Paul Z. Meyers
pharyngula
Posts by this author
April 25, 2011
I do love me some Devo. Don't neglect to check out the interactive video.
(Last edition of TET; Current totals: 12,262 entries with 1,350,652 comments.)
April 25, 2011
In my talk at the Society for Developmental Biology, I encouraged more scientists to take advantage of the internet to share science with the public. Someone fell for it! Saori Haigo has started a blog, and she even explains why.
I've started this blog because I believe I have a social…
April 25, 2011
It's just too bad we didn't have this customization option when we were having kids.
April 25, 2011
I have a couple of promising events that don't have firm dates yet, but you might want to keep your eyes open for them in the near future.
The paperwork for Rock Beyond Belief has been resubmitted, and with any luck they might be able to pull off an atheist event at Fort Bragg after all.
What…
April 25, 2011
I have news. Scienceblogs is going to be folded into a new organization sometime soon — basically, we've been bought. I can't discuss all of the details just yet, but let's just say it is a prestigious national magazine with a healthy bottom line that will do us a lot of good. There are certainly…
April 25, 2011
But how can I resist this telling of the True Story of Easter?
Really, though, it's no sillier than the standard story we get told.
April 25, 2011
The latest special t-shirt from woot is this one:
I don't think they'll last long so you better get your order in fast.
Woot seems to track their sales stats closely; I wonder if there is a significant preference for cephalopods on shirts over, say, flowers or trios of wolves or something.
April 25, 2011
I cannot imagine being Ross Douthat. There's just something so bizarre and twisted in his brain that I cannot empathize at all with his point of view — it's a brain in which all the proteins have been crosslinked by the fixative of religion. Now he's arguing that Hell must exist.
As our lives have…
April 24, 2011
Where's my rusty porcupine? If you want to understand why I despise the Templeton Foundation, just read the BS from their latest hero, Martin Rees, who advocates silence in the face of absurdity.
"Campaigning against religion can be socially counter-productive. If teachers take the uncompromising…
April 24, 2011
It's either that, or some strange mob of fanatics carrying out some bizarre rite. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes.
April 24, 2011
Go read Open letter to the NCSE and BCSE. Or read it here:
Dear comrades:
Although we may diverge in our philosophies and actions toward religion, we share a common goal: the promulgation of good science education in Britain and America--indeed, throughout the world. Many of us, like myself…
April 23, 2011
I am looking forward to reading Anthony Grayling's new book, The Good Book, with considerable anticipation — I've ordered a copy (it's not as if it would be easily available in Morris!) which hasn't arrived yet, but what has arrived are teasers from Grayling himself. Here's a Q&A about the book…
April 23, 2011
And as a first step, that involved being fitted for a squid balloon hat at the American Atheist convention dinner last night.
You're all jealous now, I know.
April 22, 2011
Christopher Hitchens was scheduled to appear at the American Atheist convention, but had to cancel because of his illness. He sent this letter instead.
Dear fellow-unbelievers,
  Nothing would have kept me from joining you except the loss of my voice (at least my speaking voice) which in turn…
April 22, 2011
I have noticed a curious phenomenon. We have large numbers of fervent theists who relentlessly push this idea associating atheists with Nazis and mass-murdering communists — I understand there was a movie with that premise, I've seen Kennedy's 'documentary' that reveled in that claim, and of course…
April 22, 2011
Oh, my. The situation is dire. Texas is in big trouble.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME:
WHEREAS, the state of Texas is in the midst of an exceptional drought, with some parts of the state receiving no significant rainfall for almost three months, matching rainfall deficit records dating…
April 22, 2011
All my life I've been looking for good advice on how to be stylish and cool, and at last I've got it…from Weird Al Yankovic and Lady Gaga.
(Last edition of TET; Current totals: 12,245 entries with 1,347,100 comments.)
April 22, 2011
Uh-oh. It turns out that Iowa is even more remote from the ocean than Minnesota (we at least have a great lake connecting us to the Atlantic, sorta), and it's darned hard to find an Iowa-Cephalopod connection. Except, of course, that once upon a time the great inland sea stretched up this way, and…
April 21, 2011
Whoa, brace yourselves: Chris Mooney has broken away from the malign influence of Matt Nisbet. It's like seeing Gollum turning into Smeagol.
I have no illusions that he's now on my side, but at least it's a faint glimmer of hope.
April 21, 2011
Y'all remember what many of our neightors are commemorating this weekend: the first Zombie Uprising of 33AD.
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were…
April 21, 2011
The New York Times has a long profile of Andrew Wakefield. It's not at all laudatory (read the last paragraph in particular), but it does include quotes from people who regard Wakefield as a hero…and even something more.
"To our community, Andrew Wakefield is Nelson Mandela and Jesus Christ rolled…
April 21, 2011
The world is full of people selling products that are nothing but advertising, like those silly "power balance" bracelets that do not give you either power or balance. Add another one to the list: Real Water. Did you know that going through a pipe strips water of its electrons? That lots of the…
April 21, 2011
Speaking of the American Atheist convention this weekend, there is still space available to sign your kids up for a Mini-Camp Quest. It's a convention with child care — take advantage of it so that more of these events will recognize the importance!
April 21, 2011
We have a weekend of reason and lunacy coming up. On the reason side, atheists will be gathering in Iowa to discuss science and a sensible interpretation of the universe, taking advantage of a holiday none of us find particularly interesting. On the other side, that holiday celebrating the magical…
April 20, 2011
I am a gorgeous hunk of virile manhood. How do I know? I looked at my fingers.
Research has shown that men whose ring finger on their right hand is longer than their index finger are regarded as better looking by women, possibly because their faces are more symmetrical.
There is no link, however…
April 20, 2011
Chris Matthews gathered a small flock of believers to talk about whether Hell exists or not. Unfortunately, he couldn't be bothered to find someone who wasn't delusional to sit on his panel, so we've just got a gassy series of empty statements like rarefied flatulence that say nothing at all except…
April 20, 2011
I'm really interested in DNA and genes and genetics, so I was of course attracted to this website that explains a lot of secret information about DNA. Did you know that all the problems in your life are caused by a misaligned DNA code? The author of this site, Tom OM, is a German chiropractor, and…
April 20, 2011
He's melting down fast.
So I wrote this piece criticizing R. Joseph Hoffmann's weird praise of martyrs, and today I wondered if maybe he had notice, so I checked his blog. I think he noticed. His response is ironic and unreflective, however…and amusing.
I wrote that we ought to reject the whole…
April 20, 2011
Let's turn this into a kinky porn blog with a titillating photo of a gecko servicing a Trochetia flower.
What do we call this? It can't be bestiality or zoophilia, since this is actually trans-kingdom.
You know that I'm on a slippery slope here…once you start flashing photos of Animalia getting…