Comments by rustylix

1. After Bibles seized, U.S. group won't leave Chinese airport

Comment #233214 by rustylix on August 19, 2008 at 11:14 am

Yes, like I said, the publishing of "words" is not a crime, but the act of killing even a single person is.

Following your analogy, should the following sentence be censored?

If you point a loaded gun at someone and pull the trigger a couple times, there's a good chance they'll die.

Can't you think of one valid scenario for limiting free press? Kiddie porn? Bomb making 101? Infant rape tactics? Something... anything?

I am personally fond of a social state in which there is no governing person or body of persons, but each individual has absolute liberty. But be warned, if you hurt what's mine, I'll sure as hell retaliate.

2. After Bibles seized, U.S. group won't leave Chinese airport

Comment #233211 by rustylix on August 19, 2008 at 11:00 am

Hate to blockquote MYSELF, but did anyone but J Mac read my post?

Yes, I read your post, and agree they "don't have to guarantee free access by foreigners to proselytize". I didn't realize you desired attention, and seeing as how I agreed with you, didn't see the need to make a comment.

Lengthy arguments about freedom of speech, which has nothing to do with this particular situation.

Yes, like I said, anyone attempting to smuggle 300 of anything, especially restricted items, into China, is just asking for trouble. Didn't you read my post??? lol I wouldn't say, however, that freedom of speech has NOTHING to do with it. I would just say that freedom of speech has 18% to do with it. And in the case of freedom of speech, I'm on its side 100%.

3. After Bibles seized, U.S. group won't leave Chinese airport

Comment #233207 by rustylix on August 19, 2008 at 10:31 am

So a pamphlet that posits that a man infected with HIV can be cured by having sex with a 12 month old baby girl should be allowed to be published

I believe my answer was "Yes". If you've got a problem with the information contained in said pamphlet, you are also perfectly free to counter it with your own publication. For the sake of sub-Saharan Africa, may the best man win.

Now let's sit back and "let those negative materials fall by the weight of their own doctrine". How many babies should we allow to be raped while this little free press experiment sorts itself out?

Pamphlets don't rape children, people do. And each individual crime should be dealt with on a case by case basis so as not to step on the toes of law abiding citizens whose morals differ from yours.

4. After Bibles seized, U.S. group won't leave Chinese airport

Comment #233192 by rustylix on August 19, 2008 at 9:29 am

I think nazi, racist, ... material must be banned.

I am not sure the Old Testament can be included in this list.

should a text that can directly cause harm be protected by freedom of press?

There should be no "list" of banned materials. What next? Video games? Music? The Internet?

As someone else pointed out...

let those negative materials fall by the weight of their own doctrine

I completely agree..

Frank Zappa on music censorship

I also agree that if one attempts to smuggle 300 of anything into China, they're just asking for trouble.

5. After Bibles seized, U.S. group won't leave Chinese airport

Comment #232607 by rustylix on August 18, 2008 at 11:41 am

Yeah, bibles are a useless waste of time, but, as an American, living in a diverse city, I'm 100% on the side of freedoms of speech/religion.

6. Storm erupts over 'virginity' divorce

Comment #186473 by rustylix on May 30, 2008 at 10:27 am

Suppose she was a very convincing transsexual, and certain moral/personal/religious values, i.e. abstinence, kept the groom from finding this out until the wedding night. Should the marriage not be annulled?

Is there something about this comparison I'm overlooking?

My personal opinion is to fuck your bride/groom hundreds, or thousands, of times prior to marriage.

7. Group wants Wi-Fi banned from public buildings

Comment #186123 by rustylix on May 29, 2008 at 4:00 pm

"Group wants blue color banned from public sky."

8. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179509 by rustylix on May 13, 2008 at 10:54 am

I'm no economist, so correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me like the price of oil is directly linked with instability in the Middle East.

Considering the estimate, on the lower end, of the cost of the war in Iraq is projected to exceed $2,000,000,000,000.00, the price of a gallon of gas is far greater than that advertised at the pump.

9. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179465 by rustylix on May 13, 2008 at 9:42 am

So driving a more fuel efficient car isn't an option?

Had it never occurred to them that the money spent in Iraq could have been used to implement infrastructure for alternative energy sources here at home?

Gas is $4.05 in Chicago.

10. 'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

Comment #178673 by rustylix on May 11, 2008 at 10:08 pm

this makes me mad >:o

11. Get out of here, atheists!

Comment #156430 by rustylix on April 7, 2008 at 2:29 pm

Thankfully she doesn't represent my district, but I can't say the people who do are any less delusional. Phoned, and left messages with, both offices.

12. Richard Dawkins' US Tour begins this week

Comment #139221 by rustylix on March 5, 2008 at 10:27 am

What?!?! No Chicago?!?!

13. Council pays psychic for exorcism

Comment #126509 by rustylix on February 13, 2008 at 11:35 am

Skeptic though I am, could Ms Hadwin be persuaded to give 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue a shot?

Take the '1' from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and cut it in half. Attach each of the halves to the two '0's and what do you get? 666 Pennsylvania Avenue

Wow AJAX, someone's website is evolving.

14. MySpace: No place for Atheists?

Comment #118318 by rustylix on January 30, 2008 at 3:36 pm

Deleting our accounts isn't going to do any good; in fact, that's exactly what those bastards want us to do. Send e-mails to Myspace instead. Even better, send e-mails to various media to make them aware of this.

During the account cancellation process there was a comment box where I calmly stated I was removing my account in protest to religious discrimination of the aforementioned group. And like someone else said

I deleted my account. I hardly needed this new excuse to, and it was the first time I had logged in for a year.

15. MySpace: No place for Atheists?

Comment #118112 by rustylix on January 30, 2008 at 11:03 am

I'll be deleting my account at the end of the day when I get home. That's absolutely ridiculous.

Make that two of us. I'm deleting my account as we speak.

16. Death Sentence for Afghan Student

Comment #115745 by rustylix on January 24, 2008 at 3:32 pm

Beyond writing to Congress (which is a good idea, thank you Beth), does anyone have any suggestions for how to help him and his brother?

I was considering emailing questionable content to the university, and its students, in question.

Rule 2. Never make generalisations.

lol

17. Mitt Romney Defends Himself Against Allegations Of Tolerance

Comment #114230 by rustylix on January 21, 2008 at 3:31 pm

lol

18. How Evolution REALLY Works

Comment #112953 by rustylix on January 18, 2008 at 10:27 am

Awesome video, I just increased my evolutionary knowledge exponentially today! Thank you.

19. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #112703 by rustylix on January 17, 2008 at 11:17 pm

So basically he is admitting that his highest priority is to undermine the constitution?

20. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #112121 by rustylix on January 16, 2008 at 11:15 am

Like I mentioned before about Chuck Norris' "atheist forehead tattoo" comment....

Lucky for us the president doesn't have the authority to "amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards" or tattoo the foreheads of every atheist.

I say, easier said than done. Oh, and I agree with irate_atheist. Fucktard.

21. Submission, 'Part 1'

Comment #105351 by rustylix on December 31, 2007 at 10:12 am

I hope those of you who are saying you left a comment are joking.

The petition is to have the images removed, so you shouldn't be signing it if you want freedom of expression.

Although I completely agree, I predict that no amount of signatures would ever successfully accomplish said goal.

22. Submission, 'Part 1'

Comment #105343 by rustylix on December 31, 2007 at 9:48 am

These women should make a mad dash to a country where raping family members is illegal.

Easier said than done. How can I help? I don't think my Prius will make it to Saudi Arabia, and It only has enough room for 3 passengers.

I say we set up our own petition titled "I prefer not to be raped by my uncle" or "Sex should be consensual".

23. Carl Sagan's COSMOS begins airing on Jan 8th

Comment #104414 by rustylix on December 28, 2007 at 1:12 pm

If you have basic cable, then you get the Discovery Channel

It is my understanding that the Discovery Science Channel differs from the Discovery Channel, and is not included in basic cable. I could easily be confused because I don't even have an antennae hooked up to my TV, only a Wii. FYI, my favorite episode is #9 I think. "The life of stars"

24. Jail for creationist row killer

Comment #98768 by rustylix on December 14, 2007 at 8:35 am

3 years? There's college gardners doing more time than that.

25. Protests Over The Golden Compass

Comment #98762 by rustylix on December 14, 2007 at 8:25 am

The absurdity is that anything like this that comes from The Onion could just have easily come from a religious site and we wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Very amusing though, and very true.

Whats sad is you could probably say the same things about their articles on Bush, Iran, and Iraq.

26. Jumbo shrimp, creationist astronomy

Comment #98756 by rustylix on December 14, 2007 at 8:07 am

I would say Ogg Vorbis (audio) and Theora (video) even if they are obscure-ish

Although I agree with the whole open standard argument, I believe your codec selection would make the existing problem, that started this codec discussion in the first place, worse. Why don't we just switch to a codec that 97% of the people who visit this site don't use, and have no experience with.

I too hate flash players, but 97% (I'm pulling these percentages out my ass) of every single browser/platform is already configured for it. Yes, one of the disadvantages is that you can't download the file. But whats stoping you from offering a file for download that isn't flash along side.

I have my own codec preferences too. I personally prefer x264 and ogg in a mkv or ogm container.... lol, but instead of recommending everyone switch, why not offer the media in formats that are already widely accepted. We can look at youtube (flash) and bittorrent (xvid) for examples.

27. Jumbo shrimp, creationist astronomy

Comment #98588 by rustylix on December 13, 2007 at 10:57 pm

We download the videos on our media server, youtube vids can get taken down, now we have a copy.

Why not embed the media in your own flash player that has nothing to do with youtube?

From a cross browser/platform standpoint, flash would probably offer the most/easiest compatability. Which is probably why youtube uses it in the first place.

28. Jumbo shrimp, creationist astronomy

Comment #98553 by rustylix on December 13, 2007 at 9:18 pm

Anyway, I like it how they are basically pointing out "gaps" in the current "theory" but offer no solution of their own other than "joddidit".

Obviously, I think rationale like this will ultimately be religion's undoing.

29. Jumbo shrimp, creationist astronomy

Comment #98547 by rustylix on December 13, 2007 at 9:07 pm

Diacanu

Versions 1.52 and below work with ME, but yeah, finding a download is the key.

30. Jumbo shrimp, creationist astronomy

Comment #98540 by rustylix on December 13, 2007 at 8:54 pm

For windows users that hate quicktime, check out QT Lite or Quicktime Alternative these codecs will allow you to watch quicktime movies in windows media player without all the quicktime bullshit.

31. U.S. Congress Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith

Comment #98185 by rustylix on December 13, 2007 at 8:17 am

I just wrote my rep, plagiarizing comments #31 - GodlessHeathen and #37 - Pob. I hope you guys, or gals, don't mind, and thank you for making it easy to make my rep feel like a tard.

32. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #97077 by rustylix on December 11, 2007 at 11:14 am

You should see the leaflet that came through our door from the local church.

I generally write all over those things in sharpy marker messages like, "Kindly remove me from your mailing list", "Kindly recycle", and send them back to them. If they are multiple offenders, I start drawing other symbols on there to let them know I'm serious. I guess its similar to the Gary Larson Far Side cartoon, "How nature says, 'Do not touch'"

33. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #96983 by rustylix on December 11, 2007 at 7:52 am

However, in a way I would like to ask people to stop whining about how a cross or any religious symbol offends them

It literally doesn't offend me into crying about it, but that doesn't stop me from pretending its on fire each time I have to drive by it. To offend me one would have to murder my brother, or take advantage of my stupid girlfriend each time she is so drunk she is dumping her purse out in the middle of a busy four lane street.

I brought it up to point out the irony between the giant monstrosities they erect permanently, and their reaction over a temporary little sign.

Tell you what, I'll remove the word "offend" from the point I'm trying to make....

"Imagine making a proportional fuss, in terms of square footage, over the monstrosities they erect."

34. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #96302 by rustylix on December 10, 2007 at 10:19 am

Wow that's one big Effing(ham) cross! Yes I think I'd be offended if that monstrosity was casting its shadow near where I live.

Thankfully I don't live near such a closed minded deluded majority. Like Jakob_Woods it is impossible to miss on a drive to SIU.

I've often entertained the idea of other symbols of equal proportions scattered throughout the area.

Maybe konquererz's avatar for example.

35. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #96255 by rustylix on December 10, 2007 at 8:38 am

"I feel like this is an attack on my beliefs as a religious person," said Houser.

I've often felt the giant 200ft cross right next to the interstate I-57, near Effingham, IL, was an attack on my lack of belief in superstition as an atheist.

36. The art of the soluble

Comment #95815 by rustylix on December 9, 2007 at 9:21 am

science versus religion

Isn't it the other way around?

37. Bad Faith Awards: Vote for the winner now

Comment #94670 by rustylix on December 6, 2007 at 8:20 am

if he was US President he would "tattoo an American flag with the words 'In God we trust' on the forehead of every atheist".

Sorry Chuck, but I'm pretty sure that not even the U.S. President has that kind of authority.

38. Sudan demo over jailed UK teacher

Comment #92435 by rustylix on November 30, 2007 at 1:44 pm

Ah, the dark ages, and I thought it was 2007.

The BBC actually sugar coated the title, of this article, from its previous version earlier in the day.

39. Why Science Will Triumph Only When Theory Becomes Law

Comment #88370 by rustylix on November 16, 2007 at 9:04 am

The rebuttals to the claim that "Evolution is just a theory" always include defining the fact that in science the word theory means a well-substantiated explanation of data. Why not just rebut with a similar statement "Creationism is just baloney" that is not accepted by 99.8% of the scientific community.

40. Exorcism death shocks archdeacon

Comment #87889 by rustylix on November 13, 2007 at 2:06 pm

SELECT *
FROM HealingGroup
WHERE (clue > 0)

0 rows returned

41. Jesus Camp: A scary movie that should frighten us all

Comment #85840 by rustylix on November 7, 2007 at 9:59 am

The ~~Jesus~~ Campers family has their own blog, where they claim to have witnessed resurrections as well people being cured of AIDS. Oddly, when asked, they've never witnessed the following categories of people being healed.

Amputees

Prosthetic Eyes

Down Syndrome

Cleft Palettes

42. Creating controversy

Comment #84118 by rustylix on November 1, 2007 at 7:55 am

The latest Nova|PBS podcast has a brief interview with Judge Jones of Dover Pennsylvania fame. Check it out

Judging Intelligent Design

43. Pascal's Wager

Comment #81382 by rustylix on October 24, 2007 at 4:35 pm

I am pulling this from memory, and it probably originates from the wikipedia article, when I read it a couple months ago....

A cute little play on words is nothing to base one's entire religion off of. In other words, it is unlikely that one would consider conversion solely on Pascal's Wager alone, but, rather, Pascal's Wager is just something existing xtians use to rationalize their beliefs amongst themselves.

Hi Richard

44. There Go The Dinosaurs

Comment #75061 by rustylix on October 1, 2007 at 2:19 pm

@MattInOz

I always thought this site did a great job pointing out that ~~God~~ consistently ignores the prayers of several groups of people, like amputees, those with fake eyes, cleft palettes, and down syndrome.

45. Pope abolishes limbo

Comment #34134 by rustylix on April 23, 2007 at 10:19 am

"We cannot know with certainty what will happen" when ANYONE dies - let alone trans dimensional teleportation