Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion foundation gives a Faux News talking head (who was spouting right-wing, revisionist history, talking points) a spot on concise U.S. history and Constitutional law lesson regarding the 1st Amendment separation of church and state, check it out:
[Via Why Evolution is True]
Magician and skeptic James Randi, a long time hero of mine has, at 81, come out as a gay man. He has been ‘out’ to his friends and close colleagues forever, and I must admit to not being terribly surprised myself (I picked up on a few hints here and there that made me suspect that it might be the case).
He doesn’t want to make a big deal out it, and I don’t see why anyone else should.
As I said he has been a long time hero of mine in the fight against what he amusingly calls “woo-woo” (paranormal & pseudoscientific claims) and his being gay does absolutely nothing to diminish my admiration for him and the work he has done.
For more on Randi and his work check out the James Randi Educational Foundation.
Happy Darwin/Lincoln day everyone!
F-ing A. What damn business is it of anyone besides the two consenting adults in question?
[Via Pharyngula]
This is via my friend Ed Brayton over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars:
The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Friday that the state must allow same-sex couples to get married. See full ruling here. Long excerpt from the ruling below the fold:
We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective. The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification. There is no material fact, genuinely in dispute, that can affect this determination.
We have a constitutional duty to ensure equal protection of the law. Faithfulness to that duty requires us to hold Iowa’s marriage statute, Iowa Code section 595.2, violates the Iowa Constitution. To decide otherwise would be an abdication of our constitutional duty. If gay and lesbian people must submit to different treatment without an exceedingly persuasive justification, they are deprived of the benefits of the principle of equal protection upon which the rule of law is founded. Iowa Code section 595.2 denies gay and lesbian people the equal protection of the law promised by the Iowa Constitution.
Bravo.
Bravo indeed.
And queue the shrill cries of “unelected judges” followed shortly by vague, unsubstantiated claims that Iowa families are somehow in danger because of this ruling in 3, 2, 1…
As reported on the Lou Dobbs program (with an interview of Christopher Hitchens) the United Nations is trying to pass a binding resolution to encourange member states to ban criticisms of religion (especially Islam). As far as I’m concerned the U.N. can stick any such resolution up their collective asses.
Do we really need to listen to lectures from this collection of tin-pot dictatorships (who think nothing of committing untold numbers of human rights violations against their own peoples) about the ‘horrors’ of possibly causing offense to someones delicate religious sensibilities?
It’s even worse than listening to Bush prattle on about defending freedom and liberty while holding people indefinitely without trial (torturing many of them) and wiretapping his fellow citizens without benefit of warrant (just to scratch the surface).
Original video removed from YouTube.
[Via Pharyngula, though unlike P.Z. I don’t find Dobbs to be “odious” even if I don’t agree with him on everything.]
Happy Darwin/Lincoln day everyone! On this auspicious day we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of both the founder (but not finisher) of evolutionary biology, Charles Darwin, and the great emancipator Abraham Lincoln, both of whom were born on this day, February 12, in the year 1809. Tis a day to celebrate both knowledge and freedom.
I have a generally low opinion of political correctness, which usually seems to be an excuse for those on the left to censure (or censor) things they don’t like (sort of the equivalent of “family values” on the right). However, this particular instances of PC has flown vigorously off into the lofty realm of the bat shit insane.
This case involves a student/worker at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (with the ungainly acronym of IUPUI), who committed the unpardonable sin of reading an anti-KKK history book in public. See the video to find out (mixing my metaphors a bit) how deep this rabbit hole went:
What he said…
Creationist nut-job Tom Willis (Creation Science Association for Mid-America), apparently without a sense of irony, accuses evolutionists of being Nazis/communists (or at least fellow travelers of the Nazis and communists) and concludes from this that it might be a good idea to (amongst other possibilities) round up evolutionists and put them in forced labor camps.
Other options include torturing recantations out of evolutionists, forcing them to wear identifying signs or plaques, or perhaps forced relocations to Antarctica (or Mars).
Poe’s Law is in full effect here, it seems like it should be a parody but it’s not.
Found via Pharyngula.
Playing Chess with Pigeons 