I’m still experiencing fallout from the cracker incident, like the slow drift of dandruff from the flaking scalp of a gyrating televangelist. The latest is a letter from Mr. E.P. Bruk, who I suspect believes he is making a sarcastic point, but is actually making my point for me…that it is absurd to equate the value of a silly little cracker to a human life, or in this case, an entire ethnic group.
To double the irony, he also included a cover letter he sent to the chancellor and president of the university, decrying my loose use of the “F” word and toilet humor.
Well, you see, the cracker is human because it has human DNA. Right?
Ah,..I see…he thinks he be clever!!
Of course that’s most of all.
Huh. I guess I’ll go wash my brain out with soap now. Teh stupid, it burns.
Dude lives in Wisconsin, and he can’t spell Minnesota?
the cracker can’t die. it never existed, so it can’t move on to the next plane. Thats flight 15 and it is leaving now.
Excellent! Sensible policies for a happier America.
Wow… the funny thing, as you already pointed out, PZ… is that this batshit crazy ignorant pustule doesn’t quite get the fact that while most of us here will look at this letter and see that it is revealing about the person writing it, we also respect his right to be that batshit crazy and ignorant, and even write about it.
He didn’t threaten anyone with bodily harm, didn’t hurt anyone (but himself I’m afraid), and really just exposed himself.
Good on ya, mate… write some more… those of us who would be offended by it can choose to ignore it. Those who’d threaten to wait outside your home and beat you within an inch of your life with a lead pipe because what you wrote was offensive don’t get the point anyhow, and don’t represent what this issue is about for PZ, myself and others here.
Nice try… but epic FAIL.
Am I giving the guy too much credit by thinking he’s trying to make a point by congratulating you on offending the Catholics while saying things he know will offend you?
[blockquote]Dude lives in Wisconsin, and he can’t spell Minnesota?[/blockquote]
What did you expect, he can’t spell Wisconsin either.
I’m trying to figure out what he thinks you’d find so morally abhorrent about feeding aborted fetuses to your pet. I mean, it’s medical waste and probably horribly unhealthy, why do you need a moral reason to just toss the stuff out?
Paragraph 1: Attempt at sarcasm
Paragraph 2: Attempt at sarcasm
Paragraph 3: Random topical racism, written in the style of sarcasm but seeming consistent with the author’s views when treated as not sarcastic
Paragraph 4: Attempt at sarcasm
Paragraph 5: Attempt at sarcasm
Paragraph 6: Attempt at sarcasm
Bizarre.
Guy
Stay classy, E. P. Bruk; stay classy.
I’m honestly not sure what is sincere and what is meant as ironic mocking of the claim “nothing is sacred”. Fortunately however you partition into sincere and sarcastic subsets it is still stupid, so I don’t have to worry.
Right — because criticizing religious beliefs is exactly like being a racist. And desecrating a sacred object is exactly like committing an act of violence.
All you have to do to become a Catholic is change your mind. All a Catholic has to do to stop being a Catholic is change his mind. This means that religious belief is not some fixed, protected, and morally neutral classification, like race, sex, or national origin. It’s a matter of reason. It is a rational viewpoint. It’s an opinion.
So there is nothing bigoted about pointing out the irrational flaws in what purports to be a rational viewpoint. And one of the irrational flaws is equating blasphemy with violence — and thinking this not only makes sense, but deserves respect.
The magic spell our culture has cast over religious belief is breaking, along with the magic beliefs themselves.
I certainly don’t respect his “batshit craziness”. I understand it. And I’m thankful I live in a country where we have free speech (mostly–that’s certainly been chilled by the Republicans under the moronic rule of George W and Co.). But “respect” isn’t quite the word I would use. I understand that people like that are out there. I pity him for his ignorance. And I wish him the best treatment that John McCain’s health plan will provide. Oh, wait a minute…
The only things missing were gratuitous capitals and Comic Sans font.
Wow. I’m appalled.
As opposed to the christian bible, which of course is a beacon of logic, reason and consistency.
I almost want to print out some nice, big copies of this and staple them up all over his neighborhood. Thankfully, this guy’s not really worth the paper. Or staples. Or gas I’d have to burn getting to Brookfield.
Now That’s a Cracker!
This is the guy George W. Bush would most like to have a beer with. Cheers!
By the way, it’s cute how he managed to work in some fatwa envy. I suspect he doesn’t know you desecrated the Quran.
Did anyone check that Address… As expected, it’s not even a home. It’s a suite of medical offices:
Google Map of address
Simpel Mynd –
No, no… I don’t respect him, the asshole… I respect his right to be an asshole, and even write about it.
Similarly, the argument can be made that PZ acted like an asshole in the crackergate issue at times… but that’s not the point. The point is that if the catholic league and the other catholic minions had simply left things at “you’re an asshole, PZ”, there’d be no problem. But they didn’t, they threatened his life, called for his firing, and demanded that the rest of the world respect their goofy cannibalistic ritual. Which is, of course, preposterous.
Exactly. It’s the difference between “shouldn’t” and “shouldn’t be allowed to”.
Celtic:
Peace. I read and reacted too fast. Too many cups of coffee this morning…
I’m sad that this idiot hails from Wisconsin :(
I’ll take “Doctors I wouldn’t visit if I was on death’s door” for $100 Alex.
But seriously, what point is he making except that he feels the same way about black people running for President, Jewish Academics, and Pro-Choicer folks that you – allegedly – feel about an ounce of processed wheat seeds. Is Host desecration comparable to bigotry now?
At the least, I can begin to see the comparison between feeding fetus remains to your pets and roasting a cracker. They’re both “Bodies” by the Catholic interpretation, right?
*sigh* What really gets me is that he’s got to make such liberal use of the word “shit”. Maybe the poor guy has Turrets.
“Stay classy, E. P. Bruk; stay classy.”
If that letter was indeed written by an E.P.Bruk of that address. I do worry that some of the letters PZ is getting could be penned by people wanting to destroy the reputation of the signatory.
Don’t like someone? Write some shit in their name, get it published on-line, wait until Google indexes it, and then whenever that person’s name is Googled (by a prospective employer, perhaps), they are revealed to be an racist, violent, idiot. They can’t prove that they didn’t write it, and search results can linger indefinitely.
I’m not saying that PZ shouldn’t post the letters, just that it may be best to check their authenticity before publishing them.
The words of Samuel Coleridge spring to mind: “I have seen gross intolerance shown in support of tolerance.”
And I think we can all agree that there are fanatics on both sides of the debate. Who among us has not sent off a letter we later came to regret or made a phone call that later proved to be ill-advised. It moves the debate precisely nowhere to remain fixated on fringe characters. What about the hundred of letters you receive that kindly, desperately and politely implore you to stop your antagonistic behaviour for the sake of community cohesion.
You alone have the power to put an end to this nonsense and vile correspondence, of which you play no small role, and instead use your position as an educator to better shape your community.
Pete Rooke
Dammit dammit dammit…
I kid you not, my very next post was going to be:
“cue Pete Rooke in 4… 3… 2… ”
Prediction: The medical office includes an abortion clinic; this genius figures the place will be swamped with magazine subscriptions, letters, and the like.
Some anger issues?
He’s probably just having a bad day.
Maybe he just realized that his priest was lying to him when he said that taking a pious prick in the pink pucker was going to earn him salvation.
Good little boys who keep their mouths shut may not get that seat next to jesus after all.
Y’know, I heard that they may even let colored folks into heaven.
Buck up E.P. maybe they make them sit in the back.
That’s something to pray for eh?
Appeaser.
Steve @24
Petey @ #31
Right… nice attempt at apologetics, asshole. Don’t even try to act like this is a simple case of “both sides are nuts”.
Because those letters are equally inane, just more polite about saying the same thing: “Respect our beliefs!”
Horseshit. More apologetics. PZ is making these rejects write these letters by not capitulating to their nonsensical demands for respect.
Mission most excellently accomplished!
Why are some of you assuming he’s a doctor at one of these medical offices? Wouldn’t it make more sense that he was a patient in a psych ward? I notice there’s a behavioral studies section there. Sure seems more likely.
Ya know, the more of these letters PZ posts, the less sure I become about evolution, because these samples are making no forward progress at all and may be sliding back towards that common ancestor. Maybe they will become the transitional forms they’re always looking for.
Appeaser:spat at me as if it were a racial epithet. I am too strong though.
Talking with people you don’t like is not appeasement. It’s how you deliver a tough message.
Is it still libel if someone else publishes it?
Pete –
Ummm… the issue isn’t the talking part…
It’s the insistence on reading only from the script that’s acceptable to the other party in the conversation that’s the nauseating part…
So yeah… the shoe fits… appeaser.
Yes PZ has the ability to reach out and smack the hands of catholics around the would when they reach for their keyboards to type yet another letter of condensed stupidity.
@33: Prediction: The medical office includes an abortion clinic; this genius figures the place will be swamped with magazine subscriptions, letters, and the like.
@30: If that letter was indeed written by an E.P.Bruk of that address. I do worry that some of the letters PZ is getting could be penned by people wanting to destroy the reputation of the signatory.
Indeed, there appears to be an physician specializing in internal medicine named “Eugene P. Burke” at that address, and the address appears to be associated at least peripherally with a Women’s Health clinic (1st hit).
Seems “E.P. Bruk” is not only a racist, but also cannot spell “his own name”.
Thankfully, his weak attempt at subterfuge is fairly transparent.
Well first… I’m offended that he didn’t come out against the ‘dam liberils’ or the Druid religion. He/she/it obviously has some more fine work on his oxygen starved brain.
Secondly…”stop your antagonistic behaviour for the sake of community cohesion.” …Petey @ 31
COMMUNIST, COMMUNIST !!!
OOPS…..Correction
He/she/it obviously has some more fine work TO DO on his oxygen starved brain.
Pete the Rookey, as usual you get things backwards. This will end when the catolicks let it end. As long as the folks in your church act like petulant two year olds, we will continue to mock them. Time to grow up and chastise people like the above idiot who send these inane letters instead of bothering us. Get your priorities straight.
PZ, your warning message only covers threatening e-mail, not racist snail mail.
“Indeed, there appears to be an physician specializing in internal medicine named “Eugene P. Burke” at that address…”
I really hope PZ contacts him to verify the authenticity of the letter.
Shorter Pete: Stop telling my friends they’re wrong, and they’ll stop threatening to beat your brains out.
Sorry Pete, if your opinions (or those of others) can’t defended reasonably (cannot ever bear to be questioned in public), then perhaps there is a problem with your opinions rather than your opposition. Alternatively, maybe a subset of those who believe as you do are raging morons – perhaps (since they are tainting the organizations that represent your beliefs) they might be better targets for correction. If they had wanted not to be criticized, they should not have attempted to enforce their beliefs by threat.
It is not the duty of others to pretend for your sake or for those of people who have similar beliefs. If those who believe as you do cannot argue their points without resort to violence, it is not the fault of those with whom they disagree.
EP Bruk wants crackers to be respected because all good Wisconites know that’s where the cheese goes.
CE@8 ‘and really just exposed himself’
I’m looking for the picture but all I see is words.
Uh…
Me, for example, and everyone I know except perhaps my grandaunt.
I think you are telling us more about yourself than about us.
Not just any medical office – a women’s health facility. And the address appears to be one of their AODA (Alcohol, & Other Drug Abuse) treatment centers:
Center for Behavioral Health Brookfield
Others have located a doctor at that location with a name matching that of the suspected letter writer. Moonlighting as a patient, maybe? Or a patient using a doctor’s name? Maybe they just need a drink.
druidbros – you might get a giggle out of this. Try a google search for AODA and check the first result! ;)
Pete Rooke – PZM is using his position as an educator. Mockery and derision is a learning tool for those doing the mocking and for the targets of said mockery and derision. If they choose to not learn anything then that’s their problem not ours. For us it’s entertaining.
It would be funnier if he signed it Lazlo Toth.
Pete Rooke, #31: And I think we can all agree that there are fanatics on both sides of the debate.
What debate? Some people believe that a piece of bread becomes the flesh of their invisible, magical friend who lives in the sky. There really is no room here for a “debate”.
I’m not sure that “fanatic” is really the right word to describe someone who points out that some people really are nutty. Maybe “insensitive” might be a better word, depending on how the nuttiness is pointed out.
The stupid it burns. Quick fact check: He wants you to call Planned Parenthood and get what? The usual abortion doesn’t have “pieces of fetus”; we’re talking “heavy menstrual period with a larger-than-average clot in the middle of it.” It’s nothing the “overnight” pad models can’t handle, at any rate. (My iron levels are whimpering, just thinking about it, though.)
‘Course, it’d be too much to ask for a pro-forced-birth man (and I’m damn sure the writer is male) to know anything whatsoever about female biology — wimmenz is icky and not real like men are, after all.
Oh, and any time you want to piss on a kippah, PZ, I have a Jewish friend who has a revolting green one left over from his Bar Mitzvah many years ago. He hated the colour originally, but his parents made him wear it, and think he’d be glad to see it go. :)
This is appalling!
He should have addressed it as “Dear Dr. Myers.
I always know I’m going to vehemently disagree with whatever follows that phrase whenever I see it. 92.6% of the time (exactly) it is used by complete tools.
As for the possiblity that someone’s name has been appropriated for nefarious purposes, wouldn’t you want to know if a complete idiot was going around using your name to send stupid letters? Expose it to the light of day; this is probably not the first time he’s done it and, with this guy, I certainly wouldn’t want the next to be a missive to President Obama.
Ya know, the more of these letters PZ posts, the less sure I become about evolution, because these samples are making no forward progress at all …
I didn’t think evolution was about forward progress; I thought it was about survival. Some times stupid survives if they gather together in large enough numbers, like, say, in churches.
I SEE WHAT HE DID THERE.
Nice one, E.P., but you’re mistaken. The Qu’ran reads instead like someone who knew exactly what he was doing and saying, and whose purpose was very clear: to control his followers. Much like the Old Testament, in fact, but more focused.
Petey: Why do you care?
I know, don’t dis religions, especially those who believe the Eucharist is the literal body of Christ. It’s a stupid belief and provably false assertion -oh wait, there there’s that transubstantiation/accident weasel bullshit.
For those who can’t or aren’t willing to believe in magic and supernatural explanations, those of us who realized that “gods” are a human contruct, those who are apostate to Catholicism and have been denounced, slandered, threatened, ostracized and brutalized, those who have endured watching the zealous get free passes when it comes to egregious behavior: we no longer feel we have to back down and appease credulous superstitious cretins who show no respect to anything but their own dogma (especially when you say a piece of wheat product used in an archaic ritual is more important than actual people). It’s the 21st century – grow the fuck up.
(I would love to conduct an experiment with webcams and tally the percentage of Pharyngula readers who spontaneously roll their eyes when they see Peter Rooke’s posts.)
Depends on whom you’re suggesting would be liable. There’s a slim, slim chance that PZ could be liable down the road if he learned that the person who lives at that address absolutely did not write the letter and didn’t update this post accordingly. But that kind of absolute certainty is rare.
Could you clarify how you think libel laws would help? I’m having trouble seeing how they would, but that could easily be my fault.
@ 61
I had a thought about that and that thought was whether or not atheism can win out over faith in terms of evolutionary competition. Of course atheists have the advantage of adhering to reason to seek solutions to survival problems but the advantage that the faithful have in sheer numbers suggest that only a cataclysm of monumental proportions could wipe them all out before they could reproduce. This as opposed to the rationalists whose smaller population size makes them more vulnerable to extermination, particularly at the hands of the faithful. Now this scenario is a bit polarizing and simplistic and I’m not any kind of biologist so I may be making huge mistakes its just something that’s been rattling around in my head.
I don’t even get as far as reading them. As soon as I see his name they start rolling. At this point, it’s a Pavlovian response that extends so far as to manifest whenever my son castles playing chess.
I think a Proctology Clinic is more apropos for Mr Bruk(sic).
Calling Pete Rooke “Petey” is confusing me.
People don’t like their faith questions because it causes them to enter into self-examination. The only way NOT to enter into it is to lash out. I think if your faith can’t stand having someone disagree with you – its pretty damned fucking weak and you SHOULD self examine. If you come out with your faith in tact it is just the stronger. If not – it just opens the door to many more questions – and that makes peoples brains go owie.
#69:
Sorry “The”. I’ve always enjoyed referring to Rooke as “Petey” since it sounds so pal-sy wal-sy. Oops, I forgot to remind Petey (not you, The Petey) to blow me.
The address listed (where the medical offices show up) seems to be in zip code 53005 not 53122 as stated.
Does anyone find that interesting? Is google wrong or is this person incorrect about their own zip code?
Rather, is this person incorrect about the zip code of the address they are using?
It seems as though Pete Rooke still thinks he can shame us. I don’t get it.
#60: “I think we can agree…” = “You are being an a%^hole if you don’t agree with me.”
This usually means a bad and disagreeable proposition in what is likely to be an unpleasant and worthless argument. With PR, however, conceding the point isn’t likely to hurt you (unless you throw up) because he will make plenty more errors before the argument is done, so it’s not like you’re conceding the argument by conceding the initial position.
The Petey
You are correct sir, it confuses most people. Janine pointed it out to me as I was using “Petey” on a thread to irk PR. I have since taken to calling him “Pete the Rookey” to avoid confusion. My apologies for any confusion I caused prior to the change. The last word of the new name reminds of Wookie, so there is a little amusement value there, as his posts are as comprehensible as Wookie speech most of the time.
-1 mark for double indentation.
WRMartin…..thanks for the laugh. I particularly enjoy the links to the wooded retreats.
Unfortunately I was asking as well.
Yeeks… looks like I did the same thing… apologies, the one and only Petey…
I will henceforth refer to the aforementioned Pete Rooke as “re-Pete”… appropriately…
I am glad we live in a country where an individual has the right to speak out freely and show everyone how big a moron they are. I am sad we live in the same country where said moron speaks out and a bunch of other morons say, “me too” instead of “hey, you’re a moron”.
I really had a hard time reading past that third paragraph; I kept stopping and reading it again to try and determine how much was sarcasm and much was the actual opinion of the writer. There are some things I just can’t or won’t be that effectively sarcastic about, especially in print where your tone and facial expressions are unreadable. I’d have to guess there’s more than a little honest racism there.
A. Whitney Brown once said he believed a country that respected your freedom of speech enough to let you burn its flag was like having a god that loved you enough to let you nail his son to a cross. That line has less personal meaning for me these days than it once did (since I’m a fan of this site, the reasons for that should be obvious), but it still highlights for me the irony in many so-called Christians’ attitudes towards others.
You are correct sir, it confuses most people. Janine pointed it out to me as I was using “Petey” on a thread to irk PR
Yeeks… looks like I did the same thing… apologies, the one and only Petey…
I will henceforth refer to the aforementioned Pete Rooke as “re-Pete”… appropriately…
Sorry “The”. I’ve always enjoyed referring to Rooke as “Petey” since it sounds so pal-sy wal-sy. Oops, I forgot to remind Petey (not you, The Petey) to blow me.
oh, i don’t care, it just confused me at first. Context usually clears it, except for those times i play devil’s advocate.
@blueelm
The stated zip code 53122 is for Elm Grove, WI which according to this page is Eugene P. Burke’s home city.
http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp233/irish_ion_bucket/Random%20Crap/feq8fajpg.gif
Saw this today.
Idiots like that give Wisconsinites a bad rap. This election is bringing the worst out in people and you could see it coming once Obama beat Hilary. I can’t say that sending mail is like wearing your racism on your sleeve, but these kind of statements are a last ditch effort. There is no information on that paper, just raw emotion and anger. This isn’t even about John McCain anymore, it’s about proud ignorance and rage against a straw man of liberalism/socialism set up by a mix of religion, media, and politics.
What values are these that this way of thinking stems from, and does it not reveal a hyprocrisy of the very thing the writer claims to champion?
Mmmmmh – minnisotta …
What? It isn’t an Italian dairy dessert?!
Speaking of which, aren’t there better uses for aborted fetuses (feti? fetes?) than eating them?
It’s not fallout, it’s crumbs!
Man, that guy is so witty.
I’ve come to the conclusion CrIDers just can’t do sarcasm.
Their sarcasm gene must be nonfunctional. Or a least inhibited by a refusal to think.
Someone please call Merriam-Webster. We have a new definition for ‘fail’.
Brookfield I’m embarrassed for you. Bet ya $10 this guy attends
Elmbrook Church
<3 Mequon
Methinks you’ve been suckered by another modest proposal.
This letter its not remarkable at all, even so the racism on its way revolting.
I wonder why this zealotry its always paired with such stupidity. Maybe in fact there is a pleitropic gene related with low iq and tendency to credulity…
Goy-friend, please. A shaynem dank dir im pupik, Farshtinkener.
Such a good catholic boy. I think the Jewish ADL would love to talk to this yutz.
Granted that the guy is kind of a dipshit, I think you should have redacted his address.
Years of experience on the political blogs suggests that very little good ever comes of publishing people’s contact information — either inadvertently or in an “outing.” The right-wing blogs are major practitioners of this sort of thing — publish someone’s contact info and let the worst element have at them — but it sometimes happens on the left as well. Even jackasses sometimes live with people who have nothing to do with their jackassery — like spouses and children — and the risk of some “lone wolf” deciding to have a little fun with a roll of toilet paper outweighs the [insert whatever advantage one reaps by publishing someone’s address, because I can’t think of one].
I’m not at all suggesting anything nefarious is afoot — obviously it’s easier to just scan the damn thing and publish it as it is. I just wanted to suggest that you redact the address information from the published version of the letter. I think it’s what the proverbial “bigger person” would do.
I think that letter is probably satire, albeit a very harsh form of it. But I’m not literary expert……like you apparently.
Ooooh! Yiddish! Sexy!
Does anyone know a good site for lessons?
You mean like in the second sentence, where I mention that the author “believes he is making a sarcastic point”?
OK, if that makes me a literary expert, I’ll have to accept it. I just thought it was obvious.
Just discovered (I haven’t read the thing to be honest): a bible quote for why we need to mock the idjuts:
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
— Proverbs, 26:5
Petard, hoist upon, 1 ea.
Or, indeed, literate.
I would blur out his address and full name until you can confirm he is the author. It would be far too easy for the writer to fill in someone else’s name and send it knowing it would attract negative attention to that person.
Captain Obvious makes an attempt at sarcasm and fails. Can you say “schmuck”?
Psst, One Note Scholar: The obvious hatred this guy feels for our Jewish friends leaps out from his muddled attempt at parody. He’s not kidding about the “academic jew pig hebrew idiots”, although pissing in a yamulke wouldn’t offend anyone for religious reasons.
Look. I don’t want to cause an uproar here…and if you must know I’m an atheist. But I am descended, at least culturally, from Ashekenazi Jews. And, really…I don’t wanna put too fine a point on it – might be best if we kept this on the down low – but if you’re gonna be grinding up some goyim fetuses, you know, anyway….I ‘m just now making some matzoh….
There’s a Rabbi next door, but he hates email. You haven’t lived till you’ve been wished shalom and mazel tov with a Texas drawl.
It’s hard to type with any precision with only one hand on the keyboard…
To be libelous the letter would have to be false or falsely attributed–in this case, to Mr. Bruk, or Burke, or whoever. It it’s Bruk (there are Bruks in Brookfield) and the letter is his real work, then publishing it can’t be libelous because there is no false attribution (and, by the way, PZ’s disclaimer, though polite and legally careful, wouldn’t be necessary to protect PZ from any fallout from the publication. Sending someone a letter is giving it to them.) If the letter is false, an attempt to defame another person by misdirection, then it could only be a libel if PZ knowingly presents it as Mr. Bruk’s work after he’s been informed that it isn’t, or if he can be shown to know that it isn’t. If another party cleverly directs people (ie us, with our Googlers) to conclude that the letter was written by Burke, not Bruk, then it becomes uncertain to me whether the letter meets the test of identifiability. My guess is that it doesn’t and therefore isn’t a libel, because the address is disguised and there is nothing in the text of the letter that might lead us to suspect that EP Bruk is a pseudonym. If the text included references to “My medical practice” and so on it might be enough. But I’m not a judge, or a jury. Just executioner, but that’s a coincidence.
ice
Mr. Bruk thinks he’s a wit. He’s half-right.
Who among us has not sent off a letter we later came to regret
Well I’m sure you have Pete. That one you wrote on human skin about how miniskirts are responsible for rape, for example…
that may be the singular best piece of crank mail I’ve ever seen posted here.
really got a laugh out of it.
Mr. Bruk thinks he’s a wit. He’s half-right.
which is exactly why it was so damn funny.
I can’t disagree on the koran’s author being probably stoned. That said, the authors of the Bible were just as stoned. Did you see that thing? It makes no sense at all!
I got as far as the phrase “that nigger Obama”.
This looks like a POE.
GO PACKERS! WOOO!
Sigh.
Actually, I’d say paragraph five was right on the mark.
He has no problem calling a US Senator a “nigger” but has problem with PZ using “Fuck” one too many times.
How about a teaspoon of perspective with a dollop of reality with that tea, sir?
I’d have to echo David Marjanovic on this: none of us, except for reflexive idiots like Pete Rooke, the kind of person who DOESN’T THINK THROUGH THEIR ACTIONS. It isn’t a given that everyone behaves in this manner, and suggesting it is reeks of begging for a pass on unacceptable behaviour. Sorry, Pete. No free pass for you.
Ahem. For those of you reporting that all you have to do is see Pete Rooke at the TOP of the posts to blow by them, I take satisfaction in affirming that I begged PZ ever so prettily to move the tags from the bottom to the top so that I (being technologically challenged) could do so without having to activate something called a killfile (you’re kidding, right? – I’m an old lady and I have to choose carefully how I allocate my remaining neurons). That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Ahhhh, it feels good.
I can safely say that I have never,in my entire life,met in person anyone who even resembles the level of sheer utter stupidity that this fellow exhibits,or the other illiterate deluded hating fools that we get to look at occasionally when PZ posts their letters.
Its like some legendary figure from an ancient myth,youre told theyre real,but you have never actually seen one.I guess Im just lucky.
Liked the “transitional forms” thing @39.
Interrobang @ 58,
Good point,esp about the males being clueless about female biology.
But while thats true for most abortions,which occur up to week 12/13,second trimester miscarriages will have identifiable features tho,and at week 16 and above there will be fetal movements,i.e.arms and legs moving,which is rather unpleasant for everyone involved.
Please. More. This is the kind of stuff that Jon Stewart can’t use. Can you imagine what E.P. Bruk can write when his medication is adjusted. Or, maybe his day job has him wearing very large shoes and a big red nose.
Please. More. This is the kind of stuff that Jon Stewart can’t use. Can you imagine what E.P. Bruk can write when his medication is adjusted. Or, maybe his day job has him wearing very large shoes and a big red nose.
I’m concerned that our letter writer may be using an alias of someone he dislikes. Women’s health clinic? As John McCain pointed out, women’s “health” is code for abortion. Perhaps our correspondent thinks to smear the abortion doc?
Or am I paranoid, and he is too stupid to consider his missive a smear on its author?
What a spew of hatred! The writer proves that he isn’t worth listening to.
Translation: I think everyone is as stupid as I am.
Translation: I’m about to slip an unwarranted assumption past you.
About that letter. If you’re going to call, don’t ask if he wrote the hate mail. Ask if he’s voting Democrat etc. Maybe the truth will out.
I wonder if he has an employer? Customers?
I’ve been looking at this all day. My gut is sending me the feeling that the text of the letter is real, but the address isn’t. There may be a reason why a racist catolick might want a good doctor smeared. I don’t know enough to go any further.
yay!
Not crackers, but donuts.
Click on the black and white cartoon.
Looks like the Pharyngulites on the other side of both ponds didn’t read the posts at the beginning of the thread.
Well, Eugene P. Burke looks like he’s an allergist. I found a picture on one of the insurance/hospital sites. I agree with above, this screams out of someone being actually a little sneaky and signing this letter as someone else. Either a doctor he/she doesn’t like, or possibly a complete stranger just to see how WE overreact.
I’m quite confident that the apparent writer was not the writer of this missive. There are a number of Bruks in Elm Grove/Brookfield, but none at the above address. There is also the interesting problem that Waukesha County would be happy to elect Michele Bachmann as their congress critter if Minnesota’s Sixth fires her (James Sensenbrenner might object, being that he is their current congressman and is roughly as vile as Ms. Bachmann). Of course, the illiteracy is not exactly a hallmark of suburban insanity, but maybe the suburbanite who wrote this thinks that everyone who isn’t a fan of bigotry and hatred is unable to read.
Holy crap that’s my old neighbor. I’m soooooooo sorry that scares me I’m showing this to me family and every one in brookfield I still know.
Is nothing sacred?
Zen Buddhists believe that nothing(ness) is indeed sacred.
I’m inclined to agree with Salman Rushdie:
Sili @ 95,
IMHO this blog is an excellent site for learning Yiddish ;-) — and you might enjoy Leo Rosten’s The Joys of Yiddish.
Austin, are you saying that you KNOW an E.P. Bruk in Brookfield? Is he or is he not a doctor? Please spill.
Clinteas, according to Guttmacher’s latest data (2008), “For a long time, nearly 90% of abortions in the U.S. have taken place in the first trimester, but in recent years, women having an abortion have been able to do so earlier and earlier in the first trimester. Currently, more than six in 10 abortions occur within the first eight weeks of pregnancy, and almost three in 10 take place at six weeks or earlier.” “Small blob of tissue” is the most objective description, in my opinion.
I rather doubt Mr. Bruk is even Roman Catholic. For one is not a member of the Catholic Religion, but a Christian of the Roman Catholic Church. The way our Mr. Bruk reasons, composes sentences, uses grammar and spelling I have doubts about his being a doctor. It’s the handwriting that’s supposed to suck, not the vocabulary.
Borderline Personality Disorder. You has it!
Small world – I went to the high school next door to that address and work about a mile away. And yes Saddlebred, Elmbrook church has some interesting cult members IMHO….
And apparently though professing to know what it is that you did, he somehow missed the part about you also throwing the Koran in the trash.
There are times when one would consider a calm, measured response to this, but now, – for expedience: RAM IT UP YOUR ASS!!
And with THAT perfunctory ALL CAPS and SCREAMER (also known as the exclamation point), we will put this thread to bed. As the denizens of the interntez exhale their mighty breathes, let us hope that this is the last sally of this thread.
Move on, people. Nothing to see here.
Posted by: Jello @ 66 “… Of course atheists have the advantage of adhering to reason to seek solutions to survival problems but the advantage that the faithful have in sheer numbers suggest that only a cataclysm of monumental proportions could wipe them all out before they could reproduce. This as opposed to the rationalists whose smaller population size makes them more vulnerable to extermination, particularly at the hands of the faithful.”
But the rationalists tend to be more spread out in the population. It would take a honkin’ great big catastophe to get us all. You’d have to practically wipe out the population.
“Yep”, Kate wispers to herself, “Yer timing sucs, love.”
It’s all about the… wait for it… timing. Thank you, I’ll be here all week, not that anyone will notice.
With so many Pharyngulites in Greater Milwaukee, we r can haz gathering?
Calhoun Road in Brookfield?
That’s a good 2 miles from the house, it’s amazing they’re here. (Well, not so much really) I should go by his place and see if he’s voting for Jim.
I submit the the author of the letter is also a cracker…
Saddlebred wrote:
More likely St Mary’s off of Juneau: hardcore conservative Catholic congregation. Elmbrook is non-denominational.
I dunno. For batshit crazy fundie lunacy, those xxxxxbrook churches we have around here are pretty hard to beat. Non-denoms are quite possibly the scariest churches I have ever seen in my life.
He didn’t seem particularly focused on the cracker like most of the Catholic hate mail we have seen posted on here. I guessed Elmbrook for those reasons =).
I’m just glad he wrote a letter instead of getting his wife fired.
Depends on if it’s unintentional stupidity (mixed with evil) or alloyed evil (alloyed with a different evil, though) – it’s not clear if this is an idiot speaking for himself (and at least not hosing anyone else in the process) or an evil idiot trying to slander someone else (I don’t know if slander’s right, but it’s in the ballpark, I think).
It’s the difference between watching a moron say, “Hey watch this!” and an evil moron throwing chum into the water near divers.
Thanks, JPS.
That’s gone to my wishlist now.
You act as if nobody had ever deconverted. Please.
Very good point!
Maybe he just realized that his priest was lying to him when he said that taking a pious prick in the pink pucker was going to earn him salvation