Dutch creationists have put up a foolish little poll — surprise them with a little adjustment.

Hoe is het leven op aarde ontstaan? (How did life arise on Earth?)

God schiep het leven in zes dagen (God created life in six days) 69.4%
Door Evolutie (By Evolution) 20.7%
Door Spontane Generatie (By Spontaneous Generation) 5%
God stuurde de evolutie (By god-directed evolution) 4.1%
God schiep het leven in langere tijd (God created life some time) 0.8%
Er is een intelligente ontwerper maar onbekend wie (There is an unknown intelligent designer) 0%

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Greg Laden:
ScienceBlogs (blog)
There can be and probably is a herd mentality for any group, and that includes atheist. I would also say there is xenophobia too, 'us' vs 'them' in any ...

What does an atheist firing squad look like?
ScienceBlogs (blog)
Now, imagine a hypothetical blog that is very popular among atheists. Let's call it Blastula, because it is run by a developmental biologist at a small ...

The Guardian
New award recognises schools teaching both religious and non-religious belief
The Guardian
It accommodates pupils who fast, pupils who pray and pupils who cover themselves – so encouraging them to consider and debate atheist and humanist beliefs ...

Wired News
After 100 Years, Are The Boy Scouts Still Relevant?
Wired News
I'm an atheist. So until BSA changes their mind on what constitutes a moral leader, I can't help. So to the Scouting Leadership in Texas - get serious about ...

and more »

This article on why an octopus is more awesome than your mom is generally accurate and valid — octopuses probably are more awesome than your mom — but suffers a bit from an incomplete survey of moms. The author has not met the awesome mom of me, nor is he acquainted with the ferocious Trophy Wife™, who also happens to moonlight as the indomitable Trophy Mother™.

Otherwise, though, it is an acceptable overview of octopodal merits.

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I left Morris on the 19th of January, and finally, here it is the 8th of February and I finally made it back. Now leave me alone. I get a moment to rest, don't I? That bottle of Irish whiskey I was given in Galway will help.

OK, moment over. Next up: I get to go the the University of Northern Iowa on Wednesday! Don't say it, I know I'm insane. Anyway, it'll be an evo-devo talk in the Maucker Union, Hemisphere Lounge, at 7pm. There won't be much creationist bashing, but I'll probably spend a few minutes bashing Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini and Mary Midgley, because they're morons who are abusing evo-devo in the name of making misguided criticisms of evolution. Everyone expects me to growl and gnash the fangs a bit about something, and I wouldn't want to disappoint.

Then I get to come home again.

Oh, and one last totally random thing in recollection of my wonderful trip to Ireland. Here's me receiving an award from the University College Dublin Secular Humanist Society…from Captain Jack Sparrow. How awesome is that?

Actually, that's David, but if ever he wants to become a pirate, I'll join his crew.

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I’ve received a copy of the police report on the incident described in Dumpster diving for docs. It is a “found property” report, not a criminal complaint. The report contains a 3 page typed account of the incident by Don Matolyak, Freshwater’s pastor. The main message of the circulating story I described in my earlier post–the mysterious appearance of new evidence from the district via a cloak and dagger route–is confirmed by Matolyak’s statement, but... Richard B. Hoppe

Crackle.com's 'Best of Penn Says: Religion' DVD Now Available on Amazon.com
PR Newswire (press release)
In this up close and personal web series, Penn the Magician, Inventor, Philosopher, Social Critic and Celebrity Atheist discusses, teaches, and tears apart ...

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• Atheists -- naughty and nice -- should define themselves
  I was somewhat taken aback recently when I found myself on a list of "kinder, gentler atheists"--most of them women--compiled by a religious historian attempting to distinguish between socially acceptable atheism and the presumably mean, hard-line atheism expounded by such demonic figures as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett. This nasty versus nice dichotomy is wholly an invention of believers who are under the mistaken impression that atheism is a religion in need of a good schism.
  


• Neil Gaiman to write Dr Who episode
  The author of novels including Coraline and Anansi Boys told fans they could expect to see the episode in early 2011


• Causation, Correlation and Sport Science


• Palin’s Runny, Run-On Sentences Finally Explained

WEARING RATIONALITY BADGES, POPULARIZING NEUTRALITY AND SAYING "I DON'T KNOW" TO POLITICS: COLIN MARSHALL TALKS TO ECONOMIST, BLOGGER AND RATIONALIST ROBIN HANSON

Sand dune, showing wind ripples. Sahara desert, Morocco.... Matt Young http://www.mines.edu/~mmyoung

Here's a thoughtful video about one person's deconversion process: the interesting thing about it is that he was a believer who reasoned himself out of religion.

Although I was brought up in a religion, I've discovered that there is a large difference between those who were seriously immersed in a faith, like this fellow, and people who just got a fairly brief and not very deep exposure, like myself. I was rather easily disabused of religion — when I first was taught the tenets of the faith, my reaction was more like, "You believe what? And you expect me to believe it too? That's batty!" I didn't need the careful dissection of belief, because what jumped out to me was the raging absurdity of original sin, virgin births, gods manifesting as men, etc., etc., etc.

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Focus on the Patriarchy has always favored punishing children to teach them right from wrong, so I can't imagine them being too upset at this news: a fellow's 4-year-old daughter was having trouble memorizing her ABC's, suggesting that she needed some extra incentives to excel. So Dad waterboarded her. How sweet that Daddy cared so much about the importance of her education.

I'm going back to teaching in the fall. Will this be considered a reasonable educational technique? I'm thinking of putting a rack in the lecture hall and carrying around some thumbscrews just to help my students learn better.

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Wired News
After 100 Years, Are The Boy Scouts Still Relevant?
Wired News
I'm an atheist. So until BSA changes their mind on what constitutes a moral leader, I can't help. So to the Scouting Leadership in Texas - get serious about ...

and more »

Some guy named Gerard Alexander has an opinion piece in the Washington Post titled "Why are liberals so condescending?" I will say one thing in its favor: it gets to its point quickly and clearly in the first few sentences.

Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots. But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct, self-evident, and based on fact and reason, while conservative positions are not just wrong but illegitimate, ideological and unworthy of serious consideration.

Unfortunately, it's downhill from there. He does demonstrate nicely that many liberals do categorize many conservatives as idiots, but he doesn't seem capable of addressing the question of why they think that. It's mostly a lot of waa-waa about the tone and how this attitude is an obstacle to politics.

He doesn't consider the obvious explanation that many conservatives are amazing idiots pursuing idiotic policies.

Seriously. Sarah Palin. Conservatives defending Palin's stupidities. Republican candidates for the presidency who are certain that the earth is only 6000 years old. A Republican party dominated by the religious right.

Years ago, I would have considered Alexander to have a good point: that on some policies, such as economics, conservatives had something to contribute. But then they elected Reagan and Bush and the crowd of clowns in congress, and any claim to being a serious political party went out the window. They are the silly party now, and where they do the most damage is when pompous wankers demand that we treat them seriously simply because they are the conservative party we've got. No, we shouldn't: we should laugh them out of office until they come up with candidates who aren't stupid shills.

So I'm divided on the poll accompanying the article.

Who is more condescending?

They're both impossible 12%
Conservatives 22%
Liberals 66%

It's really just an attempt to tar liberals with another insult — ironic for an article that is so condescendingly disparaging liberal tone — but it's also true. We are more condescending. Because most conservatives are so deserving of condescension.

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Dull Castle built on cliched foundation
Herald.ie
Widdecombe was responding to claims by Fry, an atheist, that the Ten Commandments are largely "silly" and have saddled society with constricting and ...
TV review: The Bible: A HistoryScotsman
The Bible: A History: A Skewed Look At The Good BookOntheBox (blog)
The Weekend's Television: The Bible: A History, Sun, Channel 4Seven Ages of ...Independent

all 5 news articles »

Minnesota Independent
Bachmann: America 'cursed' by God 'if we reject Israel'
Minnesota Independent
If I were an atheist, and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for ...

and more »

Sarah Palin gave a $100K speech to a convention of teabagging wankers, she faced a few pre-screened, prepared questions, and what did she need? She had to have the answers written on her hand ahead of time!

Here's what gets me the most, though. She didn't have a cheat sheet of wonky little details, stuff that would be hard to keep straight and important to get exactly right. No, she had to write down the three most important goals for a conservative majority. What, she's shaky on that?

Energy
Budget cuts
Tax
Lift Americans
Spirits

Man, next time I go off to give a talk, I'm going to get a sharpie and write "Science. Evolution. Anti-creationism." on my left hand, in case I get asked what I'm going to talk about. 'Cause I might forget, you know.

And then I'm going to ask for a few thousand dollars. And the presidency. All right, I'm not going to be greedy — the vice-presidency will do.

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I have arrived in Minneapolis, with a mere 3 hour drive to get home. However, I have also arrived home to a serious snowstorm, so I've been holed up in a hotel all night and am waiting for the stuff to clear a bit this afternoon. It's aggravating.

And you guys have stuffed another everlasting thread entry with comments! Let's start again.

This is a nice video that just keeps chugging along and also gives a glimpse of what it looks like out here in Minnesota right now. Except that I really, really wish I could get on a wonderfully civilized train and set off for home, instead of the barbarity of driving a car.

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