Russell's Why I am not a Christian

Bertie's essay can be found here. It's worth a read just to realize how quaint old defenses of atheism are, as compared to the new defenses by Hitchens, Dennett, Dawkins, et al.

Mars!

There is really something quite peculiar about Nasa's search for life beyond this planet. I am not a great fan of space exploration. It seems a very costly and dangerous endeavor. However, when it comes to probes -- which are both cheaper and do not endanger people -- is a little different. Nonetheless, why is it that all space exploration has to be justified by the search for life. Are not the odd geometrical areas in the above enough?