Tam 7 Begins!
READ THE FULL ENTRY AT RANDI.ORG
For those of you not attending TAM, I can understand if you’d rather not read about it. After all, you’re missing out on the premiere skeptical event of the year, and possibly the largest skeptic gathering of al time. But, I urge you to read this, because technology has moved forward, and you can actually attend TAM in the comfort of your own home. Ok, not really… but you can share the excitement in a bunch of new ways:
- If you’re a Twitter user, you can follow @TAMLive for frequent updates with photos. Also, search #TAM7 for a lot of chatter about the event.
- We will be trying to UStream some of the event, including the live Million Dollar Challenge on Sunday. For the uninitiated, UStream is a live video streaming web application that will allow us to send audio and video of the event straight to your computer.
READ THE FULL ENTRY AT RANDI.ORG
Skepdude says: I want to be there. I WANT TO BE THERE! Why am I not there? **sobbing uncontrollably**
Uganda to outlaw female circumcision
The barbaric ritual of female genital mutilation is still rampant in many parts of the world. But today we get welcome news: the President of Uganda is moving to outlaw the procedure threatening the death penatly for any practicioner at whose hands a young girl dies. While I am generally against the death penalty, this is a much needed first step in the right direction to abolish this horrible, stone age ritual..
In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni wants to outlaw female circumcision, and those that continue to perform the bloody practice would face the death penalty if a girl dies as a result of the procedure, Press Secretary Tamale Mirundi told CNN Wednesday.”If a girl dies during circumcision that would be murder,” Mirundi said. “The punishment for murder in Uganda is death. You will be hanged.”
Thank you Mr. President. Thank you very much.
Skepquote of the day
Christianity is either the most insane fiction you’ve ever heard, or the most horrifying reality you can imagine.
Do You Know What Time It Is?
READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY AT THE FRIENDLY ATHEIST
For the American readers, at some point this morning, in whatever time zone you’re in, the time will be:
04:05:06 07/08/09
(4:05 am, 6 seconds, on July 8th, 2009.)
You know what the significance of that is?
There is none. None at all.
Just thought I’d point that out.
Now, if only someone could tell these people that…
Wakefield’s false claims backfire
READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY AT LEFT BRAIN RIGHT BRAIN
Last week Andrew Wakefield announced to the world that the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) had ordered the Sunday Times to take down some articles about him from its website. Wakefield suggested that this was a tacit admission by the Times that its story was inaccurate and this message was dutifully repeated by Age of Autism and the rest of Wakefield’s online supporters.
As I reported previously, the PCC is waiting on the final outcome of the GMC disciplinary hearing against Wakefield before conducting its own inquiry over the articles and felt it would be fairer all round if the material was temporarily removed from the Times website. The Times agreed and removed the articles as a courtesy to the PCC. The Times was not impressed by Wakefield’s ungracious response and as a result the material is now back on their website.
This is not the first time that Wakefield’s actions have backfired on him. Four years ago he tried to sue Channel 4 and Brian Deer for libel over a documentary, MMR: What they didn’t tell you, that contained damaging revelations about Wakefield’s role in the MMR scare. As with his current complaint to the PCC and his recent press release, Wakefield’s action in bringing the case seems to have been motivated by a desire to please his loyal supporters rather than a serious attempt to settle the issue. Unusually for a litigant, Wakefield showed a marked reluctance to clear his name in court, seeking to delay the hearings for two years. When the court decided that Deer and his legal team were entitled to see the unredacted medical records of the children who were the subjects of Wakefield’s original Lancet paper Wakefield withdrew the action and agreed to pay costs to Brian Deer.
Public Service Announcement-Earth is not 6,000 years old
Regardless what this Senator seems to think.
Anything but that…
I’m a little late to the game but here it is anyway. Click pic to go to creators website, Atheist Cartoons!
Texas: careening toward doom
READ THE FULL ENTRY AT BAD ASTRONOMY BLOG
So Texas had its brief shining moment of light when the state Senate rejected creationist goofball Don McLeroy’s bid to once again head up the Board of Education. McLeroy was the guy who famously said, “Someone has to stand up to experts!” when talking about the science advisors contacted by the BoE to advise them on, y’know, science.
And even in that very post I said that this win was at best temporary, since the same Governor Rick Perry who picked McLeroy in the first place would pick his replacement.
And guess what? I hate being right all the time. It looks like Perry may pick über-far right religious zealot Cynthia Dunbar to replace McLeroy.
Skepquote of the day
I’m an atheist, but I’m very relaxed about it. I don’t preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like Richard Dawkins who do. Anything he does on television, I will watch.
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