You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded.
To the question, “Why me?” the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply, “Why not?”
Atheist: Natural Morals, Real Meaning, Credible Truth

25 January, 2011

Some funny stuff

I read this somewhere. I think it was a comment on a post about rioting about blasphemy.
"I don't understand why circumambulating and yodeling while making Micky Mouse ears gestures in grandma's pajama around a supposed moon rock makes goat herders frenzy into mass hysteria resulting in crimes against goats."

Also this from PZ:

"Michele Bachmann is clearly not in communication with the mother ship."

and this:
Anderson Cooper Wallops Bachmann For 'Flunking History'
Bachmann is so scary she is funny.

13 January, 2011

Pistols & Piety -- It's The American Way

"Thanks to the NRA's and Congress's prayers, the next shooter will be able to get off at least 30 shots before he has to reload."


Click to see full size.


09 January, 2011

Sadly ironic « Why Evolution Is True

Sadly ironic « Why Evolution Is True:

"What we do know is that such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society." - Obama after the shooting.

"My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today’s tragic shooting in Arizona.  On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice." - Palin after the shooting.

"It’s lame, lame, lame.  Since she’s been associated in people’s minds with the tragedy, it might have been appropriate to add, 'Such crimes, and such violent attacks on public figures, can never be justified, and I condemn them in the strongest possible terms.'”  Jerry Coyne. 

I agree with Obama and Coyne.  Just like Bush created the environment that resulted in Abu Gahrab atrocities, Palin created the environment that results in this.  We don't want a country like most others where violence is part of the political dialog.

08 January, 2011

There must be a god because I don't know how things work.

There must be a god because I don't know how things work.

That is Stephen Colbert's assessment of Bill O'Reilly's reasoning for why there must be a god.
O'Reilly had this guy on to complain about a billboard in Alabama that said "You KNOW it is a SCAM" with icons for the 5 biggest religions.  He considered this an insult.  Silverman from Atheist.org was trying to explain that these words were their opinion and is not insulting to the people who are members of these religions.  Is it insulting to the religious to say their religion is a scam?  The statement isn't directed at the people themselves, just the institution of religion.  But that doesn't matter I guess.  People invested in their religion are insulted if their religion is criticized.  I  guess they are going to have to learn that all thoughts are open to debate.  There are no privileged ideas immune from criticism.  Not to mention no one has the right not to be offended.

05 January, 2011

Retracted autism study an 'elaborate fraud,' British journal finds - CNN.com

(CNN) -- A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines was an "elaborate fraud" that has done long-lasting damage to public health, a leading medical publication reported Wednesday.

Wakefield has been unable to reproduce his results in the face of criticism, and other researchers have been unable to match them. Most of his co-authors withdrew their names from the study in 2004 after learning he had had been paid by a law firm that intended to sue vaccine manufacturers -- a serious conflict of interest he failed to disclose. After years on controversy, the Lancet, the prestigious journal that originally published the research, retracted Wakefield's paper last February.

Good... Wakefield has blood on his hands along with Jenny McCarthy and others.