Haters of the Skepchick/FtB Axis of Evil:

I am about to disclose a completely confidential correspondence from Rebecca Watson. She’s trying to rip me off, so I must have my REVENGE.

I’m trying to sell off as much inventory as possible before our move to SF in a few weeks and I have SO MANY MUGS. Too many mugs.

Can you do a post about them or something? And people can take 50% off everything using the code hellyeah50 at checkout. I’ve just reduced the mugs to $10, so then they’ll be $5. I’ll take a loss basically but it’s worth it just to clear up some space. Here’s the link:

Pharyngula Travel Mug | Skeptical Robot

Thank yoooooooooou!

I will get no money from this deal. We all know how important the vast sums of cash I receive from Rebecca Watson are to me, so every sale will make me lie here crying my eyes out…”No money, no money, no money”. I’ll probably weep so copiously that I’ll dehydrate, to the point that my kidneys fail and I end up dying agonizingly. Every sale will cause me so much pain.

And look! She has confessed that she’ll be losing money on this deal. Everyone who complains about how the Social Justice Warriors are just getting rich off the drama has an opportunity to strike back where it hurts: buy those mugs, make her bleed cash with every transaction. And as a bonus, you get a trophy: a Pharyngula mug that you can flaunt ironically, with a sneer.

Buy!

Cat rituals

I’ve been conditioning our cat. From the first day we had her, I did this little thing in which I’d tap on a glass to make it ring a few times before feeding her, with the idea that if ever she escaped outside we’d just ring the dinner bell and she’d come running. Only it’s kind of backfired. She now expects dinner and a show.

[Read more…]

Victor Stenger has died

I am saddened by the news: Victor Stenger was a hardcore physicist with the sensibilities of a liberal arts professor. His books and essays are excellent — he always presented the physics without compromise, but he also explained how we came to understand what we know. I like my science leavened with that historical perspective, and he always delivered.

God and the Atom, for example, starts with ancient Greek philosophy and works its way forward…and convincingly argues that our earliest views of physical science were godless, and that only later did the mystery religions creep in and taint productive avenues of thinking. His very latest, God and the Multiverse, is sitting on my desk right now. I’m very much looking forward to reading it.

I got to meet Vic many times — somehow, we seemed to end up as the sciencey pair, one physicist and one biologist, at a lot of atheist conferences. He was also a genuinely nice guy, friendly and fun to talk to, and I was always pleased to see we’d both be at an event. I’m missing him already.

Here’s Vic at Skepticon 3. I have to mention that there are plenty of essays and discussions available at the link to his home page up top.