Prepare yourselves, minions. Quake in terror, puny humans. The Plan progresses. Today we announce the appearance of the Second Wave of godless champions here at Freethought Blogs.
Alethian Worldview is a counter-apologetics blog formerly known elsewhere as Evangelical Realism. This blog will feature lots of critiques of Christian apologetic arguments.
Assassin Actual is the blog of an atheist Army officer stationed in Iraq. This blog will contain lots of first-person accounts of the war from a real life atheist in a foxhole.
Almost Diamonds is the new blog of Stephanie Zvan, who co-hosts the Atheists Talk radio show in Minnesota. She’ll be writing about science, sex, politics and whatever else she feels like talking about.
Blue Collar Atheist is the already well-established blog of Hank Fox, who moves to FTB to join the lineup.
Butterflies and Wheels is already a very well regarded website run by Free Inquiry columnist and author Ophelia Benson. Ophelia has long been a powerful voice for skepticism and science and we are very proud to have her joining FTB.
Camels with Hammers is the blog of philosopher Daniel Fincke, who teaches at Hofstra and CUNY. He’ll be focusing on the philosophical debates regarding atheism and religion.
Greta Christina brings her self-titled blog to FTB as well. Greta was one of the very first bloggers we thought of to invite to join the new network and we’re thrilled to have her on board. She blogs about atheism, sex and lots more.
Lousy Canuck brings our first non-American blogger to the network. Jason Thibeault is a skeptic and an atheist and his blog has now moved to FTB.
XBlog is the new blog of Greg Laden, a former colleague at ScienceBlogs who decided to throw his hat in with the new project as well. He also co-hosts the Atheists Talk radio show.
Bow down before them, or at least, pay a call on their blogs.
There are more changes coming, too. The ad network is going to get some revision, removing some of the more offensive ads; it looks like the annoying pop-ups will be getting the axe, too (and there was much rejoicing!). We have a web designer taking a look at patching the klunky look, because, you know, when you’re out to take over the world, you want to look pretty while you’re doing it.
And then there will be a Third Wave, and a Fourth, and many others. Victory is assured. You might as well never leave this domain.
79 comments
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rwahrens
1 September 2011 at 5:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Nice to see some “new” meat, er, blogs to read around here – IF they’d show up on the front page of FTB!
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
1 September 2011 at 5:56 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yay! World Conquest for everybody! *hands out party hats*
Phil
1 September 2011 at 6:23 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Great! Our conspiracy spreads, mwohohohoho…no, I’m out of practice on Evil Laughing! Mwohohehohe…mwahuhahuhahu…bugger!
Hank Fox
1 September 2011 at 6:28 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Really great to be here in such august company!
I’m totally pumped at the opportunity to [metaphorically] crush our enemies, and I look forward eagerly to hearing the [virtual] grief-stricken lamentations of their Christian wives, husbands and children.
Plus, the after-hours parties at Casa de Myers … man, those are legendary.
Giliell, connaiseuse des choses bonnes
1 September 2011 at 6:34 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Well, this will shorten my tabs bar considerably.
I’m really looking forward to having almost all of my favourite blogs in one place.
Camels With Hammers
1 September 2011 at 6:50 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks for the welcome, PZ! It’s an honor to be here.
audiolight
1 September 2011 at 6:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I will assume the third phase is “PROFIT“, then…?
Cath the Canberra Cook
1 September 2011 at 7:07 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
List on front page? Side bar? Please? I have tried clearing my cache and using three different browsers, so I’m fairly sure the problem is at your end.
Tigger_the_Wing
1 September 2011 at 7:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m with Cath. The search button is useless for finding a particular blog!
Edward
1 September 2011 at 7:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
One wonders why you need a separate site rather than using any of the existing free hosts.
Unhappy with their policies? Want to promote your own branding?
Christophe Thill
1 September 2011 at 7:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Lousy Canuck is not “non-American”. Geography anyone ?
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
1 September 2011 at 7:25 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Christophe Thill:
He’s right! Canadia is in America.
Silly USAsians, thinking our country is America. (I still catch myself every so often plopping “America” where I mean the US specifically.)
unbound
1 September 2011 at 7:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I with rwahrens…anything to get the new blogs more easily accessible from the front page. Heck, I’d even take a simple page that just lists the hyperlinks to their main pages.
Lynna, OM
1 September 2011 at 7:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Assassin Actual posted about the Israel’s plan to give Jewish settlers non-lethal weapons.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/assassin/2011/08/30/157/
My personal view is that the “weapon” of ultra-right-wing religion should be removed (excised? scrubbed?) from Jewish settlements. Don’t give them even non-lethal weapons to defend that indefensible stance.
And for good measure, the religious aspects of Palestinian neighborhoods should also be mitigated.
Dream on, Lynna.
SteveInMI
1 September 2011 at 7:53 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Welcome, veteran/newbies!! :)
Rorschach
1 September 2011 at 7:58 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Don’t ask me to join , I’m too busy with work to write anything useful on a regular basis. Great to see (if not in the sidebar yet) Greta Christina and Ophelia Benson there ! The Laden/Zvan comment altering and identity exposing duo I could do without, but meh, it’s your blog network.
Give SC or Jadehawk a go.
ahcuah
1 September 2011 at 8:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Looks like nice additions.
I’ve mentioned this before, and since you are talking about the klunky look, let me say it again.
I’d really appreciate something like the “last 24 hours” page on scienceblogs. That always let me catch up on all the new blog entries since I’d last looked. It should have the blog name, the title, and a few first words to get the feel for what the entry is about.
This rather answers Edwards’ question (#10). I like to read through all these related posts, in order (or at least choose to do so). Even the current fashion on the main page (which lists the latest 3 from each blog–looks nice, but doesn’t provide enough functionality) doesn’t give that, since each blog is separate. I’ve found I prefer reading time-wise, not blog-wise.
Yes, I know there other ways of achieving the same result (subscription?), but I’ve found what I’ve described to be quite convenient. Maybe others have, too.
Thanks.
richardelguru
1 September 2011 at 8:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m rather offended that you are doing this.
opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces
1 September 2011 at 8:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@ Katherine Lorraine #12, thank you so much for that! You would not believe the resistance one gets to pointing this out (and I’m in the UK – you’d think we’d be used to noticing by now that not every single bit of the UK is “England”).
Disclosure – I remember only too well how embarrassingly long it took me to realise that there are not two but three different countries in North America …
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
1 September 2011 at 8:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@opposablethumbs:
There’s also three territories in North America, plus the Caribbean and Central America.
peterh
1 September 2011 at 8:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@ #’s 11 & 12
In street parlance around the world, “America” means the USA, niceties of politics & geography notwithstanding. Forget the bath water & focus on the baby – er, babies in this thread.
opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces
1 September 2011 at 8:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@ Katherine Lorraine
…. continental North America, then? (thought the Caribbean was considered separately?)
But yes, I was Rong Agen ::facepalm::
@peterh, not to derail (or no further than a tiny detour, honest!) but that is not the case of street parlance in most American countries.
Tricia
1 September 2011 at 8:40 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Is the ANY chance that Freethought Blogs can be recategorised so my work filter doesn’t block it due to “Social Networking is filtered”. :(
Mike Haubrich
1 September 2011 at 8:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I am sad to see that Rorschach is too busy to contribute. No, really, I am.
I like that a lot of my co-hosts and guests from “Atheists Talk” are now blogging here. I look forward to reading them all together at one collective.
Ibis3, féministe avec un titre française de fantaisie
1 September 2011 at 8:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Since you’re talking about prettying things up, maybe you guys could do something about the boring FTB logo? Perhaps a logo contest (after all, you got some nifty Pharyngula banners last time you opened up the floor for your readers).
Jafafa Hots
1 September 2011 at 8:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
You’re a day late, Hank.
We’re now September company.
Jafafa Hots
1 September 2011 at 8:50 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
(Or rather THEY’RE rather than WE’RE (meaning the other bloggers))
Pronoun trouble.
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
1 September 2011 at 8:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@peterh:
It would be the equivalent of saying “Eastern Europe” and meaning the Ukraine.
America = USA. In fact, America means North and South America, plus the Caribbean and the island territories.
Jason Thibeault
1 September 2011 at 9:06 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Happy to blog shoulder-and-shoulder with so many giants. Best make sure my stepladder’s in good condition if I’m going to stay up here for any length of time.
I’m amused by Rorshach’s comment at 16 though. Stephanie’s her own entity. Just because she was on Greg’s blog comments, doesn’t mean she participates in Greg’s blogging habits.
edmundog
1 September 2011 at 9:33 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Excellent additions, and now I don’t have to go elsewhere to read Greta! Hooray! Now if only I could figure out what the hell Comradde PhysioProffe is all about…
Rey Fox
1 September 2011 at 9:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Wake me when we get to the seventh wave.
Love.
Ibis3, féministe avec un titre française de fantaisie
1 September 2011 at 9:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
American means “from the USA” in nearly every context (e.g. the American President, the American constitution, the American people, all those “real Americans” the Teabaggers like so much). *Not* North American or South American. People from other countries in those continents don’t particularly appreciate having their cultures erased, Christophe & Katherine.
Didaktylos
1 September 2011 at 9:58 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
BTW – what are we going to do with world once we’ve finished conquering it?
Icaria
1 September 2011 at 9:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
And all in one neat little place, to be DDoSed mercilessly by the first nut with a botnet and an axe to grind.
Dhorvath, OM
1 September 2011 at 10:09 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Is it coincidence that Greta and Great use the same letters? My favourite lurking site just got easier to access and read. Yay! Of course, now commenting will be easier and I may end up with too little time to keep up, the sacrifices this move is asking of me!
___
Ibis3,
As a person in one of those other countries that struggles to differentiate itself from the US, I would prefer if they kept to that term and left America as a continental reference thank you very much. The president of the United States, the United States consitution, etc.
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
1 September 2011 at 10:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Ibis3:
It’s an extremely US-centric view that sees no issue with saying “America” to mean only the United States of America. It’s certainly faster to say “Americans” when talking about the citizens of the United States, but there is more than one American continent and many more countries in the Americas that are not the US.
Gregory
1 September 2011 at 10:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Very nice to see such a free thought-ful bunch.
Regarding ads, have you all considered a subscription system? I would be very happy to pay a small amount to help offset your costs, if that meant I would not have any ads whatsoever. If FTB is operating as a non-profit (as distinct from non-prophet), you could offer one year of ad-free access to anyone who donates, say, $10 or more.
LightningRose
1 September 2011 at 11:01 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Please consider adding nested comments thus better facilitating conversations amongst your minions.
Ibis3, féministe avec un titre française de fantaisie
1 September 2011 at 11:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Dhorvath & Katherine
I don’t know why you would want to try and change the common usage of the word. It’s confusing and insulting. Let the Americans (what are you going to call them instead, United-states-ians?) have the term that’s been used for several centuries to describe them, and use North or South American to refer to residents of whichever continent, and Canadian, Mexican, or Colombian when you’re referring to citizens of those countries.
As for this being a US-centric view, I think you’re wrong. I don’t think most Canadians or Mexicans (for example) feel like the term American applies to them at all. Even aboriginal peoples on this side of the border tend to prefer “First Nations” to “Native Americans”.
hyoid
1 September 2011 at 11:21 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hey! Pay me $10 or more and I’ll promise to not be bothered by the ads for a whole year! (I don’t really notice them much)
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
1 September 2011 at 11:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Ibis3:
Well you’d have to ask some Canadians and Mexicans about that. I’m an American Indian myself (Pamunkey) and would prefer to be called by my tribe name rather than immediately lumped in with every other American Indian tribe out there.
Brownian
1 September 2011 at 11:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Nope. If someone asked if I were ‘American’, my first response would not be ‘Well, technically yes…”
My first response would be “Good god! Fuck no! Look, I’m unarmed! And I understand that citizens of the rest of the world do not exist to serve me and thus have every right to speak languages that aren’t drawling English!”
And then I might say “I’m Canadian. Like the people who sold you that asbestos you’ve got lying in a heap in the open on that construction site.”
And then I might say, “So, technically yes. North American. Is my soy mochaccino almost ready?”
edmundog
1 September 2011 at 11:30 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
“It’s an extremely US-centric view that sees no issue with saying “America” to mean only the United States of America.”
But Mexico is also called the United States, (Estados Unidos Mexicanos) but the USA is the only one that has America in the name. Ehhhhh?
Ibis3, féministe avec un titre française de fantaisie
1 September 2011 at 11:45 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@ Katherine
I am Canadian. And I can ask around if it would make you feel better.
1. Yeah, okay, but that wasn’t my point. My point was that we, on this side of the border, don’t generally use the term American to refer to anyone other that people from the US. We have an Assembly of First Nations, not an Assembly of Native Americans (of Canada??).*
2. So why would you think I’d want to be “lumped in” with people from the US?
–
*before anyone comes back with counter-examples, yes, I realise that some aboriginal orgs. and people use other terms, but I do believe that First Nations & Inuit are currently the preferred ones.
Hemogoblin
1 September 2011 at 11:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
So… with all these quality blogs, it has to be asked (even if it gets me flamed): what the heck is “Comradde Physioproffe” doing on this blog site? Is it some kind of elaborate troll? The owner’s personal “can’t be kicked off” blog? Or is there some hidden hilarity about it that I’m completely missing?
Hemogoblin
1 September 2011 at 11:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh bugger. #30 already asked.
sadpanda
1 September 2011 at 12:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
One suggestion would be about the way blogs are shown on the front page (on top are PZ’s and Ed’s). If you keep front page listing/banners shuffled up (change it once a day?) then clicks and eyeballs get distributed over more blogs.
Zinc Avenger
1 September 2011 at 12:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
chigau (™)
1 September 2011 at 1:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Nested comments have been weighed, measured and found wanting.
Sour Tomato Sand
1 September 2011 at 1:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I got excited for a minute when you mentioned Camels With Hammers is by a CUNY Professor, but then I saw it was Hunter College. Boo! We need an atheist voice at John Jay!
Ophelia Benson
1 September 2011 at 1:35 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Will there be a coloring book?
chigau (™)
1 September 2011 at 2:03 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Here’s Pffft on North America:
link
I wonder where that leaves Hans Island?
'Tis Himself, pour encourager les autres
1 September 2011 at 3:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Canuckistan is in America? I thought it was sandwiched somewhere between Burkina Faso and Nunavut. Or is that New South Wales?
Dhorvath, OM
1 September 2011 at 4:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Ibis,
Hey, I am Canadian too, eh. It’s not that I want to refer to everyone from both Americas as being American, so much as I don’t want one nation to be American while the rest of the Americas are not. Right now, I just don’t want people from the US hogging a term which others have use for, there is enough US sentiment that runs to ‘what we say goes.’
I don’t travel to America, I travel to the State;, when I do so I don’t cross the American border, I cross the US border; while I am there I don’t buy things in America, I buy in the States; and I don’t do so with American dollars, I use US dollars. So why are the people American? Likewise, if I say someone is from South America they are from a continent, when I say someone is from the southern States they are from Georgia or Mississippi. The understanding is plain.
that guy
1 September 2011 at 4:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Tell the web guy to make a favicon for the site. My bookmark is naked without it.
Sili
1 September 2011 at 5:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I hope the server can handle it this time.
Would be such a pity to see such a large chunk of the skeptisphere taken out at once.
We might end up resorting to woo while deprived.
When are you gonna chain up Sastra in your cellar and make her blog for food?
–o–
This, boys and girls, are what we call a “non sequitur”. Repeat after me “non sequitur”.
hotspur
1 September 2011 at 5:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I think pz mentioned making money with his blog a while ago. how does he do that? just wondering.
Dhorvath, OM
1 September 2011 at 5:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, I missed that. No to nested comments, we likes our conversations large, free, and easy to read.
David Marjanović, OM
1 September 2011 at 5:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Seconded! *giddy jumping*
Worry about that later. First take power.
</Lenin>
They tried that with ScienceBlogs. Worked for a few days, and we know what their admins are like. I don’t think that’s something to really worry about.
Michael Moore had the best idea:
THE
BIG
ONE
Inquiring minds want to know!
'Tis Himself, pour encourager les autres
1 September 2011 at 5:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Pah, who needs Sastra when Ophelia and Greta Christina are already on board?
ChasCPeterson
1 September 2011 at 5:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
She was more than ‘on’ his comments, she has long served as Laden’s designated if unofficial Threadcop and also, I believe, lucidly edited his Congo series.
The confusion is understandable.
Jason Thibeault
1 September 2011 at 6:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Certainly doesn’t mean she’s responsible for editing commenter’s comments or “outing anyone”. Whatever that means.
I’ve asked her to edit some of my posts as well. She’s excellent at copyediting. And I maintain that her hanging out and beating up on trollish behaviour at Greg’s is not terribly different from frequent commenters at other folks’ sites. Greg and Stephanie are friends in meatspace, and have done a lot of work together. They are still separate entities.
Kamaka
1 September 2011 at 7:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@ lousycanuck
I stay out of this buzzy type stuff, but please,
spare me the bullshit routine.
I have no idea who might have outed who when. But you know very well what “outing” in this context means.
Jason Thibeault
1 September 2011 at 7:08 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
No bullshit routine. I know what is meant by the phrase, but I don’t know what is meant by the insinuation.
Trebuchet
1 September 2011 at 7:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Where on earth — or Earth — am I going to find the time to read all this good stuff. Except for Comradde Physioproffe, who seems to be all about his juvenile fascination with cuss words and what he had for lunch, and nothing else. Except for the New York Yankees, whom I despise for the “entitled to the pennant every year” attitude of their fans.
Re America: My late mother always had a thing about using “America” to refer to the United States. I’ve always pretty much disagreed. The USA is the only country on earth with “America” in its name. Are we supposed to call citizens of the Republic of France “Republicans”?
suckers
1 September 2011 at 9:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Ya’ll are suckers (interesting ones though).
You do know you’re creating a monoculture/single point of failure for the godless on the intarwebs, don’t you? And you know how well a monoculture ends up in real-life(tm)?
Don’t all drink the kool-aid, fight this corporate takeover and stay independent, at least a couple of you. ;)
Rev. BigDumbChimp
1 September 2011 at 9:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
This is the dumbest comment of the night.
Rev. BigDumbChimp
1 September 2011 at 9:24 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Let me introduce you to the brand spanking new idea:
Advertising.
sphex
1 September 2011 at 10:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
You know, I had been thinking that now that Greta Christina is here, I really may never have to.
As long as people are talking about items on their wishlists:
I have “liked” FTB on Facebook, and find it to be a very handy way of knowing when new articles are up. BUT: the blurbs that Facebook posts don’t tell me who WROTE the article. Since I follow some of the writers here more than others, this would be super-happy-wonderful information to…
Also, I second the thought that the FTB logo should be more fabulous to be appropriate for world-dominion. Not that I personally have the talent, but I know lots of people here do.
magistramarla
1 September 2011 at 10:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks a lot PZ and all of your fellow bloggers!
Now I’ll have an even more difficult time turning off my computer and getting some sleep. Who needs sleep anyway?
I’m glad to see so much good reading in one place.
Thanks to all of you for the good work that you do.
Samantha Vimes, Chalkboard Monitor
2 September 2011 at 2:01 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Is anyone talking to Mike the Mad Biologist about his plans for his blog?
Midnight Rambler
2 September 2011 at 4:58 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I think it’s PZ’s secret alter ego. Like “Drunken Master”, he can only remember the password to post there when he’s either completely plastered or just ate a big plate of pasta.
I still haven’t figured out the meaning of that urine martini though.
Don Quijote
2 September 2011 at 8:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
If anyone is interested, where I live (Galicia) if you use the word América or americano it is usual to assume you are talking about Latin America. Thus to be clear we use;
Estado Unidos – estadounidense
Canadá – canadiense
The female form of americano, americana can also mean a jacket. Don’t ask me why though.
Sili
2 September 2011 at 4:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I thought I’d have to say this, but Fuck you, T’is. Fuck you very much.
drbunsen le savant fou
3 September 2011 at 5:30 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
No no no no no no no no no. Also, no.
.
Irony meter pegged but holding.
.
New Holland, thankyouverymuch :P
.
Well, that was disturbing.
.
That, I could get behind :P
SC (Salty Current), OM
3 September 2011 at 4:55 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I don’t get this even as a joke. Do they satisfy the quota or something?
SC (Salty Current), OM
3 September 2011 at 5:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Names ending in ‘a’, maybe?
Bill Dauphin, avec fromage
3 September 2011 at 6:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
SC:
Me neither… but since ‘Tis is, AFAIK, One of the Good Ones™, I’ve been assuming the fault was mine.
'Tis Himself, OM
1 October 2011 at 3:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Responding a bit late, but still responding.
It was an attempt at humour.*
There’s the further point that Sastra has been asked if she would run a blog and her response, if I remember correctly, was that she didn’t have to since Ophelia and Greta already had theirs.
*”u” added so Aussie and Brits will understand the word.