Sheep on London Bridge

It’s not just an urban legend: freemen of the City of London really do have the right to drive sheep across London Bridge, and on Sunday, August 31st, 2008, that is exactly what four freemen did.  Seven Romney rams were driven across the bridge to raise awareness of a campaign to raise funds to preserve Canterbury Cathedral.

Geography is encoded in the genes

Two studies have shown that, although genetic diversity in Europe is low, it is possible to determine which locations are in a European’s ancestry by examining his genome.

Nancy Pelosi is right on the history of Catholic thinking on when human life begins

There’s a lot of rewriting of history going on.  Nancy Pelosi isn’t the one doing it.

Tangled Bank #112 is out

Oh I forgot to mention that Tangled Bank #112 went up on the Science Notes blog on Thursday.  In case you’re not familiar with this, it’s described by PZ Myers as “a weekly showcase of good weblog writing, selected by the authors themselves…[in the] field of science and medicine, very broadly defined.”  And it contains my first contribution.

Does God exist?

What better way to settle the big questions of the day than by the most reliable method of scholasticism: a swimming pool cat fight between two pretty girls in bikinis.

Mexico: supreme court upholds abortion law

In a victory for women’s rights in Mexico on Thursday, the country’s Supreme Court upheld a Mexico City law permitting first trimester abortions in the city (Los Angeles Times).  Outside the city, abortion remains illegal except in rare cases such as rape and incest.  Abortion campaigners have declared this a landmark victory.  Maria Consuelo Mejia, leader of a Catholic group that campaigns for abortion rights describes it as “historic, with a huge impact on women’s rights, not only in Mexico but throughout Latin America.”  The court ruled 8-3 in favor of the law. In order to have it declared unconstitutional, the opponents needed at least 8 court justices to rule against it.

According to city officials, more than 12,600 women have had abortions since the law was approved in April, 2007.  They cite a drop in the number of women who have died in abortions as a vindication of the new law. Abortion was previously widely available but illegal.  Under the law, Mexico City provides free abortions to women up to the end of the twelfth week of pregnancy.

The New York Times says that in all of Latin America, Cuba is the only other place where unrestricted abortions are allowed in the first 12 weeks (article).

Crucified cartoon frog angers Pope, President in hospital. Jesus still dead.

It’s that Crazy Frog again!

If you were given 30 seconds on television to address everyone in the world, what would you say?

(Hold up card giving name, home address, email address and website URL)

Hi, I’m (name), please get paper and a pen or pencil.  This is the first ever attempt to carry out a simultaneous experiment involving everybody in the world.  If you want to participate, quickly write down this information (indicate card) and listen carefully.  I have only 15 more seconds.

Please write down your name, address, sex, and age in years.  Then, write down the earliest childhood experience you remember. Describe your earliest memory in no more than ten words, and write down how old you were in years or months, and send it to me at my address, in email or on the web.

Thank you.

ACLU to defend religious freedoms in Florida

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a case against the School Board for Santa Rosa County School District, Florida in the U.S. District Court for the Northern district of Florida, charging that school officials of Pace High School and the School Board have abused their position to promote their religious beliefs.  (Press release).

A new form of craziness abounds

This is an exceedingly stupid application, but it’s fun. The displayed map shows members of the Richard Dawkins forum who have chosen to add information about themselves to the map.  You can see a photograph, an email address, and a one-line comment from each person.