Exposing the Supernatural in India

If you enjoyed yesterday's documentary with Derren Brown exposing the tricks of faith healers, you'll be pleased to know that there is a group of people traveling through India also teaching the locals some basic critical thinking skills, and exposing in the process the cheap ploys used by scam artists who are only too happy to take advantage of the poor and the uneducated...If you're a messenger from God, would you really need a team of bodygua...

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Derren Brown - Miracles for Sale

It's hard to come up with many examples of practices more cruel and exploitative than faith healing because its practitioners deliberately prey on the poor and sick by taking advantage of them in their greatest time of need and desperation. If your kid is diagnosed with an incurable and terminal disease, for instance, and science-based medicine can't help, it's understandable that you might try other 'alternative' methods. What parent wouldn't be...

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A.C. Grayling on Colbert

Philosopher A.C. Grayling (whom you've seen debate along with Richard Dawkins against the notion that atheism is the new fundamentalism), has just come out with a secular bible.His book tour just had him land for a visit with Stephen Colbert, who claims that you can't have a Bible unless it's endorsed by God... or unless you're willing to kill someone else in its name :) The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cA.C....

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India's Top Physicists Develop Plan to Get the Hell Out of India

A new Manhattan (or maybe London) Project is coming!I wonder if they'll outsource their call centers ...

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The Pluto Files

People, Americans especially, have a love relationship with Pluto that borders on the bizarre. Sure, it was discovered by an American, and we like to be proud of our own, but there's not much (that we know of) that's particularly interesting about this celestial body other than the fact there's a Disney dog with the same name. And yet, when Pluto was demoted to the status of a dwarf planet, the general public, politicians and even children started...

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Passover in the Google Age

This week is full of religious celebrations. The Christians are celebrating Easter, the time when Jesus sodomized the Easter Bunny and knocked him up (hence the eggs). Oh, and also something about Jesus, a carpenter, being ironically punished by getting nailed to two pieces of wood...The Jews, meanwhile, are celebrating Passover, that time when God decided that the indiscriminate killing of thousands of innocent Egyptian babies somehow justified...

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Sam Richards - A Radical Experiment in Empathy

Empathy, very simply, is the ability to place yourself in another's position and understand things from his point of view. It's a skill that we are naturally equipped with, but not one we often choose to exercise... probably because it's a lot easier and convenient not to. One could make a pretty convincing case that becoming more empathic could truly solve many of the problems that affect the world, from the personal to the political and international.In...

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We're All Monkeys

We are monkeys... that's right... you and me and the guy who narrates this entertaining and thought provoking little rant... and Nietzsche was also a monkey... a very smart monkey.Technically, though, we're apes, as this hilarious rant from The Guardian hammers into our heads. The problem, though, is that, right or wrong, the word ape just doesn't roll off the tongue with the same poetic flair. Just try substituting the word ape for the word monkey...

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David Christian - Big History

I don't know if you paid attention during history class, but if you missed some of the highlights because you were sleeping or daydreaming, you're in luck because David Christian is here to tell the story of the universe, from the Big Bang to the internet in a mere 18 minutes.As the video description mentions, "this is 'Big History': an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of the cosmic timeline."Check...

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Saving Ryan's Privates

Over the course of the last week, you may have seen the following video starring Representative Paul Ryan (Chairman of the House Budget Committee) presenting his so-called "path to prosperity" for America.If you're an ideological Republican (the kind easily mobilized by sound-bites instead of well-reasoned arguments, strong evidence and attention to detail), you may have creamed your pants...Of course, painting a picture with broad strokes looks...

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Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig - Where Do Objective Moral Values Come From?

Whatever its perceived weaknesses (and the critics have been relentless on some technical points), Sam Harris' recent book, The Moral Landscape, has recently reinvigorated the discussion concerning the objectivity of moral values and obligations. To religious people, the answer seems obvious: if moral values are to count as objectively binding, they must be grounded in God's commands. After all, morality comes from God, doesn't it?Philosophers since...

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Tim Minchin - Storm (animated movie)

You may have heard this awesome beat poem before, but now it's accompanied by some awesome animation, and since I already posted it before, I'll just repeat the previous introduction.This is one of those really tough life dilemmas: totally hot chick you wouldn't mind doing at the drop of a hat, but whose sexy and curvaceous physical appeal is gradually overshadowed by the cringing sound of the repetitive, irrational, question-begging and empty clichés...

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Jon Stewart Nails Mike Huckabee

As you may recall from previous occasions, whenever Jon Stewart and Mike Huckabee have had a debate, their conversation has always been civil. I appreciate that, and while I disagree with Huckabee on most points, I respect a candidate who's able to engage in a respectful dialogue about differences of opinion.Then again, I've always had the impression that Huckabee tailors his rhetoric with a perfectly good understanding of who the audience listening...

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Peregrine Falcon - The Perfect Predator

Every couple of weeks, when walking through my neighborhood I encounter a rather disturbing picture somewhere on the sidewalk: a pair of dove wings (no body and no head) loosely connected by the bloody remains of some bone and cartilage. The epitome of cheeriness, I know...There are a few possible culprits: hungry cats (they are, after all, insanely successful hunters), squirrels on meth (you would not believe how strung out they can get), or some...

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Philosophy Jam

I'm too busy to post any thoughtful entries at the time, so I'll just leave each of you to ponder what the hell the following philosophy jam is all about...Warning: before you know it, this is going to be stuck in your head for days :)And don't ask me what the footage had to do with the audio... I have no clu...

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Massive Snowstorm Leaves Thousands Without Access to Porn

So I guess that Mother Nature decided to fuck with everyone this April's Fools and snow on our parade.Now, you may be thinking that since the internet is for porn (obviously!), a snowstorm is the perfect opportunity to stay home and watch porn all day without getting fired, but The Onion reports that the power outage that's about to ensue is going to make that just about impossible...If I were you, I'd pay attention to Jesse Jane in more ways than...

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