THIS DAY IN GOD:
California caves to dopey demands of homophobic bigots - I blogged about Rachel Bird and Gideon Codding before. This was the couple that was so outraged that California changed the language on their marriage licenses from “bride” and “groom” to “Party A” and “Party B” in accordance with California law now legalizing gay marriage that they childishly opted not to sign their paperwork and to protest. Well apparently they won their case and the language is returning to what it was before. PZ Myers had a good suggestion though:
Now gay couples getting married in California will have to get their revenge: they should cheerfully appropriate the terms bride and groom, too. Rachel Bird can call herself a bride (she could all along, of course), but so can the biggest, butchest, bristly-bearded gay leatherman with a biker mustache…and he should be able to get state recognition of his status as a bride.
Westboro Baptist Church to protest at Joe Biden’s mother-in-law’s funeral – I don’t really know why I still report about these attention-seeking, media whore’s except that as someone trying to convince people to reject religion, these guys make my job so much easier.
Answers in Genesis is praying for Bill Maher - Apparently,
He is definitely a poster boy for “lostness.”
This is great because when Bill never accepts their nonsense, it will serve as yet another proof that PRAYER DOESN’T WORK!
Nudie Church – It’s how Adam and Eve would have held church services. And wouldn’t you know it, other Christians aren’t too happy about it.
Obesity and health – Despite the obvious evidence that obesity is linked to serious health risks, some deniers still won’t accept it.
CRAP-BASED MEDICINE NEWS:
Deja vu – Fresh on the heels of 1 pathetic study that the mainstream media touted as proof that acupuncture was effective in treating hot flashes comes yet another absurd study suggesting hypnosis is effective in treating hot flashes. You won’t believe what the flaws in the study are:
That’s right, there is no placebo control group. It’s no treatment versus hypnosis. Remember yet again, as I’ve discussed before, hot flashes are highly subject to the placebo effect. Indeed, placebo effects as high as 40% have been documented in previous studies.
I’m starting to think I should urinate in a cup, get just 1 woman with hot flashes to drink it, and if she gets better over time to just market it as effective in treating hot flashes.
Alt. Med.: not just for people anymore – Alternative Medicine has been making a killing marketing to pet owners. And it’s really easy to do because your pets can’t tell you these guys are quacks.
Shruggie (noun): a person who doesn’t care about the science versus pseudoscience debate – Newest Science-Based Medicine blogger Val Jones recounts her journey from indifference towards crap-based pseudoscience to skeptical blogger.
ATHEIST DISCRIMINATION:
Republicans smear Senate candidate Kay Hagan for meeting with atheists – I’ve blogged about this race in North Carolina between Hagan and anti-atheist bigot Elizabeth Dole. And so far, Hagan is still winning but like McCain when he’s down in the polls, Dole seems to now be trying to exploit Hagan’s attendance at a fundraiser last month held by 2 atheists who were very active with the ACLU, continue to stand for the rights of the oppressed, work with church/state separation group. Here is the despicable mailing that just went out from the North Carolina Republican State Executive Committee about Hagan.
EPIC FAIL!
Bill Donohue draws more attention to Crackergate aka The Eucharist Challenge:
Under the name fsmdude, a Canadian man, Dominique, has posted over 40 videos on YouTube desecrating the Eucharist. Catholic League president Bill Donohue responds as follows:
“On September 29, I wrote to YouTube CEO Chad Hurley asking him to take down these offensive videos. I left a phone message for him on October 3, but he refuses to respond. Accordingly, I have posted my own video on YouTube calling attention to this matter.
So I expect FSMdude to see a large increase in visitors now that Donohue has actually helped publicize his videos on YouTube. Good thinkin’ Bill. I highly recommend everyone visit Bill’s video page, comment on it, and rate it a full 5 stars. Let’s make sure everyone knows about the Eucharist Challenge.
And here are some more related videos: here and here.
Behold God’s giant golden footprint – Another example of pareidolia:
Vote Big Foot/Nessie:
EVOLUTION TODAY:
Are humans still evolving? - According to geneticist Steve Jones human evolution is grinding to a halt. Tell that to the formerly 12-fingered actress Gemma Arterton, who’s playing the newest Bong girl in Quantum of Solace.
University of Oklahoma goes off my “don’t know anything about you” list and onto my “Awesome” list – They’re offering a year of Darwin celebrations to celebrate his big 200th anniversary.
AND NOW FOR A MOMENT OF SCIENCE:
Snippets Of DNA Withstand Eons Of Evolution – “Small stretches of seemingly useless DNA harbor a big secret, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. There’s one problem: We don’t know what it is. Although individual laboratory animals appear to live happily when these genetic ciphers are deleted, these snippets have been highly conserved throughout evolution.”
