I just sent the link (to the original article) to my LCSW daughter and assured her that before the day is out Prof. Coyne will be called transphobic for telling the truth.

"... not believing in germs since he can’t see them." Can he see God then?

You mean like he acted aggressively against Putin? No. Trump never picks on someone his own size.

You misunderstood. Donkeys do not deserve to be compared to Trump's leadership.

What do you have against donkeys?

Precisely why I do not subscribe or contribute to The Guardian. The real news here (at least as reported in Dr. Coyne's article) is that a bakery was vandalized and at least one anti-Semitic slogan was written on the walls, not that a chain bakery moved in near a cafe.

Book cover, Evolution Is Wrong: A Radical Approach to the Origin & Transformation of Life, by Erich von Däniken.

Panda's Thumb: Glenn Branch of NCSE reviewed "Evolution Is Wrong: A Radical Approach to the Origin & Transformation of Life," by Erich von Däniken, under the title, "He's Saying It Was Aliens ... But It Wasn't Aliens." Mr. Branch was not impressed. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Forgive me, but this comment seems to me to be borderline anti-Semitic, or worse.

Photograph of a plump-looking gaint panda munching a leaf of bamboo. Photograph by Yann.fauche (Wikimedia). CC BY-SA 4.0.

Today is National Panda Day!

pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

He needs to read Euthyphro more carefully.

Darwin at age 6, by Ellen Sharples. I think it is thought to be the oldest known, surviving picture of Darwin.

My post linking to some Darwin Day, as well as Religion and Science Weekend, festivities includes a nice picture of Darwin at age 6.

pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

Chalk drawing of Darwin at age 6, by Ellen Sharples. I think it is considered to be the oldest known picture of Darwin at any age.

TYVM for the reminder! For links to some Darwin Day and Religion and Science Weekend festivities, and also a nice picture of Darwin, see my post here:
pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

I can't resist either. From a NYT newsletter:

"Propose single payer health care and call it 'Trumpcare.' The ID card is gold with his face and signature on it. He won’t be able to resist."— A comment by Kenneth from Alabama

They are *deadly* serious. They are not consistent.

AIUI, which is only dimly, measles wipes out all your immunities, but only retrospectively. I presume that any immunity you acquired after getting measles is still active. Is that right?

Yes, I was thinking of the 40's and 50's. We got vaccinated for smallpox, but the polio vaccine was not available till around 1955. Everyone I knew got all or most of the "childhood diseases." They are coming back thanks to RFK and others.

I may misremember, but I have the impression that we all got chicken pox, measles, mumps, German measles, maybe whooping cough. Measles was very serious. My grandparents, with whom I lived, were terrified by polio, but not as many caught polio. Vaccination today is a victim of its own success.

Does he have an official taster?

It is certainly related, but it is not obvious that reporters have axes to grind, as do creationists. They seem rather to need a controversy because they have been taught, incorrectly, that there are 2 sides to every question. So after getting a story, they have to interview a liar for balance.

Or journalism school, which evidently teaches that there are 2 sides to every question, even when there are not. I liked it better when kids (supposedly) worked their way up from copy boy.

Measles is not *considered* a highly contagious disease; it *is* a highly contagious disease. It is also a very serious disease. When I was small, virtually everyone got measles. Why do they have to water it down so?

Christians do not have a monopoly on that kind of fake piety, tho.

MRFF’s Mikey Weinstein on The Thom Hartmann Program — VA Chaplains Can’t Mention Alex Pretti; Troops Pressured to See “Melania” “We are at the point now where you actually have to do something. You can’t just sit back, circulate blood, reflect light, and breathe!” — MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein on The Thom Hartma...

Thom Hartmann interviews Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. White Christian nationalism - chaplains may not mention Alex Pretti but Charlie Kirk is lionized.

www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2026/02/mrff...

The Panda's Thumb?

Help Minneapolis Get a Nobel Peace Prize Students protest against ICE during a walkout at the University of Minnesota, on January 26, 2026 (Brandon Bell / Getty Images) The editors of The Nation are formally nominating the city of Minneapo...

Clever idea: Help Minneapolis Get a Nobel Peace Prize. Too late for this year, and doubt they have "standing," but professors may nominate for Peace Prize. actionnetwork.org/petitions/su...

90+% have no interest in a US takeover? The problem is that no one in the Administration has the slightest interest in what Greenlanders want. Nor Europeans.

Yes.

Trump’s New Endowment Tax Is Already Reshaping Higher Education The “Big, Beautiful Bill” added additional taxes on a small set of universities. Now budget cuts have hit campuses across the Ivy League and elsewhere.

Good article by Yale student Zachary Clifton notes that Trump endowment tax hurts universities that developed "the most important scientific breakthroughs, including mRNA vaccine technology, MRI machines, pacemakers, and insulin therapy for patients with diabetes."
www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Did Project 2025 call for closing Boulder's NCAR research center? No. While Project 2025 called for targeting “climate alarmism,” it did not propose eliminating the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Thank God for small mercies. Original reporting by Cassis Tingley suggests that closing NCAR for telling the truth about climate change is only second degree murder, not first.
coloradosun.com/2026/01/12/d...

Yes. I think the point is that a homicide was committed and needs to be investigated like all homicides by the local district attorney and/or the state. IANAL, but I do not think that homicide is a federal crime.