Jim the Pleb Made Me Do It

[Pitchguest]

Brain Box is correct. The site does link to the FBI statistics, so at least they allow for you to make up your own mind.

However, the subtitle for Loonwatch is thus: "a blogzine run by a motley group of hate-allergic bloggers to monitor and expose the web’s plethora of anti-Muslim loons, wackos, and conspiracy theorists."

Which sounds a bit like David Futrelle's exaggerated claims of misogyny, or Git's exaggerated claims of anti-semitism. So while it may provide nuggets of info here and there, it wouldn't be my go-to choice for objective reporting on Muslims, Islam or Islamophobia.

[welch]

Brain Box is correct. The site does link to the FBI statistics, so at least they allow for you to make up your own mind.

However, the subtitle for Loonwatch is thus: "a blogzine run by a motley group of hate-allergic bloggers to monitor and expose the web’s plethora of anti-Muslim loons, wackos, and conspiracy theorists."

Which sounds a bit like David Futrelle's exaggerated claims of misogyny, or Git's exaggerated claims of anti-semitism. So while it may provide nuggets of info here and there, it wouldn't be my go-to choice for objective reporting on Muslims, Islam or Islamophobia.

That's the problem with sites like that, and it really makes it hard for someone accidentally trying to write something worthwhile. There's a lot of sites like in the tech pundit world, to where if someone tries to send me a link to an article on certain tech sites, they have to make sure to tell me "No, no, it's not the usual crapola. This one is useful."

[Pitchguest]

Exactly. If someone sent me a link about global warming and it led to Watts Up With That, then forget about it.

No matter. At least it provided a good source where you can check for yourself. Then again, maybe I'm too trusting of FBI's statistics as well.

[sacha]

all we all a bit irate because it's bloody hot in San Francisco? It's bloody hot!
can someone tell the weather gods that I want my cool fog back? I live in the coolest area with the most fog, and today the only place that was cool-ish was at land's end, with our paws in the water, so that's where we went today.

[AndrewV69]

INTERLOCUTOR: "Whatever. Hey, do you know how I can macro Nether Tempest with Frostbolt so I don't have to waste time recasting it? I tried a /castsequence macro but when the Haste trikets proc, it seems that I lose half second of NT's DOT because the timer doesn't account for that."

And then everybody loses.

You just outed yourself as a frost spec mage in WOW. Is frost a viable spec for raiding now?

Yes it is, since the begining of Mists of Pandaria, really. For mid Throne of Thunder gear, it goes ahead of both Arcane and Fire, and only with heroic T15 gear Arcane starts to pull ahead (but not by a big margin). All 3 specs are viable now.

The only bad thing is that fucking water elemental. And now that Freeze does not grant FoF procs on bosses, it became just a giant (and weak) DoT that ocasionally freezes thrash mobs.

Ah I see.

Welp I stopped playing the expansion prior to that faced with the prospect of yet again relearning how to play all my toons.

Including the fact that they were switching hunters off of mana to energy, and being still mad as a shad at the constant changes inspired by some wretch QQing of unfair in PVP.

I finally just said no the day I went to solo a lev.80 dungeon at lev.90 and discovered my Pally had a 2 min wait between bubble and LoH and the boss killed me. Check the patch notes and ... yep. They did it again!

I still get emails from time to time inviting me back. I seriously doubt that I am ever going to play WOW again. I might if EQ2 finally dies, but till then at least they are not constantly changing the mechanics.

I sometimes miss the solo world PVP though. I had two decently geared up lev.90 Pallys at the time one Human and the other BELF and one of the fun things to do was to kill the auctioneers in Stormwind then do the same with the bankers in Orgrimmar.

Oh well. All things come to an end.

[welch]

Exactly. If someone sent me a link about global warming and it led to Watts Up With That, then forget about it.

No matter. At least it provided a good source where you can check for yourself. Then again, maybe I'm too trusting of FBI's statistics as well.

At some point, you have to have some trust in something. Otherwise, you wander down the conspiracy rabbithole. Sometimes you get burned, but usually, the numbers work out in your favor.

[Lurkion]

I was born with a third testicle.* By the rules of identity politics, I should support all the people who were also born with a third testicle.

*I was not actually born with a third testicle.

I don't know why you added one then.

[AndrewV69]

all we all a bit irate because it's bloody hot in San Francisco? It's bloody hot!
can someone tell the weather gods that I want my cool fog back? I live in the coolest area with the most fog, and today the only place that was cool-ish was at land's end, with our paws in the water, so that's where we went today.

It is still fairly cool up here (coast of BC) even though we had lots of sunshine today. I am enjoying it while it lasts.

[welch]

all we all a bit irate because it's bloody hot in San Francisco? It's bloody hot!
can someone tell the weather gods that I want my cool fog back? I live in the coolest area with the most fog, and today the only place that was cool-ish was at land's end, with our paws in the water, so that's where we went today.

I think our weather got swapped. It's rarely been over 70 for more than a day or so here. Fuck me, if I wanted to live where it's cold, I'd live in Atlanta or some other damned frozen wasteland.

[AndrewV69]

This just in:

AVFM Retraction (on the Georgeton trashing of white male applications)
http://www.avoiceformen.com/a-voice-for ... etraction/

[KiwiInOz]

So tell me...how well did all that military action in NI work to shut down the IRA?

It shut them down to the point where they crawled to the table and settled for a partitionist solution in ministerial limos as part of a constituent UK assembly. Even Republicans admit nowadays that they lost.

Oh bless your heart. What color is the sky in your world?

I grew up in Northern Ireland. I lost too many relatives and friends to terrorists (of all sides) to care what some ignorant fuckwit thinks he knows about the Troubles.

And bang: "you disagree with me, so you must be both wrong and ignorant of the facts. Also, I lived there, so via osmosis, I am possessed of all the facts, which you, an outsider, cannot know, for if you knew all the facts like I do, you would have no choice but to agree with me."

1) is there a fallacy you don't hit in that? You have no idea about what I've read or studied on it, but because I don't bow down and kiss your ass on this, (or really anything you say. You don't do well with any form of disagreement at all. Say, have you met P.Z. Myers?), I must be well, both wrong and stupid. Because CLEARLY were I not either of those, then I would be hailing your penetrating logic.

2) Since living somewhere is evidently critical to really knowing it, we can all ignore your drooling idiocy about how everyone who disagrees with you on israel is anti-semetic.

And really, almost everything else. But thanks for playing "dumbasses always out themselves."

Leave Gitney alone!!!! Wah.

[Percentage]

God damn, Paul Elam is a fucking moron. He seriously thought that shit was real? Not only that, but he fingered a specific individual based literally on hearsay from Reddit?

[welch]

This just in:

AVFM Retraction (on the Georgeton trashing of white male applications)
http://www.avoiceformen.com/a-voice-for ... etraction/

Good on them.

It has not been a good week for "new media".

[welch]

God damn, Paul Elam is a fucking moron. He seriously thought that shit was real? Not only that, but he fingered a specific individual based literally on hearsay from Reddit?

Yep. But, I will give him credit for the retraction. Better reporting would have saved him that, and I hope he learns that "firstest" is not the goal in this kind of thing. Better to be lastest and rightest.

But, he has done more than most of the New Media Douchebags at FTB have ever done by printing any kind of retraction/apology at all. So there's that.

[Steersman]

God damn, Paul Elam is a fucking moron. He seriously thought that shit was real? Not only that, but he fingered a specific individual based literally on hearsay from Reddit?

I haven't followed the story in much detail, but I'll still give Elam some credit for making a retraction, of actually looking at the writing on the wall. As a result of getting burned this time maybe he'll be a little more circumspect in checking his facts before making questionable accusations. Who knows? There might even be some rapprochements and finding of common ground between various MRA and feminist factions. Although I won't be holding my breath waiting for Ophelia Benson to concede that "linking 'virulent' with 'feminism'" is not misogyny ....

[AndrewV69]

God damn, Paul Elam is a fucking moron. He seriously thought that shit was real? Not only that, but he fingered a specific individual based literally on hearsay from Reddit?

I haven't followed the story in much detail, but I'll still give Elam some credit for making a retraction, of actually looking at the writing on the wall. As a result of getting burned this time maybe he'll be a little more circumspect in checking his facts before making questionable accusations. Who knows? There might even be some rapprochements and finding of common ground between various MRA and feminist factions. Although I won't be holding my breath waiting for Ophelia Benson to concede that "linking 'virulent' with 'feminism'" is not misogyny ....

I will just leave this here:

[youtube]nvYyGTmcP80[/youtube]

YMMV

[Southern]

all we all a bit irate because it's bloody hot in San Francisco? It's bloody hot!
can someone tell the weather gods that I want my cool fog back? I live in the coolest area with the most fog, and today the only place that was cool-ish was at land's end, with our paws in the water, so that's where we went today.

It is still fairly cool up here (coast of BC) even though we had lots of sunshine today. I am enjoying it while it lasts.

Down there on Deep South, finally we got off the fucking 40 Celsius and autmn started (15-25 Celsius during the day).

If a God really existed, this would be the temperature all over the world, all year long. The fact that we must burn on summer and freeze in winter is proof that God doesn't exist.

[Submariner]

This one's for Scented Nectar:

[youtube]lBKBHYHBhzk[/youtube]

[Steersman]

Steers, others, particularily cunt, have done a better job of explaining why you are wrong than I could, and your perpetual response is, LaLaLa I can't hear you! So, why would I bother?

I don’t know. Maybe to prove that you’re not just blowing smoke?

I’ve provided a bunch a dictionary definitions and an interpretation of them in support of my contention that, as rayshul put it in that poll, context has some relevance. All you’ve provided are, I think, some hand-wavings and a bunch of “ipse dixits”.

As I say, if you audited some elementary courses in linguistics, diction, and etymology, you would then have the intelectual, mechanical, and historical resources to discover for yourself how wrong you are and why.

In the big picture, to really get it takes more than a simple explanation simply because it involves several different fields, not just some individual American's insistence on thier inerrant superior moral stance.

Do you think that Cunt and Dick Strawkins and the others arguing the point are doing so from in-depth knowledge of those fields? Seems to me that those conclusions are predicated on some highly questionable theorems from what might called “folk linguistics” analogous to the “folk physics” that Dennett talks about in his Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness:

Back in the 1970s, the AI researcher Patrick Hayes (1978) embarked on a project to formalize a portion of folk physics or what he called naïve physics – the physics we all betray knowledge of in our everyday life: towels absorb water, shadows can be projected through clear glass, things drop when you let go of them and often bounce (depending on the surface they land on), when things collide they make a noise, and so forth. We literally couldn’t live without naïve physics; it is extremely swift and fecund in its deliverance of reliable expectations, and virtually involuntary. You can’t readily turn off your expectations. For instance, you “unthinkingly” leap back from the table when a water glass is overturned, expecting the water to roll off onto your lap. Somehow your brain generated that expectation from its current perceptual cues and took presumably appropriate avoidance action. The background machinery of naïve physics is not directly accessible to introspection, but can be studied indirectly by mapping its “theorems”, the generalizations it can be seen to endorse (in a manner of speaking) by its particular deliverances. Many magic tricks exploit our intuitions of naïve physics, gulling us into overlooking “impossible” possibilities, or inducing us to jump to conclusions (unconsciously) on the basis of a perceptual cue of one sort or another. [pgs 31-32]

But he also notes that that “folk physics” is not infallible, that it leads to perceptions and conclusions that really ain’t so – the examples he gave, apart from the magic tricks, were pipettes and gyroscopes. But he also extrapolated that to folk psychology and folk theories of consciousness.

Common sense tends to have its limitations, and one is obliged to look underneath the hood for a true understanding. Ran across an interesting quote the other day of John Dryden in Matt Ridley’s Genome:

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive below.

[Guest]

God damn, Paul Elam is a fucking moron. He seriously thought that shit was real? Not only that, but he fingered a specific individual based literally on hearsay from Reddit?

Yep. But, I will give him credit for the retraction. Better reporting would have saved him that, and I hope he learns that "firstest" is not the goal in this kind of thing. Better to be lastest and rightest.

But, he has done more than most of the New Media Douchebags at FTB have ever done by printing any kind of retraction/apology at all. So there's that.

i believe pz's nickname in this regard would be "admiral doubledown"

[Steersman]

God damn, Paul Elam is a fucking moron. He seriously thought that shit was real? Not only that, but he fingered a specific individual based literally on hearsay from Reddit?

I haven't followed the story in much detail, but I'll still give Elam some credit for making a retraction, of actually looking at the writing on the wall. As a result of getting burned this time maybe he'll be a little more circumspect in checking his facts before making questionable accusations. Who knows? There might even be some rapprochements and finding of common ground between various MRA and feminist factions. Although I won't be holding my breath waiting for Ophelia Benson to concede that "linking 'virulent' with 'feminism'" is not misogyny ....

I will just leave this here:



YMMV

Saw that earlier, although I didn’t watch more than a few seconds of it then – too. Definitely some whackos in the feminist movement. Forget exactly how I wound up on Cathy Brenan’s blog – Myer’s post on #radfem2013, I think – but she certainly seems to qualify.

But what is sort of scary about Brenan – of several things, actually – is that she quotes and links to a video (three minute philosophy) of David Hume, and that she actually makes some points that, at least superficially, sort of seem to hang together, notably on “trans activism”. While I certainly sympathize with people who feel they’re in the “wrong” body, I think they’re also starting from some very questionable premises, and are therefore winding up with some equally questionable conclusions.

For instance, Natalie Reed, whom Brenan takes a shot or two at, says something on her webpage about having been born with a Y-chromosome, but that she had “totally kicked its ass”. Been meaning to ask her where she got the gene replacement therapy to replace every last Y-chromosome in each and every one of the 100-odd trillion cells in her body …. Doing some serious damage, I think, to traditional definitions of male and female ….

[Steersman]

[...] {something about 'cunt', again} [...]

You seem desperate to escape the point that in Britain 'cunt' has a different definition. You slipped the US definition in and hoped nobody would notice.

I wonder why this is important for anyone. Sure, the "other side" is quite anal about it. However look at it this way: Let's say tomorrow everyone agrees that its really one of the bad werdz. Meanwhile in the parallel universe everyone agrees that it's merely an insult. Alright and then? Whatever comes out, neither of it says anything about the mindset of a person (which I thought is kind of the point, dealing with idiots that take everything as a character test to draw wild assumptions in order to demonize and feed their own narrative). But, there is certainly a correlation between vocabulary and milieu and it might be one of those terms that indicate (in some cultures) that a person belongs to a particular one.

I think you sort of answered your own question: to cut the legs out from under those “wild assumptions” used to demonize others and feed their own narratives. For instance, Jadehawk is quite sure that “cunt” and the like qualifies as a “slur” which is, apparently, defined in her and the FfTB lexicon as being automatically applicable to an entire class, even though there’s not a shred of evidence for the claim in any dictionary I’ve looked through. The only type of word that I know that that mechanism might apply to are ones like “murder”, and “rapist” where the opprobrium is, by definition, applicable to every individual in the class.

Yet she, and Zvan and many of her ilk, use that as some sort of carte blanche to insult their interlocutors while denying others the right to return the favour. Bunch of gutless wonders.

In my native language, the word is only used by the rather uneducated teenager idiots, wanna-be machos and the like and is clearly sexist. No matter if the person itself is a sexist or not. Odds are they are sexists, as male counterparts (i.e. the equivalent of 'dick') are not used.

I’ll certainly agree that there are cases where the use of those words is “clearly sexist” or “clearly racist” – e.g., “all men are pricks”. And I’ll concede that there does seem to be some rather problematic levels of misogyny out there, frequently manifested in using “gendered epithets” in a categorical sense. But it seems a stretch to argue that every use of those and similar epithets as insults always qualifies as sexist, racist, or misanthropist.

[AndrewV69]

And now, something different:

[youtube]-ypIHNvPX6Y[/youtube]

[TheMan]

And now, something different:

[youtube]-ypIHNvPX6Y

You made me cry with laughter fucktard.... :)

[sacha]

thank you to whomever was responsible for bringing me thick misty fog this evening. The fog horns are a lovely sound.

[decius]

Brain Box, the FBI's also offers an operative definition of "violent crime", encompassing all offences which involve force or threat of force.

The descending order of UCR violent crimes are murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, followed by the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.

I suppose you will therefore infer that serial killers and car thieves are one and the same and pose the same level of threat to public safety.

[sacha]

all we all a bit irate because it's bloody hot in San Francisco? It's bloody hot!
can someone tell the weather gods that I want my cool fog back? I live in the coolest area with the most fog, and today the only place that was cool-ish was at land's end, with our paws in the water, so that's where we went today.

It is still fairly cool up here (coast of BC) even though we had lots of sunshine today. I am enjoying it while it lasts.

Down there on Deep South, finally we got off the fucking 40 Celsius and autmn started (15-25 Celsius during the day).

If a God really existed, this would be the temperature all over the world, all year long. The fact that we must burn on summer and freeze in winter is proof that God doesn't exist.

25 celsius and I start to melt fairly rapidly

[decius]

The FBI recorded five terrorist incidents and five terrorism preventions in 2004. Domestic extremists were responsible for each incident. Three of the incidents involved possible associates of the Earth Liberation Front environmental extremist movement, who used incendiary devices against car dealerships, construction sites and housing developments. In a fourth incident, associates of the Animal Liberation Front conducted two attacks against an animal science facility on the campus of Brigham Young University, which resulted in more than $75,000 in damages.

Definitely the same as flying airplanes into building.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Sounds more like damage to property, but maybe they take into acount that those where perpetrated by organized groups with specific goals (or causes). I can totally understand keeping a very suspicious eye on such violently active groups, they tend to escalate.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Clownshoe: Just saw your tweet about the album. Thanks a lot for the support, and kind words!

Cheers!

[clownshoe]

You're welcome Phil. The support is well deserved, I love your music.

[Michael K Gray]

Worth revisiting, for an effulgent moral uplift against conceited genocidal true misogynist turds:
Bishop fuckin' Someoneorother, the shamefully appalling Anne Widdecome
versus the exceedingly moral atheists:
Christopher Hitchens, and Steven Fry.
[youtube]LrIHw0fZNOA[/youtube]
Show it to every Cat-lick with whom you may have had the misfortune to be acquainted.

Repeatedly.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

I will note the Pit is slowing down a bit these days, in terms of comments. As with creationist-bashing forums, I will take it as a good sign. Maybe there's a bit less crazy flying around right now?

[Gefan]

[quote="Phil_Giordana_FCD"]I will note the Pit is slowing down a bit these days, in terms of comments. As with creationist-bashing forums, I will take it as a good sign. Maybe there's a bit less crazy flying around right now?[/quote]

Give it time.

[Michael K Gray]

I will note the Pit is slowing down a bit these days, in terms of comments. As with creationist-bashing forums, I will take it as a good sign. Maybe there's a bit less crazy flying around right now?

Indeed.
Our fledgling crusade against hypocrisy seems to be spreading its memes.
It is having a global effect.
It is enabling folk such as Russel Blackford, et alia, to have cause to regret their former silence against popular tribal cultism, and come to the point where they now loudly voice it.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

I will note the Pit is slowing down a bit these days, in terms of comments. As with creationist-bashing forums, I will take it as a good sign. Maybe there's a bit less crazy flying around right now?

Indeed.
Our fledgling crusade against hypocrisy seems to be spreading its memes.
It is having a global effect.
It is enabling folk such as Russel Blackford, et alia, to have cause to regret their former silence against popular tribal cultism, and come to the point where they now loudly voice it.

I'm not implying the slowing-down is due to the Pit. far from it (we do tend to make things worse at times). But if there's a slow down, for whatever reason (be it personal realisation or something else), I think it should be a good think. Then when all is over, we can start arguying who's favorite Pokemon is (please, shoot me now!).

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

*Whose*! Shoot me twice.

[Michael K Gray]

I'm not implying the slowing-down is due to the Pit.

Whereas, I *am* suggesting that very thing.
At least when it comes to the global awareness of FfTB's hegemonic fraud.

Props to ERV!

[Hunt]

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/u-k-regula ... 00152.html

One of the few times I'm "proud to be an AmuurikAAAAAn!" At least we can't get probed for religious offense.

[Michael K Gray]

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/u-k-regula ... 00152.html

One of the few times I'm "proud to be an AmuurikAAAAAn!" At least we can't get probed for religious offense.

Yip.
I'm often a critic of the inhabitants of the USofA, but they outshine any other civilisation in their guardianship of true free speech.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/u-k-regula ... 00152.html

One of the few times I'm "proud to be an AmuurikAAAAAn!" At least we can't get probed for religious offense.

Is that a joke?

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Oh, ok, seems we're on to another flamewar.

Just for reminder: the US Post Office worker who refused to give me my mail because I was wearing a Deicide band T-shirt.

[Hunt]

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/u-k-regula ... 00152.html

One of the few times I'm "proud to be an AmuurikAAAAAn!" At least we can't get probed for religious offense.

Is that a joke?

If you want it to be a joke, then it's a joke.

[Michael K Gray]

Oh, ok, seems we're on to another flamewar.

Just for reminder: the US Post Office worker who refused to give me my mail because I was wearing a Deicide band T-shirt.

She was prolly a Cuban illegal.

[BarnOwl]

I may have to ingest several espressos and get past my distaste for (and boredom with) Pharyngulanha pontificating, and watch the Google hangout about Atheism+Environmentalism:

And then there are others. All you have to do is look at the angry loons who have freaked out over Atheism Plus. You want atheists to care about equality, and ethics, and social justice? NNNNOOOOOO! How dare you add stuff that isn’t in my minimalist understanding of atheism to my obligations as a human being? I want to be selfish and self-centered and Darwinian!
Now I’m curious to see what would happen if we say that environmentalism is a natural part of atheism, too. Will there be a freak out again? Will the Libertarians finally go away? Or will a majority happily recognize it as a necessary component of an ethic that tries to build a sustainable society on a world that is not propped up by magic?
So you’re all here to agree or argue with me, to consider the ramifications, to suggest where we’re going to hit a brick wall. And maybe we can also talk about why religion is a poor foundation for a responsible stewardship of the planet.

More black-and-white thinking from PZ. If you don't agree with him 100%, you're a selfish libertarian! and a misogynist! and a racist!

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Oh, ok, seems we're on to another flamewar.

Just for reminder: the US Post Office worker who refused to give me my mail because I was wearing a Deicide band T-shirt.

She was prolly a Cuban illegal.

She was a man with a big mustache (ok, doesn't rule out your assumption. /jk, FFS). He was a baptist from the local megachurch. You know, the one which has Bingo Wednesday with cool tech to bring home. But jeebus loves me. he just won't deliver my mail. From a governmental organisation (correct me if I'm wrong).

[Hunt]

Oh, ok, seems we're on to another flamewar.

Just for reminder: the US Post Office worker who refused to give me my mail because I was wearing a Deicide band T-shirt.

In cases like that either ask to see a boss or claim legal knowledge. In general Americans are terrified of 1) bosses. 2) lawyers. Even traffic cops will back slowly away from lawyers, making as few abrupt motions as possible.

[Nim_Chimpsky]

I will just leave this here:

[youtube]nvYyGTmcP80[/youtube]

YMMV

It seems to me that such feminists hold that no possible observation could ever falsify or bring into question the existence of the patriarchy. This video seems to be a prime example, any suggestion that might undermine the all encompassing nature of the patriarchy is in-fact evidence for its existence. It's a bit like Freudian or Marxist theories which can always avoid falsification by adding ad-hoc hypotheses or assertions that keep their theory valid regardless of any observation to the contrary. In order for the notion of 'The Patriarchy' to make any sense there must be some possible observation(s) which would falsify it or at least undermine the concept.

[Michael K Gray]

Oh, ok, seems we're on to another flamewar.

Just for reminder: the US Post Office worker who refused to give me my mail because I was wearing a Deicide band T-shirt.

She was prolly a Cuban illegal.

She was a man with a big mustache (ok, doesn't rule out your assumption. /jk, FFS). He was a baptist from the local megachurch. You know, the one which has Bingo Wednesday with cool tech to bring home. But jeebus loves me. he just won't deliver my mail. From a governmental organisation (correct me if I'm wrong).

Neither show nor reign nor heat-magazine nor gloom of knight says these couriers from the Swiftian completion of their appointed .45 rounds

[Git]

So tell me...how well did all that military action in NI work to shut down the IRA?

It shut them down to the point where they crawled to the table and settled for a partitionist solution in ministerial limos as part of a constituent UK assembly. Even Republicans admit nowadays that they lost.

Oh bless your heart. What color is the sky in your world?

I grew up in Northern Ireland. I lost too many relatives and friends to terrorists (of all sides) to care what some ignorant fuckwit thinks he knows about the Troubles.

And bang: "you disagree with me, so you must be both wrong and ignorant of the facts. Also, I lived there, so via osmosis, I am possessed of all the facts, which you, an outsider, cannot know, for if you knew all the facts like I do, you would have no choice but to agree with me."

1) is there a fallacy you don't hit in that? You have no idea about what I've read or studied on it, but because I don't bow down and kiss your ass on this, (or really anything you say. You don't do well with any form of disagreement at all. Say, have you met P.Z. Myers?), I must be well, both wrong and stupid. Because CLEARLY were I not either of those, then I would be hailing your penetrating logic.

Ah, typical fucking Plastic Yank. Now at least, with the Boston bombs, you bastards finally realise what you were funding in my country for decades.

2) Since living somewhere is evidently critical to really knowing it, we can all ignore your drooling idiocy about how everyone who disagrees with you on israel is anti-semetic.

Citation for that smear?

Oh yes, that right: no you can't substantiate it, because it ain't true.

What I did point out was your gross double-standards regarding Israel.

[Git]

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/u-k-regula ... 00152.html

One of the few times I'm "proud to be an AmuurikAAAAAn!" At least we can't get probed for religious offense.

Yip.
I'm often a critic of the inhabitants of the USofA, but they outshine any other civilisation in their guardianship of true free speech.

I will echo that appreciation.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Oh, ok, seems we're on to another flamewar.

Just for reminder: the US Post Office worker who refused to give me my mail because I was wearing a Deicide band T-shirt.

In cases like that either ask to see a boss or claim legal knowledge. In general Americans are terrified of 1) bosses. 2) lawyers. Even traffic cops will back slowly away from lawyers, making as few abrupt motions as possible.

Thanks, would be useful to me these days. Not much while a 16 years old French guy in Florida. It was a different time, I guess. LAWN! GET OFF! STUFF!

[Metalogic42]

Oh, ok, seems we're on to another flamewar.

Just for reminder: the US Post Office worker who refused to give me my mail because I was wearing a Deicide band T-shirt.

Maybe he was a Morbid Angel fan.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Oh, ok, seems we're on to another flamewar.

Just for reminder: the US Post Office worker who refused to give me my mail because I was wearing a Deicide band T-shirt.

Maybe he was a Morbid Angel fan.

The "Jesus loves you, you know" part was a dead giveaway. Still, our anthem:

[youtube]JYZktLCBxjk[/youtube]

[Dilurk]

I will note the Pit is slowing down a bit these days, in terms of comments. As with creationist-bashing forums, I will take it as a good sign. Maybe there's a bit less crazy flying around right now?

There is a lot of ongoing discussion between everyone and it's not just at the nugent blog.

Yes there are going to remain some hard core ideologues (crazies) who will not want to talk but the saner
ones are.

There are a ton of other boards here so perhaps some of the activity will move off of here as things progress.
This is not a bad thing IMO.

[Cunning Punt]

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/u-k-regula ... 00152.html

One of the few times I'm "proud to be an AmuurikAAAAAn!" At least we can't get probed for religious offense.

While I agree that laws against religious offence will get less traction in the US than anywhere else, because of the 1st Amendment, this has nothing to do with that. It's people getting butt hurt about something said on a tv show and the makers of the tv show being too chicken to ignore the complaints. If you compare public broadcasters PBS is a shadow of the BBC and way less likely to offend. Have you seen any show on broadcast tv in the US say these kinds of things? Would any station in the US play "The Root of All Evil", the Dawkins documentary?

[BarnOwl]

For shame! Shamefully shaming Greta's shame-porn shame!

Sigh.
Okay. Let me spell this out, as patiently as I possibly can.
I am entirely happy to consensually eroticize shame in my sexual fantasies and my sex life. It is a central part of my sexuality, it makes me happy, and I am at peace with it.
But I don’t appreciate being non-consensually shamed about my sexuality.
Consensual SM — including the consensual eroticization of shame — is just as psychologically healthy as any other consensual sexuality. There’s a significant body of evidence backing this up, and a large community of happy, healthy kinksters who will testify to it. Again: I don’t consider it “unlucky” to be kinky, or to have the particular kinks that I have. A lot of people eroticize shame: I’m not the only one. And I find it troubling that people would not only consider themselves “lucky” to not find shame sexually appealing… but would say this to kinky people, to their faces, in a space dedicated to talking about their kink.
These are people who would almost certainly not tell gay people that they consider themselves “lucky” not to be gay, or that they are “concerned” about their gayness. But kinky people, apparently, can’t expect get the same kind of respect.
This sort of “concern” for the people who practice it, however well-meaning, is part of what stigmatizes us and marginalizes us. It makes it harder to live our lives. Please stop it. Thank you.

It would be a shame if you didn't stop shaming the shame of oppressed shame-porn-lovers so shamefully! Shame on your shame-blame and shame-hate! Shamist!

[TedDahlberg]

I may have to ingest several espressos and get past my distaste for (and boredom with) Pharyngulanha pontificating, and watch the Google hangout about Atheism+Environmentalism:

And then there are others. All you have to do is look at the angry loons who have freaked out over Atheism Plus. You want atheists to care about equality, and ethics, and social justice? NNNNOOOOOO! How dare you add stuff that isn’t in my minimalist understanding of atheism to my obligations as a human being? I want to be selfish and self-centered and Darwinian!
Now I’m curious to see what would happen if we say that environmentalism is a natural part of atheism, too. Will there be a freak out again? Will the Libertarians finally go away? Or will a majority happily recognize it as a necessary component of an ethic that tries to build a sustainable society on a world that is not propped up by magic?
So you’re all here to agree or argue with me, to consider the ramifications, to suggest where we’re going to hit a brick wall. And maybe we can also talk about why religion is a poor foundation for a responsible stewardship of the planet.

More black-and-white thinking from PZ. If you don't agree with him 100%, you're a selfish libertarian! and a misogynist! and a racist!

My bold. I wasn't aware that atheism was one of my obligations as a human being to begin with, let alone whatever else the man wishes to add to it (or claim was always a part of it). Frankly, I'd say that equality, ethics and environmentalism come way, WAY before atheism as obligations as a human go, even if I allow that atheism is such an obligation (I remain unconvinced).

"Environmentalism is a natural part of atheism"? No. No, it really isn't. Which is one of the problems I find in trying to justify preserving the slimeslugs of Outer Bugistan even when they have no discernible value even to their surrounding ecology. I think we should do everything in our power to preserve as many species as possible. But I recognise that that's a sentiment born more from emotion than logic. What it is definitely not is a logical conclusion which follows from god-didn't.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but an abbreviated PZ Myers goes something like:

In the beginning was not the Word, and the Word wasn't with God, and the Word wasn't God. Thus all people are equal, you should show solidarity with your fellow humans, and treat the environment well.

I agree with the first sentence. I agree with the second sentence. There is absolutely no link between the two, and people pretending that there is one make my face twitch in unattractive ways. When you have to explain to atheists that you can be good regardless of your beliefs, something is very wrong.

Here endeth my rant to the choir.

[Dick Strawkins]

I will note the Pit is slowing down a bit these days, in terms of comments. As with creationist-bashing forums, I will take it as a good sign. Maybe there's a bit less crazy flying around right now?

There is a lot of ongoing discussion between everyone and it's not just at the nugent blog.

Yes there are going to remain some hard core ideologues (crazies) who will not want to talk but the saner
ones are.

There are a ton of other boards here so perhaps some of the activity will move off of here as things progress.
This is not a bad thing IMO.

I agree to a certain extent.
We've developed a community here over the past 8 or 9 months that seems to have different values and abilities compared to certain other atheist boards. We've trained ourselves on exposing Myers and his bunch as a growing problem in online atheism. We, along with the unwitting help of Richard Carrier and their moderators, managed to kill off atheism-plus in a matter of months. That 'movement', supposedly the vehicle that would carry through Myers vision of atheism, is now little more than an embarrasing sideshow - a Frankensteins monster dressed in a clown-costume.
FTB is a failing brand. They don't seem to realize it but the life support has been switched off and we're all just waiting for the inevitable end.
So what do WE do next?
I think that the strengths of the slymepit are primarily in its exposure of hypocrisy and the ridicule of demagogues.
Who is next on the list?

[justinvacula]

I will note the Pit is slowing down a bit these days, in terms of comments. As with creationist-bashing forums, I will take it as a good sign. Maybe there's a bit less crazy flying around right now?

The usual suspects have been...more reasonable?