pharyngula

Florida also has an "academic freedom" bill in the works, and they're using Ben Stein's sillly movie to promote it … and if you want to find legislators with cobwebs in their cranium, Florida is the place to go. Neither Hays nor his co-sponsor, Brandon Republican Sen. Ronda Storms, could name any…

Yesterday, the Minnesota legislature introduced H.F. No. 3922, another of those "Academic Freedom" bills that are actually attempts to infringe on academic freedom. It's full of high-minded language, but 1) they have not demonstrated that there is a problem, 2) they simply restate principles…

What's that? Some of you are unfamiliar with the phrase "Big Science," so freely tossed about by creationists like Ben Stein? Here's what it means: Coo coo it's cold outside. Coo coo it's cold outside. Ooo coo coo. Don't forget your mittens. Hey Pal! How do I get to town from here? And he…

This is the real goal of the New Atheists: no indoctrination, just kids questioning their indoctrination. Keep on asking those questions!

The New York Times has taken notice of the promotional tactics being used for the creationist propaganda flick, Expelled. As you all know, they are trying to filter screenings, allowing only ideologically friendly people to see it, and keeping out the serious critics who might actually evaluate it…

Does this story sound familiar? The narrative goes like this: The famous, brilliant scientist So-and-so hypothesized that X was true. X, forever after, became dogma among scientists, simply by virtue of the brilliance and fame of Dr. So-and-so. This dogmatic assent continues unchallenged until an…

Here's more pernicious ignorance that we have to deal with: this is Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern, benighted hate-monger, babbling lies. Well, there is one part that is accurate, when she states that "We're not teaching facts and knowledge any more, we're teaching indoctrination",…

I am reminded of the whole host of intellectual failings of creationists: it's not just that they reject modern science, but many of them tend to be brain-damaged peckerwoods who are also incapable of viewing literature and art without squawking in horror, unless maybe it's a tasteless…

We've got some new additions to the Deadly Sins, the ones that will get you consigned straight to hell as soon as you die. "You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbour's wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments…

In case you haven't noticed, we're having problems all across scienceblogs. Few of us can post at all, and those who can are reporting errors all over (I will be amazed if this post makes it through). You are also unable to comment. The crack team of Seed technical experts are delving deep into the…

Thank you to everyone who noticed that yesterday I was one day older than the day before! And a special thanks to Bora for collecting all the various links together in one place. Archaeoporn bathtubnz Rev. BigDumbChimp Blue Collar Scientist decorabilia Thoughts in a Haystack Archy Jyunri Kankei…

This excerpt reveals a surprising fact: it is clearly a Canadian conspiracy. I knew we shouldn't trust those guys.

Fua and Jenny, the time-traveling lesbians, plucked baby Moses from the river. "Right," said Jenny. "This religion is going to see some changes…"

Now the odious Vox Day is ranting about how the discovery of dark matter and dark energy refute "rational materialist philosophy," because somehow it ties into the inapplicability of naturalism to "justice, equality, and freedom". Phil Plait quite rightly slams him back. I have to give Blake…

So a guy gets a little older, and what happens? All these people try to draw attention to my age, largely with a collection of photoshopped pictures of yours truly. Don't they know I'm funny-looking enough that no photoshop is necessary? By the way, I got a nice present from my family: a new,…

A reader brought to my attention this outrageously dishonest mangling of a quote by that creationist, Casey Luskin. He writes: In January, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences weighed in on this debate, declaring that "[t]here is no scientific controversy about the basic facts of evolution,"1…

Long time readers here, and fans of Creek Running North, the best-written blog on the internets, will remember Zeke…and if you don't, you've been missing out. And now you can get a whole book of nothing but concentrated Zeke, which sounds like Dog Heaven to me.

Important news! Daylight Saving TIme begins at 2am on Sunday, 8 March. Remember to set your clocks ahead one hour. You better set those clocks correctly so you can catch Atheists Talk radio at 9am. This week, it's interviews with some of the bigwigs of American Atheists. Yeah, it's my…

In a special election and against long odds, Bill Foster has been elected to the house of representatives from Illinois. Not only is it another addition to the coming Democratic conquest of Washington DC, but the guy is a physicist. We need more scientists stepping into political leadership!

Several people have asked me to dig into this and post something on Pharyngula, but I really don't want to — the more I look at it, the more I recoil in baffled disgust. Cedarville University, one of those bizarre Christian colleges that just makes me want to gag in the first place, has terminated…

I've been seeing all the ads for this new movie, 10,000 BC, but I haven't even been tempted to want to think about going to see it. Come on, people: One Million Years B.C., while even more grossly inaccurate, at least had Raquel Welch in that adorable bikini, and Quest for Fire had the invention of…

It's quite clear what the purpose of Ben Stein's Expelled movie is — notice what they've been doing with it. They've been shopping it around at screenings that are filtered to keep knowledgeable people out; they're planning to pay students to attend; they're relying on the Big Lie to promote the…

We have a couple of more eye-witnesses to the start of Dawkins' lecture tour in Arizona, Jim Lippard and John Wilkins. Lippard gives an interesting account, while Wilkins…well, I guess Dawkins interrupted his lecture to walk up the aisle, smack John with a truncheon a few times, rifle his wallet,…

My last column in Seed is now online for you cheapskates (OK, you're forgiven already) who don't subscribe. It's called "Eyeing the Evolutionary Past," and discusses a familiar topic around these parts — the evolution of eyes.

Richard Dawkins' tour of the US has begun — you can read an account of his talk in Arizona. Next stops are Berkeley and Stanford, then Madison (I think my boy Connlann is going to try to see that one), then Columbia and NYU, and UT Austin … then it's up my way to Minneapolis for the American…

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

Religion is colliding with the law all over the place. A Malaysian woman was jailed for worshipping a teapot. It was a very large teapot, two stories high; does that help? There's also a wonderful Catch-22 in the story — Malaysia allows freedom of worship, but under Sharia law, apostasy is a…

One of the reasons we atheists have to be loud and assertive is that we are floating alone in a vast sea of ignorance. Case in point: here is an artist who has obviously never met an atheist. I am expressing my feeling towards the very Idea of Atheism. I almost pity those who have such beliefs. I'…

Everyone has been sending me this story about how a researcher has deduced from the crazy talk in the bible that Moses was high on drugs. I don't believe it. Sure, it's possible, but the information is insufficient, and the hypothesis is unnecessary. Look at Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Robert…

We do have a Drinking Liberally chapter here in lovely Morris, so if you just happen to catch this in time, the beer will be flowing at the Old #1 bar downtown at 8:00. We will talk and argue; personally, I want snarl about Holy Spirit Hillary. Someday, can we please have a president who doesn't…