* I'm a proud and avid supporter of Planned Parenthood for the many necessary and safe services they provide. I volunteered a bit for Planned Parenthood while in high school, and they provided me with affordable birth control then and in college. In graduate school, I found myself sitting in the waiting room of my local … Continue reading Ask Me About My Abortion. Then Ask the People Closest to You.
In light of the racist responses to Nina Davuluri's crowning as Miss America, I decided to say a little bit about the hang ups people have surrounding questions of nationality. Most of the time when people ask, "What's your nationality?" they probably don't know what they're asking, and they really want to know about someone's … Continue reading Miss America, President Obama, and Me
Rich, lively conversations can be fun, energizing, and illuminating, but sometimes they can also get quite uncomfortable. This is especially evident when our conversations become more than a place for us to merely vent and get things off of our chests by "reporting the facts" ("Oh, he's really nice;" "The lasagna I had last night … Continue reading Why I Fear a “Fear of the Unknown”
In light of the Penn State scandal that has struck Happy Valley and gained news coverage across the nation, I think it is important to remember that there are multiple issues at stake. Not just Penn State's reputation; not the jobs of a few men; not simply that a number of young boys were abused … Continue reading Think for a Change (19): The Other Ethical Problem with the Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal
For over a year now I've had mounting suspicions about Evolution, but since I know very little about evolutionary theory, the most I can really say about why I raise an eyebrow is that, well, maybe Darwin isn't 100% right about heritability, genetic fitness, natural selection, and the survival of the fittest. And yes, I … Continue reading Teaching Against Evolution
I've been doing more videos! But I haven't posted them here...until now. "Think for a Change (10): What We Don't Know About Ignorance" This one is especially important to me. Charles Mills' concept of an epistemology of ignorance flipped my world when I first read about it in 2007. It's stayed in the back of … Continue reading The Latest:Think for a Change Videos
Philosophy: This week I read Jean-Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingness." As philifesophical serendipity would have it, he has a whole chapter on bad faith, i.e., lying to ourselves. Life: Lately, I've been listening to Radiolab's podcasts. With some sifting through their shows, I picked this really interesting one on deception to listen to a couple … Continue reading Trust: Treading Water in the Deep
