Title:	A poll to advocate a strong response to climate change
Author:	pharyngula
Date:	2009-11-29 23:26
Security:	public

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/3NzeugcCaVY/a_poll_to_advocate_a_strong_re.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/a_poll_to_advocate_a_strong_re.php

Those kooky climate change denialists are at it again — we've been beaten to the poll-skewing punch on this one, a site that is collecting votes to use in demanding a strong response by the government to the challenges of global warming. We're behind by many thousands already, so it may take some work to bring it up — but give it a shot.

"I've seen the evidence. And I want the government to prove they're serious about climate change by negotiating a strong, effective, fair deal at Copenhagen."

5477 agree
8423 disagree

Title:	Get Up! It's Bunday!!
Author:	dailybunny
Date:	2009-11-29 23:43
Security:	public

http://www.dailybunny.com/daily_bunny_d8/2009/11/this-is-bugs-and-carly-a-couple-of-adorable-buns-up-for-adoption-with-the-north-georgia-chapter-of-the-house-rabbit-society.html

"Oh hi, Dad.  We took the liberty of waking you up early today, as we noticed you went grocery shopping last night and it is already 6 AM on the following day, and you haven't yet opened the bing cherries.  We wouldn't want them to go bad, would we?  Probably we should eat them right NOW, don't you think?"    [nudge nudge]  *grunt grunt*

:)  This is Bugs and Carly, a couple of adorable buns up for adoption with the North Georgia Chapter of the House Rabbit Society.  Each was sadly abandoned at a vet's office, where they were then paired up and have been very happy together!  :)  Now, they just need need new people to take them in... you can read all about them (and other bunnies) here.  Good luck, Bugs and Carly!! 

Title:	So Fuck You
Author:	overheardnyc
Date:	2009-11-30 00:00
Security:	public

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021050.html

Drunk Southern chick: And I knew that when he said "fuck you" it was over... You'd never say that to me, would you?
Sober Southern guy: (stares blankly)
Drunk Southern chick: Yeah, I know you would.

--Lower East Side

Overheard by: I Agree With Him

Title:	Superman or Green lantern ain't got nothing on me
Author:	austin_dern
Date:	2009-11-30 13:10
Security:	public

The episode title is Day of the Dinosuars, which inspires thoughts of dinosaurs, doesn't it?

The bottom line: we needed a longer day, and more dinosaurs.

Trivia: The last commercial operator of the Boeing 247 was Island Airlines of Port Clinton, Ohio, flying regular service to the Bass Islands of Lake Erie from 1954 until the early 1960s. The aircraft was sold to an English buyer in 1968. Source: The Boeing 247: The First Modern Airliner, F Robert van der Linden.

Currently Reading: A For Anything, Damon Knight. You know, I'm not convinced by its treatment of how replicators will destroy civilization and impose feudalism.

Title:	Dennett, Harris, Hitchens vs. Boteach, D'Souza, Taleb vs. Wright
Author:	pharyngula
Date:	2009-11-29 21:20
Security:	public

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/wqWr0PTY72k/dennett_harris_hitchens_vs_bot.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/dennett_harris_hitchens_vs_bot.php

Got a few hours to spare? Here's another recent debate, this time between Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens vs. Boteach, D'Souza, and Taleb in Mexico, with Robert Wright stuck in the middle. The sound quality is OK, but very low…so crank it up to hear it.

Don't want to listen? Here's a quick summary.

Shmuley Boteach: Yeesh. What an awful, screechy person. There is a god because evolution is impossible, and god is the only reason people are moral. Oh, and Hitler. Tiresome and cliched.

Sam Harris (about 9 minutes in): There are only 3 ways to defend god: 1) argue that your specific religion is true; 2) or you argue that religion is useful; or 3) you attack atheism. Only (1) is valid. He brings up a beautiful metaphor: what would you think of a friend who announced that he was so happy because he was destined to marry Angeline Jolie? The usefulness of this belief, or the idea that it makes him happy, is irrelevant against the falsity of the claim, yet this is the kind of argument defenders of religion always make.

Dinesh D'Souza (20 min): Claims to rise to Harris's challenge to speak about the truth of religion in a 21st century way…so he chooses to talk about life after death. Tries to argue that believers in an afterlife and those who don't believe are in exactly the same state of ignorance. Then he says there is empirical evidence for life after death, which I anxiously await.

Wait…he says that the Big Bang proves the existence of other realms, therefore there is a heaven? Dark matter and dark energy could be where are immortal post-death souls are stored? This guy is nuts. Oh, and Pascal's Wager.

Christopher Hitchens (29 min): What matters is not what you think, but how you think, and discovery has come from non-religious thinking. Religious arguments are useless and unverifiable. Refutes the fine-tuning argument by pointing out the fate or our planet, our sun, and our galaxy is destruction. D'Souza's argument of equivalence is false: we don't claim absolute knowledge, we say that the theists have failed to provide any evidence.

Robert Wright (39 min): Doesn't want to be on either side. Muddled as always.

Nassim Taleb (47 min): Can't track reality with science and equations. Religion is not about belief. We were wiser before the Enlightenment, because we knew how to take knowledge from incomplete information, and now we live in a world of epistemic arrogance. Religious people have a way of dealing with ignorance, by saying "God knows". At least he's making a novel argument, but he's still full of bullshit.

Daniel Dennett (54 min): This is familiar, from his talk at AAI. He discusses his study of priests who have become atheists, but remain in the pulpit. Theology evolved as a way to accommodate theologians' personal integrity with what society told them they had to believe in their religion. The idea that you can't be good without god is the biggest lie spread by religion.

Second round!

Shmuley Boteach (60 min): Hitler. Hitler, Hitler, Hitler. Evolution can't have love. Evolution leads to racism. All morality comes from religion. Man, this guy is a scumbag.

Sam Harris (64 min): Points out that the other side hasn't provided any evidence for their position — they're using the arrogance of their iron age faith, only. The real issue is the veracity of the textual narrative of the Bible, which is clearly a clumsy pastiche.

Dinesh D'Souza (69 min): Why is there a universe? Why are we here? Where are we going? Science doesn't have an answer to any of them. Has this fathead ever considered the possibility that they're bad questions? See Harris's first discussion: D'Souza is arguing his point 3. Finally resorts to misstating scientific claims about life on other planets. Total moron.

Christopher Hitchens (73 min): Call's D'Souza's argument "piffle", and that he's misleading people about science. Science can say what will make us stop accepting an idea; theists do not have anything equivalent to 'rabbits in the precambrian'. Theists make positive and entirely implausible claims about what god is telling us to do. A wager: Name a moral action that a believer will take that he can't.

Nassim Taleb (77 min): Until about 70 years ago, visiting a doctor would reduce your chance of living. From this, he leaps to the conclusion that science hasn't been good at dealing with evidence. Even now, doctors kill us — fewer people die when hospitals go on strike. WTF? This guy is a real crank. If you remove religion, what will you replace it with?

Daniel Dennett (82 min): We are going to replace religion with secular morality, without the dogma of religion. How has religion proceeded? Not one person in this room would choose to live by old testament morality. We've worked together to adjust our morality, we make these adjustments.

Robert Wright (86 min): Argues with everyone. Accomplishes nothing. Oh, and the New Atheists are fundamentalists. FU too, Wright.

The rest of the event seems to be commentary in Spanish…I turned it off. I hung in there long enough, and should have bailed out the instant Boteach opened his mouth.

Title:	And Impossible With It Up, One Would Think
Author:	overheardnyc
Date:	2009-11-29 21:00
Security:	public

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021049.html

Boy: Man, this semester I'm going to fuck everyone. I'm gonna be a real man-whore.
Friends: Uh-huh.
Man leaving train: Someone should tell him it's hard to be a man-whore with his zipper down.

--F Train

Title:	The Elderly Are As Independent and Uncooperative As Cats
Author:	overheardnyc
Date:	2009-11-29 18:00
Security:	public

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021048.html

Guard to elderly tourists at elevator to roof: Please swing the line around the corner.
Elderly tourist: Ve don't sving.

--Metropolitan Museum

Title:	THIS JUST IN: The “Suck and Glare”
Author:	cuteoverload
Date:	2009-11-29 23:38
Security:	public

http://cuteoverload.com/2009/11/29/this-just-in-the-suck-and-glare/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=35744

Carl the 17-day-old kitten does not like sharing his bottle.

Izzie, the older cat sits and tries to catch a drip every time, and all Carl does is suck and glare at her.

Ariel E., thank you for bringing this look to our atten-shons and for naming your kitten ‘Carl.” Nice work.

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Impending Doom, Kittens, This Just In!

Title:	This teacup is too big…
Author:	cuteoverload
Date:	2009-11-29 22:55
Security:	public

http://cuteoverload.com/2009/11/29/dont-pour-tea-on-me-dammi/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=35741

This teacup is too small…

This teacup fits juuuuuuust right.

Narie S., it’s 4PM. You’re invited to High Bunday Tea.

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Bunnies

Title:	Untitled
Topics:	via ljapp
Author:	arakinuk
Date:	2009-11-29 23:38
Security:	public

I know I'm shallow, and a bit fanboy-ish...but discovering that the new V series stars Alan "Walsh / Steve the Pirate" Tudyk was a real *squee* moment.

The show has a really different feel to the original so far, keen to see how it develops, a couple of fun plays on the original already. :-) (having really enjoyed the original with Marc "Beastmaster" Singer and Michael Ironside)

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Title:	How not to end the scourge of HIV
Author:	pharyngula
Date:	2009-11-29 17:15
Security:	public

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/qZEpP47cZiU/how_not_to_end_the_scourge_of.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/how_not_to_end_the_scourge_of.php

Uganda's solution is rather shocking: throw any gay people into prison for life, and execute any who are HIV-positive.

Don't blame it on those 'primitive' Africans, though: I can think of a few loud Americans who would find that a reasonable way to address the problem.

I am deeply ashamed to discover that this bill isn't just hypothetically the kind of thing a few Americans would sponsor — it is literally a product of that wretched American 'brain' trust, The Family.