A weekly must read.

First it was the emails, and the tweets. This is all nonsense about the aporkalypse, surely? Just like with Sars, and bird flu, and MMR, is this all hype? The answer is no, but more interesting is this: for so many people, their very first assumption on the story is that the media are lying. It is the story of the boy who cried wolf.

We are poorly equipped to think around issues involving risk, and infectious diseases epidemiology is a tricky business: the error margins on the models are wide, and it's extremely hard to make clear predictions.

We need to investigate the Bush years, even if it means tearing the country -- and ourselves -- apart.

Contrary to recent media reports, while many may be praying for their 401(k)'s to turn around, the falling stock market has not sent Americans rushing to church; 39% of Americans reported attending weekly religious services in a February 2009 Pew Research survey, no different than two years ago in January 2007 (39%) under better economic conditions.

The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

It's only an educated guess, but the more people go to church, the more likely they are to hate pigs.

the claim of courage in the commission of deeply immoral acts is to be deplored and not admired