Daily Blend: 05/10/13

Fr. Anthony Musaala

Obama administration worsens their crackdown on state-legal marijuana.

Ugandan priest ^[pictured]: “The Catholic Church is still covering up clerical child abuse.” Catholic Church: “You made us look bad! You’re suspended.”
(via Freethought Blogs)

Why do police consult “psychics”? Because people are gullible and prefer false hope to realistic desperation.
(via @radleybalko)

And finally, PZ Myers schools movement skeptics about science and why their mindless dismissal of atheism as “unscientific” is decidedly unskeptical.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: 05/08/13

Sylvia Browne

In case you needed more evidence that “psychics” ^[pictured] are bullshit-peddling vultures.

Vox Day says the whole idea of “warrior women” is totes ridiculous ’cause what woman would stand a chance against a dude, anyway? (Pay absolutely no attention to all these real-life warrior women who became legends for kicking [mostly dude] ass.)

Here’s a collection of 154 common global warming denialist claims and their easy refutations.
(via Pharyngula)

Oh, noes! The awesome Eugenie Scott, scourge of Creationists everywhere as the head of the National Center for Science Education, retires.

And finally, here’s a dog who tries so hard to make that branch into his stick:
(via @radleybalko)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: 05/01/13

Kiera Wilmot

How the hell can it be this hot this early in the year? This can’t bode well.

Animal liberation activists in Milan, Italy, heroically sabotage years’ worth of mental health research by releasing scared and helpless lab animals that cannot survive on their own.
(via Pharyngula)

Who made the “bad choices” here: the model high-schooler ^[pictured] who created a tiny pop in a bottle by mixing chemicals in an experiment* (To be fair, not generally a good [or safe] idea unless you know what you’re doing, which it didn’t sound like she did), or the dumbass school and police officials who got her expelled, arrested and are dragging her to court for “possession/discharge of a weapon”?
(via @radleybalko)

• Better yet: The school then respond to criticism by declaring that “there are consequences to actions”. Indeed, and those consequences are that students will refrain from ever exhibiting any curiosity or scientific interest at Florida’s Bartow High School in order to avoid violating their ridiculous zero-tolerance policy.
  (via Pharyngula)

Wait, hydrogen peroxide doesn’t work? Dammit, Cracked, stop exploding my beliefs.

And finally, happy decaversary to MythBusting! Even though I only started watching in 2005 (“Steel Toe-Cap Amputation, Bottle Rocket Blast-Off”)
(via @MythBusters; RT: @JamieNoTweet)

Daily Blend: 04/29/13

James McCormick

Canada is apparently eager to show that it can pass horrible and repressive laws in the name of “national security”, too.
(via @ioerror; RT: @ggreenwald)

A win for reality: James McCormick ^[pictured], who made millions by selling completely useless “dowsing rod”-style bomb detectors, is finally convicted of fraud (after hundreds have already perished).

LGBT history milestone: NBA center Jason Collins becomes first active US big-league sports player to come out as gay.

And finally, Glenn Beck tragically wins wrong kind of Darwin award.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

The conspiracy theory flowchart THEY don’t want you to see

You know what it means if you read this, right?

[full size (963×1600)]

That’s right: Now you know too much. They’re onto you.

(via Pharyngula, whose host has finally lost his mind)

Another Venn diagram of irrational nonsense

Just two weeks after Crispian Jago gave us the Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense (a variant of Jago’s Periodic Table of Irrational Nonsense, which itself recently got upgraded), Imgur user dehydrationstation now presents an even more detailed and comprehensive version with “An Organized Collection of Irrational Nonsense” (previous versions here):

[full size (1024×1024)]

There’s something reassuring to the fact that no matter how wide the variety of ways these bollocks can be classified, Scientology will always have its spot of (dis)honor right in the middle of it all.

(via Friendly Atheist)

The Venn Diagram of Irrational Nonsense

Crispian Jago once again shows us how it’s done (classifying irrational nonsense, that is):

[full size (984×1075)]

I think I want a poster of this even more than of his “Periodic Table of Irrational Nonsense”. Though, I have to quibble with some of the overlapping (or lack thereof) – isn’t all pseudo-medical quackery a part of pseudoscience by definition, with all the bullshit explanations drawn up to bolster them (and excuse their invariable failure)? And Christianity’s “faith healing” component should arguably grant it a spot right by Scientology’s side. But I’m just nitpicking at this point.

Seriously, posters. Make them happen.

(via Friendly Atheist)

Daily Blend: Monday, March 11, 2013

Duane Gish

Win for liberty: New York Supreme Court blocks New York City’s ban on large sugary drinks, which was to enter effect tomorrow.
(via @BuzzFeedAndrew)

Condescending asshole tries so desperately hard to make the case that the skeptical movement is actually a religion-in-disguise for condescending assholes. It was less annoyingly tedious to sit through Al Stefanelli’s “atheist cult” tirade.
(via The Daily Grail)

There’s a special irony to seeing Vox Day, who’s spent the last several months smearing John Scalzi as “McRapey” over his own bizarre misunderstanding, accuse Scalzi of exhibiting “juvenile behavior”.

Duane Gish ^[pictured], shameless Creationist liar famous for the popularizing the “Gish Gallop” style of “debating”, has died at 92.

And finally, just the thing to top off a Monday:
(via @EmergencyPuppy)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Pres. Barack Obama

President Obama ^[pictured] shocks privacy advocates everywhere with an executive order on cybersecurity that isn’t replete with Fourth Amendment violations.

Republicans still think it’s a good idea to put queen crazypants Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on the House Intelligence Committee.

17 months after DADT, Defense Department finally figures out what limited benefits they can grant same-sex military families under DoMA.

Science-Based Medicine’s David Gorski hammers Penn & Teller for their appearance on the quack-tastic Dr. Oz Show.
(via The Daily Grail)

Sean Curry at BuzzFeed offers some pointed rejoinders to “15 questions atheists are sick of answering”.
(via Friendly Atheist)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Friday, February 01, 2013

Is it just me, or are months going by faster and faster?

Tennessee’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill ^[pictured] is back, now with the requirement that school faculty out any students seeking sexuality counseling to their parents.
(via Joe. My. God.)

Unbelievable: Remember the old joke about conservatives being so anti-Obama that if the President came out against Hitler, the Right would defend the Nazis? Oh, wait, that totally just happened.
(via @radleybalko)

More on creeping Creationism in Missouri.

And finally, I am quite happy to see Jen McCreight is back in the game. And not just because it promises more Pokébiology.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

EDIT (02/01/13 9:53 PM ET) – It turns out the above is the same Creationism/ID bill I mentioned in my last Daily Blend. (via Rob F)

Daily Blend: Sunday, January 20, 2013

Phil Plait

Phil Plait ^[pictured] explains the many problems with education vouchers: They’re basically thinly veiled attempts at inflicting anti-science garbage upon impressionable young minds.

Isn’t it interesting how those who try to tarnish scientists’ credibility always end up destroying their own instead?
(via @BadAstronomer)

Difference between Islamist extremists and anti-feminist cranks: The former throw acid in women’s faces, while the latter just joke about it. (To his quasi-credit, Conlon later apologized.)
(via Pharyngula)

And finally, here’s why the Oxford comma isn’t all bad:
(via @normative; RT: @radleybalko)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

A petition for equality in the atheism/skepticism community

I don’t often plug petitions, given the general futility of these things (good intentions are no substitute for effectiveness), but there’s one floating around that I think absolutely merits signing and sharing as widely as possible in the hopes of focusing our push-back against all the sexist assholery that’s been dividing the once-concerted atheo-skeptic movement:

We, the undersigned, are atheists, skeptics and nonbelievers who value free speech and rational thought and who seek to build a strong, thriving movement that can advocate effectively for these values. We've chosen to put our names to this petition because we want to respond to a video created by a blogger calling himself Thunderfoot. In this video, Thunderfoot attacks named individuals who've been active in promoting diversity and fighting sexism and harassment in our movement. He describes these people as "whiners" and "ultra-PC professional victims" who are "dripp[ing] poison" into the secular community, and urges conference organizers to shun and ignore them.

We hold this and similar complaints from other individuals to be seriously misguided, false in their particulars and harmful to the atheist community as a whole, and we want to set the record straight. We wish to clarify that Thunderfoot and those like him don't speak for us or represent us, and to state our unequivocal support for the following goals:

We support making the atheist movement more diverse and inclusive. […]

We support strong, sensible anti-harassment policies at our gatherings. […]

We support the people in our community who've been the target of bullying, harassment and threats. […]

To put a stop to this bad behavior once and for all, we need to change the culture of the atheist movement so that sexism isn't condoned or defended, just as racism and homophobia aren't condoned or defended. We're grateful to the leaders of the movement who've spoken out against harassment, and we encourage all atheists and skeptics, regardless of their influence or prominence, to do likewise.

See? This is how mature, reasonable adults carry a discussion about sensitive issues: No demands that opponents be banned or censored; no hatred or vitriol towards people with differing opinions; no blatant dishonesty and misrepresentations of anyone’s arguments or attempts to rewrite the record; and no thinly veiled threats against their livelihoods or persons. Just a community coming together in the spirit of reason, fairness and equality in order to accomplish what is obviously and undeniably the right thing to do.

There’s already some impressive names in the list of signatories, and 308 people (and climbing fast) have added theirs as of this posting. I don’t think it’ll be difficult to bump that number up past the required 730 minimum before day’s end, do you? This is an international effort, so there’s really no reason not to add your mark right now.

(via @jennifurret)

Daily Blend: Thursday, January 03, 2013

Dr. Oz

House Republicans actually manage to kill the Violence Against Women Act because it was “too supportive of immigrants, the LGBT community, and Native Americans”. I’m seriously starting to wonder whether they just love playing the bad guys at this point.
(via @BuzzFeedAndrew)

Not unrelatedly: Welcome to Steubenville, Ohio, where the violent gang-rape of a drugged 16-year-old girl by football players is totally hilarious. (But remember: There is no such thing as rape culture! It’s just a myth from fugly fascist feminists who hate teh menz.)

Atheist organizer Michael Nugent dismantles Thunderf00t’s latest appallingly dishonest anti-feminist video. The man has devolved into a sad parody of himself.
(via @mikenugent; RT: @pzmyers)

Meanwhile, here are the 14 kinds of sexist commenters who invariably pop up under any remotely pro-women post. (#15: Slimeballs who think spewing semi-coherent vitriol is akin to presenting a rational argument that deserves to be addressed.)
(via Pharyngula)

And finally, in case you were wondering, yes, Dr. Oz ^[pictured] is still a ginormous quack, despite all his fancy credentials.
(via @BadAstronomer)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

On Al Stefanelli’s “Atheist Cult” tirade

Al Stefanelli

As some of you may be aware (and not just because I mentioned it in last night’s Daily Blend), atheist journalist/activist Al Stefanelli recently made a video wherein he launched a veritable Gish Gallop’s worth of attacks and smears against several writers involved with Freethought Blogs (where he briefly resided), Atheism Plus, and the social-justice-oriented atheosphere in general, accusing them of being “radical extremists” out on a witch-hunt against White men and who give other, “real” activists a bad name and so on and so forth. It’s a remarkably dreary and absurd rant, and given that even my SIWOTI syndrome only goes so far, I was content to link to Ed Brayton’s excellent debunking and leave it at that (I found his comparison to the rhetoric from religious-Right cranks particularly fitting).

However, Stefanelli himself was apparently dissatisfied that I supposedly misunderstood his argument, and additionally claimed that I hadn’t even watched the video (an amusing assumption, considering that while I did skip past some of the more lengthy segments devoted to explaining in mind-numbing detail exactly why certain bloggers he disagrees with are like a “cult”, I did sit through the majority of it and understood his arguments perfectly).

But let it never be said that I’m not one to rise to such an easy challenge (even if it entails spending hours of my own freaking birthday typing down some weird rant about how myself and my allies are something like the bastard child of Jim Jones and Pol Pot of godless social justice). And so, I took the liberty of transcribing every painful second of Stefanelli’s tirade, below, in the hopes of sparing anyone else from sitting through the wretched thing:

Daily Blend: Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Busy reading, so have an early Daily Blend for today.

I am shocked – shocked! – to learn that the anti-feminist/Atheism Plus/Freethought Blogs camp doesn’t actually have any good arguments.

Study: West Antarctica is warming up twice as fast as predicted and at thrice the planetary average rate.
(via ThinkProgess)

White House website petition to label Westboro Baptist Church a “hate group” is the most popular ever. Only problem: No such designation exists under any U.S. law.
(via @BuzzFeedAndrew)

And finally, here’s one particularly creepy ritual put into perspective:

Don’t forget the hover text! [‘Communion’ | xkcd (by Randall Munroe)]

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Maya-not-pocalyptic headlines of the day

[Manolith]

Then again, maybe they should inform this Michigan superintendent:

[NBC News]

On second thought, maybe it would be preferable if the world did end after all.

(via Joe. My. God. & BuzzFeedAndrew)

Daily Blend: Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Quick updates: I finally found how to replace the old “Older/Newer Posts” links with actual post titles, something I’ve been trying to do here for quite a while. I’ve also replaced the clunky old search bar with a Google custom search bar, so older posts should now be much easier to find. Oh, and Disqus reactions are finally working again. That is all.

The Atheist Census ^[pictured] is finally back from its DDoS-induced coma, so get yourself counted if you haven’t already.

Speaking of godless representation, a new comprehensive Pew Research Center study reveals that 16.3% of the world is religiously unaffiliated (though not necessarily atheistic, of course).

Not that you need it (I would seriously hope), but the Bad Astronomer has a write-up explaining in detail how and why the world will not end this Friday.

And finally, it looks like the new SimCity will be the first in the series I won’t be spending my money on. It’s a damn shame; I love Maxis, but to hell with EA’s prohibitive DRM fixation.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Tuesday, November 06, 2012 – National Turn Off Your TV Day

“The lesser evil!”

Voted yet?

Cracked shines some light on eight popular election myths and explain why the situation isn’t quite as dour as some make it out to be.

And finally, here’s a nice little tension-breaker for this evening:
(via Bad Astronomy)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Saturday, November 03, 2012

Walter White

Must-read: A U.S. historian explains in cogent and fascinating detail why he won’t be voting Republican for the foreseeable future.
(via Political Irony)

MythBusters go Breaking Bad ^[pictured] next spring. I think I just died from crystal-pure glee.

And finally, the “Greatest Generation” has a message about the election ^{[NSFW language]}:

Transcript: (click the [+/-] to open/close →)

[−]

Enter the Rosebud Nursing Home.

TITLE: A MESSAGE FROM THE GREATEST GENERATION

MARIE (97): I was born in 1915 during World War I. My first vote was in 1940 for Franklin D. Roosevelt, and I have not missed an election since. And I want the Republican Party to know: If your voter suppression throughout this beautiful country enables Romney to oust Barack Obama, we will burn this motherfucker down.

ELDERLY HISPANIC MAN: Sí se puede. (“Yes we can.”)

DOROTHI (75): I have four generations of family on this Earth and my life has been very blessed. And if the Republicans steal this election, I’m gonna track down Mitt Romney and give him the world’s biggest cock-punch! … What’s the matter, sonny? You never heard that phrase, “cock-punch”? Haha … Right in the nut-sack.

JOHN (85): I served during World War II. I’m the last of my buddies still here. And I’ve got a message for kids, Democrats, for anyone who cares about honest elections: If you let the Republicans do this to you again, after we die, we’re gonna look down on you from Heaven and we’re gonna make a point of watching you have sex every time.

Dorothi raises her binoculars with a vindictive grin.

JOHN (CONT’D): No matter how kinky!

MARIE: Especially if we’re related.

JOHN: The best way to stop the GOP from stealing the election is to make sure it isn’t even close. Go to votersrising.org.

ALL: Sign up and [?] the vote!

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Rebecca Watson

Rebecca Watson ^[pictured] writes at Slate about her experience dealing with the ugly sexist underbelly of the atheo-skeptic community.
(via Pharyngula)

Anyone else wondering how long before the Right starts claiming that “Obama doesn’t care about charity!” when the President doesn’t humor Donald Trump’s latest ridiculous stunt?

Another sign of the impending Gaypocalypse: Sharks falling from the skies!
(via @radleybalko)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.