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I may not be able to see this movie

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/13/i-may-not-be-able-to-see-this-movie/

Published: October 13, 2026 15:05

This sounds like a fascinating, factual documentary. Oscar-winner Alex Gibney’s 4-hour documentary about Elon Musk may be the most important film of the year. After the first two hours, audiences will learn that he is better at engineering everything…

Who is the real criminal who deserves federal investigation?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/13/who-is-the-real-criminal-who-deserves-federal-investigation/

Published: October 13, 2026 13:45

Trump has been raging against Ilhan Omar for years, and now he has had her home raided…on suspicion of what? It’s not at all clear. There was no reason to think a sitting congressperson was somehow involved in any kind of criminal activity, and no evidence…

How stupid are creationists?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/13/how-stupid-are-creationists/

Published: October 13, 2026 13:10

I’m thinking that most probably aren’t stupid enough to fall for this, so maybe this is the floor. That comes from a Muslim channel that has other stupid AI-generated videos, like this. All they tell me is that you have to be seriously deluded to accept…

This is why I’m not a romantic

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/12/this-is-why-im-not-a-romantic/

Published: October 12, 2026 15:52

I was trying to think of romantic dates to go on with my wife, and I came up with a brilliant idea: I should take her out to Shakey’s Pizza. That was our standard destination back in the 1970s, go out to Shakey’s, sit in a booth with a pineapple pizza and…

The real danger of AI

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/12/the-real-danger-of-ai/

Published: October 12, 2026 15:09

It’s not the computers or software, it’s the colossal assholes who run AI companies. David Gerard makes a similar point. LLMs and AI would be great tools if they weren’t being wielded by some of the worst corporate/capitalist vermin on Earth.

Second thoughts on Verity

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/12/second-thoughts-on-verity/

Published: October 12, 2026 14:48

Last night, I did another shift as theater projectionist, and sat through the movie Verity a second time. We had another evening of light duty, as only 4 people showed up, and two of them had free passes, so I sat through the whole thing. It was so much…

Nokoomis Nibii Equay

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/12/nokoomis-nibii-equay/

Published: October 12, 2026 12:54

This is a statue that graces our central campus mall. I mention it since today is Indigenous People’s Day. We aren’t getting the day off, though, so we’ll all have to celebrate it privately.

Should fraternities be shut down?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/12/should-fraternities-be-shut-down/

Published: October 12, 2026 12:36

The Guardian asks, “Fraternities are the most likely place for US campus rapes. Should they be shut down?“ What a stupid question. YES. It’s a lengthy article that goes through all the problems with the fraternity system — the alcoholism, the hazing deaths…

Today I started getting ready for Hallowe’en

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/10/today-i-started-getting-ready-for-halloween/

Published: October 10, 2026 20:34

I put up a few spiders around the door. I’ve got a few more to mount around the house. Will do that in the next week.

A dismal season for movies

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/10/a-dismal-season-for-movies/

Published: October 10, 2026 13:35

As usual, I’ve been running the projector for the local theater Last night was the dull horror of Verity, a movie based on a potboiler by Colleen Hoover. It’s had a low level of attendance for the past week, but it does tap into an unusual audience:…

Let me sleep a little longer, it’s such a nice dream

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/09/let-me-sleep-a-little-longer-its-such-a-nice-dream/

Published: October 9, 2026 15:28

I have to stop nodding off at my desk, it’s such a shock when I wake up.

Oppression works!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/09/oppression-works/

Published: October 9, 2026 13:47

The Washington Post announces that the Number of teens who identify themselves as gay or bisexual is in ‘free fall’. Young teenagers are less likely to identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual than they were a few years ago, according to a new analysis of…

Does he lie about everything?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/09/does-he-lie-about-everything/

Published: October 9, 2026 12:14

The President is shit-talking Minnesota again. He really hates us. Somali immigrants are a tiny minority here, the ones I’ve met have all been good citizens, and no, I can look out the window and read the local newspapers and see a generally small amount…

Counting down

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/08/counting-down/

Published: October 8, 2026 20:34

Long day of non-stop lab and class and grading and about to go to a student seminar, despite being despite being tired. One thought helps me get through days like this. In six months, I’ll be retired. I might drop dead a few days after that, but I’m going…

The Epstein mine isn’t tapped out yet

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/08/the-epstein-mine-isnt-tapped-out-yet/

Published: October 8, 2026 10:52

There is a lot of stuff in the Epstein files that has been redacted out of the public eye, I guess. We’d been suspicious of Leon Botstein, the long-running (but now former) president of Bard College, and Jamie Raskin kept digging and unearthed some…

Sorry, Seattle, you’re not special

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/07/sorry-seattle-youre-not-special/

Published: October 7, 2026 18:41

Every year, there’s a little freak-out from Seattle communities about spider season. Seattle’s annual spider season has arrived, driven primarily by mature male giant house spiders actively searching for mates indoors during August and September. We never…

Discriminating against bigots is bigotry!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/07/discriminating-against-bigots-is-bigotry/

Published: October 7, 2026 14:08

Sam Alito really hates gay and trans people, and logic. He has some twisted arguments. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, the devout Catholic conservative who has long warned of animus against religion in America, says in a new book that he believes the…

A man “died” and saw the afterlife…and it was Fox News

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/07/a-man-died-and-saw-the-afterlifeand-it-was-fox-news/

Published: October 7, 2026 11:54

Gabe Poirot had a serious skateboarding accident, and was in a coma for 18 days. When he recovered (which wasn’t due to the intensive medical care he received — it was thanks to a lady praying over him), he translated the experience into a book and an…

Too many spiders?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/06/too-many-spiders-2/

Published: October 6, 2026 19:41

A colleague found this lovely grass spider scampering about the hallways, and she brought it to me (this is a routine event every Fall). I happily took it and brought it home, in my left hand. Then as I was leaving the science building, I spotted a lovely…

Campus drama

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/06/campus-drama/

Published: October 6, 2026 12:58

We had some drama among the music faculty and students the other day. We had a stabbing. According to the criminal complaint, police were called to the University of Minnesota Morris’s Humanity and Fine Arts building just after 4 p.m. on a report of a…

The ugliest woman in the news

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/06/the-ugliest-woman-in-the-news/

Published: October 6, 2026 11:32

Megyn Kelly. She’s hideous. She has a rotting, diseased brain behind that shiny façade. MEGYN KELLY (HOST): No one will even consider the possibility that this woman made a decision to get it on with four men total, not seven, and enjoyed it because — I’m…

Say hi to Tammy Faye…in Hell

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/10/06/say-hi-to-tammy-fayein-hell/

Published: October 6, 2026 11:05

Jim Bakker is dead. Remember him for his accomplishments. Bakker was convicted after a ‌six-week trial in federal court on all 24 fraud and conspiracy charges brought against him. Prosecutors said he defrauded followers of $158m by selling promises of…