Comments

  1. says

    Beatrice:

    “19 kids and counting” is listed among her favorites on facebook

    Auuughghghgh. I was running under the assumption that Phil was male, given the blind privilege attitude and the umbrage over ‘cupcake’.

  2. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    I’m not sure about the gender, really. The picture on fb is of a female looking doll, but as Audley says, who knows.

  3. Esteleth, Who is Totally Not a Dog or Ferret says

    Allo allo

    Hopelessly thread bankrupt.

    Fighting back a wave of rage and bile.

    Firstly, it seems that the name of my employer wound up on a list sponsored by ELF or PETA-types.
    So: extra security, mandatory briefings, etc etc.

    Fuckers.

    Secondly, I went to work this morning and there were people standing outside waving signs and screaming about “Life.”

    FUCKERS.

    On the plus side, it was raining sideways.

  4. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    Secondly, I went to work this morning and there were people standing outside waving signs and screaming about “Life.”

    Fuuuuuck.
    I’m sorry. :(

  5. Ichthyic says

    Heyo, was just over on the “clit thread” and was wondering if there is general interest in this thread in discussing anatomy and sexual positions and “g-spot” stimulation?

    Is that too over the top for the regulars here?

    I’ve got a meeting I need to get to, but would happily jump in with personal experiences when I get back.

    I figured I’d just toss this out there in case there was interest. Uh, call it a “warm up” post…

    :)

  6. carlie says

    Since Bill brought it back up, re-reading it made me thing of another angle re: masturbation and jealous partners – it’s a horrible, somewhat abusive type of control, if you carry that to the logical conclusion. What that “jealous” person is saying is “You don’t get to have an orgasm unless you have it with me, which means you have it on my timetable, not yours”. And they’re hiding that control under the guise of “It hurts my feeeeeelings when you get off without me”. It’s a really sleazy and awful and controlling thing to do to a person.

  7. says

    Carlie:

    it’s a horrible, somewhat abusive type of control

    It’s all about control, alright. Manipulative control, most often driven by fear. A lot of people see a partner masturbating as a move away from them or a move toward independence.

  8. A. R says

    Esteleth: Not fun. Hope your crazy people problem goes away soon. (BTW, if you can say without revealing anything you don’t want to, what work does your employer do?)

  9. Esteleth, Who is Totally Not a Dog or Ferret says

    Ah, A.R., that is the cherry on the shit sundae.

    I work for a major-city hospital. It does hospital-stuff.

  10. A. R says

    Esteleth: The fuckers are mobbing a hospital? That’s a new strategy to me. And to think that I was whining last night about one of my -20s taking a shit. Sympathies and tea ready to go through the USB.

  11. carlie says

    Why do I write questions that I then hate grading? Why haven’t I learned not to do this by now?

  12. Esteleth, Who is Totally Not a Dog or Ferret says

    Well, if you like poetic justice, A.R., think on this:
    1) Raining sideways
    and
    2) There are consequences to blocking the ambulance driveway to an ER.

  13. carlie says

    Eesteleth – surely they couldn’t have gotten a permit to protest near the ambulance entrance? Trespassing fines seem to be called for.

  14. Esteleth, Who is Totally Not a Dog or Ferret says

    They didn’t have a permit! They just decided to. Oh, and block the ambulance entrance.

    Security had fun with them.

  15. carlie says

    I hope everyone watching the scene also enjoyed it. :)

    If I had a dollar for every time a student restated the question rather than answering it, I could buy a lot of stuff. Why do people do this? Why are people not taught how to read for comprehension? This happens every semester, with a huge percentage of students.

  16. says

    Birgerjohanssen:

    As mentioned before, Down Under has ANZAC day. I hope the association with Gallipoli functions as an antidote to militarism.

    You would hope so, and I think it does, but not to the extent that you might wish. You do get a lot of stupid and uneducated people conflating it with WW2, or more modern conflicts, and saying stupid shit about “defending FREEDOM!!!”

  17. Nutmeg says

    Does anyone know if StarStuff is okay? It occurred to me that I haven’t seen her around for a little while. I hope she’s just busy with exams.

  18. John Morales says

    Esteleth, hm.

    Literary usage and philosophical analysis:

    he Book of Proverbs mentions an emotion similar to that now described by the word schadenfreude: “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” (Proverbs 24:17–18, King James Version).

    (Hey, just shooting the shit!)

  19. Esteleth, Who is Totally Not a Dog or Ferret says

    I’m just going to point out the irony of quoting the Bible in response to a discussion of anti-choicers discovering that the rules, in fact, are not written by them.

  20. Part-Time Insomniac, Zombie Porcupine Nox Arcana Fan says

    Jumping around:

    Wow, Runescape really cherried out their town layouts and decorations since I left. And they offer emotes you can buy with loyalty points. Just saw all this in a vid on YT. I’m afraid nothing they can do would make me leave DDO, though.
    ——————————————

    Did someone say curry? Where?
    -=—————————————

    Pteryxx: I’m shocked that you got booted for not guzzling the booze. Sheeit, that’s just piss-poor behavior on their part. And then threats of being fired? I think it’s time to look for another job in a place where not getting pumped to the gills doesn’t count as grounds for firing.
    ——————————————

    Men who can’t stand the thought of women masturbating: Neh. NEH, I say. Stick a power drill in your ass and turn it on full power.
    ——————————————

    Audley: Who in their right mind dares mix Bud Light – which tastes like naught but carbonated piss to me – with tequila? TEQUILA, everyone! My heart weeps at the thought of so much wasted and ruined liquor.
    ——————————————

    Robert Pattinson has just won a few respect points from me. Turns out he loathes the circus that is the Twilight franchise and all the batshit fans it’s attracted. Who knew just one bid to make good on acting before quitting would lead to this? I want to hug, him, buy him a drink of his choice, and try to take his mind off the warped reality of his life for a while.

  21. John Morales says

    PS BTW, I know real people who are not stupid and who subscribe to the superstition of ‘jinxing’. Seriously.

  22. says

    PTI:

    Who in their right mind dares mix Bud Light – which tastes like naught but carbonated piss to me – with tequila? TEQUILA, everyone! My heart weeps at the thought of so much wasted and ruined liquor.

    I know, right?

    I would also say it’s a travesty to do that to beer, but let’s face it: Bud Light Lime is about as far away from beer as you can get while still containing alcohol.

    Nutmeg:

    Does anyone know if StarStuff is okay?

    I don’t know, but it doesn’t look like she’s updated her blog in a while, either. :-/

  23. Esteleth, Who is Totally Not a Dog or Ferret says

    Tequila is bad news.

    I went to a bar the other day and asked for something fruity with vodka. I got something blue that tasted like pineapple. It was amazing. It was called something Hawai’ian. I have no fucking clue what it was, and I want to know so that I can order another one!

  24. says

    Robert Pattinson has just won a few respect points from me. Turns out he loathes the circus that is the Twilight franchise and all the batshit fans it’s attracted. Who knew just one bid to make good on acting before quitting would lead to this? I want to hug, him, buy him a drink of his choice, and try to take his mind off the warped reality of his life for a while.

    He’s also allergic to vagina

  25. A. R says

    I’m very tempted to go on a wall of text rant about prom formalwear right now. I’ve always thought that if you’re going to wear an Edwardian outfit, you may as well at least try to do it right. OK, I’ll stop. /sartorial pedancy

  26. evader says

    Sorry to say but the accent on the female presenter makes me want to hurt myself.

    Anyone else get nausea from the TV/ presenter’s accent? As in actual physical illness? Or am I alone.

    I thought the Seinfeld episode where they mention a man fainting from hearing Mary Heart’s voice was over the top, but now I feel the same thing from this ghoul (she looks ghoulish, unhealthy, not human).

  27. A. R says

    Sally: OOOH! Nice one. It’s almost Inception-like! :)
    Not sure why I didn’t catch that.

  28. Ichthyic says

    protesters blocking ambulance bay…

    I do believe that’s actually a jailable offense in many states?

    It reminds me of something that happened to me when I was a grad student:

    I had a set of behavioral aquariums set up at the Cal Academy of Sciences in SF, and would have to travel from Berkeley to SF 3 times a week to collect data and make adjustments.

    One day, a large group of animal rights protesters (evidently there was an annual march on Berkeley that had started a few years before I got there), decided to block the entry/exit to the parking garage for the lifesciences building. I was stuck there for 3 hours, waiting for their “demonstration” to move on, and it screwed up an entire experiment I had been working on for a month.

    The next year, when I saw these guys parading around Berkeley, I told them I knew where they did all the “secret” animal experiments, and directed them to the old lifesci building (now completely guted; but with a fence around it), and they marched around an empty fucking building for 5 hours.

    Many Hi-Fives did I receive in the zoo dept. that day.

  29. Nutmeg says

    Ichthyic:

    and they marched around an empty fucking building for 5 hours

    For that story, you are entitled to the baking of your choice from Nutmeg’s Virtual Kitchen(TM). Today’s selections include peanut butter brownies, lemon coconut slice, and animal rights activist gingerbread people.

  30. Ichthyic says

    I’ll take a brownie, and can you pop one of the gingerbread people into a blender for me?

    :)

  31. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Robert Pattinson has just won a few respect points from me. Turns out he loathes the circus that is the Twilight franchise and all the batshit fans it’s attracted. Who knew just one bid to make good on acting before quitting would lead to this? I want to hug, him, buy him a drink of his choice, and try to take his mind off the warped reality of his life for a while.

    Um, of course he’s gonna hate twilight. It has vampires in it. Clearly it promotes demon worship, vampirism, and leads us astray from teh one true path of christ.

    I don’t get it, is hating twilight supposed to redeem the man?

  32. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Oh, fuck. Derped on my last comment, for some reason I thought Robert Pattinson was one of those stupid TV preacher-men.

    Disregard that.

  33. says

    Well, derp! I should’a known (and would’a, if I’d been clever enough to read the other thread before posting) that the thread in question was all about the very same story (albeit a different article about it) that I linked! <Litella>Never mind!</Litella>

  34. Ichthyic says

    Seems like mostly handwaving

    yup.

    I never thought “g-spot” was anything magical or even “separate”. My partners have always told me they have specific sensitive spots, and how to stimulate them, and most have a sensitive spot on the roof of the vagina, maybe a couple inches back from the entrance.

    I’ve learned it’s quite possible to perform intercourse in easy to manage positions that will stimulate that spot.

    *shrug*

    Is that too baudy of a discussion topic for Pharyngula? Maybe I’ve lived here in Hobbiton too long already.

  35. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Sally: I heard Robert Pattinson once walked past an old lady and didn’t punch her in the face.

  36. says

    Ichthyic:

    Is that too baudy of a discussion topic for Pharyngula?

    Oh, please. I simply don’t think there’s all that much to discuss and there’s already a thread for it. Exactly what is it you’re after?

  37. chigau (Twoic) says

    Markita Lynda

    .. Japanese-Canadians won’t gather into identifiable neighbourhoods …

    but They™ sure will gather into Cultural Centres.

  38. says

    Good morning

    re: partner masturbation

    What that “jealous” person is saying is “You don’t get to have an orgasm unless you have it with me, which means you have it on my timetable, not yours”.

    Since I can sadly speak from experience, it was not so much jealousy but a feeling of inadequacy.
    TMI to follow
    Combine the idiot notion that once people have a partner they should get their sexual satisfaction from them, the fact that the pill reduced my sex drive to almost zero (I was constantly wondering what people found about sex. To me it was like an old James Bond movie: sure, it’s nice, but nothing to miss bedtime for) and not knowing that I really need some lube for my clit so it made stimulation there uncomfortable.
    So him masturbating was to me another piece of evidence that there was something wrong with me, that I was not good enough, that a real good woman satisfies her man perfectly and so on.
    In short, I’m glad I’m over that.

  39. theophontes 777 says

    Phil Bryant: Liberals’ ‘One Mission in Life is to Abort Children’ (Link)

    It never stops. What is wrong with these people? And as the elections approach, I imagine things will become more and more reactionary.

    Just for the record: I know this is only hypothetical but, if circumstances had called for it, I would happily accept that my mother aborted me. I say this as a pretty damn happy, well adjusted person. I care for my life, but don’t hold it in such high regard that I think I am somehow special and worth the causing of suffering of others (had that been the case). Existence, non-existence… meh. No regrets either way.

  40. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    bah, Sasquatch stout was such a disappointment. Weak head. Flat taste.

    The waterloo stout and irish ale were vastly superior.

  41. jonmilne says

    Cross posted from the thread about the documentary where that Don guy got interviewed by Colbert.

    Hi, my name is Jon. I’ve been an atheist for a number of years, and reading Pharyngula, as well as Greta, The Atheist Experience (and watching it too) were stuff that helped influence me from being a Christian. I live in the UK, which means I’m more free of religious insanity than US folk, although we’ve still had our fair share, especially with all the whining that happened after the current Archbishop of Canterbury decided to quit.

    Anyhow, on a semi-related note, I love the website Expelled Exposed and how it ripped apart Ben Stein’s horrible doc Expelled. Going by memory alone, wasn’t this Don guy also subject to criticism from Expelled Exposed? Also, did anyone ever get around to doing a debunking of this article? http://atheismisdead.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/expelled-exposed-exposed.html If such an article of rebuttal exists, please link me to it, otherwise can someone please tackle this?

    Keep up the good work!

    Jon

  42. theophontes 777 says

    @ jonmilne

    [expelled-exposed-exposed.html]
    If such an article of rebuttal exists, please link me to it,

    expelled-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed ….html

    I could go on, but you see the problem already. They want to keep it spinning to hide the fact that there is no viable way to prove ID. Do they even have an ID hypothesis? They are trying to create contention where none exists.

    otherwise can someone please tackle this?

    No. Why feed it? Next we’ll be starting “contentious” debates with flat-earthers. It all becomes rather undignified.

  43. carlie says

    When I dream, it’s almost always a random mashup of all sorts of bizarre scenes, unrelated to each other and composed of people I’ve known at various times all mixed together and in places I may or may not have ever been, with really weird things going on. I’ve never had trouble believing that dreams are the way your brain processes everything it takes in during the day, because mine are generally just big dumps of info, like everything I saw all day got thrown into a box and taken out at random during an improv skit. Very often it’s stuff that’s happened that day or very recently, because I’m impressionable that way (which is why I refuse to watch most horror movies). So anyway, last night in the middle of my dream, my grandfather (who died 14 years ago) showed up, and he taught me a bunch of dances I didn’t know. The only time I’ve seen dancing lately (and my grandfather didn’t dance!) was in the discussion here the last few days. I couldn’t think of a good way to describe dancing and why it’s fun then, but in the dream, learning the steps was effortless (of course), so the joy was intellectual in mastering what was being taught, and social in showing that off by moving in sync and being able to keep up, and emotional in spending time with someone I loved and feeling proud that I could do what he was teaching and getting approval for doing it well. So I know it was a discussion that didn’t go well and had some argument, but thank you for bringing it up, because it let me dance with my grandpa.

  44. carlie says

    So him masturbating was to me another piece of evidence that there was something wrong with me, that I was not good enough, that a real good woman satisfies her man perfectly and so on.
    In short, I’m glad I’m over that.

    Well, that’s another thing altogether, and I’m really sorry I didn’t think about that possibility before I went on my rant. That’s definitely an understandable explanation for feeling that way.

  45. Louis says

    Threadrupt. But good morning to y’all any how.

    I just read this from the Daily Mash (a UK satire site) and laughed and laughed and laughed…

    …until I realised this satire is actually pretty goddamn real. Then for some reason I stopped laughing. Why, it’s almost like the Catholic attempts to institutionalise homophobia beyond their own doors is a bad thing…

    Louis

  46. says

    Ugh, do I hate Wendell Berry. Anti-choice, anti-birth control, anti-women working outside the home, anti-childfreedom. A Luddite. His work is shot through with the implication that unless you’re living on “the land,” i.e. in Buttfuck East, your life is somehow “less than.” And, of course, he’s a fundie xtian.

    Seriously, I’m tired of the privileged stupidity from prominent foodies. Michael Pollan, with his crap about how we need “moms” cooking, is even worse than Mark Bittman.

    Will catch up with rest of thread later.

  47. theophontes 777 says

    {theophontes reads linky to Wendell Berry, yawns. Reads linky’s linky to Wendell quotes:}

    Wendell = vapid strawmanning

    {reaches paw out through USB port, touches Kitty’s hair}

    Kewl!

  48. Catnip, Misogynist Troglodyte called Bruce says

    Also been threadrupt. Must be something in the ether Woooo!

    TLC

    You know, it does sound familiar. Hard to remember, except that I probably had one, two, many to remember properly.

    (just found your next post at 58). Doesn’t sound the same. The one I had had a decent head on it. Might have been told about the sasquatch.

    Bud Light Lime is about as far away from beer as you can get while still containing alcohol.

    Like making love in a canoe?

    Blocking ambulance access?

    *headdesk*

    Damn! that’s twice now I’ve done that with no desk in sight! Not nearly so satisfying.

    Glad (if) they got their comeuppance.

    @Ichthyic.

    Nice one! With the derelict building. I like.

    Giliell @ 56. Know what you mean. the pill does that. I was on the other end of a similar relationship.

    Carlie;

    ….so the joy was intellectual in mastering what was being taught, and social in showing that off by moving in sync and being able to keep up, and emotional in spending time with someone I loved and feeling proud that I could do ….

    This describes well the pleasure I get from dancing.

  49. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    WOOHOOO!

    Went on BP meds 2 weeks ago (141/105).

    Went in this morning and got my BP checked (after having a diet soda with caffeine (D’oh!)) and I am at 110/82!

    Woohoo!

    And, oddly, in the last two weeks, I have lost 5 pounds.

  50. echidna says

    Esteleth, I think the cocktail you are after is a Blue Hawaiian.
    Blue Hawaiian cocktail recipe:
    Ingredients
    2 Parts Vodka
    2 Parts Blue Curacao
    1 Part Coconut Syrup
    Pineapple Juice
    1 Whole Maraschino Berry

    Fill glass with ice, add first three ingredients, fill with pineapple juice, top with cherry.

  51. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    jonmilne I believe that was written, at least in part if not in whole by Casey Luskin.

    The rebuttal to that is this:

    Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

  52. says

    Ah, I must mention a small triumph in my war on pink princesses.
    We’re going to visit some friends on Sunday and I thought I’d whip up something for their little daughter.
    I decided against anything pink and princessy, which is not a triumph as such, and went for a little bag with a cute lion.
    The little one, who hasn’t been to kindergarten brainwashing yet wanted that lion too, so I took a blank shirt and made her one.
    And when #1 saw that, she wanted one, too!
    She actually asked for something that is not pink, glittery and princessy!
    Yay, the rainbow is coming back!

  53. says

    Morning, Horde.

    Pretty hair, Katherine! :)

    I am only signing on to complain that I wish I had been born with a time machine, could have gone forward in time as a child and learned computer literacy and keyboarding – and then would have been satisfied to stumble back through my ordinary life with at least those skills!

    Last night I lost a whole day’s work with one click.

    Fuck fuck fuck

  54. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    And, oddly, in the last two weeks, I have lost 5 pounds.

    You might be on a diuretic. I so, that is water weight.

  55. says

    Augh, bacon. Why do you smell so good? I won’t even eat you and now I’m hungry.

    Bacon and popcorn should be banned from offices. That smell just goes around and it’s like “who’s got the bacon/popcorn? where is it? will they share?!”

  56. says

    And if you wanna see the lion, I put up a ton of picks on my crafts blog

    Giliell, I cannot see your pictures. The most recent post I can see after refreshing seems to be January 24 (and I wish I could read German! ;-) )

  57. says

    Oh, now I can see them! (operator failure again, no doubt – seems to be a thing right now)

    OH squeeeeeeeeee adorable little girls! Love the viking picture! And yes, that lion is really cute. I love the light cloudy mane! :D

  58. says

    Audley, #437:

    Oh, maybe you were talking about feeling like there’s fishes inside you, David?

    All I can think of is… candirú.

    /shudders

    Mattir, #438: Thanks for the advice and information. I appreciate the offer of booties, but since it’s almost May here I think I’m good. I’m disappointed that I will more likely get a cast than a boot, even if the cast is cheaper. I don’t look forward to trying to drive with it on.

    Esteleth, #533:

    Tequila is bad news.

    One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.

    Hi, Jon. Any relation to A.J. Milne?

    Yay, Og!!

    The Sailor, I note that the author of that article on dragons is at St. George’s Hospital Medical School in London.

  59. Richard Austin says

    birgerjohansson:

    Are the modern anti-nausea medicines too expensive for use for pregnancies? Or do they require intravenous injection, making them too troublesome for use outside hospitals?

    My boss is on Zofran for morning sickness. Well, for her, it’s more like “it’s been four months and I’m still vomiting every 30 minutes” sickness. She apparently had the same problem with her first pregnancy, and she’s also 38 and therefore “high risk”, so they’re not taking chances. I’m not sure of the expense; I know it’s one of the drugs we give our chemotherapy patients, so I doubt it’s ultra-cheap.

    Ogvorbis:

    WOOHOOO!

    Went on BP meds 2 weeks ago (141/105).

    Went in this morning and got my BP checked (after having a diet soda with caffeine (D’oh!)) and I am at 110/82!

    Woohoo!

    And, oddly, in the last two weeks, I have lost 5 pounds.

    I’ll throw your kermit arms right back at you and YEEAAAHH!

    My BP yesterday (went to the doc as I’ve been feeling dizzy lately) was 123/78, which I told the nurse before she put the cuff on me. I was also guessed within 0.1 lbs of my weight. When she then asked me my height and I said, “6’2, approximately” she laughed and said, “Believe me, I trust you.”

  60. Richard Austin says

    Uhm, I know we’ve got some internationals here.

    If you’re using an Arcadyan brand router for your network, you may want to read up on this(original in German).

    /. summary since the translation’s not great:

    A recently reported flaw that allowed an attacker to drastically reduce the number of attempts needed to guess the WPS PIN of a wireless router isn’t necessary for some Arcadyan based routers anymore. According to German computer publisher Heise, some 100,000 routers of type Speedport W921V, W504V and W723V are affected in Germany alone. (Google translation, original here.) What makes things worse is the fact that in order to exploit the backdoor, no button has to be pushed on the device itself and on some of the affected routers, the backdoor PIN (“12345670”) is still working even after WPS has been disabled by the user. The only currently known remedy for those models is to disable Wi-Fi altogether. Since all Arcadyan routers share the same software platform, more models might be affected.

  61. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Ms. Daisy Cutter, at least one of those tweets was using the Detroit Red Wings logo. Also, I doubt that the rest of those idiots were Boston Bruin fans; just fools who were upset that someone who they think should not be playing hockey happened to be in the right place at the right time.

  62. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Augh, bacon. Why do you smell so good? I won’t even eat you and now I’m hungry.

    Bacon and popcorn should be banned from offices. That smell just goes around and it’s like “who’s got the bacon/popcorn? where is it? will they share?!”

    I received a box of Benton’s bacon yesterday. Brought it in the house and the house smelled like the most awesomest smoked baconny baconess ever all yesterday.

    And I do have a recipe for bacon popcorn….

  63. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Lance Armstrong. Ha! Proof that just being an atheist does not make one a better person.

    And Jodie Foster. As much as I respect her, her public advocacy for Mel Gibson wipes away the public good she has done.

  64. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    If his supporters really ‘love’ Mel they’d push him to get help for his obvious issues.

    I read this as “Push him into traffic”

  65. chigau (Twoic) says

    Sometimes while quick skimming a thread, I misread several lines at the same time.
    This reading caused me to see “intravenous bacon popcorn”.

  66. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    intravenous bacon popcorn

    Talk about defeating the purpose of bacon popcorn.

  67. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Ms. Daisy Cutter, I have no doubt that most of those assholes are Bruin fans. But this is also the perfect occasion for racist hockey fans to join in the hatred pile up. Never mind that that black and mixed raced players have been part of hockey for decades now. (Hello, Grant Fuhr. Part of arguably the best team in NHL history.) (And as a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks, I wish that Dustin Byfuglien was still on the team.)

  68. says

    In a list of celebrity unbelievers, I guess there will always be a few inducing cringes. And you probably can hear this coming, but anyway:

    Garofalo. What can ya do. What little I heard from her prior to the whole ‘de-toxification’ silliness, I actually quite liked. But man, I really can’t let this thing pass without mentioning it.

    So I guess the day she stands up and says, ‘Okay, I get that the whole thing was complete fucking quackery, and worked out as promotional/recruiting stunt for some of the sleaziest people on the planet’, I might take her off my shit list.

    (/But hey… They showed the press towels with purple stains. Can’t get more sciency than that, I guess.)

  69. jonmilne says

    theophontes777:

    expelled-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed-exposed ….html

    I could go on, but you see the problem already. They want to keep it spinning to hide the fact that there is no viable way to prove ID. Do they even have an ID hypothesis? They are trying to create contention where none exists.

    Oh, I’m all too aware they can’t prove ID. I ought to have been clearer, I was referring more to the “persecution” stories and the seeming “links to Hitler” than to any supposed “evidence” that can prove ID.

    No. Why feed it? Next we’ll be starting “contentious” debates with flat-earthers. It all becomes rather undignified.

    Again, this is logic that I agree with, but I guess one of the things I’ve always been big about as an atheist when debating with theists is that I address all their points, no matter how dumb or retarded they are. Short rebuttals can be effective too, but are more prone to tedious “OMG you claim to be approaching the debate honestly and yet you’re not addressing the entirety of what I say” whining, so despite the length it takes, I generally engage in longer rebuttals more often than shorter ones.

    It also comes from personal experience I guess. As a former Christian (who was on the verge of looking to take on higher duties in my Church before I decided to do my research and do justice to my faith so that I could in theory defend it if my research had yielded an overall positive incentive to remain being religious – it didn’t) I found ultimately that longer, more detailed rebuttals hit home and actually registered to me far better than shorter rebuttals, but that could just be me.

  70. jonmilne says

    Oh, and Rev. BigDumbChimp, I’m unfamiliar with who exactly Casey Luskin is. While I’m all too willing to search FTB as well as Google that person, could you perhaps start me off with some basics, like what sort of stupidity they’ve come out with and any appearances by them personally on Pharyngula/elsewhere?

  71. consciousness razor says

    The theology of tone-trolling:

    That means it is far more than a failure of “tone” when we marginalize or malign those with whom we disagree. The solution is not just “nicer” words, but a transformed perspective, one that sees all human beings, including “opponents,” through the eyes of our proponent, Jesus.

    Bless their hearts,* they think this is the solution!

    Hmmm, it does sort of explain why our existence is so offensive to some religionists: we’re maligning and marginalizing them by not putting on our Jesus-goggles. I’m not quite sure how we’re supposed to get into their god’s head when he’s inside theirs, but it’s worth a shot, right?

    *Translation: Fuck them.

  72. says

    Don’t you love it when, after three solid weeks of cold rain, the weather forcast promises that the rains stops everywhere and temperatures rise except followed by where you live?
    So, apparently we’ll have to wait for the last rainfront to stop until the next one arrives…

    Katherine
    I’m actually trying to teach her that all colors are beautiful colours and that no colour, outfit or toy she chooses can threaten her girlhood.
    Doesn’t mean she has to be a girl, but to see how her world gets so narrowed down because of the things “girls do and like” is horrible.
    Purple is nice but it’s also kind of “pink light”. Purple and lilac are what the girls nowadays wear when they feel daring and are experimenting.
    It was so disheartening to see this change occur once she started kindergarten and she definetly becomes “more girly” when she goes to kindergarten, but she seems to re-discover other colours and activities.

  73. says

    @Giliell, I know just what you mean about purple being merely pink-lite.

    Although it’s funny to think back on my reaction to “girls do/like this” since it was “well, fuck being a girl then, I’ll play with bugs and never ever wear pink, lace or dresses.” In my case, it was closer to some internalized sexism that condemned “girly” things, though.

    A neighbor friend found out she’s having a boy and rather than give her pale blues or sports shit, I picked a super cute material that’s full of brightly colored lizards that any kid would like to make a blanket. (Hell, I like the fabric now.)

  74. cicely. Just cicely. says

    *hug* for Esteleth.

    Many Hi-Fives did I receive in the zoo dept. that day.

    And here’s another one: *high five*

    Hi, jonmilne; welcome in!

    Went in this morning and got my BP checked (after having a diet soda with caffeine (D’oh!)) and I am at 110/82!

    *high five*

    Giliell, kyoot lion is, indeed, kyoot.

    You need to teach your #1 that purple is clearly a better color than pink :D

    ‘Cause it totally is!

    Afternoon, nifty. Sorry about your errant day’s work.

    The pyrophysiology and sexuality of dragons.

    :D

    Purple and lilac are what the girls nowadays wear when they feel daring and are experimenting.

    I know that I don’t qualify as a “girl” any more, but nowadays I wear purple (which I wouldn’t do in my younger, “girl” days), and anyone who has a problem with the way it makes my skin look bright yellow can go fuck themselves. I like purple.

    Nonono, not strong enough. I love purple. Purple is hands-down my favorite color; it draws my eye every time.

    And one day, I gonna dye my hair purple, just wait and see if I don’t!

  75. Jules says

    Robert Pattinson has just won a few respect points from me.

    I had a very vivid sex dream the other night that involved fingering Robert Pattinson’s asshole in a bathroom outside of a Twilight premiere. No, I’m not a fan of the series, nor do I find him particularly attractive.
    I blame the discussion on Man Boobz and the subsequent linky (provided by Rutee) to the hi-larious blog dealing with the series. My own twisted subconscious is blameless, here.

    Is that too baudy of a discussion topic for Pharyngula? Maybe I’ve lived here in Hobbiton too long already.

    Um. *glances at top of own post*

    And if you wanna see the lion, I put up a ton of picks on my crafts blog

    Too effing cute.

    bacon flavored popcorn

    ♥ Bacon popcorn is the only popcorn I make.

    Post racist society, my fucking ass.

    I hate the world.

    In Adorable Toddler News™, we’ve started a new game called Do People Make… So far, people do not make trees, but they do make dogs and cats. In fact, over the last week or so, I’ve discovered that houses are self-creating, but farm animals are a human fabrication, and fish and bugs appear to be of Nature itself and free from the guiding force of humankind.

    She definitely knows that people do not make plants, but she’s far more confused about animals.

    She gets everything (except houses) that people actually do make correct.

  76. Nutmeg says

    I love purple, and it looks good on me. When I was a kid/young teen, you couldn’t wear purple without getting a bunch of homophobic teasing. I don’t think I wore purple at all between 8-15.

    Now I wear it at every opportunity. I’m wearing purple right now, in fact.

    Now I’ve written “purple” too many times in one post, and I’m distracted by what a weird word it is.

    Back to work!

  77. says

    slignot
    Loooooove that fabric.
    And yeah, it’s amazing how everybody seems to think that a pink/blue onesie is a totally original gift.

    cicely
    Actually, purple is one of my favourite colours, too.
    I even like bright raspberry pink.
    I just hate the colour coding.
    Fuck them, all colours are for all kids. And adults.
    Some colours hardly seem to exist anymore since they are not clearly boy or girl. Bright green (dark green is for boys, they’re not allowed to wear bright colours) or yellow seem to vanish.

    Geez, it’s only been parenting girls for four years now and I’m already tired to all that swimming upstream.

  78. Sandiseattle says

    Okay, gotta make a book reccomend here.
    Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
    and
    Spook- same author.

    Seriously, she’s my new fave nonfiction writer.

  79. Just_A_Lurker says

    consciousness razor

    The theology of tone-trolling:

    That means it is far more than a failure of “tone” when we marginalize or malign those with whom we disagree. The solution is not just “nicer” words, but a transformed perspective, one that sees all human beings, including “opponents,” through the eyes of our proponent, Jesus.

    Bless their hearts,* they think this is the solution!

    I hate tone trolling. To me it either scream fucking privledge because they can afford to be nice or it benfits them, or they’ve been brain washed into believing this be invisible and quiet will get you rewarded with rights for being a good little athiest/woman etc etc.

    Gah.
    They don’t want you to exist or raise your voice to fight so why are you doing that? Why are putting down people trying to fight back? Bleh.

    ——
    slignot

    @Giliell, I know just what you mean about purple being merely pink-lite.

    Although it’s funny to think back on my reaction to “girls do/like this” since it was “well, fuck being a girl then, I’ll play with bugs and never ever wear pink, lace or dresses.” In my case, it was closer to some internalized sexism that condemned “girly” things, though.

    Ditto for the internalize sexism about condemned girly things. It makes raising my daughter all the more difficult to find a balance.

    ———————–

    Robert Pattinson has just won a few respect points from me.

    He’s also a brony. But I don’t think he’s that great, and he’s one of the reasons I didn’t watch the move “Water for Elephants”. The main reason is I don’t watch movies from books, I prefer the books hands down. If he wasn’t in it, I might have given it a shot. I just hate Twilight so much, especially being in the age range of women that went crazy for it. Down right annoying. It may not be fair to him but the bias against him is there for me. I’ve known that about him for awhile and it’s conflicting for me due to “love and tolerate”.
    I love saying “I’m going to love and tolerate the shit out of you”. XD

  80. ibyea says

    @Just a lurker
    The phrase “Tolerating the shit out of you” sounds like an oxymoron, if you ask me. At least it sounds funny. ^_^

  81. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Oh, and Rev. BigDumbChimp, I’m unfamiliar with who exactly Casey Luskin is. While I’m all too willing to search FTB as well as Google that person, could you perhaps start me off with some basics, like what sort of stupidity they’ve come out with and any appearances by them personally on Pharyngula/elsewhere?

    oh boy.

    Casey Luskin is the designated attack mouse of the ID “movement”, if you can call it that. He’s a lawyer and worked for the Srcipts Institute at one point, who has an incredibly inflated sense of “knowing what the fuck he’s talking about”. Translation, he’s a boob who shills for the Disco Tute and provides near constant evidence that his grasp of scientific concepts is 100% polluted by his religion.

    That and he’s a prolific liar and distorter of truth.

    But mainly he’s just a slimy little fuck.

  82. says

    More about savings from Obamacare: It will save Medicare $200,000,000,000 over the next four years and Medicare users $208,000,000,000 over the next eight years. If it’s allowed to continue, that is.

    The new numbers are based on savings so far: 32.5 million people used preventive services last year with no costs to themselves, senior citizens saved $3.2 billion for prescription drugs that fall in the “doughnut hole” in 2010 and 2011, and the government recovered $4.1 billion in 2011 in anti-fraud efforts.

    A.R., I think this might help in calculating how much less people & the government will have to pay if true universal healthcare were implemented in the U.S.

  83. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Just realized there is a moment of misogyny in that link above.
    Sorry.

    Focus on how much a slimeball Casey is.

  84. says

    Esteleth @506, you know the drill! Thank all the “Life” demonstrators for coming, tell them that you are giving the hospital’s abortion office $1 for each protester, and ask them to come back again soon and bring friends so you can do it again.

  85. Brother Ogvorbis: Advanced Accolyte of Tpyos says

    Didn’t think I’d hear about asshole fingering today.

    Oh, that is when you are trying to learn a new song and suddenly you scream, “Asshole!”, because they have tossed in an E 7 minor with a suspended 9th and an augmented 12th.

  86. says

    Daisy:

    Also, what’s the optimal extraction method?

    From men? That’s nightmarish. From women, I don’t know. Usually, when it happens to a man (which is rare), for some reason, they don’t go in to a doctor right away, which allows it to lodge as high up as possible. Surgery is necessary.

  87. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Post racist society, my fucking ass.

    If only we would be nice and reason with these people, this would end.

    massholes

  88. says

    David Sumrell of Springdale, Arkansas likes to write letters to local newspapers about uppity, disobedient Jezebels.

    Well, with the latest big news item on TV (sic) women fussing about their pay in the Walmart workforce, I would like you all to consider another viewpoint on the subject most of us fail to even consider. How about what our creator thinks about it?

    In the Bible, Titus 2:4-5 reads, “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”

    The key phrase here – “keepers at home” – once upon a time, that is mostly what women did. Home keepers, homemakers, God’s role for a woman. But most American women are in rebellion to God and man. They are running amok, in places and positions they should never be in. Thus we western nations now have the worst divorce rate. People want their big fancy homes, fancy automobiles, all the fineries, instead of listening to what God says.

    And many of you men are also to blame. Women began to be out of their place with the granting of the vote.

    Then they cut off their hair, which signified that they were no longer under the authority of a man. But insisted on equal rights, then she adopted men’s clothing, and also went into a state of undress. American men and women, repent and turn back to God.

    Commentary here.

    Then there was this one from yesterday:

    IT ALL STARTED WITH VOTE

    I wanted to comment on the letter sent in by Linda Farrell of Bella Vista and her comment about women voting.

    The granting of the vote to women was the time women first began to get out of their places and out of their God-given roles as housewives and queens of their homes. This was one of the first great mistakes leading to the mess we have in this land today. The moral mess of busted families and many other things wrong in America started getting out of place way back there.

    Now here in 2012 God knows how badly the train has gone off the tracks.

    Women soon started cutting off their long hair, wearing men’s clothes and looking like Jezebels soon after, in rebellion to God’s word for them. Rebellion to God first, and man second. And the spiritually discerning person can witness the madness of this country and how it started with the granting of the vote to females.

    America, your time is coming.

    BTW, he’s got a profile on CBN.

  89. says

    Audley, I wouldn’t worry about it:

    To date, there is only one documented case of a candiru entering a human urinary system, which took place in Itacoatiara, Brazil in 1997.[13][14] In this incident, the victim (a 23-year-old man known only as “F.B.C.”) claimed a candiru “jumped” from the water into his urethra as he urinated while thigh-deep in a river.[15] After traveling to Manaus on October 28, 1997, the victim underwent a two-hour urological surgery by Dr. Anoar Samad to remove the fish from his body.[14]

    In 1999, American marine biologist Stephen Spotte traveled to Brazil to investigate this particular incident in detail. He recounts the events of his investigation in his book Candiru: Life and Legend of the Bloodsucking Catfishes.[16] Spotte met with Dr. Samad in person and interviewed him at his practice and home. Samad gave him photos, the original VHS tape of the cystoscopy procedure, and the actual fish’s body preserved in formalin as his donation to the INPA.[17] Spotte and his colleague Paulo Petry took these materials and examined them at the INPA, comparing them with Samad’s formal paper. While Spotte did not overtly express any conclusions as to the veracity of the incident, he did remark on several observations that were suspicious about the claims of the patient and/or Samad himself.

    * According to Samad, the patient claimed “the fish had darted out of the water, up the urine stream, and into his urethra.” While this is the most popularly known legendary trait of the candiru, according to Spotte it has been known conclusively to be a myth for more than a century, as it is impossible due to simple fluid physics.[18]
    * The documentation and specimen provided indicate a fish that was 133.5 mm in length and had a head with a diameter of 11.5 mm. This would have required significant force to pry the urethra open to this extent. The candiru has no appendages or other apparatus that would have been necessary to accomplish this, and if it were leaping out of the water as the patient claimed, it would not have had sufficient leverage to force its way inside.[19]
    * Samad’s paper claims the fish must have been attracted by the urine.[14] This belief about the fish has been around for centuries, but was discredited in 2001.[8] While this was merely speculation on Samad’s part based on the prevailing scientific knowledge at the time, it somewhat erodes the patient’s story by eliminating the motivation for the fish to have attacked him in the first place.
    * Samad claimed the fish had “chewed” its way through the ventral wall of the urethra into the patient’s scrotum. Spotte notes that the candiru does not possess the right teeth or strong enough dentition to have been capable of this.[20]
    * Samad claimed he had to snip the candiru’s grasping spikes off in order to extract it, yet the specimen provided had all its spikes intact.[19]
    * The cystoscopy video depicts traveling into to a tubular space (presumed to be the patient’s urethra) containing the fish’s carcass and then pulling it out backwards through the urethral opening,[17] something that would have been almost impossible with the fish’s spikes intact.[21]

  90. Sili says

    I had a very vivid sex dream the other night that involved fingering Robert Pattinson’s asshole in a bathroom outside of a Twilight premiere.

    ::considers cosplay::

    Now. Where are my sparklies?

  91. says

    The key phrase here – “keepers at home” – once upon a time, that is mostly what women did.

    Uh huh. I think this dude needs to read A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812. The sheer amount of work done by Martha and other women is *staggering*.

  92. says

    Just a little warning for women in the childbearing age. The first time I got pregnant, my breasts were swollen and tender. The second time, they were already pre-stretched or something so I didn’t realize until I started to get morning sickness–so you can’t count on the breasticles to for an early warning more than once.

    I wasn’t keeping track because I was using contraceptive foam. You know when the package insert says, “if avoiding pregnancy is really important see your doctor”? That means, “This method used by iteself is unreliable.” So that’s two warnings. Condoms plus foam are about as reliable as the Pill. (Condoms alone have a 15% per annum failure rate.)

    This has been a public service announcement.

  93. cicely. Just cicely. says

    Yes, I know, but they’re much easier to extract.

    It’d still hurt like hell, though. Also, what’s the optimal extraction method? Google isn’t helping.

    Weeellll…I read somewhere (Wikipedia?) that you push it further forward/inward, so as to disengage the spines, and then turn it around and bring it out.

    I can’t help thinking that this probably won’t be much comfort to you, though.

  94. Nutmeg says

    I read somewhere (Wikipedia?) that you push it further forward/inward, so as to disengage the spines, and then turn it around and bring it out.

    Reason #643 why I will never be brave enough to leave Canada and travel to somewhere tropical. At least here it’s pretty much just bears and Giardia to worry about.

    Anyone else in the biology field have competitions over who’s had the best parasite? So far I’m “winning” among my group of friends with Giardia, but I rank far below the Ph.D. student who had a botfly larva in his back.

  95. says

    Markita Lynda:

    Caine, thanks very much for the fact-check!

    :D Years ago, I saw a documentary which included the one case of a candiru up a penis. If it really happened all that often, you’d expect more than one documented case.

    Seems to me the takeaway lesson is: if you’re gonna pee while swimming in the Amazon, don’t be nekkid. ;p

  96. consciousness razor says

    an E 7 minor with a suspended 9th and an augmented 12th.

    *pedant mode activated*

    Minor chords don’t have augmented 12ths. (E-G-C is C major in 1st inversion) Do you mean it has a minor 13th and a perfect 12th?

    So is it like [E G B D F# C] or without the B, as in [E G C D F#]?

    And are we talking guitar fingerings?

  97. cicely. Just cicely. says

    Giardia

    Eeeek!
    *comtemplates whether it might not be better to have an infestation of bears, instead*

  98. says

    A.R. @483:

    By WWII, Germans and Italians were harder to spot, had lower immigration rates, and had had more time to integrate themselves into society.

    I suspect there were more Germans and Italians. There were enough Germans in Ontario that they had a city named “Berlin” (since changed to Kitchener) and the construction industry was overrun with Italians (thus the joke about the immigrant who thought he was learning English from his mates at work). I think it’s simple lack of visible, clear differences.

  99. Just_A_Lurker says

    ibyea

    @Just a lurker
    The phrase “Tolerating the shit out of you” sounds like an oxymoron, if you ask me. At least it sounds funny. ^_^

    Lol. That’s kind of the point. People who hate on bronies, major misogynists there (not to say bronies don’t have the problem as well), so bronies had to come up with something to say back. Love and Tolerate is a major saying/theme in the show and that’s where “I will love and tolerate the shit out of you” comes from. It’s a spit back in those people’s faces who talk shit about grown men liking “girly, sissy things”. Being accused as a pedophile or pervert is common for bronies.

    Speaking of MLP, the Heirs of Breitshart are freaking out over “bronies.”

    =(

    I’m hate people so much. Fuck people, I have ponies.

  100. says

    Thankfully I grew up with parents who taught me about dangers of stuff like giardia and ticks, but it can be nasty. I’ve never had any scary woods encounters with bears, thankfully since sightings tend to get reported in postings for recreation areas around here.

    I’m just bummed that with the impending layoff spouse and I had to cancel the early spring trip for now. I was excited after talking to Lynna.

  101. says

    Well I was never going to do it anyway, but now I know I’d never vote for Mittens.

    “We will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve,” Romney said.

    Well FUCK YOU Mister Romney. I get paid less than a person doing my same job for the private sector. I have a good pension, and good medical, yeah – but so do a lot of other private sector employees – some of whom get better than I do believe it or not. I’m square in the Middle Class and you want to gouge my wages even more?

    Awesome! Totally gonna vote for you, NOT.

    Asshole.

  102. A. R says

    Candiru: IIRC, the normally lodge in the gills of fish. Suppose they could end up in the urethra or anus too.

    Markita Lynda: Thanks for the stats. Will be implemented. I’ve not had much time to work with the spread sheet due to excessive real life work though.

  103. birgerjohansson says

    40.000 Norwegians oppose Breivik with song

    At noon Thursday 40.000 Norwegians gathered at the Young square in central Oslo to sing the song the mass murderer Breivik* says he hates most of all songs – the norwegian version of Pete Seegers ”My rainbow race”.

    I think this is the best response possible….the pathetic kook on trial has nothing to offer except hate. And the best revenge is to show how utterly irrelevant Breivik’s beliefs are.

    (*Breivik made this statement last week, and the Norwegians promptly started preparing this song protest)

  104. Esteleth, Who is Totally Not a Dog or Ferret says

    “We will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve,” Romney said.

    So, the problem is that workers in the private sector are underpaid.

  105. A. R says

    Useful little game for use with those who say that the Qur’an is worse than the Babble. Most of you probably already know about it, but I thought I would share.

  106. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    A.R: The way I heard it, the candiru supposedly track their target fish by ammonia secretions from the gills, which urine apparently resembles enough for the fish to theoretically mistake the urethra for fish gills.

    I’ll leave it up to people more knowledged than me to point out any holes in the story.

  107. A. R says

    TLC: That is how I understand it. I’m no Ichthyologist though.

    Just listened to a Republican fucking lie through his teeth. Couldn’t make out who as it was over the radio. Angry.

  108. says

    (Condoms alone have a 15% per annum failure rate.)

    True but you can reduce that mightily if you actually follow the instructions ;)
    Good thing is that condom failure is often easy to spot so you can go for plan B.
    I admit to one broken condom and 0 unwanted pregnancies in about 4 years of use, and be lieve me, we’re a fertile couple…
    As for pregnancy-signs: Most of them are hindsight.
    I swear I get half of them every other month and I didn’t get half of them during my second pregnancy.
    Only halfway reliable one is lack of period.