The Periodic Table's Younger, Sexier, Sibling Thread...

[Tigzy]

It's a constant source of regret to me that FTB doesn't include BB codes, because I would love to take a massive shit in Ophelia's back yard by dumping the Windowlicker vid on her blog.

Can you use html tags? just use object.

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" style="width:425px; height:350px;" data=""><param name="movie" value="" /></object>

xxxxxxxxx would be the video id.

Course - forgot about the HTML codes. Duh! In any case, I'm on auto-mod there, so I doubt it'd get through anyway.

For the uninitiated: Windowlicker. A Chris Cunningham classic that ticks just about every 'ism' in the box, with the added bonus of being disturbing as hell. I think it would do strange things to Pruney.

[spoiler][youtube]zlrbNqs61nU[/youtube][/spoiler]

[AbsurdWalls]

Aron Ra's wife has drunk the Koolaid at last, it seems. I can't quite bring it to words, but I'm really disappointed. I thought they were beyond that crap. I was wrong.

Any residual upright and intellectually-honest blogger would have left the echo chambers of FTB by now. It isn't by reason of guilt by association, it's by morally-necessary dissociation from bigotry.
There's a point beyond which one becomes complicit to assault on reason and decency by simply flying a banner.

Is that not flying the double-standard banner a bit?

If you're on FtB and disagree with some of the heinous shit that goes on there then you can write blogs pointing it out. It is my understanding that people have done this before. If that leads to you getting kicked off FtB then that just goes to show how far they've gone.

[Bhurzum]

For the uninitiated: Windowlicker. A Chris Cunningham classic that ticks just about every 'ism' in the box, with the added bonus of being disturbing as hell

You cruel, cruel man!

:twisted:

(Mind you, it could be worse, you could have linked "Rubber Johnny")

[decius]

Is that not flying the double-standard banner a bit?

If you're on FtB and disagree with some of the heinous shit that goes on there then you can write blogs pointing it out. It is my understanding that people have done this before. If that leads to you getting kicked off FtB then that just goes to show how far they've gone.

I think we are past that point and I don't see the Ras calling out anyone. All fine and dandy for them, including the treatment reserved to TF and Al.

[Lurkion]

This is appalling. I am appalled.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/ja ... it-webchat

Some of you may not know but she is Zinnia Jones from FTB. (Obviously, it's already been talked about above.

Surely, someone at FTB noticed this and would've called an emergency G+ hangout (or something) and said "Look, Zinnia. I know all we do we do for attention and click money, but this has gone beyond merely trying to make the atheist movement our weird little nest of strange ideas. You cannot deliberately undermine a major trial to get attention."

As a lawyer - a litigation lawyer - I am horrified by the prospect of a witness doing this. And this witness has just done this. And just given a whole lot of material to be cross-examined on when the time comes. Maybe she'll put one word out of place and that will be enough to lever in a line of questioning that is convincing enough to derail the whole point of her evidence.

She also disclosed:

1. what the defence disclosed to her obviously in confidence about the purpose of her evidence and what they consider her evidence can be used for;
2. her views about other aspects of the case that she was not qualified to talk about (i.e. whether he knew the disclosure of documents was illegal - of course he did, she said).

This is appalling. I am freaking amazed. I am still aghast. This is horrible. SHE IS A MORON.
I'm sorry. I shouldn't call people names but FUCK.

This going to be keeping some defence lawyers up tonight as they figure out how the fuck they are going to minimise the damage from her evidence rather than focus on other aspects of the case to hopefully get him off.

(In a blog post I read a short while ago, she doubted that lawyers had even heard of Reddit so what would almost every commenter on Reddit know? I can't find that post now.)

[Tigzy]

Welcome Bhurzum. Aphex Twin fan by any chance?

Not really.

I'm a massive fan of the videos created/directed by Chris Cunningham though. If you could record the most horrendous nightmare imaginable and play it on YT, you'd end up with a Chris Cunningham video. Well, that or a Greta Christina "toilet-cam" sequence.

I'll let you decide which would be worse...

Chris Cunningham's a class act. I always liked the video to Africa Shox too:

[spoiler][youtube]v3yA0xXXVCw[/youtube][/spoiler]

[another lurker]

Posting this here, b/c many of you don't use adblockers, and could be at risk (not that adblockers can necessarily protect you)

But here goes:

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/01 ... -the-wild/

http://www.java.com/en/download/help/di ... rowser.xml

the bug is being "massively exploited in the wild." Miscreants use these products to turn compromised websites into platforms for silently installing keyloggers and other types of malicious software on the computers of unsuspecting visitors. KrebsOnSecurity reporter Brian Krebs said the curators of both Blackhole and Nuclear Pack have taken to the underweb to boast of the addition to their wares. It's not yet clear how many websites have been outfitted with the exploits.

Update: Analysis from antivirus provider Kaspersky Lab indicates the exploits are already deployed on a variety of websites.

Bad stuff. Disable Java or remove it entirely (as I have done).

[Mykeru]

This is appalling. I am freaking amazed. I am still aghast. This is horrible. SHE IS A MORON.

Oh, don't you worry: She's going to get all the attention she craves the way Jafar got phenomenal cosmic powers.

[youtube]4SuPz3u1kOQ[/youtube]

[Lurkion]

This is appalling. I am freaking amazed. I am still aghast. This is horrible. SHE IS A MORON.

Oh, don't you worry: She's going to get all the attention she craves the way Jafar got phenomenal cosmic powers.

[youtube]4SuPz3u1kOQ[/youtube]

I am still going insane over this! AND THEY'RE CALLING EVERYONE'S REACTION SEXISM.

I am going to go die because my head is about to explode.

Alright everyone, turn the oven off. Freethoughtblogs is done.

[decius]

Can someone please elucidate why we should give a fuck about Manning's trial?

[Gumby]

I am still going insane over this! AND THEY'RE CALLING EVERYONE'S REACTION SEXISM.

I am going to go die because my head is about to explode.

Alright everyone, turn the oven off. Freethoughtblogs is done.

This quote from the reddit thread sums it up pretty well.

I don't think it's ever a good thing when the witness for a guy who could be facing life in prison or a death sentence is saying things like "I think he knew he was committing a crime"... I sure as hell wouldn't want you testifying if you were stupid enough to talk to the media in mass and answer anything you could before even stepping in court (just giving the opposition more ammo and more firepower by opening your mouth).

I have no remorse for Manning but I wouldn't even want a person like you to have any involvement - must talk to everyone and anyone instead of staying silent.

I hope you've broken some laws with information you give out so you pay for being an idiot.

Edit*-tldr You're an attention whore.

Wow, is she a foul human being. I hope she gets nailed to the wall for this.

[LMU]

Can someone please elucidate why we should give a fuck about Manning's trial?

If nothing else it's an incredible example of someone from FTB doing something for attention and not being nearly as clever as they think they are.

[another lurker]

Can someone please elucidate why we should give a fuck about Manning's trial?

If nothing else it's an incredible example of someone from FTB doing something for attention and not being nearly as clever as they think they are.

I am now up to speed. Holy shit. Despicable indeed.

[Scented Nectar]

[spoiler]

I updated my article on Greta's spectacular ShoeGATE schtick.

Here's an excerpt from my blog.
The full article can be read by clicking here.

There seems to be some discussion on the blogosphere defending Greta’s receipt of some monies as “gifts”.

GC attempts to defend her use of funds by changing her mission statement to this:
“I spent the overwhelming majority of the donations from that fundraiser paying my mortgage several months in advance”

“several” definition [adjective- more than a few, an indefinite small number]

“few” definition [adjective- not many but more than one. Two or more]

Realising the true definition of Greta’s post-donation statement it can be assumed the donations GC received, adequately covered the costing for living expenses and mortgage payments, not only for a number of weeks as first published in her campaign, but now carries her expenses for several months.

Greta’s followers made several claims of explicitly stating that their donation is/was intended as a gift, therefore can be spent on items other than those expressed in the charity drive. This conversation did not start until her panhandling exercise concluded, and only by a handful of commenters on her blog.

Over 170 commenters responded to Greta’s plea and expressed their support, both emotional and monetary. I was unable to find a single entry in the comment section specifically stating the pledged contribution can be used for something other than what was described as “living expenses”.

Several supportive commenters who did NOT contribute to the fundraising expressly advised Greta to either “spend on whatever she likes”, or “Keep the overflow for herself”.

· 9 commenters approving the “keep the overflow cash” idea, by self admission, did not donate.

· 11 commenters approving the “keep the overflow cash” idea, made no admissions to donating.

· 4 commenters approving the “keep the overflow cash” idea, actually made a contribution, although, one contributor, by admission, only donated pennies.

Finally, if Greta was serious about ceasing the influx of “Donations”, she’d remove the “Donate” and “Subscription” buttons located beneath her heart felt plea.

ENJOY!

[/spoiler]
Well, Greta I am sure has taken copious notes about all monies received for her taxes....I am sure.

It will be an interesting tax year for her. She quit some sort of regular work to semi-retire on speaking gigs and book sales alone, but that's not the whole story. She quit her job while knowing that her dad was going to die soon.

When he died, she mentioned having to take care of things to do with his estate. I think she quit her job thinking the inheritance would happen quicker than it is. If it's anything like in Canada, it could be a year before you see the money. The dead person's taxes and many other things must be taken care of before the money is doled out. Maybe that's why she ran short.

As for whether her cancer was real, maybe, maybe not. Did she ever complain about having endometriosis or painful periods? Those two things lead some women to prefer an optional hysterectomy to end the annoyance/pain instead of waiting for menopause. But, then again, maybe she did have endometrial cancer. If I were her and begging for money, I'd try and show some proof (with names addresses blacked out) of my condition (medical forms, chemo appt card, something whatever).

There have been too many people out there who've gotten money with fake cancers, shaving their heads to fake chemo etc (If their head shows a five oclock shadow, get suspicious). It's hard to trust anyone claiming cancer who is trying to get money. That's sad since some are probably quite legit and the fake ones give them a bad name. Isn't that why we aren't trusting Greta? I mean, we have a person who we know is not above lying/modifying/exaggerating. Knowing that, and also knowing about fake cases being found out once in a while, makes me suspicious enough that had I intended to donate, I might have hesitated or just not done it.

[Scented Nectar]

Just because huffing paint makes you see the unicorns, still not a good idea.

Damn. Well, thanks for ruining MY weekend plans.

Well, personally, I'm just going to go ahead and do it! It's Saturday and nearly noon here in Toronto, so I'd best get started. :lol:

[Tigzy]

She also disclosed:

1. what the defence disclosed to her obviously in confidence about the purpose of her evidence and what they consider her evidence can be used for;
2. her views about other aspects of the case that she was not qualified to talk about (i.e. whether he knew the disclosure of documents was illegal - of course he did, she said).

Zinnia Jones: she might not be able to make baby, but she sure knows how to drop a booboo.

Bloody hell!

[Gumby]

Another good comment from the Zinnia AMA reddit thread:

How could you possibly think this would be anything but bad for his trial? He has absolutely nothing to gain from you doing this, but potentially lots to lose.

I know you say everything said here has been said before, but the very fact that you are doing this AFTER having been notified that you are going to appear in court could be enough to get the prosecution to throw out your testimony and strike you from the witness list. And then there goes evidence that supports the claim that he didn't do anything to purposefully aid terrorists.

If you make one single comment here that gives the prosecution any reason to remove you from the witness list then you won't get to say any of it in court, and if you don't say it in court, it won't fucking matter how many times you said it online or in previous interviews.

Seriously, what the fuck were you thinking!?

[AbsurdWalls]

Can someone please elucidate why we should give a fuck about Manning's trial?

If nothing else it's an incredible example of someone from FTB doing something for attention and not being nearly as clever as they think they are.

Ah, she's usually known as rmuser on Reddit, who is friends with RobotAnna and involved with all of that shit.

It all comes full-circle.

I'm beginning to think it is in fact the Reddit drama-culture that is the cancer infecting the rest if the internet. Everything going on with A+ and FtB is there in its rawer, more potent, form in the appropriate subreddits.

[welch]

People on reddit, including people identifying as lawyers were carefully explaining to her why her AMA was such a terrible idea.

But in the name of PeeZus, she testified. Can I hear an amen?

WHY FUCK WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT.

Why in the name of all that's ungodly would you do it.

What at all would be any fukcing positive benefit from that?

My theory? She knew her real name would be outed in the trial, so she's "outing" herself now. If I were the prosecution, I'd make damned sure to get her on the stand, she's a gift from the gods.

If I were the rest of FTB, I'd be pissed. They're about to get the kind of attention they don't want. Like "did 'zinnia' ever talk to you about this case?" kind of attention.

[TheMan]

Board tag:

1) Here's some lotion for your notion

2) On a dark and stormy night....

3) Franc's here

4) Petitioners welcome...

5) Wash your hands...

Meh.... I should go to bed

[TheMan]

Board tag:

I'll huff and I'll puff till I bbbbbbbblow your house down

[Dilurk]

She also disclosed:

1. what the defence disclosed to her obviously in confidence about the purpose of her evidence and what they consider her evidence can be used for;
2. her views about other aspects of the case that she was not qualified to talk about (i.e. whether he knew the disclosure of documents was illegal - of course he did, she said).

Zinnia Jones: she might not be able to make baby, but she sure knows how to drop a booboo.

She also managed to get herself doxed good and proper I'd say.

This is also why I dislike trans*.

Bloody hell!

[Bhurzum]

If I were the rest of FTB, I'd be pissed. They're about to get the kind of attention they don't want. Like "did 'zinnia' ever talk to you about this case?" kind of attention.

Well, if past interaction has taught me anything, it's only a matter of time until the screeching harridans at Ftb turn it into harassment, evidence for patriarchy/privilege and/or rape threats.

Yup.

[BarnOwl]

PeeZus seems supportive of Zinnia's Reddit Q&A:

I did not know that one of our own, Zinnia Jones, had carried on a correspondence with Bradley Manning, but she did, and now she’s going to have to testify in the case against him. And now she’s doing a Reddit IAmA on Bradley Manning, so you can go ask her anything you want about the case.

Really, really dumb.

[Tigzy]

If I were the rest of FTB, I'd be pissed. They're about to get the kind of attention they don't want. Like "did 'zinnia' ever talk to you about this case?" kind of attention.

If there's anything in the FTB backchannel about it, it's sure going to put tf00t's 'hacking' escapades into perspective - to quote This is Spinal Tap: 'Yeah, too much fuckin perspective.' :lol:

[decius]

PeeZus seems supportive of Zinnia's Reddit Q&A:

I did not know that one of our own, Zinnia Jones, had carried on a correspondence with Bradley Manning, but she did, and now she’s going to have to testify in the case against him. And now she’s doing a Reddit IAmA on Bradley Manning, so you can go ask her anything you want about the case.

Really, really dumb.

If there's any chance to see Peezus dragged to Guantanamo in an orange jumpsuit, I welcome this.

[AbsurdWalls]

...
There have been too many people out there who've gotten money with fake cancers, shaving their heads to fake chemo etc (If their head shows a five oclock shadow, get suspicious). It's hard to trust anyone claiming cancer who is trying to get money. That's sad since some are probably quite legit and the fake ones give them a bad name. Isn't that why we aren't trusting Greta? I mean, we have a person who we know is not above lying/modifying/exaggerating. Knowing that, and also knowing about fake cases being found out once in a while, makes me suspicious enough that had I intended to donate, I might have hesitated or just not done it.

That is the really telling thing about the pearl-clutching reaction (to an insinuation that ERV never actually made):

Sure, we have our fun with smearing people as misogynists and rapists, trying to get people fired from their jobs, bringing spurious legal cases against people and accusing people of making threats of violence when they did no such thing, but to LIE ABOUT CANCER... *cue fainting couch*

It's telling of a mindset that says "This stuff we do to you is all fine because you are legit targets, it's all in the game. For really real serious stuff however (like stuff pertaining to my personal life) that doesn't apply".

To reiterate, I do not doubt that she really had cancer, but I don't think there's some great track-record of honesty to rely on.

[LMU]

Board tag:

1) Here's some lotion for your notion

2) On a dark and stormy night....

3) Franc's here

4) Petitioners welcome...

5) Wash your hands...

Meh.... I should go to bed

I liked the "in for a penny in for a pound..." theme that someone posted upthread. If you've already been branded as a misogynist/harrasser/MRA/etc. you might as well go the rest of the way and join the Slymepit :D

[Scented Nectar]

It's fucking embarrassing, really.

PLEEEEASSSSEEE COME TO MY PARRRRTIESSSSS BROWN PEEEEOPLEEEEEE

PZ's original ranting pre-elevatorgate about getting more diverse people (specifically black women!!!) made me determined never to attend a skeptic event (and I haven't since). Because... wtf.

But.. but.. we'll talk about crime. Hey, where are you going?

And drugs! You like drugs more than whites like drugs, right?

I know about different ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds and sexualities just people people casually mention it as part of a conversation that most of the time doesn't even have to do with diversity. The other times people here mention their background is when the saviors at FTB say something genius like "hey, brown peeps will come to skeptic conferences if we talk about drugs and jail time".

Nigga', what?

Is there a smiley that cringes. I cringe in embarrassment for Jen every time I think of her writing that stuff. I really, really, really hope that maybe she just meant the unfair rates of incarceration that many feel is because non-white looking people are more often targeted and searched by police than white looking people? I see articles about that all the time. And maybe it's usually drugs they get caught with, even though drugs would be just as frequently found on white people, but they are searching whites less? Maybe something like THAT is what she meant, but just worded it very unfortunately?

I hope this is more along the lines of what she meant. I hope so. But if that were the case, why didn't she make an article explaining that's what she meant?

Or maybe she really does believe that non-white people do more drugs and more crime! If you're reading this Jen, and IF you meant the stuff 2 paragraph's up from here, or something like it, maybe you should explain that, like in a blogpost maybe, with proper citations and good stats showing whatever percentages of whichever various races to do with jail and drugs and why there is a discrepancy in jail/drug incidents racewise when compared to percentages that do not ever go to jail or get caught with drugs. If you were actually speaking against a part of life where some remaining racism remains (cops bugging black people more often than white people), say so, since your wording can be taken two ways. At first glance, it sure looks like you are racist and think non-whites do more drugs and crimes than whites. If that's not the case, speak up and defend what you wrote.

I'd even put a retraction/explanation type annotation on my Douchebags & Tattletales video where I featured your quote, Jen.

[Scented Nectar]

That was my first WTF??? momen. I then went on to check into Monopod Man, and The Death Threat... and found out that the skepchicks/FfTB were paranoid charlatons. I bet a great many people still think those claims are true though.

Most likely. Ashley and the others continued to talk about it as though their claims were true, even after it was pointed out to them that their claims were false.

With Ashley, she hadn't reported any sexual harassment, yet she went on and on saying that DJ Grothe should have made out a report about it.

With Monopod Man, they were worried about what a person with a monopod could POTENTIALLY do, covert upskirt photography. But they had it checked out with the conference security making sure for them, and the guy had done NO upskirt photography. He was using the monopod to record himself meeting various atheist speakers and celebrities.

With the death threat, even though it was proven to Ophelia Benson that the email was just from a fan worried about possible bad things and who suggested various security measures, Benson still cancelled out on TAM citing threats and stuff.

[BarnOwl]

(Merkin-centric) Board Tag:

Give me your banned, your misquoted, your falsely accused by FTB ....

[Jan Steen]

Board tag: Where free speach isn't ridiculed.

[Bhurzum]

Board Tag: The quote mine

[AbsurdWalls]

Board tag:

1) Here's some lotion for your notion

2) On a dark and stormy night....

3) Franc's here

4) Petitioners welcome...

5) Wash your hands...

Meh.... I should go to bed

I liked the "in for a penny in for a pound..." theme that someone posted upthread. If you've already been branded as a misogynist/harrasser/MRA/etc. you might as well go the rest of the way and join the Slymepit :D

Hurrah! I'm not sure whether it's a bit UK-centric though. Does the expression exist elsewhere?

[BarnOwl]

There once was a pit full of Slyme
Who mocked FTB all the time
We love ERV
Our mascot's Arnie
Come sully yourself with our grime!

[Scented Nectar]

How much do you want to bet that Ruby Dynamite looks *nothing* like that illustration?

She has complained about being fat in older videos that she did. During the 2010 wars on youtube between the sex positive people (pro-sexworkers' rights) and the radfemmy sex negative types (against sex work). Ruby was/is on the positive side, probably only due to having tried a stint as a phone sex worker once.

Since back in 2010, some of the people I formerly thought of as equity feminists (mistakenly due to their sex positivity) have shown themselves to be more radfem than I had realized. Also, ironically, more apologetic of sharia sexism than I thought they'd be. Ruby unsubbed from me a month or so ago as did some of the other sex positives, because of my anti-radfeminist) and/or my anti-theocratic stances.

Recently, she was rather cruelly tricked by a guy (Asheistheraven) with a pretend girlfriend on youtube. "She" struck up a loveydovey online relationship with Ruby (who is a lesbian) and promised they'd meet soon someday in person. Ruby fell for it and was very sad when people proved and exposed the girlfriend as false. Seems she's taken down the video she made about it. I just went to look.

I used to get along with Ruby, but I think she's mad at some anti-feminist or anti-islamicist thing I did. I don't know what, but she's become more and more radfemmy, so I don't much care.

[Jan Steen]

Board tag: Where free speach isn't ridiculed.

Make that 'speech'. (Was thinking of the 'freeze peach' madness and got dragged into it.)

[Scented Nectar]

The question everyone should ask Ashley F. Miller and her supporters is this:[/b]

If someone accused Ashley F. Miller of sexual harassment, would the amount of information she provided be sufficient to declare her guilty, damage her reputation, and remove her from TAM?

Someone with the same amount of info (an accusation online with no proof), over at (I think) Justicar's blog long ago, said that she had been nonconsensually kissed by Watson at some event. True? Maybe, maybe not. Without any proof who the fuck knows. And if they want to get rid of any burden of proof (as they do with their own claims), then Watson too should be barred from all future conferences and conventions.

[AbsurdWalls]

Board tag: Where free speach isn't ridiculed.

Board tag: There is no edit button!

[Jan Steen]

Board tag: Where free speach isn't ridiculed.

Make that 'speech'. (Was thinking of the 'freeze peach' madness and got dragged into it.)

Okay, you went for something slightly more inflammatory :D

"Free Thought" Blogs, "Skep"chicks, and A+Theism: 99 44/100% Vile, Bigoted, Stupid Cunts

[Scented Nectar]

Or they could have reported it to the police. I mean, She said "molestation"! No one even reported it on the anonymous survey given out after TAM, LOL!

These malicious fabrications need to stop. If I were DJ, I would grow a pair.

You'd think DJ Grothe would have figured it out after the blatant attempt at sabotage Surly Amy perpetrated at last year's TAM. She did everything she could to manufacture drama that would support the Skepchick claims of harassment there. It was so fucking obvious a child could see it.

But no, Grothe is too busy giving out Surly-Ramics to JREF donors who give over a certain dollar amount.

Isn't JREF one of the charities where the salaried people at the top (as opposed to volunteers) make 6 figure salaries? Or was that one of the others. The publicly available info on charities showed it and someone posted it here a while back. His job may benefit from mutual promotion with Amy, no matter what her past shitting on TAM.

Does anyone know how to go about finding out the public info on registered charities? And is it different in Canada? I couldn't find any 501c info links on CFI's Canadian branch's page. Maybe they're not even registered.

I don't fucking trust most groups and organizations anymore. At least the charity that Renee's helping actually does accountable and varifiably helpful deeds; the more money they get, the more they pay for needed operations. They don't just hold a convention and pretend that it's to spread the word or whatever the fuck is the goal of most conventions. I suspect most have a main goal of bringing in money for the organizers and speakers.

[AbsurdWalls]

Board tag: Where free speach isn't ridiculed.

Make that 'speech'. (Was thinking of the 'freeze peach' madness and got dragged into it.)

Okay, you went for something slightly more inflammatory :D

"Free Thought" Blogs, "Skep"chicks, and A+Theism: 99 44/100% Vile, Bigoted, Stupid Cunts

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk22 ... ul-now.jpg

[Scented Nectar]

Actually, I believe it was one of Peezus's commenters who bestowed the appellation of "Slime Pit" upon the group, when it was at Abbie's blog. Not that it really matters.

Funny thing about that. The Norse version of the last name Myers (as opposed to the ashkenazi jewish version), derives from "mires" as in swamp, which could be thought of as a pit full of slime and stagnant water. In some parts, people with his last name are called "dwellers by the swamp". I didn't save the link where I found this, but it was on a search of last names and their etymology or history or something like that.

And even funnier, is how often he professes astonishment that people mistake him for being jewish sometimes. As though he doesn't know by now, at this point in his life, that Myers & Meyers are most often seen as last names among Ashkenazi jews as opposed to being the Myers of Nordic ancestry which must be his father's side of the family since he inherited the name. He said once he's half Norwegian I think.

[Tkmlac]

Michael Grey, I skipped a lot of posts to get to the end and address your, "You people are doing Abbie a disservice."
where in the fuck did you get the idea that anyone here speaks for Abbie or that anyone in this forum speaks for anyone other than themselves?

Nowhere, (for your assumption is a logical fallacy), as it 'begs the question'.
No-one here 'speaks' for Abbie, apart from Abbie herself. That much is an axiomatic corollary.
The reflection on Abbie is a reflexive one, a reflection.
She began this pioneering thread as a means of combating the fraud and lies that emanated from the camps of Pharyngula, Skepchick, Buttflies & Weals, etc.
But you may not have been in attendance at its genesis, and whilst that may excuse from ignorance, it doth not excuse you from criticism for said ignorance.

No matter how one denies it from the outside, the pioneer is partly responsible for the munchkins on her path.

when I see people on here say stuff I disagree with, I scroll down unless I'm in the mood for a debate. This forum in particular, because the whole purpose of it is a free speech forum. It's no ones job to police anyone else here.

Alas, you misapprehend my intent. I am no Policeman.
I pretend to be your conscience.
A niggling reminder. The Jester who reminds the Monarch not to become that which they despise.

If it's too much for your fragile eyes, look away, snowflake.

You underestimate my robustistity.
By a quintillion miles.

Does the comments and content on sites like reddit or YouTube reflect upon their founders? Don't be silly. This isn't an organization with a purpose, it's an internet forum.

Your stuffy, wordy and sanctimonious response reminds me of the way pseudo-intellectual libertarians argue the merits of Glenn Beck. Get a life, we don't need your conscience.

[Lsuoma]

Posting this here, b/c many of you don't use adblockers, and could be at risk (not that adblockers can necessarily protect you)

But here goes:

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/01 ... -the-wild/

http://www.java.com/en/download/help/di ... rowser.xml

the bug is being "massively exploited in the wild." Miscreants use these products to turn compromised websites into platforms for silently installing keyloggers and other types of malicious software on the computers of unsuspecting visitors. KrebsOnSecurity reporter Brian Krebs said the curators of both Blackhole and Nuclear Pack have taken to the underweb to boast of the addition to their wares. It's not yet clear how many websites have been outfitted with the exploits.

Update: Analysis from antivirus provider Kaspersky Lab indicates the exploits are already deployed on a variety of websites.

Bad stuff. Disable Java or remove it entirely (as I have done).

That's Java, not JavaScript, BTW.

[Tigzy]

Your stuffy, wordy and sanctimonious response reminds me of the way pseudo-intellectual libertarians argue the merits of Glenn Beck. Get a life, we don't need your conscience.

I guess you've not read Grossmith's The Diary of a Nobody. If you have, you'll understand why MKG is actually a bit of a treasure, and worthy of a wry smile or two.

[BarnOwl]

Funny thing about that. The Norse version of the last name Myers (as opposed to the ashkenazi jewish version), derives from "mires" as in swamp, which could be thought of as a pit full of slime and stagnant water. In some parts, people with his last name are called "dwellers by the swamp". I didn't save the link where I found this, but it was on a search of last names and their etymology or history or something like that.

I have ancestors on the German side who had the last name Meier. I was led to believe that it meant "farm overseer" or "farm manager," but perhaps that was wishful thinking on their part.

[katamari Damassi]

It has already been noted that Surly Amy doesn’t understand Venn diagrams. The following doesn’t make sense at all:

http://i.imgur.com/kIFPJ.png

http://skepchick.org/2013/01/will-there ... ly-grants/

This is saying, among other things, that all people with internet and too much free time, who are both atheists and skeptics, are assholes, and that no other people in those three sets are assholes. That is patently wrong. Can’t you see that you are claiming, for example, that all unemployed people with internet, who are both atheists and skeptics, are assholes? Surely, that is not what you mean.

Look, Surly, this is how a Venn diagram actually works:

http://i.imgur.com/ILZQg.png


As for the substance of your post, I disapprove of people who send you hate messages. Those who believe that such things are acceptable can find themselves in the second Venn diagram, in the intersection of 'fanatics' and 'people who can't think for themselves'. I call those people dangerous idiots. They don't have my sympathy.

:clap:

[Skep tickle]

Or they could have reported it to the police. I mean, She said "molestation"! No one even reported it on the anonymous survey given out after TAM, LOL!

These malicious fabrications need to stop. If I were DJ, I would grow a pair.

You'd think DJ Grothe would have figured it out after the blatant attempt at sabotage Surly Amy perpetrated at last year's TAM. She did everything she could to manufacture drama that would support the Skepchick claims of harassment there. It was so fucking obvious a child could see it.

But no, Grothe is too busy giving out Surly-Ramics to JREF donors who give over a certain dollar amount.

Isn't JREF one of the charities where the salaried people at the top (as opposed to volunteers) make 6 figure salaries? Or was that one of the others. The publicly available info on charities showed it and someone posted it here a while back. His job may benefit from mutual promotion with Amy, no matter what her past shitting on TAM.

Does anyone know how to go about finding out the public info on registered charities? And is it different in Canada? I couldn't find any 501c info links on CFI's Canadian branch's page. Maybe they're not even registered.

I don't fucking trust most groups and organizations anymore. At least the charity that Renee's helping actually does accountable and varifiably helpful deeds; the more money they get, the more they pay for needed operations. They don't just hold a convention and pretend that it's to spread the word or whatever the fuck is the goal of most conventions. I suspect most have a main goal of bringing in money for the organizers and speakers.

Someone, I think Eonwyn or whatever her name is, commented in a quite patronizing tone, on Renee's Operation Smile drive in in the Shoes for Success thread at A+ forum saying its stats (to which she linked) weren't good because of how much they spend on advertising (24%, I think).

I've been musing on that. $240 donation results in corrective surgery for one child, the results of which benefit him or her for a lifetime. That's an incredible return on investment, so to speak.

Having $58 of every $240 donation go toward efforts to bringing in more donations to help more children who would otherwise be continue to be disfigured for their entire lives in a way that significantly affects their acceptance in society, including (but not limited to) their chances for employment and marriage, is FINE by me. I'd rather they do that than only solicit $182 per surgery but have them be able to help fewer children in the long run.

And I'd FAR rather donate $240 for one corrective surgery to last a lifetime and have 24% of it go to furthering their efforts for more donations, than to donate $240 for one pair of Fluevogs to help one first-world formerly unemployed woman who could have worn lower cost (but possibly not as long-lasting) shoes be appropriately(?) dressed and make a good(?) impression in their new job. Regardless how much or how little of that donation would go to helping that charity solicit more donations to help more formerly unemployed women wear $240 shoes to work.

[Git]

Hi folks.

Decided to cast off my lurker status and register.

Hello! Is your nym a reference to this:

[youtube]MBll5LyMnAw[/youtube]

If so, rawr!

[Badger3k]

Just wanted to add my two cents on Zinnia Jones - she's a fucking idiot. I too wonder if she has broken laws - I thought witnesses couldn't speak before they were on the stand, but maybe I'm just confused. In any case, it's a horrible idea. Maybe the defense can look for evidence that the prosecution paid her off to speak, or that she really doesn't want to testify and is using this as a way to get out of having to? Or maybe she really is a clueless git who craves attention more than helping (possibly) someone who is defending his life (more or less) on trial.

As for PZ, I think he has mentioned the case once or twice, but I am not sure on which side he is. Can't be arsed to care either way, though.

Last, an amusing aside, on Scienceblogs, the infamous Greg bin Laden has a post up where someone is saying (if I read the blurb in my feed correctly, refuse to read him) that tenure needs to go away. Someone did something wrong and I guess he thinks he needs to lose his job over it. Maybe PZ should start worrying now that Greg wants to take away his safety net?

[Gefan]

She also disclosed:

1. what the defence disclosed to her obviously in confidence about the purpose of her evidence and what they consider her evidence can be used for;
2. her views about other aspects of the case that she was not qualified to talk about (i.e. whether he knew the disclosure of documents was illegal - of course he did, she said).

Zinnia Jones: she might not be able to make baby, but she sure knows how to drop a booboo.

Bloody hell!

So, I go to sleep for a few hours and wake up to this whole new category five shit storm accompanying my morning coffee.
I'm pretty sure the answer is "no" but is there any chance Zinnia's testimony will be filmed (I'd settle for a filmed deposition) or are we going to have to wade through transcripts?

Then again, the transcripts wouldn't come in that soporific bloody monotone of hers.

[Skep tickle]

Eh, my comparison of Operation Smile and Dress for Success assumed that donations to the latter would go toward purchasing Fluevogs at retail price, which the charity undoubtedly doesn't do. But still, the gist of what's on each side of the scale holds.

[Lsuoma]

Oh, noes, The Grauniad doxxed Zinnia Jones!!!!

[Git]

Via

During his r/IAmA, the ever-popular math teacher, author of "The Young Atheist's Survival Guide," patheos blogger, and activist spoke candidly when asked, "What do you think about Atheism+?"

Atheists should care about social issues, including women's rights, LGBT rights, etc. since all of that ultimately affects us, too. A+ is a nice concept in theory, but the execution was just awful... As soon as the focus went on the personalities for it or against it, and not on the idea itself, it was pretty much doomed.
It doesn't mean we can't deal with those issues. Unfortunately, the A+ label has just led to more drama than it has solved.

When asked a follow up, "Do you think A+ is just Humanism rebranded so as to keep 'atheism' in the name, or is it something more/less/different?", Mehta replied,

It's rebranding, with an eye specifically on certain issues of social justice as opposed to, say, the environment. It's like saying, "I'm not just a Christian. I'm Baptist." It's more specific, though I can see why some Humanists might take it as a slap in the face.

(He compared it to a religion. Delightful.)
Later, when asked, "Do you think that atheists should be trying to "organize" as a whole or do you see the political and ideological differences as a barrier to having any type of "united atheist front?" I ask because there is already a splintering in the "atheist community" with some groups trying to tack on other beliefs/ideas to the core of atheism (lack of belief in gods). ex "Atheism+", Mehta answered,

Organization helps to mobilize people and it wouldn't be a bad thing to mobilize around our different political/social beliefs. We don't need to but it helps to get our message across. Politicians and media pay attention to trends/groups more than individuals.
What we can do without is the infighting between groups that pretty much share the same views on everything but focus on different things.

[CommanderTuvok]

There once was a pit full of Slyme
Who mocked FTB all the time
We love ERV
Our mascot's Arnie
Come sully yourself with our grime!

Careful, I once created a limerick about FTB and the Baboons, and it drew the wrath of someone (Steersboy, I think) who thought it childish!!!

He is a little uptight at times.

[Lsuoma]

Board tag: Where free speach isn't ridiculed.

Make that 'speech'. (Was thinking of the 'freeze peach' madness and got dragged into it.)

Okay, you went for something slightly more inflammatory :D

"Free Thought" Blogs, "Skep"chicks, and A+Theism: 99 44/100% Vile, Bigoted, Stupid Cunts

Yeah, and now it's googlable in the thread I changed the tag. Not that I don't stand behind the sentiment, and I have no compunction about calling "Free Thought" Blogs, "Skep"chicks, and A+Theism 99 44/100% Vile, Bigoted, Stupid Cunts. Because they are 99 44/100% Vile, Bigoted, Stupid Cunts.

Cunts.

[Skep tickle]

So, I go to sleep for a few hours and wake up to this whole new category five shit storm accompanying my morning coffee.
I'm pretty sure the answer is "no" but is there any chance Zinnia's testimony will be filmed (I'd settle for a filmed deposition) or are we going to have to wade through transcripts?

Then again, the transcripts wouldn't come in that soporific bloody monotone of hers.

Not sure whether this is US federal or military court but I'm pretty sure proceedings aren't recorded by video or audio in either. I *think* there's a rule against it. (Did a quick look online but didn't find anything definitively stating yea/nay.)

[CommanderTuvok]

Oh, noes, The Grauniad doxxed Zinnia Jones!!!!

What? Where?

[Bhurzum]

Hello! Is your nym a reference to this

Ah, you're not the first person to ask that.

My name would be "Burzum" if some bugger at YT hadn't already grabbed it. I've been a huge fan of Tolkien since childhood and the inscription on the "one ring" always stuck with me:

"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul"

Burzum means "Darkness" in the Orcish tongue.

I was a strange child... :evil: