Paul Z. Meyers
pharyngula
Posts by this author
November 29, 2008
When you first read this, you'll think the author has to be pulling our legs — it's got to be a satire site like Landover Baptist or something. But the woman sure does a fine job of maintaining a consistent tone, and I know people who think exactly like she does. Her latest entry is an attempt to…
November 28, 2008
Well? Can you name a single terrorist attack on Kentucky soil? Hmm? (Aside, maybe, from the occasional abortion clinic bombing or KKK fear campaign, but since those are by home-grown white boys, they don't count). You can credit a law that has been on the books since 2006.
Under state law, God is…
November 28, 2008
When you need to address Jenny McCarthy's ideas, you really need to consult one of her equals: a puppet with rags and styrofoam for a brain.
November 28, 2008
Whoa. It's kind of a standing joke that when our presentation tools fail us, we'll have to fall back on interpretive dance to make our points. We never mean it seriously, though. Until now. Science magazine challenged researchers to actually illustrate their work with dance, and people did! There…
November 28, 2008
Megaleledone setebos
(from Strugnell, JM, Rogers AD, Prodo PA, Collins MA, Allcock AL (2008) The thermohaline expressway: the Southern Ocean as a centre of
origin for deep-sea octopuses. Cladistics 24:1-8)
November 27, 2008
For some reason, the holidays turns many people's thoughts to the contemplation of food. So, as requested elsewhere, here's an open thread to share recipes, salivate over great meals, or just chat about what's on the stove right now.
November 27, 2008
Look! It's a liberal Christian going toe-to-toe with a conservative Christian creationist! They should have sold tickets.
November 27, 2008
Or, for you non-Americans, happy Thursday! Or, for you Australians, happy Friday or Tuesday or whatever it is down in your topsy-turvy country where you've even got your seasons reversed.
Oh, heck, forget it. Happy Day! Find whatever reason you want to celebrate.
Again, for you non-Americans, this…
November 26, 2008
Now this is an interesting beast. It's a 220 million year old fossil from China of an animal that is distinctly turtle-like. Here's a look at its dorsal side:
a, Skeleton in dorsal view. b, Skull in dorsal view. c, Skull in ventral view. d, Body in dorsal view. Teeth on the upper jaw and palatal…
November 26, 2008
Americans United has put up a story of religious discrimination from its files. Two women had a little problem with institutionalized religiosity in an Oklahoma public school district.
In 1981, Bell had just moved to Little Axe and enrolled her children in the local public school system. At that…
November 26, 2008
I'm not a fan of Toby Keith at all, but I'll make an exception for this one time.
*/
The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
A Colbert Christmas: Toby Keith Sings
Colbert at ChristmasColbert Christmas DVD
Green ScreenBill O'Reilly Interview
November 26, 2008
You seem to be going down a similar path — expertise is downplayed, any fool can do the job of government, irrationality is promoted to equal footing with reason. It's worrisome. Didn't your mother ever ask you whether you'd follow if your friends jumped off a cliff? Well, we're clinging…
November 26, 2008
Bold atheists have been buying ad space on buses in London and Washington DC—it's been a successful tactic for raising the profile of godless groups, and has also been somewhat controversial. The Atheist Foundation of Australia sought to emulate those successes, and met an obstacle: the ad company…
November 25, 2008
The US is too dependent on cars and oil, and the automobile companies have been total failures at addressing the needs of the country…which is why they're now looking for bailouts. So I have to say I thought Keith Knight's solution is very appealing. After pointing out the incompetence of our…
November 25, 2008
It's late (at least, where I am it is). Looking for something to while away the hours?
How about making paper models of Einstein, Sagan, and Darwin?
Or maybe you'd prefer stitching up a nice squid hat.
November 25, 2008
The US 6th Circut Court has just handed down a big decision: victims of abuse can sue the Vatican, and the Catholic church can be held liable for other claims against them as well. Ouch. Bleed 'em dry, I say.
November 25, 2008
I have many things to be thankful for. One is that I'm not the brain-damaged idiot who wrote this appalling editorial in the Newnan Times-Herald.
Thanksgiving must be a terrible time for atheists. They have no God to thank.
They do not have the privilege of gathering with family and friends to…
November 25, 2008
I'm normally a fan of the United Nations — I think more international cooperation is important — but they've just made a bad decision, voting in favor of a measure to condemn "defamation of religions". It's another example of the way religion tries to preserve its inanities by restricting criticism…
November 25, 2008
There is a site promoting some Canadian blog awards, which says they are "celebrating the best in the Canadian blogosphere." Good premise, especially since they have a sci/tech section — maybe I can find some more worthy Canadian science blogs. What do I find? No Sandwalk. No Recursivity. No…
November 25, 2008
Harun Yahya is soliciting entries in an essay contest to disprove evolution. The prize is 100,000 Turkish lira, about $63,000 or 50,000 euros. All you have to do is write a 30-60 page essay parroting creationist nonsense, and maybe you could win!
They have a list of suggested topics that make it…
November 25, 2008
Got an hour? A good way to spend it would be to watch Neil Shubin lecture about digging in the arctic for fossil tetrapods.
I wonder if this is available in high-quality DVD format? I could see using this in the classroom.
November 25, 2008
I think the Morality Master would melt down if I touched it.
November 25, 2008
How odd — lots of people are sending me links to this video of a spindly-armed squid drifting through an oil-drilling site, but I'm pretty sure I posted this same video last year. I guess National Geographic just acquired rights to the footage.
It's still a spectacular animal. And if that's not…
November 24, 2008
Quiz time! What's wrong with this paragraph?
Sometimes life takes a creative leap that's almost miraculous. Nobody knows how this happens, and it can never be predicted. You'd never know, looking at a reptile's round, hard, shiny scales, that they could genetically morph into feathers.…
November 24, 2008
Uh-oh. I'm in big trouble now — I've been ratted out to the governor. My nefarious schemes will certainly be foiled now! Here is the revealing letter; I've added a few comments in red to it.
Dear Governor Pawlenty
I am an alumnus of the University of Minnesota, having received my Ph.D. in Zoology…
November 24, 2008
Creationists must live on a different planet. I just summarized this symposium I attended; I posted the schedule last week. In between, Michael Egnor takes this scrap of information and spins out a weird tale. He actually put up a post titled, "Is P.Z. Myers Attending a Conference on Eugenics?". To…
November 24, 2008
As I've already mentioned, I was off in Philadelphia this past weekend, participating in a symposium entitled "Understanding Darwin: The legacy of evolution". I was a bit amazed to be there, since this was primarily a history and philosophy event with several big names in those fields, and I'm an…
November 24, 2008
Time for us all to give up. We've been defeated by Harun Yahya.
A fierce opponent of Darwinism, Yahya takes the credit for defeating the theory of evolution. "First, we offered Darwinists around the world 100 million fossils, which prove that this world came into being as a result of God's…
November 24, 2008
The Christian Coalition of America has created something called the 2008 American Values Survey. It is why we crash polls.
This particular poll is supposed to produce results that the Christian Coalition will present to congress as if it is a serious and representative sample of "American values…