A Trip Down the Route of All Evil

This past Sunday night (September 26, 2006), the CBC's The Big Picture aired The Root of All Evil, a documentary, written and presented by British ethologist, evolutionary theorist, popular science writer, and atheist Richard Dawkins, in which he argues that the world would be better off without religion.

[I understand that this was not Dawkins' first choice for a title.]

Visitors to the CBC website's online discussion board for the Big Picture, people were asked for comments. These are my comments:

I very much enjoyed Mr. Dawkins' documentary. I believe in G-d, and this belief has a very strong influence on my moral and ethical behaviour. I also believe in the ability of science to explain many of the physical manifestations of our universe, and in the need for the "separation of church and state." Or is that church and hate?

I hope that Mr. Dawkins' conversation with Ted Haggard serves as an alert to "Western" people that there is a fundamentalist "Jihad" being waged in North America against science and progress. No, Mr. Haggard, you don't know anything about evolution, and your war against evolution in particular and science in general has no basis in fact, let alone in morality.

His conversation with the very disturbed Yousef al-Khattab demonstrates that there is no way to have a rational dialogue with someone who combines fundamentalism with whatever brand of madness afflicts Joseph Cohen - my anger at his raving about "fornication in the streets" and "dressing YOUR women as whores" was secondary to my deep sympathy for this deranged man!

Thank you for the opportunity to view this documentary and to share my reactions.

I Can't Believe I Hate the Whole Thing

The recent events triggered by the Pope's statements suggest that, in some parts of the "West," there are problems concerning the separation of Church and State, and in some parts of the "Middle East," there are problems concerning the separation of Church and Hate!

Important Books II

Everyone should read these books by Malcolm Gladwell:

• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference




• A new way of understanding why change so often happens as quickly and as unexpectedly as it does




• Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking




• About rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye

Don't Try This at Home!

VANCOUVER (CP)

British Columbia taxpayers are already on the hook for more than double what their provincial government estimated for the 2010 Winter Olympics and audit reports released Thursday suggest things could get worse.

British Columbia's auditor general, Arn van Iersel, concludes the 2010 Olympic Games will cost federal and provincial taxpayers $2.5 billion (Cdn). The budget, said van Iersel's report, has increased to $2.5 billion for the B.C. and federal governments. Most of that - $1.5 billion - will be covered by British Columbia.

British Columbia has provided a guarantee to the IOC to cover any budget shortfalls incurred by the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee.

Despite the risks, the B.C. government didn't have a proper watchdog agency to monitor the amount being spent on building venues, van Iersel said.

He noted that, for the Sydney 2000 Games, an authority was established to manage the capital budget. A similar agency was created for the Turin 2006 Games. "With the 2010 Games, no one central agency is taking responsibility for managing these costs."

Canadian cities - Don't Try This at Home!