We’re working on our next web exclusive article, but it’s taking longer than we planned.
In the meantime, please enjoy this post about Marcus‘ real life trolley car problem.
Hopefully, we’ll have our article up by Friday or Saturday.
Siobhan, a fellow FtB blogger at Against the Grain, just had an article featured at The Establishment.
When the results from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS) were released, I naively hoped these statistics would offer a chance for those who didn’t know them to get a big-picture view of some of our crises, amd that the NTDS would enter the conversation on public policy.
After all, legislators are passing policy for everyone, so they’d want the full picture, right?
Apparently not. The necessity of a human rights bill like C-16 ought to be self-evident given the outcomes of the trans community, simply because of the appalling frequency and degree of discrimination that trans Canadians continue to face — but you do need to be aware of that fact first for it to be obvious. The law has been passed in Parliament but awaits further voting in the Senate, and during these debates, the data is seldom, if ever, mentioned.
Check it out!
Wendy Onofrey
Webmaster for the Bolingbrook Babbler
John Z. Brockmeyer, a former University of Iowa student, is starting an Iowa City secession from his Bolingbrook home.
“I’m calling it “ICexit” said Brockmeyer. “I’m modeling it after Calexit, and it will rock the world, just like Brexit did!”
Brockmeyer hopes to put the issue on the 2018 Iowa City ballot. If successful, Iowa City officials would have to negotiate peaceful secession from the United States and Iowa.
A lifelong conservative, Brockmeyer say he wants to make liberals happy. “No one should be forced to live under President Trump. Some people just can’t handle greatness. So instead of waiting to emigrate to Canada, now all the Iowa liberals can be concentrated in a small safe space. We’ll be able to do whatever we want.”
Though he hasn’t lived in Iowa City since 1996, he feels he still understands Iowa City. “They’re people who smoke weed, (homophobic comment deleted), and think the democratic party is too conservative. I’m sure it hasn’t changed. Hell, I’ll bet the fountain is still standing in Pedestrian Mall, and normal people like me can still get a copy of the Campus Review. I’ll also bet liberals still pickup copies of The Icon.”
So far, Brockmeyer only started designing a web page for his “movement” and has one volunteer in Iowa City. The volunteer is not a student and Brockmeyer has never met him in person. Still, he is optimistic. “I have a lot of money, and a lot of free time. That’s all you need for a successful exit movement.”
He sees ICexit as part of greater movement. “I want to help Trump make American great again. Right now the United Left is making that difficult. If we can just hold on long enough, they’ll get frustrated and want to leave. Then they’ll join the various secessions, like Calexit. Once they leave, Congress will lose liberal votes, and then real Americans will make the laws, unopposed!”
Kay, a teaching assistant at UI, says there’s a very obvious flaw with ICexit. “Iowa City is great because of the University of Iowa! If Iowa City becomes its own country, we’ll lose the university and our state funding. Yeah it sucks that some in the state government wants to limit home rule, but leaving the US is not the answer!”
Jill, a UI freshman from Schaumburg, agreed. “I can barely afford to go here right now. If I have to pay international student tuition, I’ll be screwed. I’d go to an Illinois college, but state funding of universities is a mess, and the required test scores for University of Illinois are too high.”
While some have accused Russia of being behind the secession movements in the US, Brockmeyer will not confirm or deny their involvement.
“Let’s just say I now have the best vodka collection in Bolingbrook.”
As many readers of Freethought Blogs are aware, Dr. Richard Carrier is suing Freethought Blogs, and others, over the reporting of allegations of inappropriate behavior. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover the legal costs of FtB and for all but one of the defendants. See below.
From the GoFundMe Page:
Dr. Richard Carrier is suing us for reporting on his well-known allegations of misconduct. These allegations were widely reported on throughout the community, including by third-parties critical and sympathetic to him who are not themselves defendants.
This lawsuit has all the hallmarks of a SLAPP suit — a lawsuit filed to stifle legitimate criticism and commentary. The named defendants are Skepticon, The Orbit, and Freethought Blogs – as well as individuals Lauren Lane, the lead organizer of Skepticon; Stephanie Zvan, a blogger for The Orbit; PZ Myers, a blogger for Freethought Blogs; and Amy Frank-Skiba, who publicly posted her first-hand allegations against Carrier.
We need your help to keep our voices alive. All the defendants are represented by the same attorney, First Amendment lawyer Marc Randazza. Randazza is providing his services at a significant discount, but we are not asking him to work for free. Plus, there are thousands of dollars in “costs” for the case that don’t include legal bills, and there is no way to discount those. In order to continue fighting this lawsuit, we, the defendants of this case, have put together this campaign to raise money to defray our costs, some of which is outstanding. Donations will be used only for this case. In the event that the funds raised exceed our legal bills, they will be donated to Planned Parenthood .
We are pooling our defense costs with Skepticon, however as a 501(c)3 non-profit Skepticon is also conducting its own fundraiser where donations may be tax-deductible (ask your tax advisor). Skepticon cannot use donations it receives to help pay the shares of other individuals or organizations, though, and any excess funds raised via their campaign will go to the Skepticon conference fund.
We are confident that the court will uphold our First Amendment rights. But, through time, stress, and of course financial expense, every case like this has a chilling effect. Your support enables us to fight, and creates a warmer environment – not just for us but for others in the future.
Thank you for your support of freedom of speech, and may your new year be powerful and effective!
-Amy Frank-Skiba
-Lauren Lane
-PZ Myers
-Stephanie Zvan
By Jenna Olson
Publisher of the Bolingbrook Babbler
After ten wonderful years at Blogger, we’ve decided it was time to move our blog to a new home. There were many group blogs that would have accepted us, but we decided to join Freethought Blogs.
At first, that might seem like a mistake. We believe in God, cover the paranormal, and know that Bolingbrook, IL is the home of the largest urban UFO base in the world, Clow UFO Base. Bloggers at FtB are atheists, promote extreme skepticism, and think Clow International Airport is hardly worth mentioning. Digital Cuttlefishes aside, it seems like there is no room here for a blog that rejects the narrow materialist viewpoint the secret societies impose on us.
The truth is that we belong here at FtB. Since 1965, we’ve rejected conventional thinking and all dogmas. Our politics may have changed over the years, but we have always believed in fairness and justice. Bolingbrook is a diverse community, and we welcome and embrace that diversity. Today, parts of the world call out for social justice, and we are happy to be bards for the cause. Some skeptics claim that FtB is a bubble where only certain atheistic views are allowed. We’re here to burst that bubble and deliver the unbelievable truth to both the fans and hate-readers.
Finally, we belong here because we are at a turning point in history. The election of Donald Trump marked the start of a war between the New World Order and the resurgent Illuminati. Who we are as US citizens, and the fate of humanity, may depend on how all of us respond to the challenges of the next four years. To continue to provide the unbelievable truth in the new and dangerous world, we have to form new alliances. We may have many disagreements with the bloggers here, but we agree with their vision of a fair and just world. God help us, because we will help them.
So we hope you will join us every week. We will feature one article from our weekly printed edition. We also hope to add some exclusive content for readers here. Maybe you will never accept our stories as true, but if any of articles make you think, or inspire you to work for a better world, then we will consider that a success.
So what is the Bolingbrook Babbler really about? It’s a satirical tabloid that I started in 1998. The first time around I kept writing until 2001. I resumed work on it in 2007, and haven’t stopped since.
It began while I was a Bolingbrook, IL , resident and teaching myself HTML coding. I wondered what it would be like if there was a local publication similar to The Weekly World News. So on a November night, I created the first Bolingbrook Babbler web page. The story was a secret tornado magnet at nearby Lewis University. I had so much fun writing the story and designing the page, that I decided to make it a regular feature on my home page. Soon I began regularly writing satirical articles using old school tabloids as my model.
A lot has happened with the Babbler in the nearly 19 years since I started. I was featured in a local newspaper article. I’ve had the joy of watching someone at Village Hall read through every page, and possibly send the link to a law firm in Los Angeles. I’ve had a friendly meeting with Mayor Roger Claar, and had him send an angry e-mail to me around midnight. I’ve spoken at Chicago’s Skepticamps, and performed dramatic readings at TAM, and GenCon.
There have been ups and downs over the years. The current move to Freethought Blogs is a high point. I’ve always supported the mission of Freethought Blogs, and I’ve learned so much from the bloggers there, both past and present. It’s been a dream of mine to come to Freethought Blogs, and I was shocked when I got the acceptance e-mail from PZ.
I would like to thank FtB for taking a chance on a blog that’s different from what they’ve normally featured in the past. Not every story will work, and I might make some mistakes along the way, but if any of my stories make a reader think about an issue, or learn something new, then I will have done my job.
I hope you’ll tag along and read about the “unbelievable truths” the staff of the Babbler uncovers each week.
At this point, we can neither confirm nor deny that The Bolingbrook Babbler is moving to Freethought Blogs.
Welcome to Freethought Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!