Paul Z. Meyers
pharyngula
Posts by this author
November 11, 2007
I can't decide whether it's superfluous or appropriate for a Swede to host the Carnival of the Godless — aren't they all unchurched heathens in horned helmets over there?
November 11, 2007
One of the most vocal pro-creationist governors in the country, Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky (home of Ken Ham's infamous creationist "museum") has had his re-election bid go down in flames. This is fabulous news. Revere sees it as one more sign of the impending demise of the religious right — I can't…
November 11, 2007
I'm only linking to this horror because I'm a militant atheist and I want you to lose your faith in a beneficent god.
November 11, 2007
This is going to be a big problem. I'm at this gathering of bloggers, which means they're all going to be posting stuff about our meeting here at Americans United, and I'm outnumbered — I can't keep up. I had dinner with Blue Gal, BAC, DCup, and One Pissed Off Veteran, and some of them already have…
November 11, 2007
Laugh, everyone! A bunch of the people who reject scientific ideas about global warming, including a certain big fat fish and quite a few right wing blogs, were taken in by a fake paper that claimed that "concerns about manmade global warming are unfounded." If you have even the slightest…
November 10, 2007
Since everyone on the planet is sending me this, I'd better post it. Besides, it's pretty!
November 10, 2007
You have to see the mascot for Orangina, some fruity drink, to believe it. She's kind of hot in a peculiarly cephalopod/tetrapod hybrid way, but then…the video. Oh. My. Non-existent. God. Sex and furries. She gives a lap-dance to a bear-man and squeezes orange juice out of her mammaries.
My brain…
November 10, 2007
The Catholic League is afraid parents might see The Golden Compass…and then buy the books for a Christmas gift. Horrors! You can't give books by atheists on Christmas! Watch the video from Fox News to witness the outrage. Also, I have to love this quote from a Christian who opposes the movie…
November 10, 2007
Here's another provocative article from the New Humanist titled "Holy Communion", a critique of two of the "New Atheists". It has an incredibly offensive illustration to go with it, but the article isn't quite that bad. It's not that good, either.
First, I have to confess: I'm not a humanist. I'm…
November 9, 2007
The New Humanist has an article on genetic modification of human beings, addressing some of the reservations of critics. John Harris is primarily taking on Jurgen Habermas, who seems to think genetic engineering is yucky.
Habermas has two objections to letting prospective parents tinker with their…
November 9, 2007
So I arrived here in Washington D.C. several hours ago, and made the mistake of taking some shuttle service from Dulles…which proceeded to take the passengers direct to their homes, which meant I got a long, long tour of winding narrow suburban roads all over the outlying parts of the city, sitting…
November 9, 2007
I'm on an airplane on my way to Washington DC, for an event sponsored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. It should be good — I've heard that Blue Gal, D-Cup, Phil Plait, and some of the gang from Corrente will be there…and we'll find out who else. I'll report back later!
Until…
November 8, 2007
How strange: Antony Flew was, and maybe is, a eugenics sympathizer. This is really going to mess up the great story of his conversion.
November 8, 2007
Hi, Stan. You're new here, like a whole lot of people. You've just shown up, and here's your very first comment.
I noticed that this blog is in the running for a Best Science Blog award.
I've looked over the site. Cna someone point out where the science is on it. I have looked but I can't find any…
November 8, 2007
Is everyone looking forward to the new Nova program, Judgment Day? Look for it next Tuesday, 13 November, on PBS. The first review I've seen is available in this week's Nature, and it's positive.
Hot on the heels of several books chronicling Kitzmiller vs Dover, comes Judgment Day, a rigorous…
November 8, 2007
Cool — Russell Blackford was noticed by the Dawkins site for this very nice article, "The New Atheism rocks". Russell is a commenter here, too, you know — give him a gold star. The article begins,
The New Atheism deserves our cheers.
This is not a time for hyper-scrupulous
misgivings about how…
November 8, 2007
Hey, everyone, I said I was going to be in Washington DC this weekend, with the notorious Phil Plait. We've compared notes and figured out our schedules, and are ready to announce a time and place for a general meetup: 9pm, Saturday, 10 November at the Senators Sports Bar at Holiday Inn on the Hill…
November 7, 2007
Right Wing Watch has the press kit for Ken Ham's creation science "museum". It's somewhat bizarre; they provide a collection of videos that are done exactly like broadcast news stories — making it easy for small town news stations to simply slot in creationist propaganda as if it were part of a…
November 7, 2007
If you haven't had enough of the Antony Flew story, Richard Carrier fills in the background. It looks worse than it did before — Flew is being obliging, and allowing some loony fundagelicals to put words in his mouth.
In my opinion the book's arguments are so fallacious and cheaply composed I doubt…
November 7, 2007
I just got this fairly typical piece of election email.
A MESSAGE FROM JOHN EDWARDS '08
Dear PZ,
John Edwards needs your help during the next Iowa statewide canvass,
Saturday, November 17 and Sunday, November 18.
It goes on, but never mind. The annoying thing is the source: it's from Ted, at the…
November 7, 2007
The War on Christmas starts earlier every year. The first salvo: an advent calendar in Hanover, Germany includes a small, cartoonish portrayal of famous local son, Fritz Haarmann. He was a serial killer who lived over 80 years ago.
I think the wounds of the monster's actions are healed over and…
November 7, 2007
The latest Tangled Bank #92 is available at Paddy K. Go on, you know you want to read it.
November 7, 2007
You can vote today, and you can vote tomorrow, and then the polls close…so get out there and vote for Bad Astronomy for best science blog. The forces of stupidity have been motivated and are pushing a denialist blog up in the rankings, and it would be good to consolidate our votes and make sure a…
November 7, 2007
Remember how I told people to Vote "no" on Bill Wenmark, the creationist school board member in the Minnetonka school district? Well, you did. Or at least that subset of you eligible to vote in that local election did. Bill Wenmark is out, and good people have been elected. The last vestiges of…
November 7, 2007
There has been another tragic shooting at a school, this time at Jokela secondary school in Tuusula, Finland. It was a single gunman on a rampage, and at least seven people have been killed.
We're going to hear much more about this because the murderer claims to have carried out this act in the…
November 7, 2007
I'm disappointed in Cory Doctorow. Look at the caption he put on this image:
I'm pretty taken with the sculptural work of Rune Olsen, which revels in a kind of twisting, arching form that lodges somewhere between titillating and disgusting.
I looked all over…so where's the 'disgusting'?
November 7, 2007
It's too bad that this is for the Secular Party of Australia. I'd like to see the Democrats run an ad like this here. Can you imagine the meltdown in the media?
November 6, 2007
I think it was intended to be an unfavorable comparison, but the ambiguity of the phrasing does leave open the possibility that Ben Stein is accusing Einstein of having a closed mind.
What we see below are two views of Intelligent Design's place in science. One quote is from a brilliant, open…