351. Obama Should Re-Think His Faith-Based Agenda

Comment #221069 by kkelly on July 29, 2008 at 10:08 am

What I really miss in the US is a strong socially liberal, fiscally conservative party. This is obviously the favorable choice for many (if not most) of the educated parts of the population.

352. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #221055 by kkelly on July 29, 2008 at 9:56 am

The catholic chaplain at my old school said that the rhythm method was "natural" (afterall, what could be more natural than introducing a thermometer to one's vagina and keeping a wall-chart of daily temperatures?), unlike other methods apparently. Again, I've not checked up on this, but I seem to recall that the church was advocating the rhythm method whilst (prudishly) objecting to the use of tampons! A female friend at school told me that during the girls' sex education classes (for this fraught subject it was thought wise to separate the girls and boys), the older teachers and nuns banged on endlessly about the wickedness of any sanitary method that involved insertion; only towels were to be permitted. And this was in the 1980s!

353. Brain That Changes Itself: into the abyss

Comment #220645 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 7:07 pm

11, so then she has to keep touching her tongue to the roof of her mouth or something? Like, if she leans left, she touches the right side of her mouth?

If her normal vestibular apparatus only worked with constant input from the hairs in the tubes (if I remember how it works), then why would it be different just because the place of the input changed.

354. Brain That Changes Itself: into the abyss

Comment #220644 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 6:54 pm

9, I don't think you're missing the obvious, I don't get it either and they didn't explain it.

355. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220615 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 5:21 pm

22, Thanks for showing me the distinction.

24, ...

356. A third of Muslim students back killings

Comment #220612 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 5:16 pm

407, The simple analogy is apt in the context of subjectivity of societies. I started to list the differences in the specifics before I realized it would be pointless.

I can't think of how best to frame the logic of why liberal societies that respect individual freedom and happiness are better than ones that don't. That would be a very long philosophical discussion that others on this site or more suited for.

In this case I think any incidental violence would be worth it.

edit: Scratch that, homosexuality is inarguably more benign fundamentally than islam, so I'm not going to argue it.

357. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220594 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 4:16 pm

19, but if the poor third-world catholics disobey church doctrine regarding sexuality in other ways, what makes you think they're not using condoms out of obedience to doctrine?

358. A third of Muslim students back killings

Comment #220591 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 4:12 pm

397, okay, I will entertain the possibility that certain homosexual behaviors and ideologies pose a threat to society, but to be analogous, replace "orientation" with "public views about said behaviors and ideologies."

The moderates won't stop being muslim, just more vocal about their condemnation of the others.

edit: yes, that's better now it's analogous. Now, are you going to argue that both traditional family values and democratic values are equally defensible? Please don't, I get your point.

359. Brain That Changes Itself: into the abyss

Comment #220570 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 3:26 pm

This really surprises me that it worked instantly. I would have thought it would take time for reorganization, but it looks like reorganization was not involved. How the brain just "knew" what to do with the input from the tongue, to link it up with crosstalk from the balance tracts to the eyes for example, I have no clue.

360. A third of Muslim students back killings

Comment #220562 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 3:19 pm

Back to the original topic, Carto said that it might be better to focus on there being a majority of british muslim students who do not support violence in the name of islam instead of there being a substantial minority that do, for better inter-cultural relations.

I disagree. As the poll shows, WAY TOO MANY non-muslims already have an irrationally favorable view of muslims (or at least they express that to pollsters), so it would be unnecessary, at least.

In addition, if mainstream media drums it into everybody's thick skulls that islam as practiced by a large percentage of muslims in their midst is not benign, this sway of public perception would motivate, I think, the moderates to be vocal in support of democratic values, and create a wider schism within the muslim community. Ridicule is a powerful tool. Paint muslims in general with that brush, and some will feel compelled to change their color.

361. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220551 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 2:58 pm

Do you people think that the church's acceptance of contraception will have any impact on overpopulation and the HIV pandemic?

362. A third of Muslim students back killings

Comment #220541 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 2:47 pm

377, all it proves is as usual, you're injecting yourself into a debate that isn't yours, and probably over your head.

363. Obama Should Re-Think His Faith-Based Agenda

Comment #220458 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 1:10 pm

6, I won't argue that he isn't forced to publicly embrace faith, but it wouldn't be political suicide for him simply not to piss on the separation clause considering Clinton got elected twice with only ejaculating on it. Probably.

I have no respect for Obama's integrity.

364. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220450 by kkelly on July 28, 2008 at 1:01 pm

You cynics annoy the shit out of me. Remember, it wasn't until the 19th century that the church finally recognized that the semen that carried the sperm that brought Holy Mary into this world didn't contain a speck of dirt. Church bureaucracy has a way of dragging its feet, but eventually, reason always triumphs.

365. A third of Muslim students back killings

Comment #219893 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 5:10 pm

25, but how do you force integration in a free country? I can somewhat accept the legality of eliminating faith-based schools and restructuring school districts for that purpose, but I'd hate to use all those secular kids as the means to our end.

366. Biology Enters 'The Matrix' Through New Computer Language

Comment #219883 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 4:46 pm

When I was in school I thought that there would soon be programs that could instantly determine what 3D shape a protein would take based only on its peptide sequence, or the reverse. Just type in the shape and properties of the active site you're looking for and BLAMO: instant biopharmaceuticals.

367. A third of Muslim students back killings

Comment #219873 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 4:34 pm

I bet the media spun this with headlines like "Majority of Muslims Do Not Support Murder of Gays."

368. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219784 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 2:19 pm

187, I just think people like Larry's character in real life are hilarious, Suzie too. "you fat fuck!! you sick bald motherfucker!!"

369. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219780 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 2:14 pm

183, I regret my use of those crass terms, because even though he's too retarded to understand that midget is considered offensive, I feel I should be above that in principle.

370. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219771 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 2:07 pm

176, I thought Flight of the Conchords was mildly amusing, it's probably more british humoUr. Curb is one of my favorites, but the last season was a disappointment.

371. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219760 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 1:59 pm

172, okay, what sitcoms do you like?

372. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219749 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 1:52 pm

163, He MAY have been just being polite, because he knows that with your new avatar you're desperately fishing for those types of compliments.

373. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219741 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 1:41 pm

161, I have a dating ad in the social section.

374. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219735 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 1:09 pm

156, I can't disagree with you there.

375. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219731 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 12:59 pm

153, well, everybody's attempt at humor in this conversation has fallen flat, especially your entirely unclever "I know you are" retort, partly because we have different boundaries of what's offensive.

edit: 152, oh no no no, you're not busting in on my territory.

376. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219726 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 12:49 pm

149, well, the fister doesn't really feel pleasure per se, it's more of a power thing. I didn't think that needed explanation.

377. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219724 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 12:43 pm

146, Hey, ever fisted a retarded midget while getting rimmed by a CPR training doll? Then shut it.

edit: 147, I don't think you understood my point, but I'll let it be. Talking to you is as fun as church.

378. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219715 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 12:22 pm

140, doubtful. Back when my posts consisted almost entirely of rectal prolapse anecdotes, you'd get overly defensive at the slightest jab.

379. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219688 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 11:21 am

137, I don't think my tone was defensive, I thought it was condescending. I'll try to be more clear next time.

380. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219673 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 11:09 am

135, They are readily available at reputable sites. Emedicine, CDC...look them up yourself. I don't want to have a debate about what the facts are with somebody who clearly has no idea, and frankly isn't all that interested in finding out.

381. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219658 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 10:56 am

133, I don't know if you're being tactically dense, which is very annoying by the way, or if you really are this oblivious.

HPV (incl. wart-causing strains), HSV-2, and HIV are all more common in gay men, HIV by about a thousand fold. Condoms drastically decrease HIV risk of course, but who uses condoms for oral? That's no fun, ever tried it? So while, let's say, .001 percent of the people in your dating pool have HIV, between 5 and 20% do in mine. Even with safe sex it's not uncommon for semen to come in contact with a mucous membrane (use your imagination).

You people can have casual sex with less risk, I can't.

Plus we already went over the physical trauma that anal can cause. You don't need to have anal because you have a vagina.

edit: and while the risk per act of transmission even with unprotected sex is very low, those stats do NOT include the highly infectious primary phase.

382. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219576 by kkelly on July 27, 2008 at 9:01 am

And do tell Kkelly, what risks that are included in your dating pool that differ from anyone elses dating pool?

383. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219346 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 7:40 pm

As for sex itself, guys don't have much of a choice in the matter. If we don't get it out of the way every now and then, it interferes with our work.

384. Write to UCF

Comment #219336 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 5:35 pm

DoctorE, anal sometimes results in pregnancy because the semen can seep out and enter the vulvar area.

385. Write to UCF

Comment #219304 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 4:05 pm

I went to catholic school for 12 years and I don't remember ever being taught that transubstantiation was literal. I remember being shocked when my dad told me they used to teach that when he was a kid. I suspect that a lot of American catholics look at catholics like Bill Donahue with utter contempt, so I don't think that the tone of Richard's first paragraph is counterproductive.

386. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219279 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 3:12 pm

God, and I thought my feminist debate was as pointless as these things could get.

387. Texas Fiction Science

Comment #219268 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 2:38 pm

56, They explain the lapse as a product of the primitive communications technology of the ancient world, yet fail to comprehend that logically, reliability is necessarily called into question.

388. Write to UCF

Comment #219253 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 2:21 pm

33, kindly pipe down and spare me your bobble-headed Paris Hilton impression. I was being semi-facetious.

389. Write to UCF

Comment #219235 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 1:52 pm

26, there are plenty of quasi-religious fat acceptance groups. Some even went mainstream. Remember Dove's "campaign for real beauty"?, which was really just average fat ladies dancing around on tv and embarrassing themselves.

390. Write to UCF

Comment #219231 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 1:50 pm

24, I like bald guys. If you have an attractive face and head shape, baldness can't change that.

391. Write to UCF

Comment #219217 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 1:40 pm

The genius Richard Dawkins is not above making a few typoes? Or is it typos?

winky smiley face with beard.

392. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219214 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 1:30 pm

"A follow-up paper entitled "Prostitution and the sex discrepancy in reported number of sexual partners" (Brewer et al., 2000) goes on to estimate a mean number of 868 male sexual partners per prostitute per year of active sex work..." (Wikipedia)

This is one of the reasons why I've always avoided prostitutes

393. A Holocaust Denier Hits Manhattan (And Hearts Hitchens)

Comment #219167 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 11:56 am

I think it's possible he's a holocaust denier and not a racist; it could be some other mental flaw, like a pathological need to challenge the status quo and feel persecuted.

Another example:

Peter Duesberg pretty much spearheaded inquiry into aneuploidy being the main cause of cancer and not oncogenes, and contrary to the established theory, aneuploidy probably does play at least some causative role. But he also, to this day, claims that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. For the record, in his social circle he's considered a giant asshole.

394. Write to UCF

Comment #219152 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 11:28 am

15, yeah it's weird. The Catholic Campus Ministries "filed charges"... Campus groups are supposed to only have pretend power, it keeps them happy and they often don't know the difference.

395. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #219150 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 11:23 am

who moderates the site? Do they post often?

396. Texas Fiction Science

Comment #219137 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 10:57 am

51, Really? I totally guessed Do The Locomotion.

397. Write to UCF

Comment #219130 by kkelly on July 26, 2008 at 10:32 am

That tears it. Next time I'm at a catholic mass I'm going to grab the cup of wafers and throw them around like confetti, I don't care if in all probability I would be in the church for a funeral.

2, "What is wrong with Americans and their stupid over the topness? I live in Ireland and I've never seen Catholics this bad."

are you making a joke? good one.

398. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #218867 by kkelly on July 25, 2008 at 6:57 pm

christianapologetic,

I ask christians this question a lot, it's a pretty common critique so you probably heard it but:

The foundation of your religion's logic is that Jesus sacrificed himself so our sins could be forgiven, but he DIDN'T sacrifice himself, he just transported himself to eternal bliss! Do you not see how flimsy in itself your belief system is?

399. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #218762 by kkelly on July 25, 2008 at 4:59 pm

269, oh I...conquer.

winky smiley face

400. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #218746 by kkelly on July 25, 2008 at 4:40 pm

260, the reason I thought it was only SLIGHTLY more is because of our ability and proclivity to rationalize an existing belief as opposed to abandoning it. If so many straight people can still believe in christianity while rejecting so many of the fundemental tenets, then what's one more inconsistency?