pharyngula

Now that I've had the current banking disaster explained to me (short answer: the people responsible will be receiving a huge handout from the taxpayers), I can understand why Obama has decided to quit. It makes sense. Whoever wins the election is going to be in for a world of pain and hard work,…

This seems like something of a cheat of the process: Sean Carroll and Jennifer Ouellette do a bloggingheads episode together…over the telephone. What, they can't just do the conversation in the same room with a single camera? At least we finally find out what the universe is made of.

This is what happens when you can't comprehend the ordinary physical properties of fluids: you start hailing grungy old bottles of gloppy stuff as your salvation. Naples has gotten all excited about a bottle of "liquifying saint's blood" — it's incredibly silly. And just as silly, there is an…

Well, we've got to start early, you know. When you've got a lot of godless skeptics who love the human celebration of family and tradition that is Christmas, yet are accused of trying to destroy the holiday by refusing to bow our heads to an imaginary sky fairy, you've got to add the job of…

It's almost time for Atheists Talk radio! This week, they are going to talk about secular wedding ceremonies. I have a personal interest; my own wedding was not at all secular, but was instead officiated by a full-of-himself Christian priest who felt such an arrogant sense of privilege that he…

First they ban Richard Dawkins' website, then they buy out the entire print run of the Turkish translation of The Ancestor's Tale in a day. Clearly, we need to start making smuggling runs, bringing in copies of The God Delusion and printed pages of the daily commentary on richarddawkins.net, so we…

Maybe we need to start smuggling seditious rationalist literature into America, because look at the state of our fellow citizens' minds: More than half of all Americans believe they have been helped by a guardian angel in the course of their lives, according to a new poll by the Baylor University…

John McCain made some pleasant noises about supporting science in his Science Debate 2008 responses. They were outright lies, however. If you want to get pissed off at a politician, read the analysis of McCain's voting record on environmental and alternative energy issues. His voting record is…

All the fun is over now, and it's time for me to get on I94 and drive back across Wisconsin and Minnesota, and to get back to work. At least you can read about the excellent party, which was excellent, and share in one of the pleasant memories. You'll have to wait to hear about last night's AHA-…

The cracker incident has had yet more fallout. I just learned that one of you generous readers did more than send a letter of support — they actually sent a nice sum of money to the university that is being transferred to the biology discipline, and which we will be using to support biology…

I mentioned before that Richard Dawkins' site was banned in Turkey, by the legal actions of Harun Yahya/Adnan Oktar, the Muslim creationist. Now you can learn a little more: a spokesperson for Turkish creationism called up the editors of the New Humanist to explain their side of the story. As you…

Only religion seems to have the power to give deranged nutbags credibility and influence in government. Latest case in point: Israel, where the Kadima Party has to negotiate with Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef to form a coalition…and the rabbi is one of those insane ultra-orthodox wackaloons who, in a…

I am not yet in Madison, but I am in the Land of the Cheeseheads and am about to hit the road and expect to be there by early afternoon. And then I discover two coincidences, one happy and one mildly problematic. By my good luck, Ron Numbers is speaking on the campus today, at 3:30 in Science Hall…

(via Edger)

If things get quiet around here for a while, it's not because I've received a letter bomb…it's just not a good week. Lots of teaching piling up; lots of committee meetings; I'm trying to apply for a sabbatical, which in a small department means lots of work to make accommodations on workload; the…

Maybe he and I are going to have to have a competition to see who gets the nastiest letters. We do get a slightly different perspective on Christianity than most, I think, since our view is of a near-constant flow of letters like this one: Warning! Uses Christian language!(Click for larger image) I…

My Denver talk is up on youtube. I will be stunned if anyone manages to listen to it — the sound is a bit echoey, and I went on way too long.

In case you were wondering about that lawsuit by JZ Knight in Seattle — she was claiming that a former student had stolen the teachings of her Atlantean warrior spirit guide for profit — it's over now. Knight won. Keep that in mind if ever a channeler tells you some flaky secret knowledge someday:…

This is cute: college professor is preparing a lecture on homology, rummages about on the internet to see if there are any useful or interesting sources, and finds one that leaves him bemused and amused at the prospect of using it as an example in class…a bad example. The source is Conservapædia!…

Any physics-minded people at Virginia Tech who would like to deal with some crackpots coming to your campus? There is a talk at Virginia Tech this Friday by Bill Lucas on his claimed biblical model for the structure of atoms. It looks like very weird stuff. CAMPUS BIBLE FELLOWSHIP INVITES YOUR…

Let's see…it must have a lot of accordions in it, or cowboys singing drunken love songs to their trucks, right? Just to blow your minds, my colleague with esoteric musical taste, Nic McPhee, is getting interviewed tonight, and he'll be playing some of his favorite songs on the radio. This is our…

Well, well, well. Look what the Brunswick school board in North Carolina has been up to… "It's really a disgrace for the state school board to impose evolution on our students without teaching creationism," county school board member Jimmy Hobbs said at Tuesday's meeting. "The law says we can't…

Now one Islamic cleric has declared that Mickey Mouse must die. He's unclean, after all. "Mickey Mouse has become an awesome character, even though according to Islamic law, Mickey Mouse should be killed in all cases." Mr Munajid seems to be a little confused about what is real and what is fiction…

Larry has briefly floated the idea of organizing a trip to London, visiting Down House, the Natural History Museum, etc. There isn't much of a response — if you're interested, let him know.

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The latest and greatest edition of the Tangled Bank is at Science Made Cool. Cool!

The Vatican has announced that they are having an evolution congress, and that no creationists or intelligent design creationists will be invited. Isn't that sweet? They're still inviting a swarm of theologians, though, so their exclusion is all window-dressing, a transparent attempt to sidle…

Kevin Hayden, the maestro of the American Street blog, is packing up and moving across the country from Oregon to Massachusetts. Along the way, he's going to be interviewing people and composing a written and video portrait. He needs help, though: he's looking for people along his route who would…

There isn't a "HELL, NO" option on this one, but there ought to be. Do you think Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as Vice President of the United States? "Yes" is currently leading 55:43.