1. The $10,000-a-Month Psychic

Comment #200946 by bachfiend on June 28, 2008 at 3:03 pm

You have to admire her initiative. At $10,000 a month she is probably more productive than many a CEO, who probably get paid that much just to get up in the morning to destroy shareholder value. Her teaching seminars sound much more interesting than many a meeting I have been forced to attend over the years (although I may be wrong; during most of them I was in a state of induced semi-coma).

2. Christianity 'could die out within a century'

Comment #197338 by bachfiend on June 21, 2008 at 7:23 pm

We really couldn't be that lucky.

3. Lawsuit filed over 'I Believe' plates in S.C.

Comment #196899 by bachfiend on June 20, 2008 at 3:04 pm

The study about having a lot of bumper stickers increasing the chances of that driver engaging in road rage reported a whopping SIXTEEN PERCENT increase. It seems to me that a 16% increase in something that isn't particularly common isn't going to make it particularly common.

4. The Mother, The Child, The School Board And The Psychic

Comment #196269 by bachfiend on June 19, 2008 at 2:55 pm

I thought "Yes" was going to be a great tip; I just had a quick listen to it on iTunes. Cripes, I think I would prefer to spend a few hours in Ken Ham's Creation Museum, with the 'great' man giving me a personal tour. This story reminds of the joke of an Australian female ex-premier once told; Q: What is the difference between an American pit bull terrier and a social worker? A: A pit bull terrier will sometimes give back your child.

5. Charles Darwin: 'Is man an ape or an angel?'

Comment #195679 by bachfiend on June 18, 2008 at 4:59 pm

I looked at the Telegraph clip of David Attenborough, and I also noticed an interesting clip; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/telegraphtv/?ID=News&bcpid=1452197391&bclid=1453516501&bctid=1610662133
on measuring the speed of light in your very own kitchen!

6. We Urgently Need Your Help Now!!

Comment #195661 by bachfiend on June 18, 2008 at 4:42 pm

I didn't believe that Governor Jindal says that Intelligent Design is the very best science, so I watched the debate; http://www.lpb.org/podcast/video/forum20070927.mp4
The quote occurs about 3 quarters of the way through the debate, and Bobby Jindal appeared to be trying to duck the question concentrating on abortion and public prayers. I find it ironic that in his preliminary remarks, he said that he regarded one of his main concerns was providing high quality education to Louisiana.

7. Astronomers find batch of 'super-Earths'

Comment #194389 by bachfiend on June 16, 2008 at 5:23 pm

Getting back to something serious, the planet Earth, aged 4,000,000,000 years, said in a release published on; http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/environment/i'll-be-just-fine,-says-planet-20080306774/
that it isn't worried about global warming.

8. Atheists are nice people who will roast in hell, says Cardinal

Comment #194374 by bachfiend on June 16, 2008 at 4:58 pm

Bad news, guys, it's a spoof. The Catholics aren't promising to ignore us. But I did notice a great article on the iPhone;
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-&-technology/apple-forced-to-recall-iphone-after-toaster-fault-20070628245/
which makes me want to get one.

9. Astronomers find batch of 'super-Earths'

Comment #194366 by bachfiend on June 16, 2008 at 4:37 pm

The first thing that occurred to me when I read this article was; has anyone actually named these new planets? If not this would be a great money-making exercise, perhaps we could auction the naming rights on eBay? The second thing that occurred to me is that I wouldn't want to move to one of them; the thought that I'd be 967 years old on the one orbiting in 20 days doesn't appeal.

10. Vatican bans Dan Brown film Angels & Demons from Rome churches

Comment #194319 by bachfiend on June 16, 2008 at 3:42 pm

Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" reminds me of the Mark Twain quote: "Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't". So obviously with the ludicrous plot, characterisation, etc etc etc, "Angels and Demons" must obviously be fact. My favourite device from the book was the portable magnetic container for the anti-matter, with a battery source that has enough power for exactly 24 hours (not 23 hours and 48 seconds, or 24 hours and 18 seconds) at which time the anti-matter comes into contact with the surrounding matter and explodes. And the container isn't detectable by a metal detector (?plastic magnets). I wish I'd taken Dorothy Parker's advice: "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force". (I suppose I shouldn't admit that I did enjoy reading the da Vinci Code, but only because it didn't impose too many demands on the reader).

11. George W Bush meets Pope amid claims he might convert to Catholicism

Comment #193768 by bachfiend on June 16, 2008 at 3:02 am

Personally, when I convert, I'm going to pick Lastthursdayism. I mean, it explains so much, such as the reason why I can't remember anything before last Friday night; obviously the programming of my false memories each week has always been a failure.

12. Scientists confirm that parts of earliest genetic material may have come from the stars

Comment #192823 by bachfiend on June 14, 2008 at 2:40 am

I'm sceptical too. The heavier form of carbon referred to is carbon 13, a stable non-radioactive isotope which makes up 1% of the carbon on Earth, so it doesn't require cosmic radiation to form. Frankly, it reminds me of that very silly novel by Dan Brown "Deception Point" (all right, I know that they are all silly).

13. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #190977 by bachfiend on June 10, 2008 at 3:06 am

Just out of interest, I tried to calculate the Hovind Factors score for this article, and I arrived at a perfect 100. Has Kent been released on parole?

14. When two worlds collide: threat of class warfare over faith-based schooling

Comment #189920 by bachfiend on June 7, 2008 at 4:29 pm

I'm just watching the SBS podcast. One student said that she is encouraged to include religion in all subjects; when asked how she did that in mathematics, she answered she didn't know. That's easy; �=3.0000 exactly (Kings 7;23). If it wasn't so serious, I'd be laughing about this nonsense.

15. Opponents of Evolution Adopting a New Strategy

Comment #188954 by bachfiend on June 5, 2008 at 3:13 am

Yeah, right, Evolution can't explain the Cambrian "explosion", which occurred from 600 to 520 million years ago, over a period of 80 million years, and in which the number of recorded genera had dropped by the middle Cambrian (see page 168, "Evolution, What the Fossils Say..." by Donald Prothero.

16. Lizards make adaptive change

Comment #187920 by bachfiend on June 3, 2008 at 3:49 am

The reason for intestinal webs and diaphragms with NSAIDs is a bit prosaic. Pharmaceutical companies just love enterically coating their nasty products to delay the side effects. The enteric coating forms a gooey sticky mess which sticks to the mucosa in the bowel causing an ulcer, and subsequent tablets tend to stick at the same spot(s) and the repair causes the webs etc. If there is something toxic in the lizards' new diet, it could be causing the same thing. I still think the easiest thing to do would be to see if the caecal valve persists in the lizards if they are fed on their original diet.

17. Lizards make adaptive change

Comment #187333 by bachfiend on June 2, 2008 at 1:16 am

It is interesting that caecal valves develop so quickly in response to a change in diet, but I have my doubts. Humans taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for long periods develop intestinal webs and diaphragms (which look a bit similar to the caecal valves) and which look so well-formed as if they were a "normal" structure (occasionally children without a history of NSAID use develop identical structures, so there must be other causes in the diet). I suppose one way of deciding would be to take a control population of the new lizards and feed them on the old diet and see if they still have the caecal valves.
I find the Russian work on the tame silver fox (referred to in the Ancestor's Tale) much more interesting. See:
http://cbsu.tc.cornell.edu/ccgr/behaviour/02_Movies/tame1_04.MPG

18. Top 6 Incestuous Relationships In The Bible

Comment #185535 by bachfiend on May 28, 2008 at 3:18 am

I think I read in Jared Diamond's "The Third Chimpanzee", that most animals have a built-in mechanism to avoid incest. For example, male mice are imprinted to prefer female mice that sort of look like their mothers or female litter mates, but not too closely (how their tiny minds can recognise the difference is beyond me; all mice look exactly the same to me). It explains why there are geographical variations in humans. Swedes tend to be fair, blond and blue-eyed not because the lack of sunshine favoured less melanin to avoid vitamin D deficiency, but because the small numbers of Homo sapiens who went to Scandanavia 4000 years ago were fair, blond and blue-eyed, and were favoured as partners over darker individuals.

19. Huge hidden biomass lives deep beneath the oceans

Comment #184380 by bachfiend on May 24, 2008 at 11:18 pm

Comment #184349 by chuckgoecke on May 24, 2008 at 6:14 pm
I think this supports the idea of panasperma, extraterrestrial life may have seeded Earth. Organisms like this would both be able to survive the shattering blow of a planetoid, maybe Mars sized, like they think hit the Earth and gave rise to the Moon, as well as ejection into deep space, to travel for millions(or billions) of years to other star systems, crash down on another planet, and start up living again. Interesting possibilities. Life is incredibly tenacious.

I think that panspermia is still a very doubtful hypothesis. The catch in it, is that it is extremely likely that any bacteria would be able to survive the prolonged cosmic radiation it would be exposed to. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia
Although the article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans
is also very interesting.

20. The Faith of Flanders

Comment #184348 by bachfiend on May 24, 2008 at 6:11 pm

I am afraid I have just been converted to a Young Earth Creationist. I made the mistake of clicking on the link showing Homer Simpson proving conclusively to Ned Flanders that God doesn't exist, and I found definite documentary evidence that humans co-existed with dinosaurs.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BdeysEJY_Gc&feature=related

21. Huge hidden biomass lives deep beneath the oceans

Comment #184343 by bachfiend on May 24, 2008 at 5:51 pm

7. Comment #184334 by Szkeptik on May 24, 2008 at 4:49 pm
"Prokaryotes are organisms that often have just one cell."

Often? Could someone give me a single example on multicellular procariotes?

Yes. A biofilm; "...a complex aggregation of microorganisms marked by the excretion of a protective and adhesive matrix. Biofilms are also often characterized by surface attachment, structural heterogeneity, genetic diversity, complex community interactions, and an extracellular matrix of polymeric substances". "Biofilms can contain many different types of microorganism, e.g. bacteria, archaea, protozoa, fungi and algae; each group performing specialized metabolic functions. However, some organisms will form monospecies films under certain conditions". (wikipedia)
Dental plaque is probably the one most people would be familiar with.
Ref: Shapiro, J. A. 1998. “Thinking about bacterial populations as multicellular organisms.� Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 52: 81-104.

22. Shaw TV Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #176268 by bachfiend on May 7, 2008 at 3:54 am

I think that we should stop commenting about the Holocaust, but I would like to note that David Irving (not exactly an unbiased authority, to put it mildly), in his book "Hitler's War" provides many examples of mass-murders of Jews. The main point point he makes, is that there isn't a single document signed by Hitler, ordering the Holocaust. He made many statements, though, including treating Jews like the tubercle bacillus (you don't deport bacteria or put them into camps).

23. The History Channel might do something right

Comment #176247 by bachfiend on May 7, 2008 at 2:14 am

I suppose when they say 95% of living species have eyes, they are not taking it literally and also exaggerating, including simple photoreceptors as eyes, and other senses as eyes too, such as bats seeing with sonar, dogs seeing by smell, racoons seeing by touch, platypuses seeing by electrical currents with their bills, etc. But even then 95% does seem high. Hopefully, they will include an account of how rhodopsin developed. That was a problem with Richard Dawkins' account of eyes (I forget which book it was in), but he stopped at the ultrastructural level. Behe gave an account of rhodopsin in his book, and then declared ignorance, sorry victory, declaring that it had to be designed.

24. The detail in the Devil

Comment #176244 by bachfiend on May 7, 2008 at 1:53 am

C'mon, give the man a chance. It might even be a reasonable read (although I doubt it, from personal experience, most people who take religion seriously, don't have a sense of humour). It might even provide a subject for a contest to pick on which page the plot becomes so ludicrous that no one can believe it.

25. Dumb and Dumber: A discussion between Ben Stein and Glenn Beck

Comment #175785 by bachfiend on May 6, 2008 at 3:12 am

I suggest Ben Stein should run for dog catcher, but I think he will underqualified.

26. Shaw TV Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #175613 by bachfiend on May 5, 2008 at 5:33 pm

I am now convinced. Not only didn't the Holocaust occur, but also Charles Darwin was directly and personally responsible for it, as I have it on PZ Myer's authority:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/04/i_am_persuaded_that_darwin_kil.php
He also provides a good link to John Wilkin's site proving that Darwin was also responsible the persecution of Jews over the prior 1600 years:
http://scienceblogs.com/evolvingthoughts/2008/04/stein_is_right_darwinism_cause.php
I had some slight hesitation in accepting their word, partly because both were dated April 1, but then I found a blog from the Reverend Paul T Hipple saying that they are right.
http://protoplasm.wordpress.com/
The Reverend Paul T Hipple also provides a marvellous review of a special screening of "Expelled": "Furthermore, Christian Souls are placed at great risk by the mere act of unwittingly sitting in a dark theater nearby a Dark-sided soul, such as that of an Atheist, Satanist or secular Biologist." (such as Richard Dawkins) " Also, there are numerous reports coming in from the field that these uninvited characters are disrupting the screenings, by yelling out catcalls during objectionable scenes, arguing with the Discussion Leader, asking stupid questions, cursing, spitting, making loud farting sounds" (hopefully this isn't referring to Professor Dawkins?), "and worst of all, refusing to turn their cell phones off" (well, at least he's got a sense of proportion).

27. Shaw TV Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #175278 by bachfiend on May 5, 2008 at 4:55 am

Turkey isn't as moderate as you think, Goldy. I was in Istanbul last September, and for amusement I was looking at the "Expelled" blog, when I came across some comments by the Reverend Paul T Hipple, and I laughed so much that I had to attempt to log onto his home page, and access was BLOCKED by some Turkish authority, for being dangerous. [Actually perhaps they were right: I've just looked at his website, where he says that he will try to post an interblog everyday, now that "...I am on parole" (????) and the first 2 entries on his comments section are:
GOD Says:
August 15, 2007 at 7:03 am
You, my sad little talking ape, are fucking insane.

Hipple, Rev. Paul T. Says:
August 15, 2007 at 7:20 am
I know you are not God. I prayed to God and asked Him if He said these things to me on my interweb. You are using God’s name in vain, and must cease and desist.
He did mention that YOU, and your hateful and sinful attitude are causing tears to fall down the cheeks of the loving Baby Jesus His Son Christ.

(I wish I hadn't looked at it, I think I've pulled a chest muscle laughing).

28. Shaw TV Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #175270 by bachfiend on May 5, 2008 at 4:26 am

ASM, I know that the Holocaust happened, because it was only 66 years ago, and there is documentary proof that it did happen, with photos of emaciated corpses, piles of dentures and other personal items, etc and personal memories. I know that god doesn't exist, because the utter implausibility of his existence would require very strong evidence in support of it. It's the difference between some evidence (the bit not disposed of by the perpetrators) and absolutely no evidence.

29. Research Volunteers Needed

Comment #175265 by bachfiend on May 5, 2008 at 3:49 am

I have just finished all 4 surveys; the one about Jesus ascending to heaven was easy. Even if there wasn't a Jesus Christ (and there certainly wasn't), there still would have been a few Jesuses (??Jesii) in Jerusalem at the time, some even with a brother named James and a father named Joseph. The one about the world becoming a better place if I became world dictator was also easy, even after answering that I don't like being a leader or taking authority. After killing all the lawyers ("The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers", Henry VI {part 2}), the next thing I'd do is to put the various portfolios into the hands of the best people (eg Religious Affairs-Richard Dawkins, etc), then retire.

30. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #165103 by bachfiend on April 21, 2008 at 4:08 am

Referring to comment 25 by Quine, with the link to 2 pieces of "crap", I notice that the first one was written by Bruce Walker. Two other interesting articles by this writer are http://www.conservativetruth.org/article.php?id=143 which refers to Judochristian religion as being entirely good in contrast to the evil religions of, say, islam, and http://www.conservativetruth.org/article.php?id=392 which refers to global cooling as being the current major problem of the world.
I was also bemused on the webpage for both links there were advertisements for the DVD "The God Who Wasn't There" (the non-existence of Jesus Christ, which I have just ordered).

31. Gods and earthlings

Comment #164118 by bachfiend on April 19, 2008 at 2:58 pm

I am impressed by "clearmind's" persistence (comment 57) in submitting so many dissenting comments in such a short time (over a hundred, many very long, in about a month, and I thought that I didn't have a life!). Personally, I think that the incredible fact about the Earth is that it has such a relatively large satellite (the Moon) to cause tides and to stabilise the Earth's rotation. From our experience, we know that 100% of planets bearing life have such a large satellite. So if "God" created life on the Earth, he must have also arranged for some Mars size planet to collide with the proto-Earth some 4 billion years ago, so not only is he a biochemist par excellence, but also no mean billiard player.

32. Religious education as a part of literary culture

Comment #163037 by bachfiend on April 17, 2008 at 9:44 pm

I was wondering; is there anyone, anywhere in the World, who has managed to read the Bible from cover to cover in a reasonably short time? It's said that that the Bible has sold more copies than the Harry Potter books, but at least I can guarantee that most of these were actually read. From the times I've attempted to read parts of the Bible, I've found it extremely hard going and nonsensical. I've found a website that offers the Bible complete as an audiobook, the fact that it is 90 hours long and 5GB in size tends to put me off.

33. The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

Comment #161235 by bachfiend on April 15, 2008 at 3:56 am

I am almost tempted to see "Expelled" too, just to see if it is as bad as I have read it is. If it is shown at a Multiscreen complex in my area (and that's a bit doubtful), I suppose I could buy a ticket to another film in the complex and sneak into "Expelled".

34. German Church admits aiding Nazis

Comment #159337 by bachfiend on April 12, 2008 at 1:33 am

I'm not certain that it is absolutely true that there wasn't anything anyone could not have done against the Nazis without risk. Viktor Klemperer after all did manage to survive in Dresden till February 13, 1945 (he was due to be deported to a "resettlement" camp on the 14th), because he was married to a non-Jew. (Jewish spouses in mixed marriages got slightly better treatment because of the protests of their non-Jewish partners). The allied bombing raid on Dresden on the 13/14th February then saved his life.