pharyngula

If you've ever invited me out to give a science talk, you know that what I generally talk about is this concept of deep homology: the discovery that features that we often consider the hallmarks of complex metazoan life often have at their core a network of genetic circuitry that was first…

Prince Charles always seemed like a walloping great dunderhead to me, and I see that my opinion has been confirmed. His great cause, the philanthropic purpose he'd like to be remembered for, is propping up the quackery of homeopathy and other such nonsensical therapies. And now one of his aides in…

Yesterday, I linked to an offensive poll by Minnesota Republicans in district 42 (that's one of the Minneapolis suburbs, by the way). My readers marched in, voted against their support for Arizona's racial-profiling, anti-immigrant law, and completely skewed the results to be against the desired…

Remember this? I mentioned this on an old thread that was on of the precursors to the immortal thread. Now there's another twist: that video is up for a Webby Award. Go sign up and vote! We need to send Jim Kakalios to New York to accept his prize! I looked at the other four competitors in this…

I've taken a swipe or two at John Gray in the past, and now he has a plodding review of AC Grayling's Ideas that Matter…a review that is of no account except for the fact that it motivated Grayling to write a delightful rebuttal. I groaned at the boring and predictable Gray, I laughed at the way…

This is Minnesota. We're mostly pale and of Scandinavian/German ancestry up here, which means our local racists are mostly blithely confident and don't have much opportunity to express themselves. We just saw one interesting example of a regional Republican party with a contemptuous attitude…

There I am, in a short interview with Jorge Salazar.

You may have heard that Arizona has a draconian new immigration law that essentially legalizes racial profiling, and requires immigrants to carry their registration documents at all times…and by default, then, you better not be caught brown in Arizona without proof of citizenship, no matter what…

Lots of people sent me a link to this essay in which David Hart declares "New" Atheism a passing fad, expecting me to take it apart. I didn't have the heart, and I'm busy right now, sorry. It's a horribly written and excessively long piece — I'd almost call it purple prose if the periphrastic…

Arch-creationist dentist Don McLeroy is limping and quacking his way off the Texas Board of Education, but there's still plenty of crazy left behind. Cynthia Dunbar recently appeared on a far right-wing radio show to preach her revisionist history, her dislike of atheists and Christians who aren't…

It's the day of the Boobquake. It's amazing how much press this event is getting. I was going to say that if we do get a flurry of earthquakes today, the women are going to be insufferable…but even if it's an ordinary day geologically, they'll have managed to create a small mediaquake.

Hoplobatrachus rugulosusis (via National Geographic)

My readers hate me, and like to make me suffer. That's the only way to explain why they would send me links to the ghastly Huffington Post. I swear, it's becoming as insane as World Net Daily. The latest screed is from some bozo named Dr Larry Dossey. The awfulness begins right away, as he quotes…

Over on the TONMO forums, an aquarist has been documenting the life of his octopus, "Legs". Legs was wild caught when only the size of a fingernail, and raised to healthy, thriving adulthood — with lots and lots of photos. Legs just recently died, unfortunately, which is the sad reality of getting…

I thought the whole Affair of the Mocking Memo was grossly overblown and absurd, but I had no idea how pretentious the Vatican could be. Now, because of an internal memo that made some mild jests about confronting the Pope on his British visit with the consequences of his policies, the silly men in…

Tonight, broadcast at 6:30pm ET on WBAI 99.5FM in the New York tri-state area or streamed live, Matthew LaClair will take on the awful Don McLeroy in a discussion of the Texas textbook revisionism. If you miss it, it will also be available later at Equal Time for Freethought. It could be…

I don't know why the creationists haven't been pushing this one. (Moved below the fold because apparently a cartoon of a naked man and woman will freak some people out. Isn't it enough to just say it's a Bible story? That excuses everything!)

This is odd. In Australia, school kids can opt-in to take scripture classes, and the kids who opt out get to sit in the school during those hours doing nothing, which seems a bit of a waste. So the schools have a new plan: while the religious kids are off memorizing bible verses, the secular kids…

Archy is speculating about Gould's idea that if you rewound the tape of life and replayed it, you might get some very different results…and he suggests that in a different world, molluscs could have replaced vertebrates as the dominant large metazoan. This is perfectly reasonable, but he chose to…

Another interesting tidbit in this video is the teabagger split between Palinites (government should promote Christian values) and Paulites (government should go away). Either way, they're a party of loons. (via One Good Move)

I never thought of this, but it's a real danger: the Homeopathic Bomb. Homeopathic bombs are comprised of 99.9% water but contain the merest trace element of explosive. The solution is then repeatedly diluted so as to leave only the memory of the explosive in the water molecules. According to the…

Some wag in the British government made a half-joking tentative itinerary for the Pope's visit to England…and it got spread around and made some stuffed shirts very angry. The Rt Rev Malcolm McMahon, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Nottingham, was astonished and angered by the proposals. He said: "…

I am so there.

It's a mysterious sign in an unknown location…and I take it personally.

One of the most annoying features of South Park is the creators' hypocrisy. They're so infatuated with tearing down that they never bother to build up. Trey Parker has an odd comment in an interview: "All the religions are super funny to me," Parker said. "The story of Jesus makes no sense to me.…

The intersection of sex and religion can get very disturbing. But if you want really disturbing, forget Catholicism — that's just old school abuse of power and guilt and ugliness, given strength by sheer numbers. The really freaky stuff is in cults, like The Family International. Don't click on…

The Reverend Barry Lynn was on Fox News with Megyn Kelly, and I am unsurprised that Kelly was astonishingly awful: talking over Lynn, pushing lies, etc. There are multiple face-palm moments here: Kelly telling a reverend that he "wants god out of everything," for instance, or when Lynn points out…

Last year, Liberty University picked an appropriate commencement speaker: Ben Stein. And the laughter did peal across the nation. What could they do to top that this year? Who could they possibly get as a commencement speaker for the class of 2010 to signify exactly how deeply into Wingnuttia they…

Old thread cleansed with flamethrowers and bazookas; a new nest emerges! (Current totals: 10,075 entries with 973,299 comments)