On Illness and the Eternal Wheel of Law & Order

On Christmas I fell deathly ill and have been incapacitated (destroyed would be the better word) ever since. Only just today have I had the energy and wherewithal to go back on the internet since. Sadly my disease infected my dinner guests, too. (Sorry about that.)...

Merry Christmas, God Is Still a Delusion

William Lane Craig once again advertised he’s past it last week when he published on the Fox News website A Christmas Gift for Atheists — Five Reasons Why God Exists, demonstrating that he hasn’t upped his game since, well, ever. He is still...

Ergo God Maximally Enjoys Getting Gangbanged

This started as a half-serious joke I told in a bar earlier this year. It has become a running gag among some of my drinking compatriots, who, like me, agree it’s, well, let’s be honest, kidding on the square. Apart from it being funny (if rather...

Be Counted in the Secular Census

If you haven’t already registered yourself with the American Secular Census, and are an American and a nontheist, please go over there and create an account and fill everything out, as much as you can or have time for or feel comfortable with. In fact, even if...

The Gettier Problem

Among my many forms of cobbled-together self-employment I provide specialized tutoring to graduate students in ancient history and philosophy around the world. Which is rewarding in lots of ways. One of which is when my student ends up correcting an error of mine....

Is Philosophy Stupid?

My Skepticon 6 Talk is now available for viewing. Check it out on YouTube: Is Philosophy Stupid? (Thankyou Hambone Productions!). Ad revenue goes to charity. Also for convenience here is the link to my ancillary materials for that talk, a page that includes a link to...

Beyond the Black Rainbow…and Other New Films in my Amazon Store

I no longer maintain a video store. But I do make a commission if you buy any of the following videos through the links provided here. I also have more recommendations in The Fifty Five Films That Most Affected Me Growing Up. Whip It (directed by Drew Barrymore), with...

Innumeracy: A Fault to Fix

Innumeracy is more of a threat than scientific illiteracy. And I want to illustrate this today. A Problem Atheists Should Care About Ordinary literacy is not so much a problem online, since participation on the internet requires basic literacy—although of...

Pat Condell Gets Seriously Fucking Pwned

Oh snap. This. Is. Beautiful. For those who don’t know, Pat Condell is primarily known in our community because Dawkins likes and endorses him repeatedly. Condell is everywhere billed as a “comedian and atheist internet personality,” I suppose...

Support My Work with Your Christmas Shopping!

Want to send me some dosh in appreciation for my independent scholarship and speaking and blogging, without actually spending any extra dosh at all? This is how… When you do your Christmas or Solstice or other holiday shopping this season, you can buy gifts for...

Did You Notice International Men's Day? Maybe Next Year You Should

Yesterday was International Men’s Day. Our own Freethought Blogger, Ally Fogg (noted journalist and gender equality activist) blogged about it last weekend and then wrote a really good brief on it for The Independent, “Male Victims of Rape, Sexual Abuse...

Do Massively Powerful Ghosts Exist? The Carrier-Esposito Debate

Some of you might recall I debated the existence of God with Come Reason evangelist Lenny Esposito at UC Riverside some time back. Well, video of that debate is now available! You can watch it on YouTube. (There was a high quality DVD set that contained a written...

Lataster on Mythicism and Theism: A Request for My Readers

I have a request for all my readers. There is a new book summarizing a case that Jesus might not have existed, which has received some positive reviews (from the Arizona Atheist and John Loftus; also reader reviews at Amazon), and some predictably negative ones (from...

One More Time, with Feeling!

Skepticon is just a few thousand short of their funding needs. One last push to get them there would be much appreciated! I’ve asked before. But for incentive this time, PZ said it best… If you need additional incentive, consider this: this is the...

What Is Stellar War?

Answer: a card game I invented in high school. (That’s back in the 1980s, for those who never noticed my birth year in Facebook.) I created it by hand with tape and cutouts and a photocopier using paper-card stock. My friends and family played it for years. Why...