December 2008
Soldier alleges military pattern of Christian bias →
A US solider who is suing the US military over prayers at military formations now claims there is a larger pattern of religious discrimination in the US military. Spc. Dusthin Chalker cites attempts to convert Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan and an evangelical bias in a suicide prevention manual.
Spc. Chalker is being supported in his claims by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Virginity pledge leads to increase in unprotected... →
A US survey has found that teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until married are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence.
The survey also found that pledgers were less likely to use condoms or other forms of birth control. Thus increasing the chance of catching sexually transmitted diseases and the likelihood of pregnancy.
Which reminds me, Sarah...
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
– At last, something that both Israelis and Palestinians can agree upon.
So far, this time, 634 eyes and counting.
“Time and time again our survey shows that young people place chief importance on...”
– One of the results from Mission Australia’s survery of young people between 11 and 24.
They sort of sound dissapointed that the focus wasn’t on drugs, sex and satanic rituals.
in the Bible Belt
Dawn: I'm an Athiest Jew.
Party-Goer #1: Hahaha That's silly. How can you be an Athiest Jew?
Dawn: Jewish by Heritage, Athiest by belief system.
Party-Goer #2: Don't say you're 'athiest', say you're 'agnostic' because 'athiest' means you don't believe in God.
Dawn: I know what it means. That's why I said I'm Athiest.
Police: Pa. man shot for making noise during movie →
sarahchristine:
All I wanna know, what movie was it? And who takes a gun to the movie theater?
It was “The curious case of Benjamin Button”. What not all Americans are gun-toting-bible-thumping-you-be-quite-or-I’ll-shoot-you types? Damn, learn something new every day.
Dark Roasted Blend: Strangest Christian Products... →
Well worth a quick browse.
OpenKnowledge Foundation →
” In a nutshell, OpenKnowledge is a system which allows peers on an arbitrarily large peer-to-peer network to interact productively with one another without any global agreements or pre-run-time knowledge of who to interact with or how interactions will proceed. Any kind of service (e.g., a WSDL service) can become a peer or else we provide facilities for users to easily create their own...
Man shot for talking loudly →
A man was shot for talking too loudly during a movie.
Guess Christmas is over.
Steven Chu energy secretary for Obama →
1997 Nobel Prize winner and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Labratory, Steven Chur, has been choosen as President elect Obama’s energy secretary.
This is a transcript of a very brief inteview he did with Robin Williams, of the ABC Radio National’s “The Science Show”, back in 2007.
The topic, the implications of the growing climate problem.
As well as the...
The Emergence of Science, Part 1 →
The first part of an interview between Alan Saunders and Prof. Stephen Gaukroger, author of “The Emergence of a Scientific Culture: Science and the Shaping of Modernity 1210-1685”, in which they examine the rise of science in the western mind.
As well as the trascript there is also a podcast of the interview.
UPDATE: The transcript for part 2 is also available.
“There is no theistic God who exists to take care of you or me. There is no God...”
– “The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love”, John Shelby Spong, former Episcopal bishop of Newark.
Young Australian Skeptics Web Site. →
A sanctuary for young free thinkers.
Jesus born again to Virgen →
A 20-year-old Peruvian women, Virgen Maria Huarcaya, give berth to a 3.5Kg boy on Christmas morning. Virgen has named her child Jesus.
Jesus’ father Adolfo originally planned naming his son after a professional soccer player, but thanks a happy coincidence for the change in plans.
Adolfo is a carpenter but no angels were cited in the news story and no questions of paternity were raised.
Hobbyists are trying genetic engineering at home →
DIY gene manipulation. This is better than Spore.
Using home-made lab equipment a new bred of “hackers” are creating new life forms through genetic engineering in their garages and dinning rooms. One is working on altering yogurt bacteria so that it will glow green when in the presence of melamine.
I know what I want for Sir Isaac Newton day next year.
Galileoscope →
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy.
The Galileoscope project plans to provide 1,000,000 American children the opportunity to build a simple telescope so that they can expreince the same sense of wonder as when Galileo first gazed through his telescope.
Unwanted Memories Might Be Erasable →
Researchers claim they have found a molecule in the brain that stores, complex high-quality memories. They believe that this discovery might one day allow the eraser of “specific debilitating memories”.
And no the molecule is not alcohol.
The Ten Days of Newton →
Olivia Judson, author of “Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex”, argues that rather than having just one Sir Isaac Newton day we should celebrate the 10 days of Newton.
Her argument is that Newton was born on Dec 25th 1642 according to the Julian calendar, then in use in England. However, the rest of Europe was using...
Disapointment
My daughter and I were given Spore for Sir Isaac Newton day. We’re both disappointed at the fact that you can’t create a Dalek.
Our plans for domination of the Universe have being still-born. I thought it would have being a good father-daughter activity.
But all is not lost. Plan 2: Robot World Domination. We’re off to the hardware store to see if we can get a laser gun for...
“Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking.”
– Bill Maher (via brigno) (via pauliophonic)
Hexagonal column formations not the work of... →
Physicists at the University of Toronto have solved the mystery behind the strange and well ordered hexagonal columns found at such popular tourist sites as Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland and the Devil’s Postpile in California.
The researchers found that the size of the formations were primarily determined by the speed at which lava from a volcanic eruption cools.
The...
Cocaine addled Honey Bees dance more. →
Researches have found that honey bees on cocaine tend to exaggerate;”Aye mate, you should have see the size of the stamen it was as big as a telegraph poll. Oh and the colours!”
Bees use “dance” to communicate the location and quality of food found. Researches found that bees on crack were more likely to dance no matter the quality of the food they found or the status of...
It's time to sing out if you're gay, Catholic …... →
Adele Horin wonders at why gay Catholics make excuses for the Pope even as he incites discrimination against them.
Volunteer sacked for not being Catholic →
The St. Vincent de Paul Society of Queensland (Australia) has been ordered to pay damages to a voluntary president it “sacked” because she was not Catholic.
Ms Walsh had been doing unpaid work for the society for 10 years, working, for up to 7 days a week.
Objections were raised about her being non-Catholic in 2004.
The society gave her 3 options, become a Catholic, resign her...
“… it’s instructive to notice that we’re all atheists with respect to Zeus and...”
– —Sam Harris, God Debate: Sam Harris vs. Rick Warren - Newsweek Beliefs (via rickr) (via asprettyasasong)
Santa, FAIL!
Boxing day, and 5 short of a 100.
Hi to the new people and thanks for the support from eveybody else, but Santa you fail!
All is not lost, my wife still loves me, she gave me a Lego Minstorms NXT (lego robotics kit) for Sir Isaac Newton day. Now if I can just distract the kids long enough so I can have a go ….
All I want for Christmas
Dear Santa,
it’s about 10:30pm Christmas eve (here in Sydney) and I’ve tried to be a good Tumblr this year but I notice that at this point in time I have only 93 followers. I’d really like to wake up tomorrow with a ton (i.e. 100). No pressure, just saying.
Cheers mate and have a safe journey,
Paul
Earth Not Center Of The Universe, Surrounded By... →
Canadian scientists have proved that the Earth’s location in the Unvierse is utterly unremakable. Strange place for a god to put its “creation”.
Origin Of Life On Earth: Simple Fusion To... →
Researches have provided some clues to one of biology’s most complex questions: how ancient organic molecules came together to form the basis of life.
Evolution: Life On Earth Got Bigger In... →
Rant
Science teachers are in high schools to teach science. Science is based on facts, experiments and observations.
A science teacher who wants to teach in their classes a topic for which there are no facts, no experiments and no observations, is trying to teach something which is not science. And therefore, IMHO, is an idiot who shouldn’t be allowed near the kids in a science class.
Science...
“In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it...”
– ~Dave Barry, “Christmas Shopping: A Survivor’s Guide” (via myquarterlifecrisis) (via nechamaelle) (via siddman)
Working on it …
