Comments by davem

Comment #233762 by davem on August 20, 2008 at 11:43 am

secondsoprano: "I put it down to Australia's high levels of education, and low levels of tolerance for bulls**t and authority."

I put it down to pharyngula, myself :0)

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/08/poll_need_pharyngulizin.php

2. Knights Templar 'Heirs' Sue Pope For Billions

Comment #233749 by davem on August 20, 2008 at 11:26 am

Maybe the descendants of the Knights could be hauled into court, and made to apologise to the muslims for the murders by the Knights? No, thought not.

3. Al-Qa'eda in Iraq alienated by cucumber laws and brutality

Comment #229209 by davem on August 13, 2008 at 8:20 am

Me, I'm looking forward to the beach volleyball in the 2016 Riyahd Olympics...

4. The moment of truth

Comment #223312 by davem on August 2, 2008 at 2:12 am

Marriage has always been nearly entirely a civil affair, especially in the West. It's only very recently that theists started wanting to define it as purely religious, and that otherwise relatively sensible people started buying into their bullshit.

Not in England, it hasn't. Civil marriages weren't recognised until 1837. Up until then, most marriages were CofE sanctioned, even for Roman Catholics. Jews and Quakers were exempted, and did their own thing.

5. Council ban on atheist websites

Comment #221411 by davem on July 29, 2008 at 3:39 pm

This is a non-story as far as Birmingham council are concerned. . The software they use (Bloecoat) lumps atheism in with the occult, so it's the fault of the software vendors, who are American.

6. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #210381 by davem on July 14, 2008 at 12:25 pm

sseldogmai:

The problem with the musket idea is that at that time that was the cream of the crop weapon. So my being able to own a hand gun that is equivalent to anyone else's is no different than then.

Yeah, quite right. Picture the scene: Burglar breaks in to house. Fires at owner, and misses. Owner rushes to his musket. Pours powder down the barrel, rams it down. Puts ball into barrel. Rams it down. Puts final packing in, packs it down. Puts powder in priming pan. Grabs flint, inserts into firing pin. Cocks the trigger, aims and fires.

No, nothing has changed at all...

7. Sir John M. Templeton, Philanthropist, Dies at 95

Comment #206471 by davem on July 8, 2008 at 11:51 am

I really don't see the point of being offensive here. So he was deluded? So are millions. There have been, and will be, far worse. Some people give billions to their pet dog, FFS. Maybe he didn't know Mother T. was a charlatan? Who did? At least have the decency to extend sympathy to the family.

PS one of the Templeton funds gave me a 1,000 per cent return on investment, so I might be biased here... :0)

8. Science teacher dissed evolution

Comment #196814 by davem on June 20, 2008 at 1:05 pm

For 11 years, other teachers in the school district and people in the community complained about Freshwater preaching his Christian beliefs in class and slamming scientific theories, a school administrator told investigators.

Looks like Mr Freshwater has got to go. Shortly followed by his bosses, who seem equally incapable of doing their job. 11 years? Why did it take more than 11 minutes?

9. Pastors Challenge Law, Endorse Candidates From Pulpit

Comment #196805 by davem on June 20, 2008 at 12:59 pm

Me, I always thought God would have voted Republican, and Jesus would definitely be a Democrat, nay, maybe even a communist...

10. Rapture site sends unbelievers their last chance ... via email

Comment #195015 by davem on June 17, 2008 at 2:26 pm

Thinks aloud...crack their website, send the emails, recipients reply 'uh?', senders think rapture happened without them, start to panic... evil laugh...

11. Astronomers find batch of 'super-Earths'

Comment #194151 by davem on June 16, 2008 at 1:13 pm

@entheogensmurf:
"Now we just need the engines, the ability to survive a trip that lasts over 40 years and the ability to terraform."

... only to meet the natives, who are planning to do the same to us...

12. The amazing intelligence of crows

Comment #181364 by davem on May 17, 2008 at 3:38 am

All this is old news to anyone who watches birds closely. I've never understood the oxymoronic 'bird brain' description. I've seen crows lining up to soar a small rock in a 30 mph wind, watch them cackle as they fall off, then join a QUEUE to get back on. I've seen them in a tree over a thermal source, rise up as the thermal hits them, then drop a wing and tumble back to the tree, all the time laughing their heads off.

13. British Airways takes beef off the menu to avoid offending Hindus

Comment #178228 by davem on May 11, 2008 at 12:49 am

"As a vegetarian, ..., but by seeking a deeper understanding of our relationship with other species."

Let me explain it. We are top of the tree. We eat them, not the other way around. Simple, really.

14. What really goes on at the Large Hadron Collider

Comment #175789 by davem on May 6, 2008 at 3:27 am

My missing favourite sock?

The missing sock problem has been solved. Throw away all your socks. Buy 20 pairs of your favourites. Sorted. Can I have a Nobel prize for that?

Now on to the LHC...

15. Mecca should become core to measure time zones: scholars

Comment #165518 by davem on April 21, 2008 at 2:51 pm

So, after 700 years in the scientific wilderness, while the west came up with the industrial revolution, the aeroplane, the car, atomic power, the laser, modern medicine, the human genome, micro-electronics and internet, went to the moon and the planets, nano-technology, the agricultural revolution etc etc, muslim engineers have now come up with an invention that is so important that they have to hold a conference to announce it - a watch that runs backwards. I'm so impressed.

16. Evolution Of New Species Slows Down As Number Of Competitors Increases

Comment #149287 by davem on March 25, 2008 at 11:50 am

Didn't we always know this? I certainly thought that this was obvious stuff.

17. The atheist delusion

Comment #144059 by davem on March 15, 2008 at 1:54 am

"Secularisation is in retreat"

Uh?

Sometimes I think Grauniad writers do come from a different planet, and this is confirmation, indeed.

18. The Dog Allusion

Comment #128183 by davem on February 16, 2008 at 12:29 pm

"But surely Dog has a flea collar?"

Hmmm. ...and vicars have dog collars....

19. Why multiculturalism must be abandoned

Comment #125157 by davem on February 11, 2008 at 3:14 am

This article needs to be sent to the Archbishop...

20. Admitting that you have no religion is not politically correct

Comment #122063 by davem on February 4, 2008 at 3:07 pm

I suggest getting hold of the largest dictionary to hand, opening it at the entry for 'secular', then hitting the idiots very hard on the head with it until they understand its meaning.

21. Wisdom From The Founding Rationalists

Comment #104180 by davem on December 28, 2007 at 3:43 am

[quote]I do not believe that the US is found on the highest ideals of democracy, yet it is the freest country in the world today.[/quote]
You've obviously never tried to get into the US from the outside... :0)

You've never been arrested for carrying an orange in your pocket at the airport...or for jaywalking (is that really an offence? - how weird)!

22. Jumbo shrimp, creationist astronomy

Comment #98734 by davem on December 14, 2007 at 7:01 am

Like steve99, I use Ubuntu, and Firefox. Clicking on the video box does absolutely nothing, but clicking on 'This file is available for download here' prompts me to store the file on disk, or play it with movie player. The latter works fine.

As to the film's content, it's a mother lode of ignorance.

23. 'Teddy' teacher jailed in Sudan

Comment #92379 by davem on November 30, 2007 at 11:41 am

"the ebay seller of the mohammed bear is putting themselves at risk, and of course that is the problem and thats in part why this website exists.
"

Maybe more of us should do the same? If 100 people advertise Mohammed Teddy Bears this christmas, and raise a lot of cash for charity, wouldn't that be far more effective than a sending a gunship/abject tolerance?

..and make sure the Sudanese get to hear of it...