Wave at the tsunami

Have to thank my cousin for this one. Following today's earthquake off Indonesia, Reuters reported that Hawaii-based geophysicist Victor Sardina said that, "...we are still monitoring, as tsunamis come in waves." Ya can't make this stuff up.

And after the recent crash of a fighter jet into an apartment complex in Virginia, Governor Bob McDonnell said, "We are taking all possible steps at the state level to provide immediate resources and assistance to those impacted by the crash." What is it about tragedy that drives people to make outrageously funny puns?

Hail the cloak

In what must be the worst mixed metaphor of the week, if not the the last 7 days, the BBC reports that, "Syntagma square ... is cloaked in a hail of tear gas". Cloaking hail. Hailing cloaks. The mind reels.

Mayor's comment unsettling

According to a BBC report following today's earthquake at Christchurch, Mayor Bob Parker said the quake "had left people shaken". Ya gotta admire anyone who can keep their sense of humour in a time of crisis.

Wow!

A breath of fresh air called Cultriot.







And this video. Warning: Are you bothered by heights?

The good, the bad, and the blogly

Some more great blogs debunking bad science:

RationalWiki
The Biology Files
Science-Based Medicine
Science-Based Pharmacy
Project Reason

Abercrombie & Fitch....David & Michelangelo

The delicate sensibilities of some good citizens of Singapore were offended recently by a store-front advertisement for Abercrombie & Fitch. It showed the naked torso of a young man in rather good health, as shown below. (Photo from the Straits Times.)


While the young man's genitals were not on display, the righteous watchdogs of the nation felt that there was too much suggestion that he did, in fact, possess such an organ. I wonder whether these same guardians of virtue would object to the exhibition of Michelangelo's David in public view on the same sidewalk. Great art, but -- tsk tsk -- those genitals! Perhaps the young man in the ad could lend David his pants?

TED & Richard

It's been a while since I've looked at any videos from the superb TED lecture series, but I did recently watch a few, including one by the always-provocative Richard Dawkins. In this video, Dawkins argues for not just atheism, but a vocal, impossible-to-ignore, in-your-face, activist atheism.

Some semi-random browsing then led me to Atheist Movies, and finally Atheist Pictures & Cartoons on the same site. Two of the cartoons I enjoyed are below. (They are free for copying and posting.)

The first is dedicated to evangelicals who insist that the Theory of Evolution is "only a theory".


And the second goes out with all my love to those evangelicals who insist that creationism, or "intelligent design" as it's now called, should be taught alongside (or instead of) evolution.