Jack Jenkins reports that Maria Butina, the alleged Russian agent, not only used the NRA to influence American politics, but also the National Prayer Breakfast. Run by the shadowy “Fellowship,” aka “The Family,” Jenkins says its secretiveness makes it a tempting target for infiltration and exploitation.
Jann Bellamy writes about CFI’s lawsuit against CVS over homeopathy, and responds to CVS’s assertion that it is “committed to assuring that the products we offer are safe”:
Actually, if CVS were committed to assuring that the products it sells are safe and work as intended, it wouldn’t be selling homeopathic remedies.
In a paper published in Science Advances, Damian J. Ruck, R. Alexander Bentley, and Daniel J. Lawson find that a country’s economic growth tends to follow secularization. The trend is even stronger for tolerance of individual rights.
Jim Underdown, the atheist in Ask the Atheist, explains the pope’s optimism for an atheist’s afterlife, how atheists don’t need religion to be good, and Xenu. And does Jim want to go to Heaven if it exists? Meh:
Heaven could do way better than angels and pearly gates. I once visited the Napa Valley winery my friend runs. We drank good wine, smoked good cigars, and played bocce ball with friends and loved ones before a spectacular vista on a perfect day. That was heaven.
At Skeptical Inquirer, Kenny Biddle recalls his journey from being a paranormal enthusiast for whom “taking a closer look” meant confirming one’s beliefs, to a genuine skeptical investigator who looked more deeply into all the details. It serves as the introduction to his new column on the website titled, of course, A Closer Look.
Ben Radford writes about Dr. Melanie Windridge, author of Aurora: In Search of the Northern Lights, who has launched a campaign to get her to the top of Mount Everest to promote science education, particularly for girls.
A judge in Australia bars a Muslim woman from wearing a full-face veil in the courtroom during her husband’s terrorism trial. “Australia is obviously a multicultural society and I agree that religious dress should be accommodated as much as possible,” he said, “but the right of religious freedom and the right to participate in public life are not absolutes.”
Meanwhile in Wilmington, Delaware, little Muslim girls are kept from using a public pool because their hijabs might “put a strain” on the pool’s filtration system. Um.
Christie Aschwanden at FiveThirtyEight reports on why climate change isn’t something that’s coming. It’s here.
The American Humanist Association wins a lawsuit against a Colorado school district that promoted and raised money for a trip to Guatemala for the purpose of sharing the love of Jesus.
Mark Zuckerberg says that while Facebook will ban content that intentionally incites violence, it will not ban hoaxes and conspiracy theories, no matter how vile, because those posting that content may be unintentionally wrong, such as stuff posted by, yes, Holocaust deniers. This did not go over well.
At The Atlantic, Yair Rosenberg suggests that deciding between allowing and banning Holocaust denial on Facebook is a false choice:
The real solution is one that has not been entertained by either Zuckerberg or his critics: counter-programming hateful or misleading speech with better speech.
The FDA might not let soy and almond milk products use the word “milk.” Said FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, “An almond doesn’t lactate.” Mind. Blown.
Beth Skwarecki at Lifehacker rounds up some health topics you really shouldn’t google for, lest you be deluged by nonsense. These topics are familiar ones to us buzzkilly skeptics.
Quote of the Day
James A. Haught writes about his acceptance of death:
I have no dread. Why worry about the inescapable, the utterly unavoidable, the sure destiny of today’s seven billion? However, sometimes I feel annoyed because I will have no choice. I’m accustomed to choosing whatever course I want — but I won’t get to decide whether to take my final step. Damn!
Yeah, I’m a lot more than annoyed about death.
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