April 2009
Swine Flu Is Evolution in Action →
via katharinec:
retropolitics:
Robert Roy Britt | LiveScience
Anyone who thinks evolution is for the birds should not be afraid of swine flu. Because if there’s no such thing as evolution, then there’s no such thing as a new strain of swine flu infecting people. For the rest of the population, concern is justified. The rapid evolution of the influenza virus is an example of Nature at her most...
“Creationists make it sound like a “theory” is something you dreamt up after...”
– Isaac Asamov (via cjernigan)
A New Breed of Netbook? →
A Chinese company is taking yet another path with it’s netbooks, they have developed a device which runs the Google Android OS; which was developed to be used on mobile phones. The results aren’t perfect.
“The United States isn’t run along Social Darwinist lines, but we’re closer than...”
– Matthew Yglesias (via azspot)
Is truthiness stranger than fiction? →
Researchers at Ohio State University have discovered that conservatives are more likely to believe that Stephen Colbert actually means what he says when he slams liberals on air.
Which just demonstrates why conservatives are losing hold on power world wide: they have no sense of humour and don’t understand sarcasm. Then again they did elect George Bush, twice.
New Blow Against Dinosaur-killing Asteroid Theory,... →
Seems the link between the asteroid hit that created the Chicxulub crater and dinosaur extinction is not so clear cut.
Fake pope-mobile charges dropped →
Australian police have dropped charges against a man that drove a fake pope-mobile around Sydney during last years World Catholic Youth Day.
Ian Bryce built the car as a protest against the Pope’s visit.
Police charged Bryce for “distracting motorists”.
“Twitter has enjoyed a nice ride over the last few months, but it will not be...”
– Nielsen Online’s David Martin, on research showing most new Twitter users quit within a month.
Granddaughter sacrificed for good harvest →
A ten-year-old Indian girl was beheaded by her grandfather because he beleived that sowing seeds mixed with her blood would yield a bumper crop.
Puts a new meaning to “Blood & Bone” …
Aussie-made plasma thruster facing space test →
A revolutionary Australian developed propulsion system is being modified for space trials. The Helicon Double Layer Thruster is an electrode-less magneto plasma thruster, developed by Dr Christine Charles, and will be the first of its kind to be used in space.
It's Official!
Australia is now in recession!
No more prawns on the barbie for us! Just a couple of sangers.
“I didn’t learn until I was in college about all the other cultures, and I should...”
– Kurt Vonnegut (via fivefootnothing) (via ipezaro) (via willowphoto)
“The public was told that Saddam posed an imminent threat. If that claim was...”
– Paul Krugman, The New York Times, June 3, 2003 (via retropolitics)
...rain falling like shards of gold in the...
via kathleenjoy:
I saw a double rainbow in Toowong on my way home from work this afternoon.
I saw a double rainbow across Iron Cove bay (inner-west Sydney)… I got wet. How about you?
“And there’s hopeful developments in Iraq. I know you see violence on your TV...”
– Former President George W. Bush, 08-29-05
retropolitics thought bubble: A just war or just a crusade?
(via retropolitics)
“value every human life”? Isn’t the US one of the only “developed” countries that still has the death penalty?
“But you were always wrong.”
– Jon Stewart, after a clip of Dick Cheney (via alcaniglia) (via think4yourself)
What can I say? JS is a genius. He and his crew kept me sane through “those” years.
“The Bush administration applied relentless pressure on interrogators to use...”
– Report: Abusive tactics used to seek Iraq-al Qaida link | McClatchy (via ericmortensen) (via retropolitics)
“Children are indoctrinated into religious belief by emotional manipulation and...”
– “The perfect riposte to childhood indoctrination” by Catherine Deveny (via theage.com.au)
This is a great article and a lot more playful than the above quote might indicate.
WatchFurther proof that God created us from nerdiahfilms
NSFW!
“The skeptic does not mean he who doubts but he who investigates or researches as...”
– Miguel de Unamuno (via Young Australian Skeptics)
reddit skeptical articles →
Reddit (like Digg but without the toolbar) has a section with articles related to scepticism.
Tip of the hat to Phil whose article on the Bad Astronomy blog pointed me to reddit.
Learn How To Be a Psychic (and steal people's... →
Mully410 has some tips on how you can be a Psychic and rip people off; morals might just get in the way though.
Bible guides for the skeptical
The Skeptics Annotated Bible (also covers the Koran and the Book of Mormon)
Evil Bible.com
Bible Inconsistencies
Issac Asimov also wrote a guide to the Bible, which I highly recommend. My edition come in two paperbacks (one for the old and one for the new testament), it now seems to be in one hardback book.
Off topic, but still kind of fun, is this article about how flat-earthers use the...
Fertility expert: 'I can clone a human being' →
Controversial fertility doctor, Panayiotis Zavos, claims that he has cloned 14 embryos and transferred 11 of them into the wombs of four women. None of the transfers lead to a viable pregnancy.
He’s also used eggs from cows, with the genetic material removed, to clone embryos of three dead people. Dr Zavos said it was never his intention to transfer these embryos to wombs of women, he just...
“The tragedy of young-earth creationism is that it takes a relatively recent and...”
– Francis Collins (via thinkfree)
World Digital Library Home →
via freckledawesome:
Check this out.
It’s live. So cool.
Mammaria! Farce over tit racks up support →
The blokes have shown their stuff in Puppetry of the Penis now the women are having a go in Busting Out, an unabashed all-singing, dancing celebration of the bosom. The show includes breast contortions that are aptly named: the Doughnut, the Baby and the Vagina.
If they tour in the US will they have to use black electrical tape?
