pharyngula

Hey, look here: we have an ad in The Chronicle of Higher Education: Position: Tenure-Track Position in Biology Institution: University of Minnesota at Morris Location: Minnesota Date posted: 11/19/2007 Biology: The University of Minnesota, Morris seeks to fill a tenure-track position in…

On the one hand, Mitt Romney wants questions about his lunatic religion off the table; on the other, he thinks representation in government should be proportional to the popularity of their religion, which he uses as an excuse to exclude Muslims for consideration in his cabinet. I don't think this…

I mentioned before that Michael Medved was joining the Discovery Institute, and now Amanda comments: I love the move, because it's so transparent. The weak claims to be an institution dedicated to scientific research fall away; Medved is no scientist, just a dedicated culture war soldier. Which of…

But of course fanatical Catholic Bill Donohue is furious about the upcoming movie, The Golden Compass, and is ranting and raving about it. Pullman offers a universally useful and sensible response. "To regard it as this Donohue man has said -- that I'm a militant atheist, and my intention is to…

The NY Times has published a list of the 100 most notable books of the year. I'm feeling inadequate because, while I read a lot of books, not one of them happened to be on this particular list. I'm thinking that I'd better rush out and get one that is on the list, How to Talk About Books You Haven'…

Those sneaky alumni organizations — they've always got new angles on how to get to you. The alumni magazine for the University of Oregon has a writeup on me and a current member of the UO faculty, Mark Thoma. Apparently, we are Cyber Scholars, professors who use the blogosphere to teach the world.…

Finally, Morris has achieved winter-like weather: snow and 0°F temperatures. We've been puttering about with temperate nonsense like a warm, wet October and an early November with temperatures in the 30s °F, and I've rarely had to bother with a coat, until today. It's about time!

You all remember Dembski's recent faux pas — he was caught stealing a science video from Harvard/XVIVO for use in his Intelligent Design creationism lectures. Dembski has issued one of his patented not-pologies. He now declares that all of the allegations against him are false, but he now promises…

Yet another example of religious insanity: A British primary school teacher has been arrested in Sudan, accused of insulting Islam's Prophet by letting her class of 7-year-olds name a teddy bear Mohammed, her school said on Monday. Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, aged 54 from Liverpool, told Reuters…

How can you possibly make the Creation "Museum" look sillier? This may not be a LOL image, but I thought it was hilarious. If you're having trouble reading the blurry print, it says: According to God's Word, thorns came after Adam's sin, about six thousand years ago, not millions of years ago.…

Those clever sleazeballs at Uncommon Descent have now used some generic animation tools at JibJab to make a pointless video of Genie Scott, Richard Dawkins, and others dancing the can-can. In a particularly tacky twist, they also claim that it was "produced by the innovators at JibJab.com studios…

For those of you who just like your cephalopods natural, here's a plush cuttlefish. It's cute and cuddly, and I wouldn't mind having one to snuggle up with. On the other hand, if you like your cephalopods unnatural, you could carry out perverse and disturbing acts on ordinary stuffed animals,…

This is why we need to keep a few philosophers around: they can succinctly name the logical fallacies committed by a certain cosmologist.

It's easy to forget what a repellent, sniveling little turd-speck Sal Cordova is until one is reminded by a reference on a blog worth reading (it's not as if I read Cordova's ugly little site myself, you know). The occasion this time is that Slimy Sal has just discovered that Joan Roughgarden, the…

Because she's a blithering space cadet. Our conventional way of thinking about the world remains profoundly dualistic. I don't like dualism. Huffington sounds like she thinks it's a problem too, but we'll soon see she doesn't, really. The physical and the rational in a supposedly eternal and…

The new preview for the movie Expelled looks very slick and professional — there are some deep pockets behind this effort. You'll catch on to the major themes of the movie right away: God and paranoia. It begins with Stein setting the stage for a conflict between two worldviews: it's "Everything…

Looking for decorating ideas? This photo series shows how to make a beautiful squidmas tree.

There is a Sunday School for Atheists? I think it's an interesting idea to have a special school on Sundays for people to teach their kids about ethics and family, but it shouldn't be for atheists — Christians need it more. I know they already have something called Sunday School, but I went through…

And Dorid is working on a coloring book. I have no idea how atheism is getting all tangled up with squid.

Paul Davies has written a curious op-ed that has been blithely published by the New York Times. I'm not sure why the NYT saw fit to publish it, except that Davies does have a reputation as a popularizer of physics, and as something of an apologist for deism; they certainly couldn't have chosen to…

Both Larry and Shalini have picked up on this most excellent comic — it's perfect.

This is quite possibly the most depressing story of the year, because it says so much about the amoral nature of some people: A 48 year old woman named Lori Drew poses as a cute 16 year old boy on myspace, leads Megan Meier, a 13 year old neighbor, on, then turns on her and drives her to suicide.…

They discriminate against people with sharp pointy spears!

Today is the 148th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Enjoy those Thanksgiving leftovers!

The NY Times sent a reporter to the First Conference on Creation Geology, and came back with a discouraging tale of creationist blindness. The two stars are Kurt Wise, old school, and Marcus Ross, new school. Ross recently recieved a Ph.D. for his paleontological work on mosasaurs — marine reptiles…

Michael Hanscom gets a very amusing advertisement: THE PROBLEM IS NOT TESTOSTERONE - The Problem Is That You Are Being Deluged with Female Hormones. You Are Being Feminized and You Don't Even Know It. It's for one of those fake 'natural male enhancement' products, but it has an interesting premise…

You've managed to remove your li'l Bush clone. Conservative Prime Minister John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat Saturday at the hands of the left-leaning opposition, whose leader has promised to immediately sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and withdraw Australia's combat troops from…

Here's a fun little toy from the Science Museum — use a little physics and logic to bounce a ball into a target. Don't show it to the kids or they'll take the computer away from you! (via Unhindered by Talent)

A Canadian school board has decided to remove Philip Pullman's books from its schools' shelves because people complained that the author is an atheist. This is a remarkable objection, obviously. I mean, we don't see school boards screaming to remove Chuck Colson's books from the shelves because the…

I mentioned that I should probably attend the odious John West's talk at the U of Minnesota next Friday, and Rick Schauer has stepped up to the plate and provided compelling motivation. To help make it easier for you to attend West's talk, PZ...I'll sponsor a Pharyngula Fellowship event at the UM…