Today, thirtieth September, is apparently Blasphemy Day. It would be quite wrong, on that basis, to call it the two-thousand-and-ninth year of our Lord, so I will call it 2009 CE. Blasphemy comes from the Greek βλαπτω, meaning ‘I injure’ and φημη, reputation. I do not know quite how one can injure the reputation of [...]

An excerpt from the Anti-Anti Vax Discussion Panel at The Amaz!ng meeting 7 in Las Vegas. It’s worth quoting a line from Joe Albietz about why vaccination matters: Medical progress has been phenomenal over the past century. We can save the life of children born at three hundred grammes, we’ve turned childhood leukaemia from a [...]

I’m no fan of the Hon. Member for Mid Beds, but, credit where credit’s due, I wholly agree with her on the question asked by Andrew Marr of the PM. Attacking the man in such a personal way, and not at all professionally, took journalism to a new low and eroded what respect is left [...]

On the 6th April [1780], Mr. Dunning moved … ‘that the influence of the crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished.’ – Erskine May, The Constitutional History of England since the Accession of George III, Ch. 1, available free online here. If the constitutional settlement that comes down to us from the [...]

Is anyone out there able to check if I've registerd for tomorrow evening's #SitP with David A? # RT @jackofkent Great piece now in Guardian on Dawkins and libel reform #SinghBCA http://bit.ly/2qqNT # You could listen to Charlie Gillet's Sound of the World from the World Service. @bengoldacre # RT @antonvowl A compendium of Glenn [...]

From Chicken Yoghurt: Remember this story in The Sun from earlier in the year? Fears grew last night that hate-filled Islamic extremists are drawing up a “hit list” of Britain’s leading Jews – bringing the Middle East conflict terrifyingly close to home. TV’s The Apprentice boss Sir Alan Sugar and Amy Winehouse record producer Mark [...]

The fearmongering, lying, racist Richard Barnbrook should not be suspended from Barking & Dagenham council. As Adam ‘Tory Troll’ Bienkov reports, the decision was handed down by a joint standards committee between the GLA and B&D council. Barnbrook put up a mendacious video saying there had been three stabbings in three weeks in LB Barking [...]

Charles Clarke has said the PM should go. Clarke has form for this (as mentioned here and here on this blog). Charles Clarke has not thought Gordon Brown should be Prime Minister for some time now. I’d say he’s had that opinion since Blair’s ministry. Indeed, I should think there are no circumstances in which [...]

The speaker at this month’s Skeptics in the Pub London was David Aaronovitch, speaking on his new book, Voodoo Histories and the subject of conspiracy theories more generally. It was an enjoyable evening, and Aaronovitch made a cogent set of interesting arguments – I will probably buy his book – but I can’t help but [...]

Paul Ray, who blogs here, has posted a ‘call to arms’ video for a protest in Manchester on October 10 on YouTube. Below follows a response, of sorts, from yours truly. xD.