Apr 06 2012

Episode CCCXV: But I am going to Salt Lake City!

Categories:

Open Thread

by PZ Myers

It’s ironic video time.

(Episode CCCXIV: Dust that comments.)

This post has no tag

584 comments

Skip to comment form ↓

501

Ing: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream So I Comment Instead

9 April 2012 at 6:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Mallorie Nasrallah

Is that Penn’s friend?
502

Caine, Cruel Monster

9 April 2012 at 6:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

CC:

But Mallorie Nasrallah is in it

She has some seriously fucked up ideas, however, that doesn’t mean her participation in the calendar is a bad thing and I’m not going to avoid doing some real world help because of her.

Each to their own on the matter, though.
503

Ogvorbis (no relation to the Ogg family)

9 April 2012 at 6:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

How stupid to they think we are???

Having done two tours of duty in sales, I can say that they hope you are stupid enough to buy something that is overpriced and that you do not need. And they get enough, even through cold calls, to make it profitable.
504

Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls

9 April 2012 at 6:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

And they get enough, even through cold calls, to make it profitable.

But I am on the “do not call” registry, and have been for years, so I shouldn’t be getting cold calls. I would have ignored it, except with the Redhead’s condition, I am inclined to answer when in doubt in case it is one of her acquaintances who might cheer her up with a call.
505

Ms. Daisy Cutter, Gynofascist in a Spiffy Hugo Boss Uniform

9 April 2012 at 6:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Beatrice:

Mum had to explain to an old neighbor that gay men really do have sex that way….

Wait. Qualify “had to.” How did this topic come up?

Richard Austin:

If you need help, Spokesgay or I could probably provide visual aids…

Thank you, I needed that laugh. Here’s one back at you: Charlie Brooker on Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram.

David M.:

To shrive someone, in old-fashioned English (he shrives, he shrove, he has shriven or he shrives, he shrived, he has shrived), is to hear his acknowledgement of his sins, to assure him of God’s forgiveness, and to give him appropriate spiritual advice. The term survives today in ordinary usage in the expression “short shrift”. To give someone short shrift is to pay very little attention to his excuses or problems. The longer expression is, “to give him short shrift and a long rope,” which formerly meant to hang a criminal with a minimum of delay.

Caine, I see that Jinx McHue mistakes any sort of biting criticism as a sign of the critic’s “unhappiness.” New Agers do that a lot; if you’re not blandly inoffensive, relatively emotionless, and squelching your intellect to achieve “inner peace,” you must be “unhappy with your life.”

Ing:

Mallorie Nasrallah
Is that Penn’s friend?

Yes.
506

Ogvorbis (no relation to the Ogg family)

9 April 2012 at 6:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

But I am on the “do not call” registry, and have been for years, so I shouldn’t be getting cold calls. I would have ignored it, except with the Redhead’s condition, I am inclined to answer when in doubt in case it is one of her acquaintances who might cheer her up with a call.

Florida has a state law that mandates that all gas stations have to have the price of the gasoline on display at a certain size. There is a gas station outside of the Orlando airport, the last one that people returning rental cars pass, at which the owner does not display the price. The gas station also charges about $3.00 over the going rate in the area. They find that the premium price, coupled with the refusal to advertise the price brings in far more money than the fine that they pay. (I am not sure if the gas station is still doing this — it has been quite a few years since I have flown in or out or Orlando)

It is possible that the company that cold-called you, in defiance of the DNC registry, figures that the fine will be smaller than the increased profits they can get by ignoring the list.

I am not saying this is happening, just that it is a possibility.
507

Ms. Daisy Cutter, Gynofascist in a Spiffy Hugo Boss Uniform

9 April 2012 at 6:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

So Ophelia linked to a Nicholas Kristof piece on nasty militant atheists, “learning to respect religion,” and Alain de Botton. The piece is about what you’d expect.

This comment caught my eye because the commenter, Connor Wood, is affiliated with something called the Institute for the Biocultural Study of Religion:

I think the profound misunderstanding of – and hostility toward – religion among the educated and scientifically literate is a major, ongoing source of the ideological rifts within American culture. It’s important to remember that religion is not about the belief in sky fairies. Religion IS culture itself, as Emile Durkheim said more than a hundred years ago. I’m happy to see atheist writers such as de Botton taking religion seriously and humbly appreciating the powerful social technologies it wields, because the more we know about how the machinery of religion drives culture (to good and ill effects), the more we’ll be able to build a common platform for discussing issues that matter. Right now, our cultural dialog is paralyzed by contempt, misunderstanding, and assumptions of superiority on all sides. A more sophisticated understanding of religion may help us to break down some of those walls.

The IBSR “develops, supports, and catalyzes research initiatives into the manifold functions of religion.” Their directors are a neuroscientist, plus two theologian-philosophers. Oh, and yeah, they’re on Patheos.

Anybody familiar with them? I’m not getting any hits for them from either SB or FTB.
508

Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls

9 April 2012 at 6:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I am not saying this is happening, just that it is a possibility.

Which is there should be a red button on every phone so that it would put the folks who own such facilities into the slammer so fast and deep, that they can’t protect their assets. Which should then be distributed to their victims prior to their paying their legal bills for the preliminary hearing….I can be evil like PZ on occasion…
509

Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, purveyor of candy and lies

9 April 2012 at 6:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Caine:

August, I think. Speaking of, there’s a very interesting “review” and comment thread about it here.

Thanks. I wonder why Amazon seems to think it’s been published already. *shrugs* I just got next day shipping for free, so I guess it’s not a big deal.

I took a quick look at the thread in your link and I’ve gotta say nah, no thanks. I’ve dealt with enough idiots today.
510

Ogvorbis (no relation to the Ogg family)

9 April 2012 at 6:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Which is there should be a red button on every phone so that it would put the folks who own such facilities into the slammer so fast and deep, that they can’t protect their assets.

But that would be commie-socialist-NAZI repression of Free Enterprise by Job Creators! Remember, they are creating Good Jobs at Good Pay and if you dare to expect them to obey the rules, you are killing the Magic Free Market!
511

kristinc, ~bitter and resigned~

9 April 2012 at 6:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Mr Kristinc worked, for a very short time years ago, doing home-visit sales for a company that were adamant they did not sell overpriced vacuum cleaners — oh no, they sold “home environmental systems”. Mr Kristinc did not make the appointments for the sales demos, he went where the department who did those calls sent him. The cold callers who made the appointments apparently were often asked “are you going to try and sell me a vacuum cleaner?” and they would respond no, no, wouldn’t dream of it, we don’t sell vacuum cleaners, we sell home environmental systems. And then Mr Kristinc would have to show up at the door a few days later. To sales demo the fucking overpriced vacuum cleaner.
512

Beatrice, anormalement indécente

9 April 2012 at 6:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ms. Daisy Cutter:

Wait. Qualify “had to.” How did this topic come up?

She said there was a newspaper article about gays that apparently mentioned or at least insinuated anal sex, so she asked mum if that is true. If it had been anyone else, both mum and I would believe her to be joking, but knowing the woman… I don’t find it all that difficult to believe that inserting tab A into slot B C never crossed her mind.
513

Ogvorbis (no relation to the Ogg family)

9 April 2012 at 6:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I lucked out with both of my sales experiences.

I sold Cutco. Which is done via appointments and the appointments come from your current sales call. I hit about 40% and, in six months, had one person get pissed off at me.

And I still have the demo knives. Good knives. Overpriced, but good.

My second tour of duty in sales was selling Isuzus during the late 1980s. Good trucks (death traps by today’s standards). I was good at it. And I hated it. Joining the Army was a step up for me.
514

The Sailor

9 April 2012 at 6:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

“Harvey and I sit in the bars… have a drink or two… play the juke box. And soon the faces of all the other people they turn toward mine and they smile. And they’re saying, “We don’t know your name, mister, but you’re a very nice fella.” Harvey and I warm ourselves in all these golden moments.”

Oh, I’m sorry, I still thought it was invisible friend week. My bad.
515

Beatrice, anormalement indécente

9 April 2012 at 7:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ever since a friend worked in phone sales (lasted less than a month), I’m much more friendly when they call. I know they have a shitty job and get all kinds of people on the phone, so I don’t have to neither waste their time (or mine) nor insult them.
And every time I hope I won’t be on that other end of the phone any time soon. Or preferably ever.
516

rorschach

9 April 2012 at 7:03 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Doctor is unlikely. I fly home tomorrow. I get one day in Morris, then I fly out to Australia.

Hey, they have socialized health care in Australia, right?

Knees lock up usually to a torn meniscus. It will need immobilisation and eventually an arthroscopy if that’s the case. For your flight, tight bandage, and elevation if possible. We can get you crutches here if needed, or organise any other medical assistance. Btw, I might take you up on the offer for Thursday afternoon and bring the kid along.
517

Ogvorbis (no relation to the Ogg family)

9 April 2012 at 7:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ever since a friend worked in phone sales (lasted less than a month), I’m much more friendly when they call. I know they have a shitty job and get all kinds of people on the phone, so I don’t have to neither waste their time (or mine) nor insult them.

I’m the same way with car salespersons. Of course, I can also spot the games. If they don’t play games, they stand a really good chance of making a sale with me. If they do start to play games, I walk. With an explanation.
518

cm's changeable moniker

9 April 2012 at 7:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Um, if the school is 4.6mi away and your kid can’t get the bus (for whatever reason) and you can’t take your kid to school, WTF are you supposed to do? Phone for taxis and charge it to the school board?

(At that age I had a bike, though. Ultimate freedom! Except for punctures.)
519

Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls

9 April 2012 at 7:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*Ahha, found the cretin (so much for totally hiding its tracks), and it plays golf at XXX country club every morning.*
*Consults with the Pullet Patrol and Lilac Berets, using Google Earth to reconnoiter*
*draws straws for only six from the Lilac Berets, all of whom volunteered*
*trebuchets the six chosen Lilac Berets to the XXX country club, hole 3, par three with a pond, sand traps, and trees for hiding*
*receives radio message the Berets are in the trees, ready for package one*
*trebuchets package one, super itching stuff to the pond, with the Lilac Berets reporting hit dead center*
*waits for morning, while the Pullet Patrol works overtime producing “processed food” and filling the trebuchet*
520

Ogvorbis (no relation to the Ogg family)

9 April 2012 at 7:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Nerd:

Two things.

First, if it is more than 4.6 miles, you may be arrested for pullet abuse.

Second, you realize there are quicker ways to do this? I mean, there are super heroes who are faster than a speeding pullet, right?
521

Sili

9 April 2012 at 7:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

She said there was a newspaper article about gays that apparently mentioned or at least insinuated anal sex, so she asked mum if that is true.

I once discovered that I may be distantly related to one of the frontrunners in fighting for gay rights in Denmark, Helmer Fogedgaard (the coiner of “homophile”). I found an interview with him from the eighties when Aids was first rearing his head, and he talked about how he’d always preferred mutual masturbation.

(Incidentally a theme I requested in a fanart commission recently.)
522

Ms. Daisy Cutter, Gynofascist in a Spiffy Hugo Boss Uniform

9 April 2012 at 7:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

What the FUCK?! “Wisconsin Equal Pay Law Repealed Because ‘Money Is More Important For Men.’” Care2.com, Daily Beast.
523

cm's changeable moniker

9 April 2012 at 7:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh, for goodness sake, Ms DC. I got out the dictionaries and all, and typed up a post, and you beat me to it at #505.

*sigh*

Well done.
524

Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls

9 April 2012 at 7:30 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

First, if it is more than 4.6 miles, you may be arrested for pullet abuse.

The cops have to convince the Lilac Berets, who scare the Seals…and the cops know that.

Second, you realize there are quicker ways to do this? I mean, there are super heroes who are faster than a speeding pullet, right?

They’re busy elsewhere. Looks like the Pullet Patrol is working on two trebuchets full…Better warn the caddies and groundskeepers…;)
525

Ms. Daisy Cutter, Gynofascist in a Spiffy Hugo Boss Uniform

9 April 2012 at 7:35 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks, CM.

On another note: JFC, shut the fuck up, you ignorant, bloviating asshole.
526

Pteryxx

9 April 2012 at 7:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

(Incidentally a theme I requested in a fanart commission recently.)

Heck, I’ll have to hint harder. And draw more. <_<
527

Sili

9 April 2012 at 7:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hmmm. Can’t find the article now, but there was a nice piece from his 85th birthday mentioning how he’d “had a nice fuck” with a 23-year-old, who’d found his number at the local busstation.
528

Ms. Daisy Cutter, Gynofascist in a Spiffy Hugo Boss Uniform

9 April 2012 at 7:43 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

From a friend’s Twitter feed: Oh, hell yeah. SFW pic.
529

The Sailor

9 April 2012 at 7:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

“We’ve entered as strangers – soon we have friends. And they come over… and they sit with us… and they drink with us… and they talk to us. They tell about the big terrible things they’ve done and the big wonderful things they’ll do. Their hopes, and their regrets, and their loves, and their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar.”
530

carlie

9 April 2012 at 7:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

A.R.- ouch. These are the cheapo ones.

David – I have to make an actual living somehow. :) These are for a general bio lab; I have to make sure there are lots of virgins so they can observe mating rituals. So just to be sure we have enough (I haven’t done this particular lab before), I’ve been separating them as they hatch every 12-15 hours since Thursday.

I think 4 1/2 miles is pretty far for a 10 year old, but definitely not jail time worthy. Honestly, what creeps me out more is the guy who stopped and picked up the kid and called CPS. From the way I read it he wasn’t an actual cop, just employed as a “security guard”. If I were the mom I might countercharge him with kidnapping.
531

Nutmeg

9 April 2012 at 7:52 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Fuck the Harper government. According to them, funding for the sciences isn’t at all important, and who cares what happens to those who are depending on that funding?

No one in my department got their NSERC renewed this year. Not a single professor.

That means that my lab has no money to run our fancy new equipment, no money to hire a tech to manage the equipment, no money for fieldwork or lab supplies, and no money for student stipends. And there will be so many people applying for alternate sources of funding that it will be impossible to get any. My supervisor looks like she didn’t sleep at all this weekend.

Guess who doesn’t have money after August? Sign me up for yet another year of living with my parents and attempting to complete a thesis without proper research funding.
532

Rey Fox

9 April 2012 at 7:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh, I’m sorry, I still thought it was invisible friend week. My bad.

Actually, it’s a whole fifty days.
533

Sili

9 April 2012 at 7:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Heck, I’ll have to hint harder. And draw more.

Portfolio? Prices?
534

Caine, Cruel Monster

9 April 2012 at 8:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is from Wisconsin. He’s compared the notion of a war on women to a war on caterpillars.

AAAAAUUUUGGGHHHH. *must not shoot people*
535

A. R

9 April 2012 at 8:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

So to the GOP larval butterflies = women?
536

Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls

9 April 2012 at 8:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

must not shoot people

Our feathered friends are interested in lesson teaching. Call the Saloon and ask for Pullets Pchartzkopf and Powell…
537

The Sailor

9 April 2012 at 8:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

He’s compared the notion of a war on women to a war on caterpillars.

What happens when they become butterflies?
++++++++++++++++++++

And then I introduce them to Harvey… and he’s bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And when they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back; but that’s envy, my dear. There’s a little bit of envy in the best of us.
538

Pteryxx

9 April 2012 at 8:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Sili: I got (kinda neglected) pages under this nym on dA and FA, and I was starting to do con commissions before RL got really bad. I’m kinda trying to dabble in requests or some such until I can find a way to get paid (can’t do PayPal without a credit card; looking at Dwolla).
539

A. R

9 April 2012 at 8:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*trebuchets the six chosen Lilac Berets to the XXX country club, hole 3, par three with a pond, sand traps, and trees for hiding*

That is one weird par three. Unless it’s really short.
540

MikeG

9 April 2012 at 8:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I saw that war on caterpillar thing a few days ago and thought it was an April fools or Onion thing then I saw the video. *headdesk*
541

carlie

9 April 2012 at 8:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The Sailor – I love that movie.
542

The Sailor

9 April 2012 at 8:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

That is one weird par three. Unless it’s really short.

Watch out for the windmill.
543

Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls

9 April 2012 at 8:35 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

That is one weird par three. Unless it’s really short.

I saw bits of the Master’s last weekend while visiting the Redhead. Used Sixteen for inspiration.
544

A. R

9 April 2012 at 8:38 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Nerd: Yup. I was wondering if you were thinking about that.
545

Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM

9 April 2012 at 9:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

She has some seriously fucked up ideas, however, that doesn’t mean her participation in the calendar is a bad thing and I’m not going to avoid doing some real world help because of her.

In theory I feel the same way, and if I had donations to give I’d certainly have a debate with myself about it (which would probably end in me donating to a comparable cause and feeling unsettled about it), but she wielded her shitty ideas directly at me personally over at Crommunist’s in a way that I found very hurtful and upsetting, so like I said – mixed feelings and stomachache. This is why it’s a good thing I don’t wield too much power :P
546

Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM

9 April 2012 at 9:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

where “I feel the same way” means “I agree that the other ideas of a person involved in a good cause should not prevent me from supporting that cause”
547

Alethea H. Claw

9 April 2012 at 9:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good morning, thread. I’m going to see Dawkins & Krauss speak tonight. (Yay!) I didn’t watch the Q&A debate last night, but I hear the Dawk was quite subpar. So I hope he’s had plenty of rest now.

On a personal note that Giliell might perhaps appreciate, here is a conversation with my mother:
Me: “The tests showed that the collapsed area in my lung is now back up to normal. And it’s finally confirmed that I really do have asthma.”
Her: “My cousin Ethel had asthma. She died young, you know. I never heard of anyone else in the family with asthma. (Insert long detailed ramble about whose granddaughter Ethel was and how Mum’s grandfather was so fond of Ethel’s grandfather and used to bail him out of trouble and how many grandkids he had and how Mum used to play with one of them all the time when she was little, but that was Gloria, not Ethel, and how disappointed she was in my father’s family and more and more and more)”

Totally typical. Would it actually kill her to say stuff like how are you, and how are you coping, and that’s too bad? Apparently it would. Argh.
548

Sili

9 April 2012 at 9:08 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Pteryxx,

Nice style, but I’m not sure how it lends itself to anime pr0n.
549

carlie

9 April 2012 at 9:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I’m sorry, Alethea. Wish I could give you a hot cup of tea and a plate of warm cookies.
550

kristinc, ~bitter and resigned~

9 April 2012 at 9:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I am sat with about 150g worth of henna mud all over my head. Not sure if I’m excited or apprehensive about being a redhead (or both).
551

Alethea H. Claw

9 April 2012 at 9:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks Carlie! The e-version is always welcome.

I’m going to have a talk with my GP about asthma management soon; as the weather is chilling down now, this will probably get quite important. Also I’m going to talk to a specialist rehab physiotherapist about an exercise program. It’s possible that I’m getting mild exercise-induced asthma, which might explain my current inability to walk and do chores without getting out of breath in no time at all. (That’s the opinion of a friend with asthma, not a doctor’s opinion. But there’s sense in it, and I will be seeing the doc soon. After GAC.)
552

Patricia, OM

9 April 2012 at 9:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Note to Nerd – The Pullet Patrol of 2010 is retiring on Friday. The latest models of ‘chicks’ arrive on Monday. All Patrol missions must be completed by Thursday night.
553

FossilFishy

9 April 2012 at 10:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I watched Dawkins on Q&A with my father in law. He’s an atheist but an apathetic one rather than an educated/active one. The impression he came away with was just how weak Pell’s arguments were. Dawkins was almost superfluous in his opinion.
554

Patricia, OM

9 April 2012 at 10:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Fossilfishy – I watched that one today too. Richard seemed really tired of arguing with idiots, and almost out of touch with the audience. It shocked me that Richard let Pell get away with calling Darwin a theist.

In a world without Hitchens I’d like to see PZ or Dan Barker take on these old frauds in dresses.
555

A. R

9 April 2012 at 10:45 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Patricia: I can sympathize with Richard in that sense. I’m from a town dominated by Jesus Camp style Baptists and fundie Catholics. For about ten years (since I was frikn ten!), I argued with idiots every day about evolution, GLBT rights, feminism, etc. It got to the point where I just couldn’t do it anymore. It’s actually the reason I’m really no good on some of the more controversial threads here (excepting creobots, those little turds will always have a special place under my heel).
556

Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM

9 April 2012 at 10:45 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

;_;
So, I was all proud of myself for finishing all the things that absolutely need to be done before tomorrow.
Turns out that not only had I forgotten one, but also, I failed to attach the pages I scanned in and meant to send to my professor. And I don’t have a scanner at home, so I can’t fix the error til tomorrow morning, which is late.
557

A. R

9 April 2012 at 11:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

For those of you who haven’t seen the Dawkins vs. Pell debate: Pell discussing the preparation of “young English boys”.
558

Patricia, OM

9 April 2012 at 11:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

A.R. – I thoroughly sympathize with Richard too, and you. I live in a town of 99% fundies, was one myself. I’m weary of their crap to some extent too, but – you saw that coming – Dawkins is one of our best known atheist leaders and heros, as such he needs to be all fangs all the time on TV.

Maybe he came across more forcefully in Aussieland or Europe, but he didn’t too me. Pell was mostly a moron, so no disappointment there.
559

A. R

9 April 2012 at 11:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Maybe he came across more forcefully in Aussieland or Europe, but he didn’t to me. Pell was mostly a moron, so no disappointment there.

Agreed. Hitch would have disemboweled him at the mere mention of Hitler or Stalin, even with jet lag. I for one would have jumped on the “Darwin was a theist” bullshit as soon as he said it, but like you said, he looked jet lagged.
560

StevoR

9 April 2012 at 11:45 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Watched Dawkins vs Pell last night – and just finished watching the midday replay and seeing it again. Reasonable veiwing with a few classic moments but not quite the fireworks I expected – & predictably none of my questions got asked. Sigh.

Mine were much better than those that did get asked I thought too. (Sulks.)

Meanwhile, in other Aussie news I’m sorry to say this :

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8449028/man-tries-to-get-full-custody-of-unborn-baby

was one of the lead stories on nine MSN online news today.
561

StevoR

9 April 2012 at 11:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

If anyone’s actually curious these :

http://freethoughtblogs.com/tokenskeptic/2012/04/09/qanda-cardinal-pell-vs-dawkins-bingo-card/#comment-44384

were my unasked questions. Q&A hardly ever seem to ask the web ones these days but there’s were so many good questions and issues that just never got asked or mentioned.

Not one question really on child sex abuse (the booing on preparing boys was apt tho) or women’s rights /women priests, Catholic homophobia was hardly touched on, papal infallibility, the paradox of the Catholic Church’es excessive wealth, its role in spreading AIDS by condemning condom use in Africa, etc ..

They should kept the debate going another hour or two, I reckon.

Good debate but could’ve been so much better – maybe, hopefully, there’ll have a round II and even round III one day?
562

Patricia, OM

10 April 2012 at 12:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

StevoR – I expected more fireworks too. Dawkins let slide the churchs crimes against humanity, murdering unbelievers, inquisition, witch trials, slavery, oppression of women, child molesting, not to mention it’s modern crimes! He’s SO polite.

It makes me wonder if he didn’t have to agree not to bring up any of these issues behind the scenes. I certainly hope he would never agree to such terms.
563

McCthulhu - resentful that McHastur is taller.

10 April 2012 at 1:06 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Nutmeg @531:

Would you mind if I quoted you anonymously in a letter to my MP? I’m sick of their shit as well. They are taking the anti-intellectual, anti-science fuckwittery to extremes and I’m going to fire off a fully-F-bombed diatribe with as many bits of evidence, even if anecdotal, as necessary.

I said a few swear words when the asshole got the majority. I have family that are still in denial about how fucking painfully backwards things are. Now I’m having to swear more and louder, and I hate being put out in that way.
564

Nutmeg

10 April 2012 at 1:14 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

McCthulhu: Go ahead. The NSERC cuts a few years ago were bad enough, and resulted in most M.Sc. students at my university being unable to get funding for more than a year, when a typical program takes between 2 and 3. Our supervisors have had to support us, and losing research funding is going to hit hard.

I know that there have to be cuts in times of economic trouble, but I don’t see why science cuts are the answer.
565

rorschach

10 April 2012 at 2:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The postie just brought me my latest batch from Amazon. Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead” graphic novel compendium, how cool !!!
566

Pteryxx

10 April 2012 at 4:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Catherynne Valente has a wonderful outraged rant, starting with Walker’s repeal of equal pay for women and going on from there:

http://www.catherynnemvalente.com/2012/04/gonna-go-back-in-time-wisconsins-legalized-sexism/

We fell through a time vortex and it’s 1959 and half of the twentieth century didn’t happen.

That is, of course, what Scott Walker and the rest of the charming gentlemen who are signing these grotesque reversions into law without mandate or recourse want. Hey, if we take away their birth control and don’t pay them for work, everything will go back to the way it was when pwecious Scotty was a kid and women will just stay at home and back cookies for everyone. Yay! No one will be gay anymore and America will drink its milk and be big and strong and we won’t have to worry about recycling and breast cancer (ew breasts!) and unwhite people and that rock n’ roll music the kids listen to. We can law it all away.

Yeah. And fuck you, too. And fuck you to everyone who told me to stop swearing about this on Twitter last night. WE SHOULD ALL BE SWEARING. We should all be laying down so much shit that fucking roses grow on Twitter. WE SHOULD CARE ABOUT THIS AT LEAST AS MUCH AS WE CARED ABOUT SOPA. Funny how I don’t see anyone shutting down portions of the Internet in protest, though. I mean, it’s only women.
567

Pteryxx

10 April 2012 at 5:31 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

‘Nother good article with references on why the ‘black best friend’ defense doesn’t hold up:

http://ideas.time.com/2012/04/09/theproblem-with-the-my-best-friend-is-black-defense/?xid=rss-topstories

Perhaps even more surprisingly, a 2011 study specifically looking at the impact of interracial friendship on white concern about local crime found that when white people have close relationships with black people, their concerns about crime actually increase. More broadly, when scholars have studied the racial beliefs, feelings and policy views of whites who have contact with blacks as friends, acquaintances or neighbors, they consistently find that the negative racial perceptions of those whites are substantially similar to the perceptions of whites who have no black friends. Friendship with black people — and even being a black person — does nothing to change racial bias. Indeed, almost one-third of black people hold similarly negative views.
568

opposablethumbs

10 April 2012 at 5:34 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Shrove is the past tense of “to shrive” – to hear somebody’s confession (and possibly give them a penance to do) and then give them absolution.

What I don’t know, though, is why it’s shrove (past tense) Tuesday rather than shriven (past participle) Tuesday ::shrugs::

(no, I am not and have never been infected with holey roman catlick disease) (it gets mentioned in the Canterbury Tales and Romeo and Juliet and suchlike)

(apparently you can also say “shrived” for the past tense.)
569

opposablethumbs

10 April 2012 at 5:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh shit, I’ve done it again – I thought I’d refreshed before posting, but obviously not. Ms Daisy Cutter is way ahead of me ::hangs head in shame::
570

Pteryxx

10 April 2012 at 5:44 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

hey, some news that actually has to do with science and woo!

Herbal remedy used to treat kidney ailments causes kidney ailments

A plant known as “birthwort,” popular in Asian and European herbal medicine for hundreds of years, causes kidney failure and cancer. Dan Vergano at USA Today digs into the fascinating medical detective work that solved this mystery: scientists compared genetic mutations in the tissue of humans and lab mice who’d been poisoned by the plant’s toxic component:

Spoiler: aristolochic acid from these plants causes pinpoint mutations in p53, similar to the characteristic damage from UV light.

From the USA Today article:

A 2004 report in the journal Toxicology reported that Chinese farmers harvest enough of the plant to dose 100 million people with the toxin yearly. As a result, Aristolochia poisoning likely “represents a long-overlooked disease and an international public health problem of considerable magnitude,” Grollman and his colleagues concluded in the recent Kidney International study.
571

Therrin

10 April 2012 at 6:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Haven’t caught up to current on the thread Caine posted this on:

Per what you were saying about the quality of trolls lately, I’m beginning to think someone has autotuned our recent crop.

Not only does this comment deserve Internets, I daresay a fine vintage ARPANET should be cracked open in its hono(u)r.
572

Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort

10 April 2012 at 6:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good morning everyone! I had an awesome time at PAX East. I played games with people – mostly board games, but I did play a demo of Mouse Guard – which is an awesome game that I totally want to start a group to play that in this area.

High notes:

The transgender issues in gaming panel was excellent, with transgendered and cisgendered panelists discussing not only transgender characters (Poison, Birdo, Bridget) but also the whole aspect of why being able to choose your gender is important in games.

Mouse Guard. Just, Mouse Guard. You play a mouse with a sword (or a dagger, or a bow, or… well you get the picture.) You’re cute and deadly! It’s so awesome. Now I have to work out a campaign and find people interested in the area who might also want to play this awesome game.

Board games remain fun. The Fantasy Flight area was mobbed with people wanting to play the long and overly complicated “Game of Thrones: the Board Game.” But besides that, there were tons of fun and quirky games, Kickstarter-type games, and overall awesomeness.

I’m definitely going back next year, and I’m plotting whether I’ll go in costume or not – I’m thinking either crossplaying Setzer Gabbiani or cosplaying Faris Scherwiz (FF6 and FF4 respectively.)
573

Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort

10 April 2012 at 6:21 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Katherine can’t form sentences correctly. Grammar – what is – grammar is something that’s important to know. *sigh*
574

Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort

10 April 2012 at 6:36 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Futurism by Muse. I dunno why it needs to be linked, but listen to this song it’s awesome. That bass line is ♥.
575

cm's changeable moniker

10 April 2012 at 6:45 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

That is one weird par three. Unless it’s really short.

I saw bits of the Master’s last weekend while visiting the Redhead. Used Sixteen for inspiration.

The trick with the 16th is to use the pond for the approach.
576

Ms. Daisy Cutter, Gynofascist in a Spiffy Hugo Boss Uniform

10 April 2012 at 6:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

StevoR, from that link:

The man, who cannot be named, had applied for an injunction from the Family Court of Australia to stop the 16-year-old girl from terminating her pregnancy and to get full custody of the child once it was born… The girl already had a nine-month-old child from a former relationship.

Awesome, so we’ve got this teenage girl who’s been victimized by at least one “hebephile” and possibly another (depending on how old the father of her first child was when she conceived it), and nobody seems to give a fuck.

Pteryxx, just out of masochism, I tried to find who was chiding Valente about her “unladylike language” on Twitter, but couldn’t. Mother of fucking christ, do I hate that bullshit. Men never get that, at least not outside of very specific circumstances (such as in front of small children).
577

PZ Myers

10 April 2012 at 7:09 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Once again, there will probably be an early portcullis. I’m closing this at 9am my time, because I’m going to be taking off early for a long, long day of travel to Australia.
578

Ogvorbis say, "Get outa my house!"

10 April 2012 at 7:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Have fun on your trip.

I hope your knee is no longer acting up.
579

Caine, Cruel Monster

10 April 2012 at 7:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Therrin:

Not only does this comment deserve Internets, I daresay a fine vintage ARPANET should be cracked open in its hono(u)r.

Aaaw, thank you.
580

Beatrice, anormalement indécente

10 April 2012 at 7:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Karen Santorum wrote a children’s book : Everyday Graces: Child’s Book Of Good Manners. It was published in 2003, so maybe it’s no news to you all.

Foreword by Joe Paterno. Joe Paterno. A book on manners. For children. I guess none of the instructions was “Tell the police if you know someone is molesting children.”
Review here.

(via joemygod)
581

Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort

10 April 2012 at 7:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Due to a weird Amazon e-mail, my colleague expressed her interest in learning to knit. She’s left-handed, though, and all the instructions she’s found are right-hand-oriented. Any advice for a left-handed knitter?
582

PZ Myers

10 April 2012 at 7:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Knee is good now — it was a brief and quirky thing. I’m bringing a knee brace with me, just in case.
583

Louis

10 April 2012 at 8:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good news on the knee, PZ.

Enjoy Australia. I’ve heard good things about the pie floaters and Carlton Cold.

Louis
584

PZ Myers

10 April 2012 at 9:07 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

NEW THREAD!