Comments by Luthien

Comment #296351 by Luthien on December 3, 2008 at 1:21 pm

LOL Cartomancer, I have such a beautifully vivid picture in my head now. Can I be invited? <3

2. 'Atheist bus' more like a bandwagon on highway to hell

Comment #293993 by Luthien on November 30, 2008 at 1:19 pm

...there is a group within the DUP that has been pushing to get creationism taught in schools and exhibited at every museum in the province.

Hey Roger, yes it's a terrible problem (I have just left Northern Ireland for good, I'm afraid I've had enough). Someone from the DUP made the mistake of knocking on my door while canvasing for the last local elections, and I pretty much just lit into him over the religion issue. He looked really shocked, and had the audacity to deny that the DUP were pushing a religious agenda. I finished off by telling him how embarrassing it was for Northern Ireland to have DUP members singing hymns on TV after being elected, and then shut the door in his face. When I told people in work what I had done they were speculating on how long it would be before someone petrol bombed my house, but nothing like that ever happened. ;-)

There are a lot of people who are taken in by the creationism thing, but there are also a lot of people who are increasingly angry at these people. The DUP didn't get elected in my area, the surprise result was the election of Anna Lo (Alliance).

3. SC priest: No communion for Obama supporters

Comment #284872 by Luthien on November 16, 2008 at 3:59 am

Right! No canibalistic rituals for you guys till you stop with the intrinsic evil supporting!

Reality. You are are doing it wrong.

ROFL, can I steal that Logicel?

4. Teaching hate in UK schools

Comment #275354 by Luthien on October 31, 2008 at 5:17 am

Go Paxman!

About time someone faced them down like this.

"the audience will make up their own mind about what you've just said."

Priceless :-D

5. Portrayal of Religion in the Media: Religion is Political

Comment #274419 by Luthien on October 30, 2008 at 3:51 am

Great article. I think we all need to stand up and be counted if we are to effect any change. The Athiest bus thingy is the perfect thing to do this. Many of my friends were extremely enthusiastic about it, even those who I didn't expect to even care.

6. Citizen Enforcers Take Aim

Comment #263634 by Luthien on October 12, 2008 at 5:38 am

NewEnglandBob said:

That rewards those irresponsible enough to take out a mortgage they could not afford.

I do take your point BUT surely it is up to the banks, who are responsible for investing OUR savings via mortgages etc, to make sure the mortgage risk isn't too high. It's not hard to asses people's credit rating, there is a system in place for doing it. I know there were several hih profile cases in the UK a few years back where Loyds had given loans to people who could not afford them, and didn't have the level of education to understand this themselves. The judge wiped out the debt and told the bank it had been irresponsible in lending the money in the first place.

There should be some kind of regulation in place to stop lenders from giving out mortgages that people are clearly unable to afford, and any bank that steps outside this loses their money.

7. Artist Builds Temple of Science

Comment #257546 by Luthien on September 30, 2008 at 3:58 pm

I do like the idea of the CMB stained glass. I think I might have a go at making some fused glass like that.

8. Pullman defiant over US protests against Northern Lights

Comment #257069 by Luthien on September 30, 2008 at 2:28 am

Does anyone agree with me that the Amber Spyglass was a terrible morass of flabby, divergent story-line- a desparate effort to tie up the inconsolable threads- which completely destroyed the singular clarity and perfection of the first two books?

Nope :)

I find it intriguing that people seem to either love or hate these books. Perhaps people don't get the classical references? Or perhaps some people expect too much of what is essentially a kids book? The one thing I noticed though is that people who hated the books had a particular hatred of the character Lyra, calling her a spoilt brat etc. (though I'm assuming this is not the case with you since you enjoyed the first 2 books).

9. Jewish 'ultras' defend morals with menace

Comment #251816 by Luthien on September 22, 2008 at 7:17 am

58. Comment #251789 by Caudimordax on September 22, 2008 at 5:43 am

No Religion said it's about birth control. I think it's about paternity control - that guy in the article has 11 kids! He needs to be absolutely sure they're all his. With human females not having an obvious estrus, it's necessary to keep them locked down at all times.

He should have invested in a cellar then...

10. Turkish edition of The Ancestor's Tale sells out within a day!

Comment #250791 by Luthien on September 20, 2008 at 10:53 am

Hey, I support Turkey's EU Application! I think if we let them in it will be easier to hold them to our standards on free speech. If there were 10 countries like Turkey I would be against it though, as it might tip the balance against the freedoms we enjoy. It's easier to liberalise a country if you have a large affluent middle class who want to read such things as The Ancestor's Tale, and the effect of member status on their economy might help this along.

Edit:
@Mulder: A friend of mine is Turkish, and he is as European in his outlook as I am (he would say he is a muslim, but also says he is not religious). Turkey definitely belongs with us culturally.

11. 'Spore' Its for the Little Guys

Comment #244519 by Luthien on September 9, 2008 at 3:55 am

Anyone who is worried that this misrepresents the process of evolution is not giving kids enough credit. The process of evolution by natural selection is so blindingly obvious that it is impossible not to get it, but the catch is you have to be thinking along a certain line first. I think this gets you thinking along those lines.

Plus, a conclusion that you come to yourself is much more robust than something you are just "told" by someone else.

12. How 'Secondary' Sex Characters Can Drive The Origin Of Species

Comment #242093 by Luthien on September 3, 2008 at 11:32 am

Hey, that explains all those men with the big fancy cars...

For the record, my bloke doesn't even own a car *smug grin*

13. Better Know a Lobby - Atheism

Comment #241028 by Luthien on September 1, 2008 at 3:03 pm

Or is it just that you kind of know it is SUPPOSED to be funny and therefore you kind of think well, perhaps it is funny? Like South Park. Not witty, not clever, but you know it is SUPPOSED to be funny, so you'd better say how hilarious it is or you won't be cool?

You don't like Southpark??? I think it's the cleverest satire of American society ever made (forget the simpsons and family guy).

Perhaps you don't appreciate it because of a certain episode? :-P

14. No atheist burials in Co Donegal

Comment #239468 by Luthien on August 29, 2008 at 5:19 pm

'oh no, she can go in with the Protestants'

This made me choke on my afternoon coffee. I'm from Derry myself, and this is typical of the Derry sense of humor. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is considered off limits (for even death has it's funny side).

15. Catholic leaders block contraceptive advice for 30,000 Scots girls

Comment #232719 by Luthien on August 18, 2008 at 2:21 pm

If it's anything like the catholic school I went to as a teen they won't be getting any teaching about contraception anyway! The teacher handed out leaflets about it while telling lots of embarassed teenage girls that it was a sin and she was only handing out the leaflets because required by law. People were puting them in the bin without reading them, cause they didn't want to bring them home, and we certainly didn't get an opportunity to read them in class.

16. Unintelligent Design

Comment #232528 by Luthien on August 18, 2008 at 9:21 am

3. Comment #231891 by yesspam on August 17, 2008 at 9:25 am

(6% of all skydiving fatalities, for instance, are from divers that forgot to pull their ripcords),

How do they know?

I think this refers to people who pull their rip cords too late, rather than ppl who forget altogether. I think you are supposed to count to a certain number and then pull the cord, but say you left it 40 seconds instead of 20 you might end up breaking your neck?

17. Rushdie condemns cancellation of Muhammad novel

Comment #230829 by Luthien on August 15, 2008 at 8:26 am

On the brighter side, I just saw the following...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7554892.stm

Egypt's Jane Austin perhaps? Certainly interesting to see this type of thing catch on :)

18. Rushdie condemns cancellation of Muhammad novel

Comment #230816 by Luthien on August 15, 2008 at 7:33 am

Excellent idea, bucketchemist, she should do that!

I have bought a few books from lulu.com myself (Sci-Fi), and they were all excellent! I would definitely recommend them.

The other idea from esuther about setting up a coalition to deal with these situations, I agree! How do we do this, and how can I help? I am quite sure that this would easily pay for itself in sales, after all, you still have to buy a book if you want to burn it ;)

19. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #229263 by Luthien on August 13, 2008 at 9:37 am

2 plus 2 equals 3 because I really believe it?

No, no NO! You have it ALL WRONG!!!

It's:

1 plus 1 plus 1 = 1

20. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #229261 by Luthien on August 13, 2008 at 9:34 am

If anyone thinks thatthe matter involves just a handful of nutters, belief in creationism is rampant in Northern Ireland amongst Presbyterians and other Calvinistic religious denominations.

Roger Stanyard

British Centre for Science Education.

Ugh! Tell me about it! In the small company I work for I know of at least 3 people that are creationists. The last company I worked for (over 1000 employees) I tried to set up a "science section" in our (online)company magazine where people could submit their own science articles (and I started the ball rolling with a series on physics). Within a few months I got an article from some guy entitled "Why Darwin was Wrong". The editorial committee (there was another creationist there too) decided to go ahead and publish his article so long as someone wrote a piece in response. Since it was my baby, I was more than happy to do it. I wrote a proper explanation (to the best of my understanding) for every single bit of misinformation, and embedded links in both articles so you could compare what we had said on each point. Needless to say the guy was not a happy camper, and requested that his next article be published without any answer from me. I simply said that it wouldn't be fair to only publish one "side", and I never heard from him again. I have no idea if anyone bothered to read it though.

21. How Our Culture Keeps Students Out of Science

Comment #226556 by Luthien on August 8, 2008 at 9:28 am

Also I think it's important to note as some have, that computer science is applying the term "science" with a broad brush. The comp sci graduate is likely to be supporting some non-descript business app - wondering why a damn variable is not being populated in some billing software. Fun fun! I know a good many CS folks, and wouldn't apply the label scientist to them.

You just depressed me, that sounds like my job :( I would love to go back to uni and do a physics degree, but I just can't afford not to work *sobs*

22. Rochester Physicist's Quantum-'Uncollapse' Hypothesis Verified

Comment #226343 by Luthien on August 8, 2008 at 2:01 am

Annoyingly, it doesn't say precisely what a "weak" measurement is, nor spell out precisely how it differs from a "strong" one.

Read my post above for the description! :)

23. Rochester Physicist's Quantum-'Uncollapse' Hypothesis Verified

Comment #225794 by Luthien on August 7, 2008 at 11:35 am

I read about this experiment last year in New Scientist. Here is a quick snippet from the magazine (I have them all in a rack in my livingroom):

"To sneek a peek at the qbit's state midway through collapse, the researchers induce a steadily increasing voltage across a wire ring. This is like teasing the qbit into "thinking" about tunnelling by making it easier to cross the barrier. Then at a certain threshold they drop the voltage back down again. It is equivalent to opening the box and then quickly closing the lid. Because quantum processes take a finite time, lowering the energy barrier then raising it again acts as a "weak" form of measurement. If we don't see the qubit tunnel it means that there is some finite probability that the qubit is in the lower enery state. In ohter words, we have gained information about a quantum system without destroying the delicate superposition. The more times we risk leaving the barrier down without the qubit tunnelling, the more certain we are of it's low energy state. Now it is time to undo any harm we have inflicted in the process. To do this, the physisists fire another kind of microwave pulse, known as a pi-pulse, at the qubit. This inverts the quantum states of the qubit: the higher energy level is now the lower level, and visa versa. The voltage is then ramped up and dropped again. If the qubit doesn't tunnel this time, it becomes more likely that it is in what is now the lower energy level. Where the first weak measurement pushed the superposition one way, the second pushes it by the same amount the other way, which means we end up right where we started." Cover Story in New Scientist, 12th May 2007 (issue 2603)

24. The best way to undermine the jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women - and establish energy independence

Comment #225769 by Luthien on August 7, 2008 at 11:08 am

The best way to undermine the confidence and beliefs of jihadists is to trigger a rebellion of Muslim women, their mothers and sisters and daughters.

Exactly! The suffragette movement in England was once officially considered to be the greatest threat to the British Empire (more so than the IRA). You can't fight 50% of the population when they are in your home, or share your DNA.

25. Richard Dawkins, the naive professor

Comment #225759 by Luthien on August 7, 2008 at 10:59 am

Nature is too cruel to have been invented by God! A wet, mawkish, bunny-hugging argument.

No, it proves definitively that the nice, supposedly loving christian god does not exist! I can think of nothing more wet and mawkish than clinging to some vague deist argument without the slightest bit of evidence.

26. Call to teach biblical creation as science

Comment #225606 by Luthien on August 7, 2008 at 5:28 am

Northern Ireland is the closest thing to the Bible Belt in the US and there are strong links between Fundamentalist Protestant groups here and those in the States.

photopedia, I think you will find that a genetic analysis of our NI fundies and their American counterparts will show that they are all the same tribe. Unfortunately the millions that left Ireland for America included a large number of fundies who took their 16th century attitudes with them.

27. Call to teach biblical creation as science

Comment #225604 by Luthien on August 7, 2008 at 5:17 am

What is it with the Northern Ireland assembly these days? First we have a raving homophobic bigot like Iris Robinson as the head of the Health Committee and now we have a grinning creationist moron like Mervyn Storey as the head of the Education Committee. It's almost as if they chose these people for their positions solely on the depth of their incompetence.

Cartomancer, people here in Northern Ireland have been voting along "tribal" lines for decades. If you are from a protestant background you used to vote either ulster unionist or DUP, but the DUP ruined them by calling "trator" when they actually tried to talk to the "other side". (Once the DUP had power they just did the same thing as the UUP anyway.) Now if you want to vote along tribal lines the DUP are the only option, as voting UU will "split the vote" and let a nationalist / republican in.

/sigh

On the plus side, the UUP had a politician on the radio yesterday who was supporting evolution, and calling for Mervyn Storey's resignation on the basis that he put his religion before being a public servant.

28. Embracing goodness, without God

Comment #224080 by Luthien on August 4, 2008 at 5:02 am

"And I am a good person. I'm a very caring person. I care for my cats and other people."

What I REALLY want to know is...

...how many atheists are cat people as opposed to dog people?

Seriously, I can't think of a single atheist I know that doesn't have at least 1 cat (or wants to have one but can't). :P

29. Why Islam Is Unfunny for a Cartoonist

Comment #223538 by Luthien on August 2, 2008 at 4:43 pm

The statement that Amseterdam could be majority Muslim withing a decade is pretty firghtening.

No, it's pretty rubbish! I'm just back from there, and it all looks pretty dutch to me ;)

I'm also intending to be living there by the end of the year. They have their problems, but no more so than the UK. Most of the women I saw wearing headscarves / so called islamic dress were in den Haag, and almost all of them had made the headscarf a statement of individuality. Give them a generation or so; the idea of individuality is more powerful than any ideology.

White Pearl- I used to be emphasize with you when you criticized any dumb ass sexual remarks from the guys, but by the looks of your recent avatar, it looks like your begging them on. C'mon- you can't have it both ways.

Are you saying that a woman whom you perceive to be "flirting" is somehow responsible for "dumb ass sexual remarks" being directed at her? Interesting! I guess that woman walking down the dark alley in a short skirt is just asking for it too? Idiot!

30. The Trolls Among Us

Comment #223368 by Luthien on August 2, 2008 at 5:13 am

0. Comment #223146 by MattusW on August 1, 2008 at 3:13 pm

That part where he says he was a victim of abuse, do you think he might have been trolling the reporter?

I was thinking that too. In fact I was thinking that they were having him on with the entire thing to be honest. Stuff like:

"We're waiting," Weev said. "We need someone to show us the way. The messiah."

just gives it away. These people are clearly too cynical for messianic prophecy. Besides, if they took away all the stupid people it wouldn't be any fun to troll any more ;)

31. Breeding for God

Comment #221523 by Luthien on July 29, 2008 at 5:40 pm

In ethnically divided Northern Ireland, sectarian conflict fuels far higher religiosity than in other parts of Britain.

We are not more religious, we just tend to "claim" (or be claimed by) one side or the other. I can mark myself as Atheist on the equality monitoring forms till I am blue in the face, but they just ask what school I went to and mark me down as catholic. Even worse, most monitoring forms ask what religious community would you be perceived to be from, and then state that it is a criminal offense to lie?!?

Take it from me that Atheism is definitely on the rise here ;)

32. France rejects Muslim woman over radical practice of Islam

Comment #209573 by Luthien on July 12, 2008 at 4:30 pm

Except in Ireland, where it was "Erin go braless"

ROFL, that just made my day :D

33. Atheism on the buses

Comment #206505 by Luthien on July 8, 2008 at 12:26 pm

Signed! It's worth a fiver just for the entertainment value!

34. Senate bill allows display of Lord's Prayer, 10 Commandments

Comment #187526 by Luthien on June 2, 2008 at 9:28 am

34. Comment #186427 by stephenray on May 30, 2008 at 9:21 am
Tom Paine said christianity was an amphibious fraud?
As in, able to go on land and water?
What did he mean by that?

Perhaps he means it evolved from something fishy?

35. Religion is a product of evolution, software suggests

Comment #185173 by Luthien on May 27, 2008 at 6:26 am

People are gullible by default...

I don't think so. Humans evolved big brains, sophisticated language, and a theory of mind in order to ascertain if their fellow humans were cheating them out of resources. It would make sense if these people operated on a fairly rational basis, even if their understanding of the world was vastly lacking. Once complex culture began to generate memes, the gulibility factor would start to have an effect. Make up stories for children, and have the gulible ones take them for the truth. Fast forward a few generations and you might have a religion?

36. Teenager faces prosecution for calling Scientology 'cult'

Comment #182580 by Luthien on May 20, 2008 at 2:57 pm

They are right, this stinks!

37. Group finds Starbucks logo too hot to handle

Comment #180915 by Luthien on May 16, 2008 at 4:57 am

Ooh. This is fun. What other innocuous imagery can I find to be offended by? If only there were some group insensitive enough to use an execution/torture device as their logo.

ROFL, nice one!

38. The detail in the Devil

Comment #176149 by Luthien on May 6, 2008 at 5:17 pm

Hey, I used to be an expert in demonology, but then I respeced to an SM/Ruin build and never looked back. I only use my imp for the health buff now, though my felhunter is still useful for soloing (but only really on casters).

/target Dr. William Bradshaw
/cast curse of doom
/cackle

Anyone else here have a warlock? (or even know what I'm talking about?)

39. Judge orders La. school district to stop Bible giveaways

Comment #168161 by Luthien on April 24, 2008 at 4:18 pm

50. Comment #167641 by old-toy-boy on April 24, 2008 at 8:28 am
Let me see if I (a Brit), have this right. In the U.S, you cannot preach/promote religion in state schools, even teaching 'about' world religions (plural) is discouraged because it may be mistaken for preaching religion, yes? onsequently hhanding out free religious books in schools is not allowed... So handing out non-religious books should be OK... (you can probably guess where this is leading...) you can not get much more non-religious than books like 'The God delision", Or 'The Blind Watchmaker'.

(Have I just evolved an argument to exploit a niche?)

No, they might still be able to argue against it because it explicitly mentions religion. I have a better idea...

...a nice book explaining the scientific concept of natural selection perhaps? One for every student ;)

40. Flea of the week

Comment #164097 by Luthien on April 19, 2008 at 2:05 pm

Aquaria said:

Oh man... No wonder everyone thought I was weird as a kid. I always wanted books! The first time I ever went to a bookstore (a rare treat in hickistan) was the only time I felt anything close to a religious experience as a child.

I always got books, books, books as a child. The first science book I ever got was a pop up book called "The Universe" which I bought in Woolworths reduced to £2.50, when I was only 7 (I still have it on my bookshelf). Everyone thought I was weird too, cause how many 7 year olds do you hear wondering aloud whether the universe will end in the "Big Crunch", or continue expanding until it dissipates into subatomic particles and radiation.

If anyone wants to do this for another child, buy them this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Story-Everything-Neal-Layton/dp/0340881712/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208638973&sr=1-7

I bought it for my friend's kid, and bought one for the Christmas charity toy box in work. It really gives a great overview of the Big Bang theory and Evolution.

41. Yoko Ono, Filmmakers Caught in 'Expelled' Flap

Comment #162583 by Luthien on April 17, 2008 at 5:09 am

Decius, I absolutely LOVE your avatar! Where did you find it??? <3 <3 <3

42. Did pre-big bang universe leave its mark on the sky?

Comment #158973 by Luthien on April 11, 2008 at 9:10 am

25. Comment #158882 by sidfaiwu on April 11, 2008 at 6:29 am
JanChan:

Wait, if big bangs are hereditary, what's stopping natural selection to act upon them?

Mostly the fact that universes don't have environments. There is nothing 'outside' the universe that can cull the 'weaker' universes.

Perhaps the universes that have certain properties will just expand forever, and dissapate, with no "Big Crunch" style rebirth (or whatever other mechanism you can postulate). If a "Big Crunch" style event birthed more universes (all with similar, but not quite the same properties from the "imprint" of the last one), then we have our natural selection. After all, natural selection is simply surviving to have more offspring.

43. The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

Comment #158233 by Luthien on April 10, 2008 at 8:41 am

Hehe, that is very well put. I shall have to remember that point next time I hear that silly nonsense from a creationist ;-)

44. Expelled producers accused of copyright infringement

Comment #158229 by Luthien on April 10, 2008 at 8:36 am

rushfan2112:

Hopefully Yoko Ono might do something with the use of "Imagine" in the film...I doubt very seriously that she gave permission for that.

They WHAT? In what context did they use it?

45. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152478 by Luthien on March 31, 2008 at 6:04 am

FYI, Pat Condell's latest offering:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3_qelW5qp4

46. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #149918 by Luthien on March 26, 2008 at 10:30 am

*sings*
Happy birthday to you,
You were born in a zoo,
With the monkies...

Only kidding! :-P

Hope you have a great birthday (and many more).

47. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #149832 by Luthien on March 26, 2008 at 9:31 am

11. Comment #149743 by Rover on March 26, 2008 at 7:41 am
...Maybe if they get cancer, they can pray for a miracle and just forget about the chemo?

Someone in my extended family actually did this to himself, because his prayer group convinced him that they could save him with prayer. Obviously he died (a very young man), and drove his parents and siblings to understandable distraction. My parents had attended the prayer group a few years before this occurred (on his invitation), and I remember they came home with all sorts of nutty ideas about praying out Satan etc. before they finally wised up and left.

...and this wasn't in the bible belt of America, this was in Northern Ireland!!!

48. Wicked untruths from the Church

Comment #149681 by Luthien on March 26, 2008 at 5:36 am

Atheism may lead to a realisation of the danger of religious dogma which includes ignorance, bigotry and intolerance.

Yes, well anything where the element of human compassion is removed can cause this to happen, anything that flicks that switch in our heads and floods us with the familiar feeling of self righteousness can lead to "rules" being more important than people. I'm not sure what the solution to that is, I guess just to be aware of it and try your best to understand without the act of "judging" (I mean where you caricature someone's personality in a negative way based on one thing).

49. Wicked untruths from the Church

Comment #149653 by Luthien on March 26, 2008 at 3:53 am

Thoughtsoncommontoad said:

Is anyone else uneasy about number 2 "Creating a child with the correct tissue match to save a sick brother or sister." or is it just me?

Since the "tissue match" in question is for cord blood / cells, I do not see a problem with this...

...However, I do think it is necessary to look at whether the child created will be wanted for itself. People who love their existing child enough to go to such lengths (IVF is a pretty tough process for the woman) are bound to be the kind of people that will be good parents to the child created. This consideration seems to be covered by the legislation requiring that the welfare of the unborn child be taken into account.

Personally I don't think it would harm me as a person to know I was created to save some else's life in this manner. I know it might feel like the thin end of the wedge for creating humans for "tissue farming", but it isn't.

50. First 'Rule' Of Evolution Suggests That Life Is Destined To Become More Complex

Comment #146525 by Luthien on March 19, 2008 at 7:00 am

My definition of Evolution by natural selection:

Hey, whatever works for you!