(courtesy atheistcartoons.com)

In November 2006, photographer and artist Jessica White’s dog, called Angus MacDougall, had Jesus appearing on his… well, bottom. The dog is a very cute three-year-old terrier mix. The image of Jesus can be “clearly” seen in the fur surrounding his anus. (Source 1 | Source 2)

I guess this would fit right in with the Christian belief that Jesus is everywhere…

Thanks to Tim via email for the link

(via Wired’s Danger Room)

A book by Charles Pierce called Idiot America that among other things describes a tour of Ken Ham’s Creation Museum might help explain why it does often matter.

Pierce opens with a tour of the Creation Museum in Kentucky, where dinosaurs are depicted, living Flintstone style (some of them have saddles!) in Eden, and being taken on Noah’s Ark, two by two, T-Rex and Raptor and the rest, with the other animals and Noah’s family.

Dinosaurs with Saddles? Bananas as proof of a creator? If you choose to completely ignore science then you end up getting the Ken Ham’s and Ray Comfort’s of the world getting picked to head agencies like the Texas state Board of Education or oilmen like George W Bush and Dick Cheney determining environmental policy.

Science is far from perfect but it certainly beats wingnuttery. That is why it matters.

Global Warming

Eighty-four percent of scientists consider the case for anthropogenic climate change to be on solid footing, and over 90 percent were either very or somewhat concerned about it (the discrepancy arises from a those scientists who consider the current warning to be driven primarily by natural events). This is especially striking given that geoscientists were the least represented scientific discipline in the survey, and acceptance of anthropogenic climate change is highest among climatologists.

In contrast, only about half of the public are convinced of the scientific community’s conclusions, and that drops to only 21 percent among those who self-identify as conservative Republicans. Even among the most liberal fraction of the public, however, the numbers are lower than within the scientific community. One reason for this is that only half of the public believes that the scientific community has itself reached agreement on these matters.

Evolution.

But it’s clear that there’s a tremendous amount of confusion on the topic. Only 60 percent of the public thinks that science has reached a consensus on its acceptance of the evidence for evolution (97 percent of scientists think so) and half of those who think that species haven’t evolved say that science doesn’t conflict with their religious beliefs.

And let’s not even get started on stem cell research…

So despite the majority of scientists having very strong science based beliefs in regards to the above examples and our expressed trust in science and scientists in general, many Americans still refuse to believe the results which brings up the $64,000 question. Why?

While the Ars Technica article throws out lots of possibilities, my money is on the dumbing down of our schools led by morons like those in the Texas state board of education who wouldn’t know science if it bit them on the rear and our contining penchant to get the “science” knowledge that we chose to believe from big business, anonomously written web sites, and Sunday sermons. Other thoughts?

From the Washington Monthly

Sen. Jim DeMint says that America under Obama is like Germany before World War II. Republican women in Maryland say that Obama is like Hitler. Hitler comparisons are apparently rife at tea parties. What’s gotten into the GOP?

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) once compared those who accept the science on global warming to the Third Reich. Assorted right-wing activists have compared Al Gore to Hitler.

At times it seems as if the right has no other historical comparisons from which to draw upon. Grover Norquist has said the estate tax is the moral equivalent of the Nazi Holocaust. Bill O’Reilly has made so many comparisons between his political opponents and Nazis, it’s hard to even know where to start. Don’t even get me started on Glenn Beck and Jonah Goldberg.

No wonder the fundie wing of the GOP has been given the nickname “Reich Wing“…

The House recently passed a climate change bill that includes a provision that would subsidize up to 50% of the cost for retrofitting energy systems of faith-based and other nonprofit groups.

After a spirited (pun intended) lobbying effort, a group of faith-based organizations has persuaded House movers and shakers to include benefits for religious organizations in the energy bill that passed last week.

At the last minute, at the behest of a coalition led by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, House leaders inserted a provision that would provide subsidies of up to one-half the cost of retrofitting energy systems of faith-based and other nonprofit groups. It’s a testament to the lobbying clout of faith-based groups, although how far that influence will extend into other issues looming in Congress is an open question.

Lets put aside for a second that it is just plain wrong that US taxpayers could end up funding the energy saving upgrades for churches which would seem to be a clear violation of the First Amendment. The real irony of this vote by the House is the fact that we would be forced to pay for “greening up” the buildings for a group of citizens that include probably the largest percentage of global warming deniers there is. What a crock!

Fortunately the Senate version of the bill does not as of yet include this provision but as Americans United for the Separation of Church and State opines, “What is scary about all this is the continuing influence in Washington, D.C., of pressure groups that support public funding of religion.“

Steve McNair’s girlfriend was surprised?
As has been rumored from the start, police are now confirming that former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was in fact the victim of a murder suicide committed by his 20 year old girlfriend on the side, Sahel Kazemi. It seems that one possibility being investigated as to why Kazemi killed McNair and then herself was that she was distraught because he might have been cheating on her with a third women. My question is, if in fact that was true, why would Kazemi be surprised considering she was already the “other woman” for the married McNair? It’s not like he hadn’t shown a penchant for such things…

I am surprised.
A new Gallup poll shows that 41% of respondents would still be likely to vote for Sarah Palin for President even after she quit as Alaska Governor. My question is why, considering her reaction to the relatively tame scrutiny she has had to endure in relation to what awaits if she ran for President, would people still think this woman could handle it? Too bad we couldn’t have her walk in Barack Obama’s shoes for a few days, I have a feeling she would be ready for a jacket with no sleeves and an extended stay in a room with rubber walls.

Enjoy your Thursday.

The “peer” reviewed study’s data used for this conclusion?

NARTH mined nearly 100 years of research on attempts to change sexual orientation. Of course, the vast majority of those studies were done when aversion therapy was commonly practiced, when many people sought therapy because they were convicted of homosexual offenses before Lawrence v. Texas to avoid jail, when few clinicians bothered to do any kind of follow-up, and when the APA still considered homosexuality a mental illness.

And what about the peers from this “peer reviewed” study?

And as for this new journal’s “peer reviewed” status? Well, I guess when you have a paper written by an anti-gay activist posing as a therapist, and you send that paper off to other anti-gay activists posing as therapists, all of whom are members of your tight little NARTH club with no possibility of an actual independent review taking place, then maybe I would have to concede that the effort was “peer reviewed.” Unfortunately, that’s not the definition accepted by the scientific community.

So what’s the next “scientific” study from NARTH being prepared for volume 2 of their new journal?

No one knows for sure but rumor has it (ok, so I started the rumor) that they have irrefutable peer reviewed data mined from former Miss California Carrie Prejean and Fred Phelps from the Westboro Baptist Church that shows that gays should not be allowed to marry.