1. Award-winning comedian George Carlin dies

Comment #198254 by someonefree on June 23, 2008 at 12:49 pm

Shit.
Fuck.
Piss.
Cunt.
Cocksucker.
Motherfucker.
Tits.

Man I'm going to miss that motherfucker, as will most of NYC. :(

2. Kenneth Miller on Colbert Report

Comment #194928 by someonefree on June 17, 2008 at 12:28 pm

Ascaphus,

Colbert Report is a parody of Fox News in the US, specifically Bill O'Rielly's show.

3. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190299 by someonefree on June 8, 2008 at 6:47 pm

I hate to say it but I think some comments here are xenophobic. Criticism of Islam seems fair as well as the criticism of genital mutilation but please read through the comments, some people are going way past that and saying things such as Muslims can't integrate and other nonsense. This is garbage most muslims came to the west to get away from fundamentalists and are not religious in the true sense. Some muslim countries are very much westernized in their treatment of religion. Not to mention countries such as Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and others where Islam is treated as Christianity is treated in the west. Now these countries are not great by any means and Islam is a horrible religion all the same but through education, economic prosperity and other such developments religion's usually move towards irrelevant. I think just going off and making paranoid xenophobic statements is not the answer as it will just divide people into us and them and distract us from the issue as well our clear thinking due to emotional distractions. We should criticize Islam the practice and the imams as well as the establishment of Islam but no need to turn hateful towards the people we are actually trying to save from religion's corrupt but apparently intoxicating hold, are we not?

4. That's it. Texas really is doomed.

Comment #186477 by someonefree on May 30, 2008 at 10:42 am

FF:

And Linux?

There is enough competition in the market of computer operating systems to debunk any idea that Microsoft operates solely.

You're joking right? Enough competition :D funny very funny. Why don't you go and by a PC with something other then Windows or Mac OS (partially owned by Microsoft)? You can't unless you buy a custom build machine from a small vendor. Very interesting discussion and you make some good points but this is not one of them. Also I would like to point out that if the web gets sold out those small OS systems will be gone as microsoft will flex it's wallet and make sure only their browser can access it.

5. Pelosi, Reid shunning Ten Commandments?

Comment #181385 by someonefree on May 17, 2008 at 5:32 am

Religion at it's best:
"BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Cult members concluded Javon Thompson was a "demon" after the baby wouldn't say "amen" at mealtime and starved him to death..."
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/21425/1-mind-ministries-cult-kills-baby
They call them cult members but it's more like another form of Christianity, just more apologetic spin.

Very depressing.

[EDIT] Fixed link tags

6. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179817 by someonefree on May 13, 2008 at 8:08 pm

Christopher Davis:

What needs to happen is for SUV's and other gas guzzlers to become unfashionable...when driving a hybrid is a sign of status, then U.S. consumers will change their ways.

Do you seriously think this will happen and that this is the only obstacle? What about the oil industry, car manufacturers and whole s*%#load of infrastructure changes that need to happen? It's naive to think that the only problem with the current US consumer trend is the image of clean cars, it's ignoring a long laundry list of other issues connected to the current situation.

However, I agree that it's sad and unfortunate that the poorest in our society will suffer the most.

7. God seekers go public

Comment #179763 by someonefree on May 13, 2008 at 4:49 pm

Diacanu:

Pretty easy to figure out, but then, I live here.

Perhaps not, all should come and see for themselves. Given the weak dollar it should be fairly affordable. ;)

8. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179750 by someonefree on May 13, 2008 at 4:09 pm

Comment #179726 by Goldy

Comment #179726 by Goldy

Some very good points but the reason I think that the prices should go up is because I don't have much faith in the American people and government reducing the demand for oil by doing things like improving mass transit and switching to smaller cleaner vehicles without an incentive. The oil prices rising would be the necessary incentive for innovation and change of some very bad habits in regards to oil consumption, even in big cities. It is sad that people will suffer all over the world but I really don't see it playing out any different way given the situation.

Oh wait, perhaps we (in US) can drill some oil in Alaska, surely that's better then changing things.

9. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179484 by someonefree on May 13, 2008 at 10:16 am

Shaden,
"Hell yeah man! I hope it gets to $20 a gallon, that'll really teach those fuckers who drive! Meanwhile I'm safe here in my bus, what a hoot! Fuck anyone that doesn't live in a 18 million person metropolitan area like me! While I'm at it, I pray that milk goes up to $15 a gallon, that'll really teach everyone that hasn't canned 20 years worth of his mother's breast milk like I have! I'm so SMRT! Why isn't everyone in the world more like me!!!

Idiot. "

Yes thank you for the insult. But since I do live in NYC and I do own a car, I choose to take public transport while the people I was referring to can do the same thing and yet they are not doing it. SO I'm an idiot for making an observation that these guys are complaining about the high prices but refuse to use public transport and continue to drive and buy big SUV's in NYC. You're so smart, thank you for setting up a straw man with your sarcasm about milk and other things and then knocking it down, good work, you're indeed smart enough to knock down your own argument, a$$.

10. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179325 by someonefree on May 13, 2008 at 5:51 am

Wow, this is just embarrassing. I think this is what Americans need, a swift kick in the ass by reality. Every morning during my commute to work (using public transport in NYC) I look at the cars driving along side my bus and from what I see most cars have 1 passenger in them. So I'm praying to FSM for $5/gallon since these idiots still didn't learn their lesson. Instead of praying they should be lobbying the government for better and more public transport as well as buying smaller cars and car pooling as well as taking public transport. Also, my bus is usually half-empty and those cars I see are usually SUV's with just one person. It's so frustrating to live amongst these idiots aaaah.

11. $271 Million for Research on Stem Cells in California

Comment #177554 by someonefree on May 9, 2008 at 9:43 am

The great thing is that every single country which is very anti-stem cell research will be on their knees one day begging for stem cell influenced medicine.It's gonna make Canada very rich.

Canada is looking better and better these days, comparing to US. I live in NYC so perhaps I shouldn't complain given the situation in the rest of US.

12. When blasphemy bit the dust

Comment #141186 by someonefree on March 10, 2008 at 6:47 am

It wasn't till the Islamic God, Allah, reappeared before he reverted back to the tyrannical, psychotic desert God of the Old Testament (classic case of plagiarism).

Actually the muslims claim to believe in the god of Abraham which would be the same god as the christians and jews. It kind of makes it seem like allah is some new god. Allah just means god so the same old tyrant, nothing new. :)

13. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #119264 by someonefree on January 31, 2008 at 12:38 pm

AtheistAspy:

Blaspemy law! WTF? America may be full of fundies, but even we don't have laws like that.

Besides, how do you define blasphemy? Couldn't the law be used for secular reasons without clear boundaries?

Yes we do in some states, not enforced but still there, well at least in Massachusetts.

14. Lou Dobbs Interviews Christopher Hitchens

Comment #37940 by someonefree on May 6, 2007 at 11:00 am

denoir writes:

"There are two things that slightly irritate me with Hitchens' standard speech. The first thing is the claim that the US is the only country that has separation of church and state in the constitution - not true by a long shot. The US was the first one to introduce it (great accomplishment!), and fortunately many other countries followed the example.

The second thing (he didn't mention it in this speech) is his "B:s" - places that begin with a "B" and where religion has caused violence and destruction. This applies to TGD as well by the way. Both Hitchens and Dawkins mention Bosnia and say that the real conflict was between religious factions (Orthodox Christians vs Muslims vs Catholics).

As someone who has served as a peace keeper in both Bosnia and Kosovo, I can tell you that it isn't true at all. The division was not by religion, but by nationality/ethnic groups. It's just as bad. The single largest group in the religious arena in former Yugoslavia were actually atheists (about 50% of the populations on average).

The nationalism/religion connection was actually far weaker than one would have expected. In that particular region, nationality was always far more important than religion. The religion used to be one of a number of cultural in-group/out-group markers but hardly the most important one. And after 50 years in communist Yugoslavia, that particular marker had been wiped out to a large extent. Language, history and culture had not.


I think that there are enough examples of the damage that religion really does, without having to make up or misinterpret new ones. It undermines the credibility of the overall argument. When I read TGD and got to the section where it was claimed that "Croat" was an euphemism for "Catholic" and "Serb" a euphemism for "Orthodox Christian", the credibility of the book dropped significantly from my point of view. This was something I actually knew was wrong. How could I trust the author on the stuff I didn't know about - like Ireland? And then when I've gotten over it Hitchens goes around parroting the same incorrect claim."

Great post, I've been arguing this on freethinker forums for years now. I'm an atheist from ex-Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia means Southern Slav Land) and I can tell you for a fact that this was not a religious but an ethnic conflict. Most people were not even aware of what their families religion was due to Socialist understandable view of religion as a dividing force and as a result suppression of it but not destruction or ban as many think. Socialists in ex-Yu united people under the Slavic brotherhood platform which the religious leaders did not like. Pope called Tito(leader of the socialist movement in ex-Yu) the anti-Christ as a result. Unfortunately things are changing and all secular thinking people in ex-yu countries are being challenged with enormous pressure from religious and political institutions uniting to control the masses via religion. I say unite but it's really divide them by religion as well as ethnic background, already achieved in the last century. Sorry for off-topic post but its rare to find someone with a clear understanding of this issue.