pharyngula

Always write short articles. Banana.

Sadly, I must report that the Digital Cuttlefish has joined the flock of negligible pests who seek to raise more money for Camp Quest than me. It's sad and pathetic — the forces of Team Awful seem to be spending more effort recruiting allies to give them some sense of personal worth than they do…

I guess we're finally done with World War I: the very last veteran of that war has died at the age of 110. Just think, there will be people with personal recollections of the bloody messes our country has started living in the 22nd century — what a lovely legacy.

I haven't even managed to leave Kamloops, British Columbia yet, and I'm already planning ahead to next week's event in Philadelphia. And look: now, in addition to myself, both Tom Flynn and David Silverman are coming. They've already let all the riff-raff in, so anyone else who wants to come will…

I almost thought this note was from George W. Bush, and had to double check to see that the author was actually some random guy named Richard Williamson. Didn't your mommy love you when you were younger... Did she tell you be careful what you say to strangers !!!!! Remember, those you can DO,…

Don't watch this video unless you really want to lose all hope for humanity. Remember when all the great musicians were composing religious music? (OK, it was long before our time, unless you're a few centuries old, but you know what I mean.) And hey, what's with all the chattiness? I'm off at a…

There's this strange website run out of Morris, Minnesota: it's called Giraffes Drawn By People Who Shouldn't Be Drawing Giraffes, and what it is is a collection of sketches of giraffes drawn by random people Josh Preston collars (perhaps he will ask you for a giraffe someday). He managed to get a…

Hey, Copenhagen, there's a Skeptics in the Pub starting up in your town. It was inspired by the big Gods and Politics conference there last year, so you know these events do have some effect — they can help get local activists get started.

Does it help if we strip out the strange costumes and the vocals? (Last edition of TET; Current totals: 12,314 entries with 1,362,828 comments.)

(via National Geographic)

I do experiments on fish. I've killed tens of thousands of embryos, but, you know, I take care to minimize pain, and do it for a purpose that can't be achieved any other way; I also have to answer to committees that enforce ethical conduct in animal care and use. No such rules apply if you are a…

Another atheist exits with grace and dignity. Here it is. I'm dead, and this is my last post to my blog. In advance, I asked that once my body finally shut down from the punishments of my cancer, then my family and friends publish this prepared message I wrote--the first part of the process of…

The gentleman squid gazes at you with an appraising eye. Do you have what it takes to stand up for the right and the truth and a civilized way of life, or do you side with the barbarian rabble? Sadly, I must report that Greta Christina, Hemant Mehta, Jen McCreight, and JT Eberhard have…

Tomorrow, I'll be in Kamloops, British Columbia. The godless have been rampaging across that province, what with this evil conference where atheists will be actually encouraged to speak, and a bus campaign in Kelowna and Kamloops and Victoria, where innocent eyes will be assaulted with vile atheist…

As long as I'm heading out to the Pacific Northwest again this weekend, let's look at big trees. (via UBC Botanical Gardens)

Lawrence, Kansas is having a loud and aggressive godless event this weekend, ReasonFest, with a nice noisy poster and of course, a noisy video. You should go and make some noise. Or at least make lots of noise in The Endless Thread. Or if this is all such short notice, there's also a Berkeley…

Salman Rushdie has an interesting insight into the fate of Osama bin Laden. He hasn't been an underground agent, stealthily hiding in caves for the last ten years — he's been living well in prosperous safety in plain sight, with the obvious assistance of…guess who. Osama bin Laden, the world's most…

I'm just amazed that Texas citizens will elect congresspeople who will do things like this: In response to the worst state budget crisis since World War II, the Texas House has proposed slashing $27 billion from the budget, including huge cuts to education, nursing homes, and health care for the…

So you're tantalized by this strange obsession creationists have with junk DNA. It offends them mightily, I think because they find comfort in the idea that everything in the universe must have a purpose, because if it doesn't, maybe that means they are nothing more than spots of dandruff on a dead…

Oh, yeah…didn't you know it was a crack team of Darwinist commandos who took out bin Laden, all to protect our secrets? David Klinghoffer doesn't go quite that far, but he does demonstrate just how insane the gang at the Discovery Institute have gotten. After all, he does claim that Obama delayed…

Did you know that this is the last week of classes at UMM, and I'm ooga booga GAH! Heebity heebity heebity boo, wibbledy bobbledy not you too, and jeez I'm gonna hork. Galumphedrin. Yaaah - yaaaah - yaaaaaaaaaaaaieeee. Go away kid, you bother me. Pthththbbbbfhfhththt. Open the pod bay doors, Hal.…

Look who was just inducted: David Kingsley, stickleback development and genetics, and Neil Shubin, another devo guy you may have heard of for Tiktaalik and Your Inner Fish. Congratulations!

Another tawdry semi-biblical cesspit has opened, the Creation Museum of the Ozarks. Of course it gets horrible reviews. Then I looked it up. It's located in Strafford, Missouri, which is a town 20 minutes away from Springfield. Springfield. What do we think of when we hear Springfield, Missouri? No…

It really is that clear and simple. Republican policies lead to women dying of neglect and abuse, and they don't care. Tom Levenson does the estimates, just using their recent opposition to Planned Parenthood as an example — and that's a legislative jihad that has a body count. Planned Parenthood…

Eggers and Calegari have an excellent op-ed on the problem of American education: in short, it's the money, stupid. When we don't get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don't blame the soldiers. We don't say, "It's these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That's why we…

They never seem to understand why priests get singled out. If I claimed to have special privileges and attention from a super-being, shouldn't I also accept some greater responsibilities? Unless I were just lying about being best friends with Superman, that is.

A metaphor for the conversations in the Endless Thread, that is. (Current totals: 12,297 entries with 1,358,694 comments.)

It's the meta-argument that's especially hilarious: here's a facebook argument over who would win in a fight, Batman or Jesus. The Christians are taking it quite seriously, insisting that Jesus would win. The magic moment is when one declares, "And you're neglecting the fact that bruce wayne is…

I'm a major fan of kidneys — they're fascinating organs for discussion of both development and evolution. Today I lectured about them in my human physiology course, but I could only briefly touch on their development, and instead had to talk on and on about countercurrent multipliers and…

Here's a pair of brave women. Twenty years after a horrific rape, Liz Seccuro pressed charges on her creepy, oblivious rapist. It was a horrible situation, and she could have run away from the conflict…but she faced her fears and got the rotten guy locked away after he tried to resume a friendly…