All entries by this author

Catholicism Shrinking in South Jersey *

Jan 31st, 2010 | Filed by

It’s a start.… Read the rest



Haiti: Idaho Church Group Accused of Abduction *

Jan 31st, 2010 | Filed by

One girl, aged 8 or 9, was crying and saying, ‘I’m not an orphan. I still have my parents.’… Read the rest



‘Homeopathic Remedies’: Real Cure or Nonsense? *

Jan 31st, 2010 | Filed by

There is no evidence that homeopathy works, yet it gets public funding.… Read the rest



A Gift to the Creationists *

Jan 31st, 2010 | Filed by

A book titled What Darwin Got Wrong that’s not by a creationist.… Read the rest



Deciding in advance

Jan 30th, 2010 1:55 pm | By

Wheaton College has a ‘statement of faith’ that everyone at Wheaton has to ‘follow.’ The statement is long, and specific, and detailed. It’s not a mere cloud of benevolent sentiments, it’s a list of concrete factual assertions prefaced by ‘we believe that,’ and agreeing to the whole thing is, as I understand it, a condition of employment and attendance. It includes (and ends with) ‘WE BELIEVE in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, the everlasting punishment of the lost.’

Yet Wheaton College considers itself an academic institution of some kind. Wheaton College considers itself a place of higher education, yet a condition of getting the putative higher education that Wheaton College offers is agreement with a long … Read the rest



Simon Singh and Andy Lewis on Homeopathy *

Jan 30th, 2010 | Filed by

Filmed by Stephen Law at the CFI UK Trick or Treatment event.… Read the rest



‘New Perspectives on Faith and Development’ *

Jan 30th, 2010 | Filed by

Tony Blair Faith Foundation, Islamic Relief et al. to host ‘groundbreaking’ seminars on Faith and Development.… Read the rest



Oliver Kamm on Howard Zinn *

Jan 30th, 2010 | Filed by

If your heart is in the right place, the assumption is, then it doesn’t matter if your scholarship is sloppy.… Read the rest



The Boston Globe on Howard Zinn *

Jan 30th, 2010 | Filed by

His books and plays are about the power of ordinary people to affect history.… Read the rest



Rules of supermarket deportment

Jan 29th, 2010 1:00 pm | By

A brief frivolous interlude to consider one small aspect of daily life.

A Tesco store has asked customers not to shop in their pyjamas or barefoot…A spokesman said Tesco did not have a strict dress code but it does not want people shopping in their nightwear in case it offends other customers.

Or not so much offends them as makes them feel sick. That’s how it affects me. The sight of people outside in the world in their bedroom slippers, or with bed hair, or in their pyjamas, makes me feel very queasy indeed. It’s much the same if I see people flossing their teeth or cutting their toenails in public; or picking their noses, or applying unguents to … Read the rest



Iran Executes 2 Mohareb or ‘Enemies of God’ *

Jan 29th, 2010 | Filed by

The prosecutor’s office said nine other detained protesters have been condemned to death as Mohareb.… Read the rest



Orthodoxy Enforcement at Wheaton College *

Jan 29th, 2010 | Filed by

Wheaton is nondenominational, but has a detailed statement of faith that all at the college must follow.… Read the rest



Ogling Teaches Women to Self-objectify *

Jan 29th, 2010 | Filed by

When a female believes her body is being sized up by a male, she’ll diminish her presence by speaking less. … Read the rest



Questioning Homophobic Pseudoscience *

Jan 29th, 2010 | Filed by

‘That a child needs a male parent and a female parent is so taken for granted that people are uncritical.’… Read the rest



Roeder Convicted of First-Degree Murder *

Jan 29th, 2010 | Filed by

It took jurors 37 minutes to convict Scott Roeder of first-degree murder in the death of George R. Tiller.… Read the rest



Blair is Sorry the War Was ‘Divisive’ *

Jan 29th, 2010 | Filed by

He acknowledged ‘things obviously look quite different’ now given the failure to find any weapons.… Read the rest



Tesco Says No Shopping in Pyjamas *

Jan 29th, 2010 | Filed by

Buffoon doesn’t see why, she only wanted a packet of fags, she would have worn clothes for a full shop.… Read the rest



Johann Hari on Corruption in America *

Jan 29th, 2010 | Filed by

It has reached the point that lobbyists now often write the country’s laws. Not metaphorically; literally.… Read the rest



A Common Problem in Science Journalism *

Jan 28th, 2010 | Filed by

Science reporters tend to avoid looking hard at research that produces interesting conclusions.… Read the rest



Panel Finds MMR Scare Doctor ‘Acted Unethically’ *

Jan 28th, 2010 | Filed by

Wakefield’s Lancet study caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles.… Read the rest