To those few who are subscribed to this blog – I’ve noticed some people following me in Google Reader – I’m moving.
The new blog is at http://disrespectfultone.blogspot.com/
For the last eight months or so I’ve been commenting online using my real name. I like how the loss of anonymity changes how I write – it makes me care more. So I’ve decided to do it more often.
For those that are interested, I’ll be blogging under my real name at A Disrespectful Tone.
Hey people. Just a quick post.
I stumbled on this post today. I left a response which was left to moderation for approval. I suspected it would be deleted, so I copied it to my computer just in case. Disappointingly, I was right.
I could let it slide – but it’s an example of a particularly ghoulish tendency I’ve noticed amongst a certain kind of religious believer. They’ll take some tragedy, and then twist that tragedy into something they can use to tar those they disagree with. It’s feeding on the suffering of others. It’s vulturish, disgusting, and – in this particular case – very unchristian.
Hey guys,
This is a post I’ve been meaning to make for ages now – work’s been a major pain recently, so I’ve been spending what little free time I have relaxing with the mates. That said, I’m feeling sick today – I think I’m contagious – so I’ve opted to stay in this Friday night. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to flick this up while I have some spare time to burn.
I’m demonstrating a technique for deconstructing an argument to get at the meat. The vast majority of arguments that we come across, in the paper, online, with friends and family, politicians, and even professional debaters contain vast portions of text that are superficially persuasive but don’t actually carry any substance. Because of this, if you wish to perform a critical reading of the text to work out exactly what’s going on it can be hard to work out what the core of the argument actually is.
Another link to one of cdk007′s many excellent videos. This one is the sequel to the Abiogenesis video I linked to earlier in this blog.
Just a wee notice: I’ve created a new page on the site. It’s over on the left, but I’ll repeat it here.
Originally it was ‘about the author’ but authorship doesn’t exactly fit with what I’m doing here. I’ll explain what I mean by that under the Why rhetoric? section when I get around to filling it in.
Okay, so it’s looking to be a YouTube-heavy day today. So sue me. 
The last two posts have been pretty heady and intellectual and serious. I stumbled on this video the other day and it made me smile. Thought it might be good to take a step back from all the seriousness to something a bit more light-spirited.
Although be warned – when Tim warns you at the start to not listen if you’re easily offended, heed his his words. Lyrics are probably NSFW, if your employers care about strong language and blasphemy.
The original purpose of this blog was not actually to promote atheism – the original purpose of this blog was to give myself a wee sandbox to play around in and try to improve my writing. The atheism thing came later, because it’s something I feel strongly about and enjoy writing about. But I’m going to take a step back to my original purpose, roll up my sleeves, and get back to the subject of persuasive writing. I’ve hidden the post under the cut, because this is the kind of thing that makes most people yawn, and it pays to spare you the details.
Pigeon Mountain is a quick drive from my house. It’s not actually a mountain – that’s just the name. It’s a big hill though. I pass it on the way home some sometimes. Sometimes I’ll pass it at night if I’m coming home from a movie or something. And very occasionally – once every six months or so (more if I’m having a rough patch) – I’ll get the urge to go climb it at night.
At a brisk walk, it takes me about five minutes to get to the top – so no, it isn’t all that far, but it’s high enough. I don’t know if I imagine it or not, but it feels like I get less light pollution when I’m that far above the level of the street lights. The stars seem to stand out more. Pigeon Mountain is on a bit of a peninsula, so there’s pretty much constant sea winds. I wander up there in my jacket on a warm-ish night, and the wind fills my ears. I look up, and the night sky fills my vision.
I look up, and my mind fills the universe.
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