pharyngula

Here's an odd correlation for you: whenever I take a swipe at the foolishness of Scott Adams, I get a major uptick in the usual trickle of Christian email. I don't quite see Adams as a friend to Christianity, although he does seem to foster the kind of shallow thinking on which religiosity thrives…

Sara at Orcinus takes apart the macho little boys of the Republican party — it's one of those posts that explains a lot.

I'll cut you if you mock my stylin'.

Cardinal Pell has issued an edict "demanding that students and their parents be more devout". I'm afraid I'm just picturing a man in a silly hat raising his arms and commanding everyone by the power of Christ to believe! Shall we all just laugh at him?

Oh, no…not Easterbrook. Haven't I dealt with him sufficiently in the past? He's got a long-winded column in which, while quantifying the nudity in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, he also whines about those godless authors that have offended him so much. Regarding the "Golden Compass"…

John Hawks reports that a certain well-known 3.2 million year old lady has quietly left her home in Africa, and is on her way to Texas. She's probably also going to visit Chicago in 2009 — I'll be sure to stop by and pay my respects then.

Melanie Phillips is fulminating against Dawkins for the strangest of reasons. She chews him out for dismissing dowsing, crystal healing, conspiracy theories, reptoids, etc. as charlatanry — not because she believes in any of that nonsense, but because, in essence, it's all Dawkins' fault. You see…

A four year old girl fell and stuck a pencil in her brain. It's removed 55 years later. I want to know if the surgeon sharpened it and used it to write out the bill afterwards.

Fred Phelps is coming to Minnesota to protest the funerals of those killed in the 35W bridge collapse. This is more than a little ridiculous, besides being hateful. Apparently, any death for any cause is actually the result of a vengeful act of God, and is a message against gays. I wonder what…

It's that time of the summer again, when classes loom all too near, and enthusiastic students start asking for the reading ahead of time so that they can both find the books from a cheaper source than our bookstore and get a jump on the material. So to handle all those requests at once, here is a…

Scott Adams makes his argument against atheism. Let's just say that Adams makes McGrath look like a brilliant, nuanced genius by comparison. All he's got is the cartoonist's version of Pascal's Wager, and his own profound misconceptions about what atheists are. In order to be certain that God…

It's frightening to see religion poisoning our military, but it's happening. A group of generals is facing disciplinary action for promoting an evangelical religious organization, and they admit to being oblivious to the problem of a general declaring that his "first priority is his faith in god",…

You've got to take it with a grain of salt — a politician's self-reporting of what books he is reading is more about image than a reflection of what they are actually reading — but it's revealing what British members of parliament think will impress the citizenry: In the annual survey of MPs'…

It's a perfect example of the failure of the Democratic party: they allowed the FISA bill to pass, and essentially revealed that they don't give a damn about civil liberties. Revere is right: don't support them. Don't donate to the DCCC. He recommends ActBlue, which does look like a very good…

Must catch up on neglected linkage. Must take nap. Everyone is on their own for a little while as I try to get my brain out of its fog. I'm too old to skip an entire night's worth of sleep. Friday Ark #150 Mendel's Garden #17 Skeptics' Circle #66 Carnival of the Blue III I and the Bird #…

Despite a miserable red-eye flight — I left San Jose at 6:30 last night, and arrived in Minneapolis at 4am, followed by my familiar long drive home — I'll try to say a few words about Sci Foo. Short version: weirdest meeting ever. That's a good thing, though. The guest list included Carl Djerassi,…

Well, I'm afraid we're going to have to start a blog war with Creek Running North since he is neglecting his bloggy duties by shunning blog wars. It's Catch-22, man—refusing to feud is an insult that instigates a feud. Does he really imagine that people might read his writing simply because they…

Carl Zimmer is collecting examples of scientists with tattoos having a science theme. Got a tattoo? Send him a picture! There is a weird comment about reluctance to show off these things if you don't have tenure yet … I really don't think skin art is one of the considerations in tenure decisions,…

The atheists, skeptics, and secular humanists of Fresno have formed up and consolidate, and now they're looking for a name for their group. Since, in the absence of an infusion of God's creative will, they couldn't possibly come up with an idea of their own, they've started a contest to come up…

It's true — there probably isn't another "PZ Myers" in the country…at least, that's what the "Is this your name?" site says. Go ahead, plug your name in.

Go read Carnival of the Godless #72. Then Revere's Sunday Sermonette takes on the clueless Steven D. Levitt. Hemant links to the freakiest mindset. This is not a satire, although I wish it were. Jesus implies that those who brought him this news thought he would say that those who died, deserved to…

I've got to get back to my meeting, but Cosma just had to distract me with these classic video clips on dissecting the squid giant axon, including movies of one of my personal heroes, JZ Young (pronounced, as everyone knows, as jay-zed), in action. It's beautiful stuff.

This is the most perfect description of me on the interwebs. Pharyngula is a blog run by a science professor named P.Z Myers. Not only does Mr Myers believe in the fantasy of evilution, but every year he milks thousands and thousands of dollars out of the education system to indoctrinate children…

Another busy day ahead of me: yesterday I met Alex and Bora, shared a dinner table with James Randi, and saw swarms of other people I have to meet today … so off I go to another series of random encounters.

Mainly because you don't know what foo camp is all about. Yes, I have arrived in lovely Sunnyvale, safe and sound, ready for my alter ego, Tyler Nerden, to face the google geeks. While I was hurtling through the sky at hundreds of miles an hour, what did I miss? I just caught Behe on the Colbert…

…you'll find this site amusing: Churches ad hoc: a divine comedy.

Maybe it's news, but at this point all I can say is…who the hell cares what you say, Benny.

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

News from the Wingnut Heartland! Brave Oklahoma is issuing a new license plate design: Wouldn't that look perfect on the SUV decorated with yellow magnetic ribbons that you use to drive (alone) into work every day? And how about Kansas? You know they're always going to be at the forefront of…

PSA: The Countess has a new URL, so update your bookmarks. If you're wondering what she writes about the latest post there is about Kama Sutra chocolate molds, which is just about perfectly representative, I think. By the way, we learn that the source of those molds is a company in Chicago. Now at…