Bill Nye comments on his upcoming debate with Ken Ham:

Oh, dear.

Let’s see, what’s in Nye’s favor here:

• He’s got the science on his side. He really is arguing from the only rational position.

• Ken Ham is a palooka with no reputation as a debater himself.

Then there is the stuff that makes me worry:

• Nye has no clue what he’s in for. Absolutely no clue. I hope he prepares by watching lots of creationist debates, or he’s in for a surprise.

• Maybe it was an off night, but he didn’t respond well when confronted with Greg Laden’s objections. He needs to be ready with fast, succinct replies to a hell of a lot of different tactics…or he needs to be much quicker on his feet.

• If his only approach is to talk about the economic advantages of good science, Ham is going to be prepared. I don’t think the people he’s trying to persuade are going to care much about those wicked jobs, anyway — they know you can get filthy rich making duck calls.

If I were making odds on this matchup, I’d say Nye’s chances just slipped a bit with that performance. My own personal bet would be that this is going to be an event in which both sides spend most of their time talking past each other, and that they’ll both flop hard except with their most fervent proponents.

I hope Eugenie Scott and Nye are having conversations right now. Serious conversations.

Aron Ra understands the nature of the show; maybe Nye should have conversations with him, too.

Gosh, where do the kooks get their money? Watch this slick trailer for a fancy new “science” documentary called The Principle. There’s Michio Kaku…oh, wait, he’s always getting cheerfully dragged into woo…and Lawrence Krauss? Krauss is one of those hard-headed rational types who wouldn’t be a knowing part of any nonsense. But just watch, and the subject of this movie will gradually emerge.

It’s a pseudo-documentary about geocentrism. Zeno tells me he heard about on that weird Catholic zealot Michael Voris’s show. It’s being made by weird uber-kook Rick Delano, who’s sole claim to fame seems to be advocating geocentrism, and showing up in the comments of every blog that ever laughs at the subject (so don’t be surprised if he appears here).

What isn’t at all surprising is that Lawrence Krauss has already repudiated the movie.

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This is a beautiful explanation of a key property of human evolution: we evolved to be catapulted as infants.

I can tell, though, that Weinersmith has not had direct experience with raising babies, at least not yet, or he would have cited another significant factor: instinctive parental urges to place small children in catapults. Our first child was one of those colicky babies, and I can tell you that there were many late nights when I was trying to comfort the squalling infant that I would be bouncing him on the balcony of our apartment, and thinking that a good powerful trebuchet to launch him out over the Willamette River towards Springfield would be a good thing.

The lack of handy siege instruments was the only thing that saved him, but clearly that would not have been a problem in more primitive cultures.

And his lawyer has released a statement on his behalf. Got your puke bucket handy?

Ma’Lik Richmond recently completed his designated time at the Cuyahoga Hills Juvenile Detention Facility. The past sixteen months have been extremely challenging for Ma’Lik and his extended family. At sixteen years old, Ma’Lik and his family endured hardness beyond imagination for any adult yet alone child. He has persevered the hardness and made the most of yet another unfortunate set of circumstances in his life. As with each other obstacle, Ma’Lik has met it squarely, lifted his chin, and set his shoulders; he is braced for the balance of his life.  While away, Ma’Lik has reflected, learned, matured, and grown in many ways.  He is a better, stronger person and looks forward to school, life, and spending time with family.  At this point, Ma’Lik wants most to be a high school teenager. In conjunction with his release, Ma’Lik, his family, and guardians ask that the media respect their privacy in this matter, as we all need to heal and move on with our lives. We will have you know that Ma’Lik will be taking all the time necessary to focus on his academic and personal goals. We ask for your support and prayers as we move forward, Thank you.

He endured, he persevered, he grew, and become more mature and learned — why, raping an unconscious young girl has made Mr Richmond a better fucking person. What a great thing for his character, and the character of any teenager who wants to improve himself.

There’s also a statement from the lawyer for the victim.

Although everyone hopes convicted criminals are rehabilitated, it is disheartening that this convicted rapist’s press release does not make a single reference to the victim and her family – whom he and his co-defendant scarred for life. One would expect to see the defendant publicly apologize for all the pain he caused rather than make statements about himself. Rape is about victims, not defendants. Obviously, the people writing his press release have yet to learn this important lesson.

What he said.

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An amazing new book by Alan de Queiroz Nick Matzke http://www.talkdesign.org

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If the Republicans are going to complain about big government and waste, how about starting here?

Since 1996, the federal government has spent more than $1.75 billion on abstinence-only sexual education programs — programs that teach public school students about sex through a religious filter, and fail to instruct them how to effectively prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies. 

That’s Billion with a B. For a definitively failed program.

Follow the link and tell your congressvermin to end this nonsense now.

Stone courtesy of Toby Shannon. Splash.... Matt Young http://www.mines.edu/~mmyoung

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Written by Johnny O’Coileain (Add him on Facebook)

Editor, One Nation Under Nothing 

It started off when I was visiting One Nation Under Nothing free thinkers in the Tampa Bay area. I needed to grab lunch, and Panera Bread is usually my no brainer option. I could eat, finish my previous article, and handle extra business. About a month ago, I purchased a t-shirt from the Richard Dawkins Foundation website; and it read, “We Are All African,” with the bright red highlighted “A” we’re all familiar with. Apparently, the religious clowns are too.

 The missionary conveniently took it upon himself to interrupt my fucking sandwich. He was part of the “Seventh Day Adventist” wing of the nuthouse. I should reconsider showing off my shirt collection in public. Oftentimes, seeing that big red “A” is like light to the flies for these people. I was a bit snarky in this encounter because I wasn’t looking for it. Preferably, if I had to choose between a turkey sandwich and a religious encounter, at least I can reason with the sandwich.

He opened with an unfounded speech about how “we’re from Mesopotamia, not Africa,” which I easily shat on. What made me face-palm with a hand the size of Lady Fucking Liberty was the philosophical turd factory orally getting everywhere. This guy was a busted shit pipe of academic nonsense. He claimed to be a “theology grad student” with a special interest in “ analytic philosophy with a theological application”. Okay, you’ve got my attention. I’ve been studying analytic philosophy for quite a while. Let’s rock this shit.

Here’s the climb to the summit of Mt. Bullshit. He relayed the following to me, which he claimed “converted at least 14 atheists” since employing it. The pseudo-argument went like this:

 Theology Guy, “So a human represents a form of intelligence. We, as humans, use our intelligence to create laws all the time. Speed limits are a prime example. Because life is too complex to be a coincidence, couldn’t you imagine an intelligence much higher than us who can, say, write the laws of physics or thermodynamics? It falls perfectly in line with how Genesis describes it.”

Johnny O’Coileain, “Really? Oh dear boy, you weren’t ready for me. You may want to reconsider where you’re getting your degree. They’re not helping you much. Here at the University of Panera Bread, I’ll give you more college credit than you’re getting now.”

Theology Guy, “Making fun of me doesn’t help your atheist case.”

Johnny O’Coileain, “Likewise, interruptions when I’m talking amount to the same thing. First off, your argument confuses two MAJOR principles: prescriptive laws (things we write to regulate our behavior), and descriptive laws (first principles in physics). If you’ve actually studied analytics, you’d spot that you established your entire non-argument on a logical fallacy; the Masked Man Fallacy. In essence, two objects, even though similar, cannot represent identical designators due to inherent differences. In this case, the only thing in common between your human law vs. God law is the word ‘law’. Everything else is different. It’s not even a cleaver Masked Man.”

Theology Guy, “Can you give me an example? I’d like you to prove that, because you make no sense.”

Johnny O’Coileain, “I most certainly can. If I’m driving down the freeway and the speed limit says 70 (prescriptive law), there’s nothing really stopping me from choosing to go 80. But if I jump off a cliff, I don’t have the option of pit-stopping on Exit 5 to take a dump at Circle K before I blast the ground (descriptive law).”

Theology Guy, “Can I have your email address? I know you’re wrong, but I can’t put my finger on why yet. When I figure it out, I’d like to continue this.”

Afterwards, he left, I finished my food and article, and I continued reading Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. I knew there was a correlation between high infusions of religion and educational deficiencies, but damn, this guy was the next level. And he had the cast iron balls to play the “I study philosophy” card.

The Roman orator and philosopher, Marcus Cicero, once said, “No one can speak well, unless he thoroughly understands his subject.” If Theology Guy loves studying philosophy so much, he can start by reading Cicero; preferably this sentence.