Mobile Phones – Safe or not safe?

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No doubt you heard about  the recent press release from the World Health Organization, saying there is a “possible” link between cell phones and brain cancer. Wow, the WHO and not just some crank, so it must be true … yes?

But wait, what about all the studies showing no link at all between cell phones and health issues … confused yet – perhaps some doubt lingers in your mind? Well, the latest news is that you are quite safe. The UK’s NHS (National Health Service) has a nice summary.

Here is a quick outline:

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Lying for the Faith – Part II

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I blogged a couple of days ago about folks who are quite happy to look you in the eye and lie for the sake of a belief. My point then was to ponder why they do this. I also illustrated it with the story of a London Mosque that affirmed they would never ever allow Homophobic preachers through their door again … then invited one to come a week later.

The journalist on the story, Andrew Gilligan, has since then been writing more about it. He notes …

Being lied about by liars is an occupational hazard of my job – but even by its own Olympian standards of untruthfulness, the East London Mosque’s latest justification for hosting its latest extremist and homophobic bigot is a classic.

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Report From the Skeptics Society’s Science Symposium – James Randi

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James Randi writes about his time at the Skeptics Society … Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending Michael Shermer’s Science Symposium and rubbing shoulders with a somewhat different crowd than what I’ll mix with at the upcoming TAM in Las Vegas. TAM-ers are very much skeptics, and though at the Shermer event I … Read more

Death Sentence for any who refuse to pray

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Yes its yet another Islamic kook. With so many having their brains scrambled on a weekly basis by bizarre beliefs, it should be no surprise to find that one will pop up on a regular basis. This weeks crazy pronouncement … well, just see it for yourself, its another jaw dropper.

Here we have an audio of Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, in which he explains in this short fatwa that any Muslim who refuses to pray has become an infidel, and therefore must be killed. It was originally published in audio format on al-Fawzan’s website some time ago, but was recently published in a video on YouTube, and was later picked up by Arabic-language news sites, such as al-Arabiya.

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(BBC) Antimatter Tevatron mystery gains ground

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US particle physicists are inching closer to determining why the Universe exists in its current form, made overwhelmingly of matter.

Physics suggests equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been made in the Big Bang.

In 2010, researchers at the Tevatron accelerator claimed preliminary results showing a small excess of matter over antimatter as particles decayed.

The team has submitted a paper showing those results are on a firmer footing.

Each of the fundamental particles known has an antimatter cousin, with identical properties but opposite electric charge.

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Bachmann

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Christopher Hitchens pens his thoughts on Bachmann … here are a couple of extracts …

That was actually three dripping custard pies, rather than just the one, with which Rep. Michele Bachmann assailed her own face by bragging to Fox News about her small-town Iowa roots …

… boasted by the sturdy small town of her girlhood, she went on to claim that “John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa …It was his namesake John Wayne Gacy, serial rapist and killer of 33 teenage boys and young men, who spent time in Waterloo…

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