Dr. George Tiller, whose Wichita, Kansas, women's clinic has been the target of anti-abortion protests for years, was shot and killed at his church Sunday morning, his attorneys said.
Laura Shaneyfelt, an attorney with the firm of Monnat and Spurrier, confirmed Tiller's death to CNN.
The 67-year-old doctor was one of the few U.S. physicians who still performed late-term abortions. He survived a 1993 shooting outside his clinic.
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BBC One shows the exclusive story behind a scientific discovery that could revolutionise our understanding of human evolution.(Thanks Mark)
Narrated by David Attenborough, the one-off 60-minute documentary, Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor: The Link, tells the story of an important scientific development that could tell us more about where we come from.
The fossil, known as Ida, could be an indication of one of the roots of anthropoid evolution – the point at which our primate ancestors began first developing the features that would evolve into our own.
Christine Comer was the Director of Science for the Texas Education Agency for nine years, until she was forced to resign for failing to remain neutral on creationism.
A question is asked about the Ryan Commission report on child abuse within institutions run by the religious orders in Ireland. After the panel had spoken the questioner responded and his response...well see for yourself.(via Cynical-C Blog)
This video contains a small inaccuracy that biblical scholars will doubtless pounce on. The phrase "lake of fire" actually comes from Revelation, not from Jesus, but he's still responsible for the Christian idea of eternal damnation, the bastard.
Openly gay 'Star Trek' actor George Takei reacts to Tuesday's California Supreme Court decision that upholds anti-gay marriage Proposition 8, while also declaring that marriages like his - to business manager Brad Altman - are legal. (May 26)
The California Supreme Court upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage Tuesday, but it also decided that the estimated 18,000 gay couples who tied the knot before the law took effect will stay wed.
A giant replica of Noah's Ark opened to the public on Monday in Hong Kong. The ark is world's only full-scale model and was built following the description written in the Bible, according to the Hong Kong property developer who constructed it.
On 22 August 1965 Janet Reimer was granted her dearest wish: she gave birth to twins. The two boys, Brian and Bruce, were healthy babies, but they would lead tragic lives, blighted by one scientist's radical theory.
When they were seven months old, the boys, who lived in Winnipeg, Canada, were sent to the local hospital for a routine circumcision. Unfortunately the doctor in charge of the procedure was using electrical equipment, which malfunctioned several times. On the last trial, Bruce's entire penis was burnt off. Brian was not operated on. The family were distraught. In the Sixties plastic surgery was not an option: even today it is not recommended that new-borns undergo penis reconstruction operations.
It wasn't until several months later that Janet and her husband, Ron, saw a television programme that gave them some hope. Dr John Money, a highly renowned sexologist, featured in a debate about sex change operations on transsexuals. He had brought a transsexual with him who was convincingly feminine looking.
Perhaps, thought Janet Reimer, this was the solution - they could turn their baby son into a daughter. She wrote to Dr Money immediately. He responded swiftly and invited them to come and visit him in Baltimore, Maryland.
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A 9-year investigation into decades of alleged abuse at schools and orphanages run by the Catholic Church in Ireland has described how children were "terrorised" by nuns and priests.UPDATE
Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.See also:
The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years - but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York.
The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the "eighth wonder of the world". Read more
BBC News: Scientists Hail Stunning Fossil
Pharyngula: Darwinius Masillae
Dr. PZ Myers, author of the science blog Pharyngula, delivered the commencement address to the graduating Masters and Doctoral candidates on May 13, 2009 at USC's Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, CA. His talk focused on the responsibility of the public intellectual in today's society. Controversial and congenial, Dr. Myers asserts several societal obligations for the newest generation of scientists.
Compass talks to atheists of different stripes.Eminent philosopher John Gray; science writer and editor of Skeptic magazine Michael Shermer; historian and writer Inga Clendinnen and Australia’s best known atheist Phillip Adams, all explore the philosophical and practical consequences of being an atheist.(via RichardDawkins.net)
How does their atheism shape their attitudes to science and the big questions of our time such as war and global warming? Is conflict between atheists and believers inevitable and necessary? Or, is this debate generating more heat than light
John Lennon’s iconic Imagine rang out three times across Liverpool at the weekend.
The song, which asks its listeners to “imagine there’s no heaven”, was played on Liverpool Cathedral’s bells as part of the North West’s Futuresonic festival on Saturday.
Cathedral ringer Sam Austin, 23, a student at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music, led the team of seven volunteer bell ringers who graduated from playing the melody on hand-bells to the cathedral’s world record-beating peal. Read more
(CAIRO AFP) — A YouTube video clip showing pigs being culled in Egypt as part of swine flu measures has caused outrage at the apparent barbarity of the method of slaughtering the animals.
The clip posted by independent newspaper Al-Masri Al-Yom includes gory images of pigs being beaten with iron bars, piglets being stabbed and animals being kicked alive into bulldozer buckets.
Since going on line on YouTube this weekend, the clip has sparked horrified reactions from Muslims and from the Christian Copt community, who are the main rearers of pigs in Egypt as Muslims do not eat pork.
Although no case of A(H1N1) swine flu has yet been detected on its territory, Egypt is the only country in the world to have decided to kill all its pigs, estimated to have numbered around 250,000 before the cull began.
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Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in a what would become an infamous debate on the BBC2 discussion programme Friday Night, Saturday Morning, in which Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, the Bishop of Southwark, put the case against the film. Muggeridge and the Bishop had arrived 15 minutes late to see a screening of the picture prior to the debate, missing the establishing scenes which demonstrated that Brian and Jesus were two different characters, and hence contended that it was a send-up of Christ himself.See also: Not The Nine O'Clock News: Blasphemy Against Monty Python (Thanks Steve)
Both Pythons later felt that there had been a strange role reversal in the manner of the debate, with two young upstart comedians attempting to make serious, well-researched points, while the establishment figures engaged in cheap jibes and point scoring
When the Monty Python film Life of Brian opened in Britain in 1979, it broke box office records in its first week of release. The film was banned by many local authorities, but by the start of 2009 only one ban was left - in Aberystwyth. The mayor of Aberstwyth successfully campaigned to get the ban lifted. To celebrate this historic event, Pythons Michael Palin and Terry Jones attended a special charity screening at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
Mime is an interseting talent, that appeals to some - but not everyone. However - there's a new twist on it! There's mime to Christian Music! If only the CD was working!(via Doctor E)
The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979) was the third of the benefit shows staged by the British Section of Amnesty International to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the human rights field.Transcript from the 1961 British Comedy show 'Beyond The Fringe'
Co-director of Miss California USA Keith Lewis seemed to place much of the blame for Carrie Prejean’s troubles on the groups that have taken her as spokesman. “Shame for taking this young woman and exploiting her to further your own agenda,” Lewis said at a Monday press conference.(via Raw Replay)
Prejean’s topless photos were not the main concern for Miss California USA directors. “The severity of nudity in the one photo is not the issue,” said co-director Shannon Moakler. “The fact that she entered the pageant and admitted it is.”
“She entered the contest under false pretenses,” said Moakler.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The city of Bloomington faces a federal lawsuit after advisements from an atheist group were deemed too controversial for city buses.(via Friendly Atheist)
The Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign wanted to buy space on the side of Bloomington buses for their message that "You Can Be Good Without God," 6News' Ben Morriston reported.
But Bloomington Transit rejected the advertisements, citing a clause that allows the company to turn down messages that are too controversial.
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The Rev. Alberto Cutié, a national figure with movie star looks, was removed from his Miami Beach church Tuesday after photographs appeared in a magazine showing him frolicking with a woman in the sand on a Florida beach.
A wildly popular Catholic priest, newspaper columnist and radio and television personality, Cutié will no longer run operations or lead Sunday Mass at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church.
Word of Cutié's punishment came during a brief news conference in front of a small gathering of reporters at the Archdiocese of Miami headquarters on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami Shores.
"The vow of celibacy is part of the ordination," said spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta. "A man who is a priest is able to totally focus on the church."
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World famous philosopher and humanist Daniel Dennett speaks at Conway Hall, providing "A Darwinian Perspective on Religions: Past, Present and Future"(via RichardDawkins.net)
A former Afghan prime minister has called for an inquiry after Al Jazeera broadcast footage showing Christian US soldiers appearing to be preparing to try and convert Muslims in Afghanistan.UPDATE: From MelM in the comments:
Ahmed Shah Ahmedzai said there must be a "serious investigation" after military chaplains stationed in the US air base at Bagram were filmed discussing how to distribute copies of the Bible printed in the country's main Pashto and Dari languages.
In one recorded sermon, Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Hensley, the chief of the US military chaplains in Afghanistan, tells soldiers that, as followers of Jesus Christ, they all have a responsibility "to be witnesses for him".
"The special forces guys - they hunt men basically. We do the same things as Christians, we hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down," he says.
"Get the hound of heaven after them, so we get them into the kingdom. That's what we do, that's our business."
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More info. This business has raised enough fuss that it reached the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Here is the denial: U.S. denies letting troops convert Afghans and the response from MRFF by Chris Rodda.
The military says the Bibles were destroyed:Reuters quotes Maj. Jennifer Willis at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, who said "I can now confirm that the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera's clip were, in fact, collected by the chaplains and later destroyed. They were never distributed."While I think the religious problem in the military is serious, there's still a question in my mind about how far it's gone.
Interview with Richard Dawkins on the occasion of being awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Antwerp.(via RichardDawkins.net)
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LinkWASHINGTON (CNN) — The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new analysis.
More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” justified. Only 42 percent of people who “seldom or never” go to services agreed, according the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified — more than 6 in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only 4 in 10 of them did.
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In this short talk from TED U 2009, Brian Cox shares what's new with the CERN supercollider. He covers the repairs now underway and what the future holds for the largest science experiment ever attempted.
