I shoulda checked the reviews first

I watched the movie Red Lights last night on Netflix. The first part of the movie was strikingly familiar: it practically stole the life story of James Randi. There was the Peter Popoff exposé, the psychic surgery stunts, the usual whirl of frauds and fanatics, all under different names with different details, but the same general stories about exposing flim-flam. And then it had a marvelous cast: Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Cillian Murphy. The whole movie is following a good ol’ skeptical trajectory…and then, the ending. Oh, jebus, I have never seen a movie so thoroughly implode as this one did with that ending.

Stop here. Don’t read further, unless you want to know how it ends, because I’m going to give it all away. Completely. This isn’t just a spoiler, it is full disclosure.

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Confusing cause

A via thousand priests are worried that same-sex marriage will lead to Catholics being jailed and killed for their faith.

More than 1,000 priests have signed a letter voicing concerns that same-sex marriage will threaten religious freedoms in a way that was last seen during centuries of persecution of Catholics in England.

In the letter published in the Daily Telegraph, the priests claim that same-sex marriage could even lead to Catholics being excluded from some professions, such as teaching.

No, no, no. First, get down off that cross; there will be no executions, banishments, and imprisonments for Catholicism as there were during those ugly years of the Reformation. Also, while I wouldn’t be surprised if some people lost their jobs (like some fanatical pharmacists and teachers), it won’t be for being Catholic. It will be for being raging bigoted asshats.

Unless you want to argue that bigotry is a cherished sacrament in Catholicism. Well, then, I guess maybe you will find your religion treated with contempt.

This drone technology is getting really annoying

You know how it is. You’re getting down with your mate, all absorbed in the intimacies, and then one of those damned drones comes whispering up outta nowhere and aims a camera at your triple-X action. And the lights! It was all dark and cozy, but no, they gotta come in with all lights blazing, illuminating every mottle and dimple.

That’s what NOAA did to these poor Pholidoteuthis adami, catching them doing the deed.

I will say this for the squid: they know what’s important. They didn’t even flinch, but just kept at it. And look at them! They’re head to tail, and the male is doing it all upside down! I’m impressed. And inspired.

A petition is a kind of poll, isn’t it?

First, go read Amy Roth’s summary of the situation: there is a small group of Mabusesque obsessive haters who have been harassing a number of vocal atheists for the past few years. I know; I’m one of their targets, and I can tell you, these people are really screwed up and pathologically focused on hating anyone who dares to profess any support for feminism, or any kind of support for increasing the diversity of the movement. They’re loud, they’re persistent, and they’re an embarrassment to the community.

Now, once you’re in the right frame of mind to understand the context, go read Adam Lee’s petition to support feminism and diversity in the secular community.

You’ll know what to do.

Don’t lump satanists and atheists together: it’s satanists and Republicans

Florida governor Rick Scott has some new allies who thoroughly approve of his plan to allow prayers in public schools if the student body votes to approve: Satanists. It’s annoying that people constantly confuse atheists and Satanists, when they’re nothing alike philosophically.

They have a press release explaining their position. It turns out that Satanism is one of those liberal religions.

[We believe] that God is supernatural and thus outside of the sphere of the physical. God’s perfection means that he cannot interact with the imperfect corporeal realm. Because God cannot intervene in the material world, He created Satan to preside over the universe as His proxy. Satan has the compassion and wisdom of an angel. Although Satan is subordinate to God, he is mankind’s only conduit to the dominion beyond the physical. In addition, only Satan can hear our prayers and only Satan can respond. While God is beyond human comprehension, Satan desires to be known and knowable. Only in this way can there be justice and can life have meaning.

It’s still all bullshit.

How ’bout we stop this trend in its tracks?

Recently, there has been some complaining about those horrible, awful, draconian anti-harassment policies at conferences. In particular, the Skepticon policy was singled out as particularly wicked and counterproductive (by a certain individual whose nickname ends in “00t”), especially this clause:

Additionally, exhibitors in the expo hall, sponsor or vendor booths, or similar activities are also subject to the anti-harassment policy. Booth staff (including volunteers) should not use sexualized clothing/uniforms/costumes, or otherwise create a sexualized environment.

That seems eminently reasonable to me. It’s targeted specifically at ‘booth babe’ culture, where women are used as sexualized props to peddle commercial products. This trend is at its worst in the tech world, and the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas epitomizes the problem: a company put up an elaborate display featuring four women wearing nothing but body paint posing to draw in attention. (NSFW link, with photo of these women)

The women looked straight ahead with bored expressions, and were not allowed to interact with attendees. The company’s own Instagram feed described them as "fembots."

It was not immediately clear how this display was supposed to relate to the product in question, a hard drive.

It’s obvious! Men like to look at naked women, and only men ever buy or use hard drives. And when men are using their hard drives, they like naked women to plug them in. Duh. Just like only men are atheists and skeptics, and they like to imagine all their women naked and serving them little freshly peeled dollops of critical thinking.

Friday Cephalopod: GIANT SQUID, of course!

You’ve probably already heard the news: video of a living giant squid in its natural environment has been captured for the very first time.

giantsquid

The bad news: all we’ve got right now is teasing little snippets of the video. It’s a slightly disturbing use of science in that it’s getting sensationalized for commercial purposes: it’s going to be shown on the Discovery channel on 27 January at 8pm — a very strange outlet for a scientific discovery.

The good news: Steve O’Shea, the cephalopod expert, has seen it and offered his opinion.

I can assure you that you will not be disappointed when you watch the show. In press release and title they demonize the animal again, and there has been an outcry from those involved at their doing so (but I cannot and will not get drawn into the ‘behind the scenes’ politics of all of this), but when you see this animal, alive, full-grown, beautiful, well, demon it is not. It is the most exquisite thing you will see, and it is no fleeting glimpse either – you see a LOT for a LONG time, in full colour, full HD, complete focus.

I have probably said more than I should have; I am awaiting confirmation that we can talk about it, because this announcement caught us off-guard (we had no forewarning that it would be announced today).

27 January is a day you want to mark in your calendars!

OK, now that tantalizes me. I’ll alert you all on the 27th again, and you can pretty much guarantee I’ll be glued to the TV that night.