RSS Parrot

When will we get a vaccine against Billionaire Brain Disease?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/20/when-will-we-get-a-vaccine-against-billionaire-brain-disease/

Published: June 20, 2025 12:56

Would anyone be surprised by this observation? Wealth and privilege mess up your head. In 2011, a Berkeley grad student named Paul Piff conducted an experiment that has since become famous in the world of social psychology. Over the course of several…

Not in the market right now, but I’d consider it

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/19/not-in-the-market-right-now-but-id-consider-it/

Published: June 19, 2025 13:54

I drive a 2011 Honda Fit. It’s an ultra-reliable car, running without a hitch for 14 years now, not even a hiccup. The labels on some of the buttons on the dashboard are wearing off, but that’s the only flaw so far. I feel like this might well be the last…

My purpose in life

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/19/my-purpose-in-life/

Published: June 19, 2025 13:25

I have been enlightened. I know exactly what my role on this Earth is. Yesterday, my wife found a dead rabbit in the shrubbery in our yard. You couldn’t miss it — the odor was horrific. So of course she sent me out to dispose of it. It had been…

Boom, again

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/19/boom-again/

Published: June 19, 2025 11:59

The bad news: another SpaceX Starship exploded spectactularly. The good news: it blew up on the ground, so it’s not raining fiery debris down on the Caribbean. Other good news: that’s Elon Musk’s reputation going kabooooom.

People are irrational by nature

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/18/people-are-irrational-by-nature/

Published: June 18, 2025 22:11

I’m trying hard to make videos as a regular habit, just to get back in the swing of things. In this one, I’m just monologuing about social justice and atheism. Transcript below the fold. I recently saw an atheist video by a guy calling himself Professor…

Jurassic spider tracks!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/18/jurassic-spider-tracks/

Published: June 18, 2025 14:19

You need to include a scale with these images, Riley Black! I need to know how many tons a Jurassic spider weighed.

The army is fast-tracking corruption right into the officer corps

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/18/the-army-is-fast-tracking-corruption-right-into-the-officer-corps/

Published: June 18, 2025 14:03

I have a son who is a major in the army — he worked his way up in the ranks, and he’s hoping to earn a promotion to lieutenant colonel sometime before he retires, but it gets harder and harder the farther up the ladder you climb. Next time I talk to him,…

I can’t believe I’m suddenly pro-Iran

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/18/i-cant-believe-im-suddenly-pro-iran/

Published: June 18, 2025 13:33

I don’t like theocracies, and it doesn’t matter whether they’re the Islamic Iranian kind or the Christian American kind, but Iran has a right to exist, and they are the victims of a surprise attack by Israel (aided by an American distraction).…

Minnesota has lost a thriving business

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/18/minnesota-has-lost-a-thriving-business/

Published: June 18, 2025 12:54

Are you in the market for a pillow? You could go to MyPillow.com and order one, along with lots of cheap Chinese-made products. Not for much longer, though. He has been tried for defamation for the last few weeks, because he made false claims against a…

Run, if you see this in a car

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/18/run-if-you-see-this-in-a-car/

Published: June 18, 2025 12:28

Vance Boelter is cooked. You can see a detailed list of all the evidence he left in his wake, as he fled, and it’s overwhelming. This is going to be a short trial. I was horrified at the glimpse of the contents of his car. Who lives like this? If your car…

Women’s bodies must be hidden!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/17/womens-bodies-must-be-hidden/

Published: June 17, 2025 17:47

The transphobes are experiencing the contradictions inherent in their ideas. In England, which has become Transphobe Central, they set up some rules that competitors in swimming competitions must compete according to their birth sex. A transwoman showed up…

I recognize that specific racist Uncle Sam!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/17/i-recognize-that-specific-racist-uncle-sam/

Published: June 17, 2025 13:21

Back in the 1980s, we made frequent family trips from Eugene to Seattle and back again, and one of the major landmarks was this huge billboard just off I-5 that always featured these demented, racist, far-right slogans. It was a significant feature — I…

You may want to avoid produce from Texas

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/17/you-may-want-to-avoid-produce-from-texas/

Published: June 17, 2025 12:59

I wonder what RFK Jr and the MAHA gang think of this: This topic is all coming to a head right now because the great state of Texas has just passed legislation that allows recycled fracking wastewater to be used to irrigate crops in the Lone Star state.…

A famous hoax

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/16/a-famous-hoax/

Published: June 16, 2025 19:06

Hey! I vividly remember this cover, the May 1969 issue of Argosy magazine! My father’s family was fond of some of these weird men’s magazines of that time, which often featured macho masculine heroic men battling ferocious creatures in the wilderness, or…

I’m sorry, we’re going to have to ban tea now

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/16/im-sorry-were-going-to-have-to-ban-tea-now/

Published: June 16, 2025 13:32

People use tea for tasseography, or tea leaf reading, which is silly, stupid, and wrong, so we have to stomp this vile practice down hard. Big Tea has had its claws in us for too long, and now they’re claiming they can tell the future, when clearly they…

Are you unmarried? Are you a Democrat?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/16/are-you-unmarried-are-you-a-democrat/

Published: June 16, 2025 12:52

You could be in trouble. Those rules that target trans people could be used against you. VA officials cite the president’s 30 January executive order titled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal…

Creep

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/16/creep-2/

Published: June 16, 2025 12:24

RJ May, a state representative in South Carolina, voted for anti-trans legislation, and then piously declared that We as legislators have an obligation to insure that our children have no harm done to them. He was declared Legislator of the Year in 2023 by…

They caught him!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/16/they-caught-him/

Published: June 16, 2025 11:38

The police caught Vance Boelter. Good. Now we can all forget him forever. Except for the people whose lives he harmed. Two of them are dead, two were incredibly lucky. On Sunday evening, US Senator Amy Klobuchar shared a statement from Yvette Hoffman…

Manhunt!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/15/manhunt/

Published: June 15, 2025 18:29

The pursuit of Vance Boelter, the assassin of Melissa Hortman, continues. The rats are scattering. His wife, Jenny Lynn Boelter, was stopped in Onamia, a town well north of Minneapolis. She was not held as a criminal, although she was traveling with…

We know how to really hurt Donald Trump

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/15/we-know-how-to-really-hurt-donald-trump/

Published: June 15, 2025 11:29

Tell him that he had a tiny crowd size at his expensive parade. Tiny crowd at Trump’s military parade. Quite the turnout… SAD!pic.twitter.com/NcNvEjw4rF — Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) June 14, 2025 For an event that shut down much of…

The Morris “No Kings” protest march

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/14/the-morris-no-kings-protest-march/

Published: June 14, 2025 20:22

I recorded the whole thing. You can take a little tour of downtown Morris, Minnesota right here.

A dismal way to start the march

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/14/a-dismal-way-to-start-the-march/

Published: June 14, 2025 16:51

We were just beginning to gather the group for our protest march, when we listened to Governor Walz’s announcement about the murders last night. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said the Hoffmans were shot around 2 a.m.…

Time to protest

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/14/time-to-protest/

Published: June 14, 2025 14:10

I’m getting ready to leave the house and join the No Kings protest here in Morris, Minnesota. I read up on recommendations made for other protests — stuff like leave your phone at home, mask up, what to do if there is tear gas, etc. — but it all seems like…

Tomorrow is another podcast day

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/13/tomorrow-is-another-podcast-day/

Published: June 13, 2025 18:20

After a busy day protesting the fascist takeover of our country, sit back and listen to the FtB gang discuss their experiences with Large Language Models.

Gray days

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/13/gray-days/

Published: June 13, 2025 16:11

It’s been raining non-stop for the last few days, just an ongoing drizzle, cool and wet. No spiders. Spiders are not fans of the excessive water falling out of the sky. I’m missing my little friends. The good news is that the vegetation is going mad, and I…

They’re not geniuses — they’re pretentious twits

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/13/theyre-not-geniuses-theyre-pretentious-twits/

Published: June 13, 2025 13:09

I rather strongly dislike Chris Hedges, but I have to admit that sometimes he makes a good point. The last days of dying empires are dominated by idiots. The Roman, Mayan, French, Habsburg, Ottoman, Romanoff, Iranian and Soviet dynasties crumbled under the…

Don’t use these posters

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/12/dont-use-these-posters/

Published: June 12, 2025 14:26

Are you ready for the big No Kings protest on Saturday? Are you making signs? I have to tell you that you shouldn’t use these as ideas for posters. Those are sarcasm. Sarcasm doesn’t work in a protest sign. Short, simple, clear messages are much more…

Now what?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/12/now-what-3/

Published: June 12, 2025 14:11

My granddaughter has graduated from kindergarten! She looks so eager to get out in the real world and get a job.

It’s not just me

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/12/its-not-just-me/

Published: June 12, 2025 13:27

Mano Singham is on the anti-Pinker train. But if you claim to be of the left and yet find yourself frequently being criticized by others on the left but not by those on the right, and if you find yourself being repeatedly invited by those whose views you…

I guess I’m supposed to be relieved

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/12/i-guess-im-supposed-to-be-relieved/

Published: June 12, 2025 13:14

I got a note from our university advocate at the capitol, announcing the completion of the Minnesota state budget. Is it good news? I don’t know. It’s not great news, that’s for sure. The higher education bill maintains current funding for the University…

Sad news for fans of the Newsboys and the God’s Not Dead movies

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/11/sad-news-for-fans-of-the-newsboys-and-the-gods-not-dead-movies/

Published: June 11, 2025 18:28

I’m sure there are many of you here, who listen to Christian Rock and watch cheesy apologetics movies, but you could have predicted this. Michael Tait, lead singer of the Newsboys, has… No, he hasn’t died. It’s the other thing you could have predicted.…

I curse the day he was born

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/11/i-curse-the-day-he-was-born/

Published: June 11, 2025 17:15

May he die alone, wallowing in shit and the knowledge that the world despises him. His “birthday parade” brings dishonor to the nation, and tarnishes the history of the army. On 14 June, go to your local No Kings demonstration. Raise your fists and tell…

The mystery is how anyone falls for it

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/11/the-mystery-is-how-anyone-falls-for-it/

Published: June 11, 2025 14:15

This is a spot-on summary of fascism, and jesus christ, but it sounds familiar to this American. It’s a gross political pathology, always doomed to failure, so how did it take over this country? It feels like we need a diagnosis of Rapid Onset Fascism…

They let Tom Cotton write another op-ed

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/11/they-let-tom-cotton-write-another-op-ed/

Published: June 11, 2025 12:59

It got published on the WSJ opinion page, so you know it’s garbage. It turns out he’s a real chickenhawk…but we all knew that already. The article begins, Violent insurrectionists turned areas of Los Angeles into lawless hellscapes over the weekend, with…

All eugenicists are incompetent geneticists

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/11/all-eugenicists-are-incompetent-geneticists/

Published: June 11, 2025 12:25

Dave Futrelle found something provocative: a new type of guy (and he has lots of opinions about breeding). It’s an out-and-proud eugenicist, one who doesn’t seem to know very much about genetics, but he has written an unfinished app called Seekia, a…

My sentiments exactly

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/10/my-sentiments-exactly/

Published: June 10, 2025 15:01

Here. Read this essay. Much has been made of an alleged “crisis of masculinity” among America’s young men. This sort of sweeping cultural proclamation should always make you skeptical. As an angle, it is catnip because everyone can fill in its details…

Jinxed!?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/10/jinxed/

Published: June 10, 2025 13:16

For over a decade now, I’ve been accustomed to screwing myself up every summer. I spend the school year focused on teaching stuff (and being snowbound much of the time), and then when I’m released in May, I leap into action and overdo it, and then every…

Ban Charlie Kirk and Matt Walsh

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/10/ban-charlie-kirk-and-matt-walsh/

Published: June 10, 2025 12:23

They don’t do anything productive, and are just fanning the flames of a destructive hatred. We have a huge cultural, educational, housing, financial, and essential services problem to fix now because of their rhetoric. Meanwhile, the immigrants: That tells…

Boots’ end

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/09/boots-end/

Published: June 9, 2025 17:34

Over two weeks ago, I spotted a pair of boots abandoned in a parking lot. I’ve been keeping an eye on them — they’ve been there all this time, but I’ve seen them moved around every once in a while. Their saga is almost over, I’m sad to report. Farewell on…

Evil and stupid?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/09/evil-and-stupid/

Published: June 9, 2025 13:31

OK, Republicans suck, have wicked intentions, and are wrecking the country. Their one saving grace, the one thing that gives me hope, is that they’re idiots. Now that they’ve taken over legislatures all over the place, they’ve decided that the proper use…

That PR coup went perfectly

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/09/that-pr-coup-went-perfectly/

Published: June 9, 2025 12:36

Meanwhile, out on the sunny Mediterranean, a small ship carrying a token amount of humanitarian aid and Greta Thunberg sailed to Gaza, protesting the Israeli blockade of Palestine. Israel has seized the ship and arrested all on board for the crime of…

Rise up!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/09/rise-up/

Published: June 9, 2025 12:11

I went on a news fast this past weekend. I did anything other than read what’s going on in this tyrannical hell hole of a country. Then what happens? The president of the United States tries to instigate a civil war with California. ICE thugs targeted Los…