Back when I first joined Facebook in 1953 or whatever, I just added anyone who asked to be my friend. At the time, I saw Facebook as an easy opportunity for marketing Skepchick and The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe; a way for fans to hear what was going on and say hi. When I hit 5,000 friends a few years ago, Facebook prevented me from adding anyone else, so I stopped and only added people... »
In addition to helping fund-raise for the Orange County Freethought Alliance Conference this year, I’ve been a volunteer for the con since its first year and spoke there last year. People who knew I was there asked me if I ran into Ray Comfort. When I’ve told them that I left during the dinner break, they have lamented the fact that I missed out on encountering the infamous Banana Man ... »
Ah, the wisdom of crowds! Two heads are better than one, so hundreds of heads must be super friggin’ smart. As we know from experience, people getting together always results in really smart things being done. Er, most of the time. Sometimes. Once in a while? Anyway, we’ve seen before that crowdfunding has the potential to do great stuff, like fund scientific research and awesome art, among other ... »
Did you know that the National Day of Prayer is still a thing that is celebrated in the ostensibly secular United States of America? It is! It’s the first Thursday of every May, which happens to be today. And did you know that humanists celebrate today as the National Day of Reason? They do! At least since 2003, anyway. Did you also know that today is BAD CHART THURSDAY?? Well it is, and I w... »
I have about a dozen things I’ve been wanting to post this week, but instead of writing, I’ve been screwing around with the site. You may have noticed this as you tried and failed to log in, post a comment, or sometimes even open the site. As an apology, please accept this short compilation of snippets from a show about a terrifying stuffed bear that came to life and found Jesus: My fa... »
I’ve been pretty busy lately, but had scheduled tonight to sit and write a post. I had a couple of possible ideas in my head, mostly to do with some interesting and weird stats stuff, but now that I’m sitting down at the computer all I can think about is Boston. I feel like my mind is filled with a million things at once: horror at the description of the bombing aftermath, sadness for the friends ... »
This weekend, I did a reading at the Godless Perverts Story Hour. It was on my favorite topic, the heavenly sex-bots. I didn’t follow my script exactly, of course, but here’s what I wrote, along with some helpful links. When we talk about Islam, what inevitably comes up? Terror against us. Violence. If we bother to wonder about violence against them, we lament the mutilation, the rape,... »
The introduction text to the facebook page “Muslim Women Against Femen..Muslimah Pride Day.” reads as follows: On the 4th April. The so called feminist group, FEMEN has declared ‘Topless Jihad Day’ in which they are asking women to go topless and write ‘My Body Against Islamism!’ on their bare breasts. We as Muslim women and those who stand with us, need to show FEMEN and t... »
