The Pivar story isn’t quite dead yet — Chris Mims discovers that one of his blog defenders was a public relations agent. It’s not clear if he was employed by Pivar — he has written press releases for Lifecode, though — but if he was, it looks like Pivar has another goon in his employ whose ham-handed efforts backfired on him.
It’s so hard to get good minions, lackeys, thugs, and bully-boys nowadays.
This is a kind of cephalart quickie, two images that are perfect for Pharyngula. If I had rooms here I’d hang them in ornate frames surrounded by expensive lighting.
Here is the patron saint of Pharyngula, St Architeuthis, by Skot Olsen.
This one is so beautiful it brings a tear to me eye; the only way it could be improved is if it were painted on black velvet. Here’s a test: I can’t name all the people seated at da Vinci’s Last Supper, but I can name every one in this picture. Can you?
Vampyroteuthis gazes at you with its terrible ancient eye…
Close it, please, for the love of heaven, close it!
When I see Jonathan Wells’ name on anything, I know I’m in for some furious gnashing of the teeth because of the man’s infuriating tendency to blatantly lie with every sentence. That’s the case with his recent baseless criticisms of the peppered moth story; Mike Dunford takes care of him this time around.
His blog is now two years old, which means it is at that point where it’s very cute but has an infuriating habit of saying “no” a lot and throwing tantrums. It helps if everyone makes sure that he gets his naps.
We had our very first meeting of UMM Campus Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists tonight. About two dozen people had expressed interest before, so we expected, optimistically, about 20 people to show up. We got there a little early, and people were waiting for us … and then our 20 were there, and then more, and then more, and then more. I had to keep going up to the counter to tell them we were going to have to order a few more pizzas.
Final tally: 60 students showed up. We basically took over the whole restaurant.
This one has been around for a while, but it’s still funny.
I have survived the first week of classes (my schedule leaves Fridays free of lecturing), as have my students — one down, sixteen to go. I’ve got a fairly heavy load this term, with a brand new introductory biology course (with 84 freshman students!) and a neurobiology course for more advanced students, so it’s going to be a long hard slog, I can tell. Pity those poor students, though — thrown right into the lion’s den. Ask Billy Graham, he knows.
Q. I’m headed for college in a few weeks, and as a Christian I’m wondering what to expect. Some people say that my faith will be attacked there, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. Do you have any advice for me?
Now the Stuart Pivar Story is on Daily Kos. Even after he dropped the lawsuit, his reputation on the blogosphere is sealed. If he’d never started this duel, it would have been nothing but a few fading memories of a negative review of an obscure book … but by playing games with the law and trying to intimidate others by throwing his money around, he’s elevated himself into notoriety.
