Thursday 24 February 2011

Bumper crop of Burnee links for Thursday

Cosmology 101: The Beginning
How did it all start? Universe Today promises enlightenment — and a continuing story.

Ultra-Darwinists and the pious gene | Mark Vernon | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
When I saw this article linked from RD.net, I thought, "There's only one person I'm aware of who talks about 'Ultra-Darwinists' and it's not Mark Vernon." But yes, it's Conor "Did Darwin Kill God" Cunningham's new book that this article is a review of.

Kevin Myers: Can it be that when the founding cells of life were formed, someone planned for a rainy day? - Kevin Myers, Columnists - Independent.ie
Oh dear. Another closet IDist who doesn't understand how something could have evolved — therefore it must have been designed that way.

Another misleading story reports that blogs ‘r’ dead — Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard
As someone of the "older" generation who has recently upped his blogging frequency, I found this ... interesting.

Atheist Response to Rabbi « Conversational Atheist
We keep plugging away, despite the monotonous repetition of the same old theistic arguments. We assume that people are in general interested in truth, but could that possibly be misguided? Some theists give the impression that truth comes a poor second to faith. But faith is the ultimate irrationality. I want to believe things that are true, for the simple reason that they are true.

10 Creepy Plants That Shouldn't Exist | Cracked.com
Incredible feats of botany, given the wise-crack treatment. You'll laugh, you'll puke.
(Via @HayleyStevens)

Can dreams predict the future? | Science | The Guardian
An extract from Richard Wiseman's new book. And Amazon have informed me that my pre-order will be fulfilled sooner than predicted (spooky!).

Chelsea Coleman - The Comfort Blanket
The "community" aspect of humanism is important, as is the distinction between atheism as a description of beliefs (or lack of them), and humanism as a worldview.

Christians are morbid ghouls. No one is surprised. : Pharyngula
Is PZ pulling a fast one here? As a fiction writer myself I'm intrigued by PZ's teasing, even though he's saying that these three stories aren't even worth the dollar charged for each one.

NeuroLogica Blog » Does Atheism Lead to Immorality?
Steve Novella on that hoary old theistic canard. He's not the first, and regrettably won't be the last.
(Via @psiloiordinary)

Should Employers Be Allowed to Ask for Your Facebook Login? - Alexis Madrigal - Technology - The Atlantic
They can certainly ask; Employees can certainly refuse. This is definitely an invasion of privacy.

James Delingpole, keeping an open mind on homeopathy – Telegraph Blogs
James Delingpole appears to have thrown away any last vestige of credibility.