1. That's it. Texas really is doomed.

Comment #185125 by AshtonBlack on May 27, 2008 at 3:04 am

Doom and Gloom. Rubbish.

Sorry, no. There are too many rational people in the US to "[l]et this effect all of us."
There is too much money invested in science based technology and education to let this sort of thing have a major effect on the R&D for large corps.

All that will happen is that there will be yet another trial (think Dover) in which the religious "pushers" will be put back in their box.

I see this more of desperation, rather that insidious behaviour. It's only when the constitution is changed or if it's a supreme court ruling, that the peoples of the United States require to start thinking "Doom and Gloom."

2. Animal Science Without Evolution

Comment #184709 by AshtonBlack on May 26, 2008 at 2:46 am

Comment #184688 by epeeist on May 26, 2008 at 1:20 am
avatarComment #184642 by KrisRamJ

Wow, just went over to Amazon.com and checked out the reviews that Jeannie's textbooks have been getting, 100% ratings pretty much all the way down the line with homeschool moms doing most of the reviewing.

I have just been over and added a review to one of her books. Let's see if it gets published.

Is this a tactic that could generally be adopted - add a review to some of these fundamentalist books, point out that keeping children ignorant of modern day science will make it more difficult for them to prosper in the modern day world, make sure that the book is characterised as fundamentalist, creationist, non-science. Point out good alternatives.

3. These dim-wits believe in anything but God

Comment #181466 by AshtonBlack on May 17, 2008 at 9:04 am

me (as a member of the NSS) = "A Dreary Ogre."

George Pitcher = Delusional Lunatic.


Yay for the NSS!!

4. Malaysia woman scores rare legal win to quit Islam

Comment #181006 by AshtonBlack on May 16, 2008 at 9:16 am

3. Comment #180949 by riki on May 16, 2008 at 7:41 am

I started a thread about this a few weeks back.

http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=43640

Other Comments by riki

5. Malaysia woman scores rare legal win to quit Islam

Comment #180941 by AshtonBlack on May 16, 2008 at 7:28 am

Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't we already know this titbit of news? (Alternatively, I may have read about it on the RD.net Forum)

6. I Am Evolution

Comment #178366 by AshtonBlack on May 11, 2008 at 9:56 am

Very nice. :)

7. 'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

Comment #178351 by AshtonBlack on May 11, 2008 at 9:40 am

People still ask me what I have against religion. I will link them to this.

8. Research Volunteers Needed

Comment #175254 by AshtonBlack on May 5, 2008 at 2:58 am

Done :) I hope this helps in some way :)

9. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #164938 by AshtonBlack on April 20, 2008 at 9:34 pm

Thank you Professor.

That was very moving.

10. Religious education as a part of literary culture

Comment #160656 by AshtonBlack on April 14, 2008 at 8:59 am

Ah yes, I assume this is in response to the "piece" in the Guardian?

If only he'd read this chapter before laying into the prof.

11. Expelled producers accused of copyright infringement

Comment #158631 by AshtonBlack on April 10, 2008 at 8:53 pm

Hahahahaha... *wipes tear*


Now moving on.
31. Comment #158391 by Elles on April 10, 2008 at 12:23 pm

I'm going to bake a cake.

12. In search of the God particle

Comment #156840 by AshtonBlack on April 8, 2008 at 10:10 am

12. Comment #156785 by Quetzalcoatl

I doubt it, Thomas.

13. The atheist delusion

Comment #144062 by AshtonBlack on March 15, 2008 at 2:10 am

"Secularisation is in retreat"

No.... Pew.

14. Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Comment #141689 by AshtonBlack on March 11, 2008 at 5:04 am

Goddam! Only level 2 (it was extreme!). I'm just a Lustful little sod.

and once more to the Catholic Church: "Will you please STOP being the worlds worst hypocrites?"

15. Should Galileo's tomb be opened for DNA tests?

Comment #141678 by AshtonBlack on March 11, 2008 at 4:39 am

Respect for the Dead.

Darn good question. Is it a cultural thing? I mean if we had that much "respect" why would we cremate anyone, then stick the ashes in a small jar to display on your mantle piece?

I speculate that it's a deeply ingrained trait of human and possibly pre-human behaviour to "remember" the dead. For how long have burial rituals occurred?

As for this particular case.... "Stop being a bunch of hypocrites, Catholic Church." but if there is a reasonable question that needs answering by exhuming the bones of a dead scientist then I don't see why not. If it's not reasonable then why do it?

16. Oklahoma: One Step from Doom

Comment #141198 by AshtonBlack on March 10, 2008 at 6:54 am

I trust that such legislation will serve to rally all secular forces in the US. The country which has contributed the most to scientific advancement during the last hundred years will continue to do so in the future I think.

17. When blasphemy bit the dust

Comment #140538 by AshtonBlack on March 7, 2008 at 6:10 pm

When a christian pray or remember god, I have no doubt Christ flashes in his/her mind. A loving
papa like figure Oh, Lord Jesus. What a tragedy.
Absolute monotheism ended in paganism. No more running behind skydaddy. He is in your church on
cross. What a great satisfection. I have seen him. Die in total peace.

18. In Defence of Selfish Genes

Comment #140372 by AshtonBlack on March 7, 2008 at 8:06 am

The SelJish Gene

19. Contribute to science directly by volunteering some of your computer's processing power!

Comment #140256 by AshtonBlack on March 7, 2008 at 4:35 am

http://www.boincstats.com/signature/user_1419155.gif

*cough*

Already there bud.!

20. What's the Point of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

Comment #139181 by AshtonBlack on March 5, 2008 at 9:04 am

71. Comment #139166 by irate_atheist

Now that gave me a chuckle...

I've now got a mental image of a wee man poking out from his beard like curtains saying "Yeah...heehee!!" like Salacious B. Crumb.

21. What's the Point of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

Comment #139126 by AshtonBlack on March 5, 2008 at 7:05 am

Ahhh... but the status of Mayo was dictated by the Infallible Word of His Most Holy Al-Rawandi in post 51.

Now less of this Heresy and more sandwiches!!

Captain Oveur: [Captain Oveur is in the middle of a phone call with the Mayo Clinic when an operator tells him that there's an emergency call on Line 5 from Mr. Hamm] All right, get me Hamm on five; hold the Mayo.

22. What's the Point of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

Comment #139117 by AshtonBlack on March 5, 2008 at 6:54 am

and now Al you see how religion got so big!

"So.... how CAN I make people do as I want, like give 10% of thier income to me, a lazy git who makes shit up......"

Several hours later...

"and it says in the Good and Holy Book of Al-Rawandi that sandwiches must be given, to the holy representative of Dog's authority on Earth, on pain of eternal damnation, without question or Mayo"

See... easy peasy!

23. What's the Point of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

Comment #138993 by AshtonBlack on March 5, 2008 at 2:34 am

I wish they'd showed his photo to someone other than a bunch of Mancs. If it's not on Coronation St. or in a bag of chips, it's unlikely they're going to know anything about it.

24. Fleas on the Horizon: In Defense of God

Comment #138181 by AshtonBlack on March 4, 2008 at 3:19 am

PJG

In not more than your own words, write a condensed version of all the flea books (marks will be deducted for any pretence that any of them contain evidence):

"There is a God because I say so and people who don't agree are horrid. So there!"

25. Please Call Earth. We Still Haven't Found You.

Comment #137831 by AshtonBlack on March 3, 2008 at 2:19 pm

I've just finished re-reading Pale Blue Dot.... wow.
I still think the search for ET life (intelligent or not) is worthy of our tax money for decades to come. As Carl put it: "Imagine we have the ability to listen but we did not."

26. It's Make Believe!

Comment #137494 by AshtonBlack on March 3, 2008 at 2:00 am

He's good Ape, I'll give you that. I, personally, preferred Bill Hicks' brand of comic genius. :)

27. A natural phenomenon

Comment #137493 by AshtonBlack on March 3, 2008 at 1:58 am

"Life on Earth", to my mind, is quite simply the greatest documentary series of any age. Unrivalled in his field and LONG may he continue.

28. US Treaty with Tripoli

Comment #136397 by AshtonBlack on March 1, 2008 at 5:00 am

First of all, I agree that correlation is not causation. Research can ALWAYS be refuted and should be verified.

"A weapon isn't a weapon of death without the intent of use by the individual."

29. US Treaty with Tripoli

Comment #136277 by AshtonBlack on February 29, 2008 at 4:38 pm

Hello all,

Sorry I've come late to this thread.

Al, would you care to comment on this research perfomed in 1997: (I know it's 11 years old, but it's the first one I could find.)

http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/2/214

and for the record I am NOT in favour of a ban on guns in the US, for the simple fact that has already been mentioned here. That is, that criminals in the US, expect (in some areas), that the citizen is armed and therefore they will be armed. (Your point 2, Self Defence)

30. Leaving the Faith

Comment #136268 by AshtonBlack on February 29, 2008 at 4:08 pm

Indeed, very interesting. Good Article

31. Taking evidence seriously

Comment #135526 by AshtonBlack on February 29, 2008 at 4:15 am

Iraq.... *sigh*

I'm not going to even START with the reasons WHY the war occurred.

I've spent the last three years in Basra and surrounding provinces (6 weeks on, then 10 days off back in the UK), as a civilian contractor for the MoD. (IT Security).

I've talked to many locals in the Basra, Al Nasariah and As Samawah areas.

When I first got there, the consensus was that, roughly, "Thank you for getting rid of Saddam, can you turn the water/power back on now? Then leave please."

This basic failure of reconstruction is a huge factor in the increase in "foreign fighters". There were reports (eg the Anbar Province) early that local tribes would not allow these terrorists to use the area as a base to launch attacks. This is a rare event now.

The reasons for reconstruction failure seem to be:

1) Corruption. (Iraqi and American, $4Bn has been "written off" from early in the conflict, it went missing.)
2) Lack of planning and oversight. The reconstruction plan was both ambitious and badly executed.
3) As soon as the various militia/Al-Q cottoned on to the fact that a failure in reconstruction would be a victory, of sorts, the number of attacks on oil, water and power generation increased dramatically, crippling the ability of those who genuinely wish to see a fully functioning, self-determining state.

If we'd have been able to emulate the Marshal Plan of WWII, I believe that we'd seen MUCH less insurgent/terrorist action.

Bombing the fuck out of anyone, does not help, IMHO. This is not "Total War". Neither does throwing money at the problem. I'm at a loss to see a resolution that a) saves UK/US "face" and b) improves the life for the average Iraqi.

As for "alt" meds... IMHO the NHS has no business paying money for untested methods, even if there is anecdotal/placebo effects.

32. Earth's Final Sunset Predicted

Comment #135292 by AshtonBlack on February 28, 2008 at 7:31 pm

7.6 billion huh?

I might of saved up enough money to afford the deposit on a new house in the south of England by then... Mind you I suppose that house prices might have come down a touch, what with all the atmosphere burning off and that.

33. Evolving Mistakes

Comment #134619 by AshtonBlack on February 28, 2008 at 3:44 am

JuxtaMonkey:

Thank you, that was great. :). Yet another argument for us, in the struggle for education.

(by the way it's AshtonBlack, not AshtonBlake, no biggie, in fact I think Blake sounds a tiny bit cooler!)

Enlight:

For me, it wasn't so much a shiver, than a "Erm, excuse me, you've obviously though about this, but..."

34. A Pragmatist and a Lobbyist on Atheism

Comment #134408 by AshtonBlack on February 27, 2008 at 6:26 pm

By the way... That is a REAL webstie.

35. A Pragmatist and a Lobbyist on Atheism

Comment #134406 by AshtonBlack on February 27, 2008 at 6:23 pm

Looks like I should have gone here:

http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/

(That, or cut/paste/F7 into MS Word (tm).)

But thanks for the correction. As I said, very unfortunate.

36. A Pragmatist and a Lobbyist on Atheism

Comment #134397 by AshtonBlack on February 27, 2008 at 5:59 pm

Like, totally. So I turned round to him and said "She didn't", so HE turned round and said "She DID!"....

Yes, "firmly" was a very unfortunate word to choose.

What about: My hat is "most definately" off to....?

37. A Pragmatist and a Lobbyist on Atheism

Comment #134391 by AshtonBlack on February 27, 2008 at 5:38 pm

Perhaps :). I don't know this particular journo's view or integrity, but it would explain the rather shoddy style (imho) of this piece. My hat is firmly off, however, to Ms Lange.

38. A Pragmatist and a Lobbyist on Atheism

Comment #134388 by AshtonBlack on February 27, 2008 at 5:22 pm

Perhaps the author of the article doesn't share the lobbyist's worldview, but has been told to write the article?

39. Evolving Mistakes

Comment #134387 by AshtonBlack on February 27, 2008 at 5:20 pm

Very interesting and well articulated article. I do worry about this paragraph though:

Because their mutation rate is so close to the edge of the possible, one approach to treating infections caused by these viruses is "lethal mutagenesis." The idea is that if you can increase the viral mutation rate, you can force the viruses into a realm where all their progeny carry harmful mutations, and either die quickly or cannot reproduce.

40. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133538 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 10:23 am

A smidge off topic, but intersting none the less:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7264903.stm

A glint of hope?

41. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133507 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 9:05 am

Wow... did this ever get off topic....

Sorry. :)

42. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133483 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 8:27 am

Al.

No need to apologize. A simple misunderstanding.

I agree that, we have, in Europe, made a rod for our own backs with previous centuries of imperialism. But having "post-imperialist guilt" as a factor in current policy decisions, is surly a negative?

As for: "I would object to the British policy of running about and burying flags in the ground and claiming the land in the name of the King or Queen or whichever ridiculous monarch you choose. "

Agreed, that is/was not a very nice policy. So about 50 years ago we tried, (and sometimes failed miserably, Zimbabwe) to extricate ourselves from it.

I may not agree with the current government policies, in regards to Iraq, (where I'm currently working btw), but I disagree that we (the democratic west) should feel somehow responsible for any and all atrocities committed several hundred years ago.

A counter to this would be: "So then why should the Islamic states feel any resposiblity for any atrocities done in it's name?"

My answer to this is: Pure imperialist aggression , is largely impossible now for democratic nations . Any nation with those ambitions would and should be stopped. The exploitation of Islam or any other dogma to create terrorists within a soverign nation, should also be stopped.

We do try:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7256859.stm

43. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133467 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 8:07 am

Al.
Ok. I accept that particular comment was an over generalisation, painting modern liberal muslims with the same brush as fanatical muslim terrorists. For this I apologize.
By the same token, please do not put words into my mouth, by declaring my bigotry or flawed logic. I am not a racist, nationalist or any flavour of ad-hom you want to throw at me.
Please, do not mistake my hatred of the institution and policies of Islam with a hatred of muslims. I also, know, a large number of muslims who deplored the attacks, both at 9/11 and 7/7.
This does NOT, however, get us away from the fact that they were a religiously motivated attacks. Specifically Islamic.
If we pander, (as we ARE doing), because of the fear of extremists, to the moderate majority, then eventually the extremists will achieve their goals.
The point I was trying to make in my, admittedly over general post, was, in a slightly sarcastic way, was to point out what the author of the article meant by "subtle".

44. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133434 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 7:25 am

A sheep and a pair of oversized wellington boots.

45. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133427 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 7:18 am

Let's stand firm against terror, but not at the risk of "falling back into a sterile confrontation between an ultra-touchy Islam and an arrogant west.

46. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133411 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 7:06 am

CComment #133393 by annabanana:

Alas, that wasn't one of mine. I think I read it on a blog somewhere, where the blogger was gushing about "flocks" and how G.Zeus was a shepherd etc...

I think someone then commented about "Sheeple".
I've got to say I did drop my bacon butty and spit tea at the telly, so to speak. I know it's a little condescending but screw 'em, I love it.

47. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133382 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 6:37 am

Ahh Mr Wooter. When did he post last? I've not seen his handywork recently.

Anyhoo back to Tech Geekdom: Ahh, so they WERE messing with the IP routes. Very naughty. Do they even KNOW how a routing protocol works?

Having said that, I could imagine the convo:

Tech: YouTube is brill, I can watch Brazillians getting it "on".....

PTA Rep: Close down this infidel site, by the grace of Allan, now!

Tech: But erm.... it's in the US, we have no control there.

PTA Rep: Oh for the love of god, I mean Allan, will you just stop our sheeple from looking at this deeply offensive cartoon of Mo, peas be upon him.

Tech: Ya... ok but if it all goes tits, don't blame me, hehe, blame Allan.

Tech (to mate with a console cable plugged into PTA Router Number1): Ok Jeff, kill it.

48. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133361 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 6:05 am

drcancerman:

Dude, we Brits ARE Europeans. I mean, there is a small minority of peeps who would like to "up anchor" and float the HMS "Great Britain" to the other side of the pond, but alas we are still part of the continent of Europe.

49. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133357 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 6:00 am

Comment #133343 irate_atheist

Oh that's a hard one (so to speak). Well it could be a number of apologists. I have taken the liberty of re-interpreting that particular diatribe:

"Waaa.... You say god is not a "fact", well neither is ET so there :P. Holy books are cool. Holy books are way cooler than science books. You need holy books to BE cool. Darwin is soooooo not cool. Shit man, he didn't even know about genetics, what a dunce. Now if he had the holy book, he would have known about stuff and been cool."

As for a disorder? I can't say.... but since the person actually believes the above. Delusion stemming from cognitive dissonance would be 1st on my list.

50. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133311 by AshtonBlack on February 26, 2008 at 3:52 am

1) Fundamentally, we already have DDNS. Each country has it's own. However it's the "top level" DNS servers (4 in the US I think) that have "final say". What happened in this case is that an ISP changed thier own DNS entries and it started to be replicated around the world, but was stopped from by having "more authorititive" DNS servers elsewhere or by correcting the change.

1.1)IPv6 is on it's way, but there are a number of issues still to be resolved. A hardware/IOS refresh of some backbone routers will be required (by Cisco). This is happening, but in developing nations this would take a while. (or require outside help) Using dynamic IP is risky for a static site since even DDNS would need to replicate throughout the world.

2) As I mentioned I already use an Anon Proxy, not an ideal solution, (bandwith overheads), but immune to a particlar countires whims and fads.

I honestly think that the PTA tried to make a change that they, thought, would only effect their own country. As it turned out, the change tried to replicate and shone the flashlight of indignation upon the censoring gits.