Paul Z. Meyers
pharyngula
Posts by this author
June 16, 2010
Spread the word. Jesus is to be tossed into an oven.
Anyone got any good Jesus recipes?
June 15, 2010
Aww, it's too sweet. Karl Giberson is apologizing for the way evangelicals dishonestly propagandize, and he mentions me.
I have to confess that the temptation to ridicule one's debating opponents is all but unbearable, especially when playing street hockey on the Internet, where one must shout to…
June 15, 2010
Nick Matzke has taken exception to my criticism of Mary Midgley, and has posted a rebuttal. Well, maybe. Probably not.
Eh, I've read most of Midgley's books and articles, I don't think you [The Unpublishable Philosopher] or PZ getting her at all.
The short version of what she's saying is that…
June 15, 2010
I make an appearance on Monster Talk, a podcast about monsters, with Robert Price, who in addition to being an excellent critic of religion, is also an authority on HP Lovecraft. So of course we talk about the Cthuloid Menace. The download is supposed to be here, but for some reason I can't find it…
June 15, 2010
I have closed the previous edition of the undead thread, and now with great pomp and ceremony, inaugurate a new one.
Hint to any theists reading this: yes, this is exactly what your rituals look like to us godless folk.
(Current totals: 10,432 entries with 1,025,287 comments.)
June 15, 2010
I have had no sleep in two days, and I think I'll sleep well tonight — especially after tonight's meal at Mares in Oslo. Oh my — just perfect food at every bite, and good company with a few smart people from the university here.
There will be more tomorrow. I'll be speaking at the Litteraturhuset…
June 15, 2010
This was the Touchdown Jesus of Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio.
That monstrosity was six stories tall — a giant eyesore.
This was Touchdown Jesus last night.
Here's the odd thing: they're promising to rebuild it. You would think that it's a rather unambiguous sign when your giant idol is…
June 14, 2010
The Trophy Wife™ and I are on our way to Oslo and Copenhagen.
It's not exactly a holiday for me — I'm voyaging to exotic locales so I can sit in hotel rooms hunched over my laptop. Expect the blog to be a bit light and fluffy this week.
June 14, 2010
The mullahs just have to meddle. They can't simply turn their televisions off, or not own a television — they have declared that anyone watching sports on television is un-Islamic, so now thugs wander about, beating up or killing anyone caught watching the World Cup.
Almost as crazy is the fact…
June 14, 2010
Canadians are curious about whether they ought to emulate the worst of American habits. You'd think they'd already know the answer to that.
Would you watch a Fox News-like channel?
Yes 67%
No 33%
We already have a Fox "news-like" channel down here, and I don't even watch that.
June 14, 2010
Grandpa Simpson is that old character in the animated show who tells odd, rambling stories. "We can't bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to tell 'em stories that don't go anywhere - like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so…
June 13, 2010
I've got to wonder: would the Inquisition give the maker of this toy a benediction, or would they tie him to a stick and set him on fire?
Also, could you get your money back if the loaves and fishes don't multiply, or if the glow-in-the-dark hands fail to heal your skinned knee?
Let's not even…
June 13, 2010
Nicholas Wade of the NY Times has written one of those stories that make biologists cringe — it just gets so much wrong. It's a look back at the human genome project, and I was turned off at the first paragraph. The HGP was badly marketed from the very beginning in the sense that there was a…
June 13, 2010
Is Mary Midgley supposed to be the epitome of philosophical confusion and bungling incomprehension? She's like the Emily Litella of science criticism, always going off on harebrained tangents of her own invention, but unlike Litella, nothing ever compels her to offer a meek "Never mind". Midgely…
June 13, 2010
Please use the following video as an aid for diagnosing your condition if you are one of the contributors to the unending font of madness.
I think most of you are afflicted with number 3, "Causing a hullabaloo".
(Current totals: 10,417 entries with 1,022,990 comments.)
June 12, 2010
Wow. The University of California system is facing a 400% increase in the subscription cost to Nature Publishing Group's journals. Libraries have been struggling with this problem for years, with journal costs spiraling ever upwards (usually it's Elsevier that is leading the way), and it's a…
June 12, 2010
Warning: this anatomy lesson is completely bogus.
I have tried the rum this is advertising — how could I not? Cephalopods and pirate drink, you know — and it's not bad. But then, it is rum, and there isn't all that much art to it.
June 12, 2010
I am not easily grossed out, but this story hit me on a couple of levels.
Ex-porn star Houston says she became so used to marketing her celebrity status that when she got a labiaplasty, it was a no-brainer to encase her labia "trimmings" in lucite and sell them.
Labiaplasty is simply another form…
June 12, 2010
The ghost of Larry Summers (I know! And he isn't even dead yet!) has risen again, with John Tierney of the NY Times "daring" to consider the notion that maybe women aren't as mathy as men. There's a lot to object to in his story, from the title (Sorry, John, but it isn't daring to promote a…
June 11, 2010
Bill Donohue was looking awfully silly demanding that the Empire State Building celebrate Mother Teresa's birthday, so I guess he needed a new cause. He found one. The Catholic League is outraged by Lady Gaga's new video.
Lady Gaga is playing Madonna copy cat, squirming around half-naked with half-…
June 11, 2010
It's good to know someone is doing clitoris research. The conclusion that we need more studies, though, is only to be expected.
June 11, 2010
It's the return of Andrew Rosenberg!
Hello Proffesor Myers,
I see that I have become somewhat of a celebrity amongst your endless supply of past-student minions on your forums. Its hard for me to reply to such a massive amount of information that was thrown back at me in the last 24 hours, but…
June 11, 2010
A few years ago, the Discovery Institute set up laboratory to do research, the Biologic Institute, which is in principle a good thing — they do claim to want to take a scientific approach to understanding the origin of life, after all. So far, it's been less than spectacular. They published one…
June 10, 2010
I also believe in dinosaurs, but this video is mainly an opportunity to sight-see a bit of New Zealand. Otherwise, you all know how the ad infinitum thread works — just talk about whatever you feel like.
(Current totals: 10,407 entries with 1,020,544 comments.)
June 10, 2010
I'm going to my high school reunion later this summer, and I've just had a revelation that will color the experience. A Catholic philosopher has exposed the awful truth.
In the column, published last week, the writer argued that one reason the children of gay parents should not be admitted to…
June 10, 2010
Oh, sure, this strategem may have given the LA Dodgers an edge for a few seasons:
Frank and Jamie McCourt, the multi-millionaire owners of the LA Dodgers, have been revealed to have employed a Russian scientist to beam thought waves to boost the team's chances.
That's over now, though. I urge all…
June 10, 2010
I try to be patient with all the email I get, I really do, and usually the greatest forebearance I can offer is to simply set a piece of email aside and go on. There simply is not enough time to answer everything, especially when my correspondent is better off going to the library, and most…