In related news, adopting a comprehensive view of the nature of ultimate reality affects your life comprehensively. 

Stanford Scholars Say Religion Changes Hunting Habits

The introduction of Christianity has changed the hunting habits of indigenous people in the Amazon. While some new practices could benefit animals, others could put populations at risk. 

I get the argument he is making… but there are some channels I dislike so much that their presence in a bundle makes the bundle less desirable to me. I would pay more for less.

Does Cable TV Ripoff People Who Don’t Like Sports?

Recently the LATimes ignited a firestorm of anti-sports commentary by arguing that people who don’t watch sports are being ripped off by Cable TV. A key concern is that the higher bills driven by spor… 

This is good — especially the last sentence: “I think research in moral reasoning is important because understanding why good people do evil things is more important than understanding why evil people do evil things.”

Torture in a Just World

If the world is just, only the guilty are tortured. So believers in a just world are more likely to think that the people who are tortured are guilty. Perhaps especially so if they experience the tort… 

Awesome comment at the end (although I do not know if it is true or not): “Do note that death insurance didn’t sell well until it was given the less accurate but more affable name, life insurance.”

Road Fare>Congestion Pricing?

Congestion pricing sounds like something to avoid since neither term is something you want. Eric Jaffe held a contest for replacement terms. Decongestion pricing is one possibility since it at least h… 

I am never sure how much to trust the details in these stories, but one section really leaped out at me: “He told Kim he would have to drop a case. A 9/11 case. “I hate to say it,” he said, “but being a Christian is gonna trump being an American.”

‘Imagine the Worst Possible Scenario’: Why a Guantanamo Prosecutor Withdrew From the Case

Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Couch truly believed Mohamedou Ould Slahi was guilty. He also believed that Slahi’s interrogators had broken the law — tormenting him physically and sexually, and threatening… 

The second quote is the one to focus on. If you are squeamish, be cautious when ordering calimari. For the record, I don’t think this would affect my willingness to eat artificial calimari.

Fred Armisen hosts This American Life as Ira Glass

This week’s episode of This American Life is about doppelgangers, so they decided to have SNL’s Fred Armisen come on the show and 

This is the best summary of the issue I’ve seen yet.

Pastor Disinvited from Giving Inaugural Prayer Because of Sermon on Homosexuality

The message of religious intolerance being delivered by President Obama, his staff, and many of his supporters is unmistakable: If you do not affirm homosexuality then you cannot be fair-minded. The m…