51. Happy Newton Day!

Comment #98968 by Noodly on December 15, 2007 at 4:07 am

Hamleys?

Gamages was the Christmas toy Mecca for us boys of a certain vintage.

52. This Friday: Debate between Dan Dennett and Dinesh D'Souza

Comment #92014 by Noodly on November 29, 2007 at 5:29 pm

Even the conservatives are fed up with his tactics:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/19/conservatives_sour_on_rebel_media/?page=full

53. The evolution of creationism

Comment #88457 by Noodly on November 16, 2007 at 6:53 pm

Comment #87886 by The Truth, the light:

"Under their theory, it's quite reasonable the Intelligent Designer could be the green men from Mars, or hyper-intelligent slugs from the Planet Zorg."

Very good point, why don't we "scientists" state that "ID" is more likely to be the result of a committee than an individual - bearing in mind that committees are never perfect and this correlates directly to the observable results of "ID".

54. Richard Dawkins to appear in Second Life

Comment #44313 by Noodly on May 24, 2007 at 9:33 am

It should be called third life since we are all unwitting participants in a sophisticated computer simulation submitted by the future equivalent of a precocious teenager!

55. The Most Hated Family in America

Comment #29633 by Noodly on April 3, 2007 at 5:44 pm

In the youtube user comments for the video linked to by Seti in Comment 21, there is one from ari89 who states "fred phelps tried to seduce me when i was part of your ministry! I escaped to australia to get away from you hypocritical freaks".

I tried to leave a reply requesting more info, but it failed to appear.

56. US Congressman Holds No God-Belief

Comment #25419 by Noodly on March 13, 2007 at 2:58 am

Interestingly, "About Pete Stark" on http://www.petestark.com includes the following:

Stark's community, church, and civic activities have included: ..... Chairman, Board of Trustees, Starr King School of Ministry ..... and many others.

57. Massachusetts Atheists?

Comment #20361 by Noodly on February 2, 2007 at 1:26 am

The UK still has a blasphemy law which was last successfully prosecuted in 1977: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy#United_Kingdom

Nearly all these laws only protect the local dominant religion and need to be actively challenged.

The opening sentence of chapter 2 in TGD is clearly blasphemous, but the church is too scared to tackle it, preferring to keep an out of date law on the statute books rather than see it humuliated in public.

58. James Randi on Larry King Live

Comment #20235 by Noodly on February 1, 2007 at 8:09 am

Stewart, I agree entirely with your comment 20226, I hadn't thought my idea through properly. It looks like it'll have to be law suits.

59. James Randi on Larry King Live

Comment #20216 by Noodly on February 1, 2007 at 5:31 am

What if Randi turns the challenge on its head?

Agree the same pass / fail criteria, but promise to pay the $1M if Altea fails and nothing if she passes!

If Altea is successful then she won't get Randi's $1M, but she will easily rake in much more, very quickly. If she fails then she can retire with the $1M and Randi has exposed a fake. Win-win for Altea and win for Randi (he won't doubt that she'll fail).

If I was Randi I'd prefer to lose the $1M and expose a prominent fake now rather than let it sit in a bank indefinitely.

60. Blashpemy Challenge Interview

Comment #20213 by Noodly on February 1, 2007 at 4:57 am

As john_eg says (20081), serious christian apologists say it doesn't count if you deny the holy spirit and you don't believe in it anyway. Also, one key proof that you do believe in it is the fact that you'd never deny it.

The whole challenge may be trivial, but it is getting good airplay. Think of it as punk atheism - if it connects with the younger audience then it will do some good.

Similarly, Richard "Ludwig van" Dawkins will connect in different ways than Sam "Mick" Harris or Daniel "Bob" Dennett.

61. James Randi on Larry King Live

Comment #20206 by Noodly on February 1, 2007 at 3:46 am

Stewart (19990) and Johan (20095) have nailed it. If Altea doesn't know if the $1M is genuine and Goldman Sachs provide an affidavit that it is, then she is on the back foot.

The time is very close where Randi and others will challenge them openly with fraud. Randi himself got burned when he challenged Uri Geller some time ago, even though spoon bending ought to be easier to test.
However, unless you can prove deliberate deception, someone who genuinely believes they are psychic is not fraudulent.

62. Intelligent design to feature in school RE lessons

Comment #18790 by Noodly on January 23, 2007 at 2:35 am

"the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has for the first time recommended that pupils be taught about atheism and creationism in RE classes."

I think this is a good move. We all know that religion has controlled the dissemination of knowledge in the past, but it can't control modern forms of communications like the Internet. Getting all the relevant information out there is the key to throwing off the shackles of ancient superstition.

Some atheists would argue that it's a bad idea to appear to give equal weight to discussing creationism/ID and atheism/evolution, but we have to trust our kids - give them the facts and they will see through the BS.

63. Secret Life of Brian

Comment #16673 by Noodly on January 8, 2007 at 2:15 am

The most chilling bit is where the lawyers insisted that all the Pythons updated their wills before flying out to New York for the premiere.

64. A man who believes in Darwin as fervently as he hates God

Comment #11837 by Noodly on December 7, 2006 at 3:26 pm

It's funny how Liddle emphasises that science will have to modify evolution theories, discarding and adding bits as new information comes to light - WELL THAT'S THE WHOLE BLOODY POINT OF SCIENCE. KNOWLEDGE EVOLVES.

He can't find anything to discredit Dawkin's destruction of God so he tries to make him out as some sort of Darwinian fundamentalist. Dawkins has stated that he would the first to dump Darwin and/or admit to God's existence if new evidence was overwhelming.

No one's forcing anyone to change their view on God. The Zeitgeist is encouraging frank exchanges of views rather than sweeping them under the carpet in order to avoid "offense".

The tide is turning.

65. Our Teapot, which art in heaven

Comment #10084 by Noodly on November 27, 2006 at 3:29 am

Richard gets the Independent, no doubt his stock of emergency toilet paper has increased. Incidentally, Randy Ping, you can order custom printed toilet paper here: http://www.printedtp.com/

Before Evolution it was reasonable to assume that complex things were designed and made by even more complex things. Evolution has shot a crossbow bolt right through the temple of that idea and Theism is lashing out in it's death throes.

66. I'm an atheist, BUT . . .

Comment #7279 by Noodly on November 18, 2006 at 3:57 am

Richard, if I was you I'd be more worried if you didn't encounter any I'm-an-atheist-buttery. Had they yet read The God Delusion, let alone have time for the ideas to sink in or carry out further research?

I agree with you that there is no room for 'but...' when it comes to religion. The choir may be large, but don't forget that, as well as professionals, it will contain many enthusiastic amateurs who need more practice.

67. Richard Dawkins and the "new atheists" come to America

Comment #6541 by Noodly on November 14, 2006 at 5:27 pm

This bit is so funny:

"There are hundreds of resources on this site to help you understand your faith and KNOW WHAT YOU BELIEVE AND WHY."