351. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158481 by black wolf on April 10, 2008 at 3:22 pm

"Rep. Davis said that she had been upset, earlier in the day, to learn that a twenty-second and twenty-third Chicago Public School student this school year had been shot to death that morning. She said that it was wrong for her to take out her anger, frustrations and emotions on me, and that she apologized to me."
http://www.robsherman.com/

I understand that Sherman is politically active, so he accepted the apology diplomatically.
I would not have, if the above words were in fact all she said. That is a nonpology. She should retract every word she said explicitly. I think her apology reveals that she still believes every word of what she said to him. She has only realized that making statements in public which make her look that bad and lead to hundreds of protesting letters are not the way to win the next election. This woman needs to be watched closely until she decides to end her political career.

352. German Church admits aiding Nazis

Comment #158422 by black wolf on April 10, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Falcon, I haven't seen Hitler having a viking funeral mentioned anywhere else before. Where did you get that from?
I know the corpse found was burned with gasoline, but was was 'viking' about that?
According to Rochus Misch, the last remaining radio officer in the Fuehrerbunker, the only order Hitler gave was to be burned. After he had shot himself, they packed him up in horse blankets, carried the body outside and set it on fire.

353. The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

Comment #158412 by black wolf on April 10, 2008 at 1:03 pm

This is pretty painfully obvious, I think. Imposing a selection on a population surely isn't natural.

354. The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

Comment #158404 by black wolf on April 10, 2008 at 12:50 pm

There are two objections I have against eugenics, which come to my mind right now. 1) to be successful on a humanity or even a nation level, it needs to be mandated. That violates the basic human rights that I believe in, as per the Golden Rule. I don't want to be told who to produce children with, therefore I don't tell anybody else.
2) selective breeding very often leads to hereditary gene defects. If you 'breed' a population in a certain direction, sooner or later defects occur because the genetic similarities become too frequent. As selective breeding is a much faster process than natural evolution, the mutation rate and self-correcting mechanisms on a molecular level can't keep up to weed out the 'damage'. You may suddenly find that you're in a dead end of 'clusterfucked' genes. I'm not a geneticist, but I think I'm getting it about right. Of course we may be able to engineer those genes to a greater advantage some day in the future. It 'feels' morally uncomfortable, but I must admit that a reasonable approach with a tested and safe approach to genetic engineering is something that could be considered.
I would not advocate or support late term abortions (i.e. about later than week 22, which is the currently accepted standard by law in my country) based on eugenic ideas.

That said, if anyone wants to select his personal reproduction partner based on that person's phenotype or genotype, why not. As long as his offspring don't get coerced into doing the same, that's okay.

edit: the bottleneck argument brought up by Jules is another good point, so I would add that to it. We'd have to determine an outlet within one reproductive cycle, which is impossible before we know excactly how basically everything in genetics works.

355. Expelled producers accused of copyright infringement

Comment #158171 by black wolf on April 10, 2008 at 7:05 am

Attorney Peter Irons comments (on Pharyngula article):
"From what I know of the movie business, and what the XVIVO people told me, it would cost the Expelled producers a mint (at least $100K) to recall and remaster all copies before they go to theaters. So they have to choose a) between that cost, b) delaying the film's release, and c) keeping the segment in and risking a lawsuit. XVIVO does have a really good copyright lawyer from a big firm in Boston, so it's not just an idle threat."

356. Expelled producers accused of copyright infringement

Comment #158166 by black wolf on April 10, 2008 at 6:55 am

check this out:
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9669/jewlyingforjesuscy8.jpg

Excreted!:Ours is brown!

357. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #158153 by black wolf on April 10, 2008 at 6:39 am

A half hour after the game ends, the boy suddenly rocks forward and yells out "KYUUUUUUUU!" (aka "Q"). People realize he's still playing hangman, just reeeeally slowly.

358. Reviews of Expelled

Comment #158109 by black wolf on April 10, 2008 at 4:39 am

I own a few books inherited from my grandparents from the Nazi era (auto-biography of Göring, a small book called 'Little Race Study' etc.). It is clear from those sources that the Nazis systematically replaced unwilling evolutionary biologists and countless other undesirable scientists with more incompetent pseudo-scientists. As long as someone had a high school degree and willingly followed Nazi ideology, he was in basically. They let this kind of person write an essay or two, and he was a scientist. The Nazis didn't care if their scientists produced bogus papers, just as long as they supported them. They re-wrote German history, distorted paleontology and archaeology, and they followed the same path in almost all areas of science. That's what happens when the education system gets subordinated to an unscientific and irrational ideology.

359. Reviews of Expelled

Comment #158091 by black wolf on April 10, 2008 at 4:11 am

Wow, that Fox review is brutal, and rightly so. It also highlights the fact that the movie is scheduled to open mainly in select rural southern theaters, where, the author suspects, the filmmakers are deliberately targeting the not-so-well-educated (gullible?, indoctrinated? - you decide) populace. Who, judging from easily discernable comments on various message boards and blogs, evidently think that an opinion on educational and science matters is what the pastor tells you to think. Any move submitting decisions on the content of any educationial cultural level, to the consciously and proudly displayed herd mentality of that flock is inevitably bound to be un-American, un-democratic and plainly a huge step backward. This must never happen. I applaud Mr. Friedman for his uncompromising and clear-thinking view.
Michael Shermer concentrates on the ID movement itself, as featured in Expelled. All I can say is, if intellectual and general dishonesty were criminal, the mindbogglingly deceitful creationism/ID folk would be stacking up life sentences by now. Shermer: "Unless God reaches into our world through natural and detectable means, he remains wholly outside the realm of science." While this is perfectly true, the creationists declare that God does influence the world, at least by fiddling people's emotions or messing around with DNA. The ID creed is:"we are science as long as we declare this to happen. just give us the money already and we'll find God's tracks for sure". Given that they've stirred the shot glass a bit and have received countless undeserved but nevertheless incredibly patient replies, they know very explicitly that that is not how science works. They know perfectly well that their definition of science would include phrenology, astrology, alchemy and so on. And they also know that real science has moved past these ideas for dozens of decades. Creationism/ID is a direct jump back into the ideological center of 18th century pseudoscience. They are stuck in their narcisstic hubris and want everybody else stuck with them.

360. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #157663 by black wolf on April 9, 2008 at 11:51 am

Could be (I wouldn't say I knew about 'many'). The difference is that the more rationally thinking, intelligent contributors feel the moral obligation to at least try to educate the slow-wits instead of cutting to the commercials. In all cases of pea-brain visits to this site I have observed, it's always the wannabe scholars who get caught in their ideological circularity and then cut and run.

361. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #157645 by black wolf on April 9, 2008 at 11:23 am

Perhaps some form of malodorous gas is the better analogy.

362. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #157638 by black wolf on April 9, 2008 at 11:12 am

...or you will be classified with the above reptillian scum.

363. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #157630 by black wolf on April 9, 2008 at 10:58 am

What?
An argument that gets settled by evidence and reason?
WHAT?
Nobody's being told to go to Hell and nobody gets banned?
What is this?
A clear-thinking oasis or something like that?
Is this really what you want the world to be like?
You people must be totally nuts!

364. 'Darwin chip' brings evolution into the classroom

Comment #157584 by black wolf on April 9, 2008 at 9:51 am

Is optimism about the possibly persuasive nature of such a practical demonstration of the mechanisms of evolution appropriate. I think yes. But this 'yes' is not an unconditional affirmation.
What we do know is that die-hard creationists lie, they distort and spin or deny any new development, evidence and research to fit their agenda. Therefore I predict that the first argument against this will be 'haha, this is man-made, so it proves that intelligent creation is necessary to prompt any evolutionary process, and it also proves that evolution can only work if the parameters are determined by an intelligent creator'.
They constantly demand, completely oblivious to logic, that natural evolution be demonstrated before their very eyes, with every single physical change visible from an inorganic molecule to a complete modern organism, i.e. homo sapiens. They are not willing to admit the simple fact that mounting evidence of accumulated variation is logically equivalent to observing every step in sequence. And they are not willing to apply their hypocritical demands to their own biased ideology. The easiest tactical step in their strategy is to put pressure on school boards and science teachers not to mention any fact or undertake any demonstration, such as this chip, that might possibly touch the dogma they wish to implant into all children's minds, and it's already working. All children, not just their own - there's homeschooling for that, but that's not what they're satisfied with. The strategy is the gradual implementation of theocracy. Enough of the completely factual ranting for now.

365. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #157247 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 7:07 pm

After seeing all of it, I conclude that Peter did make one or two good attempts at forming a valid argument. I honestly can't remember them though.
The debate demonstrates that there is still very much more need to educate the public about atheism, humanism, history and science. Many people fear what they don't know.

366. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #157220 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 6:00 pm

I'm still watching.
Believers should really try to avoid the Isaac story. Hmm, they'd need to delete it from the Bible. There is simply no way to justify this story, except when you're a priest king trying to justify your arbitrary totalitarian regime. Or when you try to rationalize your cosmic Stockholm syndrome. Asking a theologian to explain this is like asking a car crash victim to please stop bleeding.
edit: I just got the word "painiseek" from YT for continued commenting. How astonishingly appropriate, almost prophetic.

367. Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby

Comment #157171 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 3:49 pm

That's cool. Dawkins expresses my thoughts on the 'Why' question in almost the exact words I've used on this site a while ago. 'Just because a language allows a question to be formed doesn't mean that it's a meanigful question or that it deserves an answer'. Very nice. I sort of feel flattered.
No, I don't think he quoted or paraphrased me. ;)

368. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #157120 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 3:04 pm

Comment #157080 by yussel123 on April 8, 2008 at 2:39 pm

When did the UN declare that a person shouldn't criticize religion?

369. Anti-evolution bill clears another hurdle

Comment #157105 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 2:56 pm

As the bill, contrary to the above substitution of the word 'idea', specifically mentions 'scientific' as a criterium, and as ID/creo have already been officially reckognized as the unscientific religious idea they are, I don't expect ID to make any headway with this.
The ACLU has already vowed to sue anyway.
For the sake of the American student, I hope that someday there will be legislation in your country to implement a general mandatory school attendance instead of homeschooling, given that they also increase funding and generally improve the education quality. Homeschooling may be a practical and working alternative in countries like Austria and Denmark, but in a country like the US, where 70% of homeschooling parents cite religious reasons for their decision, the outcome can only get worse over time.

370. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #157038 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 1:56 pm

This is starting to become a tad bit clownesque.
"shittest of the shit"
"hot air-blowing dickhead"
Oh, the images.
You guys realize that your increasingly inflationary utilization of vulgarisms doesn't really improve their impact, don't you?

371. In search of the God particle

Comment #156982 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 1:05 pm

I couldn't read their comment page beyond this gem, which should be high on the 'darndest things fundies say' list:

If there was such a thing as a "God Particle" as the so called "wisdom" of intellectual man calls it then why is Earth the only planet around that sustains life???? Why is there not life on all other planets in the universe? Or on maybe a few others around? That is my question. I laugh at articles like this. Turn to your bibles and in the first few versus that "God Particle" that you people are so convinced exists talks to you.

Manny, aurora, colorado

372. In search of the God particle

Comment #156976 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 1:00 pm

SPS, there was a supervillian on Spider-man that developed superpowers and was able to control black holes. I believe he called himself "The Spot".

373. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156970 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 12:50 pm

I second
Comment #156963 by Quetzalcoatl on April 8, 2008 at 12:43 pm
to be fair, I didn't perceive RM's posts as more than a little annoying, but I don't know if I saw all of them. They did come across as somewhat stalkerish.

374. The Atheist Next Door

Comment #156947 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 12:27 pm

It's really irrelevant if some people (in the US) become outspoken atheists in reaction to the religious right, or not. What matters is that they have a case, and if the religious right would walk into the ocean never to resurface, the atheist case would be just as valid.

375. In search of the God particle

Comment #156718 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 7:28 am

I really like this man. His thinking alone is so much greater than the God theologians have painstakingly painted over centuries.

376. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156709 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 7:12 am

Example: We read bed-time stories to our children. Should we stop because they are not exact, scientific descriptions of the world, that would stand up to the scrutiny we use to test scientific theories? Is it "child abuse" to tell a three or four year old a story about "Mother Goose"?

The only inequality left as far as I can see is that I won't gain a title if my partner gets knighted.

377. Get out of here, atheists!

Comment #156699 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 6:58 am

I've had a look at Davis' VoteSmart page. I found that I agree with her political leaning on most issues, and she doesn't seem to be a nutter in general at all. I guess that some believers have something like a little compartment in their thought process that they unconsciously shield from reason. When that compartment gets challenged or reaches a point where frustration mounts, they must release the pressure. This release gives the rest of their thinking which remains rational more room to breathe. And then some believers seem to have a more flexible compartment that allows them to accumulate 'nuttiness' to a much higher degree and take over much more of their thinking, bordering or developing into a permanent psychosis.

378. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156686 by black wolf on April 8, 2008 at 6:30 am

We can't compile a failsafe list of arguments that 'just work'. It depends on the individual believer. I've read several deconversion stories from people like Matt Dillahunty (Atheist Community of Austin), who became an atheist after being a fundamentalist preacher for a whopping 25 years. What got through to him was not a single argument or a select few, but the whole process over time of accumulating doubts, unsatisfying and somewhat dishonest answers from his fundy peers, questions from our viewpoint that he couldn't answer, finding out that the allegedly irrefutable points his teachers had taught him were just not so irrefutable, and so on and on. The process takes a few months for some, a few years for most, and decades for then some. As long as we keep throwing, something's gonna stick sometimes.

379. Russell T Davies: Return of the (tea) Time Lord

Comment #156531 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 6:48 pm

I'd like to see Richard in 'Heroes'. Wouldn't it be cool seeing him explaining patiently for the dozenth time to Dr. Suresh how evolution really works, then Petrelli comes flying in in plain sight, the Prof. raises an eyebrow and just says 'never mind' and walks out.

380. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #156524 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 6:31 pm

I dunno. Maybe RM is working on his greatest work of dramatic music yet. Dunno.
I try not to post in anger, even if someone directs unjustified accusations or hate talk at me personally. I usually type out my anger and then reread it, find satisfaction in having it written down, and then delete it and write something better. I've had moments like the one MaxD describes, and had the same afterthoughts he had. Sometimes it's best if you're honest to yourself. People stop being honest when they start channeling their expression of thought into what they think is socially acceptable verbalism. They turn into hypocrites without even noticing. But sometimes it's best to just hold it, especially when you've got no information to add and apparently no one expects a comment from you. Nobody's expected to comment on everything, but some people think they have to.

381. Get out of here, atheists!

Comment #156372 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 12:22 pm

Apparently Davis would welcome legislation to mandate a certain 15-20% minority of the population to sit in the back of the bus.
I'm glad that almost all commenters at Eric Zorn's blog (linked above) despise her conduct, apart from one presumably sarcastic all-caps yeller, one disgruntled man Sherman had successfully campaigned against, and one lapdogging Davis follower who didn't even attempt to formulate an argument.

382. Expelled Overview

Comment #156307 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 9:47 am

Oh, I'm sure they will manage to achieve their 1000 theater / 100 gazillion revenue goal.
See, if they can't, it was meant as a metaphor all along. They'll have 900 metaphorical theaters and a huuuuuge metaphorical profit, and that makes it true and settles the issue.
I'm off to get my puff now, thanks for reminding me i_a

383. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156266 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 8:01 am

Thanks Cartomancer. I did know about the context, but didn't have the exact Niemoeller association in mind. I thought about adapting the original poem to the present situation even more, but I thought that would have been unfair. I settled with a sort of middle-ground paraphrasing just to get my post done.
The ironic thing about it is that it's the creationists who constantly paint themselves as the persecuted whenever their attempts at expansion and legislative influence, as well as educational demands, get thwarted by rational and law-abiding institutions.
I often find the American education system very unsatisfying structurally. I still don't understand why school boards in the US are apparently based more on electing polemically skilled members by the public than taking their academic qualification or experience into account. They often seem to be more like a council of parents who make decisions based on their ideological opinion instead of factual information. What I don't get is why they are the ones entrusted with composing a curriculum, instead of having a select council of actual pedagogically and scientifically informed and experienced experts to do this. It seems to me almost like having a court of law where the judge, lawyers and attorneys all get replaced with randomly chosen juries.

384. Fleabytes

Comment #156249 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 7:35 am

I think there's a fundamental difference in praying for someone on one side and thinking about someone on the other. Prayers are usually very generic in that any personal name can be inserted at the appropriate places (insert name here, insert purpose there). It is a process of non-thinking. Even if a rare believer has the intellectual commitment to compose individualized prayers, all he's actually doing is composing poetry based on a pre-determined scheme. Honestly thinking about someone involves empathy and contemplation, undertaking a significantly higher intellectual and emotional effort. Prayer is a system of avoiding that effort, replacing true empathy for structuralized autosuggestive monologue.

385. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156242 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 7:06 am

Believers are told accepting evolution is denying God, for no small part because Richard, as a biologist, has come out for atheism.

386. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156239 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 6:55 am

Is the perception that the number of followers of this ideology is actually growing, or is this mere conciousness raising?

387. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156235 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 6:38 am

I wish they'd stop labeling people 'Darwinists'. If any label is needed, they should use the term 'evolutionary biologist', or at least mention that neo-Darwinian evolution is very much more sophisticated and detailed than what 'Darwinism' implies. The dishonest and/or ignorant activists out there will pounce on any possibility to associate modern scientists with Social Darwinism and immoral eugenics.

388. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #156229 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 6:28 am

Maybe after all he has been through he may become an Atheist? One can only hope.

389. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #156224 by black wolf on April 7, 2008 at 6:20 am

I've looked up a lot of facts about this case and the surrounding circumstances.
Statistically, about 1 in 200 Russian citizens is a cult (i.e. unauthorized religious group) member. Medical statistics show that at least 2% of all humans can be considered mentally unstable or diseased. Taking into account that very many mentally unstable persons have religiously themed delusions or hallucinations (as Dr. Benway mentioned), I think it can be safely assumed that there are at least 3-4 times as many mentally unstable people within the officially reckognized churches than in the general population. Very few church officials have academic training in psychiatry or psychology.
My conclusion is that religious communities attract mentally unstable persons although being unfit to properly treat their conditions, instead reinforcing dangerous mentalities. As the data are publically available, they do so knowingly and maintain the outspoken conviction that they are actually helping people in providing moral guidelines and counseling. It is therefore obvious that they are consciously, constantly and systematically lying to the public.

390. Russell T Davies: Return of the (tea) Time Lord

Comment #156081 by black wolf on April 6, 2008 at 4:31 pm

And what's the deal with vulgarity in British papers (not that there's anything wrong with that). Russell dropped an F-bomb in the middle of the interview and it got printed! In the States the papers still get in trouble with anything juicier than damn or hell. Even a nice healthy Goddamn brings down a hail of *st*r*sks.

391. Fleabytes

Comment #156077 by black wolf on April 6, 2008 at 4:17 pm

Steve,
their constant and systematically recurring distortions and lies are way past what I would consider ironic, entertaining, amusing, or odd. I get the impression, from the high publishing frequency of reactionary books resp. their content, to the recent movie shenanigans, that there's a definitive mode of behavior setting in. Is it becoming a meme among theists to react as if going through a list (see al-rawandi's lineout) of predominantly dishonest and incoherent tactical moves?
Or have they always (read: before a few years ago) acted this way and have I missed it?
These days, I find my capacity for amusement thinning out, although I do simply lean back and laugh at the next creotard video to hit YT. But for me the fun ends when another bishop proudly announces that science needs to be stopped (not supervised, not discussed, but stopped) at a certain point, based on what he thinks someone said Jesus said about what God said. And all the rest of the bullshit they constantly come up with all over the globe.
I know your post was a response to one particular publisher statement, but I just had to get a little rant off my mind (once again). ;)

edit: Wow, Paula beat me to it with her much shorter response echoing my thoughts. One more sympathy point to chalk up on my imaginary 'fellow commenter board'.
See theists, it's not so hard to admit something's imaginary, you should try it. ;)

392. Dawkins warns of human extinction

Comment #156001 by black wolf on April 6, 2008 at 1:26 pm

Thanks Steve for the educative response. One more day I've learned something. I never understood much of physics in school, so I'm trying to make up for the lack nowadays.

393. Dawkins warns of human extinction

Comment #155983 by black wolf on April 6, 2008 at 1:04 pm

Even very big black holes out there in the universe likely don't spread forever. I have read that they reach a point of 'saturation' where they either have no more material in the vicinity to take in, or they can't (for some reason, I'm not a physicist). Cosmologists even observed that black holes emit rays or cones of particles from a point on, so possibly black holes may even decay over time.

394. Dawkins warns of human extinction

Comment #155904 by black wolf on April 6, 2008 at 9:22 am

What fides said reads like a shot in the own foot to me. If external ideas can't cause negative behavior, then they can't cause positive behavior either. Which would mean that going to mass to listen to external ideas (among other things), and thereby expecting these ideas to reinforce or deepen a certain world view, that is supposed to influence behavior, would be utterly pointless wasting of time. I presume few people go to mass regularly just for the music, the entertainment and the socializing part.

395. Dawkins warns of human extinction

Comment #155365 by black wolf on April 4, 2008 at 11:55 am

Well, I managed to take a photo of him on the top of a mountain one day.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3136/2385557051_88d5ce65c3.jpg

396. Protests no concern for outspoken atheist

Comment #155051 by black wolf on April 4, 2008 at 5:36 am

One of the Christians at the FCOS site left a respectable and somewhat insightful comment. She said that all the preaching of scripture, handing out tracts and claiming fulfilled prophecies will get them nowhere, as she realized that these are meaningless to someone who doesn't believe in the basis for them in the first place. She said that what needs to be demonstrated are not the same old 'Proofs of God' (PRATT), but evidence of God's love. I say, fine, have at it. Christians, examine the real world and show us evidence of how disease, disaster, atrocities and warfare fit into all-encompassing love for humanity, and then maybe we'll listen. Centuries of theology have failed at demonstrating this, and almost all theologians acknowledge that theodicy is the greatest problem which they've not been able to solve. This is the Poodle's Core: when an analytical method fails completely regarding the greatest problem, any reasonable human being will realize that this method or viewpoint is deeply flawed and inadequate. That's the point where rational thinking lets go of false assumptions. C'mon Christians, you can do it. Overcome your fear and drop it.

397. BBC 'too scared to allow jokes about Islam'

Comment #154382 by black wolf on April 3, 2008 at 6:50 am

How many muslim stand-up comedians are there, even non-religious from a muslim background? They would know their community, and would likely come up with the best lines, and the most appeal to muslim listeners. I don't know much about the UK comedy scene. In Germany, there are at least a handful of decent Turkish and Arabic comedians, making fun of stereotypes from both 'sides'. On the downside, they too avoid Imam jokes like the plague. Kaya Yanar had a funny serial skit about a conservative Turkish family whose German neighbor wanted to marry their daughter. He included many jokes about narrow-minded Turkish fathers, the headscarf-wearing mother who doesn't speak German, and contrasted that with the naively submissive multiculturalism of the German guy who'd follow every order from the Turkish father just to have a chance at the daughter. But these skits, as far as I recall, never included anything about religion.
My guess is that these comedians know very well how dangerous some muslims can become. All you need is one backyard Imam inciting aggression against a comedian, and the next live performance will give some deluded young man a chance to chalk one up for his afterlife by taking out the stand-up.

398. CEAI Action Alert for Science Teachers

Comment #154370 by black wolf on April 3, 2008 at 6:30 am

People from all viewpoints keep confusing things in their argument, if with good intentions. To clear things up:
Evolution: A process that factually happens.
Theory of Evolution: A scientific theory that explains the fact of evolution.

399. Who wants to kill the elderly?

Comment #153780 by black wolf on April 2, 2008 at 4:33 am

It's talked about so often that it must be real. I'd rather not wear a uniform, though - do you think it has a peaceful wing?

400. Supreme Court to consider Ten Commandments vs. 'Seven Aphorisms'

Comment #153779 by black wolf on April 2, 2008 at 4:20 am

From Sekulow's statement above and from his Wiki bio page, his agenda is very clear. He wants government to work in favor of his agenda, and then placed outside of criticism when the agenda is realized. News for Mr. Sekulow: the government is property of the people, not the other way around.