Comments by GregPhillips

Comment #227892 by GregPhillips on August 11, 2008 at 2:39 am

HunterZolomon on August 11, 2008 at 12:26 am
avatarThe sky's the limit! ... "Make Me a Cthulhu Cultist"!

YES!! I would SO watch that show!!

The adverts for this show pissed me off when Dawkins programme was bracketed by them - why in a time where we have 20 evangelical TV channels on Sky, pumping out religeo-shit 24/7 and really need balanced programming are C4 pandering to irresponsible sensationalism on such a banal subject? I do hope there are some stronger willed people who manage to stick it out to the end and expose the brow-beating judgemental Christards for the charlatans they are. So shes a lesbian? So what? So shes a pole dancing witch? Other than an outmoded medieval superstitious belief in magic, so what?

Really, I think they knew a bunch of Darwin-geeks were going to be watching and just wanted to annoy the hell out of us and increase the buzz about the programme. Which is why I havent talked about it or watched the show, yeah?

Oh and by the way I inserted that yeah deliberately as an hommage to Charlie Brookers wit - something Spinoza definately doesnt get.

Yeah?

Greg

2. A set of previews of 'The Genius of Charles Darwin'

Comment #224606 by GregPhillips on August 5, 2008 at 8:07 am

YouTube and the Atheist Community of Austin's show on Public Access TV in the states is about as good as it gets for Atheists

There are about 15 religeous channells on Sky TV in the UK which my partner and I watched for 5 minutes before we got so agitated we had to turn it off.

3. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #214547 by GregPhillips on July 20, 2008 at 3:34 pm

Yep - I keep a copy on my desk in case of Christard attacks and just looked it up, there is definately a clear definition of Deism in The God Delusion.

Maybe instead of reading the index, Flew should have actually read the book...

Greg

4. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #214146 by GregPhillips on July 19, 2008 at 5:40 pm

KrisRamJ on July 18, 2008 at 8:42 pm
avatar

There's a few more than 40 RD videos on YouTube - I just did a search and it's 3,670 if you search for "Richard Dawkins"...

My partner likes to post Dawk vids and other discussion points on her channel and would love to see some traffic from RD.net peeps :)

http://www.youtube.com/user/o0flowerfairy0o

Greg

5. PLEASE WRITE IN SUPPORT OF PZ MYERS

Comment #209440 by GregPhillips on July 12, 2008 at 8:28 am

Sent the following

Dear Sir

I am writing in support of one of your members of staff, PZ Myers.

It has come to my attention that he is now the victim of a hate campaign directed at his employers based on the content of his excellent blog Pharyngula. PZ's blog is an oasis of reason and quality debate on an emotive and illogically driven subject - that of the ridiculous notions held by many ill informed victims of religious conditioning, and I would like to add my voice to support his excellent international work in the area.

As a UK resident I am very concerned at the constant attempts of the religious minority to undermine and devalue the theory of evolution by natural selection and in this area alone PZ Myers is an important intellectual figure who deserves the full support of his employers at a time when the legal battles over the classrooms of America are flying in the face of empirical evidence.

It is essential that logic and reason win this struggle, and that PZ will continue to receive the support and protection from death threats and hate campaigns (such as this one) at a crucial time in the history of humankind. It is my personal opinion that he is an asset to the University, to the intellectual community and an important international voice for reason.

Your sincerely

Greg Phillips

6. New legal threat to school science in the US

Comment #207374 by GregPhillips on July 9, 2008 at 3:32 pm

Amen y'all.

FUCK!! Did i just say that ???

BANG! thunk ....

7. The BBC announces a major season marking the life and work of Charles Darwin

Comment #207362 by GregPhillips on July 9, 2008 at 3:15 pm

Go Beeb!

This is great news, really great news - it is about time we got some decent scientific content to really kick the Xtian IDiots in the nuts. Hopefully these Beeb programmes and Dawkins new series which I hadnt heard of either will give many people a serious challenge.

If they can be arsed to watch it and not throw vegetables at the TV.

No doubt there will also be a series of fools parading across the discussion programmes nay saying thumping their scriptures and running down Darwin, making themselves look extremely stupid, which is a bonus :)

What we really NEED is for the scientific community to formalise Darwins great ideas into a biological Law - surely we are due a gestalt shift? Isnt it the nature of science to test hypotheses, refine, test and test again then formalise a Law?

Its been 150 years and nobody has proved Darwins 'theory' wrong, every scrap of scientifically gathered evidence has backed Darwins proposal so it is time to stop fannying around, grow some testicles and turn Evolution by Natural Selection into a fully fledged scientific Law.

Its my opinion Darwin is the UKs number one national treasure.

Greg

PS I will definately be watching the CBBC series :)

8. Prayer refusal pupils 'disciplined'

Comment #205697 by GregPhillips on July 7, 2008 at 5:09 pm

This story really ticks me off, but I am not suprised.

One of my kids was told off in school for not bowing their heads during Christian prayer in assembly. It was his choice, and to his credit our 11 year old son replied to the teacher when told to bow that he wasnt religeous.

They told him that he should bow his head anyway out of respect, and he replied that he doesnt respect religeons (LOL).

In the end my partner had words with the school demanding that they not be forced to pray if they didnt believe and threatened to pull them out of RE for extra science or something "useful", and got treated with absolute disgust by staff when she said we do not believe in god.

The Head caught up with her in the playground the next day and said they didnt really pray it was more about treating other people with respect and so forth, then that day in assembly his first words were Let Us Pray - Dear God... Bloody hypocrit.

Our country needs to separate religeon from state and from education ASAP, not pander to the insane whim of every religeous nut that comes along trying to spread their poison in the minds of innocent kids. What is more our government needs to stop state funding religeous schools - to my mind this is nothing short of state sanctioned child abuse.

Our 8 year old still has nightmares 2 years on about being sent to hell because of one of her teachers in her old CofE school.

Greg

9. Faith schools undermined by 'Government witch hunt'

Comment #202037 by GregPhillips on June 30, 2008 at 4:49 pm

....it provoked a furious response from faith schools who accused the Government of basing its claims on flawed evidence.

Oh the irony !!!

Greg

10. Huge hidden biomass lives deep beneath the oceans

Comment #184432 by GregPhillips on May 25, 2008 at 6:53 am

Comment #184328 by Count von Count
...the combined undersea biomass could be equivalent to that of all the plants on Earth. ...some of the cells are as old as the sediment.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
-H.P. Lovecraft

Could it be the old one? Cthulhu fhtagn.

More likely to be the deeply buried extremities of that foul Great Old One Ubbo-Sathla...

From Wikipedia entry on Clark Ashton Smith

Ubbo-Sathla
There, in the grey beginning of Earth, the formless mass that was Ubbo-Sathla reposed amid the slime and the vapors. Headless, without organs or members, it sloughed from its oozy sides, in a slow, ceaseless wave, the amoebic forms that were the archetypes of earthly life. Horrible it was, if there had been aught to apprehend the horror; and loathsome, if there had been any to feel loathing. About it, prone or tilted in the mire, there lay the mighty tablets of star-quarried stone that were writ with the inconceivable wisdom of the pre-mundane gods.
�quot;Clark Ashton Smith, "Ubbo-Sathla"

Ubbo-Sathla (The Unbegotten Source, The Demiurge) is described as a huge protoplasmic mass resting in a grotto deep beneath the frozen earth. The being is of a monstrous fecundity, spontaneously generating primordial single-celled organisms that pour unceasingly from its shapeless form. It guards a set of stone tablets believed to contain the knowledge of the Elder Gods.

Ubbo-Sathla is said to have spawned the prototypes of all forms of life on Earth; though whatever its pseudopods touch is forever devoid of life. Ubbo-Sathla is destined to someday reabsorb all living things on Earth.

Ubbo-Sathla possibly dwells in gray-litten Y'qaa. The being may also dwell in Mount Voormithadreth and may have spawned another of its residents, the being Abhoth, whose form and nature is very similar. The tablets that Ubbo-Sathla guards have been oft sought by sorcerers, though no sorcerer has yet succeeded in acquiring them.

Greg :)

PS Fascinating science story by the way!

11. In God's Name

Comment #183247 by GregPhillips on May 21, 2008 at 3:37 pm

I am downloading this now so have yet to watch it, but when I do it will be armed with this knowledge -

DavidJSA if you can be raised and educated in this madness, and come out of it as well informed and perceptive as you appear to be then there is hope for all who suffer under a regime of intellectual conditioning. I just hope the proportion of people 'educated' in the same schooling sytems who break out and join the 21st Century evens out.

or maybe I am being naive there...

Thanks for your excellent posts.

Oh and I seem to have gotten more than my fair share of birdshit on me over the years. I dont know why, they just aim for me, little bastards, then people have the barefaced cheek to smile and say its good fucking luck? Good luck for you for not getting shit on in the first place I say.

Greg

12. Lab agrees to test Shroud of Turin for new theory

Comment #182875 by GregPhillips on May 21, 2008 at 4:48 am

Presumably when he proves that common or garden Carbon monoxide can contaminate samples prior to their submission for C14 dating, not only will the shroud immediately become the burial shroud of jesus, but the entire academic and scientific rigor behind C14 dating will crumble around our ears thereby proving that God Really Did Do It.

Well at least the staff at the Radiocarbon Accelerators are guaranteed a livilihood retesting all the archaeological finds in the light of this amazing proposition.

My goodness - the whole chronology of prehistoric man is at risk!

But dont worry Penny - Thankfully he is talking a complete crock of shit, so I will go back to sleep now...

Greg

13. Bible Theme Park Faces Opposition in Tennessee

Comment #180970 by GregPhillips on May 16, 2008 at 8:09 am

Hmmm how about a Roman period themepark where we get to reenact lobbing a load of Xtian slaves to the lions or hang them around town dipped in burning tar as street lights. 'Crucifixion? 9 pence please...'

Having been stranded in Lourdes myself (look the train went in and didnt leave again until monday ok?) and climbed the Stations of the Cross thingy and viewed Sunday mass with my mouth open at the gross desparation and stupidity being exhibited around me, this thing sound like an appalling idea.

Which is why its so perfect - they usually happen in the US of A.

Anyone want to by a bridge too? One careful owner.... perfect for a desert setting...

14. Group finds Starbucks logo too hot to handle

Comment #180948 by GregPhillips on May 16, 2008 at 7:40 am

A most amusing story but i've got to hand it to you guys - these comments have me cracking up :)

Starfucks! LOL !!

I can just imagine the pompous poe faced twats saying that on some TV news interview.

Yes and a good retort would be well she may have no top on as is traditional for mermaids and her tails spread, but at least she isnt nailed to a tree with her guts hanging out.

15. Top billing for platypus at end of evolution tree

Comment #178304 by GregPhillips on May 11, 2008 at 5:59 am

Monotremes are just a fascinating group of creatures, and this is a great article.

I do love to read the scientific stories here on RDF, a bit of ranting and flea scratching is a necessary pastime, but once in a while we get a real scientific gem to help us all on our path to greater understanding.

I can hardly wait for the Large Hadron Collider to some online and get my teeth into the next generation of partical physics articles :)

Greg

16. Flea of the week

Comment #164207 by GregPhillips on April 19, 2008 at 5:47 pm

Paula

Thank you for posting your informed view on the Flea books - like many people I have been thinking about picking up a flea or two (although not wanting to line their scabby pockets with my hard earned cash).

Today the Mormons turned up on the doorstep and I had a little debate with them before getting them to politely sling their hook, but I took a pamphlet to see if i could stomach a flea book and I have to say it was good for a 5 minute laugh, but the depressing reality that many people actually believe this and other religeons utter crap made me think of all the poor people who have waded through these ill informed diatribes in the spirit of open minded enquiry.

Does Richard read all of these books I wonder? I just cant imagine wasting my time reading one let alone four when there are such important mind expanding works out there that the fleas are meant to address. So - as I respect your opinion, thanks for helping me avoid going through what you have :)

You are a trooper, and I am sure we all appreciate the time and energy you put into your research and your posts.

Greg

17. Lungless frog discovered in Borneo

Comment #158827 by GregPhillips on April 11, 2008 at 5:02 am

Oh and nice frog BTW! :)

Well done Universe! Jolly good.

18. Lungless frog discovered in Borneo

Comment #158825 by GregPhillips on April 11, 2008 at 5:00 am

Not wishing to be pedantic, but isnt that a Monty Python song? I am sure I have it on the Monty Python Sings CD. However I may be wrong...

Awesome song too - thats going on my ever evolving Sunday Morning Hoovering Compilation, a collection of neferous and ungodly tunes to annoy the neighbours with :)

Greg

19. In search of the God particle

Comment #157465 by GregPhillips on April 9, 2008 at 6:07 am

Comment #156976 by black wolf

"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".

Naw, he just had a whole bunch of holes that he could drop and jump (or punch) through. Unfortunately for him, Parker lured him into dropping so many of them that he didn't have any left, and Spot was knocked out. Much like theists who try to defend their arguments here. "

blackwolf, I am sorry but this explanation is just full of holes.

:D

Greg

20. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #151080 by GregPhillips on March 28, 2008 at 6:12 am

Belated Happy Birthday Richard!

As an aside i just rated Expelled on the IMDB link above and we are now looking at 89% expect it to be Vile :)

Greg

21. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #115505 by GregPhillips on January 24, 2008 at 9:03 am

I live in Leicester, and I would love to see more people outside giving a clear signal to Ham and the ID crowd that they are not welcome in the UK than inside. If anything is organised please keep me informed :)

Greg