Periodic Table of Swearing

[windy]

windy, are you this windy? If so, kudos :D .

Yes, that's me. Probably a good thing that there aren't several of me running around ;)

[ERV]

The US government finally locked the XMRV=CFS propents in a lab and said "Prove it. While we are watching." (think psychics with Randis million dollar challenge)

Surprise surprise, no connection between CFS and XMRV.

Homer Simpson voice: "Wheres my parade? *shakes fist* Wheres my parade?"

Fantastic, Abbie! I think a lot of physicians have always classified CFS as a somatoform disorder - that's not to say that it's malingering, or that the symptoms aren't "real" to the patient, but rather that it's psychogenic. Of course there's a pretty significant stigma associated with psychogenic disorders in the US (and elsewhere), which explains in large part the desperation to find an organic causative agent for CFS.

And of course a huge problem is that its a catch-all 'diagnosis'. Its hard to tease out what is 'going wrong' when all of the patients are so different.

That being said, there is obviously, to even the most casual observer, a sub-population that has hypochondria/ somatoform disorders, and other psychological disorders. I say this as a former hypochondriac (anemia + bored brain after my qualifying exam = panic attacks/Im dying. iron + regaining hobbies I dropped over the course of my education in favor of studying/working resolved the issue. oh wait, thats not right--'ALL OF MY MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ARE THE FFTBULLIES FAULT!!!! BAAAAAAW!!! DADDY BEAT THEM UP!!!!' ). But the *extreme* anti-psychology/psychiatry sentiment in CFS communities gives them an excuse not to get help.

On a related note, I think there's a certain amount of Münchausen by proxy associated with that persistent "special needs child as a gift from God" schtick, in some cases.

Ugh. Dont get me started.

[John D]

John, you are obviously a good parent and a caring MISOGYNIST....dammit, I mean, father! :D

Somehow the father role suits me. Why fight it? We all need some kind of motivation.. some kind of role to play... some way of telling ourselves our life story.

I find myself questioning the view that is common amongst atheists that social roles are bad. It just seems to me that there is not much left if we got rid of our social roles entirely. And even when gay marriage becomes fully legal in the US (which it will eventually) we will still have social roles. There will be a smearing of the roles between men and women etc., but there are still norms that are important to keep things humming along.

I am well suited for the provider and protector role of a traditional American father/husband. It just works for me. I actually think it is sad that so much media portrays the traditional father as a buffoon and slovenly beer swilling pig. To some extent I blame some feminist concepts for much of this. The "patriarchy" has served people pretty well for the last few thousand years. Some of the concepts regrading a parent's role in raising children and providing material and security are a foundation of modern life. Let's not trash all the good stuff.

and lastly... while I am on this silly rant. I will make sure I tell my daughters how to stay safe. I tell them not to accept a drink from a stranger, not to go to the bar alone, not to get too drunk at a Frat party, etc. This DOES NOT make me a rape apologist or a potential rapist. It makes me a protective father who knows that the world is full of bad shit. This is one of the reasons the pretty pink princesses like Jen and Becci make me furious. What would they do without their protector/provider mothers and fathers? ... okay... that's enough for now.

[lost control]

Put your coffee / drink away before clicking (trigger warnings to save keyboards are fine, right?):

[AndrewV69]

Someone help out the aspie? What sort of mentality decides that Kampala, Ulan Bator, and Port Moresby are obscure when they are all capital citys with a significant history?

Is this ignorance? Some sort of humour/irony I just do not get? What?

http://freethoughtkampala.wordpress.com ... mment-1409

Freethought Kampala ? This is just weird. What other obscure cities have a great blog of freethinkers ? Freethought Oulan Bator ? Freethought Port Moresby ?
Anyway, great job.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Someone help out the aspie? What sort of mentality decides that Kampala, Ulan Bator, and Port Moresby are obscure when they are all capital citys with a significant history?

Is this ignorance? Some sort of humour/irony I just do not get? What?

http://freethoughtkampala.wordpress.com ... mment-1409

Freethought Kampala ? This is just weird. What other obscure cities have a great blog of freethinkers ? Freethought Oulan Bator ? Freethought Port Moresby ?
Anyway, great job.

O-o

[ERV]

Nanny Benson, Twatson, and the kid who should be studying are having a discussion about whether they should hate Jesus and Mo forever and never find any of the cartoons funny because of the 'Girls' comic.

I still dont understand those of you who describe Watson as 'smart':

@AlexGabriel @rhysmorgan @OpheliaBenson I think so. Terribly written & drawn, baffling. Like, why is she under the bar? Is that a beard?

Well, Stupid, drawings are, traditionally, in two dimensions, while the world we live in in real life is in three dimensions. Artists will use things like 'perspective' to give the illusion of three dimensions in their 2D drawings. So, Barmaids quote bubble is lower and 'closer' to the reader, because she is behind the bar, while Christian God is sitting 'behind' the bar 'further away'. The artist is not attempting to give the impression that Barmaid is under the bar, and Christian God is on top of the bar.

:shock:

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

I still dont understand those of you who describe Watson as 'smart':

I don't!

[real horrorshow]

Nanny Benson, Twatson, and the kid who should be studying are having a discussion about whether they should hate Jesus and Mo forever and never find any of the cartoons funny because of the 'Girls' comic.

Stupid cunts.

[Tigzy]

I still dont understand those of you who describe Watson as 'smart':

I don't!

She's as thick as pigshit, in my estimation. I've never read a blog post of hers that has ever actually made me stop and think, 'hmmmm. Interesting.' (which PZ Myers has managed numerous times, despite my immense dislike of him). However, I would contend that she is as sly as fuck and an adept emotional manipulator who has a keen instinct for self-promotion, given that her intellectual contributions to Atheism/skepticism are precisely nil, even though she has conned what seems to be many, many people into believing otherwise.

[windy]

Well, Stupid, drawings are, traditionally, in two dimensions, while the world we live in in real life is in three dimensions. Artists will use things like 'perspective' to give the illusion of three dimensions in their 2D drawings. So, Barmaids quote bubble is lower and 'closer' to the reader, because she is behind the bar, while Christian God is sitting 'behind' the bar 'further away'. The artist is not attempting to give the impression that Barmaid is under the bar, and Christian God is on top of the bar.

That's Moses!

Ophelia complains that some people think the 'invisible' barmaid is hot. Eh, she's clearly not getting objectified based on her looks but some people find her intelligence sexy, that's bad now?

[GenerallyFading]

I'm very interested in the victim mentality because I used to be one. I was bullied at work, suffered from symptoms described as PTSD, had depression, self-harmed, was suicidal. I joined a Depression forum and we all talked and sympathised and at the time it was really helpful. As time went on, I began to become concerned that the constant talking and remembering was actually holding me back, rather than being helpful. The end came when I was reading a thread posted by a person who threatened to commit suicide. One person from the forum went to her house and was downstairs with their partner whilst this person was on line upstairs saying they were suicidal and were going to kill themselves. I ran out of things to say. I felt that there pretty much wasn't anything to do if someone is saying, "I'm going to kill myself" whilst there were two people in the house, specifically because they were going to kill themselves. But I feel evil and horrible for being impatient with them.

I've been through counselling, anti-depressants, CBT - pretty much everything. The only thing which has given me any kind of hope or relief is when I take responsibility for myself and decide that I can't simply rely on the world to become a better place to suit me. That has never worked.

I still feel suicidal, but for me that's my own personal decision. Sorry if this upsets people, but to my mind, it's my life. But no one wants to discuss that, they all rush around waving their hands in the air, going, "You mustn't feel that way". I just can't find people who will discuss the choice rationally. But certainly group hand holding is great to start with and then starts to feel like.....indulgence. Like I don't have to learn how to stand on my own two feet.

[Tigzy]

Just caught this from the Prune's latest word-seepage: http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterflies ... /09/dirty/

For the first time, yesterday and today, I’m feeling something like what Jen felt – wanting to get out. Everything seems dirty and polluted, including me.

Oh please, do kindly fuck off Nanny Fee - withered, superfluous polyp on the body of skepticism that you are. It would be a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Course, she could just be manufacturing drama or support-whoring. If the comments are anything to go by, I wouldn't be surprised to find it's the latter.

[Dick Strawkins]

Nanny Benson, Twatson, and the kid who should be studying are having a discussion about whether they should hate Jesus and Mo forever and never find any of the cartoons funny because of the 'Girls' comic.

I still dont understand those of you who describe Watson as 'smart':

@AlexGabriel @rhysmorgan @OpheliaBenson I think so. Terribly written & drawn, baffling. Like, why is she under the bar? Is that a beard?

Well, Stupid, drawings are, traditionally, in two dimensions, while the world we live in in real life is in three dimensions. Artists will use things like 'perspective' to give the illusion of three dimensions in their 2D drawings. So, Barmaids quote bubble is lower and 'closer' to the reader, because she is behind the bar, while Christian God is sitting 'behind' the bar 'further away'. The artist is not attempting to give the impression that Barmaid is under the bar, and Christian God is on top of the bar.

:shock:

I think we should be thankful to Ophelia here.
She's just proven that Watson is, in fact, thick as a plank!

What sort of atheist doesn't understand 'Jesus and Mo'?
Ophelia posted Jesus and Mo cartoons for years on Butterflies and Wheels. She still does - as does virtually every other 'new atheist' site.
Everybody knows that the cartoons are badly drawn but that's not the point - it's the writing, which is consistently brilliant and hits all the correct targets.
How on earth can a modern intelligent atheist not understand 'Jesus and Mo'?
I guess modern intelligent atheists DO understand it.
Rebecca Watson, on the other hand...

[ERV]

Just caught this from the Prune's latest word-seepage: http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterflies ... /09/dirty/

For the first time, yesterday and today, I’m feeling something like what Jen felt – wanting to get out. Everything seems dirty and polluted, including me.

Oh please, do kindly fuck off Nanny Fee - withered, superfluous polyp on the body of skepticism that you are. It would be a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Course, she could just be manufacturing drama or support-whoring. If the comments are anything to go by, I wouldn't be surprised to find it's the latter.

OH MY GAWD why cant any of these people just GO AWAY?

You know what happens when I get really busy in the lab? I dont put up a post saying 'POOR ME IM SO BUSY' 'OH I JUST DONT HAVE THE ENERGY TO BLAAAAAG' 'ITS SO HARD TO BALANCE ACADEMIC LIFE WITH MY HOBBIES POOOOOOR MEEEEEEEEAH'. I just dont post for a couple of days. When I go on vacation irl and dont want to blog, I just go on vacation. If I havent found anything I feel like writing about, I just dont post.

Its like they HAVE to write about every goddamn thing/thought as if anybody gives a shit.

BLLUUUUUUUGH.

If you have to positively refer to a Marcotte 'article' for 99% of your blog post, YOU NEED TO GO AWAY FOR A WHILE.

JUST LEAVE. Dont tell me about it, just do it.

[JackRayner]

I don't think any crime rate will ever be reduced to 0%. Which is why I agree that learning strategies for how you can lower the chance of becoming a victim of [insert crime here] is a good thing. Why should rape be different? Why the feminist moral panic when someone suggests ways you could lower your chance of becoming a victim of rape?

Because, the feminists have a narrative to maintain if they mean to continue to receive funding for all of their different orgs, and to have a seat at the table. They see utility in there being victimized women, which is also why they lie about the numbers of rapes and about domestic violence. If they start including domestic violence under "sexual assault" one day, I will not be the least surprised.

[Archdude]

Andrew, the yearly Michigan Womyn's Music Festival is very very excluding of trans women, pre or post op, no matter what. It's an issue that's been argued for years, and they only reason these so called feminists are able to keep the trans women away is because that Equal Rights Amendment thing never happened. Otherwise they'd be forced to treat all genders equally. They would have to let cis men in too. Only the lack of equality laws lets them get away with having women-only public events, ironically.

Wow, Scented Nectar. I'm climbing down this rabbit hole, what outrageous bigotry. There are apparently entire websites dedicated to attacking TG people as Fake Women, both cruelly and with faux-concern for their rights. Thanks for this!

[JAB]

Oh please, do kindly fuck off Nanny Fee - withered, superfluous polyp on the body of skepticism that you are. It would be a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Course, she could just be manufacturing drama or support-whoring. If the comments are anything to go by, I wouldn't be surprised to find it's the latter.

OH MY GAWD why cant any of these people just GO AWAY?

You know what happens when I get really busy in the lab? I dont put up a post saying 'POOR ME IM SO BUSY' 'OH I JUST DONT HAVE THE ENERGY TO BLAAAAAG' 'ITS SO HARD TO BALANCE ACADEMIC LIFE WITH MY HOBBIES POOOOOOR MEEEEEEEEAH'. I just dont post for a couple of days. When I go on vacation irl and dont want to blog, I just go on vacation. If I havent found anything I feel like writing about, I just dont post.

Its like they HAVE to write about every goddamn thing/thought as if anybody gives a shit.

BLLUUUUUUUGH.

If you have to positively refer to a Marcotte 'article' for 99% of your blog post, YOU NEED TO GO AWAY FOR A WHILE.

JUST LEAVE. Dont tell me about it, just do it.[/quote]

She's cultivated a commentariate that believe that she's right to feel threatened and scared, so if she just stopped blogging for a day or more, some of her horde would probably be in a panic and start showing up at her house to be sure she was OK... the brave ones anyway...ie the white knights. (The others would be following at a safe distance...likely banging coconuts shells together.)

[JAB]

block quote fail above... read erv's last comment o correct it

[JAB]

(Note... I have no evidence to back up this idea) It seems to me that the stranger rapist is likely going out to rape somebody, likely anybody (likely sex dependent, though). So if you want to be safe from this you follow the rules everyone says... not walking alone, or in skimpy clothing etc. Seems like this might be good advice to keep it from happening to you. BUT, the rape still happens, but to someone else. You would think those interested in reducing the rate of rape wouldn't spend too much time on this one (after all, rape still happens a lot in Saudi Arabia). That has to be handled by working on the root of the matter, whatever that is. Promoting those other strategies that only serve to collapse the odds onto fewer targets leads one to victim blaming.

[Guest]

Andrew, the yearly Michigan Womyn's Music Festival is very very excluding of trans women, pre or post op, no matter what. It's an issue that's been argued for years, and they only reason these so called feminists are able to keep the trans women away is because that Equal Rights Amendment thing never happened. Otherwise they'd be forced to treat all genders equally. They would have to let cis men in too. Only the lack of equality laws lets them get away with having women-only public events, ironically.

Wow, Scented Nectar. I'm climbing down this rabbit hole, what outrageous bigotry. There are apparently entire websites dedicated to attacking TG people as Fake Women, both cruelly and with faux-concern for their rights. Thanks for this!

One of the worst of them seems to be this woman:

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Cathy_Brennan

[AndrewV69]

I still feel suicidal, but for me that's my own personal decision. Sorry if this upsets people, but to my mind, it's my life. But no one wants to discuss that, they all rush around waving their hands in the air, going, "You mustn't feel that way". I just can't find people who will discuss the choice rationally. But certainly group hand holding is great to start with and then starts to feel like.....indulgence. Like I don't have to learn how to stand on my own two feet.

I am willing to discuss it if you want, and you sound as if you do. I am going to let you know in advance though that I do have some opinions on the subject based on what I consider to be personal obligations.

[Scented Nectar]

Wow, Scented Nectar. I'm climbing down this rabbit hole, what outrageous bigotry. There are apparently entire websites dedicated to attacking TG people as Fake Women, both cruelly and with faux-concern for their rights. Thanks for this!

You're welcome. :)

[AndrewV69]

Sounds all very dreadfully juvenile, when I put it like that, which it was I guess. We were 24 (me) and 23 (him) at the time. Eight years and two kids later, still together and happy, and a long long way from those days...

Sounds like you two got lucky in every sense of the word. Congratz!

[AndrewV69]

Where the fuck is that bitch Justicar when you need him, hey?

Yo Justicar! Bitches be crazy! Bitching 'bout you being a bitch. Bitch!

(did I do that right)?

[John D]

(Note... I have no evidence to back up this idea) It seems to me that the stranger rapist is likely going out to rape somebody, likely anybody (likely sex dependent, though). So if you want to be safe from this you follow the rules everyone says... not walking alone, or in skimpy clothing etc. Seems like this might be good advice to keep it from happening to you. BUT, the rape still happens, but to someone else. You would think those interested in reducing the rate of rape wouldn't spend too much time on this one (after all, rape still happens a lot in Saudi Arabia). That has to be handled by working on the root of the matter, whatever that is. Promoting those other strategies that only serve to collapse the odds onto fewer targets leads one to victim blaming.

So what kind of universe do we live in if we do not try to prevent crime against ourselves and our personal property? Perhaps I should leave my car unlocked so some fuck-head can steal my "Chilli Peppers" CD. Otherwise the perp would just steal from someone else instead. So, I am theft enabling and supporting the theft-culture when I lock my car door. WTF! This is the definition of crazy.

[JAB]

(Note... I have no evidence to back up this idea) It seems to me that the stranger rapist is likely going out to rape somebody, likely anybody (likely sex dependent, though). So if you want to be safe from this you follow the rules everyone says... not walking alone, or in skimpy clothing etc. Seems like this might be good advice to keep it from happening to you. BUT, the rape still happens, but to someone else. You would think those interested in reducing the rate of rape wouldn't spend too much time on this one (after all, rape still happens a lot in Saudi Arabia). That has to be handled by working on the root of the matter, whatever that is. Promoting those other strategies that only serve to collapse the odds onto fewer targets leads one to victim blaming.

So what kind of universe do we live in if we do not try to prevent crime against ourselves and our personal property? Perhaps I should leave my car unlocked so some fuck-head can steal my "Chilli Peppers" CD. Otherwise the perp would just steal from someone else instead. So, I am theft enabling and supporting the theft-culture when I lock my car door. WTF! This is the definition of crazy.

There are some crimes that are crimes of opportunity and if the opportunity isn't there then they won't happen. It's still a good idea for you to do that for your own good even for crimes that aren't that. I'm just saying that it won't reduce overall crime if the criminal was determined to steal something and would keep hunting around until he found something to steal.

Another example is a program I heard of where the welfare office was trying to reduce unemployment by showing the unemployed how to improve their resume writing skills. Not their job skills. Surely this created no jobs even though the people in the program were more likely to find employment. All it did was change who got the jobs. Not sure why that was the welfare office's goal. I would have thought their goal would be to reduce unemployment by increasing job skills etc rather than just shuffling around who was unemployed.

[Lurking cunt]

[quote="ERV"]Nanny Benson, Twatson, and the kid who should be studying are having a discussion about whether they should hate Jesus and Mo forever and never find any of the cartoons funny because of the 'Girls' comic.

Where? I could use some lulz right about now. :banana-dance: :text-link:

[John D]

(Note... I have no evidence to back up this idea) It seems to me that the stranger rapist is likely going out to rape somebody, likely anybody (likely sex dependent, though). So if you want to be safe from this you follow the rules everyone says... not walking alone, or in skimpy clothing etc. Seems like this might be good advice to keep it from happening to you. BUT, the rape still happens, but to someone else. You would think those interested in reducing the rate of rape wouldn't spend too much time on this one (after all, rape still happens a lot in Saudi Arabia). That has to be handled by working on the root of the matter, whatever that is. Promoting those other strategies that only serve to collapse the odds onto fewer targets leads one to victim blaming.

So what kind of universe do we live in if we do not try to prevent crime against ourselves and our personal property? Perhaps I should leave my car unlocked so some fuck-head can steal my "Chilli Peppers" CD. Otherwise the perp would just steal from someone else instead. So, I am theft enabling and supporting the theft-culture when I lock my car door. WTF! This is the definition of crazy.

There are some crimes that are crimes of opportunity and if the opportunity isn't there then they won't happen. It's still a good idea for you to do that for your own good even for crimes that aren't that. I'm just saying that it won't reduce overall crime if the criminal was determined to steal something and would keep hunting around until he found something to steal.

Another example is a program I heard of where the welfare office was trying to reduce unemployment by showing the unemployed how to improve their resume writing skills. Not their job skills. Surely this created no jobs even though the people in the program were more likely to find employment. All it did was change who got the jobs. Not sure why that was the welfare office's goal. I would have thought their goal would be to reduce unemployment by increasing job skills etc rather than just shuffling around who was unemployed.

So you are claiming that rape is not a crime of opportunity. I disagree strongly. I suspect that nearly all rapes are crimes of opportunity. If the potential rapist finds no targets perhaps they will just go home and drink themselves into a stupor or watch porn on the internet. I doubt very many rapists go out saying to themselves "Hey... I think I will rape someone tonight!" No doubt some do, but not many (in my guesstimation)

[AndrewV69]

(Note... I have no evidence to back up this idea) It seems to me that the stranger rapist is likely going out to rape somebody, likely anybody (likely sex dependent, though). So if you want to be safe from this you follow the rules everyone says... not walking alone, or in skimpy clothing etc. Seems like this might be good advice to keep it from happening to you. BUT, the rape still happens, but to someone else.

This reminds me about the scarborough rapist, Paul Bernardo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bernardo

You would think those interested in reducing the rate of rape wouldn't spend too much time on this one (after all, rape still happens a lot in Saudi Arabia). That has to be handled by working on the root of the matter, whatever that is. Promoting those other strategies that only serve to collapse the odds onto fewer targets leads one to victim blaming.

I get the impression that they are not really interested in any workable solutions. The opposite actually. Almost as if they want the situation to continue. The question is why would they want that?

[Gumby]

I think you're confusing the accusation of crimes with convictions of crime. There is no way you can stop someone from maliciously accusing you of a crime. But the accusation doesn't mean an automatic conviction. And no, the courts here are nowhere near as arbitrary as you seem to have been led to believe.

At this point I find your arguments compelling enough to drop my previous conclusions. I would like to thank you and acathode for your responses.

They were very much appreciated.

File this under "the type of discussion one will never see on FreethoughtBlogs".

[Git]

So the baboons are now having a one-handed wankfest over "What does an Ideal Society look and feel like?"

http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1050

Leaving aside the sinister sub-Brechtian overtones, and the fact that not only could they not organise a piss-up in a brewery and that they're afraid of sodding T-shirts, the whole thing gets to the nub of the core of baboonia - they want to be in charge, and they get off on telling others what to do, and how to behave. One can't help feeling that their whole sense of self-worth comes from both how oppressed they think they are (classic victimology of the "help, help, I'm being repressed" school) and anger and seething hatred that the morality they derive from this victim-hood doesn't translate to them being in charge. Because they care, don't you see?

And like any and all other Utopian movements, when it fails, they'll inevitably decide that it failed because they didn't murder enough people.

[Zhu Wuneng]

So the baboons are now having a one-handed wankfest over "What does an Ideal Society look and feel like?"

http://atheismplus.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1050

Leaving aside the sinister sub-Brechtian overtones, and the fact that not only could they not organise a piss-up in a brewery and that they're afraid of sodding T-shirts, the whole thing gets to the nub of the core of baboonia - they want to be in charge, and they get off on telling others what to do, and how to behave. One can't help feeling that their whole sense of self-worth comes from both how oppressed they think they are (classic victimology of the "help, help, I'm being repressed" school) and anger and seething hatred that the morality they derive from this victim-hood doesn't translate to them being in charge. Because they care, don't you see?

And like any and all other Utopian movements, when it fails, they'll inevitably decide that it failed because they didn't murder enough people.

Spot on. I have nothing to add there, except, of course, The Simpsons nailed this as always;

http://simpsonfever.files.wordpress.com ... .png?w=600

"Equalia: where everyone is equal but we're in charge! I mean, someone has to be, right?"

[windy]

Australians, the game is up! They're on to your nefarious plans.

[Saint N.]

I still dont understand those of you who describe Watson as 'smart'

Somebody here described Watson as smart? Are you sure it wasn't just oolon playing diplomat again? Before EG I thought of watson as that Drunk [writ aggressive] who got kicked off the JREF forum. now I see her as that Drunk who got kicked off the JREF forum AND gets to make an income out of being as insightful as a bag of toenail clippings (this last part was also always true, but she wasn't on my radar to notice before A+theism canonized her to sainthood).

JUST LEAVE. Dont tell me about it, just do it.

hear, hear

[JAB]

So you are claiming that rape is not a crime of opportunity. I disagree strongly. I suspect that nearly all rapes are crimes of opportunity. If the potential rapist finds no targets perhaps they will just go home and drink themselves into a stupor or watch porn on the internet. I doubt very many rapists go out saying to themselves "Hey... I think I will rape someone tonight!" No doubt some do, but not many (in my guesstimation)

Yeah, now that I think about it you're likely right that most are of opportunity, although the Bernardo case mentioned by Andrew likely wasn't. He went out to rape, then switched to going out to kidnap, rape and kill.

The guy who breaks into cars to steal cds maybe isn't doing it just due to opportunity... likely has a goal to steal as much as he needs to that night to pay for is next fix, then runs straight to is dealer.

[Gumby]

I still dont understand those of you who describe Watson as 'smart'

Somebody here described Watson as smart?

I recall Franc telling someone that no, Watson isn't dumb at all, rather, she's as smart as a fox.

Of course, "smart as a fox" can be interpreted in more than one way.

/tattle

[John Greg]

JAB at http://www.slymepit.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... 500#p15031 said:

Another example is a program I heard of where the welfare office was trying to reduce unemployment by showing the unemployed how to improve their resume writing skills. Not their job skills. Surely this created no jobs even though the people in the program were more likely to find employment. All it did was change who got the jobs. Not sure why that was the welfare office's goal. I would have thought their goal would be to reduce unemployment by increasing job skills etc rather than just shuffling around who was unemployed.

This is a wee bit off-topic, but exactly the same thing happened here in BC a number of years ago (early Premier Campbell days). Partly because of specific inside information, and partly because of first-hand knowledge as a participant in a number of those make-work programs, I can tell you with absolute certainty that it was neither the Welfare ministry's, nor the resume re-write program provider's intention to either increase the employment rate, decrease the uemployment rate, or anything like that.

On behalf of the ministry, the intention was basically two-fold: 1. to reduce the number of people on welfare -- whether or not they got jobs was completely irrelevant, and was quite specificaly and intentionally not part of the stated and written in-house ministerial startegies and goals; 2. to give the appearance, for the sake of pubic relations, of having made some constructive steps toward "helping" the unemployed.

On behalf of the resume re-write, and similar program providers, the goal was entirely to maintain their own jobs/incomes by re-structuring the programs they provided, on an annual basis, so as to continue getting funds from the government.

I know this to be fact for several reason, not the least of whch was that I was one of the technical writers responsible for putting together the welfare ministry's in-house documents on policy, and how to deal with the public, and the associated goals therein.

I was also involved as a participant in several "work" programs, as well as having a minor role in helping some of the program providers write proposals for their programs, and in two instances, while a program participant, I had to show the program providers how to do their jobs because they were not only insuffuciently trained, they simply had no skills in that area.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

I haven't raped anyone today. Yet.

it's only 11:58pm, though...

[Tsheo]

I still dont understand those of you who describe Watson as 'smart'

Somebody here described Watson as smart?

I recall Franc telling someone that no, Watson isn't dumb at all, rather, she's as smart as a fox.

Of course, "smart as a fox" can be interpreted in more than one way.

/tattle

IIRC he took it back when he was informed she made a glaring factual error in a presentation she made, a really obvious one that I can't remember at all now...

[Gumby]

I still dont understand those of you who describe Watson as 'smart'

Somebody here described Watson as smart?

I recall Franc telling someone that no, Watson isn't dumb at all, rather, she's as smart as a fox.

Of course, "smart as a fox" can be interpreted in more than one way.

/tattle

IIRC he took it back when he was informed she made a glaring factual error in a presentation she made, a really obvious one that I can't remember at all now...

Wasn't she the one who said Galileo was killed by the Church? Maybe that was it.

[Tigzy]

Australians, the game is up! They're on to your nefarious plans.

WTF?? I admit, at first I figured Brownian (Ian Brown) was being ironic, in showing how crude xenophobic stereotyping looks when you're on the receiving end. But like a dummy, I gave Ian Brown far too credit in assuming he is not...a dummy. No, Ian Brown is being serious in his sweeping generalisations that all Australians are likely to be scumbags:

Brownian
15 September 2012 at 3:28 pm

I believe Brownian is engaging in irony.

I’m not being ironic at all. It is incontrovertible that Australians have a legacy of inhuman brutality, savagery, thuggery, and lust for blood. When they weren’t destroying their environment, they were shooting dark-skinned children for fun.

Just Google “Australia” and “racism” or “genocide”. You can spend days reading about how gleefully they put bullets in the backs of Aborigines. The Myall Creek massacre is particularly cute in that it shows real Australian pioneer bravery: they tied thirty Aborigines together, mostly old men, women, and children, all unarmed, and chopped them up with swords.

If StevoR wants to claim that he’s against these things, well, his people are among the worst offenders.

Of course, since he’s a drunk little coward too afraid to admit this to himself, he’ll keep making the same old claims, never realising that nearly every one of them indicts his people as well, save one:

It’s a different story when white people do it, apparently.

Couldn’t give a shit about skin colour personally

Fucking liar.

But the supreme irony - which Ian Brown has somehow contrived to miss - is that he's saying this in order to refute StevoR, who's running his usual stick in saying, effectively, that pretty much all muslims are like scary daleks!

[Tsheo]

So you are claiming that rape is not a crime of opportunity. I disagree strongly. I suspect that nearly all rapes are crimes of opportunity. If the potential rapist finds no targets perhaps they will just go home and drink themselves into a stupor or watch porn on the internet. I doubt very many rapists go out saying to themselves "Hey... I think I will rape someone tonight!" No doubt some do, but not many (in my guesstimation)

Agree with this. It's the same as someone with a predilection towards breaking into houses*... if they walk past 20 houses all too secure for him to bother breaking into, he won't. He'll go home, do whatever he does, and try again some other time when he walks past a house with no-one home but some windows open.

*I was friends with a girl in high school whose boyfriend had a house breaking habit. He only ever broke into houses with windows left open, during the day while the occupants were out at work. He'd just do it while out and about, walking to the shops or the bus or whatever. He didn't leave the house thinking "no matter what, I'll break into a house today, even if it means breaking into a place with an alarm and a guard dog". Low hanging fruit.

Wasn't she the one who said Galileo was killed by the Church? Maybe that was it.

Yeah that was it.

[cunt]

Ah yes. Those racist australians, what they needed was a residential school system to break up aboriginal families and expose children to tuberculosis. Thats the way a civilised country, like Canada, commits genocide.

*puffs pipe, strokes beard*

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

I know you all know this one, so I'll leave it for onlookers. You can laugh of everything, but not with everybody:

[youtube]zTpDlXb_UyI[/youtube]

[cunt]

[youtube]uRz8FWPUmpI[/youtube]

[CommanderTuvok]

Australia's most cultured artiste:

Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson

[youtube]twI5XVCgo6c[/youtube]

You can only imagine what the Baboons would make of him.

[windy]

But the supreme irony - which Ian Brown has somehow contrived to miss - is that he's saying this in order to refute StevoR, who's running his usual stick in saying, effectively, that pretty much all muslims are like scary daleks!

I don't think he's missing it, it's probably some sort of "trap" for StevoR. But, it's funny how these collective guilt arguments are okay when convenient...

Mano Singham has a more level-headed post about the subject (great blog btw, despite the location). Although some people are objecting to his assessment of Muslims as prone to violent anger when offended, no-one has yet attributed it to the genocidal tendencies of Sri Lankans?!

[cunt]

But the supreme irony - which Ian Brown has somehow contrived to miss - is that he's saying this in order to refute StevoR, who's running his usual stick in saying, effectively, that pretty much all muslims are like scary daleks!

I don't think he's missing it, it's probably some sort of "trap" for StevoR. But, it's funny how these collective guilt arguments are okay when convenient...

Never underestimate how stupid Brownian actually is.

[sacha]

I haven't raped anyone today. Yet.

it's only 11:58pm, though...

Let's hear that from Alicja... oh, she's a Gender Traitor, which only means your secrets are safe with her.

How are you feeling?

[Git]

But the supreme irony - which Ian Brown has somehow contrived to miss - is that he's saying this in order to refute StevoR, who's running his usual stick in saying, effectively, that pretty much all muslims are like scary daleks!

I don't think he's missing it, it's probably some sort of "trap" for StevoR. But, it's funny how these collective guilt arguments are okay when convenient...

Never underestimate how stupid Brownian actually is.

I'm waiting for him to start declaring SteveR "enemies of the people" or suchlike.

[sacha]

Tigzy begins a character list -

Nanny Fee:

withered, superfluous polyp on the body of skepticism.

The Pudgy Pink Princess:

as thick as pigshit, as sly as fuck and an adept emotional manipulator who has a keen instinct for self-promotion, given that her intellectual contributions to Atheism/skepticism are precisely nil, even though she has conned what seems to be many, many people into believing otherwise.

Tigzy decides to be polite:

Oh please, do kindly fuck off... It would be a wonderful, wonderful thing.

[Michael K Gray]

...the function 1-(1-x)^n can be approximated by n*x if x is near zero and n << 1/x...

Eh???
I'd put good money on that what you say is not true.

The problem I find is that most people do not find stats intuitive so taking shortcuts like this abstracts from what is actually being done and generally more mistakes get made (in my experience).

Ah, I see now. The Range was assumed to be artificially restricted to x>=0.
My immediate gut reaction on seeing this supposed equivalence is that it fails spectacularly when x is negative.
(Say x=-0.01 & n=2000; 1 - (-1 + x)^20=-4.39286*10^8 & n*x=-20. Error=-4.39286*10^8. !!!)

[BarnOwl]

For his accusations that Obama supporters "pay no income taxes" and "are dependent on government handouts," Mitt Romney can go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.

Mormon arsebag.

Lying Rethuglican liar.

Condescending cloaca.

Mendacious rectal wart.

[AndrewV69]

I haven't raped anyone today. Yet.

Progress! Cool! Keep it up. You da man!

it's only 11:58pm, though...

Oh fuck!

[Sulaco]

For his accusations that Obama supporters "pay no income taxes" and "are dependent on government handouts," Mitt Romney can go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.

You're completely wrong and Romney is correct. How else would Goldman Sachs and other investment banks have survived without handouts. Okay, Mitt was a bit hyperbolic when he said Obama supporters pay no taxes, I think he meant the capital gains tax is low and with a good lawyer and good connections you pay practically no income tax.

I was surprised at how truthful Romney was, quite refreshing to hear from a politician.

[BarnOwl]

Okay, Mitt was a bit hyperbolic when he said Obama supporters pay no taxes, I think he meant the capital gains tax is low and with a good lawyer and good connections you pay practically no income tax.

I'm sure that part is true, and of course Mitt Romney would know about good lawyers and good connections. How foolish of me to forget that the capital gains tax is low! :mrgreen:

[sacha]

...the function 1-(1-x)^n can be approximated by n*x if x is near zero and n << 1/x...

Eh???
I'd put good money on that what you say is not true.

The problem I find is that most people do not find stats intuitive so taking shortcuts like this abstracts from what is actually being done and generally more mistakes get made (in my experience).

Ah, I see now. The Range was assumed to be artificially restricted to x>=0.
My immediate gut reaction on seeing this supposed equivalence is that it fails spectacularly when x is negative.
(Say x=-0.01 & n=2000; 1 - (-1 + x)^20=-4.39286*10^8 & n*x=-20. Error=-4.39286*10^8. !!!)

all this maths I'm too blond to comprehend is making me hot.

[sacha]

For his accusations that Obama supporters "pay no income taxes" and "are dependent on government handouts," Mitt Romney can go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.

Mormon arsebag.

Lying Rethuglican liar.

Condescending cloaca.

Mendacious rectal wart.

He lost the presidency, so it's okay to laugh about his reference to FfTB (47% of Merkins believe they are victims.)

[sacha]

For his accusations that Obama supporters "pay no income taxes" and "are dependent on government handouts," Mitt Romney can go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.

Mormon arsebag.

Lying Rethuglican liar.

Condescending cloaca.

Mendacious rectal wart.

He lost the presidency, so it's okay to laugh about his reference to FfTB (47% of Merkins believe they are victims.)

He also said these people that believe they are victims are “unwilling to take responsibility for their lives.”.
I had no idea he was keeping up with the FfTB/A+Theism Brigade...