Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1721

Bill Nye Explains Holograms Through Emoji

A few months ago, Bill Nye explained evolution with emoji (infuriating Ken Ham), so it’s only right that this series continues by exploring holograms:

Can’t wait for the Creationist rebuttal: Just like evolution, there’s no evidence holograms are real!

(via Mashable)

Judge Finally Rules That Rowan County (NC) Board of Commissioners Must Stop Christian Prayers at Meetings

Years before the Supreme Court decided Greece v. Galloway, the Rowan County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina was praying to Jesus at virtually every meeting.

The Rowan County Board of Commissioners prays at a meeting (via WSOC-TV)

The ACLU of North Carolina warned the Commissioners about the problem in 2012, only to have their letter ignored. So they filed a lawsuit to stop the Christian prayers in March of 2013:

From November 5, 2007, through the present, nearly every Board meeting has...

Friendly Atheist Podcast Episode 53: Gerald Posner, Author of God’s Bankers

Our latest podcast guest is Gerald Posner, an investigative journalist and author of several books, including ones about the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..

His latest book is God’s Bankers, all about the Vatican’s finances and how the Church got involved with the Mafia and money launderers.

We spoke with him about how he followed the trail of the Church’s money, what the Vatican Bank is used for, and the advice he has for investigative journalists.

W...

Texas GOP Rep. Matt Schaefer Wants to Force Women to Give Birth… Even When the Fetus Has No Chance of Survival

The war on women is still going strong in Texas.

In a bill concerning the operations of Texas Department of State Health Services, State Rep. Matt Schaefer (below) recently threw in an unbelievable amendment that would ban abortions if the “fetus has a severe and irreversible abnormality.”

In other words, even if a fetus has no chance of survival, Schaefer believes a woman should be forced to carry it to term.

Because Jesus.

Schaefer said, during debate over his amendment, that suffering is “part...

Woman Who Vandalized Satanic Display in Florida Capitol Now Trying to Capitalize on Her Crime

Late last year, we learned that The Satanic Temple’s display in the Florida State Capitol Building had been vandalized.

It turned out that the vandal was Susan Hemeryck, a 54-year-old Tea Party activist who wore a shirt with the phrase “Catholic Warrior” on it.

Susan Hemeryck (via Leon County Sheriff’s Office)

At the time, she said this about her crime:

[Hemeryck] had only one regret about Tuesday’s incident.

‘I just yanked that little devil off the fishing line,’ she said. ‘I should have just don...

Al Qaeda Takes Credit for Slaughter of Atheist Bloggers, Saying the Attackers “Taught a Lesson to Blasphemers”

Back in February, author Dr. Avijit Roy (below) and his wife Rafida Bonya Ahmed were returning home from a book fair in Dhaka, Bangladesh where they were promoting Roy’s latest work when two assailants came after them with cleavers and “hacked them mercilessly.”

Roy died shortly afterwards. Ahmed later issued a public statement in which she claimed “the local police stood close by and did not act” while they were being attacked.

Over the weekend, we learned that Asim Umar, the leader of the Ind...

Can You Be an Astrophysicist if You’re Dyslexic? Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Fantastic Response to a Girl’s Question

At a recent Neil deGrasse Tyson lecture, an eight-year-old girl asked the astrophysicist if he had any colleagues who were dyslexic.

He answered yes… and then kept going, offering an uplifting and beautiful response:

Referring to those with ADD and on the autism spectrum:

… [the] interesting thing about high-level science is you can just work at your desk… you don’t have to be the life of the party.

…

It’s a hurdle, but in the Olympics, what do you do when you come up to a hurdle?

You jump over it....

BREAKING: Two Attackers Dead After Apparent Attempted Assault on Mohammed Art Exhibit in Texas

Did Mohammed fans strike again, or at least attempt to? Two men are dead following an apparent attack on acartoonart exhibit in Garland, Texas. Manydetails are stillsketchy at this time (10:30 p.m. EST on Sunday).

From USA Today:

Two suspects were killed after they opened fire Sunday in a parking lot outside a provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, authorities said.

Garland’s city government issued a statement saying that as a Muhammad Art Exhibit event was coming to...

16 Ways to Greet Jehovah’s Witnesses

The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, discusses 16 ways to greet Jehovah’s Witnesses who knock on your door.

A rough transcript of the video can be found on the YouTube page in the “About” section.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the project — more videos will be posted soon — and we’d also appreciate your suggestions as to which questions we ought to tackle next!

And if you like what you’re seeing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon.

Omaha Mayor Issues “Day of Reason” Proclamation

Just a couple of months after Omaha, Nebraska Mayor Jean Stothert signed a proclamation honoring Charles Darwin‘s birthday, she’s done it again with one for the National Day of Reason:

WHEREAS, The application of reason, more than any other means, has proven to offer hope for human survival upon Earth, improving conditions within the universe, and cultivating intelligent, moral and ethical interactions among people and their environments; and

WHEREAS, those who wrote the Constitution of the Uni...