The next Pharyngula podcast will be on Sunday, 26 August

Just so you know, I’m planning another podcast for next Sunday. Time is a little bit in flux, but we’ll work it out in the next day or two.

The topic: “Is there value in the sceptical/skeptical movement?”. I think we’ll probably also talk about the direction the atheist movement must take in the future.

I’ve lined up a couple of people to lead the discussion: Brownian and Louis.

If you’ve been on my invite list for a podcast before, you’ll get an invite to this one, too. If you’ve never joined in before, email me you google+ name and I’ll put you on the list.

[Introductions]

This is another of those social, community threads. Introduce yourself, say what your interests are, what brings you here, whatever you feel like. No arguments, no wrangly discussions, no debate, no crankiness allowed. Consider this a chance for newbies to say something where they won’t get pounced on, and for the regulars to leave a calling card.

Status: Heavily Moderated

Thunderf00t/Phil Mason, treacherous hack

Fuck Thunderf00t/Phil Mason. The accounts that Zinnia and Natalie and Ashley have revealed are true: for the past month, Thunderf00t took advantage of a security exploit to hack into our private mail server; when the hole was closed, he tried multiple time to use the same exploit to get back in. He knowingly and willfully violated a confidential email list. And worse, what he has since been doing (and this is how we discovered the security flaw in the first place) is disseminating some of this email to third parties.

Yeah, this is the guy who expressed such outrage at people ‘dropping docs’ on him, but he has absolutely no qualms about breaking legally binding confidentiality of an LLC, and thinks it’s just fine to hold hostage personal information on pseudonymous posters who, under the promise of privacy, had discussed personal matters and job-related issues. He is a colossal hypocrite.

Just to make matters even worse, I woke up this morning to find some reassuring email from some friends of his, who had basically staged an intervention, trying to get him to back off from his unethical behavior. I was told that he had listened and agreed, and piously assured everyone that he thought the goals of the freethought movement were most important, and that we should all step away from the petty divisiveness and concentrate on education, science, secularism, and politics. His friends wrote to me and they sounded quite convinced that he was sincere and high minded.

And then he turned around, no doubt chortling to himself, and posted another slimy, sneering, lying article about freethoughtblogs. It’s appalling. Not only has he stabbed FtB in the back, but he has no qualms about lying to and betraying the people he still regards as friends.

Yes, we want to make Thunderf00t/Phil Mason a pariah in the atheist movement, and for good reason: he’s a dishonest scumbag. The nice thing for us is that he’s making it easy: Phil Mason is destroying his own reputation with his sleazy behavior. Who in their right mind would ever trust that guy with any confidence at all?

[Mollies] Restored and retired

The Mollies page is back, and I can now announce that the new winner for the month of June is…

Maureen Brian

And with that, I also announce that the Molly awards are now retired. There will be no new nominations accepted. Everyone who got them can now call themselves Original Mollies.

There will be something new coming up to reward commenters, though. At the end of this month, I’ll put up a post collecting nominations for excellent comments, but instead of a general award to cool people, I want to acknowledge the comments themselves. If you see some particularly perspicacious, funny, thrilling, intelligent comment, make a note of it somewhere. At the end of this month, I’ll ask you to link to, and quote some relevant fragment of, the best comments of the last month. The best comment (and an acknowledgment of the author!) will be enshrined on the Mollies page. I’ve got in mind a new title you’ll be able to wear, but you’re going to have to wait until September to learn more.

Also, note this: of course this award can go to previous Molly winners, and I’m also going to allow repeat winners — the award goes to the good comments, and maybe someone here will be making all the best comments from now on.

Whew. All the administrative stuff is now mostly done. I just got home — this was a grueling journey getting back, what with late night and delayed flights and an overnight stay in Minneapolis and having to take a commercial shuttle back home. Now I can settle back into a sensible routine again.