A few days ago a UCLA student named Alexandra Wallace posted this charming racist rant about Asians in her university library: If you’re one of the few people in the country who hadn’t seen that video previously, I’m sure you’re edified to have had the privilege now. And can probably guess the response, if I … Read more
Over at Religion Dispatches Levi McLaughlin, a professor of religion who specializes in East Asian traditions, writes about Tokyo’s governor Shintaro Ishihara describing the tsunami that struck Japan as “divine punishment.” Ishihara, a prize-winning novelist, stage and screen actor, and a populist hero of the Japanese right, has gained notoriety for his willingness to court … Read more
The video of TamTamPamela thanking God for the Japanese earthquake was all over the web yesterday. I’m kind of disappointed in how willing people were to buy it without question. Not because it’s a skepticism fail per se (I fall for Poes often– that’s the point of a Poe), but because they were so ready to believe … Read more
The girl who made a Youtube video glorying in Japan’s earthquake, saying that it was God giving the country a “little shake” to send a message regarding his existence to atheists and arousing a lot of outrage…is apparently a troll. To which I say, good. I’m glad that those (probably) weren’t honest statements. But still … Read more
The Amazing Meeting has announced its list of speakers for this year, its ninth meeting. There are a lot of them, and quite a few– at least ten, from what I can tell– are people who can speak to the topic of how and why people believe weird things. Or rather, why everyone isn’t skeptical … Read more