Let the debate continue!

I eventually closed this thread after 54 comments, deciding that the circular inanity was becoming tiresome and its protagonist was never going to be reasoned with. In retrospect, I kinda wish I hadn’t done that. Nobody was being that obnoxious, and the stupid really was funny. I’d vacillated on whether to get involved myself, but [...]

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Free will isn’t free

I don’t think I’ve written on this exact thought here before, but stop me if it sounds familiar. The problem of evil is perhaps the most persuasive argument that all religion is bullshit. Why does so much human suffering occur, if a god exists who’s not a complete sadist? Any deity who has deliberately or [...]

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Conspiracy theorhys

A brief report on my colossal achievements of the day. Rhys Morgan posted a link on Twitter earlier today to this comment on a blog discussion about the notorious non-medicine Miracle Mineral Solution. It’s one of a series of comments in which someone called Maria asserts that Rhys’s father is using him to make money, [...]

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Sham pain skeptics

While I certainly enjoyed myself at TAM London this year, not everyone seems to be a fan. The most prominent and contentious criticism – not of the particular way things went down at the conference itself, but of the very concept of even holding such an event – seems to be the Champagne Skeptics post [...]

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There’s a theist on my doorstep

I wrote another poem. This one has a title. (If you want to join in the comment discussion, go here.)   There’s A Theist On My Doorstep     There’s a theist on my doorstep, And he’s asking me to look At some godly threats and promises Inside some holy book. I’ve no time for [...]

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No-one’s dead, Dave

Sometimes, “accommodation” can fuck off. This is one of those times. Mike Adams is despicable scum. No, not this Mike Adams who’s despicable scum. The other Mike Adams who’s despicable scum. Maybe it’s something about the name Mike Adams that turns people into hateful pedlars of nonsensical bullshit. Probably not. In response to the recent [...]

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But is it art?

Mojoey has an interesting post about offensive art, and the nuttiness of certain attempts to destroy pieces of art simply due to the personal offence taken. I don’t have much to add about this, but I thought it worth highlighting his concluding sentence: Inhibiting thought is evil. This may be the most concise expression of [...]

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That was TAM, this is now

I was at TAM London 2010 last weekend. Then I visited family for a bit, then I came home and continued being lazy. And now I’m finally getting back to writing things again. So. How was it? Brief summary: pretty fucking great. More detail? Well, Martin Robbins’s live blogging is still up on the Guardian [...]

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TAM to-morrow

…but never TAM to-day. Or something. Tomorrow is the first day of TAM London. TAM stands for The Amaz!ng Meeting. It’s a massive annual skeptical gathering, which started in Las Vegas and now has branches cropping up around the world. The first ever international Meeting happened in London around this time last year, and I [...]

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A poem

Yep. It doesn’t say anything deep or profound, it doesn’t have a title, and it doesn’t make it as clear as it could when I’m being ironic. But it fits to a rather nice meter. And I’ve already written it now, so it’s too late to do anything about it. Incidentally, if you know what [...]

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