APPARENTLY I am not alone in thinking that A C Grayling, noted philosopher and speaker at the Rise of Atheism convention, was greeted like a rock star. A greeting he went on to live up to with a superb talk entitled ‘Atheism, Secularism, Humanism: Three Zones of Argument’. A striking contrast to this proper, treatise-esque title was Catherine Deveny’s performance, bearing the legend: ‘God is Bullshit. That’s the Good News.” Both of these speakers are representative of an overall superb convention in Melbourne last weekend, a success which can scarcely be expressed by words, in the humble opinion of this Full Weekend Pass-holding attendee. Read the rest of this post »
Global Atheist Convention: The Rise of Atheism
Posted March 15, 2010 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Atheism, Photo-Heavy, Politics, Religion, Science & Nature
Tags: Atheism, Atheist Convention, Melbourne, PZ Myers, Richard Dawkins, Rise of Atheism, Secular
Australian Governance: Censorship Update
Posted February 2, 2010 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Personal, Politics
Tags: Atkinson, Australia, censorship, clean feed, gamers, games, Government, R18
It can hardly have escaped the notice of even the most vaguely politically inclined that the current state of affairs with our de-facto two party system is less than ideal for the left-leaning voter. We have, in simple terms, a decision between Tony Abbott’s Super-Catholic Hooray Party and our current mob, who are steadily transforming into the Censorship Party. In this post, I’ll provide a summary of some of the issues around Censorship, both recent and ongoing. Read the rest of this post »
Cadbury: Inadvertently funding terrorism?
Posted October 14, 2009 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Politics, Religion
Tags: Cadbury, chocolate, Food, Halal, Islam, terrorism
“Have you ever seen this symbol on the back of your food products?”
This question heads a forwarded e-mail which concisely details the horror of the ‘Halal Foods Authority’ and their association with Australian branches of food corporations such as Cadbury. Wikipedia defines Halal as a term referring to “any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law.” For the purposes of this article, it is used specifically regarding food and preparation procedures. The author of the e-mail does not approve of the appearance of the pictured logo, writing:
This is a Muslim Association that collects money from the Australian Food Industry for this symbol, so that Muslims will purchase the product. Yet we are told the Muslim population are only one and a half percent of Australia’s total!
Les histoires d’une créature étrange.
Posted August 31, 2009 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Comedy, French, Personal
Tags: comic, French, sad, smile, Wug
A short, nonsensical comic about a Wug. The English translation follows. I suspect there are mistakes in my French lurking within, but it was a fun exercise.
Le test de Wug
Posted August 31, 2009 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Comedy, French, Personal
Tags: French, linguistics, psychology, Wug
A linguistically invalid version of Berko Gleason’s Wug Test, en français! Celebrating the fact that the Wug test was mentioned in today’s Developmental Psych lecture and the (perhaps more important) fact that I thought it was super. I drew Les Wugs myself using my tablet.
Le test de Wug
A brief explanation of the Wug Test (via Wikipedia):
APN Outdoor
Posted August 22, 2009 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Atheism, Media, Religion
Tags: Advertising, APN, Atheist bus, Australia
Billboard with Religious advertising in Port Adelaide
If you can’t read the billboard, it says: “Christ hath ONCE SUFFERED for SINS, the JUST for the UNJUST that HE MIGHT BRING US to GOD. Read your Bible!”
Apparently APN have no issues with this particular bit of advertising. Seems a bit inconsistent.
“Stop wasting money and do some real scientific studies!”
Posted August 22, 2009 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Experiments, Media, Science & Nature
Tags: Experiments, Media, News, Research, Science, Study, Taxpayers
In July of 2009 the American Medical Association published two journal articles suggesting that healthy eating and exercise can significantly reduce chances of cardiovascular heart disease. Condensed-news website Shortnews reported the findings and received a tepid response from the attached forums. “[I]‘m sure any 2 year old could tell you what the scientists found out.” One poster whined. Other posters complained that the funding probably came from the taxpayer’s pocket, what an outrage. This response to published research findings is far from unique.
Leaving aside the fact that newspapers routinely sensationalise the findings of research for marketing purposes, it is common to see the nature of current research appearing in the popular media. It seems that whenever research confirming a seemingly self-evident truth is published in the mainstream media, the response (at least on Shortnews, whose forums I visit regularly) ranges from lukewarm to openly hostile. Read the rest of this post »
Photos from Brisbane
Posted July 20, 2009 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Digital Art, Personal, Photo-Heavy
Here are some photos from my holiday to Brisbane.
Baby’s death prompts SA Medical Board’s Condemnation
Posted June 18, 2009 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Alternative Medicine, Politics, Woo
Tags: Alternative Medicine, Death, Massage Therapy, Medical Board, South Australia
Also submitted to the Young Australian Skeptics. Via AdelaideNow.
In brief: the South Australian Medical Board has officially condemned ‘bogus practitioners’ for taking advantage of vulnerable people, after a baby was crushed to death by a massage table at the clinic of an alternative therapist, referred to as an unregistered massage therapist, who allegedly claimed the ability to shrink cancerous tumors with massage therapy.
RiAus: Promoting Public Science Appreciation
Posted June 3, 2009 by Daniel CarabelleseCategories: Science & Nature
Tags: Fred Watson, RiAus, Royal Institution, Science, Sean Williams
“[A]ppreciation of Science is fundamental to the culture of each citizen…” – RiAus
This evening I attended a free talk hosted by the Royal Institution of Australia, entitled ‘Science Fiction to Science Fact’, the talk was given by two excellent speakers: Fred Watson, who managed to convey with humour and jubilation his passion for Astronomy and Sean Williams, my personal favourite (and deservedly so) Science Fiction author and an Adelaide resident. The talk was fantastic; enjoyable and interesting throughout. I left the venue feeling as though I had learned things and, perhaps more importantly, that the seeds of future interests had been planted.
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