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

I rather enjoyed this comment on Zimmer's post.

Robin Ford

Speciation occurs in internet journalism just as it does in other living organisms.

An initially common population begins to divide as it spreads and occupies a more diverse landscape.

Gene transfer between regions becomes restricted as the interests of different groups diverge. Alleles favoured by one group are shunned in another.

Each increasingly specific population either expands to fill a new and widening region, is replaced by the expansion of adjacent populations and/or is extinguished by challenges that it can’t resist.

This grossly simplified ecological model does not, however, cover the occasional mutation that has little practical advantage but is nevertheless favoured within it’s own gene pool simply because, for want of a better word, it is sexy.

Within the family known as Science Journalists, there are the communicators, the entertainers and the gossips.

I trust Carl Zimmer and make regular time and space for “Matter” and “The Loom”, I don’t recall the last time I visited “Pharyngula”.

Joseph Porter, KCB wrote: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.

He also failed, following his own sexual abuse, to rape the fuck our of some kiddies and, years later, parlay comment blogging about it into pounce hugs.

Joseph Porter, KCB wrote: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.

He's British, so he takes it for granted that you don't talk to other people in lifts.

Another TheCriticalG video:

A message to the victims and entitled of the internet

[youtube]HPApiEHeXvw[/youtube]

Tonight's new episode of Brave Hero Radio, reviewing 2013, broadcasts live at 8PM Eastern. Who has been naughty? Who has been nice? Tune in to find out! Callers are especially welcome.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bravehero/ ... -in-review

http://i.imgur.com/33LZg09.jpg

An evening with my lookalike Carlos Diaz at that fateful Dublin bar...

justinvacula wrote:Another TheCriticalG video:

A message to the victims and entitled of the internet

[youtube]HPApiEHeXvw[/youtube]

Goddamn him being all high-minded and fair. Doesn't he know that as a white male MRA/MGTOW he's supposed to be a rampant misogynist who refuses to let others speak (except to confirm his greatness) in order to enforce his white, patriarchal rights?

justinvacula wrote:Tonight's new episode of Brave Hero Radio, reviewing 2013, broadcasts live at 8PM Eastern. Who has been naughty? Who has been nice? Tune in to find out! Callers are especially welcome.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bravehero/ ... -in-review

http://i.imgur.com/33LZg09.jpg

An evening with my lookalike Carlos Diaz at that fateful Dublin bar...

Dude, don't do that.

Hunt wrote:

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.

I think the fact that PZ hasn't responded to the put down probably shows that it did hurt. The wonder is that none one on his blog commented on it either.

Alexa shows a continued decline in FTB pageviews in what should be a growing market.

Guest wrote:

Joseph Porter, KCB wrote: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.

He's British, so he takes it for granted that you don't talk to other people in lifts.

The lift you walk by is the lift you accept.

Michael J wrote:The wonder is that none one on his blog commented on it either.

Why would they? Just looking at the comments from PZ's first post it should be plain that they're willing to swallow his interpretation at face value and not even bother to read the piece being criticized.

As long as what PZ is saying doesn't contradict some other established dogma they will swallow it uncritically.

Joseph Porter, KCB wrote:

Guest wrote:

Joseph Porter, KCB wrote: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.

He's British, so he takes it for granted that you don't talk to other people in lifts.

The lift you walk by is the lift you accept.

Not if you're hitchhiking...

Lsuoma wrote:

Joseph Porter, KCB wrote:

Guest wrote:

Joseph Porter, KCB wrote: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.

He's British, so he takes it for granted that you don't talk to other people in lifts.

The lift you walk by is the lift you accept.

Not if you're hitchhiking...

Telling women not to hitchhike is rape-apologist, because Hitch was a privileged misogynist.

Tribble wrote:

justinvacula wrote:Another TheCriticalG video:

A message to the victims and entitled of the internet

[youtube]HPApiEHeXvw[/youtube]

Goddamn him being all high-minded and fair. Doesn't he know that as a white male MRA/MGTOW he's supposed to be a rampant misogynist who refuses to let others speak (except to confirm his greatness) in order to enforce his white, patriarchal rights?

I don't know about this guy. I skimmed some of his vids and he seems like a troll to me. Why else would anyone give a platform to self hating gay mental case Robert Oscar Lopez? A little background on this dude: http://equalitymatters.org/blog/201307240001

I get the impression that if G were an american he'd be a TEA Party kook.

Guest wrote:

Joseph Porter, KCB wrote: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.

He's British, so he takes it for granted that you don't talk to other people in lifts.

Very true actually. Even smiling in their direction can be considered creepy.

Anyway back to sad old Myers. He asserts that his political beliefs are the only ones that can be rationally believed in. Therefore anyone who does not agree with him is either stupid (which is why he loves to do his 'my brain hurts' cartoon background and devowel posts) or not a nice person. It also means, according to him, that he must be the only person with a conscience which he liberally tries to spray over everyone else.

The fact is, were he right, he would be showered in accolades for solving political, social and cultural differences. He would have solved the intractable issue that the 'soft' sciences are not set in stone and must be used with care. They would become hard science and a lot more useful to humanity. Does he never seriously ask himself why these accolades are not forthcoming? Does he ever wonder why people laugh at him for his extreme views? Does he lack that mush self awareness?

As said here his dogmatic beliefs even extends to his Science, an area he must know should never be influenced by political beliefs and represents an unforgivable error in judgement. I wouldn't trust him to teach me how to tie my shoelaces and I would never trust his biology classes. I would end up as useful in Biology as a Creationist. I would not want to waste time having to check everything he says and taking supplemental courses.

In other words he is an idiot and people with his mentality have happily gone on to genocide, pogroms, the removal of basic human rights along with routinely lying and oppressing because they never question their own actions unless it is to reinforce their beliefs (all of Myers 'reflective' posts show this trait, they are simply posts to show how decent he claims to be) It is not possible, in their mind, to do wrong.

If he wasn't so obvious and patronizing he would be a lot more dangerous to the atheist movement. Luckily he is not smart enough to play it clever and manages to put people off who would otherwise have been his ally (such as Nugent)

katamari Damassi wrote:

Tribble wrote:

justinvacula wrote:Another TheCriticalG video:

A message to the victims and entitled of the internet

[youtube]HPApiEHeXvw[/youtube]

Goddamn him being all high-minded and fair. Doesn't he know that as a white male MRA/MGTOW he's supposed to be a rampant misogynist who refuses to let others speak (except to confirm his greatness) in order to enforce his white, patriarchal rights?

I don't know about this guy. I skimmed some of his vids and he seems like a troll to me. Why else would anyone give a platform to self hating gay mental case Robert Oscar Lopez? A little background on this dude: http://equalitymatters.org/blog/201307240001

I get the impression that if G were an american he'd be a TEA Party kook.

Perhaps you missed the point of that video linked, it gives the answer.

Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

JackSkeptic wrote:
Perhaps you missed the point of that video linked, it gives the answer.

No I think I have it. He's rather clear about it and only a little dishonest in expressing his motivation. He states that he posts offensive videos that he may or may not agree with to "stimulate discussion". In the RO Lopez video I did not hear him endorse or critique it, so if he did then I rescind my accusation of trolling. So he posts without comment a video reading the writings of a homophobe in order to stimulate discussion, waits for the howls from the aggrieved, then posts videos like the above and the "Plasticity of Homophobia" with an air of above it all insouciance. That's trolling.

"I don't understand why people are upset that I posted a video reading from David Duke's book Jewish Supremacism. I was only trying to stimulate discussion. I'm certainly not anti-semitic as my many jewish friends will tell you."

katamari Damassi wrote:

Tribble wrote:

justinvacula wrote:Another TheCriticalG video:

A message to the victims and entitled of the internet

[youtube]HPApiEHeXvw[/youtube]

Goddamn him being all high-minded and fair. Doesn't he know that as a white male MRA/MGTOW he's supposed to be a rampant misogynist who refuses to let others speak (except to confirm his greatness) in order to enforce his white, patriarchal rights?

I don't know about this guy. I skimmed some of his vids and he seems like a troll to me. Why else would anyone give a platform to self hating gay mental case Robert Oscar Lopez? A little background on this dude: http://equalitymatters.org/blog/201307240001

I get the impression that if G were an american he'd be a TEA Party kook.

Probably. I don't 'like' the guy as, in the past, I watched some of his vids and really thought most of his positions were simple-minded and more of a product of butt-hurt than reasonable thought. However, despite that, I do applaud the fact that he's not going to stifle dissent/discussion through banning, moderation, etc.

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

Vegitarians?

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

They all enjoy fava beans and a nice chianti when having friends over for dinner?

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

They only have one nut apiece?

No that can't be right. PZ's comment section is filled with nuts.

JackSkeptic wrote:
Anyway back to sad old Myers. He asserts that his political beliefs are the only ones that can be rationally believed in. Therefore anyone who does not agree with him is either stupid (which is why he loves to do his 'my brain hurts' cartoon background and devowel posts) or not a nice person. It also means, according to him, that he must be the only person with a conscience which he liberally tries to spray over everyone else.

The fact is, were he right, he would be showered in accolades for solving political, social and cultural differences. He would have solved the intractable issue that the 'soft' sciences are not set in stone and must be used with care. They would become hard science and a lot more useful to humanity. Does he never seriously ask himself why these accolades are not forthcoming? Does he ever wonder why people laugh at him for his extreme views? Does he lack that much self awareness?

In other words he is an idiot and people with his mentality have happily gone on to genocide, pogroms, the removal of basic human rights along with routinely lying and oppressing because they never question their own actions unless it is to reinforce their beliefs (all of Myers 'reflective' posts show this trait, they are simply posts to show how decent he claims to be) It is not possible, in their mind, to do wrong.

Quoting this with some highlighted portions because there is so much truth here, so succinctly said. The attitude of "all people who disagree with me are evil or stupid" is common to many ideological movements. Same for the notion that "what I believe is the only sane thing to believe." I'm not saying all perspectives are equally valid, but people like Myers spend so much time vilifying their opponents that they often come to create a fantasy of what their opponents must be like (some combination of Pol Pot, Pat Robertson, Hitler and a rabid wife-beater). The tendency of certain FTBloggers to make every bad thing that ever happens to them the fault of a pitter, for example, even when it clearly isn't.

I'm not a huge fan of critical g. He's a reasonable guy sometimes, but he also seems to toe a libertarian-right party line. I need to watch more of his videos to see if he's another one of these right-left nutters who blames all problems on the opposition party.

[youtube]xaxw7hq8pps[/youtube]
Guy spins conservative victim narrative about "leftists" leaving insulting comments. They could just be fucking trolls. But he attributes the negative comments to leftists, extrapolates it to all leftists, and argues all leftists are mentally poisoned retards who cannot logic.

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

They all talk about the Jews constantly?

They've all been accused of hate speech?

They all slept with Rebecca Watson?

Maybe the answer is that all three use evopsych arguments while claiming to hate evopsych.

James Caruthers wrote:

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

They all talk about the Jews constantly?

They've all been accused of hate speech?

They all slept with Rebecca Watson?

Maybe the answer is that all three use evopsych arguments while claiming to hate evopsych.

[youtube]dUKfbgp4p-4[/youtube]

I was reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus and noticed a conspicuous absence of a world-renowned expert's name -- Richard Carrier. Won't someone please add his illustrious work to the article, which will surely seal the question once and for all?

Bourne Skeptic wrote:

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

They all enjoy fava beans and a nice chianti when having friends over for dinner?

Speaking of which, in the news recently, the Italian police report that a former mob boss, Francesco Raccosta was fed to pigs while he was still alive’

http://resources0.news.com.au/images/20 ... a3124c.jpg

On Thursday police released tapes of intercepted phone calls in which Pepe is heard saying of Raccosta: “It was so satisfying hearing him scream... mamma mia, he could scream.

No more blue butterflies on the driveways? Or have I got the wrong Francisco?

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

a combined total of three testicles?

What I want to know is, why does this critical G guy get made up like the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz?

ROBOKiTTY wrote:I was reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus and noticed a conspicuous absence of a world-renowned expert's name -- Richard Carrier. Won't someone please add his illustrious work to the article, which will surely seal the question once and for all?

If you look at the talk page, you'll find that the article was comprised MOSTLY of Carrier's extensive and pioneering work. Then the Wiki editors took it all out after Carrier threatened to sue Wikipedia for a billion dollars for stealing his revolutionary, unprecedented and groundbreaking conclusions regarding the historicity of Jesus.

Pinker is in big trouble now! Rape threat at the 42 second mark!
[youtube]TjsvC_RMQEA[/youtube]

John D wrote:Pinker is in big trouble now! Rape threat at the 42 second mark!
[youtube]TjsvC_RMQEA[/youtube]

Oh shit! If he wasn't on the shit list before, he's certainly on it now.

Tribble wrote:

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

Vegitarians?

Got it in 6 minutes. I need to think of harder questions.

free thoughtpolice wrote:

Tribble wrote:

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

Vegitarians?

Got it in 6 minutes. I need to think of harder questions.

Darn ... I thought it was 'they are all cunts'

Tribble wrote:

John D wrote:Pinker is in big trouble now! Rape threat at the 42 second mark!
[youtube]TjsvC_RMQEA[/youtube]

Oh shit! If he wasn't on the shit list before, he's certainly on it now.

Awwwwwwww yeah, it's on. The biology teacher at a satellite state school who hasn't had any major scientific publications in years and whose book was a collection of blog posts is going to tear the shit out of a bestselling author and Harvard professor who has revolutionized the fields of evolutionary psychology and linguistics and cognitive science. Pinker is going to wish he had never been born when Peezus is done with him.

Really? wrote:

Tribble wrote:

John D wrote:Pinker is in big trouble now! Rape threat at the 42 second mark!
[youtube]TjsvC_RMQEA[/youtube]

Oh shit! If he wasn't on the shit list before, he's certainly on it now.

Awwwwwwww yeah, it's on. The biology teacher at a satellite state school who hasn't had any major scientific publications in years and whose book was a collection of blog posts is going to tear the shit out of a bestselling author and Harvard professor who has revolutionized the fields of evolutionary psychology and linguistics and cognitive science. Pinker is going to wish he had never been born when Peezus is done with him.

But... But... But... He's almost the fifth horseman... lols...

Tribble wrote:

John D wrote:Pinker is in big trouble now! Rape threat at the 42 second mark!
[.youtube]TjsvC_RMQEA[/youtube]

Oh shit! If he wasn't on the shit list before, he's certainly on it now.

Hahaha. Euphemisms eh? Reminds me of the time the CEO walked into the computer room, claps his hand on my shoulder and says:

I am confident you will get the system back up.

I just grinned at him.

See, he says so:

Another problem with the Four Horsemen analogy is the number. As we all know, there are quite a few more vocal people who have been active in atheism and humanism and secularism in general than just the four. What about Victor Stenger or Pascal Boyer? Richard Carrier, Julia Sweeney, Dan Barker? Don't they get horses? And what about me? You know, I'm as atheist as those others and I'm probably "atheier" than some of them. (Although I do have to admit I haven't written a book yet. I'm on sabbatical this year to finish my book, so maybe I'll get a horse after all.)

So I'm going to very prematurely declare myself a fifth horseman. I picture myself, though, as a little guy on a very small pony trotting after the other four. However, I'm waving a great big banner that has the words, "The Internet" on it. That's me. And I think it's important because, sure, John of Patmos (who wrote the book of Revelation) personifies War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death but I don't think any apocalypse is complete without the Internet in there somewhere, and so I have to fill that vital role. (If you don't believe me, try reading the comments on YouTube sometime. You'll figure the end really is near.)

http://www.thehumanist.org/humanist/09_ ... Myers.html

Ophelia Benson feuding with Sarah Jones :o

http://i.imgur.com/DC9JeBm.jpg

The butt-hurt is strong in that pineapple...

WTH does her "bonobo" copy paste have to do with anything. Her only words were half a bun with half a cross in it. It's food sharing?

justinvacula wrote:http://i.imgur.com/0FRsJCE.jpg

I love that the people who can't get along with ANYONE for long periods of times will ALWAYS blame the other person.

You're right, sweetie pie. It's always the OTHER PERSON who is wrong. It's never you.

Just looked - it can't refer to comments, she doesn't have any. All it is goes to a NY Times piece. Has she finally really lost it, or is she that desperate for hits?

Really? wrote:

justinvacula wrote:http://i.imgur.com/0FRsJCE.jpg

I love that the people who can't get along with ANYONE for long periods of times will ALWAYS blame the other person.

You're right, sweetie pie. It's always the OTHER PERSON who is wrong. It's never you.

I also find the irony of her complaining about people complaining about her blocking them, when that's exactly what she does. Plus her never-ending vanity searches to find out where people mention her but don't @her.

http://www.dogguide.net/blog/wp-content ... fcd694.jpg
(so the dog lovers don't feel left out)

I also found this...

hot++

http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/2/1/ ... 072275.jpg

another lurker wrote:I also found this...

hot++

http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/2/1/ ... 072275.jpg

Ophie is raping that woman! No wonder she's screaming. Plus, maybe pineapples on bare skin is not the best choice, but different strokes for different folks.

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?

Nope. It's just people were more keen on that war. My dad was in Korea, and mostly, people forgot about that one. Hell, i was a vet for Pesian Gulf I, (the one run by grownups), a truly "splendid little war" if you can call the thing that created Bin Laden and set the stage for the current idiocy "splendid", and while I didn't go over, (At the time I was working on B-1Bs, had we gone to war, the only things arguing now would be roaches), I know a gob of people who did. They still saw shit no one should have to see.

If you were in combat and you came out not dead and mostly whole, you did better than most. That's something. May not be much, but it's something. And while I genuinely respect truly anti-war people, true pacifists, assholes like PeeZus make me want to vomit.

katamari Damassi 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.

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.

When I was very young, and didn't know better, I asked my dad if he'd killed anyone in korea. He said he had, three times, all by hand. He'd been in G2, and scouting in places he oughtn't have been, and as the only non-NK for miles, guns were not a great option. The ways he used were pretty bloody, but it took me a while to realize what some of that had meant. In one case, it meant, most likely, that he'd had to walk, carefully, miles with someone else's blood and brains all over him.

Realizing that, and being old enough to really understand what being a POW interrogator was, and what that must have done to him, I gained, if not appreciation, a lot more understanding for why he was the way he was, and maybe he wasn't trying to be an asshole when he'd interrogate me about my day at school, but that he wasn't really good at asking questions any other way.

On the other hand, it meant I learned a loooooot about mind games at a young age, which has been mightly helpful in life.

I don't think you can kill someone, regardless of how, without it altering you.

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

raep

Nice rant:

https://gitlab.com/ev/evbogue/blob/mast ... eisdone.md

And Hacker News not appreciating it one bit.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6975456

Since Xmas is pretty much about Jesus, Here is a recently uncovered Renaissance painting that casts light on the theory that Jesus was actually surfing on the Sea of Galilee rather than walking on it. :ugeek:

Triple posting of image was unintentional, possibly evidence of Holy Trinity! :shock:

free thoughtpolice wrote:Pit trivia question: What do Adolph Hitler, Pat Condell, and PZ Myers have in common?

They're all privileged white men.

free thoughtpolice wrote:Triple posting of image was unintentional, possibly evidence of Holy Trinity! :shock:

Or a subconscious act to move Gumby's evil photoshop out of view!!

Gumbers, resize that shit, and I'll make it my new avatar!

And I know that I will end up gouging my own eyes out having to look at it every day..hehe

free thoughtpolice wrote:Triple posting of image was unintentional, possibly evidence of Holy Trinity! :shock:

It's a Christmas Miracle! Praised be Baby Jesus!

another lurker wrote:Gumbers, resize that shit, and I'll make it my new avatar!

And I know that I will end up gouging my own eyes out having to look at it every day..hehe

Your wish is my command:

http://i.imgur.com/jQ8WC6I.jpg

Thanks Gumbers! I had to save you from yourself. Usually you end up using every new Ophie avatar that you create and eh..you should enjoy the pussy while you've got 'er:)