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Dear god, she’s the Secretary of Homeland Security?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/20/dear-god-shes-the-secretary-of-homeland-security/

Published: May 20, 2025 15:01

The person who has been appointed to oversee immigration in this country is a world-class moron, and is obviously unfit for the job. In a recent Senate hearing, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem made a concerning misstatement regarding the…

Today is World Bee Day!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/20/today-is-world-bee-day/

Published: May 20, 2025 14:41

Get out there and celebrate bees! I’d like to. I tried. But right now we’re drowning in near constant rain and drizzle and cool temperatures, so all our bees are hiding. We’ve planted lots of bee-friendly flowers in our yard, but they haven’t blossomed…

First they came for the libraries

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/19/first-they-came-for-the-libraries/

Published: May 19, 2025 13:39

And then they came for the bookstores. As usual, Texas Republicans lead the way in oppression and ignorance. A bill has been introduced to the Texas Legislature that could result in bookstores facing fines and legal costs if they place material deemed…

We’ve made Nathaniel Jeanson cry

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/19/weve-made-nathaniel-jeanson-cry/

Published: May 19, 2025 13:07

Jeanson, the creationist who got a Ph.D. to be better able to pretend to be a real scientist, is whining because he can’t get no respect. Today, creation scientists like me are prohibited from running academic labs. They are denied government funding for…

Stop letting creationists host your ideas

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/18/stop-letting-creationists-host-your-ideas/

Published: May 18, 2025 12:05

I sat through the whole debate last night, which was supposed to address the premise that “The hominin fossil record demonstrably supports human evolution”, with Erika (Gutsick Gibbon) on the pro side, Jerry Bergman against. It was half bad. Erika was…

It’s gonna be a slapstick rout

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/17/its-gonna-be-a-slapstick-rout/

Published: May 17, 2025 22:30

Some of you probably recall the legendarily terrible debate I had with Jerry Bergman years ago. You’re in luck! Bergman is a glutton for punishment, and is going to be debating Gutsick Gibbon tonight. He won’t know what hit him. Literally. He’ll be…

Mokele-mbembe!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/16/mokele-mbembe/

Published: May 16, 2025 14:17

Creationists have been going on and on about a dinosaur living in the Congo, called mokele-mbembe (IFLScience also has articles on it, if you didn’t believe me when I said that site sucks). Answers in Genesis has defended the idea of a dinosaur lurking in…

What biology looks like

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/15/what-biology-looks-like/

Published: May 15, 2025 16:22

The 2025 graduating class in biology at the University of Minnesota Morris:

Disappointed

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/15/disappointed-2/

Published: May 15, 2025 16:07

I had big plans for today. I was going to make a day trip to do some spider collecting — today is my wife’s day off, so it was a good time to take the car away. I had it all planned out: the route, I’d identified some parks and likely places to stop, and…

Do not trust IFLScience

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/15/do-not-trust-iflscience/

Published: May 15, 2025 12:46

I fucking detest IFLScience. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it started as a Facebook page, “I Fucking Love Science,” that later expanded into an independent web site, and it has always specialized in presenting bright colorful images and gushing…

Let’s start a cult!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/15/lets-start-a-cult/

Published: May 15, 2025 11:53

Great! Except… I reject “Darwinism”. I didn’t ooze out of a Darwinian slurry. No priest of mine can be a devotee of a 175 year old dogma? He sounds an awful lot like Herbert Spencer. Never mind. No cults allowed.

Alive on YouTube again

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/14/76407/

Published: May 14, 2025 23:14

I guess I’ll try revive my long-neglected YouTube channel. Transcript below the fold. I’m free! It’s the end of the semester, it’s time for a summer break, and I’ve got a sabbatical term coming up in the Fall. I will have no teaching responsibilities until…

I’m way ahead of you, Nature

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/14/im-way-ahead-of-you-nature/

Published: May 14, 2025 18:54

I saw the rising tide of belligerent white nationalism coming, and knew I had to revise how I teach genetics. I’ve seen the kids who come out of public schools thinking that every feature is the product of simple Mendelian genetics, I’ve witnessed a…

The problem with putting limp-dick dumb-ass right-wingers in charge of the military

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/14/the-problem-with-putting-limp-dick-dumb-ass-right-wingers-in-charge-of-the-military/

Published: May 14, 2025 16:50

Their priorities are all wrong. But then, I had no idea that so many military men lacked virility and needed chemical assistance. The judge overseeing the case against the Defense Department’s firing of transgender service members revealed that the…

Making the whole world ring like a bell

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/14/making-the-whole-world-ring-like-a-bell/

Published: May 14, 2025 12:43

And it tolled for 9 days! Climate change is increasingly predisposing polar regions to large landslides. Tsunamigenic landslides have occurred recently in Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), but none have been reported from the eastern fjords. In September 2023,…

Let’s chop the Endangered Species Act to bits, shall we?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/14/lets-chop-the-endangered-species-act-to-bits-shall-we/

Published: May 14, 2025 12:19

Uh-oh. The lawyers have been deployed. They’re trying to parse the wording of the Endangered Species Act to legalize habitat destruction, narrowing its meaning to apply only to the direct killing of organisms, but killing the environment? That does not…

I can’t take accusations of blasphemy seriously

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/13/i-cant-take-accusations-of-blasphemy-seriously/

Published: May 13, 2025 12:46

I wouldn’t normally quote the odious Matt Walsh, but I was amused that he was taking umbrage at a new version of the Bible. Then I read these excerpts, and actually sympathized with Walsh — a truly horrible sensation — because, yes, this was an…

I found the next Patient Zero!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/13/i-found-the-next-patient-zero/

Published: May 13, 2025 11:46

This doesn’t sound like my childhood swimmin’ hole. “Swimming and wading are not allowed due to high bacteria levels,” the National Park Service states on its website. “Stay out of the water to protect streambanks, plants, and animals and keep you and your…

I’d spider-watch it

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/12/id-spider-watch-it/

Published: May 13, 2025 01:12

I am so tired of super hero movies, but they keep drawing me back in. I’m not going to be tempted until 2026 by Spider-Noir, at least. This is apparently a limited television series, not a movie, built on the limited bits and pieces of Sony’s IP investment…

What is wrong with California?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/12/what-is-wrong-with-california/

Published: May 12, 2025 14:06

It’s a beautiful state with a fabulous climate, when it’s not on fire, but what’s going on with their politicians? This question was prompted by an observation about their current governor, Gavin Newsom. After two months and a gratuitous 15 episodes —…

Useful insight to begin the day

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/12/useful-insight-to-begin-the-day/

Published: May 12, 2025 11:25

A plea for moderation in the face of fanaticism: Being aware of the consequences is a good perspective to have for any goal. There are an awful lot of extremists running the game right now who need to be sat down and told to grow up and shut up. They’re…

Why Lamarck was wrong

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/05/12/76376/

Published: May 12, 2025 11:05

I teach (in the distant future) a first year class in genetics and evolution. I’m going to have to use this comic when I discuss the inheritance of acquired characteristics — I think the bit about helicopter moms might resonate. But not now! No teaching…