hey all! first, thanks again for taking the time out of your Sunday to check out this series!

second, i finally got the informal bibliography i've been working on covering skepticism of religion out. it's in the forum, including a PDF copy as well. check it out. John Loftus at Debunking Christianity is linking to the list here on TA from his site.

alright, who wants links?!

reports are around that Richard Dawkins wants to start a school for atheists to counter the influence of faith schools in Britain. reliably, some publications have twisted this into the notion that Dawkins wants schools to indoctrinate kids in atheism.

with schools strapped for cash amid the economic situation they're turning to private donors, often this means local religious institutions. the trouble is when these religious institutions use their donations as a way to get access to kids and families in order to proselytize.

should skeptic organizations necessarily be atheist organizations?

Elena Kagan is President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court but there are some serious questions about her strict support for the separation of church and state.

find 9 minutes to watch Bart Ehrman explain many of the problems with historical arguments for the resurrection of Jesus.

newspapers around the world are starting to publish retractions on the "climategate" nonsense they had fanned the flames of. of course, the damage has been done and isn't likely to be undone by a few papers printing retractions.
on the subject of climate change denialism, a new analysis of climate scientists finds that it's the people with less expertise and prominence who deny the reality of climate change while 97% of the scientists with expertise and prominence agree that anthropogenic climate change is a reality. also at Ken's Open Parachute.

on the abortion debate, a new report says that a fetus can't feel pain before 24 weeks, the brain connections necessary just aren't fully formed yet.

it was 10 years ago yesterday that scientists announced that they'd produced a genetic blueprint of humans- the human genome. 10 years on, what the human genome did and did not deliver.

dear Christians, "i simply do not..." Mark at Proud Atheist posted a list of things that he simply does not do as an atheist.

this is the fundamental unjustifiable premise underlying all theistic defenses of the problem of evil.

the problem with scripture is that it gets a lot of the moral facts wrong, but people are not allowed to question its teachings.

heavy, rough, and hard- how the things we touch affect our judgments and decisions.

the unbelievable double standard maintained by Christian apologists.

lungs rebuilt in the lab and then transplanted into rats.

study sheds light on a key genetic step in the evolution of animals' limbs from the fins of fish.

on Science's presupposition of naturalism and accusations of bias against supernatural explanations. more from Maarten Boudry, et al, in their new paper in Foundations of Science.

Luke of Common Sense Atheism explains that, no, agnosticism isn't the most reasonable, honest position you can adopt. it comes down to what is meant when we say we know something.

was Venus once a hospitable planet?

blindsight: the part of the brain that lets the blind see without seeing.

mark your calendars... 40% of Americans say Jesus will return by 2050.

children are dying thanks to anti-vaccination nonsense: whooping cough is now an epidemic in California and 5 babies, all under 3 months of age, are dead.

You Are Not So Smart on confirmation bias.

Jerry Coyne took the Christian apologetic site BioLogos, which aims to show that science and faith are compatible, to task for their wishy washy stance on the historicity of a literal Adam and Eve. BioLogos responded to the critique by demonstrating that they hadn't the slightest clue. Coyne, Dawkins, and Myers replied to explain.

bit blustery, yeah?-- weather report from exoplanet shows winds of 4,300 mph!

Lucy's new relative may push back the origin of walking.

cell phone towers cleared, study finds no link to childhood cancer.

there's a lot of talk in Britain about honoring Britain's Christian heritage... what about Britain's humanist heritage?

the Exploring Islam Foundation has put up a series of absolutely absurd ads on buses in London.

super-complex, prebiotic organic molecules found in interstellar space.

we haven't received any alien transmissions from space but is it because we're not looking the right way?

a new film about Pope Joan, the first and only female pope, has Catholics less than pleased.

do near-death experiences prove the soul exists?

chimpanzees murder for land.

the paternity myth: the rarity of cuckoldry.