Why I am an atheist – Fernando Santagata » « Tennessee needs your input

Episode CCCXVI: Now I’m going to Australia!

Bags are packed, passports in hand, we’re about to scurry down the road to the airport to commence an agonizingly long journey to Australia. And you all know the one reason to go to Australia, right?

I wonder if my wife knows what horrors await her at the end of the flight. With my luck, she’ll love the stuff and end up importing a few cases home.

(Episode CCCXV: But I am going to Salt Lake City!)

Why I am an atheist – Fernando Santagata » « Tennessee needs your input

Comments

  1. Jules says

    Nutmeg, that sounds like a real mess. I want to make them some casseroles, and I don’t even know them. Triplets. Wow. Trust the lady who is thoroughly experienced at juggling 4 babies for a living: that shit is going to be unreal. Are there support groups and/or local charities to help?

    In other news, I have the attention span of a bat. I was at the store, and on a whim decided to see if they had one of my favorite wines. They did, though in a year I hadn’t tried yet. It’s the wine I served at my wedding (or whatever you want to call it).

    Here’s to finding good wine and losing bad relationships!

    I know there was more I wanted to comment on, but I’m a lightweight, and I’m on my phone. That does not bode well for coherencing.

  2. ibyea says

    @rorschach
    That ideology of North Korea is frustating. I hope they are rational enough to not restart a second Korean war.

  4. Pteryxx says

    Boycott of Wells-Fargo, because it’s the second-largest investor in prison-for-profit company GEO.

    A driving force behind the push for ever-tougher sentences is the for-profit prison industry, in which Wells Fargo is a major investor. Flush with billions in bailout money and an economic system designed to siphon wealth from the working class to the idle rich, Wells Fargo has been busy expanding its stake in the GEO Group, the second largest private jailer in America. At the end of 2011, Wells Fargo was the company’s second-largest investor, holding 4.3 million shares valued at more than $72 million. By March 2012, its stake had grown to more than 4.4 million shares worth $86.7 million.

    http://www.salon.com/2012/04/11/wells_fargos_prison_cash_cow/singleton/

    http://www.wellsfargoboycott.com/

  6. Nutmeg says

    Jules:

    Are there support groups and/or local charities to help?

    I know that our province has a Families of Multiples association or something like it. And this family has assorted community connections, so they’ll probably receive lots of support. But it’s still going to be ridiculously hard for them. Maybe Child and Family Services provides respite for parents of multiples – I hope so!

    I was worrying about this some more, and it occurred to me that there could even be more than one father in this scenario. Unlikely, but possible. And one of the possible fathers lives in Jamaica. What a mess.

    She’s only 5 months along, so lots of things can change. I just hope that all the babies are born healthy.

  7. says

    Well, we have fuckwit scum rape apologists necromancing a dead thread and dano the fuckwitted godbot shows up, professing his love for Kirk Cameron.

    How in the fuck am I supposed to get any stitching done?

  8. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    How in the fuck am I supposed to get any stitching done?

    I don’t even know! And I’m sitting here trying my best to do Latin… I’ve done like ten lines… Boo, trolls.

  9. A. R says

    OK, just had my fourth nosebleed of the day, fifteenth or so of the past three days. Scheduling an appointment tomorrow.

  12. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    I stitched a doll’s arm back on today for the Babby.

    I know nothing about sewing, but it actually seems stronger than the other one now. The Kid was thrilled. It was still her favorite doll even with the missing arm.

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

    The amazing atheist thread seems to have run out of trolls, and to have denigrated into discussions of platypi.

    I much prefer this.

    Incidentally: I’ll be in the vicinity of Boston on May 18. Drop me a line if hellos/coffee/dinner are in order.

  20. A. R says

    PZ: You might want to take a look that the trolls on the Amazing Atheist thread, they’re getting pretty bad.

    Caine: The stoopid is strong with this one, I feel I may need wash my mouth out with HF after this thread.

  22. A. R says

    House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon:

    “Predictably, diplomatic overtures with North Korea have failed once more… It appears North Korea has continued to pursue its efforts to strike the American people.”

    More fucking scaremongering by the GOP. Anyone with a reasonable education should realize that if North Korea even tried to attack the United States, it would be vaporized in about 45 minutes. And the North Koreans know it too.

  24. says

    Ms. Daisy Cutter:

    Also: DUCKIES!!!!!!!! Ahem. Sorry, I have a small collection of rubber duckies on shelves in my bathroom. Including two Devil Duckies.

    Eeeeee. I have several duckies myself, including a mini Devil Duckie. And of course, a tin of Devil Duckie bandages.

  26. John Morales says

    In local (Australian) news: DNA may weed out toxic Chinese medicine

    An Australian-led group of scientists believe they may have found a way to identify toxic Chinese medicine and those containing traces of endangered species.

    DNA analysis can successfully identify the illegal or unsafe ingredients, according to new research conducted on medicines confiscated from overseas travellers.
    […]
    The scientists assessed 15 samples of traditional Chinese medicines seized by Australian customs officials and extracted DNA from the tablets, powders and herbal teas.

    They then used a technique called second generation DNA sequencing to identify the plant and animal species they contained.

    Their study identified the presence of vulnerable and endangered species such as the Asiatic black bear and the Saiga antelope.

    The trade of these species is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

  29. John Morales says

    Future of religion questioned as atheists gather

    Begins thus:

    Religion will be a non-event in Australia within two generations according to the head of the country’s atheist foundation.

    David Nicholls says we are now seeing the tip of the iceberg as more and more people declare themselves non-believers and free thinkers.

    But he admits religion will always be present in Australia because of indoctrination and because some people “need fairy stories to survive”.

    “Within two generations, religion in Australia will be a non event,” he said.

    “[It] will always be here, there’s always going to be a genetic and cultural indoctrination, enough to affect some people, some people need it, some people get comfort from it, some people need fairy stories to survive, but not as many as before.”

    His comments come ahead of the Global Atheism Convention which starts this evening in Melbourne.

    The convention has ignited debate in Australian media this week – most notably on Monday night’s Q and A program when well-known atheist Richard Dawkins faced-off against Cardinal George Pell.

    […]

  32. says

    Catholic Bishops Urge Campaign for Religious Freedom

    […]
    They also assert that the government has violated the religious freedom of Catholics by cutting off contracts to Catholic agencies.

    Several states have denied financing to Catholic agencies that refused to place foster children with gay parents. And the federal government refused to reauthorize a grant to a Catholic immigration organization that served victims of sex trafficking because, as a Catholic group, it would not provide or refer women to services for abortion and birth control.
    […]

    So not giving tax dollars to them is an assault on their religious freedoms? Fuck those assholes.

  35. A. R says

    Just got another grant funded! Very happy. Now it’s time to interview people for positions on the research team.

  38. cm's changeable moniker says

    The Establishment Clause guarantees funding for religions.

    Everyone knows that. Didn’t you get the memo?

  39. rorschach says

    Hm, a rather scary and weird thing just happened. The first evening of the GAC was a blast, and very well organised. We had some religious nutters from the Adelaide street church over tonight to debate convention attendees, and Aron Ra spent like 2 hours talking to those people. I was kind of listening in, and went into the hotel to get another drink at some point, and saw the Atheist Foundation of Australia echelon sitting there, so I went over to alert them and their boss Dave Nicholls to the fact that Adelaide street church is here. I was faced with hate and aggression, with “fuck off asshole” and similar slurs. And all this apparently because of something I wrote about AFA some months ago. What petty and hateful people they reveal themselves to be, so utterly belying the noble values they claim to represent.

  42. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    A.R.:

    Congratulations.

    =========

    Happy Wednesday!

    =========

    A quick note to all USAnians:

    The US Government is adding another pass. Along with the Annual Pass ($80 per year), the Senior Pass ($10 for the rest of your life (and you have to be 62 or over)), Access Pass (Free for anyone with a disability (physical, psychological, learning, you name it) and good until you die), there will, at the end of this month, be an annual pass for active duty military (Free and must be renewed annually). If any of y’all find yourself visiting national parks, inquire about these passes. They make it much easier to visit the national parks (and camp in National Forests, and other federal campgrounds).

    Commercial is over!

  43. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    The Establishment Clause guarantees funding for religions.

    Everyone knows that. Didn’t you get the memo?

    Then, when someone (like anthonycamuglia) claims that atheism is a religion, we can get government funding to show the harm created by Christianity/Islam/Judaism/whatever? Or is this funding only for Abrahamic religions? Or would this be the situation in which the theists would suddenly agree that atheism is not a religion? Or are these the ever elusive ‘stupid questions’?

  44. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    You know you are no longer young when you can say; That was twenty years ago?

    Twenty years ago, Chicago had one of the strangest floods ever, water from the Chicago River started gushing into a century old tunnel. This tunnel was part of a system of tunnel that was used to deliver coal to the buildings in downtown, the city leaders did not want to see the coal deliverers. The basements all over the Loop were flooded.

    While there was no sign at ground level that anything was wrong, most of the workers were sent home that morning. By noon, few people were left. Mostly, it was the growing crew of construction workers who were trying to work on the hole in the river by the Kinzie Street Bridge.

    I was just getting started in my lucrative career as a bike messenger at that time. Before the bridge was closed off to the public, I got to stand on the bridge and look down at the little whirlpool that was the cause of the problem. It did not look like much and, like I said earlier, there was no sign of trouble on the surface. But this turned the Loop into a ghost town.

    The days afterwards was interesting. People were allowed back to work in buildings that were deemed safe, so slowly the Loop filled up again. Many buildings had to set up elaborate tube settings and fans in order to dry their basements. (See photo thirteen for one that I find very memorable.)

    As a side note, those old coal delivery tunnels are now used for laying out optic cables.

  46. says

    More fucking scaremongering by the GOP. Anyone with a reasonable education should realize that if North Korea even tried to attack the United States, it would be vaporized in about 45 minutes. And the North Koreans know it too.

    Both militarys know it, but both are playing on the fact that their citizenry don’t know it.

    It’s basically a profiteering scheme. Both sides are in an unspoken agreement to keep tensions high so both can ensure their own claim to resources.

  48. says

    Ogvorbis, I’m sorry about Girl’s rat. I somehow missed that yesterday.

    Caine, I would love to add a BDSM duckie to my collection, but all I want is a “display model.” The only ones I see online are the waterproof “I Rub My Duckie” vibrators.

    One of these days I want a duckie shower curtain, too. The thing is, most of the ones I see online are insufferably saccharine. I did see, years ago, one made in the UK that wasn’t, but I couldn’t justify the expense of the curtain plus shipping. Still can’t, really.

    Janine:

    You know you are no longer young when you can say; That was twenty years ago?

    Don’t remind me.

  51. Pteryxx says

    Ing: you mean CISPA?

    CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523), is a successor, of sorts, to the loathesome SOPA legislative proposal, which was shot down in flames earlier this year. EFF’s chilling analysis of the bill shows how it could be used to give copyright enforcers carte blanche to spy on Internet users and censoring the Internet (it would also give these powers to companies and governments who’d been embarrassed by sites like Wikileaks).

    http://boingboing.net/2012/04/10/cispa-is-sopa-2-0-petition-to.html

    see also:

    http://boingboing.net/2012/04/13/facebook-supports-horrible-pro.html

  55. says

    Church cock victory joy: ‘it’s huge and majestic’

    Residents of Hisingen in Gothenburg will be celebrating more than just Easter this year, after the cock atop their local church took home Sweden’s annual Church Cock of the Year award.

    “It’s really fun that our cock won,” Lars-Göran Vedin, who nominated the cock-shaped weather vane told The Local.

    “It’s just something special. It’s huge and majestic.”

    And it just keeps going on in that, uhhhh, vein.

    (Yes, I checked the date. April 5th, not 1st.)

  56. says

    Woot! I will get to go to the SSA conf after all. Hehehehehehehehe

    Turns out “I” couldn’t postpone the meeting but “they” can. Kinda shitty, but works out for me, this time.

  57. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Ms. Daisy Cutter. you had to say “vein”.

    A facepalm and a snort.

  62. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Hello, everyone! I bought new shoes that are actually supportive (unlike the Converse and Vans that I’ve been wearing for years), so now I feel like a really real adult.

    In These Shoes?

  63. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Not that there are bad days of the week for dick jokes, but Fridays are kind of perfect for them.

    Yeah. Too bad it’s Wednesday, though.

  65. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Hello, everyone! I bought new shoes that are actually supportive (unlike the Converse and Vans that I’ve been wearing for years), so now I feel like a really real adult.

    Odd.

    Now that I am mature, I can actually indulge in the shoes that I wanted when I was a little kid. Too expensive. They’ll ruin your arch. Blah, blah.

    Now I am 46 and my cowboy boots are on the way. And, given the actual shape of my feet, wearing moderately high heels is much more comfortable for me.

  71. Rey Fox says

    I hope I don’t ever have to give up my Vans. Almost every “adult” shoe I’ve ever worn has just pinched my feet. I already slip arch supports into all my shoes anyway because of plantar fasciitis in my right foot.

  73. says

    Oggie,
    I envy that you’re able to buy “ruinous” boots!

    Lately, my back pain has been getting worse, thanks to being preggers. I’m doing all I can to lessen the discomfort and I’m finding that sneakers that actually fit* and actually have some support are doing wonders.

    *I was wearing men’s sneakers, which are too wide.

  75. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    I really should not spend as much time as I do browsing online whiskey sellers’ websites…

  76. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    I envy that you’re able to buy “ruinous” boots!

    I have very high arches. Extremely high arches. My podiatrist asked if I ever considered high heels. I told him I don’t have the gams for it. He laughed and said I should try something with a 1.5 to 2.5 inch heel. So I got a pair of cheap boots some years age. They died (as all cheap boots do (see Commander Vimes and his thoughts on boots and the high price of poverty)). So now I have a pair of Durangos on the way. Won’t be able to wear them at work, but, save for wearing shorts, I can wear them year round.

  77. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    I really should not spend as much time as I do browsing online whiskey sellers’ websites…

    I do the same thing with purveyors of fine cigars and books. I embrace my weeknessesses!

  78. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys

    One of my all time bestest most favoritest songs.

  79. Louis says

    Let’s release those big money balls!*

    I see there are dick jokes afoot. By which I mean…

    Erm.

    Louis (Age 12, UK)

    * Actual cry of UK National Lottery announcer. I plotzed.

  81. Louis says

    Ogvorbis,

    You and I share weaknesses it seems.

    I also often peruse the website of Berry Bros. and Rudd (wine merchant). A fine cigar (I confess Cohibas are my preference), a quality eau de vie of some description (I love calvados) and a decent book to curl up with is one of many versions of my personal heaven.

    Louis

  88. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Moar Lizard!

    We’ll do it live!

    Mouth Breather

    Seasick

    Lady Shoes

    Killer McHann

    The last video showed how David Yow, the, errr…, singer, treated the crowd. There were a coupe of shows where I was pushed against the stage by the crowd and he was pushing back. Very physical shows.

    What always got me was how absolutely tight the band was, how strangely jazzy with a great sense of dynamics and contrast that with how unhinged David Yow was.

  91. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Destroy Before Reading

    Back in the late eighties and nineties, a lot of indie bands were signed by major labels (Back when a major label meant something.), especially when Nirvana became the biggest band around. They were looking for the next big thing. (Being in Chicago in 1992-93 was interesting.) Shit, even the Butthole Surfers were on a major. But I never understood how the Lizard ended up on Capital.

    I guess it is a bias of mine, it seems that they should always be skulking in the shadow.

    And for shits and giggles, here is the Jesus Lizard/Nirvana split single. It was planned before Nevermind was released but not released till after Smells Like Teen Spirit broke big.

    And, yes, I posted a link to the Lizard song earlier. Deal with it.

  92. cicely. Just cicely. says

    What’s the atheist version of counting your blessings?

    Reminding yourself that it could so easily be worse?
    –

    OK, just had my fourth nosebleed of the day, fifteenth or so of the past three days. Scheduling an appointment tomorrow.

    How’s the humidity in your house/office (unrelated to the humidity out-of-doors)? When ours drops, I get many nosebleeds.
    –
    A.R, congrats on the funding of your grant.
    –
    cm, neither you nor your changeable moniker can make me click on those links @540.
    –

    Or would this be the situation in which the theists would suddenly agree that atheism is not a religion?

    This one.
    –

  94. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    Not caught up. Just wanted to say: J. August Richards won all of my hearts today.

    (Explanation for the unfamiliar: MarkDoesStuff is a blogger who reads and watches things and reviews them. He is a gay feminist atheist who discusses things from a social justice standpoint and also he is a huge geek and I love him. He is currently watching Buffy and Angel (giving me a completely unneeded excuse to watch both of them yet again), and he just saw Gunn for the first time. Naturally he was smitten. Someone linked J. August Richards to the review, and that was part of J. August Richards’s response. ♥)

  96. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    CC, you should have linked to the review.

    Cool that is J. August Richard’s reply.

    Always felt sorry for Gunn though. Wesley got abused and in responce, became pretty much the scariest non monster in the Buffyverse.

    Gunn was fucked with and ended up being just sad.

    And I will not say a word about Fred and Illyria.

  97. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    Okay! :D
    I agree with you about all of those things. Wesley’s character arc is one of my favorite things in the world. (He really is scary. That moment in “Billy” when he realizes he has the potential for horrible evil in him, and Fred won’t believe him, but he’s totally right… Oh man.) I have a friend I absolutely cannot convince to watch Angel, and he won’t believe me about that arc (I think he’s started to believe me about Cordy’s). And Gunn and Fred :( everything is terrible.

  98. says

    LOL, Janine, I remember when I was in junior high (I think) and sitting in my grandmother’s kitchen. She was giving me a manicure – she’d worked in a beauty parlor for a while and was good at that. (It was at her insistence.) Anyway, I had the kitchen radio tuned to a rock station, and “Big Balls” came on. I was mortified, and I couldn’t get up to change the station because my nails were wet. My grandmother just said, “He has a really nasty mouth, doesn’t he?”

    Kitty: Yeah, I died laughing at the guy who said his was so big he had to put lights on it at night so pedestrians wouldn’t run into it.

    Caine: I kinda like the Devil Duckie curtain but I really want yellow duckies on a clear background.

  99. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    CC, the devastating moment for me was when Wesley thought he killed his father. Dark. Dark. Dark! And this is without his arc in which he was betrayed into betraying Angel and having his throat slashed. At least Spike and Angel were not human when they killed their families.

    Spin The Bottle was a fun episode in part because of showing the young goofball Wesley trying to deal with the bad ass weapons that scary Wes is carrying.

  103. carlie says

    I really should not spend as much time as I do browsing online whiskey sellers’ websites…

    God, am I boring. I spent some time today perusing office toys at Office Playground.

  105. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    The displaying male Sooty Grouse I saw in keremeos (and mistook for a sage grouse at first), engraved with fire on my modified Cold Steel Norse ‘Hawk (which I shall use as my hunting and butchering hatchet when the next season rolls around):

    http://tinypic.com/r/qx9naa/5

    Pretty good for just a butterknife and a fire pit, I’d say.

    http://tinypic.com/r/34gn6mc/5

    The whole thing, for perspective. :D

    I’m hoping to fill this whole thing with little images of cool animals I see on my adventures.

  106. says

    I came here and saw CC’s J. August Richards post immediately after reading Mark Watches. Talk about good timing. Glad to see I’m not the only fan of Mark Watches.

  108. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Blacksmith: Yeah, my webcam is kinda shitty. It’s not much more detailed than it shows though, too much detail would have cluttered the design and made it incomprehensible.

  110. says

    I’m a Mark fan too!

    And today is my birthday! I’ll save the real celebrating for tomorrow when Mr Kristinc and I will ditch the kids with the inlaws and head to the piercer’s to have wonderful, terrible things done to my ears.

  111. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    Happy birthday, kristinc!
    I just realized Mark meets Lorne next week
    *sparkles forever*

  113. Jules says

    Happy birthday, kristinc! Nothing like celebrating with a good piercing :-)

    Many moons ago, I went with my (now) ex’s mom to get her navel pierced for her 40th*. That was a quite the bonding experience.

    I’m pretty sure she doesn’t wear hers anymore either. (Mine fell out in the shower, and my lazy ass didn’t replace it in time, and it grew back.)

    *She was a teenage mom, and he was younger than me**, so she and I weren’t all that far apart in age. I’ve since dated men older than she is.

    **It pained me to use the wrong case here, but it sounds so damn pretentious otherwise.

  115. carlie says

    Happy birthday, kristinc!

    So that whole “a good deed does not go unpunished” thing turns out to be true. Knock on the door, adorable little kid doing some dumbass school fundraiser, told him no. Then Spouse said that he thinks that’s a kid who sometimes plays with our kid from around the corner, and I’m thinking about school funding, and how shitty it is to make kids do that but STILL otherwise the school can’t do whatever, and surely I can spare $10 for EDUCATION, dammit, and so I ended up running after him down the street to say I’d found my checkbook and could go ahead and buy the stupid discount card that I’ll never use anyway. And then I’m writing out the check, and the school isn’t the local public school down the block, it’s the private Baptist one a few blocks over. DAMMIT.

  116. opposablethumbs says

    Happy circumnavigation of the sun day, kristinc! Here’s wishing you many more happy rotations (and a happy piercing).

  119. carlie says

    By the way, everyone with access to it MUST WATCH the Legend of Korra. First two episodes are up for viewing already at nick.com, and the first one goes live on nick tv at 11am tomorrow. I was so worried, but it is fantastic. It’s all the same writers from the original (Avatar the Last Airbender*), and it’s got the same sensibilities and complexities, at least so far. And it’s funny. And awesome.

    *For those not in the know, it was a cartoon that not only routinely passed the Bechdel test, but had fantastically kick-ass characters overall, and was about war but also the ways war is bad, and also how people end up fighting sometimes even though they don’t want to, and how to believe in yourself, and friendships, and knowledge, and ALL THE GOOD THINGS.**

    **No, there was never a movie adaptation of it. I have no idea what you’re talking about. NO IDEA IT NEVER HAPPENED.

  120. A. R says

    Happy birthday kristinc!

    cicely: That used to happen to me too, but I’ve got my humidifier running…

  121. says

    Cocks are vain, that why they have a comb.
    ++++++++++++++++++
    Excuse me while I whip this out.
    ++++++++++++++++++
    Janine, The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys is one of my favorite 20 albums of all time. I play it when I want to get a hug from my guitar. I play completely superfluous contra lines and my guitar hugs me back.
    +++++++++++++++++++

    And today is my birthday! I’ll save the real celebrating for tomorrow when Mr Kristinc and I will ditch the kids with the inlaws and head to the piercer’s to have wonderful, terrible things done to my ears.

    kristinc, you had me until you said “ears”.
    Happy birthday!

  122. Pteryxx says

    Nick has been running Avatar marathons as a lead-up to Korra. Right now, I’m extremely quiet because I’m watching the final four episodes: Sozin’s Comet parts I-IV. Real life can wait; this is realer.

  123. says

    Thanks everybody! I’m not getting pierced, I’m getting my off-center stretched lobe holes corrected with a *gulp* scalpel. Freaky, but I’ve been wanting to get it done for a while now.

    Sailor:

    you had me until you said “ears”.

    The rest is already done ;)

  124. A. R says

    Known Godbot troll DH666 has broken containment on TZT and has been spotted on multiple threads.

  129. cm's changeable moniker says

    “everyone with access to it MUST WATCH the Legend of Korra”

    Lacking access, I feel relieved.

    Teh kidz are watching House of Anubis, Series 2 on Nick.

    Oh well, it entertains them.

  131. Charlie Foxtrot says

    First full day of the GAC! Yay!
    Peter Singer very interesting. First question of the con failed the Hrab test – that was not a question!
    Leslie Cannold very inspiring! Hope the energy she gave to the audience is sustained!
    Dan Barker up now.

  132. A. R says

    What’s going on? Two trolls (DH666 and yec123) are migrating between threads like crazy. I believe that bans are in order.

  133. cm's changeable moniker says

    A.R. one can’t call for a ban. One must have faith in the banhammer. In this small dimension, Pharyngula is quite like faith.

  135. carlie says

    cm – 11 tomorrow morning on the tv! :)

    Zuko and Aang just hugged after winning. Sniff.

  136. says

    A.R:

    I believe that bans are in order.

    You can believe that all you fucking like, but keep quiet about it. It’s not up to you, others are enjoying the chewtoys and PZ has said more than once that someone calling for a ban is, in itself, a banworthy act.

  140. says

    Bwahhhh! I just found out *why* the woodpecker at Mr Kristinc’s college hammered on the metal gutter pipe. We’d been operating on the assumption that it was a particularly dim woodpecker but it turns out it might have been quite smart — they drum not only for food but to announce ATTENTION LADY WOODPECKERS: I AM FEELING VERY VERY SEXY. Giving the choice of the noisiest possible object on campus an entirely new light.

  144. Weed Monkey says

    kristinc, around my parent’s house black woodpeckers (big, handsome birds) have been pounding on the plate of sheet metal that is on top of every telephone pole (to cover it from rainwater, i assume) as long as I can remember. It is very loud.

  145. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Happy birthday, Kristinc!

    I just got back from a rabbit hunt! No luck on the rabbits, but as I was sniffing around a pond I caught a couple invasive bullfrogs, one of them an extremely fat female. I’m nothing if not versatile, and they made a delicious little oriental-style soup.

    *BURP*

  146. Nutmeg says

    ATTENTION LADY WOODPECKERS: I AM FEELING VERY VERY SEXY.

    I’m not sure why this is so funny, but it kind of made my night.

  147. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Oh and also, I saw a pair of river otters, probably hunting the same thing I was! (they were munching on something)

  148. Nutmeg says

    TLC: I was at a conference last summer, and one of the talks was on using electrofishing apparatus to catch and control invasive bullfrogs. The title of the talk was “Electro-frogging”, and I really really wanted to go listen just because of that. Unfortunately, I had to go to talks that were actually relevant to my thesis. :(

  149. says

    Chas has been playing with Doll (our Coyote/Shepherd), he chews on her, she cleans him and other back and forth. He’s now climbed up on a little box right in front of her head and is boggling at her.

  150. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Nutmeg: I’d like to make myself a gigging stick, except it may be too ‘obviously a weapon’ for me to take out in public. Unfortunately there are a lot of walkers where I was hunting on a nice day like this.

    Still, I did alright. I may have to try again tomorrow.

  151. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Caine, do you mean literally a coyote cross?

    Got a link to any pics?

    Also, that’s amazing that she’s friendly with your rats if so!

  152. says

    Weed Monkey, we have no metal (thank gawd). Ours are on the plain wooden telephone poles, which do achieve really quite a well amplified drum effect, but aren’t loud enough to actually be annoying. The strident territorial calls get old though. Yes, I know, dammit, it’s your telephone pole. I do not want your telephone pole. Pipe the hell down for five minutes!

  153. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    He’s now climbed up on a little box right in front of her head and is boggling at her.

    That is hilariously cute.

  154. says

    TLC:

    Caine, do you mean literally a coyote cross?

    Yes. We’re her 14th home and were also her last shot.

    Got a link to any pics?

    Doll & Jayne. She’s the smaller one, who has Jayne by the throat. She’s half Coyote, half white Shepherd, Jayne’s half Chow, half white Shepherd.

  155. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Caine: Awesome! I take it she’s a bit of a difficult dog?

  157. says

    TLC:

    I take it she’s a bit of a difficult dog?

    Not in the slightest. I’ve had past experience working with coyote and wolf hybrids, though.

    Doll is absolutely brilliant, you couldn’t ask for smarter, she’s affectionate, loyal, playful, faster than hell and I could go on and on. Of course, none of that shows if you’re an idiot who treats her like a dog and doesn’t provide her with a pack.

  158. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Caine: Oh, I see. More in the ‘requires proper understanding’ category then.

    I love coyotes, and I love hybrids.

  160. Nutmeg says

    Caine: I’m curious – what kind of different accommodations and treatment do hybrids need? Do your other animals form the “pack”?

    It’s so rare to hear about success stories with coyote or wolf hybrids. I’m glad it worked out for you and Doll.

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

    Happy birthday, kristinc!

    I ranted about this on PET, so I may as well here too: FUCK I’VE GOT THE “ARKY ARKY” SONG EARWORMED.

    Make it STOOOOP!

    *attacks own brain*

  162. Nutmeg says

    Dammit, Esteleth! Is that the one I would have learned at Bible Camp? Now it’s in my head, complete with actions!

    Want the yodelling song in exchange?

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

    Yes, the Bible Camp “Arky Arky” song, Nutmeg. I’m so sorry.

    I am not familiar with the yodelling song.

  164. Nutmeg says

    Since you don’t know the yodelling song, allow me to suggest additional earworms from my camp days: Boogaloo, the hippopotamus song, the beaver song, the moose song, the Superman grace song, the Addams family grace song, Boom-Chicka-Boom, the blind man song. Did any of those stick?

    Now that all TET members who ever went to summer camp hate me, I’ll sing the yodelling song.

    Once an ostrich went yodelling on a mountaintop high,
    When along came a cuckoo-bird interrupting his cry,
    (yodelling that I won’t attempt to duplicate in text)

    And then you add a skier, and an avalanche, and a St. Bernard, and a road-runner, and a Sasquatch, and a camper, and stuff I’ve forgotten, and they all yodel together. Like the 12 days of Christmas. It goes on forever.

    I’m going to have camp songs in my head all night, and really weird dreams.

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

    Nutmeg, did you ever sing the “All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir” song? Fucking annoying as hell.
    Then there’s the 12-part catechism song, “Children Go Where I Send Thee,” that involves stamping your feet. Moderately less ear-wormy is “Green Grow the Rushes.”

  166. Nutmeg says

    None of those are familiar. Unless the choir one involves butterflies? Now I’ll be spending all night trying to remember what the butterfly song was.

    Sounds like the camp you went to was a bit more old-fashioned than mine. We favoured songs that included shouting and actions. They were paired with a hefty dose of evangelism, unfortunately, but I did enjoy my time at camp.

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

    No, no butterflies.

    Uh.

    All god’s critters got a place in the choir,
    Some sing low [low voice]
    Some sing higher [squeaky high voice]
    Some shout out loud on the telephone wire [bounce on toes, wave arms]
    Some just clap their hands or paws or anything they got now [clap with each word]

    Yeah, it was pretty traditionalist and old-fashioned. Not evangelical, or particularly fundie. Just Calvinist, which is a mindfuck and a half.

  168. says

    Nutmeg:

    I’m curious – what kind of different accommodations and treatment do hybrids need? Do your other animals form the “pack”?

    No, other animals don’t provide a pack, other dogs provide a pack. You need a minimum of two, already long in place before even thinking of introducing a hybrid. Also, the breed of your dogs makes a difference. Some breeds will not handle a new one, let alone a hybrid. If you’re introducing a male hybrid, best to have female dogs. If you’re introducing a female hybrid, that’s not so important.

    We had Cante Mahto and Cachet (half Black Shepherd/half Collie, huge, male and half Landseer Newfoundland/half Collie, female) when we rescued Doll.

    Trick 1: live a long fucking way away from the other houses the hybrid was in as well as the rescue/adoption center. All hybrids are runners, coyotes in particular. If they run, you don’t have a hope in hell of catching them. A large property is best.

    Trick 2: get them in the house and don’t fuss. Let them do whatever they’re going to do, no matter how weird. Let them get acquainted with their new pack on their own terms. Coyotes will dig, generally in the middle of your bed. You just have to deal with that. It will stop eventually. Protip: make sure there’s an under to your bed. They like cave like environs, especially the females.

    Trick 3: act like they’ve always been there, treat your other dogs like you normally do, talk to them more than normal though – your hybrid is listening.

    Trick 4: when it comes to going outside to do business, if you don’t have a fenced yard, a collar attached to a *very long* rope is necessary, at least for the first week. You’ll know when it’s okay to lose those. If you do have a fence, suck it up, you have to go out with them every single time for a minimum of a week, and go every where they do. Digging, remember? Also, jumping. You would not believe the fucking jumping. Also, speed. Superman couldn’t catch a hybrid.

    Trick 5: have a shitload of toys, all varieties. Also, bones. Real bones, big ass cow joints, with muscle and crunchy bits. No rawhide. Note: if it’s in reach of your hybrid’s mouth, it’s theirs. Don’t even think of taking it away. Your fault for not putting stuff up.

    Trick 6: hybrids are hoarders and treasure collectors. Every fucking toy and bone in the house is theirs. Let your other dogs work out how to get their shit back, at least for the first month. Resign yourself to buying new toys and bones for the other dogs *a lot* the first month. The hybrid will steal those, too.

    Trick 7: when your hybrid constantly has a toy crammed in their mouth, ignore it. *Do not assume they wish to play and do not take it away!* Act like it isn’t there.

    Trick 8: hybrids bury their treasure. Just live with the pile of toys and bloody, sharp bones buried under the blankets in the middle of the bed. Have a special box or container near by, where you remove the treasure to, in front of your hybrid. Reassure them they can re-bury their stuff after you’re done sleeping.

    Trick 9: don’t be trying to teach them stuff. Let the other dogs (the pack) show your hybrid the routine.

    Trick 10: don’t freak out if they snarl when eating.

    Trick 11: your hybrid will probably hate and ignore whatever stupid name was stuck on them. They tend to pick their own name. This is out of your control. Trust me, Dolly would not have been an option in our case.

    Trick 12: trust. After a bit of work, you have to trust them. If you do, they’ll reward you with trust and loyalty.

    Trick 13: learn the vocabulary. Hybrids have a wide range of vocal and gestural expressions. The different howls alone are amazing. Don’t be afraid to howl yourself.

    Trick 14: hybrids are acutely visual. Train with them, using small, subtle sign language.

    Trick 15: make sure the whole pack gets plenty of play time and get them out and about to sniff ‘n’ pee on new territory on a fairly regular basis.

    Trick 16: don’t have heart failure when your hybrid’s idea of play with the pack resembles a psycho hose-beast. That’s normal. Do stop them from chewing all the way down to skin. Tell them that’s a no-no.

  169. chigau (違う) says

    The Sailor #637
    Banns of the Bans?
    —–
    re songs
    Arky-Arky Floody-Floody Green Grow the Rushes OH!
    Thank y’all so very, very, very much.
    (If I find you…)

  171. Nutmeg says

    Caine: That’s fascinating! Thanks for typing that all out. It’s very different from what I’m used to with retrievers.

  172. says

    Never went to Bible camp, but I spent two years at a private Episcopal school with mandatory chapel and I adored it because of the pretty hymns I had never heard before. Morning Has Broken, All Things Bright And Beautiful, that sort of thing. An entire school singing pretty, old-fashioned songs together was something I had never even imagined.

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

    I hear you there, kristinc.

    I am a huge music lover, and I’ll be honest – the hardest thing about leaving the church I was raised in was not leaving the people or social group. The music was the worst to leave. Quite honestly, I still miss it.

  174. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    Nutmeg, did you ever sing the “All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir” song? Fucking annoying as hell.

    Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
    It’ll never leave.

  175. chigau (違う) says

    Esteleth
    I was a Catholic. We didn’t have cute songs.
    I learned those songs, as a adult, from Recovering Protestants, while drinking heavily, while sitting around a campfire, in the rain.
    You have not lived until you are on an archaeology dig with a half-dozen people in their pits singing (not in unison) {arkyarkyfloodyfloody} while nursing hangovers.

  176. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    I was a Catholic. We didn’t have cute songs.

    And he will raaaaaaaaaaaise you up on eeeeeeeeeeeeagle’s wings
    bear you on the breath of dawn
    make you to shine like the sun
    and hold you i-in the-e paaaaalm of his haaaaaaaaand

    You who dwell in the shelter of the lord
    who abide in his shadow for life
    say to the lord, “my refuge, my rock in whom I trust”

    Oh jesus fuck :( Now I’m full of religious music.

  178. says

    Nutmeg:

    That’s fascinating! Thanks for typing that all out. It’s very different from what I’m used to with retrievers.

    Yes, they’re different from dogs. A couple of other things:

    If you want an outside dog[s], a hybrid is not for you.

    If you have nice furniture and don’t want it taken over by a hybrid, don’t get one. They are unrepentant couch potatoes and you will not keep them off the bed, couch and any comfy chair.

    They do not deal well with thunder storms. Make sure they have a place to hide (under the bed, a closet, under a desk) or let them lay next to you or sit between your legs.

  179. Hekuni Cat says

    Caine:

    Chas has been playing with Doll (our Coyote/Shepherd), he chews on her, she cleans him and other back and forth. He’s now climbed up on a little box right in front of her head and is boggling at her.

    This is cute, adorable, wonderful. Thank you.

    Also, Darkheart Duckie Project – ♥ ♥ ♥

    kristinc, Happy Birthday!

  181. Pteryxx says

    Via Elf Sternberg:

    Tennessee senators approved an update to the state’s abstinence-based sex education law that includes warnings against “gateway sexual activity,” such as holding hands.

    In the bill, a uniformed policy on sex education is defined with terms like “gateway sexual activity.” The bill prohibits teachers from demonstrating gateway sexual activity.

    If an instructor goes beyond the curriculum, the bill gives parents more legal rights, stating, “The parent or legal guardian shall have a cause of action against the instructor or organization for actual damages.”

    Quote source

    Article referenced:

    http://www.wmctv.com/story/17353757/bill-would-define-holding-hands-kissing-as-gateway-sexual-activity

    According to HuffPo and DailyKos, the bill’s already through the TN senate.

  182. Pteryxx says

    also in the War-On-Women front, holy crap this was just signed in Arizona:

    The life begins at menstruation law goes into effect in 90 days:

    • It sets the gestational age as beginning on the first day of a woman’s last period, rather than at fertilization. Which, in practice, means that a virgin can get pregnant and instead of barring abortions after 20 weeks as the law states, actually cuts the time to 18 weeks.

    • Medication abortions (by pill), usually done at home or a clinic within the first nine weeks of pregnancy, must now be done by a medical provider who has hospital privileges within 30 miles of where the procedure takes place. The law also mandates outdated protocol that Nash says may cause confusion. The provision is an attempt to shut down medication abortions altogether. North Dakota and Oklahoma are in litigation over similar provisions in their laws.

    more: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/13/1083067/-Jan-Brewer-signs-life-begins-at-menstruation-bill-the-most-draconian-anti-abortion-law-so-far

  183. chigau (違う) says

    It’s It’s raining!
    and snowing!
    and raining!
    and raining!
    and snowing!
    and sraiwing!

    (my onions are up)

  185. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Happy birthday (one day late my time) kristinc!

    And a happy Thursday to all!

  186. carlie says

    Ooo, annoying unending youth group songs.

    Oh you can’t get to heaven
    (oh you can’t get to heaven)
    In a Chevrolet
    (in a chevrolet)
    Oh you can’t get to heaveeeeeen,
    in a Chevro – leeeeet
    Oh you can’t get to heaven in a Chevrolet,
    ‘Cause there ain’t no road that goes that way,
    All my sins are washed away, I’ve been redeemed.

  188. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    complete with a scale model of the Aps in dirty laundry ;)

    A scale model of the aps? You do know that there is an ap for that, right?

  189. A. R says

    Hybrids: A friend has a wolf/dog hybrid. It’s quite well socialized, but it does behave much like Caine described. Unfortunately, it is suffering from dementia now in its old age (about 18). Rather frighteningly though, it took down a fully adult deer when it was five. With very little perceived effort.

  191. Antiochus Epiphanes says

    Chigau, CC,OM: What about this utterly spoofable little gem? As children, this is the one that we would use to send my mother over the precipice.

    Peace is flowing like a river.
    Flowing out through you and me–.
    Spreading out into the de-sert.
    Setting all the captives free.

    Another game we would play is to come up with the funniest thing to say instead of “Amen” before receiving the Eucharist. I used to favor “hot damn” and “your mom”.

  192. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Had a thoroughly shitty night.

    I dreamed I was back in Cub Scouts.

    Not good.

    But, on the plus side, no olfactory illusions.

    I have this dream of not having dreams.

  193. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    On another positive note, my boots arrived. Very comfortable (I like high heels).

    Wife is now lobbying for a pair of chaps to go with the boots and cowboy hat.

  194. chigau (違う) says

    Ogvorbis
    You had a dream about Cub Scouts without smells?
    Most children I know stink.
    —
    Chaps, boots and cowboy hat.
    ohmy
    We may need to start another queueue…

  195. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    chigau:

    No.

    The dream about Cub Scouts was a nightmare.

    I often dream about the smells from the World Trade Center mass murder. Luckily, it didn’t happen last night on top of the Cub Scout nightmare.

  196. Ariaflame, BSc, BF, PhD says

    I always thought it was an Austrian that yodelled, not an ostrich.

    There was gravy, gravy, enough to feed the navy in the stooooore, in the stooore.

  198. chigau (違う) says

    Ogvorbis
    I usually have smells in my dreams.
    But they are unicorn farts compared to yours.
    Want some rum?

  199. says

    Lot of brouhaha lately over Ann Romney and “working” women. Everybody says the same thing about respecting the work that mothers do, that raising children is a difficult job. Democrats say it, Republicans say it.

    But Republicans make a mistake when they say their respect for stay-at-home moms erases the evidence that they are waging a war on women. Mitt Romney loves this argument. All he has to do is prop up Ann Romney and he thinks his views on women’s rights are acceptable.

    Romney’s mormon background is thoroughly anti-woman. Look at the LDS Church’s record on ERA.
    http://www.lds.org/ensign/1980/03/the-church-and-the-proposed-equal-rights-amendment-a-moral-issue?lang=eng

    The link above is an official mormon source. It is not anti-mormon, it is pro-mormon.
    Excerpt:

    Why is the ERA primarily a moral question?
    Court and administrative interpretations of the ERA could endanger time-honored moral values by challenging laws that have safeguarded the family and afforded women necessary protections and exemptions.

    That’s some prime mormon/patriarchal bullshit there.

    What would be the impact of the ERA on abortion?
    Any reasonable chance for reversing the accelerating trend of courts to grant abortion on demand would probably be eliminated. It could affect issues that have yet to be decided, such as whether parents of minors must be notified and whether government funds will be involved.

    What would be the impact of the ERA on homosexual marriages?
    Constitutional authorities indicate that passage of the ERA could extend legal protection to same-sex lesbian and homosexual marriages, giving legal sanction to the rearing of children in such homes….

    How would the ERA affect the family?
    The ERA could make it more difficult for wives and mothers to remain at home because it could require the removal of legal requirements that make a husband responsible for the support of his wife and children. It could place an added tax burden on the single-income family in order to attain Social Security benefits for the wife, and it could pose the threat of compulsory military service even for married women.

    What does the Church teach about the particular responsibilities of fathers and mothers?
    Our Creator has especially suited fathers and mothers, through physical and emotional differences, to fulfill their own particular parental responsibilities. Legislation that could blur those roles gives cause for concern….

    See, mormons are not anti-woman at all. It’s just that if you give women equal pay and the right to control their own bodies whole generations will be aborted and we the taxpayers will have to pay for it. And homosexuals will run rampant in the streets and will think they should have the right to raise children. And mothers will be prevented from choosing to stay home to raise their children. And married women will be required to fight our wars. And God will be very very angry.

    Mormons have all those bullshit reasons, but they don’t say what they really think, which is, “We must control women at all costs, otherwise we lose one of our main avenues to power. Oh, fuck, I am really afraid of women. Wait, erase that last bit. What I mean is that I am all in favor of protecting the morals of this great nation.”

    Morals have to do with standards of right and wrong. We believe that, for many social issues in contemporary society, God has given applicable moral standards of right and wrong. These time-proven principles are important to us as a religious people. Previous First Presidency statements have identified some of the areas where issues of morality are involved, such as failure of fathers to care for their families, elimination of statutory protection for women and children, problems resulting from women in the military, homosexual and lesbian activities, abortion, and similar concerns….

  200. says

    /bookmarks Caine’s link at #600

    Happy belated birthday, Kristinc!

    Also, Caine, looking at the profile of Kashmir Hill, who wrote that wonderful piece of internalized misogyny at Forbes about “Girls Around Me” — she used to be an editor at AboveTheLaw.com, a law student blog that is absolutely vile.

    “All Gawd’s Critters”… bleagh. I wasn’t raised any kind of xtian but I know that song because, years ago, I was into the folkie music scene, and there’s one well-known musician (Bill Staines) who covers it. Cloying as fuck.

  201. says

    Ms. Daisy Cutter:

    Also, Caine, looking at the profile of Kashmir Hill, who wrote that wonderful piece of internalized misogyny at Forbes about “Girls Around Me” — she used to be an editor at AboveTheLaw.com, a law student blog that is absolutely vile.

    I’m familiar with it, unfortunately. Gee, I am so not surprised. I really loathe this chill girl, handwavy sexism, as a manz will *always* pounce on it and present it triumphantly, as proof that X isn’t sexist at all, nope.

  202. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    “All Gawd’s Critters”… bleagh. I wasn’t raised any kind of xtian but I know that song because, years ago, I was into the folkie music scene, and there’s one well-known musician (Bill Staines) who covers it. Cloying as fuck.

    On one of my old cassettes (insert joke here) I had that song covered by Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers. They managed to make it a fun song, sans cloyingness.

  203. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Did someone send up a TrollFlare? Or is this Troll spawning season?

  204. says

    AAAAARRRRR!! (From here.)

    Caine:

    I really loathe this chill girl, handwavy sexism, as a manz will *always* pounce on it and present it triumphantly, as proof that X isn’t sexist at all, nope.

    Well, of course. It’s not like patriarchy is a societal system or anything; it’s The Battle Of The Sexes™, so If A Woman Says It, It Can’t Be Sexist. Also, wimminz is all a hive mind anyway, so one “Chill Girl” overrides 100 feminists.

  205. says

    Ogvorbis:

    Did someone send up a TrollFlare?

    Well, yeah. PZ’s away, he’s busy and he posted, in big, impossible to miss caps that he has the worst internet access ever.

  206. says

    Ms. Daisy Cutter:

    If A Woman Says It, It Can’t Be Sexist. Also, wimminz is all a hive mind anyway, so one “Chill Girl” overrides 100 feminists.

    Yep, ’cause a woman can’t possibly disagree with another woman. Trufax.

  208. Rey Fox says

    Good thing I went to a church full of old people and didn’t get this youth group stuff foisted on me. I just remember “Awesome God” from one time that I went to a friend’s youth group. Oh, and that god-awful “Louie Louie” parody. And maybe a few of the hymns from actual mass, like the “Eagle’s Wings” one above. “They’ll Know We Are Christians” was about the most contemporary thing they ever performed in that church.

  209. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Well, yeah. PZ’s away, he’s busy and he posted, in big, impossible to miss caps that he has the worst internet access ever.

    That’s good. I would hate to think that the Trollgasm is a mating/spawning fest. That would just be, er. Hmmm. What word implies the need for brain bleach?

  210. AshPlant says

    What word implies the need for brain bleach?

    NYAAARGHUUHNOOOO (n): A composite of several traditional cries, all used on discovering that which should not be seen, thought, or otherwise perceived.

  211. says

    More dirt on Invisible Children.

    In May 2007, Invisible Children’s CEO Ben Keesey, and IC’s Development Director Chris Sarette, submitted an application, which identified Invisible Children as a “ministry”, asking for support from the Barnabas Group — a politically far right-wing Christian nonprofit which helps cutting edge stealth ministry evangelizing efforts that target Jews and Muslims, youth, Hollywood, and even apartment dwellers around the globe.

    The Barnabas Group, which takes on only a small number of elite applicants per year from the Christian ministries that seek its support, accepted Invisible Children’s application. The Group assists such evangelizing efforts by networking them with Christian business leaders and entrepreneurs, and with Christian foundations…

    Judging by its stable of ministries – which, along with Invisible Children, also includes the Family Research Council, identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group, the Barnabas Group is dedicated to evangelizing, fighting LGBT rights, and advancing Christian supremacy worldwide.

    IC has claimed they’re unaffiliated with any church or other religious organization. The Truth Wins Out post has many more links documenting IC’s “stealth ministry nature.” Among the other Dominionist groups they’re tied to is The Family.

  212. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    Had a thoroughly shitty night.

    I dreamed I was back in Cub Scouts.

    Not good.

    :(
    *hugs to Og*
    I’m sorry.

  213. cm's changeable moniker says

    unaffiliated with any church

    Smells like “unaffiliated with any [one] church [in particular]” weaselling. (Apologies in advance to any Mustela reading this.)

  216. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    Waaah. I had trouble falling asleep, then had bad dreams (not nightmares, just unhappy dreams about being lost in a strange place and the only friend there with me disappearing), then woke up feeling sicker than I did yesterday. (Congested, coughing, body hurting a little from coughing.) This flu type thing is just no fun. Bleh. I can’t wait til it’s over.

  219. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Punk Duckie Update. Much better photo.

    No safety pin or piercing in the beak?

    Looks good. Odd. And good.

  221. opposablethumbs says

    Extra {{hugs}} to Og and Cassandra, for nightmares/nearly-nightmares-with-being-ill, and wishing you proper rest and/or recuperation respectively.

  224. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    :(
    *hugs to Og*
    I’m sorry.

    I’m hoping it is a one-off. I would hate to have that one put into the rotation with the ones from WTC.

  226. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Um…there’s a silver ring in the beak.

    Sorry. I didn’t see that at the computer I was on. It’s amazing how a building with almost nothing but windows can make it hard to see details.

    Looks good. Still weird, but in a really good way.

  228. says

    Ogvorbis:

    Still weird, but in a really good way.

    Well, I’m going for weird. And odd. Can’t have a little Darkheart going around with the same baby quilt as those other babies.

  229. opposablethumbs says

    The spawn used to have a few lovely t-shirts when they were between months-old and toddler-age – skulls-and-crossbones, bats, spiders’ webs … they were my favourites ::sigh::

    I had a bit of an intransigent phase, and quietly disposed of anything pink anyone gave us. I know it’s largely a reaction, but I was buggered if I was going to live with pink baby-or-child-clothes when I didn’t have to. No baby-boy combat fatigues either. Argh, why do people have to make gendered baby-clothes at all? It’s not like the babies actually have different clothing needs, ffs.

  230. says

    “Why Women Shouldn’t Wear Pants,” comes from a scary place, the mind of religious nutter and misogynist David Stewart.

    http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/Porno/pants_on_women.htm

    Excerpt:

    In fact, many people today think it’s perfectly normal and acceptable for women to dress whorish to arouse men, with no consideration for the sexual sins caused by their evil influence. Woman who purposely dress immodestly are guilty of idolatry. She is placing her own will above God’s Word, making herself to be a god, and is causing men to worship her body instead of God. It is evil.

    I think this is a Baptist website, which makes a change from the mormons. But not enough of a change. Mormons don’t want women to wear pants to church. Apparently, we women can destroy the patriarchy simply by wearing pants to fundie churches.

  231. says

    Is he saying that women wearing pants are too sexy? I thought the claim was that it was “mannish”. Can’t they keep their story straight?
    –

    For the Joss Whedon fans – I saw Cabin in the Woods today, and it is hilarious*. Just – whatever you do – don’t let yourself get spoilered.
    –

    *Note
    Hilarious, also gory.

  233. says

    Lynna,

    In fact, many people today think it’s perfectly normal and acceptable for women to dress whorish to arouse men, with no consideration for the sexual sins caused by their evil influence.

    Jesus, I hate people.

    Wouldn’t this make more sense* if we replaced “pants” with “miniskirts” or something? I would think that pants just confused the rigid gender roles that these fuckers are in love with.

    *For a very twisted definition of “sense”.

  234. says

    If you’re talking Baptists and pants/trousers on women, it all comes down to one thing: you can tell women have legs in those things! Gasp! Also, there’s that *fork in the legs area*. Big no-no.

  237. Sili says

    Is he saying that women wearing pants are too sexy? I thought the claim was that it was “mannish”. Can’t they keep their story straight?

    Ah, but what you forget, is that gay sex is just so damn seductive, that you just can’t help thinking about it.

    So by dressing like men all those whore-women make fine, upstanding Christian men want to rape them, because they look like sexy, sexy twinks.

  239. says

    In fact, many people today think it’s perfectly normal and acceptable for women to dress whorish to arouse men, with no consideration for the sexual sins caused by their evil influence.

    “Please, pretty lady, don’t make me play with my private parts again!”

  240. cm's changeable moniker says

    What the hell kind of pants expose your thigh?

    Hotpants.

    This has been Saturday’s edition of simple answers to easy questions. :)

  241. opposablethumbs says

    Or they just think that tight trousers “expose the thighs” because you can actually, you know, see the outline of someone’s leg under the cloth ….? Makes about as much sense as the rest of that crap, I suppose.

  243. opposablethumbs says

    … like Caine said, you can tell women have legs!!!!1!!!elebenty!!1! Oh, the horror. There aren’t enough pearls in the world …

  245. says

    Yep, Caine was exactly right. Another gem from the article (quoting a “godly woman”):

    “Modest” means not extreme or bold, and not morally loose. Those can apply to pants, yes; but when I have on a pair of pants, I don’t feel that my body is covered. Pants are form-fitting, thus exposing my body.

    Obviously, these people have never heard of Hammer pants.

  247. cm's changeable moniker says

    Hammer Pants

    Please tell me they’re motorised and do the dance on their own ….

  249. ibyea says

    @Lynna
    Basically, women are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. The only way in that guy’s mind that women could not be “whorish” is if women stopped existing.

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

    That Stewart guy is so screwy it’s not worth trying to figure out how he’s lived this long without keeling over from shock at everything around him.
    ———————————————-

    Punk Duckie is cute! I love the piercing through the beak!
    ———————————————-

    No Hammer Pants for me. No, I don’t care if you’re paying me money to dance in them, or just parade in front of a camera while wearing them. No. Hammer. Pants.
    ————————————————

    I hate when my period starts the same week I’m supposed to see J. He was feeling ill, though, so I guess it worked out. I swear both of us have been sick more times this year than I can count, and that’s including days when we were fighting colds and going to work anyway.
    ————————————————-

    Mom’s found a great alternative to Quaker oats: McCann’s Irish Oatmeal. We both had some this morning. Nice taste and texture. Really didn’t need to add anything, although I tend to like my oatmeal with milk so I added a bit. I think the spoonful of jam actually overpowered the oats, so next time, no jam.

  251. Sili says

    I hate when my period starts the same week I’m supposed to see J.

    Note to self: Stop letting your privilege show. Not everyone on the Internet is male.

  252. Catnip, Not a Polymath says

    Is he saying that women wearing pants are too sexy? I thought the claim was that it was “mannish”. Can’t they keep their story straight?

    One godbot’s sexy minx is another godbot’s butch lesbian.

    If you hadn’t gone & eaten that bloody apple, everything wold be fine.

  253. says

    “Please, pretty lady, don’t make me play with my private parts again!”

    [/Jerry Lewis]

    FIFY.

    I worked with Mr. Lewis once. Doing ADR for Wise Guy. Like the other successful comedians I’ve worked with, he’s an extremely serious person.

  256. says

    Audley:

    Poor MC Hammer.

    Any jackass who has a temper tantrum at the Kentucky Derby, claiming the reason their horse didn’t win is because they’re black? They deserve whatever they get.

  258. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    I tried to read some of danielhaven’s posts and my brain melted and now I can’t do any more work.
    :C

  259. 'Tis Himself says

    ibyea #775

    Personally, I think it would lead to further starvation of the average people without affecting the regime. At the same time, I want to check my opinions and see if this is the correct conclusion to take from this.

    Looking at the linked article, the five guys in the photo haven’t been missing too many meals.

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

    One godbot’s sexy minx is another godbot’s butch lesbian.

    See? These twits can’t even agree on that one little point! And they think they’re fit to tell the rest of the world how to live and what to think.
    ————————————————

    I don’t . . . being black = reason why my horse didn’t win? Does he think someone drugged the horse before the call to post? Or is this just another example of someone being an ass?
    ————————————————

    ibeyea: I’m not sure how to take the news of the sanctions myself. I can see why it would be used to pressure the people in power, but it’s hurting the same people we’re supposed to help. I’m not aware of any way the food aid could be gotten into the country without going through official channels, though. I wonder if money would be a better option, so that the general population can buy what they need. Unless that also needs official approval, in which case, matters aren’t looking good for anyone.

  261. says

    PTI:

    I don’t . . . being black = reason why my horse didn’t win? Does he think someone drugged the horse before the call to post? Or is this just another example of someone being an ass?

    It was a long time ago. I think it might have been a photo finish, which had to go to the judges. When the winner was announced (not the Hammer family horse), Hammer, his brother and his father all stood up and started yelling, walked into the ring cussing their heads off and tried to assault the judges. They were escorted out of the derby. They claimed the judges didn’t name their horse because they were black and there weren’t any other black people in horse racing. It was utterly cringeworthy.

  262. 'Tis Himself says

    PTI #760

    I wonder if money would be a better option, so that the general population can buy what they need. Unless that also needs official approval, in which case, matters aren’t looking good for anyone.

    Three problems with this:

    1. The money would go through official channels and get siphoned by the autocrats running North Korea.

    b. The average North Korean can’t go to Stop & Shop and buy 1000 won worth of groceries. North Korea’s agricultural economy doesn’t produce enough food to feed the population and the country doesn’t have enough foreign currency to buy the necessary food abroad.

    iii. The hardware necessary to build missiles and nuclear weapons is expensive. Given a choice between feeding the populace and building missiles, Kim Jong-Un and his merrie men have shown they’re more interested in missiles. Remember, just about all North Korea can do is threaten other countries in hopes of getting bribed not to carry out the threats.

  265. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Is it wrong that I want Hothead Paisan, Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist, to go after those people who are spreading that meme?

  266. cm's changeable moniker says

    ibyea, it seems to be a non-change:

    Since early 2009, the United States has provided virtually no aid to North Korea. In late February 2012, after bilateral talks with the United States, North Korea announced a moratorium on long-range missile launches, nuclear tests, and nuclear activities (including uranium enrichment) at its Yongbyon nuclear facilities. It also said it would allow international nuclear inspectors to return to North Korea. The United States announced it would provide North Korea with 240,000 metric tons (MT) of food aid. However, two and a half week later, the agreement appeared in jeopardy after North Korea announced that in April it would launch a satellite, […] In 2008 and 2009, the United States shipped about a third of a planned 500,000 MT food aid pledge before disagreements with the North Korean government led to the program’s cessation.

    http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40095.pdf

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

    Things I should not do while drunk:
    -laundry
    -dishes
    -flamewars on Facebook.

    But yet, all three have happened in the past 24 hours.

  269. says

    Uurggh, English, you’re doing it wrong, wrong, wrong – there are stupid little peppy phrases on my cough drop wrapper. One of them is:

    Turn “can do” into “can did!”

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

    Turn “can do” into “can did!”

    …what?

    DIVIDE BY ZERO

  275. says

    Audley:

    Are they Halls, by any chance?

    Oh yes. Stupid, very stupid.

    Esteleth:

    …what?

    See above.

    Kemist:

    I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.

    That was in my head as I typed. I just wish it was an actual option.

  276. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Caine, you need to make a pizza delivery to I C Weiner. It should be possible to leave the planet after that.

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

    In other news, the first degree burn I got on my hand the other day from the oven has progressed to blisters that broke open bloody.

    WOO!

  278. says

    Janine:

    Caine, you need to make a pizza delivery to I C Weiner. It should be possible to leave the planet after that.

    I don’t have the money to move to New York, track down Panucci’s Pizza and get a job as a delivery boy!

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

    In other news, I really should buy some oven mitts.

  281. says

    Lynna OM

    Apparently, we women can destroy the patriarchy simply by wearing pants to fundie churches.

    If only this were true! I’d got to church every Sunday – maybe even to two churches!

  284. says

    Esteleth, that burn sounds painful!

    Ms. Daisy and Caine (re revolting “cartoon” meme) sometimes these things make me want to curl up on the couch and never get up again.

    But then I say “Eff that” (yes, I think “Eff” in a little thought bubble in my head because “Eff”makes me laugh and dog knows I need to laugh!), and start doing what I can to push back against that garbage.

  285. says

    niftyatheist:

    But then I say “Eff that” (yes, I think “Eff” in a little thought bubble in my head because “Eff”makes me laugh and dog knows I need to laugh!), and start doing what I can to push back against that garbage.

    I know, I know. However, I’ve been a feminist for 35+ years and I. Am. So. Damn. Weary.

  286. Josh, OSG, Abortia N'ondemande says

    Thread ‘rupt.

    Oh. My. God. I spent today roofing the back of my house after discovering leaks onto my back porch. So. Fucking. Sore. Hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-hate-hate this job.

    Put my foot through a portion, thus discovering rotted decking. Had to cut plywood to fit and replace. Then discovered more. Tomorrow have to patch the last section that rotted out. No fucking wonder roofers get paid so much.

  287. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Josh: Back when I was doing construction and demolition/renovation, I heard a few roofing stories.

    One was a young guy who was measuring something walking backwards, and simply walked right off the roof.

    The really disturbing one was about a native dude carrying two buckets of hot tar, who tripped and instinctively put his hands forward to break his fall. He stood up, and flapped his arms a bit to get the hot tar off.

    The guys who told me the story didn’t know the term ‘degloving’, but that’s pretty much exactly what happened. I specifically mention that he was a native, because apparently immediately after it happened his hands and forearms were white as paper.

    I don’t want to ever be a roofer. Though the ‘jack of all trades’ nature of the job I was doing at the time ensured that eventually, I found myself on a steep roof lugging buckets of tar around.

    Though with one of the few employers I’ve ever liked or trusted, one who I know would do everything within his human power to make sure nothing terrible happened to me up there. I might also add that I’m exceedingly lucky that they were my first employers, because I somehow doubt any of the other assholes I ever worked for would have made such a point of telling me I have the legal right to refuse any work that makes me feel unsafe and they cant (and won’t) fire me for it.

  288. Josh, OSG, Abortia N'ondemande says

    Coyote- “Degloving. . . .” hideous shiver. Ugh.

    Yeah, I fucking hate it. I have a strong irrational phobia of heights which makes getting up there all the more miserable. Have to psych myself up to walk backward down the ladder to get off the roof. Sigh. But it has to be done and I’ll be damned if I’ll drain my savings to pay someone else to do it

  290. Pteryxx says

    North Texas SSC went very well. It has now devolved into a house party of about 30 happy, proud, mostly drunk Texas SSA students. ♥

  292. ibyea says

    @Josh
    Ugh. I hate going up ladders. Three steps up, and I already feel like it is going to be too much for me.

    I guess the only thing I can give you is a pep talk. You can do it!!! ^_^

  293. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    I feel safer climbing when I remember to make like the orangutan- try to always have three limbs on something if you can.

  294. says

    My, my. The comment was from this little slice of idiocy.

    So-called “deconversion stories” is like listening to a criminal justify himself. Criminals have many reasons for the things they do and many explanations for why it is really somebody else’s fault. With all sincerity they tell their sad stories and absolutely none of it is true – they are just blind and self-deluded. If you follow them you are wicked because you are lying against the Creator. Most “atheists” are men – a woman usually has more sense because she has a womb and understands intuitively that the only life brings life. A moron atheist things a space gave birth to a rock that gave birth to people. The absurdity of it not only denies God, it denies life itself and equates dead inanimate objects with living things. Women also understand intuitively that we are not independent – every child needs to be nursed and nurtured. Atheist dummies imagine man has no need of nurture and blessing from God. You have a soul and a spirit and you need God. You have fallen into a tough time of doubt, but God is still God. He doesn’t need to explain himself to you (Job 33:13), you simply need to make a decision that you will just trust him – you know you can do that because he loves you and died to save you. That’s called faith, and that’s your job. Being God is his job.

  296. says

    Caine, oh I hear you! (50 year old feminist here) I get so tired, too. Some days I can’t believe that we are back to fighting the abortion/contraception fight again. :( Ugh.

    Josh, darn that sounds like a crummy job! But a leak is a nightmare, so fix you must. Here’s hoping it goes well (and quickly!). Good for you, tackling it yourself!

    We repaired a leaky hose in the fridge, fixed a shower door (Mr Nifty did those), pulled a mountain of weeds and planted a bunch of lily of the valley pips our neighbor brought over (that was my project today) and I wrote a blog post I’m happy with, even though I wasn’t planning to write much today after yesterday’s slow effort.

  297. says

    P.S. Oh FFS, the very thing I meant to say, I forgot!

    Josh, I think ti is perfectly RATIONAL to have a healthy fear of heights. Holy jumping jupiter reindeer, what sensible creature would NOT be afraid on a pitched roof when falling/sliding off means almost certain injury? No, nope – your fear is perfectly reasonable. You’ll take the necessary precautions, you’ll grin and bear it and you’ll get the damn roof repaired – but there’s nothing that says you have to enjoy it!!

  298. Nutmeg says

    Pteryxx: Yay! Enjoy the celebration.

    ***

    *grumble* April is not my favourite time of year. I can’t find anyone to go camping with because almost all of my friends are in the field, I’m not in the field because my permits haven’t been approved yet, and my study critters keep dying when I can’t go collect more. Is it obvious that I would pretty much kill to be in the back-country right now?

    /biology grad student problems

    And I’m cranky because I have to go to a wedding social next weekend. I hate parties full of people I don’t know. And this one will include a large number of drunk rugby guys and people who don’t understand that I don’t dance.

    I wish I could show up in my hunting clothes to scare off the guys. But apparently my “fuck off and die” stare does that even when I’m wearing a dress, so I should be all good. Maybe I’ll just strap a knife to my sparkly silver belt. Except the bride would kill me, so I’ll have to behave. *more grumbling*

    I just want to take some of the 8-10 people whose company I actually enjoy and go sit around a campfire somewhere and make smores. Is that too much to ask?

  299. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    I hear you Nutmeg… I haven’t been back that long and I already miss the backcountry.

  300. Nutmeg says

    On a more cheerful note, I went for a walk today and found 8 geocaches. I also saw a hermit thrush, a northern flicker, and some western meadowlarks, and I heard sandhill cranes.

  302. Josh, OSG, Abortia N'ondemande says

    Niftyatheist:

    Josh, I think ti is perfectly RATIONAL to have a healthy fear of heights.

    Thanks babe. But I’m way nuttier than that. Back porch roof is barely 8 feet off the ground. It’s just that it’s so. . .unconnected to a staircase or other solid matter. I freak out on escalators that hang in mid-air in shopping centers. . .the ones that have no walls on either side and just rise up several stories in the open air. Jeezis christ, why do they build those!?

    And glass elevators? Fuck. You. Why are you trying to terrify me?

  303. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Are northern flickers the ones we get in BC Nutmeg?

    I’ve been referring to them as Red Shafted Flickers all this time due to the coloring.

    As for the meadowlark, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before.

  304. Josh, OSG, Abortia N'ondemande says

    But yeah. I’m gonna get that roof done for sure; won’t let height phobia stop a job that needs completed ASAP.

  306. Nutmeg says

    TLC: Red-shafted and yellow-shafted flickers are different subspecies of northern flicker. I’m in MB, and we have the yellow-shafted subspecies here. I don’t know if there are meadowlarks west of the Rockies. You’d see them in open field habitat if there were.

    Josh: If it makes you feel any better, I can’t stand on a chair and jump off. Heights are freaking scary.

  308. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Nutmeg: Ah, I see. Then I’ve been correct thus far. While I wouldn’t call those wing feathers ‘red’, I’d say they’re definitely not yellow.

  309. chigau (違う) says

    I saw bees a couple of weeks ago.
    I expect they went back into the leaf-litter when it started to snow.
    Again.

  311. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    I’ve been seeing quite a few bees this spring too, come to think of it. Bumble and honey.

  313. chigau (違う) says

    Alethea H. Claw
    It’s Sunday there, right?
    Are y’all going to church now?

  314. Nutmeg says

    Rey Fox: Unfortunately, I can’t identify my study critters here, as it would pretty much give away what lab I’m in. I don’t mind too much if anyone I know in real life lurks here and has figured out who I am (Hi there!), but I don’t want to make it too easy for others to Google me.

    Let’s just say that I study annoying little critters that keep dying for reasons I can’t figure out.

  315. says

    Alethea:

    GAC just ending. It was awesome.

    Oh, I wish I could have heard PZ’s talk. It must have been amazing. Just reading it, I had tears in my eyes and was laughing at the same time.

  316. says

    @Ms. Daisy Cutter

    “Women Take a Beating Online.” An extremely triggering cartoon depicting violence against women has become a “meme.”

    I hate everything.

    That exact same horrid meme came up in the middle of a YouTube video about Mega Man X that JT Eberhard (WWJTD) posted today–a video he described as “upbeat”. Ugh.

  317. says

    Aratina Cage:

    That exact same horrid meme came up in the middle of a YouTube video about Mega Man X that JT Eberhard (WWJTD) posted today–a video he described as “upbeat”.

    :shakes head: I expect better from JT.

  319. says

    @Caine
    Truly. It’s like these things are invisible to a lot of people or something. I mean: Yeah, yeah, whiny annoying video tutorial person got violently rebuked. Over-the-top violence→ha ha, right? (Of course, that person just happens to be a woman. Hmmm…!) But if you watch it, it is the same meme with the woman getting her face punched in by a man and blood flying. For a Mega Man review!

  320. Therrin says

    Turn “can do” into “can did!”

    It’s obviously telling you to get into opera. -.-

  321. Therrin says

    I wish the pagination was set for #600, not #800. My wireless is not up to the job of loading loooong threads.

    Could try the mobile version of the site for long threads, it’s pretty close to just text (might need a separate browser for it to keep others regular).

  322. says

    Good morning
    Yuck, caught the little one’s eye infection. Fortunately I can use her eye-drops, too.

    So now more about the holidays.
    We went to the Alasace region in France as every year, but this years witout my parents and that was soooo goooood.
    Weather was a bit cold, but not too cold or wet and it cured Mr. from his ideas about going camping in winter :)
    #1 finally took to her running bike (a bike without pedals, quite popular in Germany for smaller children that teaches them to keep their balance) and I really took to the inline skaters. They are a lot of fun and let me feel my body, but not my weight.
    One day we did a trip to Basel Zoo (and paid the full Autobahn Maut for all of Switzerland for a full year for a distance of 200m. I told Mr. to take the country road instead but he didn’t heed…)
    Uploaded some of the pics here

  323. says

    You people piss me off! You were earlier filling the thread with bible-based earworms and don’t expect the worst to happen? Well, here’s my retribution! You shall all perish…the thought of not singing along to this next time you hear a thumper humming the refrain:

    What is the deal with the man on the crucifixie-fixie
    What kind of message is it nailing people to a sticksie-sticksie
    Thinking I should get up and out of the mixie-mixie
    Now I’m a member of the horde

    My worst doubts appeared with a priest in the darkey-darkey
    Holy fuckin’ shit, what’s that priest doing in the darkey-darkey
    Feels like I’m swimmin’ all alone here with a sharkey-sharkey
    Now I’m a member of the horde

    That deviant in a dress hit my faith right out of the parkey-parkey
    I’m not a credulous dupe nor want to be an easy markey-markey
    Now I’m certain it is all a big fat load of malarkey-larkey
    Now I’m a member of the horde.

    Learned about space-time, black holes and the quarkey, quarkey
    Learned about Darwin, Wallace and even Lamarckey, marckey
    Made my mind so much less obtuse, ossified and starkey, starkey
    Now I’m a member of the horde

    What morons are people like Hamm, Donahoe, Behe and Gishie-Gishie
    Kneeling down, hands clasped and make them a wishy-wishy
    Sodding lot can piss off and just stuff their Jesus-fishy-fishy
    Now I’m a member of the horde

    You were expecting maybe Noah and his arky-arky?
    Nothing to do but crap out this song on a larkey-larkey
    Angle bracket, forward slash and end of the snarkey-snarkey
    Now I’m a member of the horde
    Member of the
    Member of the
    Horde (tum-te-tum)

  324. rorschach says

    GAC finished. Scary Muslim bots were scary. Sad Christian bots were sad. PZ was firey, ACG statemanly, everyone seems to think Sam Harris is goodlooking in a “want to have sex with” kind of way, I talked to, of all people, Dave Silverman and Russell Blackford last night, so yeah, it was interesting, but 2010 was better.

  325. says

    Rorschach @24:

    What was the deal with the Muslim bots? I would like to hear the details of what happened. If screaming empty-heads are going to become a regular thing at skeptic events (similar in that book unveiling vid a month or two back) I would like to have an idea of what their general MO is. It would be good for event organizers to be ready for things like that with a prepared and appropriate security response.

  326. rorschach says

    Oh, and it was great to catch up with cowcakes, echidna, wowbagger, charlie foxtrot and phasic once again !

    First job tomorrow morning, cancel my membership with the Atheist Foundation of Australia. Then, somewhat to my dismay, actual work for income, while PZ goes off debating Chris Stedman with Leslie Cannold. Would have loved to see that.

  327. rorschach says

    What was the deal with the Muslim bots

    ?

    About 10 male angry passionate and zealous Muslims(by the way, of very different racial backgrounds, from Malaysian/Indonesian to Chinese to Arab, from what I could tell, so much for the accusations of critique of Islam being racially motivated) appeared during the lunch break today, with placards asking for the death of Ajaan Hirsi Ali and telling us we will all go to hell if we dont submit to Islam. You can find pics of this under the #atheistcon hashtag, or on FB from the atheistalliance, I’m sure, I’ve got a few on my phone, might be able to upload them to twitter later. Anyway, essentially the atheist crowd was mostly cool, they chanted “where are the women”, “Infidel” and sang “always look at the bright side of life” at them, 2 guys kissed in front of them, teenage girls went up for shits and giggles and posed in front of them, it would all have been rather hilarious and making our point for us, if it hadn’t been so damn scary to see these zealots, and to realise that they actually do want to kill a person in the convention centre building.

  328. A. R says

    rorschach: That’s quite scary. I’ve only once had to deal with an angry crowd of fundie Muslims, and that was when I was visiting the UK a few years ago. Not a pleasant experience.

  329. says

    Found a few minutes of video of them on the source of all thing video (YuToob). I see the convention center hired some blue-suited heavies to take care of altercations.

    Ajaan Hirsi Ali must have been scheduled to speak on Sunday or else the Muslim protesters wouldn’t have been there just the one day.

    What was immensely refreshing to see was the size of the protest group. A dozen, compared to 4K conference attendees. Westboro Baptist protests makes them seem a massive throng.

  331. rorschach says

    There was a tribute to Hitchens on the final day today, I didn’t go because I hate crying in public, but I will have a JW Black now to honor the man, and to give the convention a fitting end. Cheers.

  332. says

    Janine:

    Is it wrong that I want Hothead Paisan, Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist, to go after those people who are spreading that meme?

    No. I think Dianne DiMassa needs to reboot Hothead for the internet age. When she’s done taking out whoever drew that cartoon, she can go after Ian MacDougall and Matt Westwood in this thread. What patriarchy? Women only look pretty to please each other and to manipulate straight menz. “Anyone arguing otherwise is deluded or lying.” If you need to blame any man whatsoever, blame teh gheyz, who want all women to look like boys, because we all know teh gheyz want to fuck young boys.

    Aratina:

    That exact same horrid meme came up in the middle of a YouTube video about Mega Man X that JT Eberhard (WWJTD) posted today–a video he described as “upbeat”. Ugh.

    …. what. WHAT.

    Just left him a comment.

    Sally:

    I always got a weird, self-satisfied smug vibe from him.

    Me too. With a sense of pride at being “politically incorrect,” whether he actually uses that phrase or not (I don’t read him that often).

    Caine:

    I know, I know. However, I’ve been a feminist for 35+ years and I. Am. So. Damn. Weary.

    Which is completely intentional.

    “They want to neutralize the vote. They don’t care about winning voters, they want to make them feel so angry and disenfranchised that they choose to stay home and not participate in such a corrupt system.”
    — Democratic state delegate

    Speaking of misogyny, I’ve been reading the comments to this post mocking “Dr. Helen” Smith, wife of Glenn “Instapundit” Reynolds, who caters to a really foul MRA crowd. Among the zingers are “There’s a reason one of the kids in The He-Man Woman Haters Club was named ‘Spanky'” and “These guys traded their Y chromosome for a Y ME? chromosome.”

    Josh:

    Put my foot through a portion, thus discovering rotted decking.

    Oh, shit. So glad you didn’t fall. And I agree that fear of heights is entirely rational. I’m OK with escalators and glass elevators, myself, but eight feet off the ground without any walls and with a slope would give me the shakes, too.

    TLC: I found out about “degloving” from a friend whose elderly mother was holding one of the household cats when the cat freaked out over something and tried to flee… with its claws hooked into the (very wrinkled) skin of the mother’s hand. {{{shudder}}}

    Idiot that Caine quoted:

    Most “atheists” are men – a woman usually has more sense because she has a womb and understands intuitively that the only life brings life. A moron atheist things a space gave birth to a rock that gave birth to people. The absurdity of it not only denies God, it denies life itself and equates dead inanimate objects with living things. Women also understand intuitively that we are not independent – every child needs to be nursed and nurtured.

    AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. As I said a while back in response to something else, it’s a Russian nesting doll of derp.

    Nutmeg: I misunderstood you to mean you’d be wearing a sparkly silver garter with a knife strapped to it, and you’d give some pushy asshole a peek to warn him off. I obviously need to go back to bed.

  333. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Fucking nightmares are back. I hate olfactory hallucinations. I really do.

    I’ve come, however, to associate those three smells with religion. Appropriate.

    Is he saying that women wearing pants are too sexy? I thought the claim was that it was “mannish”. Can’t they keep their story straight?

    They are afraid that, if they see a woman looking like a man and then become discernably turgid, they are only one step away from ‘turning gay.’

    You got to be a macho, macho man!

    Sorry; couldn’t resist!

    You should have.

    Though I do have YMCA on my Zen.

    Yep, you’re supposed to be a good Prairie Muffin.

    *Yes, I still fall over laughing at ‘prairie muffin’.

    I once, while running to second in a cow pasture softball game, fell into a prairie muffin.

    Some years ago, I stopped at Wegmans to pick up thick sliced corned beef, fresh sauerkraut (kinda like jumbo shrimp), some good Swiss cheese, and some really good marbled rye baked from the in-store bakery. I’m was looking forward to a really good Reuben.

    While walking from the deli to the bakery, I noticed that I was being watched. A little girl was staring at me. Cute as a button: blond hair in braids over the top of her head, pink cheeks, Little House on the Prairie dress. Basically, a pre-pubescent prairie muffin. I caught myself stereotyping her and her father as right wing religious types. Bad Ogvorbis. Bad.

    She continued to stare at me as long as I was in view. I checked the sushi, but no veggie rolls for Girl, so then to the checkout.

    All my goods were on the belt, and, lo and behold, the little girl and her dad got in line behind me. I could hear her talking to her daddy.

    “Is he, Daddy?” she asked. “Do you think he is? Huh? Do you?”

    Daddy smiled. “Well, honey, you could be polite and ask him.”

    “Okay.” She turned to me. “Excuse me, sir? Are you a cowboy?”

    I smiled. There I stood in my faded jeans, wide leather belt with a turquoise and wood inlay belt buckle, a western-style shirt, straw Stetson, and a circle beard, so I could understand the question (that hat (well, that style of hat) has garnered some strange comments over the years). “No. I’m a ranger.”

    Her face flushed. Her eyes goggled. Her jaw dropped. Then, in a voice dripping with awe, said, “Wow. I really . . . . Wow.”

    Daddy came to her rescue. “Our whole family just loves Chuck Norris, so meeting a real ranger, well . . . .”

    I kept my smile. Okay, so my stereotype was right on. “No. I’m a little different. I’m one of those liberal tree-hugging park rangers.” I didn’t even have to add that I’m an atheist to get a perfect reaction.

    Daddy’s smile turned to a full-face frown. “Oh.” he said. Then he grabbed his little meadow muffin by the shoulder, turned her around, and the two of them went to a longer line. Behind a little old lady with a full cart and a large hand full of coupons.

    I carefully removed my glasses and performed a perfect face palm.

    And people wonder why I wear a cowboy hat.

    I tried to read some of danielhaven’s posts and my brain melted and now I can’t do any more work.

    If we could put that essence in pill form it could be truly safe hallucinogenic.

    cartoon depicting violence against women has become a “meme.”

    Remember, folks, misogyny is a false accusation created by feminists. Sexism doesn’t exist.

    And I want to resign from humanity. Now.

    Turn “can do” into “can did!”

    Can I turn a ‘can do’ into Candide?

    Caine, you need to make a pizza delivery to I C Weiner. It should be possible to leave the planet after that.

    When I delivered pizzas in Hagerstown, one of our regulars was Peter Jackov. And every time we had a new driver, we had to patiently explain that he’s a really nice guy, thick Russian accent, and tips quite well (he always ordered a large thin crust pizza with mushrooms and anchovies (and the fact that I can remember that from 25 years ago scares me)).

    Touch me, I’m sick!

    Touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me, I want to be diiiirty!
    Thrill me, chill me, fulfill, me! Creature of the night!

    Put my foot through a portion, thus discovering rotted decking. Had to cut plywood to fit and replace. Then discovered more. Tomorrow have to patch the last section that rotted out. No fucking wonder roofers get paid so much

    Wife and I refer to this as ‘old house syndrome’ — you start fixing one thing, only to discover something even worse. I once began regrouting around our bathtub and ended up replacing the floor and the walls.

  334. says

    There I stood in my faded jeans, wide leather belt with a turquoise and wood inlay belt buckle, a western-style shirt, straw Stetson, and a circle beard, so I could understand the question (that hat (well, that style of hat) has garnered some strange comments over the years).

    I like your style, Oggie. :)

  335. rorschach says

    10kb/sec on this 9.95.- for 2 hours Hilton hotel internet connection. Ridiculous. Downloading my roster took 3 minutes. Fix it, Hilton.

  336. says

    Women also understand intuitively that we are not independent – every child needs to be nursed and nurtured.

    And those with some sense (as well as the men) understand that the goal is that the children become actual independent adults.
    Now, I have no idea what that idiot was getting at except some lala-yadda-yadda-flowers-are-blooming-ain’t-it-incredible-therefore-god, but this “god the father” is one of those ideas that bug me most about goddists (is that part of the muslim version as well?)
    If god were a father, he’s one of the shittiest and most abusive parents ever.
    You’re never allowed to grow up.
    You’re fully responsible for what you do, yet you get no credit.
    I let my kids bruise their knees, he lets his break their necks.
    Love is absolutely conditional.

    +++++

    with placards asking for the death of Ajaan Hirsi Ali and telling us we will all go to hell if we dont submit to Islam.

    I hope somebody files a police report.
    Because death threats are not free speech, they’re death threats.

  338. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    I like your style, Oggie. :)

    Style? I have no style. None at all. Zero. I mean, I’m so unhip it’s a wonder me legs don’t fall off.

    this “god the father” is one of those ideas that bug me most about goddists (is that part of the muslim version as well?)

    All the Abrahamic religions see gods as male — Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

    If god were a father, he’s one of the shittiest and most abusive parents ever.

    But he is hurting his children out of love. And if they don’t obey, he’ll punish them for eternity out of love. Isn’t that what fatherly love is supposed to be? (certainly not in my house, but, y’know, for believers?)

    You’re never allowed to grow up.

    Grownups think for themselves. Grownups understand things like scams, ponzi schemes, and unenforceable contracts. And the churches don’t want that. They want gullible peons who are guilted into whatever the hierarchy wants to support the meagre lifestyle of all priests, imams, pastors, rabbis, etc.

    You’re fully responsible for what you do, yet you get no credit.

    Well, if people think that they can actually do anything, help people, make the world a better place, there’d be no room for the churches, temples and mosques. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?

  339. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Ogvorbis, this is Touch Me, I’m Sick. Not a scene from Rocky Horror.

    I realize that. I was allowing my mind to free associate. Sorry. It will happen again.

  341. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Silly Og. Being unhip is the new hip.

    Damn. Well, I guess I need to buy me some Izod Gator shirts, some button-down-collar pin-striped shirts, some chinos and some penny loafers. I prefer to be out of style (and usually succeed).

    And yet Girl calls me a hipster. And would probably continue to if I went preppy.

    I don’t understand.

  343. FossilFishy says

    If anyone is feeling like their coat is getting dull and matted and their fangs blunt, there’s a shithead going by the nym of Philo on the latest Why I’m an Atheist post. Xe’s insisting that hir idea of what those post should be like is the only correct way. And despite PZ’s speech inspiring me to do more of the heavy lifting it’s 1am here and I must away to bed.

  344. says

    Liberals and conservatives don’t just vote differently. They think differently.

    Or so an article in the Washington Post explains.

    Excerpt:

    Now consider another related trait implicated in our divide over reality: the “need for cognitive closure.” This describes discomfort with uncertainty and a desire to resolve it into a firm belief. Someone with a high need for closure tends to seize on a piece of information that dispels doubt or ambiguity, and then freeze, refusing to consider new information. Those who have this trait can also be expected to spend less time processing information than those who are driven by different motivations, such as achieving accuracy.

    A number of studies show that conservatives tend to have a greater need for closure than do liberals, which is precisely what you would expect in light of the strong relationship between liberalism and openness. “The finding is very robust,” explained Arie Kruglanski, a University of Maryland psychologist who has pioneered research in this area and worked to develop a scale for measuring the need for closure.

    I wonder if this “greater need for closure” is related to an underdeveloped, or even atrophied, part of the brain.

  346. Matt Penfold says

    If anyone is feeling like their coat is getting dull and matted and their fangs blunt, there’s a shithead going by the nym of Philo on the latest Why I’m an Atheist post. Xe’s insisting that hir idea of what those post should be like is the only correct way. And despite PZ’s speech inspiring me to do more of the heavy lifting it’s 1am here and I must away to bed.

    I think there must be a home for the arrogantly insane where the staff have taken a day off. This blog seems especially troubled with arrogant half-wits today.

  347. Matt Penfold says

    BTW, the article in the Washington Post is written by Chris Mooney, but parts of it are quite good.

    Chris Mooney looks like my MP, who is a right-wing fundamentalist Christian. It is the teeth and the smile.

    I find it all very confusing, and a little worrying.

  348. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Liberals and conservatives don’t just vote differently. They think differently.

    Lynna, I am sure that you know this but that is hardly a new idea. Even though it has been two decades since I have read the Illuminatus trilogy, I can recall that this was a huge idea the runs through the work. One of the major characters is obcessed with slipping LSD to the conservatives that surrounded them in the 1969 Democratic convention in Chicago. The hope being that having a trip will rewire the brain and move away from the rigid conservative mindset.

  349. says

    Remember when the holy ghost “overshadowed” or raped Mary to impregnate her with the son of god? Well, a present-day religious doofus tried to get out of a rape charge by claiming something similar.

    Religious sect leader pleads guilty in ‘Holy Ghost’ rape case.

    The former first counselor of an obscure religious sect once based in Magna pleaded guilty Friday to having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

    Geody Harman, 38 — formerly of the Church of the Firstborn of the General Assembly of Heaven — pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court to one count of third-degree felony unlawful sex with a minor.
    …
    The sect, which has never had more than 100 members, left Utah and moved to Idaho before settling in southern Montana.

    At trial last month, the victim, now 22, said Dalton told her that having sex with Harman was God’s will. The woman said Dalton later promised her “great blessings” if she also had sex with him.

    “He made me feel as if no matter what I did, I could never be right before God,” she testified. “I tried so hard. … There was always something bigger he wanted me to do.”…

    Dalton told the girl he was “the Holy Ghost” and church members called him “God in the flesh,” officials said. The prosecutor said Dalton “served her up on a platter” to Harman, who was the church’s second in command.

  350. says

    Janine:

    Lynna, I am sure that you know this but that is hardly a new idea.

    Quite true. I like it that we continue to pile up evidence that backs up the idea that conservatives think differently. (Or fail to think.)

    We are closing in on proving physical damage, or atrophy, or failure to develop properly, IMHO.

  351. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    It is “good” to see that someone learned the real lesson of Joseph Smith; God demands that I fuck you.

  352. says

    Matt:

    Chris Mooney looks like my MP, who is a right-wing fundamentalist Christian. It is the teeth and the smile.

    I know what you mean. That look is what I call “godaddled.” Supposedly, Mooney is not godaddled. Perhaps his curdling can be traced to a different source?

  353. Matt Penfold says

    I have not read Mooney’s new book, but one flaw in his thesis is rather obvious.

    If conservatism and liberalism have a genetic basis, if only partly, then why is the US so much more conservative than other nations of similar per-capita GDP and similar development ?

  354. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Quite true. I like it that we continue to pile up evidence that backs up the idea that conservatives think differently.

    It is just a quick aside but there is a reason why I point out to people that they know the point already. I do not want to look like that I am impart an idea that the other person had no inkling of. I do not want to seem like I am lecturing.

    That is all.

  355. says

    According to comments below the Salt Lake Tribune story about the Holy Ghost raping a 15 year old girl, “Terrill Dalton is the girls father.”

    Father, leader of a religious sect, holy ghost proxy rapist? I’ll look for another source to verify this.

  358. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    If conservatism and liberalism have a genetic basis, if only partly, then why is the US so much more conservative than other nations of similar per-capita GDP and similar development ?

    American Exceptionalism!

    *snark*

    Not that I can point to any evidence but I doubt that it is just genetic. People can be raised to be narrow thinkers and just accept that it is how they should be.

  359. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    It is “good” to see that someone learned the real lesson of Joseph Smith; God demands that I fuck you.

    Aw, c’mon, you don’t think that Smith could have made up those godly communications that told him he could have as many wives as he wanted? That would make him sound like a selfish, oversexed, manipulating con-artist.

    Hmmm.

    I like it that we continue to pile up evidence that backs up the idea that conservatives think differently.

    I keep reading these bits about the binary thinking of conservatives and all I can think of is trying to deal with a toddler — everything is all one way or all another. Conservatives seem to be able to put a veneer of maturity on what seems to me to be a very immature way of thinking.

  361. Matt Penfold says

    Not that I can point to any evidence but I doubt that it is just genetic. People can be raised to be narrow thinkers and just accept that it is how they should be.

    Well almost certainly is not entirely genetic, but the reviews I have seen of the book suggest Mooney pushes strongly for a significant genetic influence.

    You are right that up-bringing has a lot to do with it, as I suspect does history. I am not alone in thinking that the damage wrought to Europe during two wars in the last century have strongly influenced that continent’s move towards liberalism.

  362. says

    … all I can think of is trying to deal with a toddler…

    Exactly. That’s exactly what it’s like.

    I know fuck all, but based on experience with the effects of the mormon church, I think what we have here is atrophy of some essential part of the brain. Not genetic, perhaps, but atrophy through lack of use?

    The worst of the incapable-of-thinking mormons that I know have taught themselves to be non-thinking as a matter of survival in their communities. They have learned not to exercise that part of the brain. Fear-based brain atrophy?

  363. says

    Aw, c’mon, you don’t think that Smith could have made up those godly communications that told him he could have as many wives as he wanted? That would make him sound like a selfish, oversexed, manipulating con-artist.

    There’s another similarity to the Joseph Smith story. The girl was told that if she allowed her father and another sect leader to have sex with her, she would be blessed. Great blessings and all that.

    Take Helen Mar Kimball, for example, (and Joe Smith did take her), who came to the conclusion that if she sacrificed herself at age 14 to Smith, that sacrifice would buy a “glorious reward” for her entire family.

    http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/26-HelenMarKimball.htm

  364. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Take Helen Mar Kimball, for example, (and Joe Smith did take her), who came to the conclusion that if she sacrificed herself at age 14 to Smith, that sacrifice would buy a “glorious reward” for her entire family.

    Amazing how, if a church leader wants to have sex with children it suddenly becomes holy writ. But if two consenting adult men want to express love for each other, it is suddenly the ultimate ickysin. Odd how it always works out that way.

  365. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    Amazing how, if a church leader wants to have sex with children it suddenly becomes holy writ. But if two consenting adult men want to express love for each other, it is suddenly the ultimate ickysin. Odd how it always works out that way.

    Besides the fact that I am atheist, this is why I hate it when a religious who is on my side of an issue uses “the will of God” to justify their belief. I do not want my right to be queer tied to something so arbitrary.

  366. Nutmeg says

    Ms. DC:

    Nutmeg: I misunderstood you to mean you’d be wearing a sparkly silver garter with a knife strapped to it, and you’d give some pushy asshole a peek to warn him off.

    Ahahahahaha! If you knew me in person, you’d understand what a funny mental image that is. I don’t do garters or similar things, and I definitely don’t give guys a peek at my thighs (which are not my best feature, let’s just say). No, I’m planning to wear the highly-out-of-character outfit of a blue knee-length dress with a sparkly silver belt around the waist, and I wish I could strap my sheathed hunting knife to the belt.

    McCthulhu:

    What is the deal with the man on the crucifixie-fixie
    What kind of message is it nailing people to a sticksie-sticksie
    Thinking I should get up and out of the mixie-mixie
    Now I’m a member of the horde

    *screams* It’s in my head again!

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

    Hmm…usual idiots, Chris Mooney looks like MP, talk about a doubletake there….hey, where’d the posts go?! I don’t see them all. Is anyone else having the same problem?

  368. carlie says

    Og – you’re not a hipster, you’re what hipsters are trying to imitate. Your existence create hipsters. :)

  369. Ariaflame, BSc, BF, PhD says

    What the previous 800 on this thread? See ‘Older comments’ at the bottom. This is page 2.

  370. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Og – you’re not a hipster, you’re what hipsters are trying to imitate. Your existence create hipsters. :)

    Shoot me now.

  371. carlie says

    No, no, now you get to practice your look of disdain, so you can sneer at them and mutter “posers” under your breath.

  372. A. R says

    Just got back from doing some birding. Saw a Ruddy Duck, some Hooded Mergansers, a family of Trumpeter Swans, a Tree Sparrow, a flock of Coots, and a bunch of Red Winged Blackbirds. Very successful trip.

  374. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    No, no, now you get to practice your look of disdain, so you can sneer at them and mutter “posers” under your breath.

    Would it help if I used the French poseur! inflection?

    “I was a hipster before it was cool!”

    See, here’s my problem: I have NEVER been hip, hep, cool, with it, together, or anything else like that.

    I dress for comfort (and the occasional funny moments like above). If that makes me hepster, so be it. But I refuse to like it.

  375. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Er, ‘hepster’ should actually read ‘hipstir.’

  378. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    *screams* It’s in my head again!

    I woke up with it stuck in my head this morning. Wandering around the kitchen, barely any voice, singing “So ri-ise and shi-ine and give god your glory glory”
    dammit

  381. Nutmeg says

    When this camp song discussion got started a couple nights ago, I had a major nerd moment.

    I was curious about how these songs spread, and I thought it might be possible to do an analysis of “meme-flow” on them. I actually started to plan an experiment:

    1. Survey Horde members who used to belong to a church, etc., on what songs they were exposed to. Record the general location and denomination in which this occurred. Try to get enough data to separate groups of Horde members into tentative populations.

    2. Code exposure to the songs as presence or absence of a trait. For example, Arky-Arky would be coded as 0 if a Horde member didn’t know it and 1 if they did. Basically, consider each song as its own locus with two possible alleles.

    3. Plug the data into various population genetics programs and figure out the population structure of religious groups based on song meme-flow. Do North American protestants cluster separately from Australian catholics? etc.

    I’m used to working with co-dominant data, so this may not be very suitable. Suggestions for refinements to this experiment?

  383. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Okay, I’m closing the ‘net, I have work to do and I have to go to town tomorrow, so I’ll see you all Monday afternoon or late evening.

    Ah, c’mon, Caine, just a few more hours. You’ll still have plenty of time to do the work starting at midnight, right?

    Don’t behave!

    What is ‘have’ and how do I not be one?

  384. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Suggestions for refinements to this experiment?

    You would also need to code for a third possibility, especially for some of the more ecumenical songs: All God’s Creatures, or Sweet Chariot, for example, which had significant infection rates among secular and semi-secular folk singers, or through such artists as Pete Seeger, Woodie and Arlo, and others.

    (See, there is no problem so complicated that a liberal arts major can’t complicate it more! (can I claim this as an internet law?))

  385. says

    Haha! Just as I was thinking Oh good, the thread is not 700 posts long anymore, I realized it was continuing to grow even as I was racing to catch up! (sigh) never going to keep up!

    Ogvorbis – now that story was so great! Sorry that the adorable little girl’s amazement that you are a ranger was snuffed by the Daddy – bah. Also, just want to add my agreement that the picture you paint is fixed in my mind – and it is definitely cool. ;-) You know – you are probably doomed to be forever a hipster, because you have inadvertently done it right! You don’t care about being hip, you care about being comfortably and practically-attired for your daily life – and it is that combination of not giving a damn how you look/common sense choices that work which I think must be the essence of enduring hipsterism!

    Josh..hope the roof is finished today and no more mishaps! Mr Nifty and I have endured 6 years of renovations on this old hellhole house, and still it never ends….

    P.Z.’s speech was fantastic. I hope we soon have video. I hope everyone who blogs will spread it around, too!

  386. Nutmeg says

    significant infection rates among secular and semi-secular folk singers

    Hmm…Okay, so I could make secular folk singers their own population, maybe with some sub-populations. There would probably be reduced song diversity in this group, as fewer religious songs would become widespread in the population.

    …Now I kind of want to actually do this.

  387. Jessa says

    I would like to personally give the stink-eye to whoever started the church camp song discussion. This entire weekend has consisted of random snippets of those awful songs bubbling up unbidden from the deep recesses of my brain. The worst one was this morning: I was loading clothes into the washer when the first lines of “Green Grow the Rushes” went through my head. And for some reason, my brain wouldn’t stop there. No, it had to go through the whole damn song. Grrrr.

  388. says

    Okay, I’m closing the ‘net, I have work to do and I have to go to town tomorrow, so I’ll see you all Monday afternoon or late evening.

    Don’t behave!

    Caine you made me chuckle – as usual!

    I have to fly again, too. Backyard needs attention – pond is leaking (ARGH!) and we have a rusty crawfish in the pump housing that is quite terrifying. I am not sure what to do – can’t release it into the wild (though it must have come from there) because they are not native and are a disaster to the native populations of crawfish – but I don’t want that monster in our pond either! UGH! I hope I can come back tonight with tales of ingenuity and success!

    Good day, All!

  389. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Damnit! I want my inner 13-year-old to shut up!

    I am reading a very good paper on the phylogenetic diversity index of sauropods. And every time the abbreviation PDE shows up, thanks to a conversation with Wife and Boy at dinner last night, my inner 13-year-old pops up with, “Ah! Public Displays of Erections!”, or, “Public Displays of Eroticism!” Makes the reading more interesting. But far less useful.

  390. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Hmm…Okay, so I could make secular folk singers their own population, maybe with some sub-populations. There would probably be reduced song diversity in this group, as fewer religious songs would become widespread in the population.

    But then, to complicate things even more, you could find the infection source for the folk singer — whether from another folk singer (folkic infection) or via church (theistic infection).

    a rusty crawfish in the pump housing

    Chitin can rust?

  391. A. R says

    niftyathesit: All you need to solve your problem is a pot of boiling water, some drawn butter, and a nutcracker.

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

    OK, now that someone confirmed that yes, I was not going nuts and neither was my computer, just doing my part to get this to a thousand comments and/or one more page before PZ can lower the portcullis.

    Nutmeg – get one of these. Not as intimidating as the hunting knife, but less likely to attract the ire of brides. Easier to hide too, if subtlety is needed.

    Hahaha, thankfully the church camp song discussion hasn’t led to any earworms for me. Might be because I never went to . . . never mind, now I have one of the songs we used to sing in choir playing in my head. Fuuuuuck.
    ——————————————-

    I’m not sure if it’s just getting-to-the-end-of-the-year craziness, but I haven’t wanted to even get within one block of my workplace for fear that my sanity will just evaporate on contact. And I still have to get two more letters of reference, at least, from teachers. Feh.

  394. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Backyard needs attention – pond is leaking (ARGH!) and we have a rusty crawfish in the pump housing that is quite terrifying. I am not sure what to do – can’t release it into the wild (though it must have come from there) because they are not native and are a disaster to the native populations of crawfish – but I don’t want that monster in our pond either!

    I don’t get it. A large individual (I’m assuming that’s what you mean by ‘terrifying’) of a delicious and invasive species shows up in your pond, and you’re not sure what to do about it?

    A.R has the right idea.

  395. says

    A R and Laughing Coyote, surely you jest!! I grew up in the northeast Atlantic region and I know lobster! (mind you – I don’t eat those bottom-dwelling scavengers – but I know the critters!). This thing is a fair size all right – probably nearly 2 pounds – YUCK! (and yes, terrifying to look at)

    Ogvorbis..”rusty” is the common name for the thing, I understand (from a search on the inter webs). It is greenish looking thing with rusty markings. And it is enormous compared to the local crawfish, which tend to be about the size of large-ish grasshoppers.

    Now it is raining, so I’m not going into the garden after all – lol, I am sooo disappointed! (But, don’t get too comfy out there, you Rusty rascal! I’ma coming to get you tomorrow!! Rawr!)

  396. says

    Matt Taibbi wrote about Obama’s JOBS Act in Rolling Stone.

    Excerpt:

    The “Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act” (in addition to everything else, the Act has an annoying, redundant title) will very nearly legalize fraud in the stock market.

    In fact, one could say this law is not just a sweeping piece of deregulation that will have an increase in securities fraud as an accidental, ancillary consequence. No, this law actually appears to have been specifically written to encourage fraud in the stock markets.

    Ostensibly, the law makes it easier for startup companies (particularly tech companies, whose lobbyists were a driving force behind its passage) to attract capital by, among other things, exempting them from independent accounting requirements for up to five years after they first begin selling shares in the stock market.

    The law also rolls back rules designed to prevent bank analysts from talking up a stock just to win business, a practice that was so pervasive in the tech-boom years as to be almost industry standard.

    Even worse, the JOBS Act, incredibly, will allow executives to give “pre-prospectus” presentations to investors using PowerPoint and other tools in which they will not be held liable for misrepresentations. These firms will still be obligated to submit prospectuses before their IPOs, and they’ll still be held liable for what’s in those. But it’ll be up to the investor to check and make sure that the prospectus matches the “pre-presentation.”

    The JOBS Act also loosens a whole range of other reporting requirements, and expands stock investment beyond “accredited investors,” giving official sanction to the internet-based fundraising activity known as “crowdfunding.”…

    There’s just no benefit that the JOBS Act brings to an honest startup company. In fact, it puts an honest company at a severe disadvantage, because now it has to compete against other, less scrupulous companies that can simply make their projections up on the backs of envelopes.

  397. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    To each their own, Niftyatheist, but as an environmentally conscious carnivore I’d gladly eat that invader for you.

    Quite frankly, at nearly 2 lbs I’d likely shove a few people out of the way to get at that mudbug.

    If you absolutely cannot find someone who wants to eat that crustacean (because quite frankly, what I’m about to suggest is sacrilege to me), then smash its brain and bury it somewhere in your garden for compost.

  398. says

    Oggie:

    Ah, c’mon, Caine, just a few more hours. You’ll still have plenty of time to do the work starting at midnight, right?

    I fail at sticking the flounce. Okay, okay, I cave. I made a little image for use on my blog sidebar, mine is linked to Pharyngula.

    If anyone else wants to use it, grab it!

  399. Pteryxx says

    Lynna: Taibbi also has a follow-up here

    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/yes-virginia-this-is-obama-s-jobs-act-20120412

    People have apparently forgotten just how crooked the IPO market was during the tech boom. Banks and underwriters were openly, nakedly, offering to sell their research in exchange for investment banking business. Piper Jaffray, for instance, made a pitch to be the investment banker for a medical startup called TheraSense Inc. by including in its pitch materials mock copies of mock research reports – reports that included a “strong buy” recommendation. The “mock” report contained drooling descriptions of the hypothetical sales of TheraSense, calling the company’s fictional sales “nothing short of breathtaking.”

    Piper Jaffray won TheraSense’s business, pocketed $3,785,512 in investment banking fees, and promptly made good on its promise by issuing a “strong buy” recommendation on the stock.

    Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Chase, Lehman, Morgan Stanley: they all did essentially the same stuff. Many of them tied the compensation of their analysts directly to their ability to attract investment banking business, i.e. how much they were willing to prostitute themselves for fees. When a Goldman analyst was asked in a questionnaire to list his top three goals for the year 2000, he answered, “1. Get more investment banking revenue. 2. Get more investment banking revenue. 3. Get more investment banking revenue.”

    Why do we want to go back to those days? And would anyone really argue that we couldn’t come up with a way to, say, legalize crowdfunding without also legalizing the sale of financial research?

  400. says

    Pteryxx @99, That bit about Piper Jaffray got to me. For one thing, when my father died Piper Jaffray agents continued to trade stock, without our consent, from his portfolio. Conveniently, they “lost” our notifications to them of Dad’s death, and of the Power of Attorney in my brother’s name.

    Piper Jaffray was completely unethical. They ramped up the trading and the fees, costing us about $6,000. They were rushing to take money out of the portfolio before we managed to legally stop them. Just wresting the portfolio out of their hands required payment of more fees. They proved they could not be trusted.

    Matt Taibbi’s story about Piper Jaffray’s faked, fairy tale presentation to win TheraSense’s business rang all too true. Piper Jaffray took (I won’t say “earned”) more than $3.5 million for pulling fake investment returns out of their asses.

    These people are parasites.

  401. says

    Laughing Coyote – I hope I didn’t sound like a jerk! I am ridiculed constantly by people who dream of lobster feasts when they learn where I am from, that we have huge boil ups every season (accompanied by plenty of drinks and dancing) but I never eat lobster. Never. Hate it. I’ve had my credentials as an east coaster questioned quite rudely!

    I figure that thing is between 1-2 pounds. The body is about 5 inches long – with claws, I reckon maybe 10-12 inches. But I hear that the claws are the best part to eat and those claws look pretty skinny – just saying!

    As for your other solution – well that is my dilemma, really. I don’t think I have it in me to deliberately kill the thing – even though I know it is an invasive interloper! If it just stays in our pond (which is manmade, so not connected to the nearby creek) then what harm, right? Except then I remember that it got into our pond somehow….herons?…and could have offspring which could then get over to the creek and I would be OMIGODS an enabler!

    Jumping jiminey lobster on a pogo stick. I have such a love/hate relationship with nature!

    Caine, that badge is perfect! I’ve grabbed it and am putting it only blog. Thanks! You mentioned that yours is linked to Pharyngula – it is not just an image? How does one turn it into a link? I’d like to do that, too .

  403. carlie says

    niftyatheist, we went to Maine last summer for the Rockland lobster festival and were sadly disappointed. Turns out a lobster steamed en masse with hundreds of others and then plopped cold on a cardboard plate isn’t that good. And after sampling several supposedly good restaurants, the best lobster-based food we had came from the little seasonal stand across the street from the campground.

    You could try calling the local zoo or animal control and see if they’ll deal with it for you.

  406. says

    carlie – that is a good suggestion. I was planning to phone the university – they were very helpful last year with a question about local flora (I’m in the midwest, and sooo not a native. It has been a steep learning curve for me, and painful too! (hugs welcome) because I am a bit of a gardener at heart.
    This is not the first nasty piece of work with which I have had to contend in the garden pond – two years ago, it was a snapping turtle. UGH! But I took care of that miserable beast.(http://www.niftyuniverse.com/2010/05/lets-cut-right-to-chase-i-do-not-work.html)

    The DNR (I’m guessing your DEC is our Department of Natural Resources?) is the smarter idea, I think – thanks! THey can tell me for sure what is the best thing to do. We don’t have any laws regulating this nuisance yet, but I bet these are on the the DNR’s radar. Also, if it is just a really lucky local species, I can just fish it out and return it to the creek without a worry in the world!

  407. cm's changeable moniker says

    “in Rolling Stone” … ironic:

    I had a fascinating conversation recently with Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone. Here’s a guy who’s probably got three or four hundred million dollars–he’s got a Gulfstream II and a house here and a house there, and you can’t imagine what trappings he could want from the next level. But he’s got this gleam in his eye because he’s telling me about how he spent the weekend with Paul Allen. He said that Paul Allen didn’t have a GII, he had two 757s. They flew over to, like, Nice, and then they got into Paul’s helicopter, which took them to Paul’s boat, which stays sort of off the coast of southern France. And I could tell that Jann was picturing himself at the next level–the multi-billionaire.

    http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/archives/000515.html (he’s the reporter, not the narrator)

  408. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Niftyatheist: Nothing jerkish at all.

    I had a feeling you weren’t the killing type. I can’t say I like killing, but I remind myself that there’s a world of difference between killing something quickly and humanely for a proper reason (like food and skins, or to stop an invasive species, or both) and killing something out of sadism or cruelty or bloodlust.

    I won’t judge you, but I will gently remind you that I believe there’s a bit of a responsibility here. As you say, it did have to enter your pond from somewhere. Herons, MAYBE, but crayfish are capable of overland migrations. Are there any wild streams or ponds close to where you are? As long as it’s alive and outdoors, it may be contributing to the problem.

    Here’s a possible third option: Do you have a large aquarium, a good filter, and a desire to own a somewhat gross and ugly but still interesting and cool pet? Warning: If it’s like crawfish I’ve attempted to keep as pets before, don’t bother trying to keep anything else living, plant or animal, with it. It will all be devoured. Use fake plants if you want to decorate.

  409. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    When I go to Maine to visit my parents, we get our lobsters from a local pound. Small ones. Still scalding hot from the pot. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

    I had no idea crawdads could get that big. Wow.

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

    I’m with TLC and AR. Try finding someone who’s willing to eat that crawfish. Failing that, carlie’s idea sounds like a good one, but I’d try the local zoo first before animal control.

    and LOL @ image of TLC shoving people to the ground and stepping on them just to get at the crawfish.

  412. A. R says

    Part-Time Insomniac: Now imagine me doing the same thing in a three piece tweed shooting suit! (Still wearing it from my birding (not shooting) outing)

  413. Ogvorbis: Insert Appropriate Appelation Here says

    Part-Time Insomniac: Now imagine me doing the same thing in a three piece tweed shooting suit! (Still wearing it from my birding (not shooting) outing)

    Seems a bit excessive for a crawdad. We always used a bit of chicken neck, a string, and a five foot twig.

  414. Matt Penfold says

    I could imagine, should I have $100,000 (which I don’t, or at least not in easily realisable assets) and being given no option unless I paid, paying that much to avoid spending a day with Tebow. But it would just be a day, not even a full 24 hours, and once can tolerate a lot knowing that it will soon be over.

  415. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Ogvorbis: It’s the size of the crawfish in question.

    Also, here in BC I just find the signal crayfish and it’s not particularly large usually. I have yet to work out a good method to catch lots.

    But then again, bullfrogs are the big invasive concern in these local wetlands. I tend to focus on them when I know there’s a population somewhere. Bullfrogs can be plenty tricky.

  416. Matt Penfold says

    We have a problem with Signal crayfish in UK rivers. Since they are good eating and an invasive species they are seafood one can eat with not only a clear conscience, but a feeling you are doing good in the world.

  418. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Matt: Exactly. With the bullfrogs, amphibians are already having a hard enough time. They don’t need some invasive species making it harder. I’m a bit attached emotionally to the pacific treefrog and redlegged frog. I spent many happy evenings in spring listening to the treefrogs, such that it was a bit of a personal tradition for me.

    In the ponds where I found the bullfrogs, I found eggs from the pacific treefrog, but not one single adult. I’m fairly accomplished at finding them too. There were also plenty of bullfrog eggs.

    There’s absolutely no reason not to eat them, except maybe squeamish western perceptions of what’s icky. The meat is tender and mild tasting and there are no pesky ribs to deal with. There’s also absolutely no reason to just stop at the legs. The whole body has edible meat on it, though the legs certainly are the best part.

    I was curious about the livers, but I decided to be cautious. Does anyone more knowledgable than me know anything about eating frog livers? Are they toxic?

  419. says

    Laughing Coyote, you are absolutely right. It isn’t that I am against killing the thing if it has to be done (and I suspect that it has to be) but just that I don’t know if I am the one to do it – though I really need to suck this up and do what is best for the environment! All of your points are very well-taken. Plus, it makes no sense! I happily cook meat all the time – and even cook lobsters!

    I think I am just a big chicken.

    But, I am chuckling at the mental image of you mowing everyone down to get your hands on this thing, too. LOL If you would eat it, I would cook it for you! Even though I don’t eat lobster (or crayfish) but I am a rare hand at cooking the damn things! Honest!

    A R, you will just have to put in your order for the next crayfish I find – I think TLC sounds quite determined!

  420. Matt Penfold says

    I was curious about the livers, but I decided to be cautious. Does anyone more knowledgable than me know anything about eating frog livers? Are they toxic?

    No idea, but unless you are certain they are safe giving the livers a miss is a good idea. There are too many example of livers being dangerous to humans who consume them to take the risk. Never, for example, eat dog or rat liver.

  421. carlie says

    For the last several months, every time I read something about people spending outlandish amounts of money on crap, I think “and they’ll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes”. I am not a violent person. It worries me a bit that I have those thoughts. Perhaps I can substitute “and that’s why everyone hates America” or something of the like.

    Yes, DEC is department of environmental conservation. Sorry for using mystery acronyms!

  422. carlie says

    Given the function of livers, I’d always avoid them. And kidneys. But that’s just me.

  423. says

    Hello everyone! I had a wonderful day yesterday. Didn’t end up getting my ears scalpelled because the piercer advised against it at this time — recommended massage and more slow, patient stretching. I contented myself with a new pair of pretty earrings instead. Ate seafood. Watched Torchwood. Went for a walk with Mr Kristinc. Snuggled. Very nice.

    Now I have work to do on my very first college paper. Eep.

  424. Matt Penfold says

    Given the function of livers, I’d always avoid them. And kidneys. But that’s just me.

    So no tempting you with a steak and kidney pudding then ?

  425. Janine: History’s Greatest Monster says

    For the last several months, every time I read something about people spending outlandish amounts of money on crap, I think “and they’ll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes”.

    When the revolution takes place
    I shall be late and shot as a traitor
    Going through life without a timepiece did pay off

  426. says

    I’m with Matt and Carlie, Laughing Coyote – given that livers remove toxins from the blood (I think!), I’d definitely avoid that particular unknown.

  427. Matt Penfold says

    Given even the French do not eat frog’s livers, I rather suspect they may not be edible.

  429. says

    From a friend: Dealing with fundie relatives on Arsebook.

    Part-Time Insomniac: Those stylets are out of stock! :(

    Lynna and Pteryxx, color me shocked, shocked to see the Obamabots screaming at Taibbi in the comments to both his posts.

    Yeah, okay, I’m going to hold my nose and vote for Obama because Romney would be worse on gender, race, and religion issues. I have absolutely no illusions that Obama is better on economic issues. At all.

    Carlie:

    I think “and they’ll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes”. I am not a violent person. It worries me a bit that I have those thoughts.

    I am not a violent person. I have such thoughts continually and I feel no shame. I simply decline to share my opinions on, for example, tumbrels in fora like TET, where they won’t be well received.

  431. Cassandra Caligaria (Cipher), OM says

    Nifty, that post about the snapping turtle is hilarious :D

  432. A. R says

    Matt: The idea of someone missing out on steak and kidney pie is absolutely horrific.

  433. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    I don’t think I’ve ever had steak and kidney pie.