What will the future say?

Austin Cline

Austin Cline is a blogger who is involved in educating the public about atheism, agnosticism, and secular humanism. He states this in his bio: "Both atheism and agnosticism are neglected in popular culture, despite the popularity of recent books by atheists. When was the last time you saw an openly atheist politician, an article on atheism in a major periodical, or anyone discussing secular humanism as a serious alternative to religion?"

I am awarding Austin the only award that I give... Critical Thinkers on the Front Lines. This trivial award with no real prize attached to it is my best efforts toward promoting and popularizing critical thinkers in today's society. Here is a link to Austin's Atheism Blog. Check him out today!!!!

The Doctors

The Doctors describes themselves as a groundbreaking new show that does for health care what Dr. Phil has done for psychology. Which in my opinion is do nothing but misinform the public and push money making agendas.

Pop culture, should it be a red flag for crap? When it comes to personal health and medical advice I definitely think people should think twice! It is interesting how people buy into this show by arguments from authority. Basically stating that, they're doctors and we can trust them. But I can assure you there are a lot of "doctors" and real doctors who are just as misinformed as you and I are.

Now don't get me wrong, some of what they talk about is backed up with significant studies. But for the people who buy into it hook-line-and-sinker, they believe EVERYTHING they talk about on the show, evidence or not.

Example: On a recent episode they were pushing a drink produced from Acai Berries. They introduced it initially with Celebrity endorsements, red flag number one. They called it the "miracle fruit," red flag number two. After introducing it and reading some anecdotal evidence (red flag number three), it inspired a round of applause from the audience!!! No one even questioned it!

Another claim that accompanies the Acai berry is that it is high in anti-oxidants. The benefits of Anti-oxidants are yet to be established but evidence points out that it may not be good to over do it. Just the same way that too many vitamins will land you in a hospital, too much anti-oxidants can limit oxidative stress which heat shock proteins rely on. Our diets naturally get the anti-oxidants we need, and we all know that too much of a good thing isn't good at all.

One quick Google search of the Acai berry produced a link with the phrase "Disease-Fighting Benefits No Doctor Wants You To Know About!" Huge red flag, no doctor (almost) anywhere doesn't want to help you stay healthy. After all, we have a TV show with 4 doctors telling us we should drink it twice a day.

This was just one example among many that goes to discredit their show. In the end you really need to talk to your doctor (after searching for a well established, well read, well trained doctor with the proper credentials). Even then, some careful research with a skeptical eye never hurts.

Life on Mars

A few weeks ago active releases of methane gas have been discovered on Mars. This has led some scientists to say that this is strong evidence for microbial life. Yet there is more than one way that methane can be produced on the surface of a planet.

Methane is commonly released through geologic activity. Yet geologic activity is accompanied by sulfur dioxide, which has not been detected. Not to mention that we have never observed active volcanoes or recorded seismic activity. This doesn't mean it isn't there, just that it is less probable.

Methane could also have been seeded by a comet impact. But there is no evidence of a recent comet impact on the surface. Due to the fact that methane dissipates at a significant rate, a comet would have had to impact within the last few hundred years.

For now we have narrowed, but not definitively limited, the source of methane to microscopic life. But these are still conjectures. We won't know anything more until we send the Mars Science Laboratory in 2011.

London Bus Advertisements

The British Humanist Association launched a campaign to post atheist advertisements on buses in London. Their original goal was to raise £5,500 (about $7,600). However, within 4 days that had raised over £100,000 (about $140,000) from individual donations!

They have now reached £149,393.06 ($208,000).

With slogans like "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life" on about 800 city busses, it is a huge publicity stunt to call atheists and agnostics out-of-the-closet. According to the British Humanist website, their campaign has inspired similar campaigns around the world including Spain's Union of Atheists and Freethinkers, Italy's Union of Athiests, Agnostics and Rationalists, and the United States' American Humanist Association.

To learn more visit the Atheist Bus Website or to make a donation visit www.JustGiving.com/AtheistBus.

Obama's Inauguration

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The Candidates are...



Pharyngula - Written by PZ Myers
"Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal"

NASA Watch -
"It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU."

Improbable Research - Written by Marc Abrahams, Stephen Drew, and Julia Lunetta
"Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK"

Watt's Up with That - Written by Anthony Watts
"Commentary on puzzling things in life, nature, science, weather, climate change, technology, and recent news."

Climate Audit - Written by Steve McIntyre

NeuroLogica - Written by Steven Novella
"Your daily fix of Neuroscience, Skepticism, and Critical Thinking"

Bad Astronomy - Written by Phil Plait

60-Second Science - By the writers of Scientific American
"Got a minute?"

Real Climate -
"Climate science from climate scientists"

Greg Laden - Written by Greg Laden
"Evolution, Life Science, Science Education, Human Evolution, and Stuff"