Guntimes at Redneck High

Back in the day I lived in a podunk rednickish suburb and went to a podunkish redneck school. This was Texas, mid 70s, think Dazed and Confused and you have it dead on. Needless to say there were plenty of gun owners. One day I was riding around with one of them — we were all just starting to get our driver’s licenses so driving anywhere was fun and cool — when my buddy asked me to open his glove compartment. A dark bundle fell out and I heard a snap, it sounded exactly like a bullwhip cracking. There was a gentle spritz of moisture across my legs and some dark droplets hit the kick panel to my right. I looked down baffled, it took a slow count of ten before it hit me, I had just been shot. [Read more…]

Elementary school gunman identified

Update: President will address nation any minute, and looks like media posted wrong Facebook pic of shooter, now other outlets are following suit and posting the same wrong pic. Live Updates

The shooter in the Connecticut elementary school massacre that left 27 dead this morning has been identified. Meanwhile, Gov Rick Snyder is about to sign a wingnut bill allowing more guns into schools. First the latest perp’s name: [Read more…]

What if we all took the blue pill?

If you ever dealt with creationists sooner or later one will cough up Last Wednesdayism to explain the “apparent” age of the universe. Pushed to an extreme there’s no reason why the entire universe couldn’t have been created by divine magic last Wednesday, right down to your loose filling and the half eaten gallon of ice cream in the fridge. The problem is a perfect simulation isn’t testable — by definition it perfectly resembles a real universe — but an imperfect one might be. [Read more…]

Da Nile ain’t just a river on Titan

(Click image for more info )PASADENA, Calif. – Scientists with NASA’s Cassini mission have spotted what appears to be a miniature, extraterrestrial likeness of Earth’s Nile River: a river valley on Saturn’s moon Titan that stretches more than 200 miles (400 kilometers) from its “headwaters” to a large sea. It is the first time images have revealed a river system this vast and in such high resolution anywhere other than Earth.

Death to the unbelievers!

Fundamentalists may have an unhealthy hold on the US, but in some countries it’s a full on death grip. The annual “freedom of thought” report from the International Humanist and Ethical Union, an umbrella group which seeks to protect religious freedom and freedom from religion around the world, has issued a report to the UN on laws and practices that punish or restrict atheism up to and including death for unbelievers. [Read more…]