1. Science can't explain the big bang - there is still scope for a creator

Comment #314880 by NewEnglandBob on January 7, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Post 100!

hoo woo too

2. Black Holes Preceded Galaxies, Discovery Suggests

Comment #314773 by NewEnglandBob on January 7, 2009 at 2:12 pm

j.mills: you ask good questions.

I could see that, given a black hole, a galaxy could form around it, but why did the black hole originate?

Edit:
Is there any evidence of black holes existing that are not in the center of a galaxy?

3. How to bend a spoon with just your mind

Comment #314763 by NewEnglandBob on January 7, 2009 at 1:58 pm

That Amazing Randi doll looks an awful lot like the Darwin doll on the first Stanford evolution video.

Maybe Randi is Charles Darwin in handcuffs.

4. Science can't explain the big bang - there is still scope for a creator

Comment #314759 by NewEnglandBob on January 7, 2009 at 1:50 pm

How about a competing article:

"Religion can not explain anything - there is still scope for science to replace it everywhere"

That 'geoscientist' has rocks in his head.

5. Milky Way 'bigger than thought'

Comment #314002 by NewEnglandBob on January 6, 2009 at 5:00 pm

1. Comment #313998 by apaeter:

is it me or is the 914k-km/h-information totally useless? Is this the speed the sun moves around the center? or the galaxy's 'edge' or what?

6. Milky Way 'bigger than thought'

Comment #314000 by NewEnglandBob on January 6, 2009 at 4:55 pm

It is no wonder it has 50% more mass:

MILKY WAY® Original Bar ingredients: milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk, chocolate, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, artificial flavor), corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, skim milk, less than 2% milkfat, cocoa powder processed with alkali, lactose, malted barley, wheat flour, salt, egg whites, artificial flavor, soy protein.

But seriously, what is all the dark matter?

7. Atheists launch bus ad campaign

Comment #313988 by NewEnglandBob on January 6, 2009 at 4:38 pm

No, dvophoto, the wager is only for those who fear. There is nothing else in it.

You still have not shown one bit of evidence to prove your faith. Not one iota. Nothing to show anyone.

As I stated previously, your arguments are refuted, sad, pathetic and small minded.

Everything you state is refuted in:

"God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist" By Victor J. Stenger

Also Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" picks most of your arguments to pieces.

To be educated, read:

"God, the Devil, and Darwin: A Critique of Intelligent Design Theory" By Niall Shanks

"Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment" By Phil Zuckerman

"God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" By Christoper Hitchens

8. Atheists launch bus ad campaign

Comment #313733 by NewEnglandBob on January 6, 2009 at 1:50 pm

Dvophoto trots out all the tired old arguments that have been thoroughly refuted and put to rest.

Also, he apparently does not even understand his own new testament and how it validates the old testament. He argues the opposite.

He also tries to foist his responsibility of evidence of existence on others to prove non-existence - also an argument from weakness.

All his nonsense boils down to godidit. How sad and pathetic and small minded.

9. Assassins of the Mind

Comment #312965 by NewEnglandBob on January 5, 2009 at 6:16 pm

Thank you Hitch. Well stated.

10. Ancient African Exodus Mostly Involved Men, Geneticists Find

Comment #312052 by NewEnglandBob on January 4, 2009 at 2:33 pm

6. Comment #312020 by Goldy:

...they probably took the quieter women with them...

11. Atheists have moral reflections too

Comment #312049 by NewEnglandBob on January 4, 2009 at 2:27 pm

WE HAVE NO MORALS!
WE RUN NAKED ON THE STREETS STEALING, KILLING, RAPING AND BURNING CHURCHES BECAUSE WE HAVE NO GOD!
MUAHAHAHA!

12. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions - 28th Dec 2008

Comment #311643 by NewEnglandBob on January 3, 2009 at 7:44 pm

This is just awful. I couldn't take more than 2 parts of this. Too many ignorant people involved.

13. Irreligion & Scandinavian Society - An interview with Phil Zuckerman

Comment #309879 by NewEnglandBob on December 31, 2008 at 5:18 pm

It is true and hilarious that "ImAChristian" has little understanding of his/her/its own bible.

Anyone know what a "testiment" is?

14. Irreligion & Scandinavian Society - An interview with Phil Zuckerman

Comment #309761 by NewEnglandBob on December 31, 2008 at 2:40 pm

LaurieB:

Happy New Year to you too! (Happy Monkey also for Pharyngulites).

I understand your bafflement about the cultural religiosity but I think it is not too difficult to celebrate occasional cultural ceremonies for the family/tribe just for the ceremony itself. It makes more sense than those who go to services regularly and pretend to believe. RD has stated that he enjoys beautiful religious music for its own sake.

The people in Zuckerman's book simply stated that "everyone just does it", although I chuckle that many people pay the church tax voluntarily and then never go. That is a whole different psychological mine field that I prefer not delving into.

15. Irreligion & Scandinavian Society - An interview with Phil Zuckerman

Comment #309707 by NewEnglandBob on December 31, 2008 at 12:54 pm

I read Zuckerman's book a month ago. It is fantastic.

It is definitive scientific sociological ethnographic research coupled with superb analysis in a narrative style.

16. For Good Self-Control, Try Getting Religious About It

Comment #309704 by NewEnglandBob on December 31, 2008 at 12:51 pm

The self-deluded can be controlled - how profound.

The children: Abusive threats of damnation for eternity makes them behave - is this a surprise?

17. Competition, Not Climate Change, Led To Neanderthal Extinction, Study Shows

Comment #309701 by NewEnglandBob on December 31, 2008 at 12:45 pm

Once again, mistakes can be made where correlation assumes cause.

If Neanderthal extinction was not due to climate then it can not be assumed it was due to competition.

It could have been disease or other causes. It very well may be due to competition but that needs a lot of evidence.

18. God: Philosophers Weigh In

Comment #309444 by NewEnglandBob on December 31, 2008 at 7:08 am

512. Comment #309440 by Bernstein:

Tell me something, Steve. How is it you can go to the polls and vote in support of gay rights (in the name of human rights), and then come home and violate the rights of the MPAA, RIAA and other artistes - other humans - by downloading stuff on your computer (assuming you do)?

19. Darwin shouldn't be hijacked by New Atheists - he is an ethical inspiration

Comment #308305 by NewEnglandBob on December 29, 2008 at 7:04 pm

1. Madeleine Bunting was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (full name: The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary).

2. Bunting is noted for her advocacy of religious belief from a liberal position and her antipathy to atheism, claiming that atheists' antipathy to religion makes it impossible for them to criticise religion effectively.

3. Every article she has written is negative. I guess she hates everyone.


This is a journalist?

20. The New Atheism, a definition and a quiz

Comment #308302 by NewEnglandBob on December 29, 2008 at 6:48 pm

I give Andrew Brown six raspberries for his muddled thinking.

Brown has no inkling of subtlety and obviously does not comprehend much of what he reads. How sad for him.

As Mark Jones said, this article is pathetic.

21. No More Atheophobia

Comment #308295 by NewEnglandBob on December 29, 2008 at 6:38 pm

A manufactured cause. There is no need to formalize and organize this as a cause celebre.

What will happen next? Fundraisers and marches on capitols?

There is no need to turn this into a phobia. That will make it more popular.

22. For scholars, a combustible question: Was Christ real?

Comment #308090 by NewEnglandBob on December 29, 2008 at 12:19 pm

No.

23. My Christmas message? There's probably no God

Comment #307548 by NewEnglandBob on December 28, 2008 at 6:04 am

17. Comment #307388 by 8teist:

Where can I get one of these moral vacuums ,and do they have a blow function?

24. God: Philosophers Weigh In

Comment #307255 by NewEnglandBob on December 27, 2008 at 1:30 pm

This discussion thread is getting nearly as bad as that poorly written article.

Anselm was practicing mental masturbation and so are some people here.

25. Would you Adam and Eve it? Quarter of science teachers would teach creationism (Response by Dawkins and Jones)

Comment #306339 by NewEnglandBob on December 24, 2008 at 12:53 pm

David A Robertson had nothing worthwhile to say, as usual.

Maybe he will not be here tomorrow as he prays to his fictitious bogey ghost.

26. The Ten Days of Newton

Comment #306336 by NewEnglandBob on December 24, 2008 at 12:46 pm

Bah Fig!

27. Would you Adam and Eve it? Quarter of science teachers would teach creationism (Response by Dawkins and Jones)

Comment #305837 by NewEnglandBob on December 23, 2008 at 5:45 pm

David Robertson

All that needs to be said here.

28. Archaeological Discovery: Earliest Evidence Of Our Cave-dwelling Human Ancestors

Comment #305178 by NewEnglandBob on December 22, 2008 at 7:17 pm

You know, I have been looking for my lost tools for 2 million years.

So that is where I left them! I am getting senile. I forget things.

29. Obama cranks up the green revolution

Comment #305177 by NewEnglandBob on December 22, 2008 at 7:14 pm

6. Comment #304888 by prolibertas:

you ask "WHY???

Very simple. $$$ for his cronies.

30. Saudi court tells girl aged EIGHT she cannot divorce husband who is 50 years her senior

Comment #305062 by NewEnglandBob on December 22, 2008 at 3:12 pm

Even a non-human primate would not do something this inhumane.

There must be something genetically wrong with these people.

31. Most 'do not believe in nativity'

Comment #304489 by NewEnglandBob on December 21, 2008 at 5:23 am

20. Comment #304414 by Philster61:

I once met a bloke called Jesus while in Mexico.Very nice chap although he spoke spanish.

32. Religious Ed. rebellion

Comment #304335 by NewEnglandBob on December 20, 2008 at 6:23 pm

5. Comment #304279 by RedPen:

This is insane. Action like this is not the mark of intelligent individuals

33. Secularists' vital war on religion

Comment #304333 by NewEnglandBob on December 20, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Atheists and secularists do not hate Sarah Palin. We laugh at her for her irrational beliefs and her ignorance of modern civilization.

34. Is Yahweh a Moral Monster?

Comment #304332 by NewEnglandBob on December 20, 2008 at 6:14 pm

The author of this poor article refuted nothing at all. He uses all the tired old lies, tricks, deceptions, obfuscations, red herrings, changes the subject and says all the bad parts of the OT are only examples of what is wrong.

I liked the phrase in #10. Comment #304308 by sonnygll:

... the methods of bullshitery used

35. Poll Finds No Boost in Church Attendance during Economic Crisis

Comment #304031 by NewEnglandBob on December 20, 2008 at 5:09 am

One nationwide statistic like that is very misleading.

The attendance is probably even higher in the mid-west and deep south of the US but most likely much lower in the northeast and west coast.

Here in New England, many churches and synagogues are nearly empty every week and many have closed down or combined for lack of sufficient congregation.

Driving around on a Sunday morning, past churches that used to be jammed decades ago, now shows a fraction of the cars that used to clog the parking lots and nearby streets.

Unfortunately, the middle of the country where the fundies exist (they don't really live, they just await heaven upon death) is still a strong bastion of unreality.

36. Many Americans Say Other Faiths Can Lead to Eternal Life

Comment #303940 by NewEnglandBob on December 19, 2008 at 7:40 pm

Why would anyone want eternal life?

You would exist with the 95% who are idiots forever?

Sounds like hell to me.

37. What Came Before The Big Bang? Interpreting Asymmetry In Early Universe

Comment #303480 by NewEnglandBob on December 18, 2008 at 7:09 pm

Before the big bang, there was heavy petting and a little begging.

38. Mekong a 'treasure trove' of 1,000 newly discovered species

Comment #302634 by NewEnglandBob on December 17, 2008 at 1:29 pm

And I thought the (WWF) World Wrestling Foundation was only about fake wrestling matches.

Who Knew?

39. Hubble Finds Carbon Dioxide on an Extrasolar Planet

Comment #300172 by NewEnglandBob on December 11, 2008 at 6:11 am

37. Comment #300155 by Quetzalcoatl:

Dolphins are infinite? Or just their smiles?

40. Hubble Finds Carbon Dioxide on an Extrasolar Planet

Comment #299997 by NewEnglandBob on December 10, 2008 at 6:26 pm

This type of observation is best done for planets with orbits tilted edge-on to Earth. They routinely pass in front of and then behind their parent stars, phenomena known as eclipses. The planet HD 189733b passes behind its companion star once every 2.2 days. This allows an opportunity to subtract the light of the star alone (when the planet is blocked) from that of the star and planet together prior to eclipse, thus isolating the emission of the planet alone and making possible a chemical analysis of its "day-side" atmosphere.

41. Richard Dawkins interviews Father George Coyne

Comment #299709 by NewEnglandBob on December 10, 2008 at 8:34 am

52. Comment #299617 by Roedy:

Father Coyne was charming and polite, but he is also a lying humbug. I suppose though he might be persuasive to someone even more Catholic than he. Perhaps that is why Richard Dawkins let so many points pass.

Perhaps it was only my imagination, but I thought I detected an ever-so-faint reluctance on Richard's part to press him further; almost as if to disabuse this relatively harmless priest of his illusions would have been not simply impolite, but indeed unkind.

42. Muslim pilgrims stone devil amid tight control

Comment #299355 by NewEnglandBob on December 9, 2008 at 1:21 pm

Styrer, you have gone off the deep end.

You twisted the original statements and have ignored several people's statements of clarification.

43. Muslim pilgrims stone devil amid tight control

Comment #299249 by NewEnglandBob on December 9, 2008 at 9:59 am

I do not think that I have read in a long time such self-indulgent, ignorant and society harming rubbish as this.

That this member, Steve Zara, is clearly incapable of distinguishing group thinking from individual thinking permits us, I submit, to now disregard his commentary, unless it refers to his scientific endeavours.

You endanger us all, Zara, by your insistence that cult members be granted individually a level of attention which is in no way at all possible. You are simply stalling in an attempt to reconcile hard reality with your dreamworld fantasy that all humans deserve equal treatment, no matter their collective or group transgressions.

You're tiring me out, Zara, with your egalitarian and unworkable bullshit.

44. Muslim pilgrims stone devil amid tight control

Comment #299099 by NewEnglandBob on December 9, 2008 at 5:36 am

It is not surprising to see that people still believing in stone age dogma using stones to assuage the irrational fears of their "rocks-in-their-heads" minds.

We need to work harder to make the world independent of their oil so that their belief system dies off as they continue to circle the wall in the desert.

45. Interview with Nicholas Wade

Comment #298910 by NewEnglandBob on December 8, 2008 at 8:14 pm

What worries me is this business about resurrecting neanderthals. Weren't they even dumber and physically stronger than us?

46. Interview with Nicholas Wade

Comment #298792 by NewEnglandBob on December 8, 2008 at 4:19 pm

Nicholas Wade:

"We are going to get the full genome of the Neanderthal in a few weeks"

fantastic!

47. Here Be Dragons - The Movie

Comment #298730 by NewEnglandBob on December 8, 2008 at 2:22 pm

This is a poor presentation.

48. Religious 'shun nanotechnology'

Comment #298725 by NewEnglandBob on December 8, 2008 at 1:36 pm

I have already had open heart surgery. It wasn't very pleasant. I would rather the nanobots take care of it next time.

Is anyone working on nanobots that can cure brains of that disfiguring disease called religion? If so, I want to invest some money.

49. Hitchens Debates Rabbi Wolpe on God

Comment #298390 by NewEnglandBob on December 7, 2008 at 1:42 pm

Guys (Steve, MPhil, Baron),

You are misinterpreting what I stated. I am not against philosophy at all. I think it has its places. I love reading Dennett, even tough it tortures me to follow along (Consciousness Explained, Freedom Evolved). But Philosophers can get carried away without a firm grounding.

Baron, the four categories are the classifications I REJECT for science not propose. (OK, 3 out of the 4) I reject wild, unfounded speculation from any source as I explained above.

I think philosophy of science is part of science, not the other way around.

I also think that philosophy in the past has been used to rationalize bizarre interpretations of phenomena until many of those were replaced by science (e.g. rays emitting from eyes for vision).

50. Hitchens Debates Rabbi Wolpe on God

Comment #298303 by NewEnglandBob on December 7, 2008 at 8:26 am

MPhil,

You and I will never see things the same way since I reject that science is part of philosophy.

I do not appreciate you saying I feel superior. I expressed my opinion and you then provide a value judgment. Continue to defend DG if you please, I will just ignore you.

Numbers are sets of sets. I now understand why you defend DG.