pharyngula

This is not going to be an "all debate, all the time" blog, but readers have sent me a few accounts of recent skirmishes, so I'll toss 'em up here. This one is a description of a debate between the ferocious Mr Hitchens and that smooshy gooey feel-good rabbi, Shmuley Boteach. It's like pitting a…

I mentioned the other day that this low-class, low-rent, low-IQ fanatical fundie church was going to broadcast their version of Richard Dawkins' funeral service. Well, it's up. Rarely will you find such a sterling example of the cretinous minds that fester like rotting mushrooms in the sickly,…

Everyone should go say hello to our new scibling, Green Gabbro. What is this? Rocks? Next you'll tell me there are scientists who study clouds, or oceans, or flaming balls of gas.

For those of you looking for audio of that debate with Simmons, you can download an MP3 now. I'm actually a little bit impressed that the radio station has enough integrity to retain the file and make it available to their listeners. I can't say as much about Uncommon Descent. They briefly put up a…

I'm engaged in battle again this next week, on 7 February, on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. This one is going to be very different than that last one, though; the other side isn't some ignorant wacko, but will be Loyal Rue, a Templeton award winner, and someone who has a rather…

My God Delusion index is 0. Perhaps your score is a little higher, and you're concerned about it. You, too, wish to achieve the perfection of a nice, uncluttered zero, with god delusions completely absent from your life. Here's help. Watch the video below multiple times; with each viewing your…

(Click for larger image) (via BoingBoing)

That radio debate was a hoot and a half, but I can't take credit. All the joy came straight from the mouth and brain of my lovely opponent, who obviously didn't do a lick of research for either the debate or for his books. I was shocked for a moment when, after I'd mentioned the recent discovery of…

Two days ago I was asked to participate in a radio debate with a Discovery Institute fellow. I asked about the topic and the format, and they said, "the evidence of Evolution vs. evidence of Intelligent Design" and "each would get a 5 minute opening statement and then we would debate the issues…

I have a MySpace page. It's not much, just a token entry on one of the big social networking sites. Now here's a problem: MySpace is run by religious bigots. They selectively censor atheist groups wholesale; this makes me rather dislike the place. Yesterday was International Delete Your MySpace…

At last, we have the perfect symbol for America under Bush. Nothing testifies to your pride in a country that is impossible to satirized anymore than fake plastic testicles painted in camouflage colors with a yellow "support the troops" ribbon that you can hang on your gas-guzzling SUV. I swear,…

I'm sure he will be looking forward to this: his funeral is going to be held tomorrow. Since the teaser calls him "one of the most wicked and vile human beings ever to walk the face of this earth", and since they've already done a hack job on Heath Ledger (in which they build a crude dummy of…

Floridians are meeting to discuss evolution! You just have to read one account, complete with quotes, of a creationist mob trying to articulate their opposition to science. There are plenty of amusing examples of dumbitude, but this one is my favorite: Referring to the discovery that Pluto no…

British educational programs are astounding. I caught my daughter self-educating herself with this remarkable series of videos. The one below is on the brain — I learned stuff I'd never known before, and I have a Ph.D. from an Institute of Neuroscience!

Hank Fox tallies the words used in Bush's state of the union speech…which I missed. Which I won't bother to listen to. The only word I want to hear him say is "Goodbye," but apparently his speech was all about "Terra'."

I'm fed up. There have been 5.5 Amaz!ng Meetings with James Randi, and I haven't gone to a single one…yet. That's finally going to change, though, as I've been invited to speak at TAM6, in Las Vegas, on 19-22 June. Who else is going? Maybe a few of you will think about marking your calendars and…

That silly Iowa State physics fellow who was denied tenure has finally admitted to something sensible. First: Gonzalez said in an e-mail Monday that he is applying for tenure-track positions in case the Regents do not act in his favor. Good for him! Tenure denials happen all the time, and smart…

Larry Moran has one video clip, and here's another: What the heck is wrong with this country that such a clueless git should be considered by many to be a viable candidate for president?

Many people have been sending me links to the latest comments by our charming Catholic pontiff, and I don't know, I'm just finding the old boy increasingly irrelevant as he continues his reactionary slide into medieval thinking. More and more it's like hearing reports of what some random homeless…

It's a bit of a switch from doing the Minnesota Atheists radio show last Sunday to what I'll be doing on Thursday: I'll be on the Jeff and Lee Christian talk radio program (they told me 4pm, but their schedule says 3; somewhere around there, anyway). Their guest is Geoffrey Simmons, and I'm…

I didn't know this until just now, but the National Center for Science Education has an Amazon Wish List. It's interesting to see what dark corners they're poking around in, so have a browse. And of course, if anyone wanted to make a little contribution to that worthy organization, you could always…

On Tuesdays, I have back-to-back labs from noon until six…in genetics. I've been juggling flies since early December, prepping stocks for our crosses, so when I saw this cartoon I was surprised. Does Darby Conley have a background in fly genetics? It's perfect!

I don't know how I missed it, but I was just made aware of OESE, Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education, another great group of smart people rising up to fight for good education. I presume all the Oklahomans in my readership will now inform me that they've known about this forever, and it'…

Come on out to Morris this evening — at 6:00, at the Common Cup Coffeehouse, Van Gooch of the biology discipline will be talking about bioluminescence and other phenomena in our Cafe Scientifique. The title of his talk is "Light Giving Life: Real and Artificial," and I know he's planning to bring…

Steven Schafersman is the president of Texas Citizens for Science, and he sent along a status report for Texas — it's not all bad news, and of course it's always good to see a strong, active organization defending science in the state. I've put the full report below. ICR I talked to many…

Ben Stein must be on a campaign to make himself look stupid. Everyone here knows about his association with creationism, but it turns out this former student of economics at Yale is clueless about everything…but he still gets published in The New York Times. First, let me begin with a first. I have…

I've remarked before how difficult it is to satirize creationists — they're already so absurd that any mockery is often overtaken by the reality. There is a corollary: creationists shouldn't try to do satire. They really, really suck at it. This fellow from Sebring, Florida, William Dailey, Jr.,…

I've got to wash my underwear.

It's a strange, weird world out there. I get hate mail all the time, but you know me — I'm mean and cruel and I don't hesitate to pull out the sharp, sharp knives of unkind rhetoric. Other people get hate mail, too, and here's one that made me laugh and laugh (which is also really mean, since I'm…

We have another point of correspondence. Remember how Kent Hovind's organization was bellowing and bucking about to block criticism on youtube? Now the Discovery Institute is up to the same shenanigans, trying to silence criticism by shutting down their youtube critics. It's a good video that…