Now that’s really funny. The things people dream up!
Anyone else reckon
@CarriePoppyYES resigned from#JREF because of the abuse from#FTBullies?
Richard Sanderson Right?
What abuse? And if there were any abuse, why would it prompt Carrie to resign from JREF? It would be like resigning from your job at NASA because someone tailgated you on the Evergreen Point bridge. It would be like quitting a job at The Mayo Clinic because the counter person got your order mixed up at an Albuquerque McDonalds. It would be random, dude.
It’s like the #FTBullies hijacking all over again. Let’s just blame #FTBullies for everything – the weather, food we don’t like, bad movies, traffic, Rush Limbaugh, everything.
Also – seriously – Carrie hasn’t had any “abuse” from Freethought bloggers. Really.
59 comments
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Acolyte of Sagan
November 26, 2012 at 5:19 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I was walking my dog in the woods earlier this evening and tripped on an exposed tree root.
YOU FTB BASTARDS, IT’S YOUR FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is that how it works?
Tony ∞The Trolling Queer Duck∞
November 26, 2012 at 5:21 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Wait, first it was Rebecca Watson who got blamed for shit. Now it’s hip to blame FtB. Who gets the scapegoat hat next?
Ophelia Benson
November 26, 2012 at 5:30 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Yup that’s how it works!
Plus – if the dog farts? We did that. If it gets chillier later? We did that. If you have to get up when the alarm goes off in the morning? We did that.
Tom Foss
November 26, 2012 at 5:35 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Who is it who’s supposed to have a “witch of the week” again?
julian
November 26, 2012 at 5:37 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Exactly what I was wondering…
Stacy
November 26, 2012 at 5:39 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Funny how Richard Sanderson slips the definite article in there. He’s not even speculating that she was abused by FtB, he’s assuming it. His only question is whether that (presupposed, though nonexistent) abuse was the reason for Carrie quitting.
Wowbagger, Antipodean Dervish
November 26, 2012 at 5:39 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
The question we really have to ask is whether there’d be anyone at all to listen to Rich Sandersen if he didn’t go on the occasional FTB hate rampage?
I mean, he doesn’t appear to have had anything intelligent to say about anything else, but he’s got to write this sort of thing from time to time or his little clique of underappreciated atheist ‘leaders’ will stop paying attention to him and he’ll be left with nothing.
Stacy
November 26, 2012 at 5:40 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
And kudos to Carrie Poppy. It takes guts to quit a good job on principal.
Stacy
November 26, 2012 at 5:41 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Principle. Principle!
michaeld
November 26, 2012 at 6:34 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Maybe it’s cause I don’t follow twitter at all but I have no idea who these people are…. I guess after some googleing Carry Poppy was the communications director at the jref?
At the very least I can safely say I have not been bullying either of them they are just so far off my radar…
carlie
November 26, 2012 at 6:48 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I got my foot caught in the bottom cuff of my pajama pants this morning when I got up and I fell down – this is your fault, I gather.
briane
November 26, 2012 at 6:53 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I don’t care what you say, Rebecca Watson is still responsible for the most heinous crime committed against humanity, Nickleback.
Eamon Knight
November 26, 2012 at 6:57 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It snowed an inch or so in Ottawa last night, resulting in the usual annual spate of first-snow fender-benders as people re-learn to drive in slippery conditions.
You bastards!
bcmystery
November 26, 2012 at 7:14 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m out of ice cream because I ate it all.
Did I do that right?
mandrellian
November 26, 2012 at 7:31 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Oy vey.
Can someone please tell me (a) who the fuck Rich Sandersen is (2) why the fuck I should care and (xiii) what exactly the goal of the obsessive FtB haters is?
Actually, if someone could just answer (xiii) that’d be fine – I don’t really care who this clown is.
screechymonkey
November 26, 2012 at 7:38 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
mandrellian, the goal is to repeatedly pat each other on the back for how very, very brave they are for standing up to the cruel and powerful FTBullies. (While simultaneously claiming that the FTBullies are a small group of worthless people who nobody cares about and who the movement is quickly leaving behind.)
Every #FTBullies tweet is another blow for FREEDOM!!!!!
Stacy
November 26, 2012 at 7:58 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Sorry, bcmystery, no.
You’re out of ice cream because #FTBullies!!11!!!
Stacy
November 26, 2012 at 8:01 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
(They ate the ice cream and left peed on ice in its place. They’re just that mean.)
bcmystery
November 26, 2012 at 8:33 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It’s all so very confusing. But at least now I understand why my lemon sherbet wasn’t very … lemony.
Amanda
November 26, 2012 at 8:51 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
What even is the “matter of principle” she has resigned over? I looked at JREF forum and googled and Twitter, don’t see anything. Is it fallout from TAM and related matters? Not that I wish to pry into a private workplace matter but she did describe it as such herself and if I’m (as an FTB fan I assume I get to be a Bully by association) going to be blamed I’d like to know why. Anything publicly available?
Wowbagger, Antipodean Dervish
November 26, 2012 at 8:54 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Rich Sandersen is a one of the biggest names in anti-FTB/Skepchick/A+ circles; why, he has all of 93 followers on Twitter!
screechymonkey
November 26, 2012 at 8:59 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
He would have had more, but #FTBullies scared off his followers!
cethis
November 26, 2012 at 9:12 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I searched FTB, and the only found a post by Greg congratulating Carrie for becoming the communications director.
If she was protesting the FTB, why quite the JREF? They’re obviously not a part of FTB.
It seems like DJ has been driving out a lot of people from the JREF, she is just the latest to quit. While he doesn’t strike me as a bad person, he just doesn’t know how to treat people, or be a leader in a movement. He’s only made the deep rifts deeper, instead of trying to heal them.
I wouldn’t be surprised if TAM 2013 is dominated by Slyme Pit members. Because it certainly seems like it’s heading in that direction.
Josh L.
November 26, 2012 at 9:13 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
This Is Just to Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
I’m not sorry
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Sincerely,
FTBullies
screechymonkey
November 26, 2012 at 9:28 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
“Who controls the British pound?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We do! We do!”
Wowbagger, Antipodean Dervish
November 26, 2012 at 9:31 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
cethis wrote:
Thing is, most of them seem aware enough of just how vile their compatriots in this hate campaign are that there’s no way in hell they’d actually want to be in the same room as them in real life. Sure, they’re happy to associate with them online, but that’s very different.
Why do you think Abbie Smith doesn’t ‘do’ conferences? I wouldn’t either if I had her [shudders] fans.
F [disappearing]
November 26, 2012 at 9:40 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Nope. It wasn’t any of those people. I did it.
Ant (@antallan)
November 26, 2012 at 10:01 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Ah, now I realise why (non-avian) dinosaurs became extinct!
/@
NateHevens
November 26, 2012 at 10:03 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Wait… so why did Carrie Poppy resign?
In all of this, that’s the one question sill unanswered…
For me, at least…
Anyone?
mandrellian
November 27, 2012 at 12:42 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
@screechymonkey:
Please let us know where you’d like your internet delivered.
lochaber
November 27, 2012 at 1:39 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
And until they recognize our inherent omnipotence, and bend to our (feminist collective) wills, they will continue to experience unpleasant, inconvenient, and even bad experiences.
And all seemingly at random.
Do not doubt (or mock) the power of FtBullies, or you too may get caught at a red light, miss your bus, or experience the incredible unpleasantness of an untied shoelace (amongst other unnamed horrors).
Rob
November 27, 2012 at 2:07 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
And was she pursued by a giant white balloon?
Stacy
November 27, 2012 at 3:24 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Nate, she hasn’t (to my knowledge) said anything specific about why. On Facebook she said it was “in protest,” but she didn’t elaborate.
A while back I heard through the grapevine that she was not happy at JREF.
Maybe she’ll share her reasons publicly, but she may not feel comfortable doing that.
hyperdeath
November 27, 2012 at 4:10 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Wowbagger, Antipodean Dervish says:
That’s true. If you check twitter, he’s always there, making nasty and witless comments. He’s only exceeded in output by Hoggle’s network of sockpuppets, and by @ElevatorMABUS.
Indeed. Volume and popularity are different things.
AJ Milne
November 27, 2012 at 4:39 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
#FTBullies moved my cheese.
oolon
November 27, 2012 at 5:00 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I did consider adding Rich to my analysis of anti-FtB parody twits… But it is his personal account and he appears to not be anonymous so wouldn’t really be fair to call him a parody. Would it?
@Wowbagger
When I was on t’pit they had an almost serious discussion in regard to organising an online conference. Of course it was not due to positive reasons but because all the horrible FTBullies fly everywhere destroying the planet and only the pit can save us all! But really a good idea, I hope they do it. I even resisted suggesting, much like you, that the benefit of an online conference would be not having to be in close proximity to Boss Hog. They should do it! SkepticInk online conference!
Kels
November 27, 2012 at 5:37 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
#FTBullies made me read Sanderson’s tweets, and now I feel dumber.
Ophelia Benson
November 27, 2012 at 8:02 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I love Josh L’s. So poetic and so cruel; the perfect combination.
Stevarious, Public Health Problem
November 27, 2012 at 8:12 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
#FTBullies made it snow today.
Jacques Rousseau
November 27, 2012 at 8:31 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I used to think that a dingo took my baby. But now I know it was the #FTBullies.
Carrie Poppy
November 27, 2012 at 10:25 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
In case anyone was *actually* confused (I doubt it, but who knows), it certainly had nothing even remotely to do with Freethought Blogs.
I will say, however, that references to The Prisoner and William Carlos Williams make this comment thread a total winner.
Ophelia Benson
November 27, 2012 at 10:39 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
That’s such a crushing blow to the ego of Freethought Blogs, Carrie. We long to be the cause of EVERYTHING.
Acolyte of Sagan
November 27, 2012 at 10:52 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
#’s 41 & 42;
C’mon Carrie, we all know that you were FTBullied into saying that.
At least it means you get to keep all of your fingers.
Ophelia Benson
November 27, 2012 at 11:03 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Are you sure? Have you counted Carrie’s fingers lately?
Acolyte of Sagan
November 27, 2012 at 11:09 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Please tell me that is a continuation of the joke, Ophelia, and not that I’ve just made a massive faux-pas.
Ophelia Benson
November 27, 2012 at 11:14 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I think you mean a faux-doigt.
Acolyte of Sagan
November 27, 2012 at 11:27 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
To be honest, I don’t know what I mean anymore. I was going to ask if I’d made a massive cock-up, but wasn’t sure whether gender-based phrases were still wrong when they’re self-targetted by a possessor of said organ, so gave myself a good talking to and changed the phrase.
See, I’ve been around here too long; I’m starting to FTBully myself.
Ophelia Benson
November 27, 2012 at 12:02 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Only we can actually make people bully themselves!
jaranath
November 27, 2012 at 12:14 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m sure it was a continuation of the joke, and even if not, just an unfortunate goof, Acolyte of Sagan.
Mind you, there can be genuine humor even in lost digits.
No realli! A family member once lost half a finger to a hungry manhole cover. When his coworker drove him to the ER, the nurse asked if they had the finger. When told “no”, the nurse huffed in great exasperation, exclaiming “I don’t know HOW many times I’ve told you guys to BRING THE PARTS BACK.” Then she thrust a styrofoam cup filled with ice into the coworker’s hands and sent him out to retrieve the finger from the hole. Which he did, though reattachment was unsuccessful.
No Light
November 27, 2012 at 12:48 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Carrie – your puppy is on the way back to you. She looks a bit raggy but she’s mostly ok.
We had one month’s worth of rain last night. My mum’s roof collapsed, and ours is leaking.
Also, my wheelchair ramps are fucked.
Damn you to Milton Keynes #FTBullies!
Flewellyn
November 27, 2012 at 1:24 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Milton Keynes! Satan’s layby!
Robert B
November 27, 2012 at 1:45 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
They even bullied her into doing an interview with Surly Amy and talking about the CFI Women in Secularism 2 conference!
http://skepchick.org/2012/11/women-in-secularism-carrie-poppy/
Ophelia Benson
November 27, 2012 at 2:30 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
We are SUCH BULLIES.
Mattir
November 27, 2012 at 3:01 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
FtBullies gave my TwinSpawns pneumonia on their 17th birthday. It was particularly devious because DaughterSpawn was obviously given flu virus at the after-conference bar hangout at Women in Secularism, by all the FtBullies there, but it was a specially engineered variety that did not hatch out until a week before their birthday so as to attract the bacteria to develop into pneumonia. Or something.
(They are on the mend, slowly, no thanks to FtBullies.)
Alethea H. "Crocoduck" Dundee
November 27, 2012 at 3:47 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
According to that interview, Carrie Poppy does not hate Rebecca Watson. So clearly Carrie Poppy IS an FtBully, and she bullied herself out of her job!
Rodney Nelson
November 27, 2012 at 3:56 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
But…but…but…Milton Keynes has a Magic Roundabout to help you escape from the town.
cethis
November 27, 2012 at 4:05 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Carrie, if you’re still reading, I hope things get better for you. There is more to skepticism than the JREF.
NoxiousNan
November 27, 2012 at 4:12 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m not all that familiar with most of the people on the FTBullies bandwagon beyond assessing their responses and accusations regarding FTB. So, I decided to review his tweets and then added Myers and Watson for balance. My impressions:
Sanderson – Clearly obsessed with FTBloggers in an unhealthy, unnatural way. Of some 77 tweets, 42 had some reference to FTB and/or Myers and/or Watson. Most were merely derogatory and biased opinion, but there were also irrelevant comparisons (like someone talking about X and he replies by comparing X to FTBlogger’s doing Y) and at least five were aggressive and/or insulting (saying someone he disagrees with should be ridiculed by the community).
Myers – A prolific tweeter on a variety of subjects with several sarcastic remarks peppered in, mostly in response to others’ tweets about him. I think there was even an insult somewhere. I suppose I could see the possibility of him bullying someone…maybe. But I didn’t. He came up to the lines; didn’t go over.
Watson – Wow, what a sweetheart. I’ve been reading skepchick for a few months and was familiar with her work elsewhere, like YouTube where she uttered her famous line. I already knew she possessed a good disposition. But her tweets indicate nothing less than a friendly, sharp, compassionate and concerned woman, and her detractors have to be straight out of their minds.
Ophelia Benson
November 27, 2012 at 4:39 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Oddly enough, that’s how Rebecca comes across in real life, too!