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Dinosaur quiverfull

Dec 4th, 2011 11:12 am | By

Wow.

 What an amazing find. That’s fifteen juvenile dinosaurs in one nest. They’re thought to be about a year old. Fifteen juveniles in one nest! I was already puzzling about that before I read the text – which confirms that it’s puzzling.

Scientists  once believed that dinosaurs generally followed a crocodile-like model  of child care—they would lay their eggs and leave their nests for good.  This idea was replaced by the view that dinosaurs raised their  young for a time after hatching, the way many birds do.

Now,  Fastovsky explained, people understand that the ancient reptiles had  parenting styles unlike those of any animals alive today.

Fifteen  babies, as seen in the newfound fossil nest, is an unusually large  number

… Read the rest

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Nest full of dinosaur babies found in Mongolia *

Dec 4th, 2011 | Filed by

Unlike other dinosaur nests found with fossil eggs, the babies in this nest appear to have been about a year old when they died. Parental care!… Read the rest

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Observer complains of “vitriol” over Burzynski article *

Dec 3rd, 2011 | Filed by

Also “aggression, sanctimony and a disregard for the facts.”… Read the rest

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Islamists win 65% of votes in Egypt *

Dec 3rd, 2011 | Filed by

The MB’s Freedom and Justice Party, about 40%, and the Salafist Nour Party, about 25%.… Read the rest

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More whacked-out causation

Dec 3rd, 2011 3:53 pm | By

They seem to have a shaky grasp on what causes what, in Saudi Arabia.

A report in Saudi Arabia has warned that if Saudi women were given the right to drive, it would spell the end of virginity in the country.

See? That’s bizarre. If Saudi women drove, babies would be born non-virgins? How? How would that work?

Though there is no formal ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, if they get behind the wheel, they can be arrested.

That too is bizarre. If there’s no actual law against women driving, what can they be arrested for?

As part of his careful reform process, King Abdullah has allowed suggestions to surface that the ban might be reviewed.

This

… Read the rest

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UK police reveal numbers for “honour” violence *

Dec 3rd, 2011 | Filed by

Ikwro director Diana Nammi said families often tried to deny the existence of honour
attacks and those who carried them out were “very much respected”.… Read the rest

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What’s the big idea?

Dec 3rd, 2011 12:30 pm | By

Just for the sake of argument, or exploration, let’s take seriously this claim that atheism is a little idea and god is a big one.

Atheism has become a very little idea, an idea that has to be shouted to seem important.  And that is a shame, because God was a big idea, and the rejection of the existence of God was also a big idea, once upon a time.

Was god a big idea?

Perhaps I’m not taking it seriously after all, because I can’t honestly see that it was.

Really. I can’t. It seems to me that god was and is a very little idea, and a very boring one (which shows how little it was and … Read the rest

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Paper wasps have facial recognition *

Dec 3rd, 2011 | Filed by

This is the first time that scientists have discovered this humanlike ability in an insect.… Read the rest

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Kenan Malik on outrage *

Dec 3rd, 2011 | Filed by

Muslims, Christians, atheists, liberals, conservatives –  for every group outrage has become an expression of self-definition.… Read the rest

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Saudi academic claims that cars rape women *

Dec 3rd, 2011 | Filed by

A report in Saudi Arabia has warned that if Saudi women were given the right to drive, it would spell the end of virginity in the country.… Read the rest

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Gay Marriage and African Politics

Dec 2nd, 2011 | By Leo Igwe

I am writing to condemn in no uncertain terms the recent passage by the Senate of the the anti gay marriage bill. The passage of this bill once again demonstrates how disconnected Nigerian politicians and lawmakers are from the realities of the 21st century. It has confirmed that our lawmakers indeed prefer to fiddle while our social, political and economic house, called Nigeria, burns. Otherwise how does one explain the relevance of this bill at a time when Nigeria has become almost a failed state due to terrorist attacks, sectarian violence, corruption, poverty, diseases, abuse of office, tribalism and nepotism, misguided politics and mistaken sense of statecraft?

The passage of this bill has shown clearly how misplaced our priorities are, … Read the rest

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The milk of human kindness

Dec 2nd, 2011 2:52 pm | By

And then there’s Gulnare Freewill Baptist church, which told a parishioner - ever so politely, you understand – that her fiancé couldn’t come to the church again, on account of how he’s not a white person. Perfectly understandable. It’s because they (church members who voted on “the issue”) want to promote greater unity among the church body and the community. Obviously you can’t do that if there’s a not-white person at the church when all the other persons there are white. That would promote lesser unity. Everybody would look around uneasily and kind of split apart.

Melvin Thompson, former pastor of Gulnare Freewill Baptist church, proposed the ban after Stella Harville brought her fiance, Ticha Chikuni, to services in

… Read the rest

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Oh yes, go right ahead

Dec 2nd, 2011 11:32 am | By

Memri reports a fatwa that says it’s fine for mujahideen to kidnap “the infidels’ women” and rape them, because once they’ve been kidnapped the infidel men don’t own them any more.

The inquiry in response to which Al-Athari issued the fatwa reads as
follows:[1] “Is it permissible for mujahideen in jihad fronts
to kidnap the infidels’ women and hold them as their captives? What is the
ruling regarding a captive in our times? How should they be divided [among the mujahideen]? Is it permissible to imprison [an infidel woman who has been taken captive] in an infidel land, or must she be brought to Dar Al-Islam[the abode of Islam]? How much time must one wait before having sexual

… Read the rest

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Fatwa says mujahideen can kidnap and rape “infidel” women *

Dec 2nd, 2011 | Filed by

It’s perfectly all right, because once they’re kidnapped, the infidel men don’t own them any more.… Read the rest

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Headline: “Fish could protect against Alzheimer’s” *

Dec 2nd, 2011 | Filed by

Body: “this research did not account for lifestyle factors such as other foods or exercise which could also have had an effect.”… Read the rest

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Robert Talisse talks to Robert Audi *

Dec 2nd, 2011 | Filed by

In Democratic Authority and the Separation of Church and State, Audi proposes a novel and forceful account of the proper role of religious conviction in democratic politics.… Read the rest

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NSS to Court: town council prayers are unlawful *

Dec 2nd, 2011 | Filed by

The society is acting on behalf of atheist councillor Clive Bone, who had tried to have the prayers stopped.… Read the rest

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There goes the neighborhood

Dec 1st, 2011 4:41 pm | By

I saw Joseph Hoffmann’s post saying how tiny atheism and atheists now are a few days ago, when it was new, and decided to ignore it*, on the grounds that it was little different from its many predecessors and that nobody except one indefatigable fan was paying any attention so why bother. But then I saw that PZ had done a post on it, and then I saw that Eric had, so starving the beast is not an option, therefore I might as well do my share.

What does it say? That atheism is not good enough.

I cannot imagine a time in the history of unbelief when atheism has appeared more hamfisted, puling, ignorant or unappealing.

Is this

… Read the rest

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Brazen

Dec 1st, 2011 3:16 pm | By

It’s funny, in a way – Iran’s infamous PressTV is claiming that its embassy in London has been attacked.

Iran’s embassy in London has been attacked by a group of anti-revolutionary elements in an organized campaign after its closure by the British government.

Reports suggest that the residence building of the Iranian ambassador to London has also been targeted.

Uh huh. Sure. Odd that no one else is reporting it though.… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

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Religious believers distrust rapists and atheists *

Dec 1st, 2011 | Filed by

Even in more secular Canada, distrust of atheists ran high.… Read the rest

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