Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
I’m so ashamed. But it’s local, I got talked into it, and it turns out the subject is actually something I’ve been researching lately, so I figured sure, why not. I still think it’s a bad idea, but I’ve been paying too much attention to that debater guy, Matt Dillahunty, and figured I’d take one more stab at it.
It will be held in Fargo, on 12 February, at the Ramada Inn, with Fuz Rana, an old earth creationist from Reasons to Believe. The topic is “Is There Evidence of a Creator or Not?” (guess which side I’m taking). It’s also being organized by the Seventh Day Adventists, so I expect a house stuffed with preconceptions — do feel free to come and balance the scales to some small degree.
Also, I’ll be in Los Angeles on 15 March, to talk with the CFI-LA crowds, which I think will be a little less crazy than what I encounter in Fargo. You can come to that one, too! I’m still thinking about what to talk about there, so suggestions are welcome.
I guess it’s time to start opening the little doors on your advent calendar, if you have one. If you don’t, I recommend the Cosmic Genome Advent Calendar. It’s free, and every day gives you a new little science clip. Today’s is about a weird little experiment you can do in a dimly lit room with a mirror…which I can’t try yet, because I’m on my way to work, and everything in the science building is brightly lit with Science and Technology and the Fluorescent Glow of the Future.
Later, when I get home…
Relevant to the discussion about whether humanity ought to look to their own home before seeking another, here’s a problem for the techno-fetishists. Solve this very human vexation:
This photo is from a series of French postcards from 1902 illustrating women of the future. My first thought was, “they couldn’t imagine a woman doctor without having her dress like a man?”. But my second thought was that she looks very stylish; I especially like the hat.
Now I don’t know whether to believe this article or not: it claims that self-assessment of narcissism is just as accurate as taking a psychological inventory, because narcissists aren’t shy about saying what they are. So I tried it myself: on a score of 1-7, I gave myself about a 3.
Just go look at the list. The police are really good at eliciting final words of disbelief and desperation.
Adam Rutherford thinks James Watson deserves to be shunned. I have to agree.
Everyone I know is raving about this short, speculative video about the future of space exploration.
I’m not so enthused; I even find the words of Carl Sagan troubling. It’s lovely and all, but…
The obnoxious creationist is not being sued for being a world-class ignoramus, however — that’s perfectly legal. She’s being sued for interfering with the education of children.
She’s been on a bender of offense because her local library provides open internet access to the public, and apparently she once saw someone viewing porn on a library computer. Most normal people would point this out to a librarian, who would politely ask the person to move on, but no, not Megan Fox! She is outraged! So she’s been harrassing the library staff.
She’s upset that the library provides unfiltered access to the internet (sounds like a good library to me). The legal documents (pdf) list a great many of Fox’s offenses against truth: she has posted photos of the librarian’s home (creepy!), has falsely accused her of drunkenness at work and of making anti-gay slurs, and has disrupted library board meetings. But the real nuisance is how she’s been abusing the law to torment librarians.
