Judging by this New Humanist advertisement for โ€œNine lessons and carols for godless people,โ€ Richard (โ€œGreatest Show on Earthโ€œ) Dawkins โ€” joined by his neo-Comtean co-religionists โ€” is continuing to rake in loot by simply regurgitating Darwin.

It turns out, according to a BMJ article reported in the LA Times, poor Darwin often regurgitated himself. โ€œCyclical vomiting syndrome,โ€ they call it now. Symptoms include โ€œnausea, vomiting, intermittent abdominal pain, weakness and lethargy, headache, dizziness, visual disturbances, โ€˜inordinate flatulenceโ€™ and diarrhea.โ€ Visit the Hammersmith Apollo December 20 and youโ€™ll definitely get a taste of it.

Like Mark, Iโ€™m not sure what constitutes self-promotion here, but if I can promote Dawkins and his circuslike Darwin fetish, then surely I may also promote this useful essay: Darwinian Tensions. Itโ€™s long, it will not give unmerited comfort to Biblical literalists, but itโ€™s worth every minute โ€” or your money back. The piece is by Anthony Oโ€™Hear, of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, and part of a slightly ironic renovation project weโ€™re starting on the old Fortnightly Review, once a positivist flag-waver.