1. The camp that 'cures' homosexuality

Comment #262290 by BigJohn on October 8, 2008 at 9:04 am

Balderdash!

2. Bill Maher's Religulous Opens Today

Comment #259385 by BigJohn on October 3, 2008 at 10:01 am

Strange, it's not showing here in East Texas. Of course, if it were the Christians would burn the theater down.

3. Debate: Would We Be Better Off Without Religion?

Comment #255850 by BigJohn on September 28, 2008 at 12:15 pm

Ahh, the anthropic principle once again. A backward idea if ever I heard one. How about this instead? Everything is just right so here we are. No hubris here. My gorge rises every time I hear this arrogant and specious argument.

4. Debate: Would We Be Better Off Without Religion?

Comment #255847 by BigJohn on September 28, 2008 at 12:03 pm

Cast in amongst some severe human dysfunctions by the first speaker was gun ownership as if owning a gun makes one evil. What a crock! This is pure dogma having not been subjected to any thought whatsoever.

5. 'Redesigned Hammer' That Forged Evolution Of Pregnancy In Mammals Found

Comment #255034 by BigJohn on September 26, 2008 at 4:59 pm

Just how many egg laying mammals are there?

6. Sharia courts operating in Britain

Comment #247405 by BigJohn on September 14, 2008 at 11:40 am

I don't know which is worse, you Brits giving up your courts to Sharia law or the USA giving up our government to the fundies. At least we here in the US still have our personal guns(as well as pointy knives) so we can fight back against the usurpers.

7. Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of the Human Mind

Comment #240616 by BigJohn on August 31, 2008 at 5:14 pm

skuze me but i thot that humanz wuz animals. reedn hear i seem to see a dichotomy bein diskused. aint no difference tween humanz an animulez. look inside.

8. MythBuster Adam Savage: 3 Ways to Fix U.S. Science Education

Comment #239814 by BigJohn on August 30, 2008 at 11:21 am

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/homophones.aspx

9. Scientists Create Blood From Stem Cells

Comment #234009 by BigJohn on August 20, 2008 at 6:06 pm

Hellene, et al:
Science is not being denied anything. The real problem is that you, and others, think that it is the business of the Federal Government to provide funding. It is not!

There are plenty of other sources who can profit(horrible, dirty word!) from financing such an enterprise. Perhaps they should be the ones to put forth the money instead of gaining from government financed research as you seem to suggest is proper.

There is no restriction on doing stem cell research based on the government's refusal to finance it. Find someone else to pay for it and let them realize a return on their money.

10. Pastor Rick's Test

Comment #233854 by BigJohn on August 20, 2008 at 1:22 pm

You have no more reason to believe that McCain will appoint ideologically wrongheaded judges to the Supreme Court than you do to believe that Obama will not activate the Black Muslims to take control of the major cities of the country. You do not know what either of these incompetents will do if given the immense power of President of the United States. Neither has given any indication of what they really intend to do(or what they can, indeed, do) beyond the fact that they will do or say anything to garner votes. Phooey! This whole thing is an unresolvable mess at this late date.

We have four years to make a real 'change' to the system and find some better way to select a thinking candidate which can lead the U.S. back to 'real life'. We need someone who has read, and understands, the Constitution of the United States of America and will abide by its every nuance. The men who wrote that document actually thought about it. That is much, much more than the two who are now in position to run this country have done. Bah!

11. Pastor Rick's Test

Comment #233817 by BigJohn on August 20, 2008 at 12:37 pm

Please read the last sentence of the U. S. Constitution, Article VI. WTF are we doing even discussing this travesty! Neither of these idiots deserves, by any stretch of the imagination, to be a candidate for the office or President of the United States of America.

12. Petrol pump pilgrims keep faith

Comment #231882 by BigJohn on August 17, 2008 at 9:03 am

I want to thank the Pray At The Pump people for their helpful prayers; however, I hope they keep up the good work and get the price down to around $2.00 a gallon before they stop praying. Of course, now that Almighty God and His only Son Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is interested in the situation, I am certain that the price will never go up again. Hallelujah!

13. The rebellion of the child-brides

Comment #230354 by BigJohn on August 14, 2008 at 3:05 pm

Attention all pedophiles: Excellent opportunity to meet with very young girls! Become a Muslim!

14. Richard Dawkins, the naive professor

Comment #226009 by BigJohn on August 7, 2008 at 3:23 pm

Please don't say 'most people', when what you really mean is Islington and Hampstead Garden Suburb.

15. Do they really think the earth is flat?

Comment #224352 by BigJohn on August 4, 2008 at 1:49 pm

I'm still trying to figure out the difference between Microsoft and flat-earthers.

16. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #223890 by BigJohn on August 3, 2008 at 3:53 pm

On the Channel 4 Website as accessed from Texas: "You need to be within the UK or the Republic of Ireland to watch Channel 4 programmes."

Bummer! At least my spell checker realized that programs was mis-spelled.

17. Religions thrived to protect against disease

Comment #221682 by BigJohn on July 30, 2008 at 2:01 am

"...why does Brazil have 159 religions while Canada has 15 even though in both comparisons the countries are similar in size?"

Size!?! How about some reasonable comparisons? Brazil is approximately 8.5 million sq. km., Canada about 10 million sq. km. So what? Brazil's population is about 184 million compared with Canada's 33 million. Maybe population has more to do with the ratio of religions than does area.

18. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #214522 by BigJohn on July 20, 2008 at 3:08 pm

Are there any people extant who actually knew Antony Flew before and after his 'conversion' and who could comment on what is going on? It would be informative to hear some of these people's observations of his present status.

19. Jefferson Bible reveals Founding Father's view of God, faith

Comment #214444 by BigJohn on July 20, 2008 at 1:15 pm

PristinePanda -- take the period off of the end of the link and it will work.

20. Let's Get Rid of Darwinism

Comment #212192 by BigJohn on July 16, 2008 at 7:37 pm

I can't even imagine how excited ol' Chuckie would be to see the results of his li'l' idea today!

21. Periodic Table of Videos

Comment #210436 by BigJohn on July 14, 2008 at 2:27 pm

When I was in Junior High School our science teacher was going to do an experiment with a piece of white phosphorus. When he removed the chunk of P from the water it slipped out of his tweezers and skidded across the asphalt tile floor. Spectacular! It left an eight foot long black streak of burned tile as it skittered brilliantly along. He was cool though and quickly poured water on it before it set too much more stuff afire. I don't think he ever did the experiment that day.

22. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #210058 by BigJohn on July 13, 2008 at 8:24 pm

@shonny -- clown? How very ad hominem! So much for anything you have to say. FISA was foisted on us by a government idiot. Don't blame me for that.

@MPhil -- After 70 years, I do get quite cynical, wait 'till you have seen as much as I. It's not sad it is real.

Well, I have been severely drunk for several hours now, so, I am going to leave y'all to thrash this out amongst yourselves. Just try to include common sense, facts and logic in your discussions. Dogma does not do well when discussing real life. Just look at the effectiveness of the Christians.

23. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #210038 by BigJohn on July 13, 2008 at 7:36 pm

@mordacious1 -- Oh, alright, you are correct, but who would do that except a criminal?

@Laurie Fraser -- There were a lot more than that, but, a very high percentage were criminals killing other criminals and who cares about that?

I still hold out for my individual freedom to own whatever I wish, as long as I do so responsibly. A freedom not available to you in Australia and Great Britain. When did you people decide to capitulate your lives to your government. We, here in the US, decided that that was not right way back in 1776.

24. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #210026 by BigJohn on July 13, 2008 at 7:13 pm

@mordacious1 -- Improper terminology -- like calling my Morris Mini a Pro-Stock dragster. Well, it could be one with the correct know-how.

Criminals will always have guns! There is nothing that can be done about that. When the police can respond instantly to my emergency call then I will not need my guns. But, just in case...

25. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #210021 by BigJohn on July 13, 2008 at 7:02 pm

Sure, Laurie, but, not in the US, I suggest that you check out our FBI stats. Also, don't forget the population ratio between Australia and the USA; 20.5 million to 301.4 million. Use rates not absolute numbers, please.

Besides, why should I be restricted in what I own as long as I am responsible about it. I am very glad that I live in a free country rather than in Australia or Great Britain where guns and pointy knives and whatever else the government decides are verboten.

26. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #210015 by BigJohn on July 13, 2008 at 6:44 pm

"Assault" weapon is a knee-jerk term used by gun control zealots and the press which is guaranteed to trigger senseless anti-gun emotions. A real assault weapon is capable of fully automatic fire. No fully automatic weapon has been available, except to criminals, since 1934. What it is, really, is that the gun ban folks rely on the same misleading information techniques as religious people do to proselytize their faith. Are y'all falling for this? Most of you would investigate the situation further if this were not related to guns.

27. An Irishman's Diary

Comment #208958 by BigJohn on July 11, 2008 at 12:45 pm

You scored:
100% Beginner
100% Intermediate
93% Advanced
80% Expert!


You scored 100% on Beginner, higher than 63% of your peers.
48/100 You scored 100% on Intermediate, higher than 48% of your peers.
38/100 You scored 93% on Advanced, higher than 38% of your peers.
47/100 You scored 80% on Expert, higher than 47% of your peers.

Oh, well...

28. Can't Darwin and God get along?

Comment #203336 by BigJohn on July 2, 2008 at 4:24 pm

166th post!!!!

29. Darwin still causing waves after 150 years

Comment #203334 by BigJohn on July 2, 2008 at 4:22 pm

37th post!!!!!

30. Charles Darwin: 'Is man an ape or an angel?'

Comment #201874 by BigJohn on June 30, 2008 at 11:09 am

31st post!!!!!!

31. Aliens need Christ's redemption, too

Comment #201444 by BigJohn on June 29, 2008 at 4:48 pm

8teist -- There is no end to the stupidity. They will just keep on making stuff up to suit the latest scientific ideas.

Border Collie -- Take your antacid with a big glass of Vodka, it will be more effective. Well, the antacid won't, but, with a big enough glass of Vodka, who cares?

32. Debating creationism in Louisiana schools

Comment #191664 by BigJohn on June 11, 2008 at 12:19 pm

The video will not play for me. The screen comes up but it just sits there saying 'loading video'. I even signed up to the site but no joy there either.

EDIT: Got it working! My browser was blocking belointeractive.com

33. The Challenge of the New Creationism

Comment #187795 by BigJohn on June 2, 2008 at 5:01 pm

STOP USING QUICKTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERY TIME I NEED QUICKTIME I MUST RELOAD IT!!!! NO ONE NEEDS TO USE QUICKTIME!!!!! THERE ARE A LOT OF USEFUL FORMATS AVAILABLE. QUICKTIME SEEMS TO REQUIRE THE ENTIRE CAPACITY OF MY MACHINE, MEMORY, DISK SPACE GRAPHIC CARD AND ALL!!! There I feel better now.

34. The Mind-Altering Role of Incense in Religion

Comment #184881 by BigJohn on May 26, 2008 at 10:27 am

Was he an alter boy before or after the priest grabbed him? Or, perhaps he was an altered altar boy already.

35. A Tribute to Douglas Adams: Towel Day May 25th

Comment #184333 by BigJohn on May 24, 2008 at 4:44 pm

Any special pattern or color required? Hurry, I want to be ready to go first thing in the morning.

36. Lab agrees to test Shroud of Turin for new theory

Comment #183011 by BigJohn on May 21, 2008 at 8:20 am

Why does the image on the shroud resemble a medieval artist's depiction of Jesus? For that matter, why do all of the images seen in cheese sandwiches and water stains resemble a medieval artist's depiction of Jesus? Or, maybe Jesus really was a tall, fair skinned Caucasian after all.

37. Pop Goes Christianity

Comment #181786 by BigJohn on May 18, 2008 at 9:07 am

What is a coopter? I can't find it in any dictionary.

38. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, ed. Richard Dawkins

Comment #180962 by BigJohn on May 16, 2008 at 7:57 am

Could someone please explain to me what it is about 'first post' that is so exciting to some? I can't imagine that all 'first posters' are pre-teens or are mentally retarded, so, there must be some other reason for the unbridled excitement.

39. Bill Good Interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #173403 by BigJohn on April 30, 2008 at 6:15 pm

Lovely interview. Richard answers in his usual reasoned and lucid manner.

40. Bill Good Interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #173392 by BigJohn on April 30, 2008 at 5:55 pm

The ads are very log, aren't they?

41. Interview with Dan Dennett

Comment #168857 by BigJohn on April 25, 2008 at 12:06 pm

There/their/they're* is much discussion of science education on the blogs I read. I think that there/their/they're* could be some discussion of the obvious lack of English language education, too.

*Although the proper choice of one of these three words should be completely automatic, many people seem satisfied to choose one at random.

42. Investigating Atheism

Comment #166950 by BigJohn on April 23, 2008 at 2:03 pm

Comment #166872 by Adam Morrison

Correct, Adam. I have a problem with people who, apparently deliberately, misunderstand that atheism in NOT a belief but a lack thereof. This probably arises from their inability to realize that some people are able to live their lives without the fragile exoskeleton of faith in a supernatural being.

43. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164215 by BigJohn on April 19, 2008 at 6:00 pm

Layla, when you are 66 like Richard or 69 like I am the difference between 20 and 30 is almost indistinguishable. All you young people just look so, you know,...young.
What pleases me so much is how so many of you 'kids' are waking up to the deception before you become locked into it. It took me many years to escape.

44. Flea of the week

Comment #163590 by BigJohn on April 18, 2008 at 3:17 pm

I've never had any desire to go to Hawaii, but, if you were going to be there Paula...

45. Flea of the week

Comment #163568 by BigJohn on April 18, 2008 at 2:25 pm

Diacanu --

"I think we need to chip in, and send her to Hawaii for a week or so to properly heal from that ordeal.

What say?"

If we were to chip in to send this woman anywhere, I think we need to send her to TAM6 so I can meet her and shake her hand and sympathize with her in person for the dirty, filthy, job she has assumed. Mike Rowe wouldn't do a job this dirty.

46. Lungless frog discovered in Borneo

Comment #159023 by BigJohn on April 11, 2008 at 10:56 am

So, someone actually goes walking through the jungles of Borneo and says 'Hmm, a frog... I wonder if it has any lungs...' Chop, chop... 'Nope, guess not. Next frog, please...'

47. Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby

Comment #157163 by BigJohn on April 8, 2008 at 3:44 pm

Is this available in some other format?. It is either it is too small or too pixellated. Sorry to complain.

48. Get out of here, atheists!

Comment #156849 by BigJohn on April 8, 2008 at 10:19 am

Has anyone else noticed that bigotry is a one way street?

49. In search of the God particle

Comment #156827 by BigJohn on April 8, 2008 at 9:58 am

I have a feeing that as more powerful accelerators are built more particles will be found, ad infinitum. Just a weird idea I have had since I was a youth.

Well, it is obvious that the people worried about the destruction of the world by a black hole generated by the LHC are not fundamentalist christians because isn't that exactly the Armageddon they are looking for? Oh, maybe not. What if God couldn't find the Earth if it was swallowed by a black hole. How could he rapture all of the "good" people?

50. Biologists Take Evolution Beyond Darwin Way Beyond

Comment #155914 by BigJohn on April 6, 2008 at 9:53 am

"...I think Darwin would be happy as a lark to come back and see what's going on..."

Shouldn't that be happy as a finch? :-D