Tania Derveaux supports net neutrality. That’s great, but the way she has chosen to demonstrate her support is a bit unique.

The basic idea: if you are a geek who supports net neutrality and are a virgin, Tania will have sex with you for free. I guess that solves one of your problems… There are some conditions for the offer: surprise buttsex is out (but apparently it’s okay if it isn’t a surprise), and she reserves the right to hurt your manhood badly if you were lying about a virgin or otherwise attempt to violate the terms of … service.

As I understand it, Tania’s “don’t stay virgin” campaign is a bit of a double-entendre response to Virgin Media’s “net neutrality is bollocks” comments a couple of weeks or so ago. Apparently Tania is a member of the NEE party in Belgium, which I guess is more of a political protest group than a political party. She previously made an equally unusual offer as part of her political campaign:

As I understand it, this advertisement campaign was in response to another political party’s apparently bogus claim to offer 400,000 new jobs as part of their strategy.

I must say that, as political promises go, Tania’s offerings certainly do get some attention. Well, at least from half the population…

I don’t know much about the U.S. elections. I’ve sort of been absorbing the democratic nominations… I think I would be more or less happy with either Hillary or Barack becoming President. The republicans? Hmmm: the only ones I’ve heard about seem to be Right wing evangelist fruitcakes who think the earth was formed in 7,000 years and that homosexuals will damn all of us to hell.

In any case, it isn’t often that I see something relating to a political process that makes me feel good. This video made me feel good- it is based on a speech given by Barack Obama that was turned into a video by a number of musicians. I like the message- enough with the policies of fear and hatred, lets start thinking in terms of hope and what we *can* do, not what we can’t.

Yes, I realize it is all just words, and politicians are masters of the Big Lie. But hope is something sorely lacking in American politics, and seeing a politician talking about hope is inspiring.

Intelligent design is a theory of faith. Evolution is a theory of science.

Science is based on something called scientific method. A scientific theory requires something (or more realistically, several things) that can be proven or shown to be false. A scientific theory is never absolute “fact”: it is always subject to discovery of further data that could prove or disprove certain aspects of its truth. Science is strictly about the “how”, “what”, “where”, and “when”. Science demands perpetual intelligent inquiry, the continuous challenging of the status quo. Science does not guide a person’s moral choices, it does not make someone a kinder, better person. It does, however, require a certain amount of intelligence.

Faith is belief. It requires an act of will, and it abhors fact. Identifying contradictory information is anathema to faith. If something contradicts the matter of faith, it can be conveniently dismissed as heretic, or a lie. Faith can save a life or a soul, can guide one’s life decisions and moral choices. Fundamentally, faith is all about answering the “why” question. But Faith isn’t much good when trying to build a bridge or attempting to safely launch a man into space.

One does not “Believe” in science- science simply is. Faith is not challenged by science, unless one’s faith is doggedly attempting to explain natural occurrences. An intelligent religion could embrace science without giving up their fundamental belief: the “why” part of life.

Intelligent design can be taught in a church. It does not belong in a school, unless it is a school of religion. If someone choses to set aside facts and reason for a life dedicated to faith, they can educate themselves in whatever misinformation they choose: but public schools should stick to facts, not faith. Unless, apparently, you live in Texas, where a science curriculum director was suspended (and felt compelled to resign) recently for expressing the opinion that Intelligent Design is not a science.

I feel nothing but sorrow (and a bit of anger) that the U.S. has sunk to such a low state. Not only do 40% of Americans still believe that Weapons of Mass Destruction were found in Iraq (about the same percentage that believe in Angels, I believe…), but apparently a nearly equal number have no clue regarding the difference between faith and science.

And if you are reading this and muttering “heretic!” and “blasphemer!” under your breath, there is another faith-based “theory” you should check out: the theory of intelligent falling.

I am generally tolerant of different cultures. But after reading about a young woman sentenced in a Saudi court to 200 lashes and six months in jail for the crime of being gang-raped 14 times by seven men…well, tolerance is out the window.

The seven men who raped the young woman were charged with between one and five years in prison. This is *after* their sentences were doubled by the court. Apparently the woman was guilty of having been in the car of a man who was not a blood relation to her prior to being raped: she was further guilty of appealing her conviction to 90 lashes for this crime, which led the Judges to double her sentence and tack on six months in jail.

I don’t care what the politically correct in this world may say, but this is simply and utterly wrong. No religion, no culture, no political system should tolerate this. Period. Full stop. The Judges involved will likely be praised for their true and stalwart belief in whatever insanity passes for a legal system in Saudi Arabia. Personally, I think they deserve a full helping of what the young lady got…