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

[KiwiInOz]

Walter, from what I've gathered, seems to be a really nice guy. He probably hates some of the Pitters, but who doesn't? Anyway, his trolling is way better than oolon's. Make of that what you will.

Although he is coming across as a bit of a try hard right now.

[KiwiInOz]

I'm beyond the "best before" date

Yeah, right. These days we call them MILFs...

No no, you're confusing MILFs with cougars.

Andrew V69 gets good photos of cougars.

[KiwiInOz]

If I was living in a dirt hut without enough food, or clean water, I would not give a toss as to why someone was helping to build me a house.

That is until you discover their aid manual, "To Serve Sacha" is in fact... A COOKBOOK!!! :o

I'm beyond the "best before" date[/quote

That's not what I've heard.

[KiwiInOz]

No no, you're confusing MILFs with cougars.

I thought it was all in the way you looked at it. I thought it was possible to be both, depending on who is doing the pursuing and who is being pursued. Both are predicated upon an age difference. And (possibly) whether or not one has kids, but I don't think the "M" in MILF is really used that specifically.

does dog mum count?

Just means that you are head bitch.

[KiwiInOz]

So I'm just catching up.

Bite me.

[bovarchist]

Also like the new avatar pic. You look like you just left a series of clues in that museum to whatever nefarious scheme you're hatching.

Moriarty.

I've got it! His real name is Artie Morty!

[sacha]

yes but that's meaningless when compared to the first real visible male firebrand atheist activists like Madalyn Murray O'Hair

Madalyn Murray O'Hair was male? That's news to me!

Point.

Whoosh.

where have you been Kiwi?

[sacha]

does dog mum count?

Just means that you are head bitch.

indeed. Alpha bitch

[sacha]

I'm beyond the "best before" date

That's not what I've heard.

I think I get more sex in the pyt's mind than I do in reality. quite a sad state of affairs

[KiwiInOz]

Point.

Whoosh.

where have you been Kiwi?

Popping in and out. Work and life have been cutting into my Slymepit time. I need to do something about re-balancing that.

[Lsuoma]

Hey, Australia - you is our BITCHEZ!!!

I'm amused by it. Schadenfreude. The sooner Clarke fucks off the better.
Previous captains were at least respected, if not loved by all, but even his mum thinks he's a total cunt.

Plus people like Ponting actually had the habit of winning matches, even though the cunt did wear the baggy green...

[DW Adams]

Orphan Black looks very interesting.

It's well written and the actress who plays the lead character also plays 4 other characters , (clones raised in different parts of the world), this was probably the best weekly series of 2012.

Supporting cast is also well done.

Watch it if you can.

[acathode]

Someone should write an article about how to be an SJW without being a cunt.

Well by definition if you're an SJW you're an asshole, but there are ways to actually do social justice without that.

#1. Focus on problems and potential solutions, not identity.

#2. Don't demand that other people live up to standards that you're unwilling to do so yourself or you're unwilling to enforce on your tribe.

#3. Recognize that complete elimination of any given problem is basically impossible...progress is the goal here.

#4. Recognize that for any given problem, you yourself might be part of said problem.

#5. Recognize that power dynamics go in multiple directions, even simultaneously.

#6. Stop the privilege seeking and the focus on the apex.

And yeah. That's what I can think of for now.

How about for those SJWs that are actually interested in doing some good

Rule nr 1: Don't be a angry SJW asshole. Loose any smug sense of moral superiority you might feel for "getting it", and approach any conversation as a discussion between two equals and not as a chance to preach to the unwashed peons. Never ever simply throw angry SJW buzzwords at people and expect them to change their minds.

(That is of course if you're actually interested in changing anyone's mind, if you're like most SJWs, ie. mainly in it so you can feel good and smug about yourself and getting high on the rage, then by all means do continue your usual SJW "activism", consisting of throwing SJW-buzzwords at people on twitter.)

This is really the single biggest problem I have with SJWs - Most of the times any discussion with them is simply impossible, because they have no interest in actually listening and considering anything else than their own preachings, and when they notice that people around them don't simply fall over in stunned amazement they simply start throwing SJW buzzwords at people and shouting about how evil everyone else is.
It's exactly like discussing with certain zealous theists all over again, who'd start preaching about X, usually complemented with bible or qouran passages, and then, when noticing that the atheists and the other non believers just didn't go "OH WOW YOU'VE SHOWN US THE LIGHT!!!!", they revert to shouting about how everyone is filthy sinners etc.

I've had plenty of good, satisfying discussions with people that I disagree with, like theists and feminists, where even though I didn't end up agreeing with them completely, I've still walked away with a new perspective or a new insight. The thing in common for those discussions though, was that they were discussions, not one guy and his soapbox raging at the evil people who just won't do and think what he want them to do and think, no matter how loud he screams and insults them.

ps. As for TV-shows, a lot of good stuff already mentioned, but I didn't see anyone mention "Life on Mars" yet. Liked that one a lot, has IMO a very good ending, something that TV-shows rarely have. Another show I really enjoyed was the sci fi miniseries "The Lost Room".

[another lurker]

@acathode

The Lost Room was great!

I'll check out Life on Mars, looks interesting.

[free thoughtpolice]

sacha said:

apparently Cougars go after young men, so I guess I'm not a Cougar: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... lder-women

More evidence you aren't a cougar- the cougars around here really like dogs to eat, but otherwise really hate them.

[Lsuoma]

IIRC there was some discussion on Katie Hopkins here recently. She, like Feefles and all the rest of the FTBTards and Twatson, etc, are trollumnists.

[FrankGrimes]

Hey, Australia - you is our BITCHEZ!!!

Australia are their own bitches. It's like someone said to the boys before the match "go fuck yourselves" and they took it kinda literally.

[Percentage]

I'm calling it- Miri is going to be a serious leader in the atheist movement come the next few decades. She speaks very well on camera and has that sort of nebulous X factor that allows her to command a room (a chat room, in this case, but still). It's immature since she's like 21 but you can see it. Wonky eye or no, I was impressed.

[AndrewV69]

A new exposé of Mother Teresa shows that she—and the Vatican—were even worse than we thought

Good catch.

In the comments, a link to the following book which you can read online:
Mother Teresa The Final Verdict By Aroup Chatterjee
http://www.meteorbooks.com/index.html

[AndrewV69]

Andrew V69 gets good photos of cougars.

I wish I had. One of my neighbours also rushed up to where he had been spotted but was disappointed just like I was. Anyway, three cougar in the same number of years so perhaps one day.

Meanwhile, I will settle for the bear and deer.

[JackSkeptic]

Hey, Australia - you is our BITCHEZ!!!

Australia are their own bitches. It's like someone said to the boys before the match "go fuck yourselves" and they took it kinda literally.

It's all OK it's not their fault at all. They are victims of colonialism.

As something said earlier, I often compare the more extreme SJW's to Born Again Christians. The similarities are striking:

1. Often recent converts to their new ideology.

2. Appeals to some emotional need or needs with little attempt at skeptisism/enquiry.

3. Have holy books and prophets. Acceptance of facts based purely on the approved authority. Ad Hominens and appeal to authority are a basic tenant.

4. Anyone who disagrees is told to educate themselves (how many time have us atheists been told that with theists and the bible?)

5. Assertion of moral superiority and righteousness. The holders of the ultimate truth from which all other concepts must be inferior to (even skepticism and critical analyses)

6. Unclear dogma which can change at any time. However others are expected to know exactly what they mean, including the terms 'feminism' or 'social justice' which can actually mean many things to many people.

7. Uncomfortable with people who do not agree with them. Socially awkward so they overcompensate. They emotionally overreact at the slightest socially awkward situation, often making it a lot worse.

8. Take the strongest measures to protect their belief. Shunning, heavy censorship, attacking and a pretence at doing so to promote intellectual cleanliness.

9. A smug glow of superiority without a hint of self examination or humour. Like bible readings most SJW's blogs have a lot of words but little actual content. Ill defined concepts such as 'spiritual' or 'justice' are thrown around with no thought to what they actually mean.

10. They are lazy and make any excuse not to do something rather than moan about it.

11. They justify their own normal human failings such as overeating or smoking as realistic and valid healthy life choices.

12. They make up ailments to garner sympathy / prove they are suffering for their deity and reinforce group acceptance. Some will invent tenuous and undiagnosed mental conditions or intense and often irrational dislikes (triggers/ ban of certain words/ do not blaspheme/swear as it upsets me greatly ) to justify their behaviour or shut down discussion.

13. They never actually do anything really useful or help anyone at all. I had to say that twice as they really are. The people that go out there and stick their necks out to try and do real good in this world are the people I respect, not those clowns. The SJW's and the Born Agains are as much use as a condom with a hole in it.

14. Last but not least, they are no fun.

[Lsuoma]

Andrew V69 gets good photos of cougars.

I wish I had. One of my neighbours also rushed up to where he had been spotted but was disappointed just like I was. Anyway, three cougar in the same number of years so perhaps one day.

Meanwhile, I will settle for the bear and deer.

I am related by marriage to a journalist in the south of WA state. He got a hysterical call a couple of years ago from a woman saying that she's seen a cougar in the area. He pointed out to her that the place she lived in is actually called Cougar, so perhaps her reaction might possibly have been overreaction?

[Lsuoma]

It's all OK it's not their fault at all. They are victims of colonialism.

That is bootless - the current team is still fucking shite, and they deserved the metaphorical lamping they got!

14. Last but not least, they are no fun.

[youtube]MOs4vsthLD0[/youtube]

[AndrewV69]

A new exposé of Mother Teresa shows that she—and the Vatican—were even worse than we thought

Good catch.

In the comments, a link to the following book which you can read online:
Mother Teresa The Final Verdict By Aroup Chatterjee
http://www.meteorbooks.com/index.html

Hmmm... only up to chapter three is free.

[JackSkeptic]

It's all OK it's not their fault at all. They are victims of colonialism.

That is bootless - the current team is still fucking shite, and they deserved the metaphorical lamping they got!

14. Last but not least, they are no fun.

****youtube not funny clip inserted here***

Damn you Sir, damn you to hell!!!! Duel at dawn next to the canal. Bring your own fish.

[youtube]xCwLirQS2-o[/youtube]

[sacha]

@acathode

The Lost Room was great!

I'll check out Life on Mars, looks interesting.

is anyone keeping track of these? I started to, but I've missed quite a few

[another lurker]

@Sacha

Not to worry, I am writing everything down and then I will paste it all on the movies thread.

At some point I am going to organize and add the movies, documentaries, and books that have been mentioned here since I joined in December.

I also plan on adding some of the movies that were recommended to PZ over the holidays.

Movies such as...this one:

Rubber

When Robert, a tire, discovers his destructive telepathic powers, he soon sets his sights on a desert town; in particular, a mysterious woman becomes his obsession.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612774/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The FTB crew, if anything, have an eclectic taste in movies.

[bovarchist]

I wish I had. One of my neighbours also rushed up to where he had been spotted but was disappointed just like I was. Anyway, three cougar in the same number of years so perhaps one day.

Meanwhile, I will settle for the bear and deer.

I am related by marriage to a journalist in the south of WA state. He got a hysterical call a couple of years ago from a woman saying that she's seen a cougar in the area. He pointed out to her that the place she lived in is actually called Cougar, so perhaps her reaction might possibly have been overreaction?

Not necessarily. If I lived in Lynchburg, I'd still be pretty hysterical if I saw an actual lynching. ;)

[sacha]

@Sacha

Not to worry, I am writing everything down and then I will paste it all on the movies thread.

At some point I am going to organize and add the movies, documentaries, and books that have been mentioned here since I joined in December.

I also plan on adding some of the movies that were recommended to PZ over the holidays.

Movies such as...this one:

Rubber

When Robert, a tire, discovers his destructive telepathic powers, he soon sets his sights on a desert town; in particular, a mysterious woman becomes his obsession.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612774/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The FTB crew, if anything, have an eclectic taste in movies.

cheers! I always forget recommendations and I sit here like an idiot trying to think of something to watch online

[another lurker]

@Sacha

Not to worry, I am writing everything down and then I will paste it all on the movies thread.

At some point I am going to organize and add the movies, documentaries, and books that have been mentioned here since I joined in December.

I also plan on adding some of the movies that were recommended to PZ over the holidays.

Movies such as...this one:

Rubber

When Robert, a tire, discovers his destructive telepathic powers, he soon sets his sights on a desert town; in particular, a mysterious woman becomes his obsession.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612774/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The FTB crew, if anything, have an eclectic taste in movies.

cheers! I always forget recommendations and I sit here like an idiot trying to think of something to watch online

When the list is complete you are going to have literally YEARS worth of entertainment to choose from!

[AndrewV69]

I am related by marriage to a journalist in the south of WA state. He got a hysterical call a couple of years ago from a woman saying that she's seen a cougar in the area. He pointed out to her that the place she lived in is actually called Cougar, so perhaps her reaction might possibly have been overreaction?

To the best of my knowledge they are not usually a problem unless there is a scarcity of their preferred prey (or if they are sick/old). Oh and lock up your pets at night.

[another lurker]

I am related by marriage to a journalist in the south of WA state. He got a hysterical call a couple of years ago from a woman saying that she's seen a cougar in the area. He pointed out to her that the place she lived in is actually called Cougar, so perhaps her reaction might possibly have been overreaction?

To the best of my knowledge they are not usually a problem unless there is a scarcity of their preferred prey (or if they are sick/old). Oh and lock up your pets at night.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... trail.html

A B.C. woman who was attacked on her sofa by a starving cougar that strolled into her house in search of a meal says her faithful dog saved her life.

Angie Prime, 35, was sitting in the living room of her home in Trail, located in southeastern B.C., on Saturday evening, talking to her husband on the phone and getting ready to take her three dogs out for a walk before turning in.

Then she caught a flash of something that should not have been in the house.

"I just happened to catch something out of the corner of my eye," she said. "I just of kind of looked over and there it was coming out of the dark at me and we kind of looked at each other."

The old emaciated cougar, looking for an easy meal, had slipped into the darkened house through an open screen door.

[Lsuoma]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... trail.html

A B.C. woman who was attacked on her sofa by a starving cougar that strolled into her house in search of a meal says her faithful dog saved her life.

Angie Prime, 35, was sitting in the living room of her home in Trail, located in southeastern B.C., on Saturday evening, talking to her husband on the phone and getting ready to take her three dogs out for a walk before turning in.

Then she caught a flash of something that should not have been in the house.

"I just happened to catch something out of the corner of my eye," she said. "I just of kind of looked over and there it was coming out of the dark at me and we kind of looked at each other."

The old emaciated cougar, looking for an easy meal, had slipped into the darkened house through an open screen door.

Similar to "The Man Eaters of Tsavo" from 19th Century Africa. J.H Patterson wrote a book about it.

[free thoughtpolice]

I am related by marriage to a journalist in the south of WA state. He got a hysterical call a couple of years ago from a woman saying that she's seen a cougar in the area. He pointed out to her that the place she lived in is actually called Cougar, so perhaps her reaction might possibly have been overreaction?

To the best of my knowledge they are not usually a problem unless there is a scarcity of their preferred prey (or if they are sick/old). Oh and lock up your pets at night.

I've had one stalk me I was able to chase off, had two occasions of them screaming at me from close range, some close range encounters where they ran off or were treed.
One acquaintance was washing dishes in her kitchen when her toy poodle came tearing in with a cougar right behind it. The cat hit a throw mat, slid across the floor and then seeing my friend spun it's wheels and did a quick 180 back out the door.
Another was not so lucky and had her German Shepherd fatally injured in their back yard while they were trying to beat the cougar back.
Two horses were attacked near here last fall, one killed and the other seriously injured.
Attacks on humans occur occasionally, every few years, on Vancouver Island (where I live) which is the area with the highest number of cougars/ per acre of anywhere. Usually they attack children, sometimes adults on bicycles.
As Andrew notes, old and sick animals are potential problems. I would add that young animals that in their second year set off on their own from their mother in their fall are often problems. They are getting pushed to find their own territory and as inexperienced hunters they are often desperately hungry and can cause problems.

[Slither]

As a dues-paying member of Procrastinators-R-Us, I decided to take a quick look at the academic work of Richard Carrier, and what I found was far worse than even my meager expectations.

You might recall from up-thread it being mentioned that Richard Carrier was extremely upset that someone put a link to Stephanie Fisher's critique of his book on his Wikipedia page. He edited his page to remove this, and wrote an "official response" (one wonders what an unofficial response would look like). Fisher's critique is more than 8000 words long, but I decided to look further into one specific matter.

Richard Carrier claims that the field of New Testament Studies has "collapsed into a chaos of opinions" about Jesus, and cites one Tom Verenna as an authority who claims this. Fisher states that Verenna is simply unqualified to make such a statement about an entire academic field of study. This upsets Carrier, who spends a good part of his "official response" defending Verenna. Verenna is "completely competent", according to Carrier, has "considerable skill" and Fisher's remarks are an insult to a scholar in the field. Moreover, according to Carrier, Verenna has "published a chapter on this subject in a peer reviewed academic book"!

Well! Certainly one should have wonderful credentials to be able to criticize an entire field of study! So, let's take a look at the Tom Verenna who Carrier views as an expert.

Verenna's chapter in a "peer reviewed academic book" is described on Carrier's Amazon.com store, and his CV can be found here. (In case the gentle reader is concerned that Verenna's CV might be out-of-date, notice that the CV lists the book, so must be at least as recent as the book.) And what do we find? We find that Tom Verenna, who according to Carrier is eminently qualified to critique the whole field of New Testament Studies, is a sophomore of Northampton Community College. And before that, was a student at none other than Montgomery Community College! So, yes, this scholar of Carrier's is just an undergrad at a local community college.

But, you might cry, Carrier said that this book was a "peer reviewed academic book"! So, let's take a look at it. Notice that one of the two editors is none other than Tom Verenna. So, Verenna's chapter appeared in the book he himself edited! Not to worry, Carrier cries in one of his other blog posts, the other contributers to this book "peer-reviewed" Verenna's chapter! (Why does Carrier know so much about how this book was written?) So, according to Carrier, the way peer review works is that an editor chooses people to contribute to a book, who then approve of the editor's own chapter in said book. No conflict of interest there! Isn't peer review wonderful!

Now, knowing you pytters, I'm sure none of you are at all skeptical about Carrier, Verenna or this supposed academic book at this point. I am, however, a horrible horrible person, so I decided to take a look at the press who'd print an "academic" book edited by an undergrad with such an interesting definition of peer-review.

Verenna's book was printed by Equinox Press, and you can find their Author Form for Book Proposals here. Notice that his form doesn't ask for text or sample chapters. It does ask for biographical information, but only "for preparing the jacket copy and the title page of the book, and as a basis for catalogue and leaflet entries and press releases." It asks for a brief bio sketch for the jacket copy, and a short blurb for advertising purposes. And it does ask for the names of "reviewers", because they "may wish to send the draft manuscript" to reviewers "to improve the final draft of the manuscript". So, in other words, this "scholarly" press thinks it is really, really important to have the jacket copy written immediately, and getting a copy of the actual book or, for that matter, a critical review of the contents, not so much.

So, this is what Carrier views as a "peer reviewed academic book", and the credentials of an eminent scholar in his chosen field of study. It turns out, moreover, that chapters of this book are used as sources in his own book. Isn't Carrier just an amazing scholar!

[Lsuoma]

Isn't Carrier just an amazing scholar!

This post is a deliberate tour de force!!!

[JackSkeptic]

Isn't Carrier just an amazing scholar!

This post is a deliberate tour de force!!!

Carrier's hubris and pomposity will be his downfall.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

John W. Loftus is leaving SKINK. Claims Greta Christina Fatigue Syndrome, plus he doesn't like having to debate skeptics -- only wants to debate christians.

[Lsuoma]

Was Loftus the primum mobile in kicking out "The Stache"?

[JackSkeptic]

Was Loftus the primum mobile in kicking out "The Stache"?

Well, that would be the assumption. Interesting. However the way he dealt with the moustache was indicative of someone under a lot of stress.

[JackSkeptic]

This is his goodbye post. Anyway I wish him well.

http://www.skepticink.com/debunkingchri ... leave-sin/

[welch]

John W. Loftus is leaving SKINK. Claims Greta Christina Fatigue Syndrome, plus he doesn't like having to debate skeptics -- only wants to debate christians.

Yeah. Opponents that know things are a pain in the ass. They keep asking actual inconvenient questions. Seriously, WTF did he think running something like that would be?

[welch]

This is his goodbye post. Anyway I wish him well.

http://www.skepticink.com/debunkingchri ... leave-sin/

I wish he'd apologize for being such a shit to Justin.

[Badger3k]

This is the second or third time he's given up. The last time was a few years ago, probably before he was invited to FfTB, if I remember correctly. Most of the interesting posts on his Debunking Christianity site were by others, like Harry McCall. From looking at his feed, Loftus' main contribution to blogging seemed to be self-promotion. I doubt he could go two days without posting another review of his book, or a link to someone talking about it. His over-emotional attachment to WL Craig was incredibly tiring to read as well. Of course, if he said Craig was dishonest, he couldn't brag about being the only person he wouldn't debate.

Meh.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

I'm calling it- Miri is going to be a serious leader in the atheist movement come the next few decades. She speaks very well on camera and has that sort of nebulous X factor that allows her to command a room (a chat room, in this case, but still). It's immature since she's like 21 but you can see it. Wonky eye or no, I was impressed.

But she's mental.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

I wish he'd apologize for being such a shit to Justin.

Loftus acts like a shit to the entire world.

[ConcentratedH2O, OM]

This is his goodbye post. Anyway I wish him well.

http://www.skepticink.com/debunkingchri ... leave-sin/

I wish he'd apologize for being such a shit to Justin.

I think that "wishing" should be replaced by "praying", they're both part of the same rubberboned body of subtle religization.

I know what you're saying. I'm just on a mission at the moment to eradicate religious/whoopty keywords and phrases from our language.

Anyway, have a blessed day y'all.

[JackSkeptic]

This is his goodbye post. Anyway I wish him well.

http://www.skepticink.com/debunkingchri ... leave-sin/

I wish he'd apologize for being such a shit to Justin.

Agree. The way Justin was treated was disgusting. A typical SJW tactic though. Righteous indignation with someone you disagree with wins every time no matter what the consequences. There was a risk Skepticink was going to end up being a depository for SJW's and have little to do with skeptisism. Hopefully that risk has gone.

His comment 'As I go you might see a gradual shift in emphasis toward the traditional notion of skepticism as opposed to atheism, which sounds fine with me, if so.' seems weird. While I know skeptic organisations such as JREF seem fine with theists the arguments against theists has to be skeptically based. Maybe he means more talk about anti-vaxers or bigfoot rather than atheism. But I do not see atheism and skepticism as mutually exclusive but quite the reverse despite blogs like FtB and the A+ 'movement' trying to prove otherwise.

I also read his blog where he says people like WLC are not dishonest. They are dishonest and demonstrably so in my opinion. Lying for Jesus is common. Of course lying asserts a state of mind that can't be proven but the evidence is so strong simple delusion can't explain it. I have studied WLC's videos and he does several bait and switch tactics which are key to his arguments. All apologists do but he is one of the most devious at it. That can't be an accident. He may well be a decent and nice guy but he lies just the same. So does the Pope for that matter.

[AndrewV69]

I'm calling it- Miri is going to be a serious leader in the atheist movement come the next few decades. She speaks very well on camera and has that sort of nebulous X factor that allows her to command a room (a chat room, in this case, but still). It's immature since she's like 21 but you can see it. Wonky eye or no, I was impressed.

But she's mental.

I thought all she had was body image issues. It that not "normal" for the N. American demographic she falls into? Or were you just taking the piss?

I am asking because I really do not know.

[JackSkeptic]

I'm calling it- Miri is going to be a serious leader in the atheist movement come the next few decades. She speaks very well on camera and has that sort of nebulous X factor that allows her to command a room (a chat room, in this case, but still). It's immature since she's like 21 but you can see it. Wonky eye or no, I was impressed.

But she's mental.

Sanity is a big drawback in any leadership role.

[AndrewV69]

In other news, I scored 30 and so apparently I fail as an Aspie. For those interested, Take The AQ Test:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The test is not a means for making a diagnosis, however, and many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger's report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives.

[Gefan]

...Similar to "The Man Eaters of Tsavo" from 19th Century Africa. J.H Patterson wrote a book about it.

Same story was the basis for a surprisingly good 1996 film, "The Ghost and The Darkness".
Give it a look. No idea how closely it adheres to the actual events but it's thrilling to watch.

[Gefan]

I am related by marriage to a journalist in the south of WA state. He got a hysterical call a couple of years ago from a woman saying that she's seen a cougar in the area. He pointed out to her that the place she lived in is actually called Cougar, so perhaps her reaction might possibly have been overreaction?

To the best of my knowledge they are not usually a problem unless there is a scarcity of their preferred prey (or if they are sick/old). Oh and lock up your pets at night.

Apparently, New Zealand has a problem with Cougars:

[youtube]j4qtuGmyZoI[/youtube]

[DownThunder]

I remember that ad in the news. It was fucking hilarious.

It also struck a massive raw nerve, especially with feminist types because it portrayed a woman as sexually harassing males, and for portraying her sexuality as predatory. And rapey.

Sounds like a familiar narrative.

[Jan Steen]

As a dues-paying member of Procrastinators-R-Us, I decided to take a quick look at the academic work of Richard Carrier, and what I found was far worse than even my meager expectations.

You might recall from up-thread it being mentioned that Richard Carrier was extremely upset that someone put a link to Stephanie Fisher's critique of his book on his Wikipedia page. He edited his page to remove this, and wrote an "official response" (one wonders what an unofficial response would look like). Fisher's critique is more than 8000 words long, but I decided to look further into one specific matter.

Richard Carrier claims that the field of New Testament Studies has "collapsed into a chaos of opinions" about Jesus, and cites one Tom Verenna as an authority who claims this. Fisher states that Verenna is simply unqualified to make such a statement about an entire academic field of study. This upsets Carrier, who spends a good part of his "official response" defending Verenna. Verenna is "completely competent", according to Carrier, has "considerable skill" and Fisher's remarks are an insult to a scholar in the field. Moreover, according to Carrier, Verenna has "published a chapter on this subject in a peer reviewed academic book"!

Well! Certainly one should have wonderful credentials to be able to criticize an entire field of study! So, let's take a look at the Tom Verenna who Carrier views as an expert.

Verenna's chapter in a "peer reviewed academic book" is described on Carrier's Amazon.com store, and his CV can be found here. (In case the gentle reader is concerned that Verenna's CV might be out-of-date, notice that the CV lists the book, so must be at least as recent as the book.) And what do we find? We find that Tom Verenna, who according to Carrier is eminently qualified to critique the whole field of New Testament Studies, is a sophomore of Northampton Community College. And before that, was a student at none other than Montgomery Community College! So, yes, this scholar of Carrier's is just an undergrad at a local community college.

But, you might cry, Carrier said that this book was a "peer reviewed academic book"! So, let's take a look at it. Notice that one of the two editors is none other than Tom Verenna. So, Verenna's chapter appeared in the book he himself edited! Not to worry, Carrier cries in one of his other blog posts, the other contributers to this book "peer-reviewed" Verenna's chapter! (Why does Carrier know so much about how this book was written?) So, according to Carrier, the way peer review works is that an editor chooses people to contribute to a book, who then approve of the editor's own chapter in said book. No conflict of interest there! Isn't peer review wonderful!

Now, knowing you pytters, I'm sure none of you are at all skeptical about Carrier, Verenna or this supposed academic book at this point. I am, however, a horrible horrible person, so I decided to take a look at the press who'd print an "academic" book edited by an undergrad with such an interesting definition of peer-review.

Verenna's book was printed by Equinox Press, and you can find their Author Form for Book Proposals here. Notice that his form doesn't ask for text or sample chapters. It does ask for biographical information, but only "for preparing the jacket copy and the title page of the book, and as a basis for catalogue and leaflet entries and press releases." It asks for a brief bio sketch for the jacket copy, and a short blurb for advertising purposes. And it does ask for the names of "reviewers", because they "may wish to send the draft manuscript" to reviewers "to improve the final draft of the manuscript". So, in other words, this "scholarly" press thinks it is really, really important to have the jacket copy written immediately, and getting a copy of the actual book or, for that matter, a critical review of the contents, not so much.

So, this is what Carrier views as a "peer reviewed academic book", and the credentials of an eminent scholar in his chosen field of study. It turns out, moreover, that chapters of this book are used as sources in his own book. Isn't Carrier just an amazing scholar!

It wouldn't surprise me if this Tom Verenna was one of the 'major professors' who reviewed Carrier's forthcoming book on the historicity of Jeebus.

Carrier is the Dunning-Kruger effect personified. Two years ago he wrote a post in which he proposed a radical new idea in physics in order to resolve the EPR paradox. The only catch was that he didn't know enough physics to put his idea in mathematical form, so he called on all physicists to examine his proposal and to let him know if it made any sense.

It is all a bit sad, really. But if schadenfreude is your thing, you may want have a peek at his post.

http://richardcarrier.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... cists.html

The opening paragraph displays all the symptoms of the crackpot:

Over the years I have been mulling a problem in metaphysics: the ontological mysteries of Quantum Mechanics. I have been developing a theory in this regard (see, for example, The Ontology of Time and my unresolved alternatives in Sense and Goodness without God, pp. 98-99, III.4.1), and now, informed by some recent discoveries and publications in the sciences (and finally a stronger understanding of EPR experiments), I am able to write up a proposal intelligibly enough for an actual physicist to evaluate it.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Forgot to mention Little Britain. And of course; Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Dumb fuck that I am!

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Forgot to mention Little Britain. And of course; Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Dumb fuck that I am!

Or is it Captain Obvious? Yeah, more like it...

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Forgot to mention Little Britain. And of course; Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Dumb fuck that I am!

Or is it Captain Obvious? Yeah, more like it...

Fuck! I hate answering to my own posts!

(And Lsuoma, fascist tit extraordinaire, hates my serial posting. So it's all win/win)

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

A friend posted this on FB:

http://hugelolcdn.com/i700/156192.jpg

It seems we're slowly solving the mystery...

[bovarchist]

A friend posted this on FB:

http://hugelolcdn.com/i700/156192.jpg

It seems we're slowly solving the mystery...

The funny thing is, in the real world you see the right-hand couple far more often than the left-hand couple. Which is why I don't understand why men have the reputation for being shallow, and 'obsessed with appearances' while women get to claim that they care about the 'real person inside'.