1. Russell T Davies: Return of the (tea) Time Lord

Comment #155917 by Damien Trotter on April 6, 2008 at 9:58 am

"Sad to hear it.
Dr who is a crock of horseshite."

It may not be the greatest TV currently available. But neither you nor I could do any better. And we would do well not to forget that he (Russell Davies) is, after all, on our 'side'.

Nevertheless, I like the fact that Davies has helped bring the portrayal of gay relationships into the mainstream/prime-time media. And I'm looking forward to the episode with Prof Dawkins. If nothing else, it sounds like it could be good fun!

DT

2. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #149997 by Damien Trotter on March 26, 2008 at 11:41 am

Happy Birthday Clint! :)

DT

3. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing

Comment #144292 by Damien Trotter on March 15, 2008 at 2:55 pm

What I would like to know is where the good professor gets all his energy from! Book tours, lectures, writing, compiling (the above), TV programs and radio, personal apearances, world travel.

Amazing!

DT

4. The Encyclopedia of Life, No Bookshelf Required

Comment #133680 by Damien Trotter on February 26, 2008 at 2:08 pm

Don't forget that most species are now extinct.

And being an orthodox Jew, Adam would have had to perform a naming ceremony for each species. In effect, he would still be in the garden of Eden naming the very early species, with most of his task yet to perform.

DT

5. Atheists An Increasingly Outspoken Minority

Comment #129399 by Damien Trotter on February 19, 2008 at 4:05 am

Beg pardon about the Jonathan Edwards/long jump thing. My memory is not what it used to be.

Yes, he was an ultra-devout Christian - which makes his de-conversion all the more astonishing.

DT

6. Atheists An Increasingly Outspoken Minority

Comment #129375 by Damien Trotter on February 19, 2008 at 3:20 am

There are plenty more famous atheists at:

www.celebatheists.com

... where you will find all sorts of famous non-believers. They range from actors to musicians, comedians to philosophers and everything in-between. I have suggested a few famous atheists, including Eddie Izzard, Jonathan Edwards (the world record holder in the long jump), Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson (Para-Olympic multiple medal winner) which have been added to the list.

Why not search around the web and come up with one or two of your own?

DT

7. Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science

Comment #125303 by Damien Trotter on February 11, 2008 at 8:07 am

How about:

http://www.bris.ac.uk/ias/collier

DT

8. AAI 07

Comment #82634 by Damien Trotter on October 27, 2007 at 3:54 am

I was under the impression the first "pro-atheist fictional feature film" was 'The Wizard of Oz'. Failing that, how about the more modern 'Fearless', starring Jeff Bridges?

DT

9. Can the rest of us have our planet back?

Comment #57719 by Damien Trotter on July 20, 2007 at 6:15 pm

Very enjoyable and succinct! And I would give good odds that he has recently read The God Delusion.

As far as I can remember this is Marcus Brigstocke's first (broadcast) rant against religion. He joins an ever growing number of British comedians who have recently let their feelings be known in this sphere.

10. His word: Attacking religion can seem like breaking a butterfly on a wheel

Comment #51495 by Damien Trotter on June 23, 2007 at 5:58 am

David Baddiel is a comedian/writer in the UK. He is of Jewish heritage.

And nearly a thousand words in his article to say almost nothing. Is this a record? He didn't even bother to inform us of his own stance on religion.

DT

11. Richard Dawkins on his online alterego

Comment #50668 by Damien Trotter on June 19, 2007 at 10:27 am

I hope the good Professor does not get addicted to Second Life as I have! I have a great deal of fun, and have not laughed so much for ages, when I am within in its virtual environment. Of course, what you get out of such a 'game' is dependent on what you put into it.

I have noticed that some of the plants in Second Life are indeed growing. Therefore I have no doubt that evolutionary algorithms can be applied to your creations should you be up to the task.

If anyone from this thread (or this site in general) make themselves known to me within Second Life, it would be my pleasure to give you a free item (of my manufacture) from my in-game shop (Totally Bananas in Baileya).

Damien Trotter

12. Interview with Pierre Rehov

Comment #37891 by Damien Trotter on May 6, 2007 at 6:12 am

72 virgins.

This belief is totally illogical! The desire for 72 highly-skilled and experienced prostitutes would be a far wiser conviction.

13. Against All Gods, by A C Grayling

Comment #36109 by Damien Trotter on April 30, 2007 at 7:56 am

Suffolk Blue, try and get your wife to read The Demon haunted World by Carl Sagan. It's very gentle, yet persuasive.

14. As Religious Strife Grows, Europe's Atheists Seize Pulpit

Comment #31759 by Damien Trotter on April 14, 2007 at 5:37 am

Religious leaders are pushing back against the assertive unbelievers. The Church of England's Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, complained in a December statement about "illiberal atheists who have joined forces with aggressive secularists." He was responding to demands that Jesus be removed from nativity plays and that Christmas parties be called "winter festival" gatherings delusional strawmen of his own making.

15. Coming out as atheist: Noel Gallagher & Gabriel Byrne

Comment #31723 by Damien Trotter on April 14, 2007 at 2:28 am

Odd. It has been known for some time that both the Gallagher brothers are atheists.

I'm not sure if I agree with Caesar Best (above), after all, 'any publicity is good publicity'.

16. Is God poison?

Comment #30834 by Damien Trotter on April 10, 2007 at 3:32 am

Except, perhaps, for Hitchens, who seems to be the only one who admits to having religious friends...

Proof, that Bethune has read virtually nothing by Prof. Dawkins.

DT

17. Creationism debate continues to evolve

Comment #29573 by Damien Trotter on April 3, 2007 at 12:57 pm

"Within weeks of the Dover ruling, prominent creationist, (and now convicted criminal) Ken Hovind of the Florida-based Creation Science Evangelism centre, was at the Dover High School arguing that the next step in the fight should be to remove evolution from the curriculum, even if intelligent design cannot be added."

There, fixed it for you all!

DT

18. Richard Dawkins: Author of the Year!

Comment #28706 by Damien Trotter on March 30, 2007 at 12:50 pm

There was a HUGE cheer when Professor Dawkin's name was announced!

I didn't notice the look on Dara O'Briain's face, however, it must be noted that he too is an atheist.

19. Halting progress

Comment #16968 by Damien Trotter on January 9, 2007 at 10:49 pm

I have recently come to a gloomy conclusion regarding a fact about the professors Grayling and Dawkins:

THERE IS ONLY ONE OF EACH

Sad isn't it?