Tune in to Atheists Talk radio this morning at 9am Central — the ever-entertaining Robert Price will be on to talk about pop mysticism. If you will it, it will be so.
Whoa. We had a long evening of it here at the Atlanta Pharyngufest — we closed the place down at almost 2am, and these ferocious Southern skeptics were still arguing philosophy and religion as I was staggering away (thanks to Pradeep Satyaprakash for the ride home!). They win. Here’s a quick pan of the crowd early on — it got up to almost a hundred people later in the evening.
The attendees made a commemorative card for the event that was huge. Here’s one bit of it — a portrait of yours truly. It’s an amazingly exact likeness.
Now…unconsciousness awaits. They wore me out!
From Pradeep, here’s a flickr photo set of the event; and here’s another photo set from Tim Farley.
By their actions you will know them. We have had a number of raving angry Catholics in various threads here…or have we? I’ve had a moment to clean up a few threads and post some of the stuff that was held in comment moderation, and discovered that Naz, k8, promo, baker, PZ is a fool, Burns, rumrunner, Dobbs, NYTs, KKKAthiest, Andy, CDV, BradJ, Brett, b7, PCD, NVFU, Your daddy, facebock, baker and several other loud-mouthed asses who have been braying here are all one and the same person.
This is called sock puppetry. It is trying to generate the illusion of a consensus on one side of an issue by pretending to be a multitude. It is cowardly, contemptible, and stupid — not just because a blog owner can look at the stats and detect it, but because it suddenly diminishes your point of view. It makes you look so weak that you have to lie to put up a pretense of popular support, and it makes your side, in this case the fundamentalist Catholics, look like a troop of posturing frauds.
Thanks!
This should enliven your morning: Abigail Smith and I did a Bloggingheads diavlog the other day, and now you can watch us chatter away. I know you’ve all been wondering what Abbie looks like in person. (One odd thing about recording these, though: we are conversing over the phone, but we don’t actually see each other while we’re recording — it’s a bit of a surprise to see how it turns out.)
I should have combed my hair before I went on, I realize, and maybe I shouldn’t have been sipping at that glass containing the blood of innocents throughout.
I have arrived at the airport to discover that my flight to Atlanta has been cancelled, and I’ve been rescheduled to a later flight. No big deal, except that now I’m stuck in an airport for five hours, and I’m now scheduled to arrive in Atlanta at 5pm. This means I will almost certainly be late for the Pharyngufest…but I’m sure y’all can start the party without me. I’ll get there as soon as I can!
I’m expecting a busy, busy day tomorrow — I have to get up painfully early to drive to Minneapolis and fly off to Atlanta. Y’all remember we’ve got a Pharyngufest at Manuel’s at 6, and I expect everyone to come on down and say hello.
I am not looking forward to another run through TSA. There may also be a hatchet job in the Washington Times tomorrow morning — watch for it. I think I’ll be reading some science papers on my flight, and do not want to hear another word from loons for a while. Skeptics! GECCO! Science! Excelsior!
You asked for it, I deliver. Here’s a good chunk of the opposition email that I’ve received in the last two days; not quite all of it, though, since I got bored and a lot of it has just been going straight into the trash. I’ve tried to cut out most of the identifying names and so forth, but if I missed a few…tough.
Trust me, it’s very tiresome to read.
The Catholic League has issued another press release. In addition to disparaging the theory of evolution as the “King Kong Theory of Creation” (which is a bit peculiar, since Catholicism does not take a stand against evolution), he accuses me and my ilk (that’s you, fair readers) of hysteria while making this hysterical declaration:
As a result of the hysteria that Myers’ ilk have promoted, at least one public official is taking it seriously. Thomas E. Foley is chairman of Virginia’s First Congressional District Republican Committee, a delegate to the Republican National Convention and one of two Republican at large nominees for Virginia’s Electoral College. His concern is for the safety of Catholics attending this year’s Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, Myers’ backyard. Accordingly, Foley has asked the top GOP brass to provide additional security while in the Twin Cities so that Catholics can worship without fear of violence. Given the vitriol we have experienced for simply exercising our First Amendment right to freedom of speech, we support Foley’s request.
They are increasing security at the Republican convention out of fear of ME? I am puissant. Fear me, O Trembling Republicans. A flick of my wrist, and cathedrals tumble to the earth; a nod of my head, and heathen legions rise up and swarm like flesh-eating locusts over the faithful.
Hah.
The remark about my backyard is amusing — Minneapolis is 150 miles away. It’s also more towards one side of my house; I think Iowa would be my backyard, while Canada is my front yard. I sure hope I don’t get assessed for property taxes on the entire upper midwest.
These campus freethought groups are growing fast, and the SSA is a national umbrella organization that advises many students — it’s a great cause. They are trying to raise money to contribute towards more student support — help ’em out!
Aaargh, you keep filling up threads! I’m closing this one, you can continue the discussion here, if necessary.
