Nerds. Nerds EVERYWHERE...

[Pitchguest]

Tony, I didn't think you could climb Everest a second time. I was wrong. :laughing-rollingyellow: :handgestures-salute:

[Spence]

Well, I don't think I've logged in here for over a year, but after the entertainment yesterday on twitter, I have to say -

Parsehole, you are a fucking genius. Nicely done, sir.

And Phil, who do you think you are, Dave Grohl or something? Get well soon, bud!

[Tony Parsehole]

Cheers, you lot!

[Selenite]

Why are some people so totally upset by the idea that transracial people might exist?

Isn't that pretty obvious? These people are obsessed with oppression, and by claiming to be transracial they will primarily perceive it as you try to dip into the oppression of racial minorities without actually having to ever face the actual racism those minorities face.

Basically, they think you're trying to cheat in the Oppression Olympics, and they do NOT like that.

I'd assume that 'borrowing' oppression is why she lied about her background in the first place.

What's interesting is that her 'transition' would have fully exposed her to racism. Skin color is genetic. But people aren't doing DNA tests. She's been perceived as black for a few years now. So, she knows what it's like to be treated that way.

[CaptainFluffyBunny]

As a sidenote, I've legit no issue with people considering themselves part of the culture they were raised in ...

Yeah, I'm glad you said this. As fucked up as it is that she eventually started "blacking up" and maintaining the illusion (mostly implicitly, it seems), her background gives no reason to doubt that she genuinely identifies with the Black American culture in which she grew up and continued to immerse herself. Add in her family troubles, heaps of white guilt, and a certain type of crazy, and the pieces start to fall into place.

I'm not excusing what she did, but I really don't think she deserves this viral shaming. Yes, yes, play with fire and get burnt. I get it. And she did open herself to (local) public scrutiny by getting involved politically in Spokane. As far as I know, though, hers is a victimless crime. She's pathological, but she doesn't seem out to hurt anyone. Now she's being eaten by her own, sacrificed at the SJW altar because of the sociopolitical implications of her insanity.

That sucks. I sympathize with her.

... and considering themselves part of it racially, any more than I've got an issue with someone seeing themselves as a woman when they were born a man.

I don't agree with this.

Well, maybe not an entirely quite victimless crime. She claimed several hate crimes against her that, according to police, "didn't quite pass the smell test." According to some sources, she got a full scholarship based on her supposed black race. She had been lying about her family for victim points and generally being a SJW. Hard to link everything on Android, but...
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/12/stop_ma ... orgivable/
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-new ... aacp-head/

[Pitchguest]

And Phil, who do you think you are, Dave Grohl or something? Get well soon, bud!

Phil and Dave: two peas in a pod.

[feathers]

And Phil, who do you think you are, Dave Grohl or something? Get well soon, bud!

Phil and Dave: two peas in a pod.

Who pees in a pot?
a: Phil, at night

[Service Dog]

http://i.imgur.com/21GS8cg.jpg?1

[SM12]

Bruce is now a Sheila!

[Sunder]

John Green's argument would condemn Twain for having Huck Finn say nigger in what may be the best book about "humanizing the other" that I've ever read.

This doesn't necessarily mean much but Huck Finn isn't included among the books he's covered on his Crash Course YT channel.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... qc0h6Pe8vb

[blitzem]

Ok, I would define myself as a humanist (if you can do a thing then go for it, gender notwithstanding) and I am certainly no SJW, but I find the attitudes in this video and the accompanying comments astonishing. Did Sandman read this out with a straight face? Is he (and are the commentators) a troll? I can only wonder what their reaction would be if a woman redid the video and switched all the gender nouns.

[youtube]j692JY70HMQ[/youtube]

[Za-zen]

hehehe

I have been waiting for the swamp mine of facepalm, that is transracial to explode onto SJW woo for a long time. The rage screams of special, more special pleading, for their dogmas is absolutely fabulous.

Identity politics is far more fun than religion.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

John Green's argument would condemn Twain for having Huck Finn say nigger in what may be the best book about "humanizing the other" that I've ever read.

And Huck Finn has been removed from many US school libraries for just that fucked-up reason.

[TiBo]

O BTW:
If you support our #transracial brethren, feel free to upvote this comment ^^

http://discussion.theguardian.com/comme ... k/53750854

[Matt Cavanaugh]

The Pit should have a house band. Death Metal, of course, called Cüntkickr.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

Pop quiz -- who said the following?

“Knowing who you are is one thing, and proving who you are is another.”

a) Caitlyn Jenner
b) Elizabeth Warren
c) Rachel Dolezal
d) Godfrey Elfwick












b

[acathode]

So please explain, why do TIRFs (trans-inclusive rad fems) not view MtF trans the same way? In fact they do the opposite - apparently welcoming MtF as radfem spokeswomen.

Well, didn't the feminists movement view MtF trans as pretty much the exact same thing for a rather long period of time?

The radfems of the 70s weren't exactly lockstep with the HBTQ-movement, plenty of them saw sexuality as something political - They themselves had "chosen" to be political lesbians after all, so you got groups like the Redstockings writing stuff about how gay men therefore were the ultimate misogynists... Their views on MtF trans people were often even worse than that.

It's only the last two decades or so the TIRFs seem to have become the majority, mainstream view of feminism.

As to why they changed their mind, I'd like to think that the fact that trans* people face plenty of actual, real discrimination and prejudice helped. The fact that there actually exists a non-trivial group of people that are trans* also probably help, whereas "transracial" so far seem to be a group of one person, plus our trolling god Godfrey... but who the hell knows, maybe transracialism will become a thing that they welcome, after all they already have the freaking otherkin out in the fringes...

(Part of the reason why I said to read the comments on the huffpo article is that there seems to be actual, real people who defend this idea of transracials. Imagine if Godfrey manages to start the new next feminist/SJW fighting cause? I don't know if I should be scared, or laugh, or do both...)

[Billie from Ockham]

The phrase "lived experience" bugs the hell out of me. I mean, as opposed to what -- Jungian archetypical experience?

I don't have a problem with "lived experience"; it's just a fancy way of saying that something is subjective.

I do have a problem when people ask me to treat their "lived experience" as evidence. I suspect that they use the label "lived experience" instead of "subjective" because they know that most people know that the latter doesn't count as evidence and they are trying to sneak it in under a different label.

So, actually, I do have a problem with "lived experience." Thanks.

[free thoughtpolice]

PZ is going to discontinue Thunderdome and introduce new rules to try and make the baboons less obnoxious.
Dr. Frankenstein no longer loves his monster. :cry:
https://archive.is/sVV5q

[deLurch]

Why are some people so totally upset by the idea that transracial people might exist?

Isn't that pretty obvious? These people are obsessed with oppression, and by claiming to be transracial they will primarily perceive it as you try to dip into the oppression of racial minorities without actually having to ever face the actual racism those minorities face.

Basically, they think you're trying to cheat in the Oppression Olympics, and they do NOT like that.

I have several mental illnesses, PTSD from wars on twitter, one of my head mates is dragonkin and the other is virginkin so I keep on trying to eat myself plus I am autistic.

[SM12]

PZ is going to discontinue Thunderdome and introduce new rules to try and make the baboons less obnoxious.
Dr. Frankenstein no longer loves his monster. :cry:
https://archive.is/sVV5q

Peezus has seen Social Justice in action, and he wants it changed.

[deLurch]

[youtube]EkuVOMWBhAI[/youtube]

I know. Don't worry. She has a plan.

Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence. Profit.

...

People are stupid.

FTFY

Hey now. She was busy surfing! And at $1,001 per video she cannot afford to spend any money money on a local hairstylist to do her hair so ya'll will just have to wait until she has time to do it herself and not feel embarrassed about her rat-dog appearance.

[Bourne Skeptic]

Phil, you now need to create a themesong for the 'pit.

I've been thinking about doing just that, but I need to think about it a bit. There are both levity and serious subjects discussed here, plus fooling around. It's not going to be easy making something that can encompass all this without being an utter mess. But I'll try.

Don't forget the cowbells.
[youtube]8Ix7jqxXQ2I[/youtube]

[Sunder]

PZ is going to discontinue Thunderdome and introduce new rules to try and make the baboons less obnoxious.
Dr. Frankenstein no longer loves his monster. :cry:
https://archive.is/sVV5q

Why does PZ think his commenters should abide by any rule he himself does not attempt to demonstrate?

Justice is more important than civility. But aspire to be charitable at first.

Or wait, maybe they DO follow the rule. Because "aspiring" to something does not necessarily entail achieving it. Plenty of low-income people "aspire" to someday be rich and well-off.

It’s not easy, though, and I’ve been struggling with it a bit. I know some things are definitely going to happen: Thunderdome is going to die. It was intended to be a sinkhole for viciousness that kept it out of everywhere else, but it’s simply not doing the job

No shit? Encouraging anger leads to people being angry all the time. Is PZ socially challenged?

Before I lay down the new laws, though, I’m going to give you all a chance to make some proposals yourself.

PZ, you already tried this. It didn't work. Stop asking the worst-behaved people for advice on how they can behave better.

Your blog will never get any better.

[Sunder]

PZ's always going to have trouble with his commenters because he cannot truly stand up to them and can only reprimand in vague, generalized terms. This leaves everyone open to plausible deniability, because surely, thinks X, he doesn't mean me.

PZ doesn't truly desire hard rules. Shit like "aspire to be charitable" is so wishy-washy, but he can't honestly enact anything tougher because he might actually have to start modeling the behavior himself. Plus PZ enjoys having the freedom that vague rules provide which allow him to be extremely punitive toward newcomers while being extremely lenient toward the established posters for the same offenses.

He's fucked himself over and he can't find a way out.

[deLurch]

As a sidenote, I've legit no issue with people considering themselves part of the culture they were raised in ...

Yeah, I'm glad you said this. As fucked up as it is that she eventually started "blacking up" and maintaining the illusion (mostly implicitly, it seems), her background gives no reason to doubt that she genuinely identifies with the Black American culture in which she grew up and continued to immerse herself. Add in her family troubles, heaps of white guilt, and a certain type of crazy, and the pieces start to fall into place.

I'm not excusing what she did, but I really don't think she deserves this viral shaming. Yes, yes, play with fire and get burnt. I get it. And she did open herself to (local) public scrutiny by getting involved politically in Spokane. As far as I know, though, hers is a victimless crime. She's pathological, but she doesn't seem out to hurt anyone. Now she's being eaten by her own, sacrificed at the SJW altar because of the sociopolitical implications of her insanity.

That sucks. I sympathize with her.

... and considering themselves part of it racially, any more than I've got an issue with someone seeing themselves as a woman when they were born a man.

I don't agree with this.

She got jobs by telling people she was partially black, and earned money at speaking gigs for conveying her experiences of growing up a poor black child (essentially lying to her audience).

The whole quota-not-a-quota racial preference system in the US suddenly is at risk for those willing to pass themselves off as black. Jobs, scholarships, entrance into college are all suddenly at risk of bumping out a black person in favor of a white person like this. Some people have already been doing this by claiming American Indian ancestry. Some politicians have been doing this to curry favor at the voting booths. Bloggers and commentators have been doing this to try and make themselves sound more impressive, and as one tweet pointed out, blacks sometimes claim partial American Indian ancestry to make themselves appear more unique. And as we see on FTB, some people claim American Indian ancestry in order to increase the scores in the games of oppression Olympics.

This is bigger than just her. It is just that she stands out more than all the other people doing it.

I think it is hilarious. It skewers the whole idea of race as a special condition. The only difference is that she did it by trying to pass herself off as black.

[Sunder]

The regulars are generally a good group, and I have no interest in driving them away. But they have also become a rather tightly coordinated and effective army — which makes it hard for new people to fit in, and also means that when someone makes even a minor breach of the accepted standards, they don’t get admonished and corrected. Instead, the artillery is called in, the A-10s come roaring overhead, and the whole battalion wheels and fires, and the miscreant is obliterated.

So they're good people, they just have a tendency to massively overreact all the time and are extremely insular.

You know what? In genuine good faith, I have a proposition for PZ that I think could genuinely make his blog a somewhat reasonable place relative to how it is now:

Anonymize all comments. Get rid of names. Disallow people from identifying themselves. Let posters offer ideas without anyone else knowing who is saying what.

Try it for just a week. I guarantee it will civilize your comment section better than anything else you could try.

[Za-zen]

Per SJW'ism.

Pitism; you either get it or you don't

[youtube]thyJOnasHVE[/youtube]

[JackSkeptic]

The regulars are generally a good group, and I have no interest in driving them away. But they have also become a rather tightly coordinated and effective army — which makes it hard for new people to fit in, and also means that when someone makes even a minor breach of the accepted standards, they don’t get admonished and corrected. Instead, the artillery is called in, the A-10s come roaring overhead, and the whole battalion wheels and fires, and the miscreant is obliterated.

So they're good people, they just have a tendency to massively overreact all the time and are extremely insular.

You know what? In genuine good faith, I have a proposition for PZ that I think could genuinely make his blog a somewhat reasonable place relative to how it is now:

Anonymize all comments. Get rid of names. Disallow people from identifying themselves. Let posters offer ideas without anyone else knowing who is saying what.

Try it for just a week. I guarantee it will civilize your comment section better than anything else you could try.

Myers really is an idiot. His ban hammer caused an echo chamber. Echo chambers reinforce and amplify bad in group behaviour and guarantee cliques. Until he stops banning people he does not like his blog will continue to be a source of great entertainment. A 5 year old could tell him that, is he so deluded? He can do what he wants it will make no difference at all.

Myers, here is what to do. Get rid of silly rules. Get rid of all of them and actually stick to that. Do what you say and stop being a bloody hypocrite. Have some gumption for once and while I'm at it, grow up and tell your posters to grow up too. If they can't handle oppostition to their opinion without big daddy looking after them or crying in their special snowflakes and spewing vitriol and hate they have lost the right to express an opinion.

[free thoughtpolice]

PZ's always going to have trouble with his commenters because he cannot truly stand up to them and can only reprimand in vague, generalized terms. This leaves everyone open to plausible deniability, because surely, thinks X, he doesn't mean me.

PZ doesn't truly desire hard rules. Shit like "aspire to be charitable" is so wishy-washy, but he can't honestly enact anything tougher because he might actually have to start modeling the behavior himself. Plus PZ enjoys having the freedom that vague rules provide which allow him to be extremely punitive toward newcomers while being extremely lenient toward the established posters for the same offenses.

He's fucked himself over and he can't find a way out.

PZ has looked in the mirror and now wants to chase away the ugly creature he sees there.
Isn't "aspire to be charitable" the same message Nugent was trying to communicate to Myers?
He was happy to whip the mob of baboons into hate frenzies and have them help trash and slander every atheist/scientist he has pointed them to tear down. I guess he has taken a step back and discovered that trying to tear down people like Dawkins hasn't increased his prestige or standing but has more and more turned him into a pariah.
Kind of pathetic how he has blame the baboons and them not understanding the rules for the poison he created.

[Za-zen]

Somebody stop me, once you pop...

[youtube]Ue0UpQBmA5s[/youtube]

[Suet Cardigan]

A cunt who likes tentacle rape porn said:
Thunderdome is generally pretty quiet, except when a new chewtoy appears, and then it can get nasty fast. I think I’d rather just see the chewtoy types slapped down politely, hard, and fast, and then kicked out, which would make Thunderdome unnecessary.
The regulars are generally a good group, and I have no interest in driving them away. But they have also become a rather tightly coordinated and effective army — which makes it hard for new people to fit in, and also means that when someone makes even a minor breach of the accepted standards, they don’t get admonished and corrected. Instead, the artillery is called in, the A-10s come roaring overhead, and the whole battalion wheels and fires, and the miscreant is obliterated.
It’s not a good environment for educating and learning, you know.

It seems that Myers is mellowing in his old age:

rudeblog.jpg

(92.13 KiB) Downloaded 226 times

[Billie from Ockham]

[youtube]EkuVOMWBhAI[/youtube]

I know. Don't worry. She has a plan.

Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.
Late. Apologize. Present lazy, crappy video. No consequence.

...

People are stupid.

If someone can re-stream or tell me how to watch her stream this afternoon, I'd appreciate it.

[Sunder]

Prediction: 12-18 months from now this will all happen again and PZ will announce that he really plans to get his comment section under control this time and oh, by the way, do they have any suggestions for how he might do that?

[Billie from Ockham]

http://i.imgur.com/21GS8cg.jpg?1

Wow. This sums up so much in one brilliant picture. :clap:

[deLurch]

Prediction: 12-18 months from now this will all happen again and PZ will announce that he really plans to get his comment section under control this time and oh, by the way, do they have any suggestions for how he might do that?

Change the owner of the blog.

[TheMudbrooker]

So they're good people, they just have a tendency to massively overreact all the time and are extremely insular.

You know what? In genuine good faith, I have a proposition for PZ that I think could genuinely make his blog a somewhat reasonable place relative to how it is now:

Anonymize all comments. Get rid of names. Disallow people from identifying themselves. Let posters offer ideas without anyone else knowing who is saying what.

Try it for just a week. I guarantee it will civilize your comment section better than anything else you could try.

http://www.thebaffler.com/wp-content/up ... 6/0021.jpg

[jimthepleb]

Oh poor PZ. It's tragic really, all he wanted was a nice place where he could lay out his world changing ideas in peace and quiet. All this pharygulating and harmless teasing of newbies (known anywhere else as dogpiling and harassment) has become a little mean-spirited recently.
If only someone with a decent reputation in the worldwide atheist community had had the gumtion to pre-warn him that perhaps things were beginning to look a little sour from the outside.
And those years ago when he decided that he had discovered the answer to all the gender politics problems the world suffers could be addressed by first tackling the rape epidemic at the top of the A/S community. If only someone, or maybe a 'bulletin board' of some description were set up to warn him that this kind of hubris can only come back and bite you hard on the arse.
Or when he thought that the best way to deal with the problems that religion presents was to take the most sacred items of those religions and desecrate them publicly. If only voices from the community he was trying to foster and ingratiate himself with had warned that perhaps this wasn't likely to endear him to fence-sitting theists and would never convert true believers.
How about if instead of a being a jealous little bitch about the fact that his petty schoolboy behaviour would preclude him from being the fifth horseman (who I think is probably Ayaan Hirsi Ali) he had actually written a new book on atheism and added to the canon.
Oh what might have been if he had listened or even considered his critics. The science vs creationism gig is easy. Social engineering as he wants to pay it is beyond the ken of almost everyone.
PZMyers is a cunt.
Fuck him.
Fuck hm into the ground.

[Billie from Ockham]

Prediction: 12-18 months from now this will all happen again and PZ will announce that he really plans to get his comment section under control this time and oh, by the way, do they have any suggestions for how he might do that?

Yep. It really comes down to a very simple choice: PZ either allows people to have real discussions and criticize his beliefs in his own comment section or he sticks with what he has now. New rules on the surface behavior of his Horde will do nothing to treat the actual problem. You don't fix hypocrisy with commenting guidelines.

[James Caruthers]

Myers has the audience he deserves. Everyone else fucked off long ago because he's one of the most unpleasant cunts gone mad with mod power I've ever seen. Now he's lamenting the fact his biggest fans are a fat lot of (incredibly thick) toxic witch hunters baying for blood at the slightest sign of weakness.

Sometimes justice is so poetic in application there's nothing more to be said.

Top kek.

[Guestus Aurelius]

As a sidenote, I've legit no issue with people considering themselves part of the culture they were raised in ...

Yeah, I'm glad you said this. As fucked up as it is that she eventually started "blacking up" and maintaining the illusion (mostly implicitly, it seems), her background gives no reason to doubt that she genuinely identifies with the Black American culture in which she grew up and continued to immerse herself. Add in her family troubles, heaps of white guilt, and a certain type of crazy, and the pieces start to fall into place.

I'm not excusing what she did, but I really don't think she deserves this viral shaming. Yes, yes, play with fire and get burnt. I get it. And she did open herself to (local) public scrutiny by getting involved politically in Spokane. As far as I know, though, hers is a victimless crime. She's pathological, but she doesn't seem out to hurt anyone. Now she's being eaten by her own, sacrificed at the SJW altar because of the sociopolitical implications of her insanity.

That sucks. I sympathize with her.

... and considering themselves part of it racially, any more than I've got an issue with someone seeing themselves as a woman when they were born a man.

I don't agree with this.

She got jobs by telling people she was partially black, and earned money at speaking gigs for conveying her experiences of growing up a poor black child (essentially lying to her audience).

The whole quota-not-a-quota racial preference system in the US suddenly is at risk for those willing to pass themselves off as black. Jobs, scholarships, entrance into college are all suddenly at risk of bumping out a black person in favor of a white person like this. Some people have already been doing this by claiming American Indian ancestry. Some politicians have been doing this to curry favor at the voting booths. Bloggers and commentators have been doing this to try and make themselves sound more impressive, and as one tweet pointed out, blacks sometimes claim partial American Indian ancestry to make themselves appear more unique. And as we see on FTB, some people claim American Indian ancestry in order to increase the scores in the games of oppression Olympics.

This is bigger than just her. It is just that she stands out more than all the other people doing it.

I think it is hilarious. It skewers the whole idea of race as a special condition. The only difference is that she did it by trying to pass herself off as black.

Yes, I agree with most of this.

And I'm not saying she isn't a douche. I'm just saying that I sympathize with what she's going through right now, and that I suspect that she's mentally ill but not (necessarily) ill-intentioned.

[jimthepleb]

I think this has to rate as one of my top 'pit weeks so far.
Godfrey acheives Father of the Gods status.
PZ starts to implode.
Trans-racialism/wrongskin becomes a thing.
Mykeru gets in a bitch slap competition with Mercedes Carrera.
Phil did what Phil does. (sorry Phil but from here you are a lulzfest)
I finally worked out what comchinc sees in wresting. That video was great.
All is good with the world.

[James Caruthers]

I'll never understand wrestling no matter how many videos about it I watch. I can understand WHY people might like it but it just seems really shitty to me.

I guess that's like mecha anime for most normal people.

[Tigzy]

A cunt who likes tentacle rape porn said:
Thunderdome is generally pretty quiet, except when a new chewtoy appears, and then it can get nasty fast. I think I’d rather just see the chewtoy types slapped down politely, hard, and fast, and then kicked out, which would make Thunderdome unnecessary.
The regulars are generally a good group, and I have no interest in driving them away. But they have also become a rather tightly coordinated and effective army —

[jimthepleb]

Yes, I agree with most of this.

And I'm not saying she isn't a douche. I'm just saying that I sympathize with what she's going through right now, and that I suspect that she's mentally ill but not (necessarily) ill-intentioned.

I'd imagine she's having a very shitty time right now. Which would be grim for anybody but she plotted this for 8-odd years and executed it efficiently enough to deceive hundreds of people. She might well suffer from some sort of narcissistic issues but until extreme self-importance and self-righteousness are now a mental illness* I have very few fucks to give.

*Could this be the next rung down in the Oppresssion Olympics?

[Tony Parsehole]

Calling it right now.

PZ Myers will realise what an absolute mess he's made of his online presence and reputation as a scientist and claim that the past few years were all a big experiment, lolz, big joke, etc.

[Tony Parsehole]

The regulars are generally a good group, and I have no interest in driving them away. But they have also become a rather tightly coordinated and effective army — which makes it hard for new people to fit in, and also means that when someone makes even a minor breach of the accepted standards, they don’t get admonished and corrected. Instead, the artillery is called in, the A-10s come roaring overhead, and the whole battalion wheels and fires, and the miscreant is obliterated.

So they're good people, they just have a tendency to massively overreact all the time and are extremely insular.

You know what? In genuine good faith, I have a proposition for PZ that I think could genuinely make his blog a somewhat reasonable place relative to how it is now:

Anonymize all comments. Get rid of names. Disallow people from identifying themselves. Let posters offer ideas without anyone else knowing who is saying what.

Try it for just a week. I guarantee it will civilize your comment section better than anything else you could try.

Spot on.

[Sunder]

Thing is, I think his worst offenders couldn't stand the thought of not being able to broadcast their identities, so they'd likely fuck off somewhere else without him having to grow a spine and tell them off.

[jimthepleb]

If he had any sense he would be here seeing what the suggestions were, and completely ignoring the moronic mess he's created over there.
But it's PZ, so he won't, so fuck him.
What he may do is open up his comment section once more with VERY heavy moderation, in an attempt to keep some traffic, but he's fucked it. Who goes to pharyngula for the blog anymore? Not his regulars. Occasssionally we will wander over to see if there is batshittery to be capped. I doubt there is much traffic driven there from elsewhere.

[Tigzy]

Oh Peez, you...you just don't get it, do you.

PZ Myers

13 June 2015 at 1:46 pm

I am resigning myself to the necessity of more moderation…which is weird, because the usual stereotype out there is that I censor heavily. I don’t. Quite the opposite, actually, which may be part of the problem — I’m letting a lot of crap go by.

What would people say to having a few people with the power to edit comments? It could be a few elected people here, or I might just give my wife The Power.

That's right Peez. Combat the culture of hostile cliqueishness by...creating a special clique of mods who have the power to edit comments. If you wanna see how that'll work out, o bearded lardass, take a look (if you can bear it) at the Atheism Plus forum.

In any case, Peez, you don't have to go that far. Just ban the biggest turds in the punchbowl - Nerd, Cainaji, Tony Shoop, Janine & maybe one or two others - and Pharyngula will not only have a better comments section but the average IQ of the commentariat will rise into double figures. However - make them beg to stay first. Go on. You know you want to. Do it.

Oh, and get rid of Ogvorbis too, cos damn dude, it's just too icky.

[Skep tickle]

Last time Prof. Myersredid the rules, it was after Chris Clarke criticized the horde's behavior & left.

Whose recent experience in Thundersome might've prompted this round, do you s'poze?

Also, see Brony's comment at the archive link - I'm on phone, too hard to copy-quote it - it's about peer pressure & presumably groupthink, though of course he doesn't call it that - says he tries to figure out from the other comments how he should respond. :|

[Really?]

Yes, I agree with most of this.

And I'm not saying she isn't a douche. I'm just saying that I sympathize with what she's going through right now, and that I suspect that she's mentally ill but not (necessarily) ill-intentioned.

I'd imagine she's having a very shitty time right now. Which would be grim for anybody but she plotted this for 8-odd years and executed it efficiently enough to deceive hundreds of people. She might well suffer from some sort of narcissistic issues but until extreme self-importance and self-righteousness are now a mental illness* I have very few fucks to give.

*Could this be the next rung down in the Oppresssion Olympics?

I'm sure Rachel is fine. I'm guessing she got some KFC and cracked open a Colt 45 and put some Sade on the Hi Fi and rolled some bones with her husband because she thinks that's what black people do.

[Service Dog]

Race is 100% genetically determined, not self-selected. A dna test can reliably sort everyone on Earth into the 4 scientifical races:

A. African-American
B. Jewish Banker
C. Racist Caucasian
D. Other (continue to determine sub-category)
D1: Atlantis
D2: Alcoholic Native American With A Spirit Animal (send to reservation immediately)
D3: Light Black Chick With Green Eyes And Good Hair, aka: "Are you mixed?"

This is totally different from sexgender, an absurd social construct binary; which can't possibly contain all humans:

A. Male
B. Female
C. Both/Neither/Other


Given the complete scientific rational basis for all theories about race, Rachel Dolezal can only be seen as a pathological con-artist.
And, worst of all: a race-mixer.

[John Greg]

Myers said:

I am resigning myself to the necessity of more moderation…which is weird, because the usual stereotype out there is that I censor heavily. I don’t. Quite the opposite, actually, which may be part of the problem — I’m letting a lot of crap go by.

Seriously, the man has earned and fully deserves a Least Self-Aware Idiot on the Internet award.

Myers is beyond a doubt one of the most heavy-handed of blog moderators/censors I have ever encountered. Yes, there are a few here and there who are even more so -- the ModSwamp at A+ comes to mind, and that extraordinary idiot Great American Satan (at the NEW A+ blogs) who moderates out pretty much any comment by anyone ever -- but really, Myers, are you truly that motherfucking stupid and unself-aware?

Really?

:doh:

[John Greg]

HAHAHAHA! Service Dog, you are indeed a horse of a different colour. HAHAHA. Love it.

[John Greg]

And so, after months and months and months, nay, years, of telling everyone in the world, who however so slightly suggested that PZ tidy up his vicious horde, what complete and total asshats they are for making such suggestions, he now decides to clean up the vicious horde because ... reasons.

Man.

If integrity were in the dictionary, I am sure PZ would be the associated picture.

Erm ...

:hand:

[Sunder]

That's right Peez. Combat the culture of hostile cliqueishness by...creating a special clique of mods who have the power to edit comments.

He's already done much of that by offering titles, awards, and special recognition to his most vicious posters. And then he wonders why they behave like an insular, elevated priesthood and model the bad behavior he's selectively reinforced in them.

PZ, you are unbelievably stupid and obtuse.

[Ape+lust]

Eh, Peez is just having one of his periodic flips in polarity. He's lamented the incivility before, the hostility to noobs, declaring something must be done. They discuss, suggestions are taken and nothing happens.

Then within months, Peez's heart swells for his commentariat and he flips again. He tells them they are the best anywhere, he loves them precisely because they're vicious hyenas, they should never change, and when necessary, should "unleash hell".

The man's a mercurial shithead and they know it. But they won't say, because they're locked in the same dance of neediness and loathing he is.

[free thoughtpolice]

It appears that the Burning Bridges blog network is already getting oppression from some shitlords:

Update: between when I started this article, and when I went to publish it, our fundraiser was found by 8chan, which, if you’re unaware, is where the pedophiles and doxxers went once they got too extreme for 4chan. Already several of our contributors have had their blogs and videos torn apart in their message boards, with horribly misogynist, homophobic, ableist, and transphobic commentary. For me, it’s a minor nightmare. For some of our contributors, who are writing under their real names, it’s terrifying. We knew something like this would probably happen, but personally I’m a bit surprised that they glommed onto us before our fundraiser is even finished. I guess we’re probably doing something right. So if nothing else, you should donate. Just to spite them.

–Sally Strange

It would have been nice of Sally to link to those message boards, I would have liked to see some of that horrible commentary. :drool:

[jimthepleb]

Race is 100% genetically determined, not self-selected. A dna test can reliably sort everyone on Earth into the 4 scientifical races:

A. African-American
B. Jewish Banker
C. Racist Caucasian
D. Other (continue to determine sub-category)
D1: Atlantis
D2: Alcoholic Native American With A Spirit Animal (send to reservation immediately)
D3: Light Black Chick With Green Eyes And Good Hair, aka: "Are you mixed?"

This is totally different from sexgender, an absurd social construct binary; which can't possibly contain all humans:

A. Male
B. Female
C. Both/Neither/Other


Given the complete scientific rational basis for all theories about race, Rachel Dolezal can only be seen as a pathological con-artist.
And, worst of all: a race-mixer.

This comment is a thing of beauty and bears repeating.