May 2008
Texas: Big and stupid →
Well that seems to be the opinion of Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy. What got him so down on Texas is the fact that the head of the Texas State Board of Education is Don McLeroy. According to Plait McLeroy is a creationist, thinks science is evil, an anti-intellectual and is not a professional educator. Sounds like good qualifications to run an Education Board. One of his first acts was to can...
Drunken Darth Vader lookalike assaults Jedi Church... →
Apparently in Wales there is a Church of Jediism which claims 30 members. The founders of the Church were recently assaulted by a man dressed up as Darth Vader. The individual can’t remember the incident or why he assaulted the two other men, having drunk the best part of a 10 litre cask of wine before the incident.
85% of Americans Want A Presidential Debate on... →
They probably want a discussion on how science can be used to increase the effectiveness of prayer in reducing the price of oil.
Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens →
Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes director of the Vatican Observatory said that believing that life exists in other parts of the universe does not contradict faith in God. He went on to say that the Bible “is not a science book” and that the Big Bang theory is the most “reasonable” explanation for the creation of the universe. Which you might think rules out God but he still believes...
Intellectual Evangelicals →
Isn’t that an oxymoron? Anyway, Jacques Berlinerblau reflects on the “intellectual” aspects of the Evangelical Manifesto, and he’s not entirely impressed. Apparently it affirms the right of securalists to participate in the “civil public square”. But the authors worry that as the “global public square” emerges they see two “equal and...
Prayer Request →
Now that Americans are praying to God to lower the price of crude, do you wonder what other things your could pray for and how do you maximise the power of prayer? Well the people at PrayLive.com have a solution for you.
Post your prayer request online and thousands of people around the world will add your request to their nightly prayer. Need to sell that house, need extra finances, or do you...
Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol →
Around 100,000 have died in Burma from a cyclone, 10,000 have died in China from an earthquake with many, many more lives still in jeopardy and what do these so called Christians do? They pray for cheap gas for their cars. “Lord, come down in a mighty way and strengthen us so that we can bring down these high gas prices,” members of Prayer at the Pump. A movement to seek help from a...
The Stupidity of Dignity →
The USA’s President’s Council has produced a collection of essays as an attempt to place dignity as a central concept in bioethics. However, Steven Pinker points out that dignity is a tradeable commodity and not a sound basis for a system of ethics. We may find that having someone sticking their figure up our rectum to be undignified but we grin and bear it in order to detect signs of...
“If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the...”
– Abdel-Qader Ali who recently beat his teenage daughter to death for her infatuation with a British soldier.
Embryos have souls? What nonsense →
If an embryo has a soul at conception does that mean an identical twin only has half a soul?
Matthew Syed points out some faulty logic in the Christian argument that e”mbryos are morally equivalent to living, breathing humans”.
WatchClinton gives 3 reasons why she should be the Democrat presidential candidate
Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes... →
brigno: The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.
Where's the beef? →
British Airways (BA) has taken beef off it’s in-flight menu because of “religious restrictions”. BA’s second-biggest long-haul market is India, where the majority Hindu population do not eat beef.
On man boobs
jessicalouise:
anthonydever: Why doesn’t society allow men to flaunt their testosterone fueled bosoms in whatever way they want for whatever reason they feel like without being ridiculed? I thought they did. Isnt this 80% of Bondi Rescue’s content? Oh. You mean without ridicule. Don’t tell anyone, but i love a bit of man boob.
Some things are better left unseen:
“The way to become famous fast is to throw a brick at someone who is famous.”
– Walter Winchell (via yourmonkeycalled) and by “throw a brick” we mean “blog mean things about” and by “someone who is famous” we mean “julia allison” (via pettsson)
Oh, Oh!
Upgrading the other machine with SP3 for XP. It’s just going into continuous reboot mode; starts up windows then reboots …. it’s going to be long night.
Hiccups, hernias and flatulence — some intelligent... →
Faye Flam argues that the many quirks of human anatomy make sense onley when seen as a result of evolution.
ATHEISTS ARE NICE PEOPLE WHO WILL ROAST IN HELL,... →
“Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor said non-believers should be respected, right up to the point of death when they will finally come face to face with Satan and his blood-soaked pitchfork.”
Update: The Dailymash is a satricial website, so as good as this story is it’s probably not true.
Armed guards brought in to protect Assisi church... →
Oh, the irony! St Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of the poor.
Even two drinks a high cancer risk →
Lucky for me I have no family history of cancer, however I do have a family history of heart disease which the occasional drink is good for. NOTE: this blog in no way condones or promotes the consumption of alcohol,which is bad for you. But then again oxygen is a carcinogen. So you have a choice stop drinking or stop breathing.
Church recognizes Virgin Mary appearances in... →
It took around 300 years but the Vatican has finally confirmed that the Virgin Mary (person who died, if at all existed, around 0 BCE give or take 30 years) was seen in France between 1664 to 1718. Expected soon are the Vatican’s rulings on UFOs and the Bermuda Triangle.
All he wanted to do was take his wife's name →
I hadn’t realised this but it is much harder for husband to change his surname to his wife’s surname than vice versa. Why? For the record my wife kept her surname and I kept my surname … it’s worked all round for us but your mileage may vary.
West in midst of 'irrational fear' epidemic →
I live in Australia so I can’t really comment on the rest of the world. But this research by Canadian author Dan Gardner rings true. The average person really does have a totally warped sense of risk assessment. I believe this is fuelled both by the media in pursuit or ratings and by politicians in pursuit of votes. Anybody else notice how much more crime is supposed to be going on around...
Losing Our Spines to Save Our Necks →
Sam Harris seems to be arguing that the West has a double standard with regards to Islam. We stand up for rights of Islamics to criticise our Western ways but should anybody raise criticism of Islam then rather than defend the rights of free speech in the face of the rabid onslaught we end up attacking the messenger.
We have no water again, so
jeanhannahedelstein: I am currently breakfasting on muesli. Out of a large plastic tumbler. With a fork. Try milk, or yogurt, on the muesli works for me.
Apparently does wonders for the bowels the only saving grace I can really see for muesli.
“A team of twenty of the world’s leading scientists wouldn’t be able...”
– Matt Taibbi, on the power of an Evangelical Christian retreat, “An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee” |
“The great, ironic legacy of the Bush administration will be its success in...”
– Antony Loewnstein, “ABC Unleashed: Is Iran next?”
April 2008
Guerrilla Gardening →
I like this story of bands of people creeping around in the dark of night and just gardening.
Just make sure that the seeds your drop and the plants you plant are indigenous to the area (or at least won’t spread). We have enough feral problems as it is.
Cat eating plants are of course welcome.
Living Buddha condemns Dalai Lama →
Tibet’s only female living Buddha has dumped all over the Dalia Lama. She points out that since Tibet’s “incorporation” into Communist China it had been transformed from a a dark cruel backwards feudal society of largely illiterate serfs with little medical care that she knew as a child. She claims “The sins of the Dalai Lama and his followers seriously violate the...
Hating Hillary Clinton →
Bob Ellis is getting to hate Hillary Clinton.
“She is a stranger to consistency, sincerity and (at a guess) oral sex, a violent critic now and then of NAFTA which she and her husband thought up, and (it was wittily observed on CNN this week) knows in the end about as much about the inner workings of Executive Government as the White House pastry cook.”
“These people, this young generation, have been spiritually brainwashed. They are...”
– Chen Yonglin, escaped Chinese diplomat, gives his veiw on the Chinese pro-China students who ralied in support of the Olympic torch relay in Canberra
Plastic plants with a difference. →
Researchers at Australia’s CSIRO have genetically modified plants to produce fatty acids that are typically sourced from petrochemicals. Researchers believe that such plants can be used to source the chemicals normally obtained from crude oil in the production of plastics, paints and cosmetics.
Condemned to a haircut! →
A governor in northern Saudi Arabia has orderded that men caught flirting with women in public will have a haircut as punishment.
Pentagon denies report of new Iran war planning →
nwsppr:
CBS News reported Tuesday that the Pentagon has ordered new options to be drawn up for attacking Iran and that the State Department has begun drafting an ultimatum that would tell Iran to stop meddling in Iraq or else…. [US Secretary of Defense Robert] Gates flatly denied on Tuesday that the Pentagon was preparing for military strikes against Iran…. US military leaders have...
jessicap: I just found a typo in a book! If it’s by Donald Knuth send it in and he’ll send you a cheque for $10 (as long as nobody else has already found it).