A Holiday Message from Ricky Gervais: Why I’m An Atheist
I still give my logical answer because I feel that not being honest would be patronizing and impolite. It is ironic therefore that “I don’t believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence and from what I’ve heard the very definition is a logical impossibility in this known universe”, comes across as both patronizing and impolite.
Those in the U.K., and the more observant of you abroad, will have noticed the uproar recently about the recently passed motion to increase tuition fees. I’ve been watching this, and thinking about the issues behind it, and so here we go. It’s easiest to go about this by dispelling a few myths from both sides of the debate I’ve been repeatedly subjected to.
Myth 1: Students will leave university “saddled with debt”
I came across Paypal’s statement regarding their suspension of donations towards WikiLeaks:
PayPal has permanently restricted the account used by WikiLeaks due to a violation of the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity. We’ve notified the account holder of this action.
Of course, PayPal doesn’t seem to have noticed eBay’s daily facilitation of the transfer of hundreds of pirated films, music and software—-which is actually illegal—-during their review of WikiLeaks’ use of the service.
A reminder of a constant truth, oft forgotten by those who trade in information and especially by those who are more interested in money than value. Five short, succinct paragraphs of which none stand out above the rest, but I feel there should be some quotation. Make sure to read the other four.
The phrase is not a statement that information should be free. It’s not a statement that sharing information is an intrinsic good. It’s also not saying it’s impossible to keep information not-free. Just difficult.
On the subject of the leaking of diplomatic cables recently, Senator Joe Lieberman of the United States government says:
Wikileaks’ illegal, outrageous, and reckless acts have compromised our national security and put lives at risk around the world.
One could take this more seriously coming from the mouth of a country which hadn’t been quite so keen on going to war on spurious grounds to protect its national interests; wars which, I’m reliably informed, have actually taken thousands of civilian lives around the world.