Carnivalia, and an open thread

Some light reading:

Everyone is so reluctant to say what they think in the other threads, so fire away here.

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A reminder: the Darwin Fish Contest closes early next week, and there are lots of good entries right now, so competition will be fierce. Send your entries in soon! Don't let these excellent carnivals distract you too much from expressing yourself artistically…or maybe something here will inspire…
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Oy, I have so much catching up to do… Humanist Symposium #4 Circus of the Spineless #22 Carnival of the Blue #2 Encephalon #26 Skeptics' Circle #64 Carnival of the Liberals—July 4th edition Friday Ark #146 All right, tell me what else is new in the universe outside the Pacific…
Let's all catch up with the latest carnivals, shall we? Skeptics' Circle #53 Carnival of the Liberals #31 Carnival of Education #104 Friday Ark #124 Otherwise, a few long threads are sucking all the air out of this place. Say whatever you think, as long as it doesn't involve cartoon…

Cooment on squid from a fundie site:
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http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06112106.html

However, Jefferts Schori's assertion that Catholics, Mormons and those with large families have more children simply because they are not "better educated" has provoked criticism from Catholics, who point out that while the Bishop, a former oceanographer who has worked with "octopuses and squids", advocates a diminishing population for her church, it would not be something she would view as healthy for marine populations of squids and octopi.

Squids and octopi aren't destabilizing ecosystems across the globe while altering climatic patterns. Humanity is the cause of the latest Great Extinction - it's the equivalent of a massive meteor strike and nearly as bad as the seas turning to seltzer. They're damn right that she wouldn't recommend that for cephalopods - cephalopods do not inflict a death curse upon all of creation.

Some people just need their heads smashed in with a rock.

By Caledonian (not verified) on 24 Nov 2006 #permalink

In case you thought the wingnuts' policy about abortion is just a mild annoyance: every year, 68,000 women die because of unsafe abortions, and 5 million are hospitalized due to complications.

Selva at The Scientific Indian says:

Religion, contrary to what is said above, does not give hope but takes it away. A believer will have to invoke God as the ultimate explanation and that is an act of hopelessness.

Alas, unsafe abortion is just the tip of the iceberg, almost literally: 11% of ice shows above water; 13% of the deaths associated with childbirth fertility are from unsafe abortion. The death toll per year is staggering: I believe the 585,000 (this Maternal Mortality link) is data from 1998, published in 2000. The latest I've seen, 2003 data published last year perhaps, for deaths due to childbirth to 870,000. However, much literature keeps quoting the "over half a million" figure as if a hundred thousand either way didn't matter much). Maternal mortality in some countries is 1 in 16, compared to 1 in 2800 in developed countries. Oh, that's per pregnancy. Then there are the ones that don't die but almost wish they had--dragging a prolapsed uterus around and ostracized because of the incontinence and stench. Now try having six kids. Or eight. Under those circumstances, keeping women from getting contraceptives, safe abortions, and childbed care is nothing short of criminal.

Arrgh, I didn't close the tag properly! Do you want to delete it, and I'll post again tomorrow when my fingers are more rested?