Hitchens reviews Pullman *

Jul 11th, 2010 | Filed by

Atheist though he is, Pullman turns out to be a Protestant atheist.… Read the rest



Cats have Theory of Mind *

Jul 11th, 2010 | Filed by

The margay imitates the sounds of baby monkeys  to lure its prey within reach.… Read the rest



Stop Stoning and Sharia Laws!

Jul 10th, 2010 | By Maryam Namazie
11 July is the International Day against Stoning – a day we would do well to mark especially given that Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani faces imminent death by stoning for adultery.   Appealing on her behalf, her two children have said: “Today we reach out to the people of the world. It is now five years that we have lived in fear and in horror, deprived of motherly love. Is the world so cruel that it can watch this catastrophe and do nothing?”   Don’t stand by and watch. Let’s end this once and for all.   To show your condemnation against stoning and support for Sakine, during the week of 5-11 July, take stones to your city centres, universities, media outlets, workplaces… and… Read the rest


The Secret of New Age Thinking

Jul 10th, 2010 | By Paula Cerni

Are we still living in a New Age? To judge by the stream of popular texts and movements that mix together self-help and spirituality, we are. But what is it about? And what is the secret of its popularity? Such are the questions this book tries to answer through a survey of recent mystical fads and plenty of references to the hallowed traditions of TV, movie, and comic-book fantasy. Read ‘Karma Chameleon’, the chapter on Deepak Chopra, or ‘A Course in Malarkey’, on Helen Schucman’s A Course in Miracles, and you’ll long for the days when all we needed to save us from evil was Superman.

Alas, today’s make-believe issues not from heaven, but from personal commitment. Besides money … Read the rest



Baying for blood? Moi?

Jul 10th, 2010 12:50 pm | By

Are the few people who commented on JK’s post on the Toxic Sock affair really (though metaphorically) “participants in [a] witch-hunt” and “the 21st century, virtual-world, equivalent of a medieval mob baying for the blood their latest victim”?

No.

I can see why they (we – I was one) look like a crowd, because there are quite a few comments and they are critical and sometimes hostile. On the other hand, there are only (if I counted correctly) 23 people total, not counting Jean, and a few of them are friendly; there’s a total of 63 comments. So a rush of mostly-critical comments, yes; a mob baying for blood, no.

But more to the point: are we the Bad People? … Read the rest



Russell review on East Anglia climate scientists *

Jul 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Review rejected all claims of serious scientific misconduct, but identifies failures, evasions, misleading actions.… Read the rest



Johann Hari on copycat murder sprees *

Jul 10th, 2010 | Filed by

Saturation media coverage of mass murder triggers copycat murders.… Read the rest



Ben Goldacre on the bullshit box *

Jul 10th, 2010 | Filed by

“Trusting nobody, and as a very boring man, I decided to read some adjudications.”… Read the rest



Yeah well you can prove anything with science *

Jul 10th, 2010 | Filed by

What do people do when confronted with scientific evidence that challenges their pre-existing view? Often, ignore it, intimidate it, buy it off, sue it for libel, or reason it away.… Read the rest



For the record

Jul 10th, 2010 9:36 am | By

Right. I do want to talk about other things now, but I’m not going to be quiet while people say untrue things about me on blog posts with closed comments. I wrote a reply to something Jean Kazez said about me in her latest post, and I emailed her requesting that she add it and saying it’s dirty pool to go after people while preventing them from replying. I said that because it’s what I think. I told her I would post it myself if she didn’t, and she has responded not via email but by an update to her post saying “Ophelia’s now complaining that she can’t leave comments. Boo hoo.” No, I’m not “complaining” and I’m not … Read the rest



Limbaugh explains the recession *

Jul 9th, 2010 | Filed by

Obama created it as payback for racism.… Read the rest



Mano Singham on the origins of religion *

Jul 9th, 2010 | Filed by

It is not just humans that base their behavior on imputing meaning to meaningless correlations.… Read the rest



Iran does pay attention to global outrage *

Jul 9th, 2010 | Filed by

It is not entirely proud of stoning.… Read the rest



Survey finds women are unsafe in Delhi *

Jul 9th, 2010 | Filed by

“Women in the national capital feel unsafe in many public spaces, and at all times of the day and night.”… Read the rest



Fix the radar

Jul 9th, 2010 10:24 am | By

So now we know all about “Tom Johnson,” except that we don’t. We also don’t have a frank account of how it all went so terribly wrong.

It was just a blog post, and I had no reason to think there was anything fishy going on. And I did note that the story was “one individual’s experience and point of view, and nothing more.”

He did though. He did have reason to think there was anything fishy going on. He had – what to call it – he had an ear. He had his skeptical faculty. He had reasonable sensible journalistic caution. He had an acquaintance with human beings and the way they talk and behave. He had any reason … Read the rest



Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani will not be stoned *

Jul 9th, 2010 | Filed by

But she could still be executed.… Read the rest



Mooney says what he has figured out

Jul 8th, 2010 5:27 pm | By

He told us in a comment on the “omigod there are sock puppets here!!” thread yesterday that he had figured out what is going on and would write more soon. He didn’t do it soon, but he did it. He did say more.

He said yesterday “was quite a day.” Yes, it was. What made it quite for him, do you suppose? Was it realizing quite how many people hold him in contempt? Was it seeing all his efforts at concealment and carrying on as if nothing had happened, just turn into more blog fodder and more contempt? Well yes, probably. Other than that, there wasn’t anything particularly quite – unless of course his car broke down, but he … Read the rest



What we know so far

Jul 8th, 2010 12:41 pm | By

What’s it all about? What have Mooney and Kirshenbaum been up to all  this time? What are they doing, what is their plan, what do they want? What are they after that is worth all this dishonesty and unethical behavior and blatant concealment and refusal ever to admit getting things wrong and slandering people they dislike while relying on obvious fakes and frauds?

The story – the “frame” – is that they want to persuade atheists to be more aware of “communication,” so that we can all unite to do something about the terrible problems we are facing. The idea behind that – one which they spell out at frequent intervals – is that the people they call “the New … Read the rest



Belgium: police question cardinal for ten hours *

Jul 8th, 2010 | Filed by

Lawyers for the cardinal argue that the raid last month “compromises the inviolability of the Vatican.” The what?… Read the rest



Theocracy is not progressive *

Jul 8th, 2010 | Filed by

Yet there’s a large part of the Left that fails to understand that.… Read the rest