Z

Most of this post was originally entered elsewhere pretty much word-for-word (there have been some minor edits and additions,) on November the 21st. Bad Science and Skeptico subsequently blogged about this very same BBC article, coincidentally. Their posts are meatier; more substance than spice. Go.On that note, a certain Orac is a legitimate authority on the weight of testimonials, as he knows

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1133059265696548302005-11-27T02:46:00.000Z2005-11-27T03:37:08.660Z

Hat tip to Pharyngula for this sprinkling of spice. Perhaps there is little point to this post as so few people take him seriously, a condition I share wholeheartedly with him: we are brothers in mediocrity, if little else. But sometimes the man seems to intentionally try to personally reach me, his sexist slurs beckoning, his delightfully prickly prose teasing with my sense of propriety. One

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1132933152971080332005-11-25T17:38:00.000Z2005-11-25T18:48:10.070Z

Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller fame explains strong atheism as an ideology. It is quite funky. The only point I don't cuddle up to with a licentious gentleness not seen enough on this Earth is that there's any need to actively believe God does not exist to enjoy reality. It is enough for me to recognise that He cannot in any foreseeable future be suggested to exist by empirical experimentation.

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1132860039933538302005-11-24T19:32:00.000Z2005-12-14T10:37:30.460Z

It is the 146th anniversary of the initial publication of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, by Charles Robert Darwin. The text is freely available here and it is, frankly, beautiful. The book is extremely accessible for a Victorian and a scientific work; the brilliance of Darwin evident in the manner by which he

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19265118.post-1132811324631365202005-11-24T05:46:00.000Z2005-11-24T23:27:58.420Z

I suppose I should write an introductory entry to all of the quite terrible business which is to follow.Hello, I am Jason, but have long been using the Schmitt pseudonym, because its origins are a thing of grace and elegance. I am an English undergraduate attending the University of Central England, Birmingham. I am ridiculously British. I am agnostic; a term near meaningless without explanation,

The Reverend Schmitt., FCD.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15562755198947639152noreply@blogger.com0