by cameron | Feb 18, 2009 | anaxagoras day, Atheism, philosophy
I hereby declare December 25th to henceforth be celebrated as “Anaxagoras Day”.
Anaxagoras is the first recorded atheist; has been described as the first scientist; and was the first philosopher to take up at his abode at Athens. He was the father of the idea of atoms and the teacher of Pericles. Around 450BCE he wrote his treatise “On Nature” which declared (among other things but we don’t know much of it, as it’s been lost to history) that the sun was a red-hot stone (an idea borrowed from the ideas of Anaximenes) and that the moon was made of earth and derives it’s light from the sun. He was accused of being an atheist, sentenced to death, but seems to have escaped (probably with the help of Pericles) and been exiled from Athens.
As we atheists need something to celebrate on December 25th, I’m proposing that we remember the bravery, insight and diligence of the first recorded atheist in history by celebrating ANAXAGORAS DAY.
This year on December 25th I will be sending out Anaxagoras cards to friends and family, decorating my home with pictures remembering the story of Anaxagoras and composing hymns to the life of Anaxagoras. I hope you will join me.
If you want to join us in celebrating the life of Anaxagoras, just join the Facebook group. I just see it as a day to celebrate the fact that we CAN be atheists without fear of persecution. It’s a great day to think up a way to spread a little bit of rational thinking.
by cameron | Jan 12, 2009 | israel
I’ve been involved in a few debates about Gaza over the last couple of weeks – on Twitter, in Facebook, and on a variety of blogs.
And I keep hearing people say “it’s complex”. I don’t think it is.
Israel is a member of the United Nations. It has been since 1949. In fact, it owes the United Nations for its very existence.
Article 2 (points 3 and 4) of the United Nations charter states:
# All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
# All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
If Israel has issues with The Palestinian National Authority or the PLO, it should take those grievances up with the UN and the let UN decide how to deal with them. Unilateral military actions on behalf of Israel are in direct conflict with the UN charter which they have sworn to uphold. If Israel continues to fail to abide by the UN charter, then it should be evicted from the UN and declared a rogue nation.
Sounds simple to me.
by cameron | Jan 8, 2009 | Podcast, science
Well folks… it’s 2009 and I’m going through the archives, still trying to piece together the missing shows. I’m re-discovering lots of old shows myself and thinking “wow, I should listen to that one again”. And so, while I’m busy trying to fix stuff, I thought I’d plug a few of the old shows that you may have missed or may need to listen to again.
In August 2007 I had Dr John Demartini on my show for the first time. He’s a motivational speaker and author from the USA who is different from the usual folks. He actually seems be about more than just ‘rah rah’ and PMA. His ideas have some grounding in science. I think I need to listen to this episode on a more regular basis myself. Hope you enjoy it (again).
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If you want an independent media, you can support TPN by throwing me some cash to cover the bills or, if you’re tight on the cash front, by blogging or Twittering about the show or joining the G’Day World Facebook group. There is a list of things you can do to support the show here.
The G’Day World theme music:
Conquest
“Secrets of Life” (mp3)
from “End of Days”
(Dark Star Records)
More On This Album
by cameron | Jan 5, 2009 | Podcast
First show for 2009!
Steve Sammartino, who you may remember from our earlier shows (see: G’Day World #336 – The Sammartino Method (aka How To Get Rich Slowly and Surely)), joins me again tonight to revisit the investment strategy he discussed with us back in July 2008. Now that the world is in the worst financial crisis we’ve seen in decades, does his strategy of “invest in the index and hold” still work?
Steve Sammartino is the founder of Rentoid (see G’Day World #306) and also shares his wisdom on the Start Up Blog.
Vanguard Tools
Steve’s “Grow Some Veggies” Blog entry
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If you want an independent media, you can support TPN by throwing me some cash to cover the bills or, if you’re tight on the cash front, by blogging or Twittering about the show or joining the G’Day World Facebook group. There is a list of things you can do to support the show here.
The G’Day World theme music:
Conquest
“Secrets of Life” (mp3)
from “End of Days”
(Dark Star Records)
More On This Album
by cameron | Oct 13, 2008 | Podcast
Dr David Skellern is the CEO of NICTA, Australia’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Centre of Excellence. He’s also an engineer and entrepreneur, who sold a company he co-founded (Radiata) to Cisco in 2001.
I caught up with him for 10 minutes a couple of weeks ago for a chat about why ICT R&D in Australia’s top ICT companies is pathetically low and about why Aussie kids aren’t studying IT.
If you want an independent media, you can support TPN by throwing me some cash to cover the bills or, if you’re tight on the cash front, by blogging or Twittering about the show or joining the G’Day World Facebook group. There is a list of things you can do to support the show here.
The G’Day World theme music:
Conquest
“Secrets of Life” (mp3)
from “End of Days”
(Dark Star Records)
More On This Album
