If thou gazest long into the Pit, the Pit will also gaze into thee

Gefan wrote:I apologize in advance for exceeding my non-existant seniority around here but maybe it's time we all back away from Greg Laden.
I don't know that much about him but he seems to be (a) increasingly emotionally fragile and (b) rendered harmless by his own sheer ineptitude. How far does someone's life have to progress down the crapper for them to start pining for the Stephalump for fuck's sake?
I don't know what the end-game is here and I don't have any desire to drive him to suicide. Aside from anything else, I'd miss the entertainment.

And, because I can't be bothered to do it myself, whoever wants to post the inevitable, Chris Crocker "Leave Greg Alone" picture, you have my blessing.

Tuibguy wrote:Don't be fucking smug here. I was taking a swipe at this cesspool, too.

Darren wrote:Nanny Ophie is much closer to a breakdown in my non-expert opinion.

Reap wrote:I am here to get my orders from Abbie... I can not function unless she directs me.......I want to pee on greg ladens face but can not do so until I have permission from Abbie.....I must do her bidding......BTW Greg Laden is a bright as a dried up pea and half as witty

Darren wrote:

Mr Danksworth wrote:

Darren wrote: Then why don't some of these pricks make a public stand against shit like this? Sorry, Justin, but I don't care how great these people are behind the scenes where no-one else can here them.

I know quite a few people who remain silent about the 'issues' online. However, they are watching, and seeing things for what they are. They are the silent majority. I think the time is coming that they will stand up and be counted. Everyone is sick of the FTB bullshit.

I'm not talking about your average Joe or Jane - I can understand why these people want to stay out of it. It's these bloggers at FtB who, supposedly, are on Justin's side, yet do nothing to object to the tyranny of the FC5. In fact, I don't understand why Justin doesn't just pack his bags and leave given how PZ is treating him.

Spence wrote:

Skep tickle wrote:Justin linked to it in his post at Rock Beyond Belief (the one that's currently being discussed here).

Justin linked to SGBM's claim, which is far from the full story. Unfortunately, the full story is difficult to glean from the comments, because there was a whole bunch of stuff going down at the time. Which is why I'm trying to find out if anyone remembers it at the time. I think John Welch and Justicar have commented on it quite a bit from time to time.

SGBM is referring to the pharyngula wikia. While SGBM claims Maria did add some personal information - and as admin he would be in a position to know this - but he does not claim Maria added her home address, and furthermore this was after other things had already been written - of course all this is now memory-holed. Also, I thought the original doxxing happened at Laden's blog (also memory holed), not the wikia.

It's way more complicated than Justin makes it out to be. Although Maria can react in a provocative way sometimes (e.g. she had a strange one-sided falling out with Phil), my recollection is quite different to Justin's. But my recollection may not be completely correct, so I'm trying to see if anyone can fill in some of the gaps.

Darren wrote:

They could not know it at the time, but while there was no reason for them to hear this story, Mallows felt a strong need to tell it. He needed to tell it now because he knew a punctuation event was about to occur, and this story would be that one perfect paragraph to be so ended.

Is English Greg's native tongue? Hard to say.

Al Stefanelli wrote:My latest video:

An Atheist Cult: Those Radicals From Freethought Blogs, Atheism Plus, Etc.

fTpHj3HvVC4

soldierwhy wrote:

Darren wrote:Nanny Ophie is much closer to a breakdown in my non-expert opinion.

Shit, that reminds me of a particularly odious troll who used to frequent the Army Rumour Service Boards:

http://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/LadyNavyVet

The general concensus at the time was that the constant spittle-flecked vituperation she angrily posted drove her to simply explode.

Popular legend recounts that she died mid-post, and was found slumped face-down onto the keyboard.

Her death caused about ten minutes of soul searching by some of the wetter members of the site who wondered if they might have contributed to her untimely demise. Her NOK refused Arrse's request for a web-cam at the autopsy, but we did manage to snap up the dribble-soaked keyboard on e-bay. Result.

So, Black and Decker to the sternum and they are shocked to find a ton of fluid in my chest, pushing down on my heart and lungs and making my heart go into overdrive to keep oxygen in my system. They do a biopsy on the lymph nodes, clean things up, install three chest tubes and sew me back up. Sometime in the middle of the night, I ripped out my ventilator tube (I told them that better not be on my bill, I did it myself). As for what caused all of this, that’s still not certain.

The good news is that I have health insurance, which I pay on a COBRA from my job with AINN (it runs out in six months and I’ll have to get my own insurance, which thankfully can’t be denied anymore because of the preexisting condition). But I’m still going to have some significant out-of-pocket expenses and loss of income during the recovery period (it’s going to be a couple months before I’m really back to normal). So you can certainly help out financially if you have the means to do so and it would be greatly appreciated.

Darren wrote:Holy crap, it gets better:

In his book, Greg Laden wrote:It was a dark and stormy night. That was normal, since it was night so the sun was down, and it was the rainforest so it was raining.

LOLOLOLOL...

Tigzy wrote:Ha-haaa - Greg's book has just garnered another review. One which ends with this pretty devastating line:

Hopefully Mr Laden has another occupation since writing will most certainly not pay his bills.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009R8 ... =sundugodo

Punker wrote:I hope that the people posting these book reviews have actually read the book

Dan wrote:

Punker wrote:I hope that the people posting these book reviews have actually read the book

I did read a Kindle sample of it before I wrote my review but I didn't read the whole book. Based on the sample I think my review is reasonable.I can't see the full version of the book being any better.

Darren wrote:Is English Greg's native tongue? Hard to say.

Gefan wrote:I apologize in advance for exceeding my non-existant seniority around here but maybe it's time we all back away from Greg Laden.
I don't know that much about him but he seems to be (a) increasingly emotionally fragile and (b) rendered harmless by his own sheer ineptitude. How far does someone's life have to progress down the crapper for them to start pining for the Stephalump for fuck's sake?
I don't know what the end-game is here and I don't have any desire to drive him to suicide. Aside from anything else, I'd miss the entertainment.

real horrorshow wrote:I've got a better idea Ed, cut down your food intake to say two cows per day and you'll easily save enough to pay the bills.

Mykeru wrote:Lsouma is a jumped up little prick. He knows it, I know it, he knows I know it and we are all around knowledgeable about it.

Darren wrote:

real horrorshow wrote:I've got a better idea Ed, cut down your food intake to say two cows per day and you'll easily save enough to pay the bills.

Come on, show of hands. Who didn't laugh at this? :D

Gumby wrote:

Mykeru wrote:Lsouma is a jumped up little prick. He knows it, I know it, he knows I know it and we are all around knowledgeable about it.

Lsuoma: Little White Prick of Authority!

Darren wrote:http://i.imgur.com/H1dkP.png

John Brown wrote:What is this referring to? I'm afraid I've missed this particular kerfuffle.

John Brown wrote:Can anyone glean what's going on between @bluharmony and Justin Griffith on Twitter?

Tigzy wrote:

John Brown wrote:Can anyone glean what's going on between @bluharmony and Justin Griffith on Twitter?

In a nutshell - Justin Griffith's latest blog post concerning Greg Laden's doxxing of Mykeru -http://freethoughtblogs.com/rockbeyondb ... ine-rival/ - had a part where he claimed that Bluharmony gaslighted Laden and doxxed herself. This has since been edited by JG - Bluharmony, having presumably seen the unedited version, is therefore spitting razors over it.

Al Stefanelli wrote:
My latest video:

An Atheist Cult: Those Radicals From Freethought Blogs, Atheism Plus, Etc.

Ophelia wrote:I’m breaking my usual rule of ignoring it to check the veracity of Al’s claims about the sp at the end of his video.

papillon wrote:

Greg (General ass kicker) Laden wrote: … I do not regard physical threats as unimportant. It is just that I am a very large, muscular man with martial arts training who never goes anywhere without my pit bull, and I always carry a gun. I am also famous for kicking ass, generally.

Greg (General ass kicker) Laden wrote:I may or may not have exaggerated about the pit bull, the gun, and the marshal arts.

....and your talent as a writer.

justinvacula wrote:Response to Al's video:

http://i.imgur.com/pzyLz.jpg

Mr Danksworth wrote:Response from Justin to Tigzy....

Justin Griffith response:
This will be the only comment I let through like this.

To the anti-FTB: people I vehemently disagree that ‘all of FtB’ supports Laden. Initially, I even gave off signals that they didn’t have to publicly ‘have my back’. The only reason they may have even entertained not dropping him was because nothing like that had ever happened before, and hindsight is 20/20. You’ll never know how great Ed Brayton was to me on the phone. You’ll never know how many of the people here privately wrote to me in support. It really meant a lot to me, and you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Yeah, there are like two people here on cordial terms with him… that’s a pretty good percentage for a group of people connected only by atheism.

Several of my co-bloggers who you describe as not giving a shit about military activism have agreed to speak at military bases, or even joined the lineup at RBB2. Your premise is just wrong. When you say they don’t even care about skepticism anymore, you’re also talking about me. You’re also talking about people who never claimed to care about skepticism. Some are biblical scholars, scientists, or philosophers. Some write about sexuality and gender issues, we even have a drunken chef who likes good music. It’s not a perfect harmonious family, but what the hell did you expect?

I messed up a bit too. I pissed them off and I apologized. I also accidentally allowed people to freely shitting on my friends here. I am much better at moderating comments now. Though you didn’t say this, I want to address one last point. I don’t see why people think it’s for the $ or the hits. I donate every penny to charity / activism, and it isn’t that much.

To the anti-Justin Griffith people:Conversely, the other side of the narrative is off too. You’ll never know how many top-tier atheists wrote to me in confidence, expressing their condolences at my treatment. You’ll never know how I detested being fit into the ‘slyme pit’ narrative, appearing on their ‘body count list’ etc. Few of you will ever know the stresses of dealing with multiple credible death threats, and how an activist with my level of visibility simply has to take all of them seriously and let the FBI make the call. You likely won’t realize the extreme restraint I used, and part of me still regrets not doing so. Like I said, I wouldn’t expect somebody like Laden to fight fair, it doesn’t take a genius to ambush somebody.

If you give a shit about harassment, threats, and mental health issues like PTSD, what is your deal? Stop it.

To everyone: Do not rehash the elevator gate, or talk about why you hate RW, or shit like that. Do not respond to it if it gets by me temporarily. I’m going to heavily moderate this discussion. It is what it is. Stay only on the topic of the content of this post. Or don’t comment if you can’t hold back.

To the anti-FTB: people I vehemently disagree that ‘all of FtB’ supports Laden. Initially, I even gave off signals that they didn’t have to publicly ‘have my back’. The only reason they may have even entertained not dropping him was because nothing like that had ever happened before, and hindsight is 20/20. You’ll never know how great Ed Brayton was to me on the phone. You’ll never know how many of the people here privately wrote to me in support. It really meant a lot to me, and you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Yeah, there are like two people here on cordial terms with him… that’s a pretty good percentage for a group of people connected only by atheism.

Gefan wrote:I apologize in advance for exceeding my non-existant seniority around here but maybe it's time we all back away from Greg Laden.
I don't know that much about him but he seems to be (a) increasingly emotionally fragile and (b) rendered harmless by his own sheer ineptitude. How far does someone's life have to progress down the crapper for them to start pining for the Stephalump for fuck's sake?
I don't know what the end-game is here and I don't have any desire to drive him to suicide. Aside from anything else, I'd miss the entertainment.

And, because I can't be bothered to do it myself, whoever wants to post the inevitable, Chris Crocker "Leave Greg Alone" picture, you have my blessing.

Gefan wrote:I apologize in advance for exceeding my non-existant seniority around here but maybe it's time we all back away from Greg Laden.
I don't know that much about him but he seems to be (a) increasingly emotionally fragile and (b) rendered harmless by his own sheer ineptitude. How far does someone's life have to progress down the crapper for them to start pining for the Stephalump for fuck's sake?
I don't know what the end-game is here and I don't have any desire to drive him to suicide. Aside from anything else, I'd miss the entertainment.

And, because I can't be bothered to do it myself, whoever wants to post the inevitable, Chris Crocker "Leave Greg Alone" picture, you have my blessing.

Punker wrote:I hope that the people posting these book reviews have actually read the book

John Brown wrote: I've been following this story for the past few days. It's quite remarkable and I believe the whole event and the aftermath speaks volumes. Rape is so abhorrent that a documented, public case of it is enough to trigger mass protests, to the point where the police are needed to gas and beat back the mob.

It seems to me that the reaction should be heartening to feminists world wide, especially since it's happening in a country which is quite literally patriarchal in nature (though not nearly as much as it was even in the recent past).

Now, imagine if it were a man not being gang raped, but brutally murdered by a gang of people on the street.

What would the reaction be to that?

ConcentratedH2O, OM wrote:Ed Brayton's had some heart surgery, and has now realized that his and Meyers's vanity project ain't gonna cover his down time.

So, he's gone the Greta route and has the begging bowl out:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/ ... -you-help/

astrokid.nj wrote:

John Brown wrote: I've been following this story for the past few days. It's quite remarkable and I believe the whole event and the aftermath speaks volumes. Rape is so abhorrent that a documented, public case of it is enough to trigger mass protests, to the point where the police are needed to gas and beat back the mob.

It seems to me that the reaction should be heartening to feminists world wide, especially since it's happening in a country which is quite literally patriarchal in nature (though not nearly as much as it was even in the recent past).

Now, imagine if it were a man not being gang raped, but brutally murdered by a gang of people on the street.

What would the reaction be to that?

I am an Indian living in the US for several years now. I saw through the feminist bullshit "historical oppression of women" narrative quite easily because of my background.. growing up in India, in simpler times in a collectivist system.. joint families and no runaway individualism. No points for guessing who absorbs all the violence (sample), who gets all the responsibilities such as providing for the family..including parents. Any shirking of responsibilities will earn you social shaming. They have even set up a law now whereby old parents can sue their children-with-means if they dont take care of parents in old age. Sure there's loads of crime, but by and large if you mess with a woman against her will, her brothers or father or white knights will bash you up.

ReneeHendricks wrote:

ConcentratedH2O, OM wrote:Ed Brayton's had some heart surgery, and has now realized that his and Meyers's vanity project ain't gonna cover his down time.

So, he's gone the Greta route and has the begging bowl out:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/ ... -you-help/

I saw that and opted to just be quiet. It's over the fucking top irritating because Ed will not lose much money in the whole scheme of things. I know that my guy and I most likely make less than he and his...yet, we would never, ever feel the need to beg publicly for money. I let it go by with Greta but this is just the beggar's fucking straw. I have no compassion left for these people. And I have to say it's completely because of my own personal code of ethics. Ed and Greta just fucking stomped all over that code.

welch wrote: I'm steadily getting to where I have no fucks to give about Justin or his fucking "cause". I didn't have a problem with him disassociating from the 'pit before, I understood why. But his latest round is coming up self-serving as fuck, and almost a bit oolonish in terms of playing both sides. He's also coming across as kind of stupid and desperate:

welch wrote:
So you're the fat chick they'll fuck, but when anyone else is around, they don't know you. Awesome dude, way to rock the self-esteem. I guess as long as they wash their dicks after they pull out of your ass, but before they jizz on your face, it shows they really care. Okay, they call you a fat fucking cow when their friends are around, but they always lube you up before anal, so they really respect you.

Greg Laden was born in Albany New York and subsequently lived in the Boston area and Milwaukee and spent a total of several years in Zaire (now Congo) and South Africa.

ReneeHendricks wrote:

ConcentratedH2O, OM wrote:Ed Brayton's had some heart surgery, and has now realized that his and Meyers's vanity project ain't gonna cover his down time.

So, he's gone the Greta route and has the begging bowl out:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/ ... -you-help/

I saw that and opted to just be quiet. It's over the fucking top irritating because Ed will not lose much money in the whole scheme of things. I know that my guy and I most likely make less than he and his...yet, we would never, ever feel the need to beg publicly for money. I let it go by with Greta but this is just the beggar's fucking straw. I have no compassion left for these people. And I have to say it's completely because of my own personal code of ethics. Ed and Greta just fucking stomped all over that code.

rayshul wrote:Aw fuck I can't help myself. From his bio:

Greg Laden was born in Albany New York and subsequently lived in the Boston area and Milwaukee and spent a total of several years in Zaire (now Congo) and South Africa.

How many years in total? Hard to say.

OKAY, I AM A HYPOCRITE, I ADMIT IT BUT FUCK. FUCK.

ReneeHendricks wrote:

ConcentratedH2O, OM wrote:Ed Brayton's had some heart surgery, and has now realized that his and Meyers's vanity project ain't gonna cover his down time.

So, he's gone the Greta route and has the begging bowl out:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/ ... -you-help/

I saw that and opted to just be quiet. It's over the fucking top irritating because Ed will not lose much money in the whole scheme of things. I know that my guy and I most likely make less than he and his...yet, we would never, ever feel the need to beg publicly for money. I let it go by with Greta but this is just the beggar's fucking straw. I have no compassion left for these people. And I have to say it's completely because of my own personal code of ethics. Ed and Greta just fucking stomped all over that code.

I don't even understand them asking for money at this point. They live in the US, do they want people to pay for their entire surgery experience? Are they trying to avoid medical debt entirely? I kind of assumed that most people just like... accept it, work out a mortgagey style plan with their bank/whatever, and live with it... or something.

ReneeHendricks wrote:

rayshul wrote: don't even understand them asking for money at this point. They live in the US, do they want people to pay for their entire surgery experience? Are they trying to avoid medical debt entirely? I kind of assumed that most people just like... accept it, work out a mortgagey style plan with their bank/whatever, and live with it... or something.

I think it has more to do with "I'll be out of work and not paid so give me money to compensate". Fucking irritating beyond belief.

Guest wrote:

welch wrote:
So you're the fat chick they'll fuck, but when anyone else is around, they don't know you. Awesome dude, way to rock the self-esteem. I guess as long as they wash their dicks after they pull out of your ass, but before they jizz on your face, it shows they really care. Okay, they call you a fat fucking cow when their friends are around, but they always lube you up before anal, so they really respect you.

OI! say what you like, but anal with fat chicks rocks!
I came for the banter and now you abuse my missus
fuck you dude fuck you.....

jimthepleb wrote:i thought stef-e-lump was a smack-head in a previous life?

mordacious1 wrote:

Al Stefanelli wrote:
My latest video:

An Atheist Cult: Those Radicals From Freethought Blogs, Atheism Plus, Etc.

Al, did you light a cigarette and then talk for 11 minutes without taking a puff? I guess that's one way of cutting back on smoking.

ReneeHendricks wrote:

ConcentratedH2O, OM wrote:Ed Brayton's had some heart surgery, and has now realized that his and Meyers's vanity project ain't gonna cover his down time.

So, he's gone the Greta route and has the begging bowl out:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/ ... -you-help/

I saw that and opted to just be quiet. It's over the fucking top irritating because Ed will not lose much money in the whole scheme of things. I know that my guy and I most likely make less than he and his...yet, we would never, ever feel the need to beg publicly for money. I let it go by with Greta but this is just the beggar's fucking straw. I have no compassion left for these people. And I have to say it's completely because of my own personal code of ethics. Ed and Greta just fucking stomped all over that code.

real horrorshow wrote: Which is about my position on the 'Greg Laden may be close to the edge' notion. It's also my position on Ed Brayton:

So, Black and Decker to the sternum and they are shocked to find a ton of fluid in my chest, pushing down on my heart and lungs and making my heart go into overdrive to keep oxygen in my system. They do a biopsy on the lymph nodes, clean things up, install three chest tubes and sew me back up. Sometime in the middle of the night, I ripped out my ventilator tube (I told them that better not be on my bill, I did it myself). As for what caused all of this, that’s still not certain.

rayshul wrote:

ReneeHendricks wrote:

rayshul wrote: don't even understand them asking for money at this point. They live in the US, do they want people to pay for their entire surgery experience? Are they trying to avoid medical debt entirely? I kind of assumed that most people just like... accept it, work out a mortgagey style plan with their bank/whatever, and live with it... or something.

I think it has more to do with "I'll be out of work and not paid so give me money to compensate". Fucking irritating beyond belief.

They all need to learn fucking saving and financial responsibility and shit.

franc wrote:Is it just me? Go to google and search tubgirls place using the string format -

site:tuibguy.com searchterm

First I thought I picked up some browser hijacker, but I haven't - only his site barf's up this shit.

http://oi48.tinypic.com/xcu26v.jpg

Curious for someone else to try.

Gefan wrote:

ReneeHendricks wrote:

ConcentratedH2O, OM wrote:Ed Brayton's had some heart surgery, and has now realized that his and Meyers's vanity project ain't gonna cover his down time.

So, he's gone the Greta route and has the begging bowl out:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/ ... -you-help/

I saw that and opted to just be quiet. It's over the fucking top irritating because Ed will not lose much money in the whole scheme of things. I know that my guy and I most likely make less than he and his...yet, we would never, ever feel the need to beg publicly for money. I let it go by with Greta but this is just the beggar's fucking straw. I have no compassion left for these people. And I have to say it's completely because of my own personal code of ethics. Ed and Greta just fucking stomped all over that code.

Shit. When I first heard about your partner's medical situation I asked if you had a Paypal account. If you took offense to that, I apologize.

Regarding Laden, "drive someone to Stephalump" should become part of the lexicon. Also, I don't think he will, as Mykeru put it, "put a bullet through his brain" because I very much doubt he's that good a shot.

rayshul wrote:[snip]
I am also not super down with fucking with Laden because when people have nothing to lose they go a bit nuts and also because, well, he's now reduced to a really pathetic situation. While he's not homeless yet I'd still think of him with the same level of sympathy at this point (despite earlier being repulsed). If his behavior becomes too erratic and it looks like he's in danger of hurting himself, I think it would be good to contact someone who might be able to help him reorganise/refocus.

rayshul wrote: Fuck, I hate it when people fuck with blu. She's such a nice person. Just a really nice goodnatured person. She doesn't deserve that shit. Especially as it doesn't seem even fucking relevant.

I am also not super down with fucking with Laden because when people have nothing to lose they go a bit nuts and also because, well, he's now reduced to a really pathetic situation. ….