The $23 million dollar man: Peter Popoff

You might not want to look at this story about the televangelist fraud, Peter Popoff around lunchtime — it contains graphic visuals of a known con artist cheerfully defrauding the sick and elderly, and it might leave you a little squeamish. Popoff was discredited by James Randi 20 years ago, as is vividly shown at the link, but he’s back now, sucking in millions of dollars every year with his lies.

There’s also a couple in the story who were sick and unemployed, and who borrowed thousands of dollars from relatives to help them pay their bills…and who instead sent all the money to Popoff, who promised them magic Jesus prosperity. It’s a veritable freakshow of stupidity—you’ll despise the con artist, but you’ll also want to kick some of his victims.

Seed supports Science Fairs

Seed is doing a Good Thing and hosting a site and forum for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (when I was growing up, this was better known as the Westinghouse science fair, and it is very prestigious). Some of the projects that come out of that science fair are just plain intimidating—teachers and students might want to browse the fair for ideas, but don’t be discouraged if some of them are a little overwhelming. It probably helps maintain your perspective to notice that Seed has sponsored an amusing gimmick, too, the world’s largest baking soda and vinegar volcano. (I don’t care how big it is, though, it’s not going to win.)

A few items from John Horgan

John Horgan and George Johnson are going at it again on Bloggingheads. The most interesting part, I thought, was the discussion of EO Wilson’s turn towards group selection; one of the themes of Gould’s last book was the existence of levels of selection above the individual and the gene. Gould and Wilson had such a bitter antipathy towards each other that it is fascinating to see this sliver of convergence now.

For more Horgan, check out his recent article in Slate—it’s a skeptical look at neurotheology. Persinger and Hamer, oh my — two guys whose real talent is the ability to prompt eye-rolling and giggles in scientists.

Alas, poor Guillermo Gonzalez

Les Lane has a summary of Gonzalez’s unfortunate tenure situation. To nudge your memory, Guillermo Gonzalez is the Discovery Institute fellow who was working as an assistant professor of astronomy at Iowa State University; he was recently denied tenure there and is protesting the decision.

It’s an awkward position, but very common — academia isn’t an easy career to break into. It also doesn’t help that Gonzalez fails to understand the process.

[Read more…]

Tormenting them right back

As the buggy summer looms, I have to confess to a sadistic enjoyment of this splatter film.

I think the insects are real animals filmed with high speed cameras, but the actual impacts are faked with CGI — the physics weren’t quite right, and the flying insects should have bounced out of the camera field more. It just makes it funnier that no arthropods were actually harmed in the making of this movie.

(via Byzantium’s Shores)

Protest AiG’s silly “museum”

On 28 May, there will be a protest demonstration at Ken Ham’s folly, the creationist exhibition near Cincinnati. This is not about shutting down the foolish building, but using its own PR focus on itself, turning media attention to the fact that a lot of people consider it backward, insane, and kooky.

I like this guy’s attitude.

According to Edwin Kagin of the RfR, the rally is not challenging the right of AIG to present their world view. “They can teach that things fall up if they wish,” said Mr. Kagin. “We are simply trying to show that the views they are promoted are not accepted by those who do not share their fundamentalist religious views, and their effort to sneak those teachings into the public schools.”

Right — don’t sit quietly, don’t be polite, MAKE SOME NOISE.

me on the phone…

Jason Rennie interviewed me for the Sci Phi podcast, and now you can listen to me babble about religion and science. I have got to do something about my office phone, though — the sound quality is terrible, and I’ve gotten the same complaint from others.

Or maybe that’s what I actually sound like, with a staticky hiss and the occasional feedback ringing. That would be kind of cool. It would almost make up for my mild manner.

Mom did good work

On the old site, I had a little tradition of occasionally showing off embarrassing baby pictures of the kids (here’s Alaric, Connlann, and Skatje, for instance). Today is Mother’s Day, and it would be cool to show off old pictures of Mom, but wouldn’t you know it — mothers are much too clever for that. She just sent me a collection of baby pictures of Little PZ, so I’ll turn the magic time-machine on myself, instead.

This is pure treacle, self-obsession, vanity, and nostalgia. Don’t look below the fold.

[Read more…]

Godless roundup

Looking for some ungodly inspiration? Here are some possibilities:

  • Revere optimistically sees atheism as becoming mainstream. I think this is the virtue of the open and aggressive discussions about atheism going on — there are more freethinkers out there than polls reveal, and they are silent because of the oppression of the majority. We are demolishing the societal avoidance of considering atheism; the goal isn’t exactly evangelical, since I don’t think we’re necessarily “converting” people, but more a matter of giving people the freedom to reject gods.

  • It’s time for the Carnival of the Godless #66. 600 more, and we launch the Apocalypse.

  • Richard Dawkins has assembled some succinct rebuttals to criticisms of The God Delusion. I particularly liked his response to the claim that “people need religion”. No, they do not. I don’t, Dawkins doesn’t—and it’s not as if we are weird mutants. You could say that people need stories, people need reconciliation, people need consonance with their world, and religion tries to provide those things…but the message we need to get across is that religion is a flawed, illusory, and erroneous strategy for providing for human needs, and we can do better.

  • The Paszkiewicz/LaClair case has been settled. No blame was attached to either side, but the settlement does make it clear that teaching Biblical superstition as history is not to be permitted, so it’s an implicit rebuke, although Paszkiewicz still gets off scot-free.