Pharyngula: The Week in Review, and an open thread

Search

Profile

PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
• a longer profile of yours truly
• my calendar
• Nature Network
• RichardDawkins Network
• facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Atheist Nexus
• the Pharyngula chat room
(#pharyngula on irc.synirc.net)

I reserve the right to publicly post, with full identifying information about the source, any email sent to me that contains threats of violence.

I support Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Random Quote

(Complete listing)

What can we say to a man who tells you that he would rather obey God than men, and that therefore he is sure to go to heaven for butchering you? Even the law is impotent against these attacks of rage; it is like reading a court decree to a raving maniac. These fellows are certain that the holy spirit with which they are filled is above the law, that their enthusiasm is the only law that they must obey.

[Voltaire, 1764]

A Taste of Pharyngula

(Complete listing)

Modules and the promise of the evo-devo research program

Worms and death

What should a scientist think about religion?

Ancient rules for Bilaterian development

Zygotic genes

Cephalopod gnashers

Wells and Haeckel's Embryos

Pleistocene horses

Other Information

2005 Koufax Award
Best Expert

2006 Weblogs Award

Subscribe via Email

Stay abreast of your favorite bloggers' latest and greatest via e-mail, via a daily digest.

Sign me up!

« Since Jesus is American... | Main | Beautiful birds? »

The Week in Review, and an open thread

Category: Carnivals • Open Thread • Science
Posted on: May 11, 2006 12:12 PM, by PZ Myers

Flitting about as I have lately means I've been missing this, that and the other thing. So here's a quick summary.

Tuesday night I was at the Café Scientifique in Minneapolis, where UMM's Timna Wyckoff gave a talk on antibiotic resistance. It was terrific! Lots of good questions throughout, and a mob of conversation afterwards. This is exactly how these events are supposed to go.
I missed Michael Ruse's talk at the UM on Wednesday—I was somewhere in Wisconsin, with a dorm room packed into a car—but I have one email report that he was entertaining but extremely aggravating. Anyone else care to say more?
Paul Nelson gave a talk at UCI. It sounds like the usual thing we get from Nelson.
A new Skeptics' Circle has crystallized.
There's an I and the Bird sighting!
The liberals are having a carnival!

Now I've got a couple of finals to give, and man, I'm exhausted. Driving to Madison and back again in one day is too much for this tired old guy—we got back about midnight last night, and then I had to drag myself out of bed at 6 to finish writing one of my exams. And then tonight…more grading.

TrackBacks

(TrackBack URL for this entry: )

Comments

Flitting about as I have lately means I've been missing this, that and the other thing.

Well then, I'll fill you in. This was the same old same old. That was way overpriced; most people I talked with thought it was a ripoff. The other thing was dull, dull, dull, but at least I got a good nap out of it. . So you see, you really didn't miss much.

Posted by: quork | May 11, 2006 1:14 PM

I just want to compliment you on the following imagery: "A dorm room packed in a car."

Posted by: Linkmeister | May 11, 2006 2:00 PM

Since this is an open thread, here's something that might be interesting: Les of Stupid Evil Bastard has the story of how a minister's Christianity made him vulnerable to con artists. Rather painfully obvious con artists, to anyone with a working baloney detection kit.

HTML links don't seem to work properly in these comments, so here it is:
http://stupidevilbastard.com/index/seb/comments/another_example_of_how_christianity_undermines_your_ability_to_reason/

(Weird. An URL gets automagically converted to a link, but the A HREF= tag gets munged.)

I suppose he's better off than those fools who blow themselves up in crowded places or crash planes into buildings because someone else (who is definitely NOT going to kill themselves, thank you very much) tells them it's God's will for them.

P.S. New bug with TypeKey: now attempting to preview a comment before you post it will kill your registration. Horribly annoying. As if jumping through hoops once wasn't bad enough.

Posted by: Chris | May 11, 2006 9:01 PM

More whining from an apparently "overworked" academic. Have you ever had a real job?

Posted by: radiculous | May 12, 2006 11:48 AM

It's a Miracle!
A wheelchair-bound woman walks - no runs! And all it took was the threat of arrest.

Posted by: quork | May 12, 2006 3:50 PM