pharyngula

American River College has, as most colleges do, a student body organization that is elected by the students. They recently had their elections, and got a bit of a surprise: the right-wing Christian group had organized, appealed to the student on the basis of their shared religious beliefs, and…

…but I was afraid of what they might find.

It was short, mainly taken up with Chris Comers trying to tell her side of the story, and not getting it all in within the time allotted. The main points I got out of it were: It sure sounds like this was a planned expulsion, with pressure being applied for weeks ahead of the incident that…

Those cats are just everywhere — now lolcats can has science. Even worse, it's dominated by geology LOLcats. Geologists are too abrasive and intrusive to have a sense of humor, and it takes ages for them to tell a joke. I do have something to say to physics cat, though. Here, kitty kitty. I have a…

Hank Fox sent me the link to this lovely little ditty. I don't know why he didn't forward it to Bill O'Reilly or Bill Donohue. I hope you have headphones if you try to listen to this in a public place. And do try to avoid singing along. On that appeal to you sentimental bastards, let me mention…

Well, Mitt Romney just lost the secular vote. Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone. Oh, wait. He never had…

Sepia latimanus Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.

I am so amused. A creationist lost his job at Woods Hole, and he was a zebrafish developmental biologist. Hey, I know a little bit about that! The creationist, Nathaniel Abraham, briefly held a post-doctoral position under Mark Hahn at Woods Hole. Here's the creationist's side: Nathaniel Abraham…

Dear students of Biol 4003: Neurobiology— EXTRA CREDIT? You haven't even turned in your final lab reports, and you're already asking for extra credit? This speaks of a serious lack of confidence, and I don't know that I should pander to your low self-esteem. Tell me instead that your work on the…

(Video moved below the fold because it was breaking some browsers)

Yesterday, I got a request to publicize a drive to promote charitable giving by atheists; then today I'm pointed to a list of atheist charities. Perfect! Bring these two together, and we've got synergy: we should all be doing what we can to help the needy, and now we have an excellent list of good…

Don't miss this one: tomorrow on Science Friday, Flatow interviews the expelled director of the Texas science curriculum. Education and Evolution in Texas(broadcast Friday, December 7th, 2007) The education official responsible for the science curriculum in the state of Texas resigned last month…

What is wrong with the teachers in New Hampshire? They just endorsed Clinton for the Democratic candidate, and Huckabee for the Republicans. Huckabee is a deranged young earth creationist! Did the NEA just spit in the face of its science teachers? How could they possibly support a creationist?…

There is a certain creationist book that contains this infamous quote: No matter what ideology they may espouse, those who perpetrate terror over the world are, in reality, Darwinists. Darwinism is the only philosophy that places a value on-and thus encourages-conflict. Kind of a common sentiment…

For some reason, I have been having difficulty getting through to the latest edition, but at last I have succeeded, and it was worth the effort. Behold, it is Tangled Bank #94!

The University of Oregon and Indiana University have this wonderful Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship in evo-devo that was, unfortunately, established long after I graduated from the UO. I have to say that it is a great idea, and it isn't their fault I'm a superannuated…

Josh Rosenau summarizes the Gonzalez affair: This whole song and dance is too absurd for words. Gonzalez had a poor record of grant-writing, a poor record of graduating students, limited telescope time, and his record of publication tailed off since he started working on his ID creationist book. He…

One of the few papers any of the Discovery Institute frauds have managed to get published was a bit of fluff by Jonathan Wells, who made a strange argument that centrioles generate a "polar ejection force" — his rationale was that they looked like turbines. Then he made a sloppy connection to ID by…

The holiday season is upon us, and our source of cocoa is going on strike. I hope the US Strategic Chocolate Reserve is well stocked, or Santa will go into withdrawal this Christmas eve. (We 'podmas celebrants have no worries, at least, unless the herring supplies are depleted.)

The recent unpleasant affair at the Texas Education Agency, in which the director of the science curriculum, Chris Comer, was pressured to resign, was triggered by Comer forwarding an email announcing a talk by Barbara Forrest. Forrest is a philosopher of science, and one of our leading advocates…

I shouldn't hog all the kooks — there are plenty to go around. Any physicists or mathematicians want to tackle this argument against special relativity? His claim seems to be that you can't mix mathematical and physical explanations — you have to see his explanation for Zeno's Paradox to believe…

This is some tree: An important point of clarification. Some have objected to the diversity of terms used for this holiday: Cephalopodmas, Squidmas, Cuttlemas, Cthulhumas, Octopusmas, Nautilmas, etc. Do not be intolerant! This is a thoroughly ecumenical, non-sectarian holiday, and we gladly…

Texas has McLeroy driving pro-science people out of the Texas Education Agency, so Florida must be feeling left behind: a member of their state board of education has recently declared her opposition to evolution in the schools. State Board of Education member Donna Callaway says she'll be voting…

Here's what CNN says about The Golden Compass: Culture: A star-studded, big-budget fantasy film released for Christmastime features religion as the villain. Hollywood is collaborating with a militant atheist British children's book author to indoctrinate children. Gregg Easterbrook (you already…

OK, I saw these links to weird decorations, and except for this set, there's nary a cephalopod to be seen. And then I realized these aren't squidmas decorations, they're nerdmas decorations! Obscenity! Heresy! By not exclusively recognizing our sacred traditions and not snubbing alternatives, this…

Who best to talk about the Gonzalez tenure case? Since he's an astronomer, how about another astronomer? Phil is unimpressed: So when ISU denied Gonzalez tenure, I applauded them. Faculty members are de facto representatives of the University, and having one advocate for a provably wrong…

I wish I could be there this Friday — this sounds like an extremely cool art gallery event, sponsored by the Cephalopod Appreciation Society. See, Seattle gets a whole society, while Morris just gets me, sitting in a corner, pining for molluscs. If you're in Seattle, you should go. Tell 'em I sent…

Although if you're at work, it probably isn't a good idea to crank up the volume. Unless you work in a lab, in which case your colleagues might join in on the chorus.

Sherri "the earth is flat" Shepherd advances the atheist cause for us once again by demonstrating just how stupid going to church can make you. This time, it was about history: Jesus came before the Romans and the Greeks, the Greeks threw Christians to the lions, and nothing could have preceded…