Bleeding from the Bunghole

#32581

OK folks, is this something we can all agree on?

How Academia Resembles a Drug Gang

The trolling starts :

â€œWhy drug dealers still live with their momsâ€, was based on the finding that the income distribution within gangs was extremely skewed in favor of those at the top, while the rank-and-file street sellers earned even less than employees in legitimate low-skilled activities, letâ€™s say at McDonaldâ€™s. They calculated 3.30 dollars as the hourly rate, that is, well below a living wage (thatâ€™s why they still live with their moms). [2]

http://alexandreafonso.files.wordpress. ... slide5.png

And for the finale we have:

Figure 4 summarizes in broad terms the differences outlined above. As I can see it, this form of insider/outsider divide exists everywhere and is probably expanding. The interesting thing is that these divides are largely structural in the sense that the system simply couldnâ€™t work without this large supply of outsiders ready to accept any kind of employment contract. If you are mobile, strategic and concerned with employment conditions, you might want to exploit these differences and avoid the outsider boxes at different stages of your career. This would mean avoiding the UK for your PhD and avoiding Germany after your PhD.

http://alexandreafonso.files.wordpress. ... slide9.png

#32582

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:
Mykeru wrote:
Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:Also, 8 posts away from my 4000th. What do I get?
Carpal tunnel.

In unrelated news, Pitters, I'm sitting in beautiful Wilmington (NC) International Airport waiting to pick up my 93 year old Great-uncle, Battle of the Bulge survivor, member of the ETO "ghost army" and, after he never remarried after his wife Rose died in the 50s, legendary ladies man.

I can ask him questions related to how to spend nearly a century kicking ass on a daily basis.

Please, no questions on dealing with twitter PTSD. He just wouldn't understand.
There will be no questions from me. Just a heartfelt Thank You.

"you're welcome"

#32583

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:
Mykeru wrote:
Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:Also, 8 posts away from my 4000th. What do I get?
Carpal tunnel.

In unrelated news, Pitters, I'm sitting in beautiful Wilmington (NC) International Airport waiting to pick up my 93 year old Great-uncle, Battle of the Bulge survivor, member of the ETO "ghost army" and, after he never remarried after his wife Rose died in the 50s, legendary ladies man.

I can ask him questions related to how to spend nearly a century kicking ass on a daily basis.

Please, no questions on dealing with twitter PTSD. He just wouldn't understand.
There will be no questions from me. Just a heartfelt Thank You.

You bring up a really good point. We need to give Social Justice Warriors the honor and attention they deserve. Sure, men like his great-uncle literally defeated the Nazis and literally liberated victims of unspeakable atrocities. And yes, some of his buddies no doubt made the supreme sacrifice of laying down their lives in unpleasant ways so their wives and children at home could continue to live in freedom.

But has he ever shut down an MRA conference on a university campus? Has he ever stopped MRAs from hanging posters? Shoot. I'll bet his great-uncle never even offered only-if-you-want-them hugs to a child rapist. We really should design medals and keep track of who won which citations.

For example:

http://imageshack.com/a/img577/6682/kpcg.jpg

#32584

Gumby wrote:
Jan Steen wrote:Peezus' poo flinging at Zimmer is just a pathetic attempt to score points against someone who probably aroused his ire for some unstated reason.
There doesn't have to be a reason, other than "little man syndrome".

I work in the housing renovation trade, and I encounter people like PZ all the time. Despite the fact their own work is entirely unspectacular and ordinary, they never hesitate to belittle the work of others, always crowing about how they would have done a particular project so much better or faster or whatever. Funny though... their own work never seems to live up to their glowing self-descriptions.

On the other hand, the truly talented people in my field - the accomplished fine carpenters, the talented painters, the master plumbers and electricians - let their work speak for itself, and never need to resort to belittling the work of others in order to puff up their own accomplishments.

Stay classy PZ, you disgruntled, bitter old failure.

I see that all over. The real pros are quite cool about things. it's the pro-am idiots that get huffy. Photographers seem to be the most prone to it. The pro-am ones are all "YOU CAN'T TAKE PICTURES WITH A PHONE, YOU MUST HAVE A DSLRBLAHBLAHBLAH" and the folks who are the real pros are all "I love my phone, i take pics with it all the time, a lot easier to carry than my canon/nike/whatever. I wouldn't use them for WORK necessarily, but for just taking a picture quickly and getting good results, they're awesome"

Funny how that works.

#32585

Oh, I forgot PZ Myers would frown on a 21 year old kid from Brooklyn enlisting to kill nazis.

Sorry Peez.

#32586

Mykeru wrote:Oh, I forgot PZ Myers would frown on a 21 year old kid from Brooklyn enlisting to kill nazis.

Sorry Peez.

I still want video of PeeZus calling his son all the shit he called all the vets on veteran's day. Same words, same language.

#32587

welch wrote:
Mykeru wrote:Oh, I forgot PZ Myers would frown on a 21 year old kid from Brooklyn enlisting to kill nazis.

Sorry Peez.
I still want video of PeeZus calling his son all the shit he called all the vets on veteran's day. Same words, same language.

You can't expect Peezus to hold his tribe to the same standards he holds other tribes to.

Remember the first rule of Social Justice Club: It's okay when we do it.

#32588

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:My best friend just offered me a Wii (classic, hacked, not Wii U). Anyone has any advice for good games? So far I only have Super Mario 3, Super Mario Galaxy and Xenoblade Chronicles. Thanksies.

A totally stupid but fun game is 'WarioWare: Smooth Moves'. Its not like an immersive amazing game though, just silly fun-- if you find it cheap somewhere, it is worth a look :)

You can also get 'World of Goo' (super crazy fun) and 'Ocarina of Time' (classic) on the Wii online store :)

Regarding Zimmer and Harvard-- Carl went to Yale. Yale vs Harvard is an ancient rivalry. If everyone is basing their decisions on emotions and not logic, then Carl should actually be biased against Harvard researchers.

Mr. Burns (Yale): Honestly, Smithers, I dont know why Harvard even bothers to show up. They barely even won!

Mr. Smithers: Their cheating was even more rampant than last year, sir.

#32589

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:My best friend just offered me a Wii (classic, hacked, not Wii U). Anyone has any advice for good games? So far I only have Super Mario 3, Super Mario Galaxy and Xenoblade Chronicles. Thanksies.

Mario Cart. It's awesome.

#32590

welch wrote: I see that all over. The real pros are quite cool about things. it's the pro-am idiots that get huffy. Photographers seem to be the most prone to it. The pro-am ones are all "YOU CAN'T TAKE PICTURES WITH A PHONE, YOU MUST HAVE A DSLRBLAHBLAHBLAH" and the folks who are the real pros are all "I love my phone, i take pics with it all the time, a lot easier to carry than my canon/nike/whatever. I wouldn't use them for WORK necessarily, but for just taking a picture quickly and getting good results, they're awesome"

Funny how that works.

I did some research on the Canon SX50 HS I got for Christmas and went to a lot of photography sites. It's amazing how snobby, condescending and nasty some people get in the comment sections. It's as if their whole sense of self worth is dependent on how long their zoom lens is. Some of the comment threads looked like Pharyngula. Fucking ridiculous. Some photography noob comes in and asks a question designed to help inform their purchasing decision and they get piled on and ridiculed.

Me, I'm just happy I got a cool (and good-quality) camera. The elitists can shove it :)

#32591

I've taken some pretty good pix with a disposable point and shoot!

In fact, I have an old copy of American Photo where top photographers were talking about how they were able to take some really really neat photos with an old, cheaply made soviet era camera. The photos were small, blurry, and definitely not of the 'quality' that the condescending snobs would demand. But they were great! And far more interesting than a technically perfect yet soul-less piece of crap that the snobs on the forum that Gumby mentioned would have produced.

#32592

http://i.imgur.com/EYB1qup.jpg

Somehow I have the feeling that Matt Cavanaugh's comment will not make it through moderation. :D

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com ... the-brain/

#32593

The contents of my comment are mere statements of fact!

Zimmer says his comment policy is three words: "light but firm", whatever the fuck that is. sounds like a way to order eggs. He goes on to say you can't call anyone a nazi, brain-damaged, or call Al Gore fat. I scrupulously avoided all three.

#32594

Jan Steen wrote:http://i.imgur.com/EYB1qup.jpg

Somehow I have the feeling that Matt Cavanaugh's comment will not make it through moderation. :D

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com ... the-brain/

I don't think so: http://skeptischism.com/moseszd/2013/12 ... gue-myers/

#32595

Matt Cavanaugh wrote:The contents of my comment are mere statements of fact!

Zimmer says his comment policy is three words: "light but firm", whatever the fuck that is. sounds like a way to order eggs. He goes on to say you can't call anyone a nazi, brain-damaged, or call Al Gore fat. I scrupulously avoided all three.

That's my position. And Al Gore is fat.

#32596

Tribble wrote:That's my position. And Al Gore is fat.

Are comments locked on that post? I wanted to add: 1) Pointing out Peezus' track record of ad homs is not itself an ad hom; 2) tagging the post under "Dunning-Kruger" is fuckin' hilarious and so accurate!

#32597

I think calling radfems the "flip side" of MRAs represents some sloppy thinking. I'm not a fan of either group, but they're different kinds of bad. Radfems are more the "flip side" of right-wing Christian patriarchy types, with their gender essentialist crap. MRAs are a somewhat different beast.

#32598

Visual depiction of Peezus' career as a scientist (sic):

raised_yugo.jpg: (38.77 KiB) Downloaded 263 times

#32599

Matt Cavanaugh wrote:
Tribble wrote:That's my position. And Al Gore is fat.
Are comments locked on that post? I wanted to add: 1) Pointing out Peezus' track record of ad homs is not itself an ad hom; 2) tagging the post under "Dunning-Kruger" is fuckin' hilarious and so accurate!

Not locked, but sometimes they don't work at first. Have no idea why.

#32600

Jan Steen wrote:Zimmer responds to Myers and remains classy:

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com ... the-brain/

Peezus' policy: When you fall into the toilet, the first thing to do is flush.

Yep, PZ, petty carping at someone actually doing things is what SJWism is all about. To make the world a better place, piss on anyone with talent.

#32601

Yesterday's guilty pleasures:

-Flight (powerful movie, Denzel Washington is amazing).
-Pain & Gain (I never tought I'd be so found of Dwayne Johnson. Very entertaining).
-PZ Myers is an ass (no, wait, they haven't made that one into a movie yet).

#32602

welch wrote:
Gumby wrote:
Jan Steen wrote:Peezus' poo flinging at Zimmer is just a pathetic attempt to score points against someone who probably aroused his ire for some unstated reason.
There doesn't have to be a reason, other than "little man syndrome".

I work in the housing renovation trade, and I encounter people like PZ all the time. Despite the fact their own work is entirely unspectacular and ordinary, they never hesitate to belittle the work of others, always crowing about how they would have done a particular project so much better or faster or whatever. Funny though... their own work never seems to live up to their glowing self-descriptions.

On the other hand, the truly talented people in my field - the accomplished fine carpenters, the talented painters, the master plumbers and electricians - let their work speak for itself, and never need to resort to belittling the work of others in order to puff up their own accomplishments.

Stay classy PZ, you disgruntled, bitter old failure.
I see that all over. The real pros are quite cool about things. it's the pro-am idiots that get huffy. Photographers seem to be the most prone to it. The pro-am ones are all "YOU CAN'T TAKE PICTURES WITH A PHONE, YOU MUST HAVE A DSLRBLAHBLAHBLAH" and the folks who are the real pros are all "I love my phone, i take pics with it all the time, a lot easier to carry than my canon/nike/whatever. I wouldn't use them for WORK necessarily, but for just taking a picture quickly and getting good results, they're awesome"

Funny how that works.

I have a couple of Photographer clients who earn serious money. They said the same thing to me when I asked for advice. They also said that the majority of people could not tell the difference anyway between a mobile phone and an expensive camera when taking regular pictures. Each type of camera is like a tool, suitable for a given purpose and all useful. I love boardgaming and this sort of snobbery is, thankfully, frowned upon but it can happen. It can put someone off the hobby for life and I hate it. All hobbies have snobs but some hobbies are worse than others.

#32603

Regarding Myers, I don't care too much that his nasty, small man attitude carries over to his Science comments. If he sticks to Science, all is good. If he is wrong he will be ripped to pieces anyway and if he is right well good for him, that's how Science works. What I despise is the way he hides behind Social Justice to provide him with a shield to attack anyone he feels like to feed his petty ego.

His style of Social Justice, being only concerned about identity and saying the 'right thing' as defined by them, is the perfect vehicle for a vindictive, narcissistic and petulant personality. He and his ilk need to be called out on that behavior as unlike Science the Atheist movement is far from immune to these sort of attacks.

#32604

Percentage wrote:I think calling radfems the "flip side" of MRAs represents some sloppy thinking. I'm not a fan of either group, but they're different kinds of bad. Radfems are more the "flip side" of right-wing Christian patriarchy types, with their gender essentialist crap. MRAs are a somewhat different beast.

I think it's just standard feminist smearing of men. Present them with a feminist who is quite clearly indefensible, and the worst think they can think to say is "she's just like an MRA". It's simply not permissible to condemn a woman doing something clearly wrong without pointing out men who are supposedly just as bad. But while there certainly is misogyny and prejudice among the MRAs, There are no MRAs who advocate exterminating the female sex, so there is no MRA flip side to the most extreme feminists.

For the most part, to my mind, MRAs mostly just apply basic feminist principles to male experience. They complain about the way male gender roles can hurt and restrict men, double standards that favour women over men, how women can behave badly towards men, and how society winks at it. If only they stopped there. Some of them follow the feminists down the rabbit hole, buying into "rape culture" and making men as big victims of it as women. And some of them follow the feminists into conspiracy theory, replacing the "patriarchy" with the "feminine imperative". So the worst MRAs are the flip side of mainstream feminism.

#32605

Regarding Myers, look at my signature, courtesy of Dick Strawkins...

#32606

The Facebook group Plus Size Modeling is wondering if there is a need for an obese/plus size Barbi like this one

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/12/ ... 34x898.jpg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... women.html

#32607

I can't imagine how the Shakers would deal with this one.

#32608

JackSkeptic wrote:Regarding Myers, I don't care too much that his nasty, small man attitude carries over to his Science comments. If he sticks to Science, all is good. If he is wrong he will be ripped to pieces anyway and if he is right well good for him, that's how Science works. What I despise is the way he hides behind Social Justice to provide him with a shield to attack anyone he feels like to feed his petty ego.

His style of Social Justice, being only concerned about identity and saying the 'right thing' as defined by them, is the perfect vehicle for a vindictive, narcissistic and petulant personality. He and his ilk need to be called out on that behavior as unlike Science the Atheist movement is far from immune to these sort of attacks.

The problem with Myers is that he's allowed ideology and personal vendetta to bleed into his opinions on science. That, more than anything, tells me he's no longer interested in being a scientist and is not a scientist. Look at his post defending the ridiculous "Die Selfish Gene, Die" article by David Dobbs. It was motivated solely by the fact that a female scientist was slinging mud at Richard Dawkins. That alone was sufficient cause for Myers to defend it, though he quickly dropped the subject when both Dawkins and Coyne fired back.

Why these people seem to think they need to pander to the respectability of Myers and not just tell him to fuck off is totally beyond me. (Well, no, actually it's no mystery: most people actually do have standards of civility.) It happens over and over and over again. It even happened with Shermer, the man who should most rightly do the telling. In the end his targets just let him off with a nonplussed expression and a questioning attitude for why this jerk is attacking them as he is doing. Every time they do it, it just reinforces in Myers' mind that if he behaves in an extreme enough fashion, he will skirt the civil bounds of recourse. It's obviously a strategy that has worked for him, and he's quite convinced it will keep on working.

#32609

ianfc wrote:The Facebook group Plus Size Modeling is wondering if there is a need for an obese/plus size Barbi like this one

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/12/ ... 34x898.jpg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... women.html

Needs more cankles, otherwise plus-sized Barbie would stake herself into the ground with every step. Also, when they get to plus-plus sized Barbie, a sponge on a stick for ineffective ass wiping and a way cool Silly Putty gunt that can be stretched into every shape but flat.

Where's the short, working poor Ken doll? That's what I want to know.

#32610

When it comes down to it, though, Zimmer, Shermer, etc. are really following the correct strategy. What Myers dearly hopes is that a target will react in kind. Once he's brought his target down to his own level, he can just unleash the flying monkeys. The one lethal weapon a person who exists at a low level has is to bring his opponent down to his level. Then he simply bequeaths his target his own opprobrium. It's like the kiss of death.

#32611

ianfc wrote:The Facebook group Plus Size Modeling is wondering if there is a need for an obese/plus size Barbi like this one

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/12/ ... 34x898.jpg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... women.html

Really? It's not even striving for curvaceous. It's just showing someone who would be unhealthily obese. And yes, the double chins are hilarious.

For a plus-size model, I'd go for something like Christina Hendricks. Maybe tone down the chesticulars a bit (just a tiny bit) but other than that, she is basically what I consider the ideal curvy woman. (Or, you know, just a healthy, "normal" woman who doesn't want to look like a chopstick.) The above example, though, isn't just "plus-size" - it's fat.

#32612

Mykeru wrote:

Where's the short, working poor Ken doll? That's what I want to know.

Yes we need a thalidomide Ken with a sponge on a stick

#32613

So, when I got my Great-uncle home I made him some coffee and was talking to him while my dad went out to get some stuff for dinner. He showed me this print-out attached below. Please excuse me for "doxxing" one of my own.

By way of explanation, the 406th Combat Engineers were part of the 23 Headquarters Special Troops (the "Ghost Army") who, among things acted as front-line perimeter guards. The "decoy" refers to one means of tactical deception where they would wear the insignia of other units and go into towns and talk loud. When the collaborators reported to the Germans, suddenly units thought to be here were way over there, ultimately making the German intelligence doubt what they had for breakfast. And the Good Conduct? Victor says he had them all fooled.

So, Victor gives me a more detailed version of one death he witnessed that sticks with him. He's out on patrol and it's just freezing cold and there's this tall kid who was just moved up. Now, these days Victor is 5 foot nothing, but back in the day he was a towering 5'4". This kid, they were all kids, is well above 6 foot tall, like 6'4" and he's talking to Victor about how he's in the wrong place. Apparently the cold is really getting to him. Then a German sniper got to him. The bullet apparently passed over Victor and hit the tall kid right in the neck. "He looks at me and his eyes say 'help me' but there's nothing I can do" Victor says. The kid drops to his knees, then falls over and Victor watches his eyes slowly glaze over. The life going right out of them.

Victor is tearing up a bit telling me this. Nearly 70 years later, and he still has survivor's guilt.

Because he can get pretty emotional still, we let him volunteer information. One thing I never ask about is the circumstances where he killed. I've also not asked about the concentration camps. Some things you leave as they are. Mostly I just reassure him that he did good, that he was part that good against one of the greatest evils in human history. And that he was a lucky bastard who deserved to survive.

So, after dinner where he got a couple of little glasses of Merlot in him, Victor says "All those people killed, for what? For land? For stupid ideas?"

Yeah, well, mostly for stupid ideas. Stupid ideas kill.

#32614

I like women with a bit of padding. I like this image from the Size Plus Modeling site, gorgeous hips.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 7812_n.png

#32615

Mykeru wrote:So, when I got my Great-uncle home I made him some coffee and was talking to him while my dad went out to get some stuff for dinner. He showed me this print-out attached below. Please excuse me for "doxxing" one of my own.

By way of explanation, the 406th Combat Engineers were part of the 23 Headquarters Special Troops (the "Ghost Army") who, among things acted as front-line perimeter guards. The "decoy" refers to one means of tactical deception where they would wear the insignia of other units and go into towns and talk loud. When the collaborators reported to the Germans, suddenly units thought to be here were way over there, ultimately making the German intelligence doubt what they had for breakfast. And the Good Conduct? Victor says he had them all fooled.

So, Victor gives me a more detailed version of one death he witnessed that sticks with him. He's out on patrol and it's just freezing cold and there's this tall kid who was just moved up. Now, these days Victor is 5 foot nothing, but back in the day he was a towering 5'4". This kid, they were all kids, is well above 6 foot tall, like 6'4" and he's talking to Victor about how he's in the wrong place. Apparently the cold is really getting to him. Then a German sniper got to him. The bullet apparently passed over Victor and hit the tall kid right in the neck. "He looks at me and his eyes say 'help me' but there's nothing I can do" Victor says. The kid drops to his knees, then falls over and Victor watches his eyes slowly glaze over. The life going right out of them.

Victor is tearing up a bit telling me this. Nearly 70 years later, and he still has survivor's guilt.

Because he can get pretty emotional still, we let him volunteer information. One thing I never ask about is the circumstances where he killed. I've also not asked about the concentration camps. Some things you leave as they are. Mostly I just reassure him that he did good, that he was part that good against one of the greatest evils in human history. And that he was a lucky bastard who deserved to survive.

So, after dinner where he got a couple of little glasses of Merlot in him, Victor says "All those people killed, for what? For land? For stupid ideas?"

Yeah, well, mostly for stupid ideas. Stupid ideas kill.

Ha. Watched a documentary about the "Ghost Army" a little while ago. Charged with making decoys like inflatable tanks to fool the enemy. Pretty ingenius. Maybe I even saw your uncle on there.

Anyway, tell him he's a good man and he shouldn't have anything to feel guilty about. Also, thanks.

#32616

ianfc wrote:I like women with a bit of padding. I like this image from the Size Plus Modeling site, gorgeous hips.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 7812_n.png

I guess there are worse ways to go than suffocating in a freak cunnilingus accident.

#32617

Hunt wrote:
JackSkeptic wrote:Regarding Myers, I don't care too much that his nasty, small man attitude carries over to his Science comments. If he sticks to Science, all is good. If he is wrong he will be ripped to pieces anyway and if he is right well good for him, that's how Science works. What I despise is the way he hides behind Social Justice to provide him with a shield to attack anyone he feels like to feed his petty ego.

His style of Social Justice, being only concerned about identity and saying the 'right thing' as defined by them, is the perfect vehicle for a vindictive, narcissistic and petulant personality. He and his ilk need to be called out on that behavior as unlike Science the Atheist movement is far from immune to these sort of attacks.
The problem with Myers is that he's allowed ideology and personal vendetta to bleed into his opinions on science. That, more than anything, tells me he's no longer interested in being a scientist and is not a scientist. Look at his post defending the ridiculous "Die Selfish Gene, Die" article by David Dobbs. It was motivated solely by the fact that a female scientist was slinging mud at Richard Dawkins. That alone was sufficient cause for Myers to defend it, though he quickly dropped the subject when both Dawkins and Coyne fired back.

Why these people seem to think they need to pander to the respectability of Myers and not just tell him to fuck off is totally beyond me. (Well, no, actually it's no mystery: most people actually do have standards of civility.) It happens over and over and over again. It even happened with Shermer, the man who should most rightly do the telling. In the end his targets just let him off with a nonplussed expression and a questioning attitude for why this jerk is attacking them as he is doing. Every time they do it, it just reinforces in Myers' mind that if he behaves in an extreme enough fashion, he will skirt the civil bounds of recourse. It's obviously a strategy that has worked for him, and he's quite convinced it will keep on working.

He's certainly a bully and a coward and clearly gets off on being the way he is. I agree with you to an extent but with Science at least he can be called out using facts and evidence. With his SJW activities facts and evidence are considered irrelevant. Even asking for evidence can get you banned at places like Shakesville, FtB and A+. A+ has a whole screed of extreme, non evidenced social beliefs you have to buy into before you are even allowed to post. So at least science has mechanisms to deal with flawed logic so it is robust enough to handle idiots like Myers. The atheist movement does not so it concerns me a lot more.

Also people who are civil to Myers make him look even more nastier and trivial than he manages himself. It is patronizing him and there is nothing more damaging to someones reputation than that.

#32618

War Stories

My Grandfather told me he was in both wars, age up age down. He was a Rat of Tobruk but never spoke about the horrors and I never questioned. Though he did tell me about the live shows in Egypt etc where women would couple with horses etc. I was very young and perhaps he was a dirty old cunt. I believed him and loved him.

#32619

JackSkeptic wrote: Also people who are civil to Myers make him look even more nastier and trivial than he manages himself. It is patronizing him and there is nothing more damaging to someones reputation than that.

Well, they're letting him stew in his own sauce. It's because engaging him is the worst thing they can do, the kiss of death, and they know it, they just let him alone ("time out"). By now it should almost become a formula: When people like Dawkins, Harris, Shermer, etc. stop talking to you, it's because you've made yourself the argumentative equivalent to a creationist. Not that these people think they're inerrant, or intellectual paragons...but they ain't stupid either, and they know a losing proposition when they see it.

#32620

One of my grandfathers lived in the Nederlands during WWII. He was an informant for the US army. He told me that he had a young dog and the pup went missing. A couple of weeks later, he saw the dog on a leash with a German soldier. He explained that it was his dog, and the dog was responding to his calls. The soldier was convinced and gave him back the pup. That's most of what I know about my grandfather's involvment in WWII.

My other grandfather was an Italian immigrant living in Nice. He served for France in the "Chasseurs Alpins". It made for odd familly reunions with his fascist Italian brother. Anyway, he was captured and sent to a German POV in the mountains. He managed to escape with a bunch of his mates by stealing a guard's Walther PPK. To this day, I still have the gun and his POW medal.

#32621

Pitchguest wrote: Ha. Watched a documentary about the "Ghost Army" a little while ago. Charged with making decoys like inflatable tanks to fool the enemy. Pretty ingenius. Maybe I even saw your uncle on there.

Anyway, tell him he's a good man and he shouldn't have anything to feel guilty about. Also, thanks.

He never did the inflatable tank thing, but much of what he did do was classified for 50 years. He was told not to talk about it and he didn't, because some of the tricks were so effective they could be used again. Not the inflatable tanks, I think, with the advent of better imaging technology.

Survivor guilt is just a given. I liked how it was handled in Saving Private Ryan, in that when some one lives, when so many others died, the natural tendency of anyone is to ask "did I earn it?"

I explained to him, best I could, what I posted before and Phil saying "thanks" and he got a little misty. Even though people going around to vets saying "thank you for your service" can ring phony at times, it means so much to him. It means that the defining event of his life was worth something and is remembered. Even by the French.

Which, just to bring things back to our favorite mean-spirited mediocrity, is why PZ Myers denigrating vets as some sort of faux heroism in the service of questionable causes is just another example of his bringing his small man baggage into any subject. I can both respect vets who served in Iraq and also have the opinion that the war itself was a politically and/or pathologically driven con job. But not Peezus Christ, he has to continually show his high moral standing by continually punching down.

Someone refresh my memory, has P.Z. ever explained what he would have done about the German Nazis, Italian Fascists and Japanese Militarists? I mean, besides furiously banging the keys of a manual typewriter until his fingers bled and he awarded himself a Purple Heart.

#32622

ianfc wrote:War Stories

My Grandfather told me he was in both wars, age up age down. He was a Rat of Tobruk but never spoke about the horrors and I never questioned. Though he did tell me about the live shows in Egypt etc where women would couple with horses etc. I was very young and perhaps he was a dirty old cunt. I believed him and loved him.

Wait, I thought the donkey show was a cultural icon coming out of Tijuana. I'm totally disillusioned. Still, it puts a smile on my degenerate face to think of you sitting on his knee asking "What did you see in the war?" and having him lay out that story, complete with sliding pipe-stem action just to drive the image home.

"Mum...what's a cream pie?"

#32623

Mykeru wrote:
I guess there are worse ways to go than suffocating in a freak cunnilingus accident.

Yep, a freak rolling around on the floor with the pain of mandibular joint disorder beats that always.

#32624

Peezus' science views are predicated on his personal vendettas and his SJ agenda. He cheerleads for non- Darwinian evolution because that conflicts with Dawkins. EP can't be valid, because every single aspect of human behavior is a social construct, formed in the black box of plasticity. Ergo, Pinker is a fuckwit. And so on.

Note that Peezus isn't doing any of the research or theoretical work himself. Nor does he seem to even fully understand the topics he pontificates on. I'm confident any number of the lay-but-well-read pitters ( not to mention those of you in related fields) could clean his clock in a debate on these subjects.

#32625

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:One of my grandfathers lived in the Nederlands during WWII. He was an informant for the US army. He told me that he had a young dog and the pup went missing. A couple of weeks later, he saw the dog on a leash with a German soldier. He explained that it was his dog, and the dog was responding to his calls. The soldier was convinced and gave him back the pup. That's most of what I know about my grandfather's involvment in WWII.

My other grandfather was an Italian immigrant living in Nice. He served for France in the "Chasseurs Alpins". It made for odd familly reunions with his fascist Italian brother. Anyway, he was captured and sent to a German POV in the mountains. He managed to escape with a bunch of his mates by stealing a guard's Walther PPK. To this day, I still have the gun and his POW medal.

What your informant grandfather did was save lives while continually risking his own. If caught by the Nazis or collaborators, he would be lucky to be shot in the back of the head. If unlucky, hung slowly. For me that is often the most fascinating story of the Second World War: All the ordinary people who became part of a massive grassroots resistance against the Nazis. Imagine how these people lives were turned upside down until they were playing life or death games.

You still have the Walther? I know original WWII German-made Walthers and Lugers are very sought after collector's items, but with the story attached to that pistol, especially if verified, it suddenly goes into the priceless realm. It's a souvenir of one gutsy move.

I often wonder if people in this age could answer the call the way that generation did, then I look at the Myers and Hensleys and I have my answer. Not who would resist against the Nazis, but who the collaborators would be.

#32626

Mykeru wrote:
ianfc wrote:War Stories

My Grandfather told me he was in both wars, age up age down. He was a Rat of Tobruk but never spoke about the horrors and I never questioned. Though he did tell me about the live shows in Egypt etc where women would couple with horses etc. I was very young and perhaps he was a dirty old cunt. I believed him and loved him.
Wait, I thought the donkey show was a cultural icon coming out of Tijuana. I'm totally disillusioned. Still, it puts a smile on my degenerate face to think of you sitting on his knee asking "What did you see in the war?" and having him lay out that story, complete with sliding pipe-stem action just to drive the image home.

"Mum...what's a cream pie?"

Oh sure.

I WAS misty eyed. I was going to wax poetic about my dad, who had me when he was old to be having a baby, who taught me that men can be good men, and dads can be good men, who was a WWII vet who flew glider planes in the war, who was a musician and a singer, who played taps and led the local troops every Memorial Day, who died too young and when I was too young, who I miss keenly to this very day.

But no. Suddenly, the mood was completely deflated.

...

Thank that old man in your life from me too, Mykeru, vicariously I'll imagine saying it to mine.

PZ is a chump.

#32627

Matt Cavanaugh wrote:Peezus' science views are predicated on his personal vendettas and his SJ agenda. He cheerleads for non- Darwinian evolution because that conflicts with Dawkins. EP can't be valid, because every single aspect of human behavior is a social construct, formed in the black box of plasticity. Ergo, Pinker is a fuckwit. And so on.

Note that Peezus isn't doing any of the research or theoretical work himself. Nor does he seem to even fully understand the topics he pontificates on. I'm confident any number of the lay-but-well-read pitters ( not to mention those of you in related fields) could clean his clock in a debate on these subjects.

Although I understand why what's-his-face (I'm too TappaTalk lazy to look it up) doesn't want people calling P.Z. Myers a demagogue in his blog comments, I find it annoying for a discussion of his criticisms divested completely from the history of his tactics. The Kuhnian idea of science being a social construct, which was taken and run with by the aptly named Social Constructivists is at best over-stated and, worst, cynical, you have to recognize that in referring to people like Myers it's absolutely true. He's informed by a community of ideology and is constantly demonstrating his right-think in that community. That's because, when he's in this personal, little man's baggage mode, he's not doing science. He's barely pretending to. To then approach P.Z. from the point of view of actually doing the science is admirable. To approach P.Z. as though P.Z. is doing science is just plain stupid and, it strikes me, isn't the sort of benefit of the doubt that would not be extended to other purveyors of dogmatic nonsense. Which is why P.Z. is an especially dangerous quisling using his past credentials as cover for his new convert bullshit.

#32628

Mykeru wrote:

You still have the Walther? I know original WWII German-made Walthers and Lugers are very sought after collector's items, but with the story attached to that pistol, especially if verified, it suddenly goes into the priceless realm. It's a souvenir of one gutsy move.

Yep! Here it is with my e-cig for size. And to me it's fucking priceless.

http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo35 ... f13f9f.jpg

#32629

Phil, did you ever get the story of exactly how they stole the gun?

#32630

zenbabe wrote:Phil, did you ever get the story of exactly how they stole the gun?

No. It wasn't one storiy my grandfather was too keen to talk about. He died when I was 7, so mostly all I remember is from my father's accounts.

#32631

I did visit the place where he was imprisoned, though. At Col de Braus.

#32632

I don't want to demean the legacy or courage of any veterans, as I feel anyone who serves, especially during wartime, deserves our respect & thanks. But is it not a bit hypocritical to laud the fact that the war veteran A fought in was a so-called Good war, while dismissing as irrelevant that veteran B fought in an Unjust/Misguided war?

Are WWII vets somehow better people, or have more honor, than Vietnam or Iraq vets?

#32633

JackSkeptic wrote:Regarding Myers, I don't care too much that his nasty, small man attitude carries over to his Science comments. If he sticks to Science, all is good. If he is wrong he will be ripped to pieces anyway and if he is right well good for him, that's how Science works. What I despise is the way he hides behind Social Justice to provide him with a shield to attack anyone he feels like to feed his petty ego.

His style of Social Justice, being only concerned about identity and saying the 'right thing' as defined by them, is the perfect vehicle for a vindictive, narcissistic and petulant personality. He and his ilk need to be called out on that behavior as unlike Science the Atheist movement is far from immune to these sort of attacks.

The problem is that he has long since put the cart before the horse, so to speak. He doesn't make criticisms of science out understanding the field, or even being honestly mistaken. Rather, he makes his criticisms of neurobiology, evolutionary psychology and a host of other disciplines based on his political ideology that informs him that differences in humans, from the neck up, is 'all cultural.'

#32634

ianfc wrote:War Stories

My Grandfather told me he was in both wars, age up age down. He was a Rat of Tobruk but never spoke about the horrors and I never questioned. Though he did tell me about the live shows in Egypt etc where women would couple with horses etc. I was very young and perhaps he was a dirty old cunt. I believed him and loved him.

My father was a marine in the Solomon Islands. He used to have a stack of photos that he took during breaks in combat. Many were pretty gruesome- a lot of guys posing with severed Japanese heads, others just depicting island life for soldiers and natives. I can't locate them, and his mind is confused and I can't get a straight answer out of his as to what he did with them. To be honest, even when his mind was sharp it was always difficult to get a straight answer from him about anything-remember my post here about how no one in the family is even sure what his actual first name is? I think these pics are important and I'm worried that he's disposed of them.

#32635

Hunt wrote:When it comes down to it, though, Zimmer, Shermer, etc. are really following the correct strategy. What Myers dearly hopes is that a target will react in kind. Once he's brought his target down to his own level, he can just unleash the flying monkeys. The one lethal weapon a person who exists at a low level has is to bring his opponent down to his level. Then he simply bequeaths his target his own opprobrium. It's like the kiss of death.

Well, Scott Adams reacted exactly like ~~The Bearded Taint~~ PZ Myers would expect, but it didn't earn our favorite tentacle hentai porn loving scientist any favors. Of course, Scott Adams didn't take PZ seriously enough to begin with, so maybe there's the "problem".

#32636

Matt Cavanaugh wrote:I don't want to demean the legacy or courage of any veterans, as I feel anyone who serves, especially during wartime, deserves our respect & thanks. But is it not a bit hypocritical to laud the fact that the war veteran A fought in was a so-called Good war, while dismissing as irrelevant that veteran B fought in an Unjust/Misguided war?

Are WWII vets somehow better people, or have more honor, than Vietnam or Iraq vets?

They all have less honor than the Cola Wars vets. Man, the Eighties. I can barely contain the PTSD.

#32637

Tribble wrote:The problem is that he has long since put the cart before the horse, so to speak. He doesn't make criticisms of science out understanding the field, or even being honestly mistaken. Rather, he makes his criticisms of neurobiology, evolutionary psychology and a host of other disciplines based on his political ideology that informs him that differences in humans, from the neck up, is 'all cultural.'

It's totally based on his a priori, politically-motivated, conclusions.

And by making that assertion, one implies that there was a moment in evolution when our ancestors' behavior lost all instinctual origin and switched to being fully socially acquired. If so, then Myers and other proponents of this should be able to indicate around when this occurred. They don't.

But,of course, there are no such hard demarcations in evolution. Instead, we see a smooth transition from hardwired behavior to ever-increasing reliance on heuristic abilities. No doubt that the dramatic increase in brain capacity in homo sapiens has accelerated it, but it is naive to imagine that nothing we feel or think or do originates in instinct.

For one thing, is it not economical for evolution to replace perfectly good instincts with more elaborate, costly, and slow heuristic processes. Also, we can observe patterns and behaviors in human social interaction that mirror those in primates and other social animals. Are we to believe that for her piece de resistance (us), Mother Nature scrapped those instinctual behaviors to start from scratch & build up 'plastic' ones? This is really no different than when Rowan WIlliams told Dawkins that, although he accepted evolution, he still believed God at some point first imparted a soul to Man. To which Dawkins asked, which first Man, and what species was it? Because there was no moment when a homo erectus couple gazed down lovingly upon their fully homo sapiens baby.

#32638

I've been searching in vain for an Oafie quote where she confesses to avoiding a regular job at all costs.
I'm running out of search key words.
Does anyone else remember this, and possibly point me in the right direction?

#32639

After a long period in moderation I see that Costard's comment got through at Zimmer's blog:

Costard wrote:Donâ€™t take PZ personally; thereâ€™s been a lot of bitterness on his blog lately since his application for position of fourth horseman was rejected.

Costard is another of those minor Shakespearean characters that are there for the sake of the pit (get it, yet?). Coarse, bawdy and irretrievably common. Like Lancelot Gobbo and Dogberry.

#32640

I've been reading Dawkins's memoir and it's very disappointing; not once in his mansplaining of his life and work in science does he clearly state that it's wrong to talk to women in elevators.