First off, I want to congratulate you on reading a big book o' atheism and then reviewing it (it's at Worldview Weekend). Here's the problem. You say, in a jazzy font, apparently: Dawkins says, �A designer God cannot be used to explain organized complexity because any God capable of designing anything would have to be complex enough to demand the same kind of explanation in its own right� (136)

The following anonymous reply arrived this morning at a post that I wrote in February of last year. My original post was a reply to a report that the LA Zoo had hired feng shui performance artist Simona Mainini to work her stupid lack of mojo on the new panda enclosures. It was called: "Idiocy, thy name is feng shui." Only one person ever replied to the original post, and I am fairly sure that

Sure, I was going to tell you about how I was nearly run over by a guy in a truck whose girlfriend was churning his butter, if you know what I'm saying, but things got positively odd today at my parents' place. Now that I think about it, it was unusual that my mother had left a message on my machine encouraging me to come and babysit the nietos (niece and nephews) at her house. She usually

Yesterday, waiting to cross a street, I saw a flier advertising paid campaign staffers' positions in the Missouri governor's race: Did you see what the job title was? "Persuasion Operative"! You know what I think of when I hear the words "Persuasion Operative"? I'm just saying. Apparently "persuasion operative" is the next big thing among Missouri Democrats. I just hope that this

After dinner, I got in my little car and drove over to Big Bend Avenue to go look at the carnage. I had heard on TV that most of the units on the scene were leaving and that all traffic had been opened up on the road. It was now officially a public area. No harm in going by. Yes, I'm a shameful gawker. So, I went by at about 30 mph. Not enough time to get a long look, but long enough to get

My sister was home with a concussion today and did not go in to work, so she missed the drama today at work. Apparently two days ago she was bonked on the head at work by a falling box and yesterday she felt awful. Verdict, concussion. Not there. Now the road to their work was shut down, but he was able to park nearby and walk to work. They do construction work on houses and had appointments

...by which I mean 1925, John Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution. See the story at Wired. At a training session. Am being naughty. Doing exactly what I yell at my students for doing. I'm so naughty. HJ

Warning, possible spoiler. I won't know until I've ruined it, however, so be aware.. Or something to that effect. I tell you, I have always liked Joss Whedon's work. His Firefly series is the best thing that you have not seen. Really. Staggeringly awesome. Of course I did not see Firefly when it came out on TV, which seems to have been the problem, really. I discovered it on DVD. Of

Amber Alert: "If you have seen my brain, please return it to Brannon Howse at Worldview Weekend. It was last seen in the company of my eyebrows." You know, one of the reasons that I love writing about that crybaby Brannon Howse is that he is such an easy target. I spend my time at work thinking hard, writing papers and articles about complex issues, contending with the great thinkers of our time

I have been having a hell of a time writing lately. But I have taken numerous running starts in the last few weeks. I'm not exactly sure why the radical religious right is being so disappointing lately. Perhaps they are finally giving up? More likely, I'm burned out on summer, I think. But, I have been trying to work. When I hit these rough patches, I like to whip out a thing that I call:

It's at Sorting Out Science. I did not contribute this time around (I had two in the last one). But go there and baste in the skepticism, won't you? Also, I'd like to point you to Benjamin Radford's LiveScience article "Psychic Nearly Destroys Family." I figure that this cautionary tale is in the spirit of the Skeptics' Circle. HJ

Bing: Welcome to HJHOP, broadcasting live tonight from the Midwest. Today on the show we have the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who was on the balcony with Dr. Martin Luther King when he was assassinated, a 2-time former presidential candidate and lover of New York. Rev Jackson, good evening. Rev. Jackson: Nigger. It's not the first time that I have brought up the word "nigger."

,In one of the most distressing scenarios to come across my desk during a day of investigation, sources say that Belgium is one of the leading consumers of horsemeat in the world! What does this mean for the Clydestales? I hate to sound the alarm, but it is clear to me, based on an indisputable lack of evidence to the contrary that the Belgian company will be turning the long and distinguished

I've been doing this damned blog for almost two years now, and while I have never claimed to be a speller, I'm curious as to how a particular misspelling has come to invade every single facet of my online persona. I spelled "Gandhi" wrong. OK, I have been trying to rationalize away my mistake here. Hundreds of times I have used "Bing McGhandi" as my signature up and down the blogosphere!

As always, I continue compiling the strange searches that lead to my web page. This is for me. I think of it as humor boot camp or a Whose Line is it Anyway?-style exercise. * can a corpse attract electricity (I smell a Mythbusters segment! And burning human flesh!) * can human corpses be used for energy (Yes, but for quick energy, I find that eating something sugary is more efficacious.