Sunday Selection news

For the last two months, I have been collecting items that have interested me during the week and posting them here as my Sunday Selection.  A few people have commented that they like it, but it has not turned out to be as popular as most of the other posts.

From now on I've decided to do this via Something Surprising's Facebook page, and probably to spread them throughout the week.  You will find various new posts including this one which I found on a (new to me) blog called Nuts and Reasons.  I recommend you to pay it a visit for a selection of interesting posts.

This is athlete Jonathan Edwards talking about his loss of faith.  So many of us have had the same experience haven't we?

You can see the Facebook page without logging in, and indeed without even having a Facebook account, so don't let a dislike of Facebook prevent you from visiting.

Click on this link to go to the Facebook page 

That means that you can expect a regular post here on Sundays again.  Tonight's post will be 21 Questions for Muslims, which is a follow-on from a recent popular post 21 Questions for Christians.

Sunday Selection 8

Continuing a new series where there is little additional content from me, but I simply share a few items, new and old, that have pleased me this week.  As almost every week, I see items on the web that I find interesting, amazing or  or amusing.  This disjointed ramble might be on any of my normal topics - or on other topics entirely.  My thanks go to the friends who helped me to find them.

First: An interview with Bertrand Russell.  It is not very long but it is his message to the people of the future.

Podcast of the week: Skeptics with a K, episode 78.  You might love or hate the style of this podcast, but I'm a keen listener.  The three presenters from the Merseyside Skeptics Society have a certain laddish charm and they have a knack for finding interesting topics.  Sometimes they start into a story that appears somewhat tangential (as in the surprisingly disgusting one about clearing out a cupboard in this episode), but don't give up too early!  They always conclude with an interesting learning point.  In this episode they also celebrate the legal difficulties that are being experienced by homeopaths in UK this year, and I was glad to hear that 2 of the 3 presenters were also not great fans of the Olympics.

Quote of the week: 
“When Muslim parents hate their host culture so much that they will kill a child who seems to embrace it, then they are guilty of intolerance – the kind that non-Muslims are wary of showing, lest they be branded racist, or bigoted.” 
Wow! Something sensible from Cristina Odone, in the Telegraph

Tweet of the week:
If the Bible was a good morality guide, we'd not need the Declaration of Human Rights. Humanity: Higher morals than God since 1948. #Atheism from @CrispySea

Atheist news of the week:  How Christopher Hitchens fell out with Gore Vidal

Exciting science of the week: The landing of Curiosity, the new rover on Mars was much more exciting than anything that the Olympics had to offer.  Amazingly, this picture was snapped by another satellite that was orbiting Mars.

Curiosity snapped on its chute, descending to Mars.

See the pictures that it is collecting every day at this link.  I'm sure that there is a lot of good stuff to come from this amazing project!

And finally . . .

Favourite places: Mars (Is this cheating?) 

This image, from here, shows how Curiosity landed there this week.

Curiosity's surprising landing on Mars (from here).

Sunday Selection 7

Continuing a new series where there is little additional content from me, but I simply share a few items, new and old, that have pleased me this week.  As almost every week, I see items on the web that I find interesting, amazing or  or amusing.  This disjointed ramble might be on any of my normal topics - or on other topics entirely.  My thanks go to the friends who helped me to find them.

First:  Boris Johnson (Lord Mayor of London) on the Olympics

Next: Sanal Edamaruku says, “NO.”
The latest on the story of a rational man who is under threat of prosecution in India for the crime of being right!

Best news of the week:  Twitter Joke Trial 'victim' found not guilty at last.  This is one of the most exciting developments of the year, in the fight for freedom of speech!  The goalposts have been moved in the right direction, making the Director of Public Prosecutions look suitably stupid at the same time.  Now it is is time for real justice as the pathetic performance of the police and prosecutors is examined in detail!

Tweets of the week: The things that man calls science God refers to as insignificant details--ie He made the stars also. Gen1:16
from @Patrumed - must be a Poe!!

Believers like to characterise Atheists as abandoning morality but our strongest objections to religion are always on moral grounds.
from ‏@Good_Beard

Life science of the week: Young Gorillas Observed Destroying Poachers’ Traps, and amazing account of the intelligence of these magnificent creatures.

Atheism article of the week: Vicar condemns hotel after it replaces Gideon Bible with 50 Shades of Grey

From a favorite movie: The "2001 Code" - Clarke & Kubrick's last puzzle.
See what you make of the observation on this blog post by Shane Mckee, and win a trip to Jupiter (or was it Saturn? and did the book use one planet and the movie another? and many other questions come to mind about one of the greatest but most puzzling sci-fi movies of all time?)

Sunday Selection 6

Continuing a new series where there is little additional content from me, but I simply share a few items, new and old, that have pleased me this week.  As almost every week, I see items on the web that I find interesting, amazing or  or amusing.  This disjointed ramble might be on any of my normal topics - or on other topics entirely.  My thanks go to the friends who helped me to find them.

First: Do Atheists Have Deathbed Conversions?
In short - there were two answers from different studies.  But if the sample of those surveyed is a group of young adults, would anyone expect their views to have hardened?

Next: Atheists More Motivated by Compassion than the Faithful
At least we get this right!

Podcast of the week: Pat Condell's Godless Comedy (audio or video of Waiting for Jesus.)
I'm usually a bit unsure about admitting to following Pat as he is much more forthright than most.  A friend once said, she didn't like his frothing-at-the-mouth approach.  But some of his challenges are worth a listen.

Tweets of the week: From @Twisty58.  Whether you accept it or not, the Bible IS my evidence...so it's up to you. ALSO...go read Isaiah 17 regarding Damascus...
She seems to think that the prophecy about the destruction of Damascus is happening at the moment. You have to have sympathy.

Life science of the week:   The Mystery of the Missing Chromosome
How the missing human chromosome is not evidence to support the ideas of creationists.

Atheist blog post of the week:  No Faith In The Bible
Another great post from Rosa Rubicondior, pointing out that all the prophets in the bible had seen evidence of god, but the rest of us are expected to rely on faith.

From the archives: Christopher Hitchens Epic Last Words R.I.P 1949 - 2011
Moving words from the great Hitch as he received the Richard Dawkins Award last year.

And finally . . .

Favourite places: North Yorkshire Moors Railway - one of the best places to see vintage steam in action in UK.

NYMR, at the top of the long, steep climb to Goathland.

Sunday Selection 5

Continuing a new series where there is little additional content from me, but I simply share a few items, new and old, that have pleased me this week.  As almost every week, I see items on the web that I find interesting, amazing or  or amusing.  This disjointed ramble might be on any of my normal topics - or on other topics entirely.  My thanks go to the friends who helped me to find them.

First: Existence of Atheists Offends Christians
Via the Richard Dawkins' site.

Next: The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things
If you like Something Surprising, you might also like this site. It tends to be less controversial and not to dwell on anti-theism as much as I do. But the range of topics covered is quite fascinating. e.g. this one about cleaning an elephant skin.

Just one interesting find at the Museum of Ridiculously Interesting things

Podcast of the week: This has to be The Pod Delusion, episode 144, which just gets better and better.  This week they cover some important topics including:

• O’Dwyer Extradition (1:51) by Kate Russell (ft Julia O’Dwyer)
• Creationism with Government Approval (13:13) by Jonny Scaramanga
• Nature Libel Win (20:25) by Liz Lutgendorff (ft Tim Appenzeller)
• Control Theory and Lords Reform (30:41) by Sean Ellis

Tweets of the week: Can we please stop calling the Higgs Boson the God particle, now that there's actual evidence that it exists?

Atheist blog post of the week:   What is it with the 'Ten Commandments'?
Rosa Rubicondior at full strength. Although she neglects Exodus 34, she lists two inconsistent biblical versions of the ten commandments and explores the inevitable consequences.

Physics of the week: Trying to explain the Higgs field here and the Higgs Boson, here.

Controversial atheism site of the week:
Hitchens makes it to the gates of heaven and causes a bit of a stir. 

And finally . . .

Favourite places: The amazing Anderton boat lift
Designed to lift or lower canal boats between between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal, in Cheshire, England.

The Anderton lift - unusual view from the top

 

Your comments and preferences will help me to decide whether this is a good idea or not.

Sunday Selection 4

Continuing a new series where there is little additional content from me, but I simply share a few items, new and old, that have pleased me this week.  As almost every week, I see items on the web that I find interesting, amazing or  or amusing.  This disjointed ramble might be on any of my normal topics - or on other topics entirely.  My thanks go to the friends who helped me to find them.

First:  'Hotwheels double loop dare' - although one son tells me that 'everyone has seen this, the other one hadn't.

Next: I just love the tango used in Arnie's humorous movie, True Lies.  The Movie version is here, and another version of the whole of Carlos Gardel's beautiful, passionate Por Una Cabeza can be found here.  Just seeing that makes me want to watch the movie again - worth a good smile!

Podcast of the week:  Radiolabs Podcast 'Talking to Machines'
Maybe some of us find ourselves talking to machines without realising it.  This podcast from June 2011 had some interesting surprises.

Atheist blog post of the week:  “Dear Atheists, We Ex-Muslims Are Waiting For You”, from The Friendly Atheist.  I think you can follow my 'Creeping Islam' tag to see that I'm supporting his campaign to some extent, at least.

Physics of the week: This has to be the announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson.  You can't have missed that.  Here's Lawrence Krauss's take on it.  The question is - what does it mean?  I feel that this is too difficult a concept to explain in terms that we can all understand and since I don't get it myself, I'm not going to try.

Parody of the week:  Homeopath to start offering ‘assisted-suicide’ remedy.
" . . . as proof of its effectiveness, last week a man came in having a heart attack. The remedy was so good that he died before we could administer it.’  Read on and laugh out loud

Controversial atheism site of the week: Somehow, the most religious people in Israel seem to think they are too pious for the army, and yet they expect the more secular Israelis to risk their lives on their behalf. 

And finally . . .

Favourite places: Fingal's Cave

Fingal's surprising cave on the island of Staffa.

Sunday Selection 3

Continuing a new series where there is little additional content from me, but I simply share a few items, new and old, that have pleased me this week.  As almost every week, I see items on the web that I find interesting, amazing or  or amusing.  This disjointed ramble might be on any of my normal topics - or on other topics entirely.  My thanks go to the friends who helped me to find them.

First: This truly amazing video shows how the Curiosity rover is going to land on Mars next month - we hope!

Next: The toughest life on earth - the surprising survival of some lichens which have been deliberately kept on the outside of the International Space Station in the vacuum of space, bathed in solar radiation for 18 months - and still alive!

Favorite word of the week:  Pronoia - the opposite of paranoia - the belief that there is a conspiracy to help you!  It has another historical meaning relating to the granting of state money to individuals.

Podcast of the week: George Hrab's Geologic podcast. George's monologues are sometimes more interesting than other times.  Episode 267 started with a long and entirely justified assassination of the plot of the movie Prometheus.  Having seen it this afternoon I think George was being surprisingly generous in his criticism.  I think it had the most staggeringly pathetic and incoherent plot line and it is a strong candidate to count as the worst film I have ever seen in my life!  Nice graphics I suppose - as long as physics doesn't come into it.

Twitter:  #prometheusboo is the hashtag of the week.

Atheist article of the week:  Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology, an interesting article from wired.com.  Good for them!

Life science of the week: The mystery about the spike in carbon-14, observed in tree rings dating from the years 774 and 775.  Nobody knows what caused it but the event can be observed world-wide by dendrochronologists.

And finally . . .

Favourite places: When you see a red light on a building in Japan, it doesn't mean the same as it does in Europe.

Japanese police station - not the red light district!

Your comments and preferences will help me to decide whether this is a good idea or not.

Sunday Selection 2

Continuing a new series where there is little additional content from me, but I simply share a few items, new and old, that have pleased me this week.  As almost every week, I see items on the web that I find interesting, amazing or  or amusing.  This disjointed ramble might be on any of my normal topics - or on other topics entirely.  My thanks go to the friends who helped me to find them.

First: Some of the excellent ironic humour from the Jesus and Mo cartoons.

Next: News of the discovery of cave art that is older than any found so far.

Podcast of the week: I have become a big fan of WNYC's Radiolab podcast.  It is clearly very professionally produced but I forgive it for that.  It relies on a narrative style to tell a story in each episode.  As they say

On Radiolab, science meets culture and information sounds like music. Each episode of Radiolab® is an investigation -- a patchwork of people, sounds, stories and experiences centered around One Big Idea. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, Radiolab

This week's was called Unravelling Bolero - and even in that title you can see a little clever humour if you know who wrote that music.

Another great podcast: Richard Dawkins' acceptance speech at the British Humanist Association's conference in Cardiff last month, courtesy of the excellent Pod Delusion.

Tweets of the week:

Apathy in the face of religion's schemes and power-grabbing is akin to surrender. @ProfessorIrony

Vatican announced in this era of equal opportunity God will now be ignoring prayers from Atheists as well as Christians.  @GodlessAtheist

Atheist blog post of the week:  The Lady Atheist, in Links of Shame: Religion in the News, provided a few links to news items suggesting that the law is finally catching up with religious criminals, and to other incredible religious news.


Life science of the week:  Ants flowing as a fluid

Controversial theism of the week:  A letter from a Jehovah's Witness mother to her son.  I can't decide whether it is moving or disgusting.

Favorite places: I have seen a few reports from Japan that the water in Osaka Bay has turned pale yellow, supporting fears of an imminent huge earthquake.  This site says:

A similar occurrence took place in 1995, shortly before the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995, which was responsible for the deaths of more than 7000 people in Kobe and the surrounding vicinity. The area also suffered a large scale fish kill only last week, when several tons of dead sardines inexplicably washed up on the beaches . . .

Osaka Bay changing colour - from Fukushima Diary

Japan - one of my favourite places to visit - doesn't need another disaster.
Small note: My only skepticism about this is that there only seems to be one photo so far.

I hope you enjoyed this random walk through the week.  Your comments and preferences will help me to decide whether this is a good idea or not.

Sunday Selection 1 - a new series

This is the first post in a new series where there is little additional content from me, but I simply share a selection of items that have delighted or surprised me this week.  As almost every week, I see items on the web that I find interesting, amazing or amusing.  My thanks go to the friends who helped me to find them.  The selection might be on any of my normal topics - or on other topics entirely.

You will probably find that there is too much here for one visit, so bookmark this page and come back to read a bit more another day.

First: the long awaited video of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Ayaan Hirsi Ali on stage together during the 2012 Global Atheist Convention, 13-15th April, in the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre.  Well worth watching the whole hour!

Dawkins, Dennett, Harris and a guest 'horseman', Ayaan Hirsi Ali,
Melbourne 2012, from here.

Next: a candidate horseman himself, Peter Boghossian speaking forthrightly about Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions earlier this year.  (34:50 long.)

The inspirational Peter Boghossian, from here

Podcast of the week: Yhe UK based Pod Delusion.  This week's episode, #140, (64 minutes) includes Daniel Dennett giving his take on Alan Turing, former government chief science adviser Sir David King teasing about what really went on behind the scenes of the Iraq war, and Ben Hammersley explaining why technology makes politics difficult. They also tackle Gove’s proposed new curriculum, archiving film for the future and finding out if evangelical christian women really want to go out with Jesus.  As always - a good lively programme.

New podcast of the week: goes to one that I discovered recently.  Considering that it only appears to be on its third episode, it is going amazingly well.  Alan Litchfield's  The Macontent's Gambit claims (and appears to succeed) in  Extolling the Finest in Secular Thought.  Try an episode or two and subscribe to it you like them.  Already he has had some notable and interesting guests including Peter Boghossian, Guy Harris and Victor Stenger.


Physics of the week: the solution to the problem of speeding neutrinos, as I blogged on Monday in Enforcing the cosmic speed limit.

Controversial atheism site of the week: Jesus Never Existed, which you might or might not agree with.

Satire of the week: This article from The Onion:   Capricious God Violently Shakes Ant Farm Day After Bestowing Orange Slices Upon Colony which is highly amusing.

And finally . . . 

Favorite places: a link to a fantastic HD video of Yosemite National Park (only 4 minutes) which brings back memories for me, of visiting one of the most beautiful places in the world in 2008.

Yosemite - one of my favorite places - source here.

As I said, this is the first in a series.  Your comments, visits and preferences will help me to decide whether this experiment is a good idea or not.