George Hrab talks about loss from an atheistic perpective

Let's start off the new year with some jolly fun*. Here's George Hrab talking about loss.

http://youtu.be/9S-ngdPZn7M


Geo has some down-to-earth (as opposed to up-to-heaven) things to say about grief, loss, legacy and mourning. I particularly like what he says about "owning" grief.

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*Not really.

The Human Heart proves evolution wrong!

Er ... no ... actually it doesn't. In fact this article from Yec Headquarters 6 Day Creation is so much non-science I have a hard time believing it isn't a poe. Here's an extract:

Recent medical findings have found that the human heart plays several roles with how we actually feel and think. In fact, the human heart is the only organ that can communicate with the brain in 4 different ways:

1) Neurological communication (nervous system)
2) Biophysical communication (pulse wave)
3) Biochemical communication (hormones)
4) Energetic communication (electromagnetic fields)

This would explain why our heart hurts when we lose some one near and dear to us. And it is now believed that one of the functions of the heart deals with our emotions and attitude. But because heart transplants have become more of the norm for a failing heart. Another unexpected side effect has come up. The people who received the donor heart can often experience:

1) The other person’s memories.
2) The other person’s food cravings.
3) Some of the other person’s attitudes.
4) And some of the fears, hates, and loves of different things.

Recent medical findings? No citations are provided, but they're hardly needed — just a cursory scanning of this utter BS is enough to falsify it. Need I bother? And check this out:

This would explain why Christ resides in a person’s heart when they are saved. It also explains why God said that He hardened Pharaoh’s heart towards Moses instead of changing his mind. God knew, even before medical science, that emotion of love and hate reside in the heart and not in our minds.

This is too ridiculous — one might be forgiven for thinking this was a tongue-in-cheek April Fool joke. Let me check the date of the article...

Burnee links catch-up for 2014

Why I'd Still Believe In God Even if the Bible Was a Fairytale | Mick Mooney
This chap should be told about Douglas Adams' sentient puddle. He probably thinks his hands were specially designed to fit in his gloves.

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Everything You Need To Know About The UK's Most Ridiculous Election - BuzzFeed News
This is Buzzfeed avin a larf. Isn't it? Those names can't be real. Can they?

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'This proves homeopathy DOESN'T work ': Scientist swallows 50 homeopathic sleeping pills in one go - and says she doesn't feel drowsy at all | Daily Mail Online
From the comments:

"Homeopathic meds are very mild." 

This is putting it ... mildly. (I need to speak to Avogadro. Anyone know his number?)

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Matt, Mitch and Marsh for QED 2015 / Latest News / QED 2015
Next year's QED — from pretty good to super awesome at a stroke (or three)

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Vaccines and Pesticides May Create The Perfect Storm To Initiate Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Oh dear. Amongst other general horrors, PreventDisease.com continues to promote a specious link between vaccination and autism.

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Anger over move to teach intelligent design in schools | Herald Scotland
The article quotes Alastair Noble:

Alastair Noble, director of C4ID, said his organisation believed the petition was based on imposing a "particular world view" and would inhibit legitimate discussion in science lessons. He ­acknowledged the idea of teaching "for and against" evolution would be controversial, but claimed it was consistent with scientific method.

By all means discuss IDcreationism at university level, or even in religious education or philosophy classes at secondary school level. But in science lessons pupils should be taught accepted mainstream science. That's why they are attending science lessons. How much time do biology lessons devote to explaining the principles of the four humours, or the stork theory of procreation? How much time do physics lessons devote to explaining the astrological influences of the planets on the financial and romantic lives of humans? How much time do maths lessons devote to the numerological significance of particular numbers?

The problem with ID is that its proponents claim it is scientific, yet they never do any science to show how it is scientific. Speculations about the origins of biological life are all very well, but if you have a hypothesis that life was caused by "X" — do some experiments to establish whether or not that is the case. Until the IDists do that, IDcreationism remains unscientific and therefore inappropriate to be taught in school science lessons.

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Full Moon FREE Distance Healing Event
I was invited to this. I considered joining, especially if I could use the energy to power my laptop.

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Space Oddity | Chris Hadfield
It's back — the music video that, when first released, temporarily put every other music video ever made in the shade.

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Transport to Faith Schools - Local Authorities Shouldn't Be Subsidising Segregation | Stephen Evans
MP complains about local authorities removing a special "faith discount" from religious parents. Thinks it's perfectly OK that nonreligious don't get the discount, but removing the discount altogether is "discrimination".

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Brittany Maynard Didn’t Commit Suicide (What We Can Learn From 9-11′s “Falling Man”)
A Christian calmly reassesses his stance on assisted dying.

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Alternative health: what is naturopathy? - Telegraph

“Bioresonance measures the electromagnetic output of every cell in the body. If there’s any discrepancy with the healthy frequency for that kind of cell that gives a diagnosis.”

One cell at a time? Or all together?

“I look to address the cause, not just eradicate the symptoms. If you simply suppress symptoms on a superficial level then you can drive an imbalance deeper into the body.”

Deeper than individual cells? Wow, that's deep!

"Hempel uses bioresonance to put healthy electromagnetic frequencies back into the cells."

What next? Pills containing "healthy electromagnetic frequencies"? (I hear 100.3 megahertz is a good electromagnetic frequency — plus you get classical music along with it.) Really, the Telegraph should be ashamed of itself for publishing such bilge.

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Single adults banned from park - in case they are a paedophile | Western Gazette
Incredible. Frankly I wouldn't want to patronise any establishment where I was considered guilty until proved innocent. Or in the case of this particular establishment, guilty until... well, just guilty.

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Schools are being infiltrated by cults, say secularists - News - TES
A report on the committee hearing.

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The Unbelievable Skepticism of the Amazing Randi - NYTimes.com
For those who have (or haven't) seen the recent documentary, this is a good summary.

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Homeopaths all over the world to tip their remedies down the toilet in order to cure the oceans. No joke.
No joke? Shirley not... (And who knew water was multilingual?)

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The Daily Mail is wrong — homeopathy can't cure Ebola » Spectator Blogs

The Daily Mail is wrong? Well, I am surprised....
(About as surprised as "not at all surprised".)

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Egypt's Muslim, Christian authorities unite against atheism | Africa | Worldbulletin News
Atheism is a fad....

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Our Unreliable Minds, with Paul Thompson - Skeptics and Believers Discussion Group, Henley-on-Thames (Henley-on-Thames, England) - Meetup
I am reliably informed that this thing is happening in January.

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Copper & Magnetic Healing: How to Respond to Complaints | Honest Universe
Take action. It works.

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BBC News - Lee Rigby murder: Internet firms must do more on terror, says PM
Is David Cameron serious about this, or merely pandering to constituents, or is he just clueless about how the internet works?

Terrorists are using the internet to communicate with each other and we must not accept that these communications are beyond the reach of the authorities or the internet companies themselves," he told MPs after the report was published.

Their networks are being used to plot murder and mayhem. It is their social responsibility to act on this.

Has he any idea how many posts and comments are written on Facebook every minute? Is he expecting Facebook employees to read everything posted?

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Glasgow’s Intelligent Design Director has ”open mind” on age of Earth | Eat Your Brains Out; Exploring Science, Exposing Creationism
"...there is a lot of uncertainty about all scientific things..." Depends what you mean by "a lot".

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Introduction to Intelligent Design, Alastair Noble (review) | Eat Your Brains Out; Exploring Science, Exposing Creationism
I wonder if this is the brochure that Alastair Noble keeps mentioning in his emails, available for £2 plus p&p — apparently only 32 pages long and easily made available as a freely downloadable PDF. If he's so keen to introduce ID, why charge for it?

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James Randi: debunking the king of the debunkers - Telegraph
People are ... human. And we must never forget that Randi is in the deceit business.

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Adam4d.com - Let’s talk about Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
No True Christianity...

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Provider for Christ Hunting Adventure | Frikkie du Toit Safaris
Marvel at the awesome beauty of God's creatures! And kill them!

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'Homeopathy CAN cure Ebola but WHO officials are stopping us' | Daily Mail Online
Homeopathy "at the same time" as conventional medicine? About as effective as prayer at the same time as conventional medicine.

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10 Things You Need To Know About "The Imitation Game"
The film is a great piece of storytelling, but contains a fair bit of artistic licence.

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10 Jokes Only Engineers Will Understand. Who Says Engineers Don’t Have A Sense Of Humor?
Apparently there are no female engineers.

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Stephen Collins on a Christmas ad – cartoon | Life and style | The Guardian
We did check?

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PodCastle 341, Giant Episode: Balfour and Meriwether in the Incident of the Harrowmoor Dogs | PodCastle
My latest narration — this is a looooooong one.

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What is this saucery?
Love this....

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Scottish Parliament Petitions Committee

Here's the BBC's video recording (from Democracy Live) of the Scottish Parliament Petitions Committee hearing evidence from Spencer Fildes and Professor Paul Braterman of the Scottish Secular Society in support of their petition PE01530: "Guidance on how creationism is presented in schools."



Written representations to the committee can be seen here (including mine):
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/gettinginvolved/petitions/creationismguidance

Burnee links catchup from since forever (or thereabouts)

Wow…. failed final observation. « James's thinking space
I know several teachers — I don't know how many of them endured this kind of disincentivization.

Timeline Photos - Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian
Now I see how this works...

Why the faithful need secularism
Say it enough times, maybe it will eventually sink in.

Why the Many-Worlds Formulation of Quantum Mechanics Is Probably Correct | Sean Carroll
Never mind the universe splitting, I think my brain is about to shatter.

Bird & Fortune - Admiral Sir George Parr - YouTube
The benefit of hindsight (or is it...?)

BBC News - Astrology-loving MP seeks health answers in the stars
"...a member of the health committee and the science and technology committee..." Shirley there's been some mistake?

Be Reasonable: Episode #019 – David Boyle « The Merseyside Skeptics Society

The unconnected strands of my DNA have all connected up and my mind has exploded!
Or maybe I've just listened to Michael Marshall interviewing David Boyle. Yeah, that seems more likely (though my brain still hurts).

Twitter / Justinsweh: What does it mean to 'Craig'? Via ...
So true

Why the Aliens Want Earth | Seth Shostak
Is Seth Shostak just making veiled excuses for why SETI hasn't confirmed any positive results yet?

Why You Can't Reconcile God and Evolution | Alternet
Are religion and science compatible? The politically correct answer is yes, but I've always thought it's the wrong answer.

BBC News - China plans its own 'Christian theology'
Wang Zuoan needs to swot up on L. Ron Hubbard.

The god of vapor is hardly any kind of god at all
So someone has tried to rescue the "compatibility of science and religion" from Greta Christina's spot-on critique. And failed, as pointed out here by an actual scientist (someone who's day job is teaching actual science to undergraduates).

Reviewing James M. Rochford's Evidence Unseen

With a blurb like this:

In my opinion, this is the perfect book for the skeptic as well as the person who is just starting to learn about the role of Christian apologetics. I have already handed out some copies to people in our campus ministry and I continue to give some to seekers as well. I don’t want for one second to say this book is strictly for the young seeker. It can be used as a resource for any age group. My advice is to pick up a copy and give it to a friend. Time’s a wastin! (Eric Chabot—Founder and Director of Ratio Christi at OSU)

...or this:

“In showing the credibility of Christianity, Rochford effectively argues that it is worthy of serious consideration by honest thinkers. By providing so many references to thinkers on both sides of the issue, he invites his readers to explore and play fair with the facts.” (Lee Campbell–PhD Neurosciences)

...or this:

“Aimed especially at college students and seekers, Evidence Unseen shows us that Christian faith is not a blind leap in the dark, but a humble dependence on the God of the Bible, who has revealed himself through substantial evidence. The author presents this evidence quite readably under four headings: internal evidence, external evidence, and evidence from Scripture, divided into fulfilled prophecy and the historical reliability of its message. He shows us that humans need God in order to be able to function consistently in this world; that nature universally and locally points to its creator and designer; that this designer has also controlled history to fulfill the predictions of the biblical prophets; and that the biblical narratives (here, the narratives about Jesus) show themselves to be fully trustworthy. I highly recommend Evidence Unseen for your own search for what life is all about, and for helping others in their searches. (Dr. Robert C. Newman—Emeritus Professor of New Testament & Christian Evidences—Biblical Seminary— PhD Theoretical Astrophysics, Cornell University)

...this book seems like it might actually be persuasive. Additionally it's free on Kindle at the moment (I don't know for how long), so I've decided to read it and (if in my opinion it merits a review) to review it here on the blog. I've not seen any reviews so far, and I don't intend to look at any until I've finished at least the first draft of my own.

Be aware, however, that my encounters with supposedly persuasive apologetics books has to date been less than positive, as you will see if you check out my previous reviews of such tomes:

• Dembski & Licona's Evidence for God
• Cold cases solved by magic? — J. Warner Wallace's Cold Case Christianity

Spooky story: "Down" by Christopher Fowler

For your listening enspookment, my narration of Christopher Fowler's short tale of the London Underground's otherworldly inhabitants, "Down", is now available for free at PodCastle, the fantasy podcast magazine.

Enjoy. (Then go and post a comment in the forum, and maybe support the Pod with some cash.)