pharyngula

The misogyny thread is suffering from bloat, so I'm lancing it and allowing the pus to drain here. Continue your discussion, gentlemen. Any of the topics listed in the title are perfectly acceptable. Ladies, I recommend you wait outside. While the discussion may revolve entirely around your…

Thomas Euteneuer was an up-and-coming star of the Catholic priesthood: he was a charismatic fellow who appeared on radio and TV and other media to fight for the dogmatic Catholic position on just about everything. He was a crusader against homosexuality, against sex outside of marriage, against…

I forgot to mention that I did attend the local screening of The Nature of Existence, the new movie from Roger Nygard in which he traveled the world asking various people grand questions about the meaning of life, etc. It was entertaining, and it is subtly subversive of religious views, so I will…

The Pope must be wearing ratty, ragged underwear under those silk robes; all the fancy gold statues in the Vatican must be gilt over rotting wood; the famous paintings are all cheap reproductions. The place must be on the verge of economic collapse. At least, that's what I assume must be the case,…

Remember how I told you that Eric Hovind was giving away free DVDs for Valentine's Day? And you all rushed over to place your order, and you got the sad notification? We're sorry, the Valentine's DVD is now out of stock. Thanks to supporters like you, over 2,000 people will get to hear the gospel…

Hello, Southern Illinois University Carbondale! I'll be heading south next week for SIU's annual Darwin Day lecture. Thursday, February 10: A public lecture entitled "The Evolution of Cooperation" will be presented by Dr. Paul (PZ) Myers, associate professor of biology at the University of…

It's next week, you know. 12 February. All the cool kids will be talking science. That's what they'll be doing at KU on 8 February.

I had no idea that ions combined to produce fungi and bacteria in water — I guess spontaneous generation isn't dead after all. That's one of the claims of a con artist named Peter Goodgold who sells magic water ionizers that cure all illnesses…because, as he says, there is actually only one disease…

Good news! The Secular Student Alliance is now working to promote godless organizations in high schools. They're going to be everywhere! There is resistance, of course, but the law is on our side, and the schools have to allow students to organize for meetings with a secular purpose. Are you a high…

I've often wondered what it would be like to have a conversation with an insect — a creature that shares no moral or rational assumptions with me. Now I've seen something close, at least, a fellow named Seth, discussing his obligations to his partners in sex. Basically, he feels none. It's a long…

Actually, I know they got a lot wrong. The Mail reports that a study "proves" students believe everything they read on the internet. They cite some work done with the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus site, which they claim was created as part of a study to test student gullibility. This is wrong;…

I'm white. I'm a nerd. I live in Minnesota. I have no rhythm at all — dancing for me is more of a syncopated chaos. But now, for a mere $40, I can get a little yellow robot that can dance. Maybe the robot would be willing to give me lessons?

Laugh anyway. It's a cartoon illustrating what would happen when a bunch of astrologers wielding homeopathic rays and perpetual motion engines encounter Captain Sagan in a starship armed with Science. The results are a bit brutal, but I guess that's what happens when fantasy and reality collide.

Creationist Steven L. Anderson is having an art contest. He is shocked and surprised that chickens and dinosaurs are related and wants some cartoons mocking the concept. He's got a few examples at his site; they aren't very good, and they all miss the point. Chickens are not descended from T. rex…

Queensland, Australia is currently threatened by a major cyclone, and everyone is bracing for the impact. There isn't much we can do right now but watch and wait, and be prepared to help however we can. But there are things that are pointless to do. I thought this was the silliest, most useless web…

No one in the perpetual thread will expect the Inquisition to rise up out of an 80s pop song! (Current totals: 11,798 entries with 1,264,199 comments.)

Once again, I have proven my ability to drive people into a frothing rage against me. Only this time it isn't a mob of religious fanatics and anti-choicers who have called me pond scum who will go to hell, an insect souled vile man, a black-souled amoral monster, pure evil, morally depraved, with a…

It's on their front page, just scroll down a little. Which belief system describes your view of the origin and development of life on Earth? Naturalistic evolution 30% Theistic evolution 12% Creation science 40% None of the above 8% Not sure 9% Evolution is doing a little better than I'd expect…

Aww, how sweet: Eric Hovind is offering a free Creation 'Science' Evangelism dvd for you to send to your sweetie. They'll love it. I'm hoping someone will care enough to send me one, because nothing says love like a dense collection of lies and misleading delusions. Oops, did my inner cynic slip…

The governor of Kentucky sees nothing wrong with promoting this charlatan's act, but watch this video of Ken Ham 'teaching' an auditorium full of children. It's appalling. "What do you say when someone says 'millions of years'?" "WERE YOU THERE?" Hey, kids, what do you say when someone says Jesus…

Several people have sent me messages of despair lately. They're working in universities which, like every university in the country, is struggling with tight budgets and declining support from the state government, and a citizenry that seems to be a sucker for every pseudoscientific scam some…

This time, for real. I keep promising to tell you how it works, and somehow the explanations always look ridiculous, but finally I found an authoritative video that gives you the specific molecular details. See? Is everything clear now?

I know, that's a rather vague descriptor: that's what so many polls do. This is a poll about the anti-vaccination movement, though, which is like creationism in that it's hard to believe people can be quite that thick about something that has been so thoroughly demolished. But go ahead, smash it…

I must be a magnet for madness. The latest treasure to manifest itself in my mail is a book by Stefano Polidori called The Chaos Riders. It may be a rare artifact; it's not listed on Amazon, but it's expensively bound with an inset photograph of Da Vinci's The Last Supper on the cover, with thick…

A trite phenomenon is taking place in a church in Bakersfield: According to Tom Dorlis, the vice president of the parish council for St. George Greek Orthodox Church, back in 2007, around the time of the financial crisis, a portrait of the Virgin Mary, from Hawaii, started to cry an oily substance…

If there are any grad students reading the procrastinative thread…GET BACK TO WORK. Don't watch this video. (Current totals: 11,788 entries with 1,262,152 comments.)

Lots of people are sending me this news story about Stephen Green, the British evangelical Christian fanatic. In case you've never heard of him: Green, 60, is founder and director of Christian Voice, a fundamentalist group he set up in 1994, whose website thunders against the vices — family…

After a brief career as one of Richard Dawkins' fleas, author of some book or another complaining about atheism, Alister McGrath faded away into irrelevance again. Not that he was missed; he always reminded me of the Impressive Clergyman played by Peter Cook in The Princess Bride, that affected…

There's another reason not to go to prison: they'll confiscate your Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks! The courts have ruled that fantasy role playing games are a threat to security because… Well, in a 2009 case, a prison gang leader "established and enforced rules." You know, just like in D&D.…

Follow this link to the amusingly bizarre webcomic about homeopathy behind it. I'll just share with you the story behind the artwork: So this might seem to make very little sense at all. Fair enough, it's sort of supposed to. But this did actually happen to me at work — A guy came in to buy some…