I’ve been taking a bit of time recently flipping through the posts on FSTDT. If you’ve not been before then strap on your safety harness and take a visit. FSTDT is a repository of some of the most inane ramblings of Fundamentalists (of all sorts, not just religious) gleaned from various forums and groups around the Internet.
Archive for June, 2009
Devil Worshipping Atheist?
Friday, June 26th, 2009Always check the numbers
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009The current Swine Flu epidemic has prompted the company I work for to install little bottles of alcohol based hand sanitisers everywhere. I quickly scanned the label on one today and noticed it claims to kill 99.999% of all bacteria. That sounds impressive, but it made me think, what exactly does that mean?
People are sheep
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009The average human being is a simple creature. They go about their daily lives, obeying the law, obeying any commands given to them by authoritative figures, and obeying signs and notices all over the place.
So it was that a week or so ago in the kitchen of my place of work (I work for a large US based international IT company with offices in most countries) a cardboard box appeared, with a note attached requesting that milk bottle lids be left therein. No further information was given at all. Being the human sheep (sheople?) that we all are, milk bottle tops began to appear in the box.
The Atheist Blogroll
Monday, June 15th, 2009quietAtheist has been added to The Atheist Blogroll. You can see the blogroll in my sidebar. The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information.
My thanks to Mojoey for providing this service, and accepting the quietAtheist into the Blogroll. 
Does religion have greater “epistemic authority” than science in some areas?
Monday, June 15th, 2009Take a look at this article by Tom Clark at Naturalism.org; it’s about the misguided notion that in some areas faith can give us genuine answers to questions before which science is impotent. This is the NOMA (”nonoverlapping magisteria”) refrain that we hear constantly from organizations like the National Academy of Sciences, the National Center for Science Education, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Are there “ways of knowing” that are not only unique to faith, but provide real answers about the nature of the universe?
From Why Evolution is True
Via Richard Dawkins.net
It’s an interesting article, and it got me thinking.
The Height of Space
Monday, June 15th, 2009Evolution in 10 years!
Sunday, June 14th, 2009RIVERSIDE, Calif. – How fast can evolution take place? In just a few years, according to a new study on guppies led by UC Riverside’s Swanne Gordon, a graduate student in biology.
YouTube – “Discovery” Institute Caught Illegally Censoring Videos
Friday, June 12th, 2009YouTube – “Discovery” Institute Caught Illegally Censoring Videos.
What a surprise, the ‘Discovery Institute’ being dishonest, who would have thought it?
(more…)
WordPress upgrade
Thursday, June 11th, 2009I’ve just upgraded WordPress to the newly released v2.8. It seems to have gone fine, but who knows what horrors await to be found. If anything goes horribly wrong then just sit tight, pray, and I’ll be fixing it ASAP.
*EDIT*
Just for shits and giggles I’ve updated to the latest version of the Atahualpa theme too. I like living on the edge. 
Dangers of Azeusism
Thursday, June 11th, 2009Azeusism, or not believing in Zeus, has been the cause of almost every single major atrocity of the past several thousand years.
Mass murder. Genocide. Ethnic cleansing. Wars. Bad behavior in general.
Read more at Conversational Atheist
Is Atheism a Religion?
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009It’s an old question, and on the surface would seem easy to answer. As an Atheist, to me Atheism isn’t a religion.
But I also don’t think it is quite that simple.
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Stem Cell Contact Lenses Cure Blindness in Less Than a Month
Friday, June 5th, 2009Here’s something that people with poor or no vision will be excited about: three patients had their sight restored in less than a month by contact lenses cultured with stem cells.
via Gizmodo – Stem Cell Contact Lenses Cure Blindness in Less Than a Month – Stem Cells.
This is why Stem Cell research is important and needs to be funded. The results of this test are impressive, even if the research team are still guarded about the long term effectiveness.
Sense About Science
Thursday, June 4th, 2009Hopefully you are aware that the science journalist Simon Singh recently lost a libel case brought against him by the British Chiropractic Association. Well, thankfully Simon is appealing that decision. If you wish to show your support for Simon, and for promoting sense in the field of scientific debate, then please sign the petition:
http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/index.php/site/project/334
Thankyou.
