Orac, over at Respectful Insolence, has a post titled “Debating Denialists” that talks a bit about how pointless it is to debate denialists, whether they be Holocaust deniers, anti-vaxxers, creationists, or 9/11 Truthers. Deborah Lipstadt, a Holocaust historian, uses the phrase “trying to nail a blob of Jello to the wall” when referring to debating …
Category Archives: General
Orca pack hunting
Jerry Coyne, of Why Evolution is True, linked to a video today of a pack of orcas hunting together and working cooperatively to get a seal off an ice floe. There’s more info at his article (and the info originally came from the book Here Be Dragons). httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBF9cDBUakA I imagine that seal is a bit …
Scott Roeder convicted of 1st-degree murder
Scott Roeder, the man who murdered Dr. George Tiller on May 31st, has been convicted of first degree murder and faces a life sentence with the possibility of parole after twenty-five years. According to the article, Roeder’s attorneys wanted him to receive a lesser conviction of voluntary manslaughter, but the judge wouldn’t allow it. I …
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Pat Robertson Voodoo Doll on eBay
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 …
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 …
Teaching ignorance and bigotry
In the comments section of an American Spectator article about Wikipedia, while there are some good, valid warnings against using Wikipedia as a reputable source for everything, there are some pretty amazing comments…. and by “amazing,” I mean “hyperbolic, right-wing, anti-science, anti-intellectual” comments. Though the article is related to the issue of climate change, that’s …
Jerry Coyne criticizes The Guardian
Jerry Coyne criticizes The Guardian for its “faitheism and mush-headed religious apologetics” and finds a piece by Nancy Graham Holm titled “Prejudiced Danes provoke fanaticism” to be particularly despicable. In the article, Holm refers to the now infamous Danish cartoons, one of which portrayed Muhammad wearing a bomb as a turban (Holm incorrectly states it …
Foundation Beyond Belief Official Launch
Looking for an exceptionally worthwhile charity to support this year? Check out the Foundation Beyond Belief, which is officially launching today. Founder Dale McGowan, the author of Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers, started Foundation Beyond belief with the following goals. To demonstrate humanism at its best by supporting efforts to improve this world and …
Tim Minchin – Storm
I saw this months ago, but listened to it again and wanted to share it. Tim Minchin performs his beat poem titled “Storm.” Don’t let “beat poem” put you off. This is such a wonderfully entertaining, funny, and insightful nine minutes that you won’t regret it! httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB_htqDCP-s
More War on Christmas
Flouting tradition, this shameless atheist couple has chosen to mark Christmas with an offensive folk and pagan-inspired display.