1. In Defense of Witchcraft

Comment #53165 by boxmonkey on June 29, 2007 at 10:07 pm

Some people still believe in witchcraft and evil witches. My mother is one of them. She's a fundamentalist, and I guess the bible says something about evil witches or something, so she's convinced that they're out there, doing evil...

She warned us about witches when we were little kids, and when I got older I thought it was just one of those stupid things that adults tell kids, but it turns out she was serious.

2. Evolution IS a Blind Watchmaker

Comment #51656 by boxmonkey on June 24, 2007 at 1:24 am

I'd really like to see the code used for this, anyone know where/if it's available?

3. Boxmind E-Lectures

Comment #35752 by boxmonkey on April 28, 2007 at 7:15 pm

boxmind.com is some kind of lame gateway page. And the domain is for sale, apparently. Anyone know the correct URL for this?

4. T. rex tissue shows they are related to chickens

Comment #31704 by boxmonkey on April 13, 2007 at 11:55 pm

Anyone who has had a pet parrot can easily imagine them as small, evolved dinosaurs. Some of the terrors seem to still believe themselves to be T-rexes, too.

5. The New Atheists

Comment #16547 by boxmonkey on January 7, 2007 at 9:35 am

Is anyone else annoyed that a segment on the new atheists contains only an interview with a theist, and not only that but gives him the last word on each point?

6. God's Gift to Kansas

Comment #662 by boxmonkey on October 5, 2006 at 5:32 pm

Notice, first, the biased logic: if theory A fails in some particular, theory B must be right! We are encouraged to leap to the default conclusion without even looking to see whether the default theory fails in the very same particular.

A good analogy that I thought of for this the other day is:
Theory 1: The number of decimal places in pi goes on infinitely with no emerging patterns.
Theory 2: The value of pi is 3.

Imagine: In 100 years someone invents a computer that calculates pi out to a billion billion billion decimal places and discovers a pattern, or repetition, or whatever.

pi is still not equal to 3, even if the bible says it is.

7. Collateral Damage: Part 2

Comment #657 by boxmonkey on October 5, 2006 at 5:16 pm

I agree with Sean. Additinally, it is important to realize that smart bombs are not nearly as smart as we are lead to believe. I highly recommend that everyone watch the movie "Why We Fight" which is basically about the Military-Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned against when he was leaving office.