Now sponsored by [spoiler]my dick[/spoiler]

[Dick Strawkins]

According to that policy Justin Vacula has grounds to request the exclusion from the conference of serial harrasser Stephanie Zvan!

[Scented Nectar]

Doh! I left out her worst one. I'm embarrassed to say that I used to have this album and knew all the words.

"Amazon ABCs"
[youtube]OSbajZod7cs[/youtube]

***Puke!***

[UnbelieveSteve]

Everyone ready for #BlockSaturday?
A couple of the culprits responsible for that bullshit.
http://i.imgur.com/Rxd2prK.jpg

[d4m10n]

If you have an hour to kill, this is an example of two slyme, ranting at victim.

[spoiler][youtube]Q99J9df7inE[/youtube][/spoiler]

OMG DOXXXX!

That's BirdTerrifier on the left, BTW. Our guest is one of those women in secularism that we've been hearing about. We were talking about how fanhood and tribalism relate to politics and such.

[SenorBeagle]

...We just had this thing in the UK with burgers being contaminated with horse meat which caused some people (my daughter) to freak out...

I recommend sticking to burgers which are clearly labelled as having no added Shergar.

And now I'm imagining a(n even more) miniature Willie Carson riding me dinner round the living room...

Also, I've been crap at keeping up with things, so: Renee, best of luck to you and your fella! My thoughts is with ye both.

[Za-zen]

According to that policy Justin Vacula has grounds to request the exclusion from the conference of serial harrasser Stephanie Zvan!

You're just plain wrong there vainny's attention toward hateful vacula falls under the provision "our team"

[Git]

((((((hugs)))))) to you Renee and to your bloke.

[Tigzy]

...We just had this thing in the UK with burgers being contaminated with horse meat which caused some people (my daughter) to freak out...

I recommend sticking to burgers which are clearly labelled as having no added Shergar.

And now I'm imagining a(n even more) miniature Willie Carson riding me dinner round the living room...

I'll have a Big MacCreight, please.

:whistle:

[SenorBeagle]

...We just had this thing in the UK with burgers being contaminated with horse meat which caused some people (my daughter) to freak out...

I recommend sticking to burgers which are clearly labelled as having no added Shergar.

And now I'm imagining a(n even more) miniature Willie Carson riding me dinner round the living room...

I'll have a Big MacCreight, please.

:whistle:

I'm all for humour, but this? Neigh, sir, you've gone beyond the pail.

Sorry, I realise that sounded whinny... ;)

[Scented Nectar]

Just went to https://support.twitter.com/forms/abusiveuser and submitted the following (along with details):

By doing mass blockings of people they don't like, the targets are getting their accounts shut down since it triggers a spam alert if one is blocked by too many people at once. Twitter always reopens the accounts, because it was not spam. They are doing another mass blocking today. Every Saturday they manage to get accounts shut down. Please stop them from doing this, or at least make it so that it doesn't auto-trigger the shutdown of accounts. The above tweet link (and tweeter @aratina) is just one in the group who are doing the #blocksaturday campaign. Thanks in advance for looking into this.

Anyone else who's sick of the false flaggings and account shutdowns, might want to also submit a report.

[Submariner]

Hey Guys, that other submarine guy put out another video.It's about playing the victim card.


[youtube]rxXDpLZ2VPA[/youtube]

I'm really starting to like this guy. :popcorn:

[another lurker]

That implies you have also fixed the continuing growth in resource consumption issue. Reduce the population as far as you like. As long as it is non-zero, if the resource demands continue to rise year on year then you eventually exceed whatever limit you put on them.

Now, that is just being disingenuous there, oh Custardy Coward.
If I reduce it to the extremum of just one human, then makes a mockery of your scenario.
There was once a time when the human population was sustainable. This (again) demolishes your above assertion.
This is a continuum, not black & white, sir.
'Fess up and admit that I am correct.

Your "As long as it is non-zero..." nonsense is a travesty against mathematics, physics, poetry & common sense.
Leave it out, sunshine.

Sorry but at what time were things sustainable? I'm not aware of a time in history that there were no famine, starvation etc.

Even in indigenous cultures tribes went through phases. Progressed from nomadic to settlements then eventually to specialised processing to the present industrialised food production process.

I suggest nothing needs to be done. Once we reach that point where the depleted resources don't sustain the way we are living we adapt or die off...paving the way for some other life form (intelligent or not). It's always been this way and always will unless humans are the cause of ALL life to be eliminated and earth becomes a dry lump of a rock like our rocky planets in our solar system.

Natures checks and balances is supreme and I don't think humans are immune from those forces. ( sounds pantheistic I know). I'm not concerned if humans end up becoming extinct as unlikely as that may be.

QFT.

And speaking of population, I just love how silly liberals and conservatives love to say 'oh, population growth isn't a problem, the earth can easily support 12 billion people, we just have to grow more food!!!'

Yeah, like people aren't gonna be greedy, or fight over access to these future resources!? And just look at the famine in Somalia - how 'easy' was it to feed the starving people? Oh, not easy at all, was it? Little problem of armed bandits stealing all the food to sell for profit!

[Reap]

Just went to https://support.twitter.com/forms/abusiveuser and submitted the following (along with details):

By doing mass blockings of people they don't like, the targets are getting their accounts shut down since it triggers a spam alert if one is blocked by too many people at once. Twitter always reopens the accounts, because it was not spam. They are doing another mass blocking today. Every Saturday they manage to get accounts shut down. Please stop them from doing this, or at least make it so that it doesn't auto-trigger the shutdown of accounts. The above tweet link (and tweeter @aratina) is just one in the group who are doing the #blocksaturday campaign. Thanks in advance for looking into this.

Anyone else who's sick of the false flaggings and account shutdowns, might want to also submit a report.

Nice. Yea I love the way people try to just shut others up any way possible. Really progressive thinking there people. You should never force on others what you would consider unfair when done to you. Kindergarten knowledge, get some

[d4m10n]

The 'Women in Secularism 2' harrasment policy is here:
http://www.womeninsecularism.org/policy.html

[spoiler]

POLICY ON HOSTILE CONDUCT / HARASSMENT AT CONFERENCES
Purpose and Scope of Policy

The Center for Inquiry (CFI) and its affiliates, including the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Council for Secular Humanism, are educational organizations. As part of our educational mission, we hold conferences from time to time. To ensure that everyone attending our conferences is able to participate in them fully, CFI and its affiliates are committed to providing a safe and hospitable environment at our conferences. Accordingly, CFI and its affiliates prohibit intimidating, threatening, or harassing conduct during our conferences. This policy applies to speakers, staff, volunteers, and attendees.

“Conferences” for purpose of this policy includes any educational meeting or gathering organized or sponsored by CFI or its affiliates to which nonemployees are invited. In other words, this policy applies to local or regional meetings, not just national conferences.

This policy supplements the policy on harassment set forth in the CFI employee handbook, which governs the conduct of CFI staff; it does not replace or supersede that policy.

Prohibited Conduct

In general, prohibited conduct includes any abusive conduct that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with another person’s ability to enjoy and participate in the conference, including social events related to the conference.

Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to, yelling at or threatening speakers or attendees, or any significantly disruptive conduct. By way of example, repeated interruption of a speaker by an attendee is prohibited.

Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to, harassment based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other protected group status, as provided by local, state, or federal law. By way of example, abusive conduct directed at someone because of their race is prohibited.

Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to, sexual harassment. By way of example, unwelcome sexual attention, stalking, and physical contact such as pinching, grabbing, or groping are prohibited.

Critical examination of beliefs, including critical commentary on another person’s views, does not, by itself, constitute hostile conduct or harassment. One of the underlying rationales of this policy is to promote the free exchange of ideas, not to inhibit it.

Consequences of Hostile or Harassing Conduct

CFI and its affiliates have a zero-tolerance policy for hostile and harassing conduct. If a person engages in hostile or harassing conduct, appropriate remedial action will be taken, which may include, but is not limited to, expulsion from the conference. Threats of hostile conduct that are made prior to a conference may result in exclusion from the conference.

The exact remedy for hostile or harassing conduct will depend on an evaluation of all relevant circumstances, such as the severity of the conduct and prior violations by the person engaging in prohibited conduct.

When there is a reasonable basis for believing the conduct is illegal, appropriate law enforcement authorities will be notified.

Reporting Hostile or Harassing Conduct; Investigations

Persons who are the targets of, or witnesses to, hostile or harassing conduct should contact conference staff. At smaller meetings, conference staff, including the person(s) in charge of the meeting, will be introduced at the beginning. At larger conferences, conference staff will wear identification and/or will be identified in the conference program.

At larger conferences, phone numbers for hotel/venue staff, local law enforcement, and local emergency medical personnel will be provided to conference attendees to facilitate prompt response to complaints and/or requests for assistance.

Reports of hostile or harassing conduct will be promptly addressed. On some occasions, where conference staff are witnesses to the prohibited conduct, immediate remedial action may be taken. Where a report of hostile or harassing conduct is made to conference staff after the conduct has occurred, reasonable measures will be taken to establish the facts. This will typically include discussion with witnesses, if any, and the person accused of engaging in the prohibited conduct. Inquiries into hostile or harassing conduct will be carried out as confidentially as possible given the circumstances.

Record-Keeping

CFI and its affiliates will make a written record of all complaints/incidents as soon as practicable. These records will be used in connection with implementing this policy. These records will be maintained in the Office of the President & CEO of CFI and will not be disclosed to individuals outside of the organization except as required by law.

[/spoiler]

It’s missing the part where people can exercise the Hysteric’s Veto: “He disagrees with me and makes me uncomfortable therefore *POOF* he's off the list.”

[Scented Nectar]

Just went to https://support.twitter.com/forms/abusiveuser and submitted the following (along with details):

By doing mass blockings of people they don't like, the targets are getting their accounts shut down since it triggers a spam alert if one is blocked by too many people at once. Twitter always reopens the accounts, because it was not spam. They are doing another mass blocking today. Every Saturday they manage to get accounts shut down. Please stop them from doing this, or at least make it so that it doesn't auto-trigger the shutdown of accounts. The above tweet link (and tweeter @aratina) is just one in the group who are doing the #blocksaturday campaign. Thanks in advance for looking into this.

Anyone else who's sick of the false flaggings and account shutdowns, might want to also submit a report.

Nice. Yea I love the way people try to just shut others up any way possible. Really progressive thinking there people. You should never force on others what you would consider unfair when done to you. Kindergarten knowledge, get some

Their maliciousness under the guise of righteousness is just appalling. They know it's getting accounts falsely shut down, but they are always the victims just fighting back. They pretend they are on the defensive instead of the offensive and thereby justify all and any actions against us. They are nothing more than scientology imitators with a 'fair game' policy where anything is allowed as long as it's against their 'enemies'.

[BarnOwl]

Whatever you think of their message, you might have to admit that protesting topless in Switzerland in January is pretty tough:

Davos protest

[Chilly P.]

Here is an example of Dobkin's "music". Trigger warning for ear pain and misandric words.

Damn you, SN. I totally musically rubbernecked by clicking that.

I always pondered what might happen if we gave various separatist groups a portion of isolated Federal Lands or some Atolls in the Pacific to settle, and let them have what they wanted. Something like "The Village". I don't think most of them would last very long. The only caveat would be that they have cameras in public places and meeting places, so we can watch and hear the fireworks as they fall apart or descend into tyranny.

[justinvacula]

How much notice will that give him?

Effectively none, but perhaps enough to spare him the bus trip.

It's a damn shame there even needs to be a discussion.

[Scented Nectar]

Here is an example of Dobkin's "music". Trigger warning for ear pain and misandric words.

Damn you, SN. I totally musically rubbernecked by clicking that.

I always pondered what might happen if we gave various separatist groups a portion of isolated Federal Lands or some Atolls in the Pacific to settle, and let them have what they wanted. Something like "The Village". I don't think most of them would last very long. The only caveat would be that they have cameras in public places and meeting places, so we can watch and hear the fireworks as they fall apart or descend into tyranny.

My apologies for those minutes you'll never get back, and for the trauma and nightmares which are sure to follow.

I like the idea of putting them on their own camera filled island somewhere. :D

[bhoytony]

Here is an example of Dobkin's "music". Trigger warning for ear pain and misandric words.

Damn you, SN. I totally musically rubbernecked by clicking that.

I always pondered what might happen if we gave various separatist groups a portion of isolated Federal Lands or some Atolls in the Pacific to settle, and let them have what they wanted. Something like "The Village". I don't think most of them would last very long. The only caveat would be that they have cameras in public places and meeting places, so we can watch and hear the fireworks as they fall apart or descend into tyranny.

They already have their Fortress of Solitude in Chernobyl where they plan their social justice revolution, little knowing that they are just livestock on Simpleflower's longpig ranch.

Speaking of Russian fortresses I watched that film that decius mentioned, The Brest Fortress, and I can recommend it.

[justinvacula]

The 'Women in Secularism 2' harrasment policy is here:
http://www.womeninsecularism.org/policy.html

[spoiler]

POLICY ON HOSTILE CONDUCT / HARASSMENT AT CONFERENCES
Purpose and Scope of Policy

The Center for Inquiry (CFI) and its affiliates, including the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Council for Secular Humanism, are educational organizations. As part of our educational mission, we hold conferences from time to time. To ensure that everyone attending our conferences is able to participate in them fully, CFI and its affiliates are committed to providing a safe and hospitable environment at our conferences. Accordingly, CFI and its affiliates prohibit intimidating, threatening, or harassing conduct during our conferences. This policy applies to speakers, staff, volunteers, and attendees.

“Conferences” for purpose of this policy includes any educational meeting or gathering organized or sponsored by CFI or its affiliates to which nonemployees are invited. In other words, this policy applies to local or regional meetings, not just national conferences.

This policy supplements the policy on harassment set forth in the CFI employee handbook, which governs the conduct of CFI staff; it does not replace or supersede that policy.

Prohibited Conduct

In general, prohibited conduct includes any abusive conduct that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with another person’s ability to enjoy and participate in the conference, including social events related to the conference.

Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to, yelling at or threatening speakers or attendees, or any significantly disruptive conduct. By way of example, repeated interruption of a speaker by an attendee is prohibited.

Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to, harassment based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other protected group status, as provided by local, state, or federal law. By way of example, abusive conduct directed at someone because of their race is prohibited.

Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to, sexual harassment. By way of example, unwelcome sexual attention, stalking, and physical contact such as pinching, grabbing, or groping are prohibited.

Critical examination of beliefs, including critical commentary on another person’s views, does not, by itself, constitute hostile conduct or harassment. One of the underlying rationales of this policy is to promote the free exchange of ideas, not to inhibit it.

Consequences of Hostile or Harassing Conduct

CFI and its affiliates have a zero-tolerance policy for hostile and harassing conduct. If a person engages in hostile or harassing conduct, appropriate remedial action will be taken, which may include, but is not limited to, expulsion from the conference. Threats of hostile conduct that are made prior to a conference may result in exclusion from the conference.

The exact remedy for hostile or harassing conduct will depend on an evaluation of all relevant circumstances, such as the severity of the conduct and prior violations by the person engaging in prohibited conduct.

When there is a reasonable basis for believing the conduct is illegal, appropriate law enforcement authorities will be notified.

Reporting Hostile or Harassing Conduct; Investigations

Persons who are the targets of, or witnesses to, hostile or harassing conduct should contact conference staff. At smaller meetings, conference staff, including the person(s) in charge of the meeting, will be introduced at the beginning. At larger conferences, conference staff will wear identification and/or will be identified in the conference program.

At larger conferences, phone numbers for hotel/venue staff, local law enforcement, and local emergency medical personnel will be provided to conference attendees to facilitate prompt response to complaints and/or requests for assistance.

Reports of hostile or harassing conduct will be promptly addressed. On some occasions, where conference staff are witnesses to the prohibited conduct, immediate remedial action may be taken. Where a report of hostile or harassing conduct is made to conference staff after the conduct has occurred, reasonable measures will be taken to establish the facts. This will typically include discussion with witnesses, if any, and the person accused of engaging in the prohibited conduct. Inquiries into hostile or harassing conduct will be carried out as confidentially as possible given the circumstances.

Record-Keeping

CFI and its affiliates will make a written record of all complaints/incidents as soon as practicable. These records will be used in connection with implementing this policy. These records will be maintained in the Office of the President & CEO of CFI and will not be disclosed to individuals outside of the organization except as required by law.

[/spoiler]

It’s missing the part where people can exercise the Hysteric’s Veto: “He disagrees with me and makes me uncomfortable therefore *POOF* he's off the list.”

It's also missing this idea, unless I am overlooking something (?), that people need to follow the policy prior to conferences. Not that I'm in violation of it or anything, but...

[Chilly P.]

QFT.

And speaking of population, I just love how silly liberals and conservatives love to say 'oh, population growth isn't a problem, the earth can easily support 12 billion people, we just have to grow more food!!!'

Yeah, like people aren't gonna be greedy, or fight over access to these future resources!? And just look at the famine in Somalia - how 'easy' was it to feed the starving people? Oh, not easy at all, was it? Little problem of armed bandits stealing all the food to sell for profit!

Also "Nature will take care of it" means a painful death from starvation for mother, father, and child. Isn't it better to shrink the population with birth control and tax/government policy in the first place?

As for catastrophic economic collapse following a drop in population, it seems to me Europe after the Black Death boomed - shortage of labor = more freedom for ordinary people, better standard of living, and ever-increasing investment in labor saving technology because it was now cost effective given the high cost of scarce labor. China had everything necessary to have an industrial revolution ahead of Europe, but never did because the abundant population and low cost of labor made adopting labor-saving technologies cost-ineffective.

The top .1% love a big population, keeps labor costs low but demand sky high for their land, the basis of rent. They ain't making any more land, we can't have it shipped FOB from China "Hi, this is Sam in Texas. I need 1000 more acres added to expand the Austin city limits. How much? 1 Million? Does each acre include several trees and can I get a couple of streams with this large parcel? Excellent. Yes, expect my letter of credit from RBS shortly."

[d4m10n]

How much notice will that give him?

Effectively none, but perhaps enough to spare him the bus trip.

It's a damn shame there even needs to be a discussion.

Did I mention this is all a social experiment? ;)

Hypothesis: CFI has turned their backs on their founding principles of free inquiry and rational debate, in favor of the dogmatic approach of creating 'safe spaces' wherein certain theories cannot be questioned, by preemptively banning anyone who disagrees.

Experimental design: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/13633 ... cularism-2

[justinvacula]

Waiting...

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

[Lsuoma]

It's so dead it doesn't even know it

[Randy Newman video]

Back in the 80s, I went to a talk by the most awful folk wimmin's musicians ever. Alix Dobkin. She gave a lecture all about how Randi Newman was a horrible sexist because of his lyrics in some song.

Here is an example of Dobkin's "music". Trigger warning for ear pain and misandric words.

"Every Woman Can Be a Lesbian (Alix Dobkin)"

Randy Newman's been catching shit for decades from people who don't understand irony (i.e. 98% of all Americans). Stand-outs are "Short People"

[youtube]uFmv22ghzQw[/youtube]

and "Rednecks"

[youtube]OchO-UJcslM[/youtube]

I remember reading a review of Rednecks (Rolling Stone, I think) and they complained about his use of the phrase "smart-assed New York Jew" saying it was anti-Semitic (Newman is a Jew, BTW) and completely missed the obvious irony that Newman was displaying. Fucking, fucking stupid.

[Gumby]

You should never force on others what you would consider unfair when done to you.

Well and succinctly put.

I've found that the people who most preach the Ethic of Reciprocity (or whatever variant) are inevitably the ones who never follow it. Hypocritical hatebag fundies spouting "Love your neighbor as yourself" and equally hypocritical hatebag feminists crying "we want equality for all!" are prime examples.

[Mykeru]

So with that tweet shown above by Melody Hensley - she lays out her plan on stopping JV from attending WISCON2. "Prior" violations of this cons harassment policy will result in banning...

The Fuck?

I predict that she will let him get to the door, then make this big production on how "his kind isn't welcomed here" - and then ban him - wasting money and time.

Then she will go in for the group hugs and say how she is a brave warrior - fighting the injustice.

Yea I can see that happening. If she does try any of that crap I'm gonna be pissed. That is the kind of shit that needs to stop.

Justin quoted CFI policy that required being banned from a prior CFI event to be banned from the next. This would not have accomplished Hensley's goal of harassing and smearing Justin while painting herself as victim.

So she just made up her own rules.

Not to be dramatic, but the woman is a dime-store Stalin.

[comslave]

So...new thread and Renee is drunk off her ass...

Care for a cuppa coffee in my hotel room?

RAPE!

[Scented Nectar]

It's so dead it doesn't even know it

[Randy Newman video]

Back in the 80s, I went to a talk by the most awful folk wimmin's musicians ever. Alix Dobkin. She gave a lecture all about how Randi Newman was a horrible sexist because of his lyrics in some song.

Here is an example of Dobkin's "music". Trigger warning for ear pain and misandric words.

"Every Woman Can Be a Lesbian (Alix Dobkin)"

Randy Newman's been catching shit for decades from people who don't understand irony (i.e. 98% of all Americans). Stand-outs are "Short People"

[video]

and "Rednecks"

[video]

I remember reading a review of Rednecks (Rolling Stone, I think) and they complained about his use of the phrase "smart-assed New York Jew" saying it was anti-Semitic (Newman is a Jew, BTW) and completely missed the obvious irony that Newman was displaying. Fucking, fucking stupid.

I had some nostalgia hearing Short People again. It's been years. :)

No, they certainly don't get his irony. I can't remember which song Dobkin whined about (it wasn't Short People), but I doubt it really was sexist. I believed her fully at the time though, and left her talk even more committed to only listening to "wimmin's music". Blech!

I used to volunteer for a company called Womynly Way Productions. They brought all the 'wimmin musicians' to Toronto to perform. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_music

[Chilly P.]

I have a question about "Pre-Patriarchy", the alleged time prior to roughly the invention of agriculture.

One assertion is that people didn't connect having sex with pregnancy. I find this very hard to believe that people who organized mammoth hunts, built fish dams, figured out that thirsty monkeys lead you to secret water holes, etc. didn't make the connection between the idea that not having sex resulted in not getting pregnant and vice-versa.

Anybody know of any isolated hunter-gatherers, like barely-contacted New Guinea Highlanders, who believe that sex and babies aren't correlated? I mean, is there any ethnology of groups still around in the modern era that supports this claim?

[Gumby]

I have a question about "Pre-Patriarchy", the alleged time prior to roughly the invention of agriculture.

One assertion is that people didn't connect having sex with pregnancy. I find this very hard to believe that people who organized mammoth hunts, built fish dams, figured out that thirsty monkeys lead you to secret water holes, etc. didn't make the connection between the idea that not having sex resulted in not getting pregnant and vice-versa.

Anybody know of any isolated hunter-gatherers, like barely-contacted New Guinea Highlanders, who believe that sex and babies aren't correlated? I mean, is there any ethnology of groups still around in the modern era that supports this claim?

That early people didn't connect sex with pregnancy is straight out of the book "Clan of the Cave Bear". I had never heard anyone make this claim until that stupid book came out.

Claims for and against this hypothesis are entirely unprovable anyway. Even if we could figure out what present-day barely contacted tribes know or don't know about the sex-babies correlation, that would not necessarily apply to hundreds of thousands of years ago.

[Apples]

Hypothesis: CFI has turned their backs on their founding principles of free inquiry and rational debate, in favor of the dogmatic approach of creating 'safe spaces' wherein certain theories cannot be questioned, by preemptively banning anyone who disagrees.

This reminded me of this exchange in the Mods thread today at A+:

It felt a bit like turning up on your first day at university and entering the third years' common room by mistake. Who are these people? Where did they come from? Do they know one another in 'real life'? Are they considered 'experts'? If so, why? And so on. Nothing wrong with that at all, but it unnerved me slightly, and I can see why it might unnerve others.

Thing is, to me, that means the forum is working. This place was constructed explicitly for the purposes of those 3rd+ year student types so they would not have to continue to rehash 1st year level shit over and over and over again, and could move forward from there. The board has I&A for the uninitiated, the rest of the forum for everyone else. AND, we're not all the same level of knowledge on every topic. Someone who's at post-grad level on ableism with a doctorate in feminism might be at second year level on racism and might have little working knowledge on ageism whatsoever. Unnerving? Yes. Challenging people to overcome their privilege blinders isn't going to be exactly comfortable all the time, nor should it.

http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic ... start=1825

LOL. They've really got it all figgered out, don't they. Who knew you could even achieve such advanced degrees in the rigorous esoterica of quantum soshul justicology -- and all for free online? (As long as you submissively nuzzle taint when Ceepolk and Setar are around.)

Whenever they show up with their patented 'basket o' links' for a new poster I think of Heidi or Little Red Riding Hood.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oSPbKyaO-uw/T ... LE+RED.jpg

[SkepularCharlie]

So with that tweet shown above by Melody Hensley - she lays out her plan on stopping JV from attending WISCON2. "Prior" violations of this cons harassment policy will result in banning...

The Fuck?

I predict that she will let him get to the door, then make this big production on how "his kind isn't welcomed here" - and then ban him - wasting money and time.

Then she will go in for the group hugs and say how she is a brave warrior - fighting the injustice.

Yea I can see that happening. If she does try any of that crap I'm gonna be pissed. That is the kind of shit that needs to stop.

A sweep stakes or betting odds can be generated for this scenario. There are enough different outcomes to lay down some bets on the varying outcomes. I'll put down a dollar on the long shot that MH keeps her mouth shut and JV enjoys the event with no bitching from the Hensley entourage. Those odds surely have to be around 250 to 1.
.
By the way, its my first post here. I've been a long time reader and fan of the SP. Hello boys and girls. Some of you pitters are familiar thru the tweet world.

Cheers, Charlie



Not to be dramatic, but the woman is a dime-store Stalin.

[SkepularCharlie]

So with that tweet shown above by Melody Hensley - she lays out her plan on stopping JV from attending WISCON2. "Prior" violations of this cons harassment policy will result in banning...

The Fuck?

I predict that she will let him get to the door, then make this big production on how "his kind isn't welcomed here" - and then ban him - wasting money and time.

Then she will go in for the group hugs and say how she is a brave warrior - fighting the injustice.

Yea I can see that happening. If she does try any of that crap I'm gonna be pissed. That is the kind of shit that needs to stop.

A sweep stakes or betting odds can be generated for this scenario. There are enough different outcomes to lay down some bets on the varying outcomes. I'll put down a dollar on the long shot that MH keeps her mouth shut and JV enjoys the event with no bitching from the Hensley entourage. Those odds surely have to be around 250 to 1.
.
By the way, its my first post here. I've been a long time reader and fan of the SP. Hello boys and girls. Some of you pitters are familiar thru the tweet world.

Cheers, Charlie



Not to be dramatic, but the woman is a dime-store Stalin.

[AndrewV69]

_____________
@ ... AndrewV69

Seeing as how you have Natalie's ear, do you think you could try to explain to her that in point of fact we are not trying to help her in order to score points against FfTB, et al. We are trying to help her because we are humanists and she is a human being in need -- certainly more in need than someone who wants a new laptop, or sending ToiletBowl to some conference.

Do you think you could do that Andrew?

She's just pissing all over those of us who would like to help her out in her time of need, and that's only going to create bad blood. And it is most certainly not going to make anyone here look kindly on her if she should happen to need help sometime in the future. If she really gets a kick out of burning potential bridges, well ... more power to her, but she's only hurting herself.

Aside from the fact that she has now requested no further help, when I read her bullshit about scoring points, I immediately decided I was not going to continue in my endeavour to help her out. I can't imagine how those who have helped must be feeling right now.

JeeZus Pickles; what an ungrateful bitch.

Wow! Just fucking wow!

Natalie HAS expressed her gratitude!
She's also done the decent thing and let it be known that her needs are covered and would not wish to accept more.
She has spoke of the needs of others (even tho there may be some raised eyebrows over that)
And finally she (consistantly) made it clear that she does not want to be a pawn n the ftb/slyme wars.
For fuck sake what is wrong with that?
Why don't you just ask her for your donation back because you didn't manage to buy her alligence.

I said before that there was an unpleasent whiff of lets show up ftb about all of this.

Your post here really does not come acrosss as just human concern.

Well the back story is I missed a couple of PMs (I have at any given moment a desktop and two laptops going) and John Greg was apparently trying to arrange a donation while I was busy with other stuff.

His post in the forum I ascribe to a certain amount of fustration due to me not seeing his PMs. This board may show me as being online when the reality is I am AFK most of the time.

It seems clear to me that Natalie may not be aware how some of her words may have been viewed, but at the same time, some of her other words makes it also looks that she does appreciate the efforts.

I think at this point, I would be inclined to "let it go". Intent is not magic and all that, but no matter how you look at it, in the end it seems clear that Natalie would like to disengage from the Aethiest community as a whole, while at the same time some residual loyalty to her "in-group" still prompts her to defend then, while also being prompted to acknowledge that the "out-group" are not the monsters that PeeZuss et. al. paint them as and still thank them.

John and the others who contributed may legitimately feel miffed that their intent was characterized the way it was. Just remember these words:

No good deed goes unpunished.

- Clare Boothe Luce
(Otherwise atributed to a fuck ton of other people. You take your pick. I already made mine)

[LMU]

Hello and welcome Charlie :)

[another lurker]

QFT.

And speaking of population, I just love how silly liberals and conservatives love to say 'oh, population growth isn't a problem, the earth can easily support 12 billion people, we just have to grow more food!!!'

Yeah, like people aren't gonna be greedy, or fight over access to these future resources!? And just look at the famine in Somalia - how 'easy' was it to feed the starving people? Oh, not easy at all, was it? Little problem of armed bandits stealing all the food to sell for profit!

Also "Nature will take care of it" means a painful death from starvation for mother, father, and child. Isn't it better to shrink the population with birth control and tax/government policy in the first place?

As for catastrophic economic collapse following a drop in population, it seems to me Europe after the Black Death boomed - shortage of labor = more freedom for ordinary people, better standard of living, and ever-increasing investment in labor saving technology because it was now cost effective given the high cost of scarce labor. China had everything necessary to have an industrial revolution ahead of Europe, but never did because the abundant population and low cost of labor made adopting labor-saving technologies cost-ineffective.

The top .1% love a big population, keeps labor costs low but demand sky high for their land, the basis of rent. They ain't making any more land, we can't have it shipped FOB from China "Hi, this is Sam in Texas. I need 1000 more acres added to expand the Austin city limits. How much? 1 Million? Does each acre include several trees and can I get a couple of streams with this large parcel? Excellent. Yes, expect my letter of credit from RBS shortly."

All true. MKG and I think it was, Anonymouscowherd both made good points, and certainly made me rethink some of the ideas I have had about sustainability.

The history of humanity is littered with cycles of intensification and depletion. Depletion usually wins, in the end - and I do wonder if there is going to come a time when technology cannot solve these problems for us. Conservation is certainly the way to go - but it won't stop groups of people from being greedy bastards and there is not much we can do about it. And then there is weather - still something we cannot really control. And one thing people are not talking about - water. As the earth's population grows, where is the water going to come from? Poor nations certainly cannot afford expensive desalination plants and so on. The best thing, imo, and people are doing this already, is to teach sustainable farming and conservation. And as you said, easy access to birth control will make a HUGE difference.

The issue is really complicated though, and my head hurts just thinking about it. So I am going to stfu right now.

[SkepularCharlie]

Damn it! My first post was accidentally infused with previous quotes. Fucking smart phones certainly make the user appear clueless when navigating and posting on forums.
apologies.
screw you Samsung!

Once again, hello all

[Apples]

strange gods, yeah, I owe you (and others) an apology for baiting. Some meatspace stress got through the human-computer interface. Sorry about that.

Cool, thanks cm.

Nerd: you are cleared for saying “Your unevidenced OPINION is *POOF* dismissed as fuckwittery” again. False alarm.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... 5/#respond

[AndrewV69]

Pretty much every group in freethought claims to be “grounded in the open discussion and exchange of ideas” and that includes FtB and CFI. I would agree that the Pyt tends to live up to it a lot more, as we saw with Louis, for example, not to mention all the running disagreements among regulars.

p.s. SUFTU!

The only way I could even hope to keep up with who agrees/disagrees with who about what would be to maintain a relational database.

Instead, I have defaulted to the stance that there is a nontrivial chance that any two Slymepitters will have three opinions all in violent opposition to each other.

Oh and to compound the issue, there is also the chance, nontrivial also, that any one at any given time may change their mind based on the arguments of the other.

Given the choice, I think I would rather herd cats, nail jelly to the wall, or empty the Great Lakes with a strainer than even try to keep track.

I can be reasonably certain however, that when it comes to PeeZuss Christ, Twatson, the rest of the baboons, and other assorted morons associated with that lot, that the Slymepitters generally do not think too highly about them.

But that is about it.

[Notung]

[spoiler]

strange gods, yeah, I owe you (and others) an apology for baiting. Some meatspace stress got through the human-computer interface. Sorry about that.

Cool, thanks cm.

Nerd: you are cleared for saying “Your unevidenced OPINION is *POOF* dismissed as fuckwittery” again. False alarm.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... 5/#respond[/spoiler]

Absolutely hilarious.

"You are cleared for saying ... False alarm."

Phew - that was a close one!

[Reap]

Damn it! My first post was accidentally infused with previous quotes. Fucking smart phones certainly make the user appear clueless when navigating and posting on forums.
apologies.
screw you Samsung!

Once again, hello all

That first post is always a bitch ooops! I mean dick

[nippletwister]

So, my guy is out of surgery. He had his lymph nodes removed, the mass removed, and a portion of the back of his tongue removed. Oh, and they STILL won't know for another fucking week if the whole thing is malignant or not. WTF? The doctor said they'd check the mass right away to see if there was an issue. I'm not fucking happy right now.

All the best Renee to you and your guy + family.



I recall a study done on men who HAD DEFINITELY BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED, as in, they had been victims and had this situation go before the courts, etc - but when surveyed only 16% of them or so actually reported they had ever been sexually assaulted in their life time. Despite the fact that 100% of them had. Fuck knows where I read it - I've been searching for it with no luck. I would assume that shit plays in a lot to any survey like that. Men just don't think it's sexual assault.

I have limited experience in this sort of thing, but in my younger days, I had, at different times, two women grab my ass, one woman grope my crotch, and one try to force a kiss on me while drunk at a friend's work-related party.

While it was a bit socially uncomfortable, mainly because of having to explain to horny women that I wasn't attracted to them, I wouldn't call any of it "assault". But I'm pretty sure many women would, even if there was very little contact and no real threat to well-being of any kind.

I totally understand why a woman would feel very uncomfortable around a sexually aggressive male, but having lived my whole sheltered life in moderately conservative to liberal areas of California, I've never once actually witnessed a man doing anything worse than what happened to me, and even that was very rare, only at parties, and only with women who were into it and enjoying the attention and physical play. I know it must happen, but I've never seen a man who felt entitled to grab someone who wasn't already happily bouncing body parts in his face.

[katamari Damassi]

Oh shit, I've only just started reading the "famine" article on wikipedia, and the introduction alone, I find this:

The famine relief model increasingly used by aid groups calls for giving cash or cash vouchers to the hungry to pay local farmers instead of buying food from donor countries, as is often required by law (for example U.S. law requires that food aid money be spent on food grown in the U.S).

I don't even know what to think right now...

I was a contract worker for USAID for a couple of years and thought the agency tries to do good work(and succeeds at times)congress has turned it into a program to subsidize US agriculture and industry. Farmers are crops are subsidized and the surplus is used for famine relief and development work. Often on the development side NGO's are given grain which they may then sell in the nation being aided and use that money to fund their projects. The problem is that this can often drive down the market prices in the country they're ostensibly trying to help, and cause local farmer to go out of business. The NGO's must also use US made equipment which they buy with the money from the grain sales.
It's a difficult situation.

[free thoughtpolice]

The key to quality of living and the sustainability of life is the ability to access and properly use energy.
The ability of mankind to settle areas beyond the subtropics was made possible by the ability to utilize the energy in fire, to gain energy in previously unavailable food by hunting technology, and the ability to better conserve energy by making clothes that withstand the cold.
Likewise our increases in standard of living have followed our ability to exploit energy especially during the industrial revolution and 20th century. To a large degree the standard of living of a community is linked to the amount of energy it consumes. Cheap and abundant energy is the major tool in our ability to access resources such as the ability to desalinate water and mine for increasingly more difficult to find minerals and fertilizers.
I believe we need to find a cheap and clean energy source such as usable fusion power technology to sustain anywhere near our present population levels much less our standard and quality of living.
There, the solution to all the worlds' problems.

[Al Stefanelli]

Dear Slymepit,

http://www.alstefanelli.com/backalleyhooker.jpg

[Submariner]

The key to quality of living and the sustainability of life is the ability to access and properly use energy.
The ability of mankind to settle areas beyond the subtropics was made possible by the ability to utilize the energy in fire, to gain energy in previously unavailable food by hunting technology, and the ability to better conserve energy by making clothes that withstand the cold.
Likewise our increases in standard of living have followed our ability to exploit energy especially during the industrial revolution and 20th century. To a large degree the standard of living of a community is linked to the amount of energy it consumes. Cheap and abundant energy is the major tool in our ability to access resources such as the ability to desalinate water and mine for increasingly more difficult to find minerals and fertilizers.
I believe we need to find a cheap and clean energy source such as usable fusion power technology to sustain anywhere near our present population levels much less our standard and quality of living.
There, the solution to all the worlds' problems.

Will the feminists stop bitching complaining about sexism in video games, then?

[Apples]

PZ is on his high horse again tut-tutting people who are far more accomplished than he is. Lawrence Krauss gives a speech about teaching:

This little talk from Lawrence Krauss is one I agreed with right up to the last little conclusion, which is a complete non sequitur.

That first part is excellent: good education does involve getting students to ask questions and think deeply, rather than being able to recite answers back at us; I also think it’s true that a good science educator has to be comfortable in the field and be competent in the topic. And that means investing more in teacher training. It also involves paying them more to attract better teachers, because sometimes what happens is that a person with a family or special needs will find they can’t meet all their obligations on a teacher’s salary.

So far, so good. Here’s the concluding paragraph that I find disagreeable, however. It’s the one where he proposes different pay scales for science and math teachers rather than those other teachers.

Non sequitur? PZ, you dipshit -- the title of the talk is "Differential Pay Scales for Teachers in Science and Math" with the attached summary, "Lawrence Krauss argues for differential pay scales for teachers with advanced training in science and math to accommodate the free market." Hardly a "last little conclusion" for you to nit-pick.

Anyway, maybe PZ has a good argument for why Krauss is wrong. Let's see....

My problem here is that after praising the value of asking good questions, critical thinking, general competence, and all that jazz, suddenly we switch gears to talking about competition in the free market. That is something completely different with no relationship to the values previously stated.

Um, yeah, PZ, that's because Krauss is talking about problems such as, "some number like close to 90 percent of middle school science teachers don’t have a training in science, beyond the high school level," and about his impression that primary school science teachers therefore often seem uncomfortable with the material.

Teachers of English, theater, history, philosophy, art, music, etc. can also be inspiring, inquiring critical thinkers who lead students to deeper understanding, who get students to ask insightful questions. In that context, it’s silly to single out science and math teachers as somehow special — in my personal history, science and math teachers have been more likely to fall back on rote and massive data dumps than teachers in other fields.

Um ... dafuq? If anything, this helps prove Krauss's point.

Why would anyone think free market competition for higher salaries would attract more people with better teaching skills?

Jeez, I dunno, PZ. Maybe because people always and everywhere are (at least partly) motivated to be well-compensated for their work and the investment they've made in their education? As for "teaching skills" in general, that's its own kettle of fish. But if we have a choice between little Johnny's getting his introduction to biology from someone with a general pedagogy or English degree versus a Bio degree, assuming they're both certified by East Bumfuck Teachers' College, isn't it kind of obvious which is preferable?

Also, PZ - in your fucking introduction, you say we need to be "paying more to attract better teachers." You mean, just to be nice? Oh - my bad - I thought we had to do that because that's how free markets work.

I wish PZ would just stick to talking about animal fetuses and creationists and shut up about everything else. I don't even necessarily agree with Krauss, but, confronted with PZ's blinkered crap, I can't help wanting to agree with him.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... -teaching/
http://bigthink.com/ideas/49108

[another lurker]

The key to quality of living and the sustainability of life is the ability to access and properly use energy.
The ability of mankind to settle areas beyond the subtropics was made possible by the ability to utilize the energy in fire, to gain energy in previously unavailable food by hunting technology, and the ability to better conserve energy by making clothes that withstand the cold.
Likewise our increases in standard of living have followed our ability to exploit energy especially during the industrial revolution and 20th century. To a large degree the standard of living of a community is linked to the amount of energy it consumes. Cheap and abundant energy is the major tool in our ability to access resources such as the ability to desalinate water and mine for increasingly more difficult to find minerals and fertilizers.
I believe we need to find a cheap and clean energy source such as usable fusion power technology to sustain anywhere near our present population levels much less our standard and quality of living.
There, the solution to all the worlds' problems.

Will the feminists stop bitching complaining about sexism in video games, then?

On a similar note, I wonder if this will piss off the feminists:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/000 ... 1353294811

http://www.fertileearth.org/_blog/Miami ... e_Miami_2/


The entire calendar here:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=2013+Lad ... iALD3YGwCQ

[John Greg]

Hmm.

About Mutanto (Monsanto), the Seven Pillars, and GMO foods, I have this to say.

In 1998, in the midst of a five-year stint as a full time adult student at a local college, I was involved, with 12 other adult students, some of whom were professional journalists, and some of whom were professional researchers, in an eight-month research project on GMO products and the seven major corporations (the Seven Pillars) that, at that time, were researching, creating, and patenting various GMO products and legislation and laws regarding them.

After eight months, our conclusions were that GMO products were most likely not particularily harmful in and of themselves (as consumables; not as crops), but the power wielded by, and the political, social, and business influence carried out by the Seven Pillars was deeply worrisome, even frigthening.

Specifically, one part of the corporate plan, as stated on internal documentation, was for the Seven Pillars to exert so much political, social, and corporate power as to, by sometime between 2020 and 2050, own over 90% of the Earth's arable land, and to control all of the planet's food source.

A large part of Mutanto's 1996-1997 operating budget (approximately, 1.25 billion dollars US -- that is one thousand 250 million US dollars) went to propaganda (public relations), including approximately 400 million spent directly on encouraging, supporting, and fomenting public protests, both in media, and on the ground, against GMOs specifically to take the focus as far as possible away from the Seven Pillars's hegemonic property takover planning.

I know many of you are going to moan and groan about this being some kind of nutty conspiracy theory paranoia, but I swear it is not. It was an intensive and in-depth eight month long research project, and we had hundreds of corporate-sourced documents backing it all up. I am sorry that I do not have any documents left to back this up -- I lost all my college docs, textbooks, etx., when I was homeless, and anyway, I was, at the time, stupidly unaware of how important it is to hang on to important and relevant hard-to-find documentation for possible unforeseen future uses.

On an unrelated side note, we also uncovered several inter-office memos at the CocaCola head office outlining plans to own/control all water supplies (aquifers) in the third world so that the water could, in regards to individual consumption, be replaced by Coke. I kid you not. That particular plan was intended to come to full fruition by approximately 2025-30.

MKG said:

Economists = Fraudulent Voodoo Cunts

Yes, indeed. This, for teh win.

Oh, also, Lsuoma, today there seems to be no hold-up or delay on the Preview/Post phenomenon. Very fast.

[Reap]

PZ is on his high horse again tut-tutting people who are far more accomplished than he is. Lawrence Krauss gives a speech about teaching:

This little talk from Lawrence Krauss is one I agreed with right up to the last little conclusion, which is a complete non sequitur.

That first part is excellent: good education does involve getting students to ask questions and think deeply, rather than being able to recite answers back at us; I also think it’s true that a good science educator has to be comfortable in the field and be competent in the topic. And that means investing more in teacher training. It also involves paying them more to attract better teachers, because sometimes what happens is that a person with a family or special needs will find they can’t meet all their obligations on a teacher’s salary.

So far, so good. Here’s the concluding paragraph that I find disagreeable, however. It’s the one where he proposes different pay scales for science and math teachers rather than those other teachers.

Non sequitur? PZ, you dipshit -- the title of the talk is "Differential Pay Scales for Teachers in Science and Math" with the attached summary, "Lawrence Krauss argues for differential pay scales for teachers with advanced training in science and math to accommodate the free market." Hardly a "last little conclusion" for you to nit-pick.

Anyway, maybe PZ has a good argument for why Krauss is wrong. Let's see....

My problem here is that after praising the value of asking good questions, critical thinking, general competence, and all that jazz, suddenly we switch gears to talking about competition in the free market. That is something completely different with no relationship to the values previously stated.

Um, yeah, PZ, that's because Krauss is talking about problems such as, "some number like close to 90 percent of middle school science teachers don’t have a training in science, beyond the high school level," and about his impression that primary school science teachers therefore often seem uncomfortable with the material.

Teachers of English, theater, history, philosophy, art, music, etc. can also be inspiring, inquiring critical thinkers who lead students to deeper understanding, who get students to ask insightful questions. In that context, it’s silly to single out science and math teachers as somehow special — in my personal history, science and math teachers have been more likely to fall back on rote and massive data dumps than teachers in other fields.

Um ... dafuq? If anything, this helps prove Krauss's point.

Why would anyone think free market competition for higher salaries would attract more people with better teaching skills?

Jeez, I dunno, PZ. Maybe because people always and everywhere are (at least partly) motivated to be well-compensated for their work and the investment they've made in their education? As for "teaching skills" in general, that's its own kettle of fish. But if we have a choice between little Johnny's getting his introduction to biology from someone with a general pedagogy or English degree versus a Bio degree, assuming they're both certified by East Bumfuck Teachers' College, isn't it kind of obvious which is preferable?

Also, PZ - in your fucking introduction, you say we need to be "paying more to attract better teachers." You mean, just to be nice? Oh - my bad - I thought we had to do that because that's how free markets work.

I wish PZ would just stick to talking about animal fetuses and creationists and shut up about everything else. I don't even necessarily agree with Krauss, but, confronted with PZ's blinkered crap, I can't help wanting to agree with him.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... -teaching/
http://bigthink.com/ideas/49108

PZ is....
http://reapsowradio.com/graphics/pzflybrain.png

[16bitheretic]

Why would anyone think free market competition for higher salaries would attract more people with better teaching skills?

Jeez, I dunno, PZ. Maybe because people always and everywhere are (at least partly) motivated to be well-compensated for their work and the investment they've made in their education? As for "teaching skills" in general, that's its own kettle of fish. But if we have a choice between little Johnny's getting his introduction to biology from someone with a general pedagogy or English degree versus a Bio degree, assuming they're both certified by East Bumfuck Teachers' College, isn't it kind of obvious which is preferable?

Also, PZ - in your fucking introduction, you say we need to be "paying more to attract better teachers." You mean, just to be nice? Oh - my bad - I thought we had to do that because that's how free markets work.

PZ is acting like one of those knee jerk reactionaries that sees "free market" and suddenly reads into those words that Krauss must be using right-wing talking points. Because, you know, anyone that even suggests that some minor competition might be useful suddenly jumps into Ayn Rand territory or something.

[Lsuoma]

Oh, also, Lsuoma, today there seems to be no hold-up or delay on the Preview/Post phenomenon. Very fast.

Testing, testing.

[Dick Strawkins]

PZ is on his high horse again tut-tutting people who are far more accomplished than he is. Lawrence Krauss gives a speech about teaching:

This little talk from Lawrence Krauss is one I agreed with right up to the last little conclusion, which is a complete non sequitur.

That first part is excellent: good education does involve getting students to ask questions and think deeply, rather than being able to recite answers back at us; I also think it’s true that a good science educator has to be comfortable in the field and be competent in the topic. And that means investing more in teacher training. It also involves paying them more to attract better teachers, because sometimes what happens is that a person with a family or special needs will find they can’t meet all their obligations on a teacher’s salary.

So far, so good. Here’s the concluding paragraph that I find disagreeable, however. It’s the one where he proposes different pay scales for science and math teachers rather than those other teachers.

Non sequitur? PZ, you dipshit -- the title of the talk is "Differential Pay Scales for Teachers in Science and Math" with the attached summary, "Lawrence Krauss argues for differential pay scales for teachers with advanced training in science and math to accommodate the free market." Hardly a "last little conclusion" for you to nit-pick.

Anyway, maybe PZ has a good argument for why Krauss is wrong. Let's see....

My problem here is that after praising the value of asking good questions, critical thinking, general competence, and all that jazz, suddenly we switch gears to talking about competition in the free market. That is something completely different with no relationship to the values previously stated.

Um, yeah, PZ, that's because Krauss is talking about problems such as, "some number like close to 90 percent of middle school science teachers don’t have a training in science, beyond the high school level," and about his impression that primary school science teachers therefore often seem uncomfortable with the material.

Teachers of English, theater, history, philosophy, art, music, etc. can also be inspiring, inquiring critical thinkers who lead students to deeper understanding, who get students to ask insightful questions. In that context, it’s silly to single out science and math teachers as somehow special — in my personal history, science and math teachers have been more likely to fall back on rote and massive data dumps than teachers in other fields.

Um ... dafuq? If anything, this helps prove Krauss's point.

Why would anyone think free market competition for higher salaries would attract more people with better teaching skills?

Jeez, I dunno, PZ. Maybe because people always and everywhere are (at least partly) motivated to be well-compensated for their work and the investment they've made in their education? As for "teaching skills" in general, that's its own kettle of fish. But if we have a choice between little Johnny's getting his introduction to biology from someone with a general pedagogy or English degree versus a Bio degree, assuming they're both certified by East Bumfuck Teachers' College, isn't it kind of obvious which is preferable?

Also, PZ - in your fucking introduction, you say we need to be "paying more to attract better teachers." You mean, just to be nice? Oh - my bad - I thought we had to do that because that's how free markets work.

I wish PZ would just stick to talking about animal fetuses and creationists and shut up about everything else. I don't even necessarily agree with Krauss, but, confronted with PZ's blinkered crap, I can't help wanting to agree with him.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... -teaching/
http://bigthink.com/ideas/49108

What's up with Peezus these days?
He's just made another embarassing fuck up on pharyngula by posting a story about some anti abortion group deciding to join in an alliance with the Westboro Baptists.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... le-models/

Except if you follow the link (and actually read the stort rather than the headline, you'll realize that it is not a real story, its a (pretty lame) satire - it even explicitly labels itself as satire.

PZMyers, skeptic extraordinaire. :doh:

[ladysetar]

CHECK YOUR PRIVLEGE BITCHES !!!!!!!!!!!!

Why can't you fucking fuckers just leave us in peace ? We;re going to change the world any you dinosaurs are going to end up extinct. We don't need no comet, we have the internet and the furure is ours.

It's payback time bitches and yes I've had a few too many cosmoploitans but that's only to help with the severe anxiety attacks I get whenever sombody mentions the word slime or pit

We are Atheeissm Pluss and we WILL DOMINATE !!!

[Submariner]

The key to quality of living and the sustainability of life is the ability to access and properly use energy.
The ability of mankind to settle areas beyond the subtropics was made possible by the ability to utilize the energy in fire, to gain energy in previously unavailable food by hunting technology, and the ability to better conserve energy by making clothes that withstand the cold.
Likewise our increases in standard of living have followed our ability to exploit energy especially during the industrial revolution and 20th century. To a large degree the standard of living of a community is linked to the amount of energy it consumes. Cheap and abundant energy is the major tool in our ability to access resources such as the ability to desalinate water and mine for increasingly more difficult to find minerals and fertilizers.
I believe we need to find a cheap and clean energy source such as usable fusion power technology to sustain anywhere near our present population levels much less our standard and quality of living.
There, the solution to all the worlds' problems.

Will the feminists stop bitching complaining about sexism in video games, then?

On a similar note, I wonder if this will piss off the feminists:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/000 ... 1353294811

http://www.fertileearth.org/_blog/Miami ... e_Miami_2/


The entire calendar here:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=2013+Lad ... iALD3YGwCQ

Would it be sexist of me to say I fapped?

[another lurker]

Submariner: as long as you compost the 'results' of your efforts, I see no problem ;P

[Submariner]

CHECK YOUR PRIVLEGE BITCHES !!!!!!!!!!!!

Why can't you fucking fuckers just leave us in peace ? We;re going to change the world any you dinosaurs are going to end up extinct. We don't need no comet, we have the internet and the furure is ours.

It's payback time bitches and yes I've had a few too many cosmoploitans but that's only to help with the severe anxiety attacks I get whenever sombody mentions the word slime or pit

We are Atheeissm Pluss and we WILL DOMINATE !!!

Not sure if serious, troll, or off their medication.

[Reap]

CHECK YOUR PRIVLEGE BITCHES !!!!!!!!!!!!

Why can't you fucking fuckers just leave us in peace ? We;re going to change the world any you dinosaurs are going to end up extinct. We don't need no comet, we have the internet and the furure is ours.

It's payback time bitches and yes I've had a few too many cosmoploitans but that's only to help with the severe anxiety attacks I get whenever sombody mentions the word slime or pit

We are Atheeissm Pluss and we WILL DOMINATE !!!

Oh my, we've been invaded by drunk A+ ers.....help?

[another lurker]

CHECK YOUR PRIVLEGE BITCHES !!!!!!!!!!!!

Why can't you fucking fuckers just leave us in peace ? We;re going to change the world any you dinosaurs are going to end up extinct. We don't need no comet, we have the internet and the furure is ours.

It's payback time bitches and yes I've had a few too many cosmoploitans but that's only to help with the severe anxiety attacks I get whenever sombody mentions the word slime or pit

We are Atheeissm Pluss and we WILL DOMINATE !!!

Not sure if serious, troll, or off their medication.

I am betting troll. Funny too :)