Another link round-up

– The Amateur Scientist’s Fat Jesus art contest is just the awesomest thing since the last totally awesome thing. I can’t believe I haven’t seen this idea before, it’s so brilliant. Rebecca Watson’s winning, obviously. – Remember those leaked emails that revealed how all this global warming malarkey was just one big massive hoax conspiracy [...]

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Muslims, Republicans, and chiropractors

Between laziness and a trip into London to see another of Robin Ince’s variety shows at the Bloomsbury Theatre last night, I seem to have inadvertently taken a few days off from saying anything here. Let’s get back into it. – “Disposable sleeves” introduced for female Muslim medical staff, for whom baring their forearms is [...]

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Nonsense continued

Another thought stemming from yesterday’s apple discussion. There are three different claims which I think are being variously conflated in the argument surrounding this issue: 1. Writing “LOVE” or “HATE” on the side of a jar containing a slice of apple, and speaking to the jar in a loving or hateful manner, will affect the [...]

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Holomedicine and applemagic

So, here’s some dangerous nonsense. (link via @SkeptInquiry) Can holograms cure osteoarthritis and shingles? My money’s on no, and while there’s still actual medicine out there which does treat serious medical conditions, it’s not worth the risk. I especially like this quote from the depressingly credulous majority of the article: I see very good results. [...]

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From poetry to… oh.

You should really be making a point of regularly visiting The Digital Cuttlefish, you know. I think I remember saying that before, but it’s especially true on this, the day of the 133rd Skeptics’ Circle. Each article featured in this round-up is introduced by one of various forms of delightful poetic verse, which put the [...]

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Rosalind Franklin

It’s Ada Lovelace Day today. Ada Lovelace – or, Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace – was born in London in 1815. Her father was the poet Lord Byron. She died at the age of 36. And, in between, she was the world’s first computer programmer. When Charles Babbage built his analytical engine, one of [...]

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Being gay just got a little more awesome…

…and being skeptical just got a little more fabulous! Sorry. I’m not at all happy with myself for that line. The point is that James Randi, legend and grand high archbigwig of the skeptical world, is gay. So yeah. He talks about it with D.J. Grothe on the latest For Good Reason podcast. It’s not [...]

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Unidentified

I don’t know the sky that well. I mean, we’re not completely unfamiliar, the sky and I. We’re on friendly-nod terms, when we see each other. But we’re not what I’d call close. We don’t really hang out together much. I’d definitely miss it if it went anywhere, but I get the feeling it wouldn’t [...]

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Another daily round-up

– I am an insufficiently funny atheist. This is genius. From that guy who brought you that weird email prank thing with the spider. – Shock news: loud minority of idiots continued to get unbelievably upset and whiny about a tiny suggested change to the current way of doing things. Specifically, police have been advised [...]

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Linky linky

– Old people doing a bit of exercise in a church hall is incompatible with Christianity if the exercise has a funny foreign-sounding name. This is far from the most objectionable embargo laid down by a Christian church, but possibly one of the silliest. – The unfathomably brilliant Douglas Adams was eleven years ahead of [...]

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