Pat Robertson, as you probably already know, decided to rant about Haiti making a deal with the devil to get free of the French which, according to Robertson, is why Haiti has such problems… like earthquakes. Nevermind that Haiti didn’t make a deal with the devil (or that the devil doesn’t exist) or that devil-deals …
Monthly Archives: January 2010
Dr. Oz is promoting woo
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a long time guest on Oprah, used to be lauded as being one of the few guests on her show that dispensed practical, real medical advice. However, it seems that lately, he’s given in (at least somewhat) to the woo side of things. Orac, over at Respectful Insolence gives a rundown of …
Stephen Baldwin vs. Richard Dawkins?
Hemant Mehta, at The Friendly Atheist, linked to a video showing Stephen Baldwin commenting on evolution during Celebrity Big Brother 2010 UK… and an explanation by Richard Dawkins showing why Baldwin’s comments are ignorant bunk. Here’s the video: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSmTPThWD_c And here’s the money quote from Hemant: It’s both funny and sad when you realize the …
Fun with church signs
A local church recently changed its sign to read: Begin to weave and God will provide you with the thread. I’ve heard a similar statement made by Christians trying to "convert" those of different religious persuasions, but it goes something like, "Just have faith in Jesus and He will show Himself to you." This isn’t …
Vatican Gives Avatar Poor Review
I just read an Associated Press article written by Alessandra Rizzo. It was comical and in my opinion partially true at the same time. Here’s the first paragraph of the article: The Vatican newspaper and radio station have called the film “Avatar” simplistic, and criticized it for flirting with modern doctrines that promote the worship …
Monarch Butterflies and creationism
I almost had a confrontation with someone I believe is a creationist today, but I refrained. I was at the Pennsylvania Farm Show with my daughter and while we were walking through the exhibits, I heard a voice talking about monarch butterflies over a PA system. What I heard was interesting and I finally located …
Steven Newton on Science Denialism
Over at EvolutionBlog, Jason Rosenhouse links to an editorial by Steven Newton, a project director for the National Center for Science Education. The editorial is posted on Huffington Post, which, as Rosenhouse points out, is "not usually the go-to place for intelligent commentary on scientific issues," but in this case, Steven Newton represents the NCSE …
New tetrapod footprints found
Matthew Cobb of Why Evolution Is True writes about some recently found fossil tetrapod footprints that are roughly 20 million years older than the now famous Tiktaalik fossil, which was a lobe-finned fish (not quite having tetrapod status). Cobb says: These exquisitely-preserved traces not only date to 397 MY (22 MY years earlier than Tiktaalik) …
Some Star Trek humor
One of the commenters on Pharyngula posted a link to this image and I found it amusing, being a Star Trek fan myself (but nearly as nerdy about it as Craig is). Ha! (click to embiggen)
Nova-What Darwin Never Knew
Just a quick post to suggest a fantastic program. I watched this and was mezmorized. The last episode of NOVA (on PBS) was called, “What Darwin Never Knew”. It delved into the genetics that Darwin could never have been aware of, yet reinforced his theories. The program illustrated just how brilliant Darwin’s theories were, considering …