1. Rapture site sends unbelievers their last chance ... via email

Comment #195909 by passutoba on June 19, 2008 at 3:04 am

Isn't there a famous quote pertaining to this? Something along the lines of 'Once you get people to believe the most absurd things, you can screw them for all they're worth?'

2. Astronomers find batch of 'super-Earths'

Comment #193981 by passutoba on June 16, 2008 at 9:02 am

sorry if this a dumb question, but would the short orbit time mean they also rotate faster on their axis?

3. From Big Bang to Us - Made Easy

Comment #192753 by passutoba on June 14, 2008 at 12:35 am

fantastic....have just watched the natural selection and evolution ones....very well constructed and incredibly lucid and easy to follow......many thanks potholer!

4. New British Petition: Stop the Nightmares

Comment #191817 by passutoba on June 11, 2008 at 10:24 pm

It shows its age with the giant who dips little children into the ink well to make them....black! 'If you do this son, you'll be turned into a negro!'

5. New British Petition: Stop the Nightmares

Comment #191810 by passutoba on June 11, 2008 at 9:12 pm

haha Goldy....I was thinking about Struwwelpeter the other day too! Looking back at the wikipedia entry re-ignited the terrors of old! I was truly shit-scared of those stories, especially the fat kid who was fussy about food and just wasted away to nothing, and of course the boy who has his fingers cut off.....was it 19th century? Seems to be from a time when it was fine to terrify children in any number of ways......

6. The 14-year-old Afghan suicide bomber

Comment #190976 by passutoba on June 10, 2008 at 3:06 am

"I do not know what is going to happen to me" says Shakirullah. Well, one can only guess, but lets hope he now, at least, gets a proper education and a chance to reflect rationally about what he nearly did.

Given the basket case that is Afghanistan though, he'll probably be trying again next week with the assistance of the intelligence services.....

7. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #190922 by passutoba on June 9, 2008 at 10:39 pm

shamelessly and ignorantly (or not) invokes the name of Anthony Flew....yuk.

8. Albinos, Long Shunned, Face Threat in Tanzania

Comment #190411 by passutoba on June 9, 2008 at 3:55 am

Imagine the damage the heady brew of evangelical christianity/islam alongside the traditional witchdoctor mumbo-jumbo is doing to mindsets across sub-saharan africa........

9. Faith no more as World Youth Day fans flames of disbelief

Comment #189821 by passutoba on June 7, 2008 at 10:28 am

'uncertain science'? Which part of TGD is he referring to here?

10. The Challenge of the New Creationism

Comment #187578 by passutoba on June 2, 2008 at 10:23 am

The banana man is incredible.....these people have such talent for unwitting self-parody....i wonder how he explains brazil nuts? I guess they're just a test of faith........

11. Louisiana's latest creationism bill moves to House floor

Comment #185489 by passutoba on May 27, 2008 at 11:25 pm

Even when all this idiocy dies a death, future generations will surely looks back and us and laugh, especially when put alongside all the technology we have.

12. In God's Name

Comment #182779 by passutoba on May 21, 2008 at 12:55 am

Just finished it all...wow. There's 2 million of these nutters in the UK? As insightful as it is, much of it has a spoof-like quality, thanks almost exclusively to the silly christians themselves. For example, the fundie driving instructor who thinks god sends him new customers (i don't advertise in the yellow pages..so its god!), and who sticks a piece of paper with 'jesus' on the ceiling, so from what he insinuated, he isn't tempted to crack one out first thing. And then he goes off prosletysing on Saturday mornings giving kids tickets to heaven. 'What do you think of lying?'says fundie.... 'coooool' says kid.....

and love the final scene when he sets up the barrister to look like an intolerant nutcase in front of her dear MP friend..same barrister who earlier had ducked the fossil question....

13. In God's Name

Comment #182761 by passutoba on May 21, 2008 at 12:27 am

Stephen Green cuts a tragi-comic figure...like a horrible parody, like a religious Alan Partridge. The bird crap scene could have been straight out of a Partidge episode, as embarrassingly awful self-serving publicity goes awry........

14. In God's Name

Comment #182752 by passutoba on May 21, 2008 at 12:02 am

I'm a teacher and that delusional woman in part one around the 7:00 mark is an utter disgrace to the profession. Not only misguided but quite possibly mentally ill and she is telling young minds the most ridiculous lies. And getting them to chant 'iniquities' when they should be counting or reading.

It's absolutely outrageous that Blair increased funding for these pitiful excuses of schools and it makes me so fucking mad I could scream.

15. Richard Dawkins Responds to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #182743 by passutoba on May 20, 2008 at 11:28 pm

A dodgier charlatan there may well be, but Schlimey is clearly still in the running.........

16. Teenager faces prosecution for calling Scientology 'cult'

Comment #182702 by passutoba on May 20, 2008 at 10:03 pm

Quite depressing this is happening in the UK....I thought English coppers were all freemasons? Maybe weirdo cult scientology is the new freemasonry? Maybe scientology has better weird chants or better weird clothes or better weird handshakes.

17. Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

Comment #179906 by passutoba on May 14, 2008 at 1:29 am

But he said he continues to believe that "God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance."


Of course,he had to tag that on. I don't believe that he really believes that though.

18. Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear

Comment #179230 by passutoba on May 12, 2008 at 11:54 pm

mordacious..old news yes, but this is fairly explicit compared to most of what has been attributed to Einstein before and this will hopefully reach a wider audience. Although of course, we all know some of the audience will have their fingers in their ears and are saying 'nnnanaaaannaa Einstein believed in god...nnnaaaanaaaa'

19. Orangutan attempts to hunt fish with spear

Comment #171995 by passutoba on April 29, 2008 at 5:09 am

Amazing its from the Daily Mail...most readers of that not-worthy-of-wiping-my-arse rag would probably refute evolution by natural selection

20. Pope's Views on Science Invoke Spirited Debate

Comment #166184 by passutoba on April 23, 2008 at 1:33 am

Maybe the dangerous old fool should spend a night at the papal observatory in the company of a knowledgeable astronomer........

21. Is religion a threat to rationality and science?

Comment #166183 by passutoba on April 23, 2008 at 1:28 am

I think that Lord Winston is unconvinced by his own arguments...he is still a Jewish mummy's boy, permanently in thrall to the wishes of his probably overbearing Jewish momma. Whether she is dead or alive is irrelevant....she simply won't allow him to give up his belief in god.

Peter Hitchens and Alister McGrath are equally unconvinced I believe..in the case of these two, probably not in thrall to their mother, but it's financially convenient to maintain a veneer of their delusions.

22. Responses to 'Gods and Earthlings' by Richard Dawkins

Comment #166169 by passutoba on April 22, 2008 at 11:39 pm

'It is statistically a highly improbable probable event, and it bears all the earmarks of design.'

so says Elaine Fleeman (Fleawoman is surely more appropriate?)....well, doesn't RD indeed concede that it was highly improbable, but at the same time not impossible? Taking the leap of faith straight to 'design' helps nobody and explains nothing.

23. Christian Founders 3D Adventure Computer Game

Comment #153755 by passutoba on April 2, 2008 at 1:55 am

If i didn't know better, I really would have thought that 'left behind' computer game was a spoof......it's awful, absolutely awful.

24. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #150449 by passutoba on March 26, 2008 at 11:35 pm

Half way to 134...good effort! Have a great day whatever you're up to.

25. EXPELLED!

Comment #147635 by passutoba on March 21, 2008 at 3:21 am

What a great story.......the deluded IDiots clearly didn't want their irrationality-fest spoiled.......I can just imagine them all earnestly nodding with self-satisfied smugness as the dross spilled across the screen......I'm sure RD was polite enough, but he must have found it hard not to cry or laugh.

26. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145934 by passutoba on March 18, 2008 at 10:32 am

what a lame,crappy title amongst all the other rubbish once again picked apart above.......poor man, really....apologist for bush, then puts his name to this drivel

27. Deadly Sins 101

Comment #143342 by passutoba on March 14, 2008 at 2:56 am

idiocy on such a grand level its hard to know where to start.....and to think they have deeply serious meetings to discuss these absurd pronouncements. I'd love to be a fly on the wall.....I think it might be the funniest thing I might have ever heard, as these silly papists earnestly nodded with collective self-approval as they brought sinning into the 21st century!

28. Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Comment #142079 by passutoba on March 12, 2008 at 12:25 am

Surely they're environmental polluters, with their gaudy churches and zillions of candles needlessly flickering away?

and obscenely rich? well, owning half of Rome and land/property all over the world doesn't make you poor....

alcohol=drugs, many priests are pissheads for want of any other joy in their deluded lives...

yes, its the standard round of religious hypocrisy

29. Survey shows Non-Religious Outnumber Those of Every Single Faith (But One)

Comment #138096 by passutoba on March 3, 2008 at 11:24 pm

4% of the US population = approx. 12 million people....that sounds a bit better!

30. A natural phenomenon

Comment #137491 by passutoba on March 3, 2008 at 1:53 am

Fair point Steve and Milt.....I was going to add how much I was looking forward to his evolution programme now that he's ONLY no longer cavorting all round the world in search of the weird and wonderful!

31. A natural phenomenon

Comment #137475 by passutoba on March 3, 2008 at 1:05 am

All of his work with animals is fantastic, but I feel this has slightly overshadowed the excellent Private Life of Plants, which is possibly my favourite.

32. Earth's Final Sunset Predicted

Comment #135721 by passutoba on February 29, 2008 at 8:31 am

Loved this article.....really interesting and, whatever the means towards the inevitable outcome, it should make us realise just how irrelevant we are in the bigger picture. Nutters take note.

it seems to me, eminently unqualified on the issue, that the idea of the earth escaping from the Sun's fiery grasp may be a reflection of human arrogance about the 'special' nature of our planet. The futile wish for our pale blue dot to somehow be able to avoid its fate. I guess planets are coming and going all the time.

33. Fleabytes

Comment #130014 by passutoba on February 19, 2008 at 10:43 pm

many, many thanks Paula....good to get a very well-written precis of what these ridiculous ripostes are about, without having to plough through them all!

34. Hitchens and Boteach Debate on God

Comment #125147 by passutoba on February 11, 2008 at 2:56 am

Boteach's argument on the paucity of the fossil record was particularly laughable...something along the lines of 'We've dug up most of the planet..and what have we found?'

How much of the planet have we really 'dug up'....? I'm guessing something south of 1%, and even then when were fossils actively being looked for? And that's aside from what DD correctly says above linking to the unlikeliness of a fossil forming.

35. Minnesota Atheists Interview Richard Dawkins

Comment #114086 by passutoba on January 21, 2008 at 10:52 am

great that its up and running.....can hear lots of heavy breathing through my headphones though, which is a bit disconcerting!

36. George Scales, War Hero and Generous Friend of RDFRS

Comment #111526 by passutoba on January 14, 2008 at 11:37 pm

Echoing all of the above......many thanks for being a valuable part of all of this, and best wishes for a the quickest of recoveries and getting up on the roof again!

37. Blair converts to Catholicism

Comment #102603 by passutoba on December 23, 2007 at 9:35 am

sanctimonious twat. so, the man who has made very important national decisions supposedly on my behalf has now admitted that he really believes that the cheap wine and stale wafers magically become the blood and body of jesus when they enter his mealy, lying little mouth. May 1997 seems like a very, very long time ago.

38. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #93708 by passutoba on December 4, 2007 at 1:16 am

My beady eye picked up a misspelling of 'atheist' on the screen showing the quote from the book! Subterfuge or slackness??!

39. Debate between Christopher Hitchens and Alister McGrath

Comment #81056 by passutoba on October 24, 2007 at 1:37 am

Hitchens is devastatingly clear, concise and convincing...love the withering response the first question from the floor.

McGrath,on seemingly countless times, fails to directly address the keys complaints that Hitchens has with the whole evidence/belief system...he waffles, digresses, evades, and here's the rub, i really don't think he believes himself. As a purported 'ex-atheist' i just don't think he has wholly convinced himself of his latter-found faith in the whole absurd set up of christianity. Yes, he throws his head back with confident verbosity, but for me, its just utterly unconvincing.