Sunday 9 August 2015

Catch up with this bucketful of Burnee links

Is Richard Dawkins destroying his reputation? | Sophie Elmhirst | Science | The Guardian
Good article on the current state of the Dawkins.

Global warming: Science-denying Senator tells scientist Pope to listen to scientists | Eat Your Brains Out; Exploring Science, Exposing Creationism
Depressing.

What is the point of scientific peer review? | coelsblog
It's peer-reviewed, so it must be right. Wrong! Coel Hellier has written a non-peer-reviewed blogpost.

Pat Robertson: Tell Bereaved Mother Her Dead Baby Could've Been The Next Hitler | Right Wing Watch
I really thought this was a spoof. No-one with a microgram of awareness would or could say such a thing. But...

Egypt’s Council of Churches to hold “countering atheism” conference.
Conference hereby resolves that:
A: Those who don't believe in our God should be killed.
Or,
B: Those who don't believe in our God should be treated with respect and generally left alone, because belief is a personal thing, and we're all for freedom of (and from) religion.
Or,
C: Those who don't believe in our God should be persuaded by our abundant evidence and cogent arguments that our God really does exist, and we just need to engage them constantly until they do believe in our God.
Or,
D: Sod it, what's the point? Do nothing.

Michael Marshall – In defence of the pun - YouTube
A groan man marshalls his puny thoughts.


Should you be worried about Charlie Charlie?
Should you be worried about this? Maybe if someone you know actually believes this, you should be. The author of this article, however, is hedging his bets, seemingly unable to distinguish one shade of caca de toro from another.

NeuroLogica Blog » Are We Living in a Simulated Universe?
Fascinating. Favourite bit from the comments: "Maybe the fundamental limit of the speed of light is there to prevent us from getting to a destination before the computer has drawn that section of the universe."

The “dreams” of Google’s AI are equal parts amazing and disturbing - Quartz
I think Google's AI has been popping pills or smoking some weird stuff.

The women whom science forgot - BBC News
We talked on Skepticule 99 about a dearth of female scientist celebrities. Here's a list of candidates from the past.

Might it be pretty obvious there’s no Judeo-Christian God? | Center for Inquiry
"Religion has a quite gobsmacking power to get large numbers of smart people to believe obviously ludicrous things."

National Secular Society - Diocese stresses “purity” and “virtue of chastity” in Catholic schools’ sex education guidelines
Can't say I'm surprised by this. What can you expect when the document starts off with a page-and-a-half of theology?

Libel Case: A Statement. Steve Paris & Angel Garden vs Andy Lewis & Melanie Byng | The Quackometer Blog
Write something — anything — and publish it, and you take your 'life' in your hands (or your typing fingers).

James Rhodes: 'Find what you love and let it kill you' | Music | The Guardian
Now.

losing faith [cc] - YouTube
TheraminTrees tells his story — long, but worth it.