1. Only a Theory

Comment #193517 by foxfire on June 15, 2008 at 6:40 pm

Josh, thanks for posting the NPR interview - Miller is scheduled for the Colbert Report tomorrow (Monday 6/16/08). My copy of the book arrived several days ago and made it to the top of the read pile. I've just started and am finding it an excellent read.

Unfortunately, the anti-evolution scum haven't given up after Dover and are now inundating state legislatures with moronic "academic freedom" bills to "promote critical thinking skills".

SSDD......

2. A New Flea

Comment #160352 by foxfire on April 14, 2008 at 1:36 am

Well-known broadcaster and author Keith Ward is one of Britain's foremost philosopher-theologians.

Never hear of the dude across the "pond"

Ward demonstrates not only how Dawkins' arguments are flawed, but that a perfectly rational case can be made that there, almost certainly, is a God.

Yeah, right. Blah, blah from yet another yahoo that wants to make a buck from the gullible. Try preaching...it pays better.

3. Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

Comment #160342 by foxfire on April 14, 2008 at 1:13 am

The Bible - as literature, if nothing else - should be an essential part of every child's experience. And children should study the great Christian art of the past, too.

Yeah...Dawkins makes this very point not only in several of his books but also in interviews. Been paying attention a lot Mark? Developing a conclusion based on your own observations?

Apparently not.

As for the title of your article:

Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

I find that personally offensive. Since when has secular been defined as anti-art? And since when has the Christian god been a criteria for producing great art (see ancient Egypt, Greece, India, China, Persia, yadda)

Mark Ravenhill, you have the same mindset as the religious extremists in my country, which you so vehemently oppose.

4. The Giant Tortoise's Tale

Comment #136799 by foxfire on March 1, 2008 at 5:26 pm

Thank you Richard and Josh, for posting these two tales as well as the most excellent tale of the Salamander, and I too am looking forward to your third.

Book. Audio Book. Video Book?

Cool!

5. Study: Religion colors Americans' views of nanotechnology

Comment #128748 by foxfire on February 17, 2008 at 10:07 pm

Oh good grief - my bet would be that 50% of my fellow Americans have no clue what nano-technology means much less have any idea if it would be a good/bad thing overall. Too engaged in the next episode of "American Idol" while waiting for the "Rapture" (praise Jay-sus for the price drop in Mickey-D/Burger King).

(I can has BIG cheezeburger !...)

6. This Is Not a Test

Comment #99894 by foxfire on December 17, 2007 at 6:57 pm

Gotta *love* that Hitch!

He says it like I feel.

7. Richard Dawkins at AAI 07

Comment #85990 by foxfire on November 7, 2007 at 5:43 pm

I so do hope the AAI07 DVD(s)are available in time for Christmas!

Sorry....somebody just *had* to say it! ;-)

8. Deep in the Sea, Imagining the Cradle of Life on Earth

Comment #79014 by foxfire on October 15, 2007 at 10:04 pm

As you go down, you see shades of blue that don't exist on the terrestrial earth.

What a cool article. What a cool scientist.

9. Stretching the Search for Signs of Life

Comment #78598 by foxfire on October 13, 2007 at 5:46 pm

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence has lived on the kindness of strangers since Congress canceled a NASA-sponsored search using existing radio telescopes in 1993, only a year after it had begun.

Gee, that was when Newt Gingrich's "moral majority" effort took over Congress and the Whitehouse. I will not offer my opinion about how U.S. government support of things scientific have gone downhill ever since ;-)

The Seti Institute, which was to have conducted a search of nearby stars under contract to NASA, raised money from Silicon Valley and revived the search as Project Phoenix, using existing radio telescopes.

And then there was SETI@home sponsored by UC Berkeley (I think, or maybe UCLA), where individuals were able to help "crunch" the data using their home computers (uploading/downloading data/results via the Internet).

The "Allen Array"...that's COOL!

10. MORE GOOD NEWS for US taxpayers

Comment #72559 by foxfire on September 21, 2007 at 4:27 pm

I don't understand this Comment. The starting date is April 2006 not April 2007. Surely nobody gave before April 2006? Or have I misunderstood something about the way US taxes work?

Richard

Sorry Professor, that was my misinterpretation (I was thinking April 2007 not 2006). I should have known better because the RDF Foundation site stated that RDF was seeking tax exempt status when I joined early in 2007.

I keep wanting to believe it is still 2006, perhaps being reluctant to join the "over 55" category. The good news is: not just "YeeHaw"....double "YeeHaw" and I do thank you for pointing out 2006 is the correct year for tax exemption purposes!

11. MORE GOOD NEWS for US taxpayers

Comment #72304 by foxfire on September 20, 2007 at 5:39 pm

Aw RATS! March. Oh well, guess I'll just have to do it again (where is that darn donate button;-)

12. Good News: Both our Foundations are now Officially Recognized as Charities

Comment #70290 by foxfire on September 14, 2007 at 6:14 pm

YAY!!! Now I gotta find out if I can deduct donations made this year in months before RDF received the tax exempt status. One wonders if RDF had been a (christian) "faith-based" non-political organization, that the tax-exempt process might have been much shorter and less expensive. Maybe the Feds need to check that RDF wasn't actually supporting some radical Al Queda cause (snicker).

!!!!YAY TO RDF!!!!

13. OUT Campaign Launched, 'Scarlet Letter' Shirts Now Available!

Comment #59312 by foxfire on July 28, 2007 at 7:16 pm

@pzmyers

OK - my last attempt to post on possible miss-interpretations of the scarlet A didn't make it so here is my position:

I'll wear my baby-blue T and the FIRST male that misinterprets the message of a scarlet "A" as meaning "free and easy" will develop a new understanding of possible interpretation. I tend to aim low.

And I STILL WANT a T-shirt with the Darwin fishy-not and the RDF logo. So sue me.

14. OUT Campaign Launched, 'Scarlet Letter' Shirts Now Available!

Comment #59275 by foxfire on July 28, 2007 at 4:47 pm

Although I don't think it's at all ugly, I would have preferred something a bit more representative, like thelivingbrain's suggestion of the RDF logo (post # 23 above) and/or the Darwin "fish-with-feet" like Anthropomorphic's avatar (Post # 13 above).

Oh well, I ordered one anyway.


edited to add:

@ bluebird (post # 29 above) - maybe that's why I'm not very enthusiatic too. To me, the "scarlet letter" A carries the connotation of being an adultress because of that book. I'll wear the T-shirt around the house and not when I go out because I don't think most people will "get" the message. I can just see a lot of irate questions asking me why I'm promoting adultery....

15. Richard Dawkins Replies to David Sloan Wilson

Comment #55629 by foxfire on July 11, 2007 at 6:48 pm

No, he doesn't.

Exactly! I posted a reply that didn't seem to "take" (using the same reasons) and yours is much more succinct. Kudos to you upsidedawn.

16. Inferior Design: Richard Dawkins reviews Behe's lastest book

Comment #53505 by foxfire on July 1, 2007 at 7:06 pm

Oh THANK YOU for posting this!!!! I read about it at Pharyngula and PZ apologized for the link to the NYT article being a subscription item.

As usual, Dawkins ROCKS! He really points out something quite important. Having lost the "irreducible complexity" argument, descent with modification and natural selection become no problemo. Now goddidit is in the mutations some random and some goddidit.

I can hardly wait for the next version of "Of Pandas and People" that the IDC crowd want to insert into the science classroom. Oh well, the IDCers might want to start thinking of "Wedge strategy" as a Brie that is (slowly) being devoured by Science. Then again, it's not a very good cheese or it would be gone faster....

Yup, Lehigh University still has the disclaimer:

http://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/news/evolution.htm

BEAUTIFUL article and thank you for sharing it with us, Professor!

17. Evolution IS a Blind Watchmaker

Comment #51758 by foxfire on June 24, 2007 at 5:56 pm

That is clever and very well done - kudos! Evolving clocks with survival based on accuracy and with "junk"(DNA)gears. Totally cool!

I don't think you are going to catch many Creationist types with this and it's really brilliantly done from my layman's perspective.

18. Observer Diary 27th May 2007

Comment #45463 by foxfire on May 27, 2007 at 11:35 pm

philos wrote:

No doubt - it was soooo Leonardo DiCaprioish for Richard to be frolicking about on a private plane bashing internal combustion engines, basically big oil. Gimme a break! Your politics are as confused as a 3rd rate wanna be celeb. Stick to the Science you know; we'll respect you more and you won't appear so foolish.

Oh gee, a sanctimonious know-it-all pops up to chastise Dawkins and expound on who gives what to whom.

I am not familiar with the Bono controversy; anyone?

Here is the link to Bono's website: http://www.data.org/?gclid=CJbJuYucsIwCFSnKggodImi4SA

The controversy is because *some* people think Aids is god's retribution on homosexuals. Ignorent fools that they are, they apparently don't understand that much of Aids in Africa is due to some cultural/evolutionary drive that causes married males to share the disease with their wives, after they have "sported" with other females.


As far as I'm concerned, your obnoxious, self-rightous attitude is only exceeded by your ignorence.

(edited to add):

The other aspect of the controversy (with respect to U.S. aid dollars) is because condoms are not handed out to help prevent the spread of Aids. Apparently the religious right feels the distribution of condoms would encourage promiscuity. Say hallelujah! Another woman dies for the glory of some male god.

19. Observer Diary 27th May 2007

Comment #45433 by foxfire on May 27, 2007 at 6:06 pm

Thank you Professor D, for sharing your journey with us in a (as always) well written, informative and entertaining way. I could feel your pain, not to mention your frustration, with the ponderous monstrosity of bureaucracy called "Homeland Security". I suppose its next pointless waste of my tax dollars will be to build a fence between the U.S. and Mexico; large, ugly fences being a really great way to piss off the neighbors and thus secure even less cooperation on anything of mutual interest.

Your description of the Galapagos was sheer poetry and the fact that my eyes are watering may have more to do with your closing paragraph than seasonal pollen.

As far as a new spring in my step - it was YOUR book, Professor that made me realize that I was even in a closet. Others you wrote woke me up to the realization of just how much I missed the world of science.

Thank you for sharing and you really *do* need one of those Teslas! Look at the good side of the wait - let us (Yanks) get the bugs worked out before you pay the big bucks for a Brit model

20. Group Threatens to Sue Pentagon Over Military Role in Evangelical Festival

Comment #45426 by foxfire on May 27, 2007 at 5:23 pm

B.T. Murtagh wrote:

As a US Navy veteran I'd like to point out that the military is a particularly dangerous venue in which to allow this kind of unfettered evangelism.

Absolutely(!!!) and thank you for the terrific post. Like we(humanity) need a bunch of nukes under the control of evangelical nutjobs who think their mission is to convert the world .....one way or another.

21. Teachers rebel over atheism promotion

Comment #45191 by foxfire on May 26, 2007 at 6:47 pm

Canuck#1 wrote:

AS A RETIRED teacher from a system that did not allow any outside organization to advertise in the schools I cannot believe this......utter nonsense. There is enough stress to teaching without being a "shill" for some outside organization.....and that includes all of them no matter how the community feels, no exceptions.

THANK YOU! That is EXACTLY the point I was trying to make and you stated much more succinctly.

22. Teachers rebel over atheism promotion

Comment #45028 by foxfire on May 25, 2007 at 8:23 pm

Veronique wrote:

It's not so much what to teach as how to learn that is the basic problem. Once they are shown how to learn then their curiosity is set free to wander over all and sundry. I thought that that was what education was. Not narrowly constrained within job prospect parameters.

Total agreement with you. Sadly, I have no clue how to "get critical thinking into curricula as a core subject from primary school onwards". I think that is currently under the control of individuals (parents, teachers, peers.....and ya know what? - maybe people like me that could volunteer to help with kids - what the heck - I'm retired. Sorry....freeflow going on - just got an idea!)

23. Teachers rebel over atheism promotion

Comment #45026 by foxfire on May 25, 2007 at 8:16 pm

Vertigo25 said:

ClearBlue:
No, no, no... you said it wrong it's, "if you READ the article it SAYS: "The distribution or display of THIS material is PROVIDED as a community service and is not printed at TAXPAYERS' expense""

Thank you Vertigo25 - that's precisely why my gripe didn't include cost of material to be distributed (sigh). Thanks again for getting the point and expending the effort to reply - I appreciate your tact and would have probably been much less graceful in getting the point across ;-)

24. Teachers rebel over atheism promotion

Comment #45007 by foxfire on May 25, 2007 at 7:09 pm

The representative said the teachers were "disgusted" with the latest addition to the pile of information that they call the "backpack express."

and

Officials said during 2005-2006, the school handled 97 advertisement distribution requests, ranging from children's theater and Cub Scouts to summer camps, swimming and softball leagues.

I am not a parent or teacher. I AM a taxpayer. I would like to know WHY the SIGNIFICANT property tax I pay for K1-12 education subsidizes HANDING OUT advertisements in a classroom. I think of salaries paid to teachers (presumedly for educating) and freeking administrators (for doing whatever they think they do).

I think about the time spent arranging for advertisement handouts (time spent reviewing material to ensure it is appropriate for distribution, sorting material so the correct number of ads get to each classroom, non-educational time spent by teachers/students in distribution of material and understanding why it is being distributed) and I want to SCREAM!

That is MY TAX MONEY!

If organizations want to have material available for distribution in state (TAXPAYER FUNDED)educational systems, then set up bulletin boards/tables in common areas where students can pick up material if they are interested. And CHARGE the organizations that want their material distributed, to cover ALL costs associated with the distribution (space, setting it out, clean-up and removal for non-distributed material).

I am SICK and TIRED of the whining about how education is "underfunded". So lose a few non-essential "administrators" (and I'm not talking about janitors - I mean the highly paid yahoos whose primary purpose seems to be arranging for more money and micro-managing teachers), charge people who want to have space to distribute material (and do it at a PROFIT for the educational system so teachers don't have to spend their own bucks to buy BASIC educational material).

Wow....that was a real polemic (and it felt soooo good ;-)

I get really annoyed when parents, teachers, school administrators and students ASSUME they are the only players in this game. None-of-the-above TAXPAYERS get to play too. If some clown-outfit schoolboard EVER wants to drag ID into a classroom that MY TAXES are funding, they will find out just how much I can play.

I want my money going to EDUCATE the kids that are our future, which includes teaching them how to analyze and think for themselves.

Sorry folks for the diatribe - the article hit a "sore nerve", so to speak.

25. Comic in US 'hate speech' row

Comment #44972 by foxfire on May 25, 2007 at 5:41 pm

Pat Condell has faced a barrage of criticism after links to his anti-Muslim monologue on YouTube were circulated to commissioners in the city of Berkeley.

Berkeley,CA? Say no more....where political correctness loses all reason whatsoever....

26. Lightning damages Jesus statue

Comment #44438 by foxfire on May 24, 2007 at 6:03 pm

Don't look for any religious symbolism here - it was only a freak act of Mother Nature, says Sister Ilaria.

and

"There were pilgrims up there on the hill," Sister Ilaria said. "The biggest miracle is no one got hit with the falling debris."

I am completely amazed at peoples' ability to "rationalize" physical phenomena on the basis of "faith". Oh well, look at the good side - Sister Ilaria attributed the lightning bolt to nature as opposed to humanity being punished by god for the sin of abortion/homosexuality/whatever.....

27. Catholic Church Reconsiders Limbo

Comment #43225 by foxfire on May 21, 2007 at 12:26 am

When are catholics going to catch on that these people are just making shit up as they go along and have been for 1500 years?

Give it another 1500 years which, in geologic time, is pretty quick. Of course, the innumerable offshoots that evolve and survive during that period will moot the question. Given that the species survives that long, of course.

28. Television evangelist Falwell dies at 73

Comment #41284 by foxfire on May 15, 2007 at 7:19 pm

As much as I despise Falwell's beliefs and actions, I cannot help but feel somewhat sad:

He died without understanding the magnificence of life and the universe, without the need for an imaginary supernatural agent as first cause and directing entity.

He died before he recognized that humans with an innate (not chosen) minority sexual preference are people just like him, with hopes and dreams and loved ones.

He died before he could understand the damage he did and compensate for the hurt he caused people who had not ever harmed him or those he loved.

He died before learning that he could smile because there is no hell, not to mention the tenuous, mind-numbing prospect of an eternal heaven.

He left grieving people who loved him, who could not be with him when he died.

And so I can't help feeling somewhat sad....

29. Cardinal: homosexuality a form of prostitution

Comment #39448 by foxfire on May 10, 2007 at 5:02 pm

BaronOchs wrote:

Silly me for forgetting what a great promoter of sex education and protected sex the catholic church has been. Sorry to go on at such length but I feel this dirty tactic ought to be exposed.

Oops! I'm sorry, I should have pointed that out. In no way do I equate homosexuality with pedophilia. I was looking at the situation as here they are, once again, casting stones when they should be cleaning up their own act. They *finally* apologized for the Inquisition and now they apologize for not monitoring for/punishing pedophilia.

I can just see the day when they finally apologize for demonizing a perfectly natural segment of the population who happen to be born with a sexual preference for their own gender. Then it will be all "let us heal, yadda, yadda" with a "sorry folks, but who knew" to all the good people whose lives they destroyed. Ditto the same approach towards birth control.

Again, I apologize for not being clear and thanks Baron, for pointing out what truly is a dirty tactic.

30. Cardinal: homosexuality a form of prostitution

Comment #39023 by foxfire on May 9, 2007 at 6:54 pm

The opposition of the Roman Catholic church to gay Pride parades reached a new low today when the Archbishop of Riga called homosexuality "total corruption in the sexual arena" and "an unnatural form of prostitution."

Of course ol' Riga (mortis?) doesn't seem to have any comments on this issue:

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/12/portland-archdiocese-files-new.php

Which was recently settled:

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=23829

From the last link:

The archbishop announced a service for reconciliation and healing set for June.

Reconciliation with all who have been hurt is "the ultimate grace we seek," he said. He said he hopes the transparent bankruptcy process will ensure that civil and church institutions learn the lessons definitively.

Apparently, from Riga's statement, lessons are only definitively learned when one gets caught with one's hands in the "cookie jar", so to speak.

Oh Hypocrisy, your foul stench just keeps on truckin'.

31. The moment a teenage girl was stoned to death for loving the wrong boy

Comment #37808 by foxfire on May 5, 2007 at 7:21 pm

It's horrific that Du'a Khalil Aswad was so conditioned to be passive that she didn't pick up the rock that the first bastard threw at her and give it back, right between the eyes. If you're gonna die anyway, take as many of them with you as you can.

Too bad the other women in Bashika were so conditioned to obey that they didn't pick up their own rocks and start lobbing them at that pack of crazed male humanoids, to redirect their attention.

This is only going to get worse until the women in that environment quit thinking of themselves as chattel and insist upon being recognized as human beings.

I'm not advocating that women should try to emulate men in their behavior or their objectives. We (females/males) are different as a result of evolutionary processes. I think we need to deal with what our past has given us and continue to progress such that (thanks Scott Atran for the meme) stone age brains can evolve to a space age world.

32. The kiss that brought immorality debate to a head

Comment #37799 by foxfire on May 5, 2007 at 6:37 pm

Richard Dawkins wrote:

It is at least a relief to learn that she was wearing gloves and that she made some token attempt to cover her hair, thereby partially reducing the otherwise uncontrollable lust which would necessarily afflict all males who encountered her.

Professor, that is exactly what ran through my mind when I read the insane reaction to what appeared to me, to be an expression of gratitude and respect (Ahmadinejad does gallant? What a guy-Not!).

Then again......a bunch of twenty-something males that probably have never touched a woman except their mother and possibly sisters (when they were pre-pubescent)and rarely, if ever, get to even see a woman's face.....

From Najmeh Gholi Pour's perspective: she has got to be secretly pleased about the whole thing. Reminds me of the time a McCormick & Schmick's waiter "carded" me in Washington D.C. when I was about 43. He knew that I knew that he was B.S.ing and still...he got a very respectible tip.

33. Lou Dobbs Interviews Christopher Hitchens

Comment #37557 by foxfire on May 4, 2007 at 10:54 pm

Thanks to CruciFiction for the excellent capture and Josh for amazing ability to manage this site.

This was a fantastic interview and I sincerely thank you both for providing me with the means to view it!

34. Republican candidates range from ignorant to dishonest

Comment #37553 by foxfire on May 4, 2007 at 10:29 pm

Riley wrote:

30% of the 2008 Republican candidates state that evolution is a myth! Do you seriously think that even one Democratic candidate is in denial on this?

Honey, if Hillary was campaigning in Mobile AL, I think she would seriously evade the question.

There is a "dark horse" (appropriate, considering tomorrow's race) named Fred Thompson. Don't discount it. Don't ever discount the power that will be (is already?) pushing it.I won't be voting for it, regardless of how many sacred "Regan" veils are twined in its mane.

35. Author of the Year Ad

Comment #37551 by foxfire on May 4, 2007 at 10:09 pm

Hurrah! The two books that set me on a quest to understand what I've been missing for a very long time and opened the door to a whole new world are right there in the middle. Of course, I did learn of Professor Dawkins' work via his TGD tour publicity and his other works via TGD itself.

As for the photo - it's absolutely glorious!

36. Jordan opens children's museum

Comment #36910 by foxfire on May 2, 2007 at 6:48 pm

Memorisation and repetition have been the main staples of learning, while activities encouraging analysis, creative thinking and problem-solving were rare.

But over the past four years, Jordan has been overhauling its curriculum and textbooks to encourage greater creativity and classroom discussion.

Now if they can just keep some nutjob from blowing it up...along with a bunch of curious kids and the people who are trying to teach them how to think, as opposed to memorize.

This is great! Go Jordan!

37. The Damned

Comment #36907 by foxfire on May 2, 2007 at 6:19 pm

He'sAVeryNaughtyBoy wrote:

"SMILE"
"There is no Hell"

... make a good T-shirt that!

Exactly! The back of the "A" T-Shirts that RD Net is investigating NEEDS something for the back. This would be terrific - with a great BIG fish underneath(the Dawkins fish).

38. Pop Tech Lecture

Comment #36619 by foxfire on May 1, 2007 at 6:53 pm

I second sane1's "Excellent".

Machinus wrote:

As offensive as many of my colleagues find him

Machinus, a question: do those colleagues find the man Richard Dawkins offensive, or do they find the ideas Richard Dawkins expounds to be offensive? If it is the former, I offer you my condolence and wish you the best of luck in finding new colleagues.

39. Are You There, God? It's Me, Hitchens

Comment #36273 by foxfire on April 30, 2007 at 6:20 pm

MIND_REBEL wrote:

More please.

O.K. Go here:

http://www.booktv.org/feature/index.asp?segid=8171&schedID=485

40. 'god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything' by Christopher Hitchens

Comment #36272 by foxfire on April 30, 2007 at 6:10 pm

Having read Hitchens new book, I was delighted when I turned on C-SPAN and saw him on a panel at the 2007 LA Festival of Books (Religion & Culture Panel). Here is the link to the C-SPAN video:

http://www.booktv.org/feature/index.asp?segid=8171&schedID=485

Hitchens is indeed the "4th Musketeer" as his approach is different than Dawkins/Harris/Dennett, and I think his anger will be indeed palatable to those who are recovering from the virus.

Anyway, at the end of the panel (it's about an hour long), the Q&A session was interrupted by a screamer masquerading as someone with a question(they cut off his mike). Hitchens was totally cool, the only one not at all nonplused by the interruption. It's on the C-SPAN video.

41. Two idiots get a forum

Comment #35990 by foxfire on April 29, 2007 at 6:58 pm

If Professor Dawkins is a Rotweiller and Christopher Hitchens a tiger, then PZ Myers is a falcon, gracefully soaring in the web-wind looking for vermin and diving to pick them out of their hidden places and depositing them into full view because they are just too disgusting to digest.

This has got to be some kind of set-up to discredit ABC (maybe because Deborah Palfrey gave ABC(free)the 10K-15K phone number list that is currently making Washington D.C very uncomfortable about the ABC "20/20" show to be aired on May 4? Read all about it:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/10/MNG0BP5O2P1.DTL

Beware.

42. Fighting Words: A wartime lexicon

Comment #35266 by foxfire on April 26, 2007 at 6:33 pm

I pre-ordered the book from Amazon US and it came 3 days ago. I'm into Chapter 9 of 19.

If Dawkins is a Rottweiler snarling at religion to back off its attempt to contaminate science, then Hitchens is Panthera tigris tigris striking for the soft underbelly of religion. Hitchens does not give a break to superstitious beliefs anywhere, including past icons of science.

Rough stuff and I can see this book hitting the charts soon (given that Amazon is already shipping and the the publication date on the inside cover is May 2007).

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

I think Tyger would laugh, light another cigarette and ask "what &@$#* immortal hand?"

Awsome book - Hitchens got guts!

43. 'The Day They Kicked God out of the Schools' & Rebuttal

Comment #34261 by foxfire on April 23, 2007 at 4:52 pm

Very well done Brian C! The opportunistic mind-suckers that made the first video sure didn't pass up the chance to use this tragedy to push their agenda.

44. A debate on people who profess no religion

Comment #33367 by foxfire on April 20, 2007 at 12:49 am

I am in total awe. A "Lord Harrison" starts out the debate with "As this chamber and my workplace is daily transmogrified into a church, we non-churchgoers.."

US Senate members constantly remind themselves that the US Senate is "the greatest deliberative body in the world". My take is: if somebody uttered the word "transmogrified" during a normal floor "debate" (one or two Senators in the chamber waiting their turn for time in front of the CSPAN cameras, rest out campaigning or offering sound bytes on a cable news show) the room would blur as aids sought dictionaries.

I cannot get the CSPAN vision of Senator Brownback (a contender in the GOP 2008 Presidential race) and his charts during a presentation relating to the burning need for a "Defense of Marriage" amendment to the US Constitution, out of my mind.

Us "average Americans" really do need to get out more and experience the rest of the world. That way, we would be much more likely to not fall victim to our own bullshit.

45. Dinesh D'Souza says I don't exist: an atheist at Virginia Tech

Comment #33330 by foxfire on April 19, 2007 at 9:58 pm

Thank you Mapantsula - what you wrote was beautiful and true. My "heart" goes out to you all you Hokies.

46. Where Is Atheism When Bad Things Happen?

Comment #33326 by foxfire on April 19, 2007 at 9:46 pm

PZ Myers blasted him pretty well too, over at Pharyngula

Note the category: "Stupidity". Well said PZM!

47. NEXT MONDAY: Bill O'Reilly interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #33319 by foxfire on April 19, 2007 at 9:25 pm

Way to go Professor! I'm actually looking forward to seeing this interview. Hopefully you will be able to get a word in before O'Reilly tries to finish your sentences for you. Hint: bring a "binky" (baby pacifier) you can shove into that gaping orifice, commonly known as a mouth, when he tries to cut you off.

Possibly he will even learn why ID is not science - last time I watched him addressing the issue he was completely clueless. Maybe he learned everything he knows about evolution and ID from Ann Coulter? She being a real fount of knowledge on the subject having been tutored by Behe and Dembski :-(

Good luck Professor and if he treats you with disrespect, I swear I will organize a world-wide "Binky for Billy" movement!

48. Genie shows barred by Islam, clerics say

Comment #32105 by foxfire on April 15, 2007 at 6:32 pm

What's next, ghost houses?

Hey Sunfish Rule - over here in the US, the Christian Fundies have set up "Hell Houses":

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_he.htm

Great stuff for the kids.

49. Dawkins vs Haggard: the Python Edition

Comment #29957 by foxfire on April 5, 2007 at 6:06 pm

Thanks MetaBob - that was great!

50. The Most Hated Family in America

Comment #29622 by foxfire on April 3, 2007 at 4:07 pm

Bremas, I live in the U.S. and the Phelps bunch are for real. A couple of years ago I posted on a (now defunct) forum for a Portland, OR TV channel (KGW) and crossed verbal swords with one of them. They were in Portland at the time with their traveling "clown" show. These people are crazy and I agree with SonOfPearl's assessment about child abuse.

The story about the motorcyle club folks who shield families from the Phelps venom at soldier's funerals is also true. They call themselves the Patriot Guard Riders and here is a link to a Washington Post article from February 2006 about the club: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/18/AR2006021801422.html