Category Archives: Opinion

We already have “death panels” — they’re called health insurance companies

By probabilityZero | August 18, 2009

So, the new talking point from the far-right is that Obama’s health care plan is a secret plot to kill your grandma (as seen on Fox News and Sarah Palin’s Facebook page). They claim that the bill will create “death panels” to decide whether elderly people are worthy of care or not.
There’s no truth to [...]

Also posted in Current events | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Joel Fought Back — after going to court over 30 downloaded MP3s, verdict is $675,000 fine

By probabilityZero | July 31, 2009

What punishment do you think would fit the crime of pirating 30 MP3s? If you said “over $600,000,” you probably work for the RIAA.
After a valiant and creative defense from Charles Nesson and his law students, Joel Tenenbaum lost the legal battle that has captured the Internet’s attention for days under the nickname Joel Fights [...]

Also posted in Current events, F***ed up | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Christian Civil Liberties Union calls for book burning in Milwaukee

By probabilityZero | July 23, 2009

Here we go again. I think I’m becoming desensitized to these stories. I just can’t muster up the moral outrage like I used to. CNN reports:
The strife began in February when West Bend couple Jim and Ginny Maziarka objected to some of the content in the city library’s young-adult section. They later petitioned the library [...]

Also posted in Atheism, Current events, F***ed up | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Piracy and shoplifting

By probabilityZero | June 22, 2009

A common talking point you hear from the RIAA/MPAA and the media corporations is that piracy is stealing. You wouldn’t steal a DVD movie, so why would you download a DVD rip from a torrent site?
Well, the obvious problem with this is that piracy isn’t stealing. Under the law, piracy is “copyright infringement” — stealing [...]

Also posted in Current events, Noteworthy | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Why do people believe celebrities instead of experts?

By probabilityZero | June 8, 2009

You’ve probably seen news coverage of the debate over the safety of vaccines and whether they cause autism in children. In fact, you might have seen new-age medicine spokeswoman and former Playboy model Jenny McCarthy speak out against vaccines on Oprah’s hugely popular television show.
Actually, being honest here: if you’re reading this blog, I doubt [...]

Also posted in Atheism, Current events, Noteworthy | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Richard Feynman on poets

By probabilityZero | June 5, 2009

Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars — mere globs of gas atoms. Nothing is “mere”. I too can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see less or more? The vastness of the heavens stretches my imagination — stuck on this carousel my little [...]

Posted in Opinion | Tagged | Leave a comment

I hate Internet Explorer 6

By probabilityZero | June 1, 2009

Pretty much every designer says this, and with good reason. IE6 is around 8 years old now, and severely out of date. Designing around its bugs is a royal pain in the ass, and it’s necessary to do so because IE6 still has such a large userbase; 33%, by this source, as of March of [...]

Also posted in Tech and games | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Is Twitter really good for anything?

By probabilityZero | May 28, 2009

Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, I still use it.
Everyone’s heard of Twitter. Senators use it, newscasters blabber about it, but what is it? This is as simple as I can state it: Twitter is a service where you (the user) post 140 character messages, which are meant to update people following you (subscribed to your updates, [...]

Also posted in Noteworthy, Tech and games | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Gay marriage remains banned in California

By probabilityZero | May 26, 2009

Today, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8’s ban on gay marriage, but also ruled that same-sex couples already married will remain married under state law.
Proposition 8 passed with a 52% majority, overturning a previous ruling by the California Supreme Court last May to allow same-sex marriage. around 18,000 couples married before the ban were [...]

Also posted in Current events | 1 Comment

Churchgoers more likely to support torture

By probabilityZero | April 30, 2009

A survey has found that those who go to church are more likely to support the use of torture, whereas those who were not affiliated with any religious organization are the least likely of those polled to support torture.
Here are the numbers: 54% of regular church goers said the use of torture is “often” or [...]

Also posted in Atheism, Current events, Other | Tagged , | 6 Comments

The Pirate Bay four found guilty

By probabilityZero | April 17, 2009

The Pirate Bay four were found guilty today of helping consumers illegally download copyrighted material. They each were sentenced to a year in jail, and collectively must pay $3,620,000.
“It’s so bizarre that we got convicted at all, we have to laugh about it,” Pirate Bay member Sunde said. “They could have fined us 1 billion [...]

Also posted in Current events, Noteworthy | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Fox News has been trolled, again

By probabilityZero | April 7, 2009

The great thing about trolling is that anyone who doesn’t get it becomes part of the joke. You may have noticed this story about 4chan on the front page of FOXNews.com. I laughed when I read it, and I imagine anyone familiar with 4chan will have a similar reaction to it. You may also remember [...]

Also posted in Other | Tagged , , | Leave a comment