pharyngula

It's yet another Catholic sex scandal, this time a chronic pattern of sexual abuse by a few priests in Berlin that was known and tolerated by church leaders for almost 20 years. They've got a nice phrase for what was going on: "intimate, fatherly behavior." Catholic church: you don't know what…

Dutch creationists have put up a foolish little poll — surprise them with a little adjustment. Hoe is het leven op aarde ontstaan? (How did life arise on Earth?) God schiep het leven in zes dagen (God created life in six days) 69.4% Door Evolutie (By Evolution) 20.7% Door Spontane Generatie (By…

This article on why an octopus is more awesome than your mom is generally accurate and valid — octopuses probably are more awesome than your mom — but suffers a bit from an incomplete survey of moms. The author has not met the awesome mom of me, nor is he acquainted with the ferocious Trophy Wife…

I left Morris on the 19th of January, and finally, here it is the 8th of February and I finally made it back. Now leave me alone. I get a moment to rest, don't I? That bottle of Irish whiskey I was given in Galway will help. OK, moment over. Next up: I get to go the the University of Northern Iowa…

Here's a thoughtful video about one person's deconversion process: the interesting thing about it is that he was a believer who reasoned himself out of religion. Although I was brought up in a religion, I've discovered that there is a large difference between those who were seriously immersed in…

Focus on the Patriarchy has always favored punishing children to teach them right from wrong, so I can't imagine them being too upset at this news: a fellow's 4-year-old daughter was having trouble memorizing her ABC's, suggesting that she needed some extra incentives to excel. So Dad waterboarded…

Some guy named Gerard Alexander has an opinion piece in the Washington Post titled "Why are liberals so condescending?" I will say one thing in its favor: it gets to its point quickly and clearly in the first few sentences. Every political community includes some members who insist that their side…

Sarah Palin gave a $100K speech to a convention of teabagging wankers, she faced a few pre-screened, prepared questions, and what did she need? She had to have the answers written on her hand ahead of time! Here's what gets me the most, though. She didn't have a cheat sheet of wonky little…

I have arrived in Minneapolis, with a mere 3 hour drive to get home. However, I have also arrived home to a serious snowstorm, so I've been holed up in a hotel all night and am waiting for the stuff to clear a bit this afternoon. It's aggravating. And you guys have stuffed another everlasting…

In my week long visit to Ireland, I only had one encounter that left a bad taste in my mouth. Everyone I talked to was forthright and willing to state their views clearly, even if I thought they were dead wrong and rather stupid (my radio interview with Tom McGurk comes to mind — he was an…

You can also watch sailfish fishing. (via National Geographic)

Oh, no. Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini have written a book and opinion piece in which they try to claim that natural selection is a dying concept, and what do they use to justify that outrageous claim? Evo devo! That's just nuts, and Mary Midgely compounds the crazy with terrible abuse…

I've often noticed a tendency for some people to host a whole gnarly syndrome of denialist symptoms: some people are creationists+HIV denialists+global warming denialists+ant-vaxers+whatever. They stand out in the crowd as hyper-intense paragons of idiocy; I often wonder how they get around at all…

I think the Irish must be a competitive people — I had mentioned that the students in Galway had kept me out well past midnight with an ever-flowing tap, so here they had to keep me going at a series of pubs and restaurants until the barkeep threw us out at 1:30am. It was a fine end to a grand week…

I haven't had a chance yet to listen to the whole of Kim Stanley Robinson's talk at Duke, but what I've seen so far is very good. I'm more posting this here so I have a reminder to watch the rest once I get home, but nothing is stopping you all from enjoying it now. science is a Utopian project; it…

It must be. I'm reading the results of a poll of Republicans, and the answers don't make sense. For example, look at this one result: Do you believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win? Yes 24 No 43 Not Sure 33 A quarter of Republicans think our president is rooting for the terrorists? That…

I just finished an afternoon lecture on evo-devo at Queen's University Belfast, which went well, I think. At least I didn't pass out at the lectern. Then I also did an interview with William Crawley that I think is going to be aired on the BBC on Sunday. I managed to remain conscious through all…

At least we still have the Narwhal song.

Vampyroteuthis infernalis (via National Geographic)

Old thread has too many comments. Need new thread. Brain fried. Don't ask too much of me.

Oh-oh. It's midnight here in Ireland. I've been out with the NUI Galway Skeptic Society, struggling to keep up with people much younger than myself again…and with the magical infinite flow of Guinness I've discovered in Irish pubs frequented by college students. I'm too old for this, I think. But…

I'm quite proud, under most circumstances, to be affiliated with the University of Minnesota: it's an excellent university (and the Morris campus is the best within the system, although some of the other campuses argue about that), we've got great students, and we are a secular public institution…

A witness has described the efforts of scientologists to "help" the people of Haiti. They would have done far more if they'd stayed home.

Here's an interesting test: measure your Risk Quotient. It's a 50 question survey of a set of questions, some simple and some obscure, in which you estimate your confidence in providing an answer. You aren't scored on just getting the right answer, but on whether you accurately assess your…

I don't know who I am anymore. I was sent this summary of one of my talks in California, and apparently I'm an evil fool. Then I got this analysis of my influence, and apparently I'm honest and outspoken. I get these wildly disparate descriptions of myself all the time. The net effect: I can't…

It looks like the Irish are finally fed up with me and I'm about to be flung from the top of a medieval castle, but that's actually me cautiously easing backwards and down to kiss the Blarney Stone. The above kiss was made after Atheist Ireland aimed a camera at me to promote their organization.…

Go sign this petition, too: it asks Obama to recognize Darwin Day on 12 February. Who knows, he might be willing! A Proclamation Charles Darwin was the first to propose the scientific theory of evolution by natural selection. On Darwin Day, celebrated on the anniversary of Darwin's birth on…

Look: the Pope is a crank figure, the head of a weird religious cult who promotes weird ideas, such as that condoms promote the spread of AIDS or more lately, opposes legislation to promote equality. He's a nasty old bigot from an insignificant municipality who gets far more attention than he…

Trifolium dubium

I just got the details on my evo-devo talk in Belfast — it will be on Friday afternoon.