The Clever Badger One lab accident away from being a super villain

References and Resources (NEW ENTRIES 25 AUG 2011 )

Blogrolls are nice, but they don't work very well for long lists of links.

The purpose of this page is to maintain a living list of other interesting blogs, forums, reference sites, and whatever else I think fits.  I will maintain a blogroll on the main page consisting primarily of other blogs that I refer to frequently and a few resources that seem especially useful.

Readers are welcome and encouraged to send suggestions for inclusion in this list, subject to some general guidelines that I can (and will) adjust if needed:

1. No porn, no sites selling cheap viagra, or anything like that.
2. No hate-based sites.
3. No storefronts.  Sites that have small stores (such as cafepress shops) are probably OK.  Sites like Amazon are big enough that everyone knows them anyway.  Sites like Bob's Big Sale-o-Rama can inquire about purchasing ad space, but it'll cost them.  A lot.
4. No gambling sites.
5. No sites that serve primarily to advocate illegal activities.  (Specifically activities that are illegal within the U.S.A. or the state of Kentucky.)

I've made an attempt to break the links up among some broad categories, but it's not perfectly sorted since many of the links could fit well into several boxes (for example, much of what I put in Reference could just as correctly be placed under Religion, and the Evolution and Creationism categories could arguably be combined or distributed among Religion and Science.

Creationism

• Answers in Genesis - Ken Ham's site of information on Creationism.  His understanding of evolution is so far off-base that it's not even wrong.
• The Discovery Institute - The originators of the Intelligent Design (ID) movement.  To paraphrase Judge Jones:  Breathtakingly inane.
• Ray Comfort - Ray occasionally dives into discussions of evolution with pal Kirk Cameron.  Ray and Kirk make Ken Ham look good...
• Todd's Blog - Todd C. Wood's blog.  I wrote briefly about him here.  I respect his candor even though I disagree with him.
• Uncommon Descent - William Dembski's ID site.  Famous for banning commenters that disagree with him.

Critical Thinking and Skepticism

• The Adventures of Skippy the Skeptic - Covers a variety of topics from religion to Bigfoot.
• Blag Hag - Jen McCreight's corner of the world.
• The Center for Inquiry - News and outreach
• Chaoskeptic - Rev. Ouabache's place.  General skepticism.  Well-written with a good seasoning of snark.
• The James Randi Educational Foundation - Educational resources for investigating paranormal claims.
• The Lippard Blog - Jim Lippard has been a fixture of the skeptical internet for as long as I can remember.  Very sharp guy.
• Respectful Insolence - Orac's blog at ScienceBlogs.  Focuses largely on medical woo like anti-vaccinationism and homeopathy.
• Skepchick - Rebecca Watson, et al.   Broad skepticism.  Apologies for the bad pun.
• The Skeptic's Dictionary - Robert T. Carrol's big honking reference site.  Excellent for background.
• The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe - News, events, and a cool podcast.
• The Skeptics Society - Promoting science and critical thinking.
• Stop Sylvia - If you've ever wanted to see how to debunk a psychic, look here.  Mainly an archive now.

Evolution

• The Austringer - Wes Elsberry's personal blog.
• Evolving Thoughts - John Wilkins' blog.  He used to blog at ScienceBlogs, but went solo a while back.
• The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) - Organization supporting the teaching of evolution in schools and explaining the flaws in creationist arguments.
• Richard Dawkins - Perhaps the best active writer on evolution today.
• The Science and Faith Homepage at Berea College - Some very good essays discussing science - specifically evolution - and faith.
• Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) - Gould's writings were largely responsible for stoking my interest in biology.  A number of his essays are available here.
• The TalkOrigins Archive - Many good articles explaining evolution and debunking creationist claims.
• Understanding Evolution - At Berkley, developed by the University of California Department of Paleontology and NCSE.

Friends and Acquaintances

• Amy's Everyday Adventures - Links and stuff.
• diana's blog - The current year is the id, the ego, & the single misfiring brain cell.
• Religion, Sets, and Politics - Joshua Zelinsky's blog.  The content is well-described by the title.

Film

• Ain't It Cool News - Harry Knowles' site. Film and TV news, gossip, and reviews.
• The Digital Bits - DVD and Blu-ray news and reviews.
• The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) - Very comprehensive film site. Lots of details and extensively cross-referenced.

Geekdom

• WWdN: In Exile - Wil Wheaton's blog.  Funny and well-written.  He's not just Wesley Crusher.

Humor

• Failblog - All sorts of fail.  Part of the Cheezburger network, which has many funny associated sites.
• Hyperbole And a Half - Allie Brosh's hilarious blog.  With illustrations.
• I-mockery - Blasting pop culture to pieces.
• Miss Cellania - Links and stories.  Sometimes NSFW, always funny.
• Not Always Right - Testimony to the fact that people can be really dumb sometimes.
• Penny Arcade - A geeky web comic - often video game related.
• XKCD - Randall Munroe's most excellent web-comic.  But you already knew that.

Reference

• Bible Gateway - Searchable database of many different Bible translations.
• The Critical Thinking Community - Resources on how (and why) to think critically about things.
• Dictionary.com - Valuable when you don't have time to go to the bookshelf.
• Encyclopedia Mythica - A good on-line resource for information on world mythologies.
• The New English Translation of the Septuagint - An excellent translation of the LXX
• The Oremus Bible Browser - Several versions of the Bible.  Fully searchable.  I like it because it includes the NRSV, where Bible Gateway doesn't.
• Project Gutenberg - Free e-books.  Many classics.  You read the CliffsNotes in high school, why not read the entire book now?
• Stop Forum Spam
• Thesaurus.com - Sister site of Dictionary.com.
• Whois
• Wikipedia - Use with caution.  Some articles are very well written, some not so much.

Religion

• The Accidental Historian - Geds writes about many things, including religion.
• Atimetorend - Thoughtful and well-written.  Encouraging an honest and critical evaluation of belief.
• Exploring Our Matrix - Prof. James McGrath's blog.  Often incorporates contemporary Sci-Fi into religious discussions, to great effect.
• Military Religious Freedom Foundation - Dedicated to calling attention to First Amendment issues originating within the U.S. Military.
• Prairie Nymph - I had a difficult time categorizing her.  She writes about religion and gender issues, but it would be unfair to say that she's all about one or the other.  I put her in this category provisionally.
• The Skeptic's Annotated Bible - Many folks want to claim that the Bible is perfect.  SAB makes it easy to find the not-so-good parts.   Not a perfect site, but recommended for people who think they know the Bible well.
• Suzanne's Bookshelf - Frequently features topics related to women and religion.
• Talk to Action - Criticism and investigation of the religious right, and the entanglements between religion and politics.

Science

• The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - Publishers of the journal Science.  Many articles are available with a free registration.
• Discover Blogs- Discover Magazine's network of blogs, including:
  • Bad Astronomy - Phil Plait's wonderful astronomy-based blog.  He wrote Death From the Skies, which you should read if you haven't.
  • The Loom - Carl Zimmer's blog.  Lots of life-science stuff.  I consider Carl to be one of the better popular science writers around these days.
• NEW Freethought Blogs - Some of the ScienceBlogs folks and a few others recently set up a new place.
• PTAK Science Books - Lots of on-line science articles and such.
• The Public Library of Science - On-line science journals, free for the reading.
• Scientopia - Another collection of science blogs.
• ScienceBlogs- Now managed by National Geographic.  Lots to choose from.  I've pulled out some favorites below.
  • Dispatches From the Culture Wars - Ed Brayton's thoughts on the interrelationships between science, law, culture, and religion.
  • ERV - Stands for Endogenous RetroVirus. She writes about disease and health topics, among others.
  • Greg Laden's Blog - Topics cover science, politics, sociology, and Linux.
  • Pharyngula - PZ Myers' insanely popular blog.

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