Shall Mr Vacula Make a Misstep in the Capital of Eire?

[John D]

if anyone is interested in how to tell a raven from a crow, I no longer need to list the differences, I can now link to a video:

here is crow/raven 101:

and by the way, I'm a rook.

I did enjoy a visit from the rooks when I was hiking in the Alps. They are very gregarious and fly right down to you to steal your apples. Are you an apple stealer Sacha?

They may actually have been choughs, which are very common in alpine areas.

Ah ha.... this is what I deserve for not bringing a bird book to Europe. It could have been an Alpine Chough. I will look for my photos. The color of the legs and bill are characteristic. Perhaps Sacha will not steal my apples afterall. She will just go for the carrion.

[Pitchguest]

Has anyone else received this?

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/7127/k9yr.jpg

[Linus]

Me too. If that's all there is on Chomsky's views, it's a bit thin. Doesn't look like much more than the hardly controversial "there are limits to free speech", even if you disagree with a particular limit. But let's face it, and interview by Penn is usually an interview of Penn, not the poor schmuck in the firing line.

I thought Chomsky's comparison of cognitive science with anarchism was much more interesting.

I like Penn - he comes across as a genuinely nice guy even if his Libertarianism seems a bit dogmatic.
The only episode of Bullshit that I remember was about hybrid cars and argued that they were bullshit because they had inferior acceleration to sports cars (If I'm misrepresenting, please correct me).
That sounded like arguing that sharks are bullshit because they can't play chess.
I doubt anyone buying a hybrid has ever been much worried about acceleration.

(Full disclosure: I owned a Toyota Prius when I lived in California).

I used to think sharks were bullshit due to their lack of association with tornados. Then this happened.

http://cdn.earwolf.com/wp-content/uploa ... rknado.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i34 ... 2aa02a.jpg
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/uploads/ ... -Image.jpg

[Dick Strawkins]

Has anyone else received this?

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/7127/k9yr.jpg

It sounds like he's clicked the "add my gmail contacts to linkedin" option.
I got a similar notice years ago from someone I had never been in contact with - I'd only commented once on his blog.
Apparently he'd collected all the email addresses of commenters and his linkedin account had automatically tried to contact them all to add them to his network of contacts.

[Gefan]

I used to think sharks were bullshit due to their lack of association with tornados. Then this happened.

http://cdn.earwolf.com/wp-content/uploa ... rknado.jpg

Double feature, maybe?

[youtube]nltsBvHt6SA[/youtube]

[Dick Strawkins]

Me too. If that's all there is on Chomsky's views, it's a bit thin. Doesn't look like much more than the hardly controversial "there are limits to free speech", even if you disagree with a particular limit. But let's face it, and interview by Penn is usually an interview of Penn, not the poor schmuck in the firing line.

I thought Chomsky's comparison of cognitive science with anarchism was much more interesting.

I like Penn - he comes across as a genuinely nice guy even if his Libertarianism seems a bit dogmatic.
The only episode of Bullshit that I remember was about hybrid cars and argued that they were bullshit because they had inferior acceleration to sports cars (If I'm misrepresenting, please correct me).
That sounded like arguing that sharks are bullshit because they can't play chess.
I doubt anyone buying a hybrid has ever been much worried about acceleration.

(Full disclosure: I owned a Toyota Prius when I lived in California).

I used to think sharks were bullshit due to their lack of association with tornados. Then this happened.

http://cdn.earwolf.com/wp-content/uploa ... rknado.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i34 ... 2aa02a.jpg
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/uploads/ ... -Image.jpg

A truly terrible movie (I bet surprised you!) that may, however, be redeemed by a final scene of such implausible ridiculousness (and this in a movie about killer sharks flying around in tornados and dropping on unwitting residents/snacks) that it makes the rest of the movie seem almost believable.

[AndrewV69]

Is it safe yet? Have we found the real killer?

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

[another lurker]

Is it safe yet? Have we found the real killer?

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/27 ... ights-act/

[John D]

Is it safe yet? Have we found the real killer?

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

[katamari Damassi]

Is it safe yet? Have we found the real killer?

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

It's unlikely they'll be able to as Z didn't say anything overtly racist according to witnesses. I believe that the Attorny General has indicated as much.

[katamari Damassi]

Is it safe yet? Have we found the real killer?

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

You're a racist poe, right?

[Remick]

Is it safe yet? Have we found the real killer?

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

I have no idea what the fuck you are talking about? What exactly did Obama do/say about Zimmerman that has you so 'ashamed'? He talked about Martin dying as a tragedy(it is), but isn't involving himself in the justice departments decision process as to whether or not Zimmerman could be charged with violating Martin's civil rights. What an awful president :roll:

Seriously, this is what upsets you about Obama? Not the Gitmo stuff, not the bank stuff. This? That a few fed. employees are going to make a preliminary determination if there is enough evidence to pursue a case for a federal crime?

Laughable.

[Dick Strawkins]

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

You're a racist poe, right?

Isn't it "John the Other" from AVFM?
Doesn't he have some more serious business to do rather than gracing us with his words of wisdom?
Surely there's a college girl to doxx?
Or perhaps he can demonstrate his bravery again by standing up to the might of ...errrr ...Setar? :think:

[Gefan]

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

You're a racist poe, right?

Isn't it "John the Other" from AVFM?
Doesn't he have some more serious business to do rather than gracing us with his words of wisdom?
Surely there's a college girl to doxx?
Or perhaps he can demonstrate his bravery again by standing up to the might of ...errrr ...Setar? :think:

It's not JTO. A review of JohnD's past posts is illuminating, though.

[Mykeru]

I used to think sharks were bullshit due to their lack of association with tornados. Then this happened.

http://cdn.earwolf.com/wp-content/uploa ... rknado.jpg

In Soviet Russia...

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/uploads/ ... -Image.jpg

...the shark jumps you.

[Southern]

Is it safe yet? Have we found the real killer?

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

Those damn niggers, always robbing and killing and scoping and assaulting and smoking pot and pestering good white people and being jerks and raping white women and not wanting to use their assigned buses and tring to steal white people's jobs and and being from a color different from white. I will tell you, somebody should do something about that, before they think they can run America or something!

[Gefan]

In Soviet Russia...

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/uploads/ ... -Image.jpg

...the shark jumps you.

And Mykeru wins the internet.

Curiously, I was able to find footage of the creative meeting that led to Sharknado.

[youtube]mfyAvHc6j6M[/youtube]

[Matt Cavanaugh]

Richard Carrier has funny ideas about the peer review process.

Dick Carrier has no peers; for he is The Most Smartest, Most Cleverest Man in the World!

(He told me so.)

[Git]

In Soviet Russia...

...the shark jumps you.

Speaking of Soviet Russia, Ceepolk has now decided that any discussion on whether you-know-what was racist or not is unacceptable and won't be allowed. And that the poster who was foolishly arguing that ,you know, the jury reached the correct verdict upon the evidence given has now been given a 7-day ban.

[Git]

Or as someone aptly put it over on the JREF A+ thread:

Nice to see they're applying their usual levels of skepticism over there.
1- "It's clearly a race issue and it's a disgrace!"
2- "I see no evidence of that."
Mods - "How dare you ask for evidence, you racist. Banned."

[Gefan]

In Soviet Russia...

...the shark jumps you.

Speaking of Soviet Russia, Ceepolk has now decided that any discussion on whether you-know-what was racist or not is unacceptable and won't be allowed. And that the poster who was foolishly arguing that ,you know, the jury reached the correct verdict upon the evidence given has now been given a 7-day ban.

Hey, if you're so anti-communist how come your avatar has Leonid Brezhenev eyebrows?

[Git]

In Soviet Russia...

...the shark jumps you.

Speaking of Soviet Russia, Ceepolk has now decided that any discussion on whether you-know-what was racist or not is unacceptable and won't be allowed. And that the poster who was foolishly arguing that ,you know, the jury reached the correct verdict upon the evidence given has now been given a 7-day ban.

Hey, if you're so anti-communist how come your avatar has Leonid Brezhenev eyebrows?

its Colonel Meow. He is above all foolish man-made ideologies!

[John D]

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

I have no idea what the fuck you are talking about? What exactly did Obama do/say about Zimmerman that has you so 'ashamed'? He talked about Martin dying as a tragedy(it is), but isn't involving himself in the justice departments decision process as to whether or not Zimmerman could be charged with violating Martin's civil rights. What an awful president :roll:

Seriously, this is what upsets you about Obama? Not the Gitmo stuff, not the bank stuff. This? That a few fed. employees are going to make a preliminary determination if there is enough evidence to pursue a case for a federal crime?

Laughable.

The words of my leader - the POTUS:

"The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America. I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher.

"But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son.

"And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities. We should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis.

"We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that's a job for all of us. That's the way to honor Trayvon Martin."

The Potus is basically saying that the law must be followed even though it reached the wrong conclusion. He is also telling us that guns are to blame. No mention of the fact that we should be teaching our children to not assault others. No mention that our problem stems from a culture that equates manliness to honor and violence. No mention that children should call the police if they are in trouble or being followed. I have no desire to honor Trayvon. He was a thug who happened to get killed by a guy whos only mistake was to step out of his car.

[Gefan]

its Colonel Meow. He is above all foolish man-made ideologies!

He has Brezhnev's eyebrows, Trotsky's beard, and Don King's hair.

In other words, he's fucking terrifying.

[Git]

its Colonel Meow. He is above all foolish man-made ideologies!

He has Brezhnev's eyebrows, Trotsky's beard, and Don King's hair.

In other words, he's fucking terrifying.

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhance ... 2627-7.jpg

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/col ... f-buzzfeed

[Badger3k]

Richard Carrier has funny ideas about the peer review process.

My new book, On the Historicity of Jesus, has passed peer review and is now under contract to be published by a major academic press specializing in biblical studies: Sheffield-Phoenix, the publishing house of the University of Sheffield (UK). I sought four peer review reports from major professors of New Testament or Early Christianity, and two have returned their reports, approving with revisions, and those revisions have been made. Since two peers is the standard number for academic publications, we can proceed. Two others missed the assigned deadline, but I’m still hoping to get their reports and I’ll do my best to meet any revisions they require as well.

The normal procedure is that an editor, not the author, invites one or more reviewers, who typically remain anonymous to the author. The reviews will partly contain opinions for the eyes of the editor only and partly consist of remarks to be considered by the author. The author will then rewrite parts of the manuscript in line with any proposed changes and criticisms. The editor will subsequently judge if the results do justice to the review(s). If not, the author better had some good excuse or else the publication will be put on hold, possibly indefinitely.

Here we have Carrier, the author, deciding who will do the reviewing; the reviewers are not anonymous to him; two out of four reviewers fail to turn in their review, and Carrier can do what he likes with the reviews, without editorial oversight.

Since Carrier is a known bullshitter about Atheism+ and the A/S community, I have no confidence whatsoever that the book has been ‘peer reviewed’ in any meaningful, academic sense of the word.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/4090

When people talk about "peer-review", they are usually describing the process that journal articles go through before they are accepted for publication in reputable journals.
Usually the authors will not know the identities of the reviewers and cannot pick and choose who is going to review their article.

Academic books, on the other hand, have no such standard procedures.
Carrier appears to have done what almost any author does - send the manuscript to people he knows and ask them to read it and suggest changes where they have spotted errors.
He has just called this process "peer review".
Of course we don't know how extensive the review of the book was by these individuals who read it (for all I know it might have been incredibly detailed - I simply don't know)

I'm guessing that he is calling it "peer reviewed" to give it some extra academic gravitas. I would hesitate to assume that his book deserves this type of respect simply because he uses the term 'peer review' with it. Most bibical writers on his side of the mythology question are renowned for being less than rigorous with their research (Acharia S, for example) - and most scholars on the other side of the fence HATE Carrier. He claims that he sent the book to "major professors of the new testament and early Christianity" - well I guess it might mention who these were in the acknowledgement section. Who are we talking about here? Ehrman? Hoffman?

As for the claim that he's getting it published in: " a major academic press specializing in biblical studies: Sheffield-Phoenix, the publishing house of the University of Sheffield (UK)" - well I guess it's a step up from his previous publishing houses but we are not exactly talking major league here. This is a small publishing company based in the biblical studies department of Sheffield University.
Hector Avalos has published his last book there (on the subject of slavery) but I get the impression that it is not geared up for high volume sales.

If what he did was peer review, then there are a lot of creationist books that have been peer reviewed! Don't let Dembski or Behe hear that, we'll never hear the end of it.

[debaser71]

My fellow liberals kept insisting that Obama would be good for race relations. And good for secularism. And good for everyone because of unicorns, rainbows, and flowery rhetoric.

[Git]

My fellow liberals kept insisting that Obama would be good for race relations. And good for secularism. And good for everyone because of unicorns, rainbows, and flowery rhetoric.

Don't look at me, I wanted Hilary to win.

[AndrewV69]

Is it safe yet? Have we found the real killer?

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/27 ... ights-act/

All this did was to remove one item which one individual was using as his personal playground. The real issue is that we still have the kangaroo courts.

My bet is that once we have a change of Government it will be reinstated. What needs to be done is to get rid of the star chambers completely.

[Mykeru]

Richard Carrier has funny ideas about the peer review process.

Dick Carrier has no peers; for he is The Most Smartest, Most Cleverest Man in the World!

(He told me so.)

Do you know a clip from the soon-to-be-released, super-duper documentary on Carrier (using his alias) was leaked?

[youtube]8n3TsWRpLrk[/youtube]

[AndrewV69]

It's not JTO. A review of JohnD's past posts is illuminating, though.

I get the impression that Strawkins does not think too highly of JTO if he can get that confused about him.

Just a feeling. :lol:

[Mykeru]

(Also, at 1:32 you can see my cameo appearance)

[AndrewV69]

My fellow liberals kept insisting that Obama would be good for race relations. And good for secularism. And good for everyone because of unicorns, rainbows, and flowery rhetoric.

Don't look at me, I wanted Hilary to win.

Does she have a chance next go round?

(I used to think different but now I believe it would be a real hoot if Sara Palin becomes POTUS one day).

[Ericb]

Richard Carrier has funny ideas about the peer review process.

Dick Carrier has no peers; for he is The Most Smartest, Most Cleverest Man in the World!

(He told me so.)

[Mykeru]

It's not JTO. A review of JohnD's past posts is illuminating, though.

I get the impression that Strawkins does not think too highly of JTO if he can get that confused about him.

Just a feeling. :lol:

He also has a rather expansive definition of "doxing" to mean "noting the publicly accessible names of a persons who appeared in public to block other person's access to a public forum, not even pretend to give a crap about a friend's suicide, and otherwise accuse them of being rape apologists and scum, which is really bad form as it may expose said abusive public slanderers to scorn which is mean, because they are just girls".

I gather.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

We learn about religion through our culture, and through religious classes in school.... In Germany it works, as state supported mainstream Christianity is very moderate and watered down.

And people who grew up in the DDR were raised as atheists, and almost all have remained atheist, despite the freedom to now heed God's call:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zei ... 28526.html

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/dahl20091109/


If familiarity breeds contempt, then "watered down" officialdom must breed apathy. In the US, our strong separation of church & state has in many ways provided fertile ground for religions to thrive. An old quip goes: "In France, they have one religion and a thousand sauces; in America, a thousand religions and one sauce."

The fucking Bavarians prevent, after all, that Germany is officiually the most atheistic place on earth. The religious divide goes back to the Thirty Years' Wars (1618—1648).

Du blöder Preußer! ;) Notable that in the South they say "Gruß Gott".


imo, Dawkins description of catechism as "child abuse" was hyperbolic. Still, it's a fair question to ask (esp. of a religious apologist): how come 99% of every believer in the world has the religion they were taught as kids?

[Spence]

Richard Carrier has funny ideas about the peer review process.

There is no formal definition of peer review, even among journals. For example, PNAS - a supposedly respected journal - allows authors to self-select reviewers, and the editor would not block publication if the article has the nod from a NAS fellow.

The mistake is to believe that peer review is actually a stamp of approval. It really isn't, and anyone who actually does real science knows this very well. There are many papers in my field that are a complete dreck - they passed peer review, but showing why they are wrong is a lot of hard work nobody can be bothered doing as the bad papers just wither and die anyway.

For some reason, peer review gets held up as some kind of golden standard of correctness within the skeptic community in a way it really doesn't in the scientific community. Carrier is just buying in to this. It is a shallow form of BS in my opinion.

[Badger3k]

My fellow liberals kept insisting that Obama would be good for race relations. And good for secularism. And good for everyone because of unicorns, rainbows, and flowery rhetoric.

Ye' had to mention unicorns....

[Matt Cavanaugh]

It's also amusing how Carrier always insists on being referred to as Dr. Carrier, even when he is giving talks on subjects that have nothing to do with the field in which he earned his PhD. Argument from authority, I presume?

Argument from Arrogance, more like.

[Tony Parsehole]

HAHAHAHAHAHA! I didn't know the Atheism+ Forum had it's own animated Gif.

[Ericb]

My fellow liberals kept insisting that Obama would be good for race relations. And good for secularism. And good for everyone because of unicorns, rainbows, and flowery rhetoric.

Ye' had to mention unicorns....

http://images.regretsy.com/obama2.jpg

[sacha]

if anyone is interested in how to tell a raven from a crow, I no longer need to list the differences, I can now link to a video:

here is crow/raven 101:

and by the way, I'm a rook.

I did enjoy a visit from the rooks when I was hiking in the Alps. They are very gregarious and fly right down to you to steal your apples. Are you an apple stealer Sacha?

Young birds are big risk takers (just like young humans). They have a high mortality rate as they discover what activities are threats and what activities result in rewards. Corvids don't actively teach their young (no birds have been recorded doing this), but the young learn an amazing amount from their parents and the rest of the mob. Perhaps this little guy had a string of bad luck and had to learn about pokupines the hard way.

He is also probably distressed, tired, and hungry because the quils are such a painful distraction. I have seen migrating birds so exhausted they will let you pick them up without flying away. They must be thinking "Shit! I am too tired to fly... I hope the gaint thing doesn't eat me!" Once they are in your hand they just sit there and stare at you.

I don't imaging this disctressed crow knew that humans would help. He was probably just looking for food and shelter and was too exhausted to try to escape. Once the people started to help he probably realized he should accept the help. Corvids are social so he was probably not too suprized at getting help from others.

Now that he has made friends with people he will probably hang out around people a lot... stealing their apples.

all this is most likely the scenario. Also, wild crows and ravens who are treated well and fed by humans over a period of time often will almost come close enough to fed by hand. The wild ravens at the beach here are not afraid of humans. If my dogs are not nearby, they let me get very close (I have fantastic photos of them because of this). If the humans in the video are known to be kind to the crows in the neighbourhood, it is not unheard of for one in distress to see if they can help. Remember that Corvids are smarter than dogs and on par with a 4 year old child. The crow seeing if a friendly human will help him is not as shocking as it may seem.

yes, I'll steal your apples, John

[debaser71]

Someone draw Obama riding a unicorn ... shirtless.... along a rainbow ... with flowers coming out of Obama's mouth instead of words .... with crowds of people underneath bowing to His awesomeness.

Or don't and just imagine someone did.

[sacha]

if anyone is interested in how to tell a raven from a crow, I no longer need to list the differences, I can now link to a video:

here is crow/raven 101:

and by the way, I'm a rook.

I did enjoy a visit from the rooks when I was hiking in the Alps. They are very gregarious and fly right down to you to steal your apples. Are you an apple stealer Sacha?

Young birds are big risk takers (just like young humans). They have a high mortality rate as they discover what activities are threats and what activities result in rewards. Corvids don't actively teach their young (no birds have been recorded doing this), but the young learn an amazing amount from their parents and the rest of the mob. Perhaps this little guy had a string of bad luck and had to learn about pokupines the hard way.

He is also probably distressed, tired, and hungry because the quils are such a painful distraction. I have seen migrating birds so exhausted they will let you pick them up without flying away. They must be thinking "Shit! I am too tired to fly... I hope the gaint thing doesn't eat me!" Once they are in your hand they just sit there and stare at you.

I don't imaging this disctressed crow knew that humans would help. He was probably just looking for food and shelter and was too exhausted to try to escape. Once the people started to help he probably realized he should accept the help. Corvids are social so he was probably not too suprized at getting help from others.

Now that he has made friends with people he will probably hang out around people a lot... stealing their apples.

oh, and apparently the crow did hang around for another day afterwards. I think I read they fed him dog food and put out a bowl of water for him.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

They don't seem to realize that a huge amount of scientific research deals with figuring out indirect ways of measuring effects that might be otherwise obscured by one major factor. Their surrender of the question as unknowable is like someone who has been challenged by Ray Comfort: "where you there?", immediately saying: "Fuck! No I wasn't! I guess we'll never know for sure if evolution took place!"

So, this morning, I find my kitchen garbage strewn across the floor. We'll never know for sure whether it was Dog or God.

[sacha]

I did enjoy a visit from the rooks when I was hiking in the Alps. They are very gregarious and fly right down to you to steal your apples. Are you an apple stealer Sacha?

They may actually have been choughs, which are very common in alpine areas.

Ah ha.... this is what I deserve for not bringing a bird book to Europe. It could have been an Alpine Chough. I will look for my photos. The color of the legs and bill are characteristic. Perhaps Sacha will not steal my apples afterall. She will just go for the carrion.

Corvids are omnivores, I'll still steal your apples

[Dick Strawkins]

It's not JTO. A review of JohnD's past posts is illuminating, though.

I get the impression that Strawkins does not think too highly of JTO if he can get that confused about him.

Just a feeling. :lol:

He also has a rather expansive definition of "doxing" to mean "noting the publicly accessible names of a persons who appeared in public to block other person's access to a public forum, not even pretend to give a crap about a friend's suicide, and otherwise accuse them of being rape apologists and scum, which is really bad form as it may expose said abusive public slanderers to scorn which is mean, because they are just girls".

I gather.

I tend to find a bit of a difference between "noting the publicly accessible names" of those that might annoy them, and the setting up a dedicated website, register-her.com that manages to mix together convicted rapists and pedophiles, along with the ideological foes of AVFM - and does so in a way that seems designed to conflate the two together - for example the recent case of Jessica Valenti:

After years of feminist activism, including the penning of a number of books and the founding of the website “feministing.com,” Jessica Valenti has been placed on the offender’s registry at register-her.com.

This places Valenti alongside other notable women such as rapist Debra Lafave and Killer Theresa Craig – in a growing database of rapists, pedophiles, murderers, false accusers and child abusers.

In other words, it places Valenti among her morally bankrupt contemporaries, where she righteously deserves to be.

Does AVFM have any idea about the harm it does to the mens issues movement by promoting such petty behavior?

Can anyone look at register-her.com and not come to the conclusion that it is the mirror image of the kind of site that Laden, Svan, Adam Lee and Peezus would set up in an instant if they could, to target those they see as opposed to their plans?

[sacha]

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

You're a racist poe, right?

Isn't it "John the Other" from AVFM?
Doesn't he have some more serious business to do rather than gracing us with his words of wisdom?
Surely there's a college girl to doxx?
Or perhaps he can demonstrate his bravery again by standing up to the might of ...errrr ...Setar? :think:

for fuck's sake

this is not John The Other, and he was not being serious. calm down

[sacha]

My fellow liberals kept insisting that Obama would be good for race relations. And good for secularism. And good for everyone because of unicorns, rainbows, and flowery rhetoric.

Don't look at me, I wanted Hilary to win.

nooooooooo!

[AndrewV69]

Does AVFM have any idea about the harm it does to the mens issues movement by promoting such petty behavior?

Can anyone look at register-her.com and not come to the conclusion that it is the mirror image of the kind of site that Laden, Svan, Adam Lee and Peezus would set up in an instant if they could, to target those they see as opposed to their plans?

I dunno if AVfM knows. Has anyone told them their concerns?

Here is a link to their comment form:
http://www.avoiceformen.com/policies/contact-us/

Feel free to contact us with questions, concerns or ideas.

So why not let them know what your thoughts are on the matter?

You could also copy/paste your comment here for future reference.

[Slither]

Richard Carrier has funny ideas about the peer review process.

There is no formal definition of peer review, even among journals. For example, PNAS - a supposedly respected journal - allows authors to self-select reviewers, and the editor would not block publication if the article has the nod from a NAS fellow.

The mistake is to believe that peer review is actually a stamp of approval. It really isn't, and anyone who actually does real science knows this very well. There are many papers in my field that are a complete dreck - they passed peer review, but showing why they are wrong is a lot of hard work nobody can be bothered doing as the bad papers just wither and die anyway.

For some reason, peer review gets held up as some kind of golden standard of correctness within the skeptic community in a way it really doesn't in the scientific community. Carrier is just buying in to this. It is a shallow form of BS in my opinion.

Well, to be fair to PNAS, it doesn't allow authors to self-select reviewers, but just to suggest reviewers (along with an explanation as to why the reviewer would be appropriate). I'm not on the PNAS board, but in similar situations these were just used as advice. For inter-disciplinary work this can be quite useful (given work involving field X and Y, is it meant to contribute to field X using Y, or vice-versa?), but by no means was the author allowed to actually select the reviewers.

And, yes, peer-review is by no means a stamp of correctness. Carrier is rapidly entering crank territory by claiming this.

[JAB]

(Also, at 1:32 you can see my cameo appearance)

Then here's another video for you. Your cameo is very early on. I like this guy's videos (he did It's Not About the Nail) and this particular video also ends with a Leonard Cohen song, so that's another plus:

[youtube]Kfxj2i_6q_M[/youtube]

[John D]

Isn't it "John the Other" from AVFM?
Doesn't he have some more serious business to do rather than gracing us with his words of wisdom?
Surely there's a college girl to doxx?
Or perhaps he can demonstrate his bravery again by standing up to the might of ...errrr ...Setar? :think:

for fuck's sake

this is not John The Other, and he was not being serious. calm down

I am certainly not John the Other, but perhaps he is stalking this forum looking for an opportunity to strike a match on the scarecrow ("How bout a little fire scarecrow!" - The W. W. of the West).

I am also not entirely joking. I am being hyperbolic when I call people savages (but then I believe I am also a savage... so go figure). I am totally serious about my disguist at the POTUS and Holder and the media vilifying Zimmerman and beatifying Trayvon. People are vile, and Al Sharpton, and his ilk are the most vile.... less than worms that get eaten by carrion crows. Sponges that feed off the waste of people's lives while they simulatneously turn them into crying victimized children.

[Cunning Punt]

Is it safe yet? Have we found the real killer?

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

What the fuck are you talking about, you fucking asshole?

[Dick Strawkins]

Well, to be fair to PNAS, it doesn't allow authors to self-select reviewers, but just to suggest reviewers (along with an explanation as to why the reviewer would be appropriate). I'm not on the PNAS board, but in similar situations these were just used as advice. For inter-disciplinary work this can be quite useful (given work involving field X and Y, is it meant to contribute to field X using Y, or vice-versa?), but by no means was the author allowed to actually select the reviewers.

And, yes, peer-review is by no means a stamp of correctness. Carrier is rapidly entering crank territory by claiming this.

They used to allow people to select reviewers but Lynn Margulis so abused the system by fishing for positive reviewers until she had enough that gave her paper the go ahead, that they overhauled the system.

The PNAS system was openly unfair, which was why it had to change.
Other top journals, if you know anything about high level academic research, tend to keep their corruption well away from prying eyes.
If you have the correct connections you can get your work fast tracked - or, probably just as commonly, get your competitors work held up in review until you've caught up with them.

Then again, that is proper peer review, not the thing that Carrier is on about which is probably more close to getting someone to run though his book to make sure he didn't spell Jesus with a B instead of an S.

[Cunning Punt]

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

You're a racist poe, right?

Isn't it "John the Other" from AVFM?
Doesn't he have some more serious business to do rather than gracing us with his words of wisdom?
Surely there's a college girl to doxx?
Or perhaps he can demonstrate his bravery again by standing up to the might of ...errrr ...Setar? :think:

I believe John the Egghead is a Canuk and hence couldn't vote for Obama if he wanted to. Unless he's lying.

[John D]

Are we still on Zimmerman? Last I heard the Feds have set up a tip line and are looking to prosecute him for a hate crime. Just what kind of justice system are the American running down there?

I dunno, but it is starting to look like the kind we have here in Canukistan.

I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

What the fuck are you talking about, you fucking asshole?

Kiss my pimple covered ass you cunt! What the fuck are you asking? (Boy... this is fun... and higly enlightening. I think my words are clear. Is there a certin thing I wrote that you are unable to understand? Perhaps the blood in your eyes is blocking your vision.)

[Linus]

My fellow liberals kept insisting that Obama would be good for race relations. And good for secularism. And good for everyone because of unicorns, rainbows, and flowery rhetoric.

Don't look at me, I wanted Hilary to win.

Don't blame me either. I voted for Kodos.

http://kodos.sourceforge.net/images/kodos.png

[Steersman]

<snip>
I am feeling ashamed that I voted for Obama. Holder and Obama are obviously pandering to the screaming savages on this one. Afterall.... we are now convinced Zimmerman MUST be guilty of something. He has been tried by the media and now he must fry. If I hear another "person of color" complaining about not knowing how to teach their boys to avoid trouble I will puke. Perhaps, concerned mamma, you should teach your boys to not scope out houses to rob, and to not assault people. This would be a good start. Savages.

Those damn niggers, always robbing and killing and scoping and assaulting and smoking pot and pestering good white people and being jerks and raping white women and not wanting to use their assigned buses and tring to steal white people's jobs and and being from a color different from white. I will tell you, somebody should do something about that, before they think they can run America or something!

Stereotyping for the win!!!!11s!!!

Apropos of which, here is Michael Shermer from his The Believing Brain (highly recommended):

Anyone who follows political commentary on a regular basis through the standard channels of talk radio and television, newspaper and magazine editorials, popular books, blogs, vlogs, tweets, and the like, knows the standard stereotype of what liberals think of conservatives:

Conservatives are a bunch of Hummer-driving, meat-eating, gun-toting, small-government-promoting, tax-decreasing, hard-drinking, Bible-thumping, black-and-white-thinking, fist-pounding, shoe-stomping, morally dogmatic blowhards.

And what conservatives think of liberals:

Liberals are a bunch of hybrid-driving, tofu-eating, tree-hugging, whale-saving, sandal-wearing, big-government-promoting, tax-increasing, bottled-water-drinking, flip-flopping, wishy-washy, namby-pamby bedwetters.

Such stereotypes are so ingrained into our culture that everyone understands them and comedians and commentators exploit them. Like many stereotypes, they both have an element of truth to them that reflects an emphasis on differing moral values, especially those we derive intuitively.

All, it seems, predicated on inductive leaps of one sort or another, of inferring that all of a class or group are the same as some limited sub-segment of it. Which causes no end of problems.

[bovarchist]

Don't blame me, I voted for Saddam.