Comments by rod-the-farmer

Comment #133349 by rod-the-farmer on February 26, 2008 at 5:30 am

Several times in this and other blogs someone has raised the question of "Just how popular ARE these flea books, anyway ?". Is there anyone with knowledge or contacts in the publishing industry who can do the research and report back ? Of course, it is entirely possible that some fundie churches or their supporters are buying the flea books in quantity, to hand out to their flock. I suppose detailed questions may reveal that sort of "fiddling the books".

602. Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous video

Comment #133275 by rod-the-farmer on February 26, 2008 at 2:22 am

JuxtaMonkey
I think the reason you (and the rest of us) cannot see this video yet is that it has not been released yet! Which makes the Pakistani government action all the more laughable. Pre-censorship. Do they ban triple X films ? When several newspapers in EU reprinted those offensive cartoons, I was truly hoping that ALL newspapers around the world would do the same thing, to show solidarity, and help muslim fundies understand that freedom of speech is entrenched in western societies. I thought for sure Pat Condell would be one of the reasons an islamic country would ban YouTube. Maybe even this site !. On that, has anyone heard from Josh lately ? I recommended he post some cartoons by Dan Piraro, of Bizarro fame. But Josh has not responded to either me or Dan.

603. Church is paying a high price for its celibacy rule

Comment #132882 by rod-the-farmer on February 25, 2008 at 11:08 am

From my limited experience, a lot of the reduction in numbers of people called to be priests or nuns is aligned very closely with the loss of a faithful congregation. I hear many Catholics expressing deep disgust at all the stories of kiddie-diddlers among the priesthood. That HAS to translate into disapproval, either on a personal level, or from your family & friends, if you were considering signing up. It would be bad enough if it happened only in one parish, or only in one country, but this phenomenon has reached pretty much every corner of the Catholic world. I have met some RC priests, some in my families home, and to think that almost every one of them either participated, or condoned this sort of thing, makes me want to wash my hands. I am not yet certain if this loss of faith among the RC community will drive many of them into rationality, and the atheist camp. Worth watching, and maybe a question for future census takers.

604. How he was sentenced to die

Comment #132769 by rod-the-farmer on February 25, 2008 at 7:39 am

Regarding comment #39, by tduvally

I think you may have this all wrong. What I found on the web here

http://nycreligiousfreedombills.com/wrfr.aspx

is pretty much the opposite of what you suggest is the idea behind it.

605. How he was sentenced to die

Comment #132612 by rod-the-farmer on February 25, 2008 at 3:35 am

I wrote to, and/or telephoned my Canadian Member of Parliament, the Canadian Prime Minister, and Mr. Karzai, the leader of Afghanistan. My point was that Canadian troops are dying in Afghanistan, but that we should call them all home the very next day if this man is executed. We are there to help defend the legitimate government of that country, because they share at least some of our beliefs. The circumstances of this mans' alleged crime indicate we do NOT share beliefs, and therefore the Canadian troops should be brought home. To date I have not had a response from any of them, but I have heard the Canadian government expressed their concern over this issue, to Mr. Karzai.

606. Evidence can't shake your faith if your faith excludes it as evidence

Comment #132606 by rod-the-farmer on February 25, 2008 at 3:19 am

Regarding Comment #132467 by Quine

I tried the link to the PBS Evolution series, but all I got was a small part of the entire program, NOT the section where the one student was taken aback by seeing a real fossil come out of the ground. I guess I have to buy the entire program - Evolution (The Mind's Big Bang/What About God?) (DVD) - $29.95 for 120 minutes. I sent them a note asking if they do volume discounts, in case there are a number of us interested in getting a copy. Stay tuned for a response.

607. The coming religious peace

Comment #132046 by rod-the-farmer on February 24, 2008 at 2:35 am

Thanks, scottishgeologist

I watched the Mark Driscoll video. Was there anyone but me who detected the unapologetic patriarchy in this man ? Only MEN, it seems, can lead a church. Geez Louise. Good speaker, articulate, certainly. But bushwa. Any MAN who insists only MEN can be leaders loses my vote in a second. The "Coming Religious Peace" is a good read. Not at all sure I agree. I see too many stresses and strains between secular societies and religious individuals (typically, but not restricted to immigrants) in recent months. I would like very much to be more hopeful, but the birthrate of secular families in just about any country, is far lower than that of the local religious nutters. I fear they will overwhelm us by sheer numbers.

608. Bart Ehrman, Questioning Religion on Why We Suffer

Comment #129939 by rod-the-farmer on February 19, 2008 at 7:33 pm

What came to my mind on reading his story was "Who PAID for all this time at school ?" Next, how do they feel now that he has rejected all that he learned ?

609. State Approves Evolution As 'Scientific Theory'

Comment #129673 by rod-the-farmer on February 19, 2008 at 12:56 pm

I went to the ABC News web site article. There are already 216 comments about the story, AND a place you can vote on the subject. Here are the results, so far

The Florida State School Board votes this week on new science standards that mandate teaching evolution. Do you think schools should be required to teach evolution?

Of course. In the 21st Century we should all accept the science of evolution.
267

Absolutely not. I believe in creationism. Evolution should not be taught.
71

I'm on the fence.
10

It should be up to each school to decide for themselves.
9

Total Vote: 357

I suppose we should be pleased that so many people voted for the first choice.

610. Archbishop's 8 March centennial message: Let Sharia Law govern women's lives, Amen!

Comment #129485 by rod-the-farmer on February 19, 2008 at 7:42 am

Status update re my comment #23

I contacted a local billboard advertising company. They charge $1200 Cdn. for a four-week display, and that includes the printing of the image. It will be in a medium city, approx. 300,000 people. When I told the contact person the image I had in mind was a drawing of a woman in a burka, with the text "Help eliminate slavery" I was told this would have to be sent to their corporate office for approval. It will take a day or two for a response to come back. I may post their response.

My current financial state is unfortunately such that I am not able to afford this myself.

611. Why do we believe in God? 2m study prays for answer

Comment #129435 by rod-the-farmer on February 19, 2008 at 6:13 am

Uh-oh......Danger, Will Robinson.......The Templeton Foundation is going to fund this ? I hope the investigation team made it a contract issue that any preliminary results, no matter where they pointed, would not cause the funding tap to be turned off.

612. Potentially Habitable Planets Are Common, Study Says

Comment #129429 by rod-the-farmer on February 19, 2008 at 5:57 am

Every time one of these "more planets found" articles appear, I wonder if there is someone updating the Frank Drake Equation. Surely the ratios have changed in recent weeks/months.

I too am a SETI supporter, and have several computers at home running the software, plus I have created a team of some colleagues who do SETI as well.

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

613. Cutting Edge: Baby Bible Bashers

Comment #129418 by rod-the-farmer on February 19, 2008 at 5:06 am

What jobs do the white kids family have ? They seem to be well up the income scale, based on the house and motorhome. I noted the young black kid was driven around in what appeared to be a Mercedes. If there was any doubt the goal of some/many/most evangelists is to make money, just listen to the father. I feel I need to take a shower now, and wash off the dirt. My teeth have been clenched from the first video. I have to stretch my jaw just to get them to release.

614. Archbishop's 8 March centennial message: Let Sharia Law govern women's lives, Amen!

Comment #128678 by rod-the-farmer on February 17, 2008 at 3:13 pm

What can the ordinary citizen of a western country do, to help expose & eliminate the misogyny inherent in Islam ? Hand out cards to veiled women, offering to help them escape via a sort of Underground Railroad ? How would you do that without their guards seeing ? Put up billboards in suitable locations ? Build a web site offering the same service ? Refuse to deal with (Islamic) countries that do not offer absolute equality of the sexes ? My own idea is that some one should establish an investment group, something like the "green" ones, where the fund managers only invest your money in countries & companies where women have equal rights. Since in the west, an increasing number of women control either the family investments, or have their own, I think this would be rather popular. That of course ignores men like myself, who would immediately direct our own investments to such an "equal rights" fund. I can imagine those islamic countries seeing their investments start to dry up, asking why this is happening ? The answer is that those in the west (and elsewhere) feel that a country/company who almost completely restricts the contributions of 50 % of their population, is obviously not as good an investment as one who does allow full participation by women. No one is forced to invest their money in such countries, so we have a choice where that money goes.

Then we start the secondary campaign, a boycott. Contact those companies that still deal with the women-haters, and tell them we will no longer buy their products & services, until and unless they too stop dealing with the misogynists. Ask some pointed questions at their Annual General Meeting of shareholders. I'll bet there are a few dedicated individuals out there who would happily set up and maintain a web site listing those companies who would be targets for this kind of campaign. We shall overcome, to coin a phrase.

I wonder how much it would cost to have a billboard show a woman in a burka, with the simple caption, "Help eliminate slavery". Sure would get some attention. I think I will call and ask, Monday.

615. The Search for Truth, God and Braver Scientists in 'Expelled'

Comment #128471 by rod-the-farmer on February 17, 2008 at 4:34 am

One other thing I have not seen mentioned in any stories about "Expelled". Just where will it be shown ? Somehow I can't see the regular, commercial movie theatres showing this. It does not sound like it has a lot of general appeal. Of course, it would give us all some hope, if a few theatres DID show it, to a complete lack of interest, and the word got out it was a dud. Perhaps someone in that industry can tell us how many tickets a movie has to sell to be held over ? Even the mini theatres that seem to be so popular in N. America must have a minimum attendance figure. And if a cinema agrees to rent it, and it turns out to be a total dud, can they just replace it with another film without breaking any contract provisions ? Has anyone among the regular readers heard of a theatre being approached to rent this turkey when it becomes available ? Does such an approach come through the regular, automatic channels, or is this going to be a more manual sales pitch ? What sort of fee do they charge ? I stand ready to be educated.....

I am reminded of an interchange between Winston Churchill and George Bernard Shaw. Apparently Shaw once sent a note to Churchill that his new play was opening on Friday, and he had left two tickets for Churchill, saying, "Bring a friend, if you have one." Churchill responded that he was unable to come to the opening night, "but will come the next night, if you have one."

616. The Search for Truth, God and Braver Scientists in 'Expelled'

Comment #128466 by rod-the-farmer on February 17, 2008 at 4:21 am

As for jbacsa in comment #128223, presumably describing atheists

a notable exception are a wealthy, privileged minority who have no use for God.

Gee, I have no use for god, but I am certainly not wealthy. Privileged ? I live on a nice piece of land, way out in the country, with beautiful sunrises almost every day. Does that make me privileged ? Yeah, I guess. But like the actress who won an award said, "god had nothing to do with it !"

I found a nice picture of a recent sunrise I took, but it is posted in such a way as to identify me rather closely. Not quite sure I am ready to come out that far. I am working up to it. My photo is really me, tho'.

617. Virus immunity 'created in lab'

Comment #127918 by rod-the-farmer on February 15, 2008 at 5:57 pm

"You have to be jolly careful that you don't end up on Queer Street."

Huh ?? This has to be a UK-unique comment. Anyone care to explain ?

618. Ben Stein Wins Intelligent Design Money

Comment #127910 by rod-the-farmer on February 15, 2008 at 5:47 pm

One can only hope that his first movie will not make it into mainstream theatres across the world. But if it does, it dies a quiet death for lack of interest. I am sure it will get some play in fundie churches, but that is preaching to the converted, so to speak.

619. US military accused of harboring fundamentalism

Comment #127449 by rod-the-farmer on February 15, 2008 at 9:52 am

Mike187

In the mid 1960's, cadets at RMC who did not wish to attend church services were offered the choice of standing at attention (maybe at-ease, not sure) outside the chapel for the duration of the services. But this stuff sounds a lot worse.

620. US military accused of harboring fundamentalism

Comment #127411 by rod-the-farmer on February 15, 2008 at 8:52 am

Truly scary. Not sure I ever want to visit the U.S. ever again.

621. Dumb and Dumber: Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge?

Comment #127406 by rod-the-farmer on February 15, 2008 at 8:49 am

This Kellie Pickler video is truly depressing. I am not alone in saying I have met a number of people who supposedly have a university degree, but could not find their posterior with both hands in the dark. But this air-head blonde is truly an embarrassment. I know National Geographic is trying to do something about this sort of abysmal ignorance. But I feel it will be like bailing out the ocean. WAY too much to get done in the lifetime of a human. If you gently confront these people, they just shrug their shoulders and say "Well, I never was very good at ----pick a subject---." (cringe)

Maybe we need to promote reading - a LOT more.

622. Exorcism undergoes a revival across Europe

Comment #126534 by rod-the-farmer on February 13, 2008 at 1:29 pm

Re my comment #48, I sent a note to Craig Whitlock, the reporter who wrote the article, asking

When a person is being treated by the priest/exorcist, if at any time he/she decides to
discontinue the treatment, is the treatment stopped immediately, or only if the person administering it decides to do so ?

Good question. Unfortunately, I don't know the answer; not sure if it's up to the priests individual judgment, or else if procedures spelled out by the Vatican. Sincerely, Craig Whitlock

623. Council pays psychic for exorcism

Comment #126482 by rod-the-farmer on February 13, 2008 at 10:39 am

Here is a Canadian TV commercial (one of a series) where a different kind of infestation is discovered in a home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMOh-kyDhis

It too required external help.....

624. Cal scientist reflects on Darwin's genius

Comment #126415 by rod-the-farmer on February 13, 2008 at 7:33 am

Response to bugaboo in comment #10

I am afraid the ID supporters often DO deny evolution has occurred. They sometimes agree in micro-evolution, but stop sharp at the idea of macro-evolution. Tiny steps are OK. Big ones that result in a change of species are not. The idea of repeated, successive small steps accumulating until there is a big step, is not one they can comprehend. I have often thought their problem stems from a complete inability to grasp the time scales involved. But if your brain is unable to get past the young earth premise, then scores of thousands of years, let alone millions of years, are beyond your imagining. These people inhabit a very small mental neighbourhood. The idea of vast distances in time & space is outside their scope. IMO this is the major reason why evolution supporters have such difficulty convincing faith-heads of the validity of evolution. Faith-heads can understand Gravity (they can see it) and some Optics (also visible). But something that happens over extremely long periods (species to species change) which they CAN'T see, has to be false. I wonder - suppose we took time lapse underwater photos of the mid-Atlantic ridge, slowly splitting apart, and secondly showed them the close match at the continental shelf level, between Africa and South America. This might help them discard the young earth concept. Once THAT is out of the way, maybe they can start to see that with Time, many things are possible. But I am sure there are some evolution-deniers who DO agree with the old-earth concept. They just can't accept the macro-evolution part.

625. Exorcism undergoes a revival across Europe

Comment #125955 by rod-the-farmer on February 12, 2008 at 10:24 am

I had another thought. Can someone ask these Polish priests (on our behalf) the following: Once a person is being subject to whatever "treatment" these priests proscribe for the exorcism, CAN THE VICTIM DECIDE TO STOP THE TREATMENT RIGHT THEN AND THERE, AND WALK AWAY ??? It would seem proper (?) to ask the victim at each stage "The next stage of your treatment is XXXXX. Are you willing to proceed further ?" If not, the treatment must stop immediately, or I would think the priest(s) would be open to some sort of criminal charge, like illegal imprisonment, torture, etc. I am thinking of that terrible situation in Romania, I believe it was, where the woman was tied up for days, and died. I don't know that a court of law would accept a priest saying "Of course we would not release the victim. He/she was possessed by the devil, and it was really satan speaking, asking us to stop. We do not listen to the devil. Too bad he/she died, but at least we got rid of the devil."

I am not familiar with the exorcism manual. Does it allow the victim to decline further treatment, or, once they start it, only the priest can call it off ? (Grimace). Thank Dog for rationality.

(See comment #60 for a response from the reporter)

626. Exorcism undergoes a revival across Europe

Comment #125760 by rod-the-farmer on February 12, 2008 at 1:52 am

Thanks, MaxD (comment #35) for this

Here is a clip from a woman who is a God-Warrior.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaKP4WfG3F4

If there was ever a need to show NORMAL people the sort of damage a fundie mentality can do, this is the video to show them. I felt terrible just watching the three poor children, and maybe the husband, watch this disturbed woman rant. You could almost see them thinking "My Mom has become insane." I wonder if the appropriate medical authorities saw this, would they commit her ? She looks on the edge of doing something violent, either to herself, or her family. I wish the clip included some background info on the circumstances. It had a sense of reality to it, but why there was a TV crew in her home, I can't guess.

627. Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

Comment #125609 by rod-the-farmer on February 11, 2008 at 5:06 pm

More video news on the topic, this from CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) Several interviews with Afghan people, including some female journalists and political figures.

http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/sunday/021008_2.wmv

As yet I have not had a response to my letters on this subject, which I sent to the Prime Minister of Canada (Stephen Harper), Mr. Karzai in Afghanistan, nor my local Member of Parliament. I doubt I will get one, unless it is the usual form letter.

628. Exorcism undergoes a revival across Europe

Comment #125344 by rod-the-farmer on February 11, 2008 at 9:03 am

Typical cases, he said, include people who turn away from the church and embrace New Age therapies, alternative religions or the occult. Internet addicts and yoga devotees are also at risk, he said.

I hasten to note there was NO mention of atheists. Nor of agnostics. Just those who "turned away from the church". Nor, given the most recent adjustment to officially sanctioned prayer for Roman Catholics, of Jews. What IS the world coming to ! First, I would think this character should be familiar enough with the terms atheist and agnostic. Maybe he thinks we are beyond salvation/exorcism ? Probably true, actually.

Ahah ! I have it now. They did not mention atheists or agnostics because none of them would come within 20 km of the place ! As for yoga devotees, I direct them to various TV programs showing exercise routines. I am not sure, actually, if that was a misprint. I thought maybe they mean TOGA devotees. Anyone watching the Rome series on TV would probably agree the dissolute Romans need to check out this nutter in Poland.

629. What would Darwin have made of the Human Genome Project?

Comment #125334 by rod-the-farmer on February 11, 2008 at 8:50 am

I find this sort of article fascinating. Especially because I imagine myself a faith-head, reading it, and being almost paralysed with fear that some day soon, some scientist somewhere is going to put the final nail in the coffin of evolution. All the gaps will be explained as "We have not AS YET found a hominid fossil showing the change from all-over body hair, to bare skin", or something else so minute as to be unworthy of serious debate. Once that happens, the whole creationism/ID thing is going to collapse like a house of cards. I suspect this fear is perhaps the impetus behind the drive to teach creationism in schools. "Get the kids thinking goddidit - therefore no further questions are required - and they won't be tempted to become scientists and really investigate the theory of evolution, where they might find even MORE proof". Can anyone recommend some published research on what happens to a cult whose prime belief is suddenly and irrevocably struck down ? What do they DO with their time, assets, religious practices, etc. ? For example, what exactly was the reaction of those who claimed the world was flat, once it was proved wrong ? I can't think of a more recent concept of similar magnitude, off hand. Splitting the atom and the expanding universe, maybe, or "64KB should be enough for anyone", but the latter involved one individual, and the former were not religious beliefs.

630. Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science

Comment #125122 by rod-the-farmer on February 11, 2008 at 2:11 am

Sir, I hope your exit was either your own choice, or due to a time limit imposed on incumbents. I would hate to think your more recent books and public visibility caused Oxford to ease you out in favour of someone less passionate. Also, from your writings and speeches, I doubt very much you will stop promoting the Public Understanding of Science. That would seem to be bred into you. For that, and all your other accomplishments, I salute you.

631. Battle of the Chambersburg billboards

Comment #124551 by rod-the-farmer on February 9, 2008 at 7:39 pm

Re the comment from steveroot

11 hrs ago

All we Christians need to do is pray...God will take care of all the procrastioners in his own way. Believe me God is alive and well. I'm happy the Church is here for all of us...We don't need to arouse a lot of arguments. God works in mysterious ways....Pray Pray Pray...............

Procrastioner....wasn't he the guy whose feet hung over the end of the bed ? What does god have to do with that ?
If there were some way to get a rebuttal billboard up, I would contribute. But in the U.S., the religious nutters have way more money than atheists - or at least they are more willing to spend theirs.

632. Sharia law in UK is 'unavoidable'

Comment #123711 by rod-the-farmer on February 7, 2008 at 2:35 pm

A few months ago, Ontario, Canada had a proposal by a committee, headed by an ex-member of the provincial parliament to introduce sharia law here too. It was met with resounding negative reaction from the general public. The author pointed out that the Jewish and Catholic communities have had a similar legal system for many years. So, why not sharia ? There is now pressure to have THEM shut down, in the sense of fairness.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1126472943217_26/?hub=TopStories

Once the door of alternative legal systems is open, you cannot easily close it again, still less push back in anything that escaped.

As for the proposal in the UK, I suspect it will go down in flames. I thought the idea of emigrating was to get away from your country of birth, into a better situation (economic, legal, political, educational, whatever). You do NOT set up residence in the host country and insist on importing the legal system of your country of birth. That's stupid. If you prefer THAT system, then don't emigrate in the first place, or return once you understand the system(s) in the host country. But if the birthrate of muslims continues to outpace that of the pre-existing UK populace, then the phrase that comes to mind is "Resistance is futile."

633. The New Atheist Movement

Comment #123264 by rod-the-farmer on February 6, 2008 at 6:37 pm

I agree with comment #64 by NMcC

(1) Theist preacher (?) has read some atheist books.
(2) One-time assistant to some Atheist author has not read any theist books.

Therefore, god exists.

QED

As for the 75% rate of faith-loss in universities, one can only expect a surge in enrollments for Liberty U. where their faith can be reinforced, regularly. I like Hitchens' comment that there must be something wrong with religion that it requires regular attendance at meetings to keep the faith strong, otherwise it will fade away. Speaking of which, anyone know the job placement rate for Liberty compared to other universities ? I did hear that several hundred found jobs in the Bush administration, but that is a special case.

634. Science and the Islamic World

Comment #122250 by rod-the-farmer on February 5, 2008 at 2:24 am

Here is a related article, titled "Arab Education is Falling Behind".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7227610.stm

635. Putting Candidates' Religion to the Test

Comment #121719 by rod-the-farmer on February 4, 2008 at 3:14 am

Oh, I LIKE these questions. How could we help them be posed to the candidates ?

636. Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

Comment #121285 by rod-the-farmer on February 3, 2008 at 7:15 am

According to the following article

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/lifeline-for-pervez-afghan-senate-withdraws-demand-for-death-sentence-777188.html

"the Afghan Senate has withdrawn its confirmation of a death sentence on Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student convicted of blasphemy for downloading a report on women's rights from the internet."

Apparently the President of Afghanistan was "inundated "with letters about this case. It would seem all our efforts have postponed, if not canceled this sentence.

637. Are Darwin's Theories Fact or Faith Issues?

Comment #120594 by rod-the-farmer on February 2, 2008 at 5:10 am

There should have been a video/sound effect as the audio ended, of the typical movie scene of a Simmons Mark 1 aircraft diving out of control, in flames, straight into the ground. That would have signified how the debate ended. Maybe a further image of PZ, blowing smoke off the end of his gun barrel.

Teratornis said

Islam, for example, promises 72 virgins in the afterlife to men who become martyrs. For most men, obtaining the harem 97% of us want is impossible, given the roughly 1:1 sex ratio, not to mention the crushing expense of maintaining multiple wives. Thus a promise of 72 dream girls sounds like a pretty good deal, if only it were true.

I beg to differ. I think you are making some assumptions here. I don't recall anyone saying the 72 virgins were "dream girls". MY idea was that the 72 virgins could just as well be 80-year old nuns. Alternatively, the relatives of those killed by islamic martyrs could choose the 72 virgins. For example, the martyrs own daughters, wife, mother, aunts, grandmothers, sisters etc. All of whom would be plucked from life prior to losing their virginity. Sort of an "eye for an eye" approach.

And of course, who says virgins are "dream girls" ? To quote the character of Professor Harold Hill in "The Music Man" musical, 'the sadder but wiser girl for me'.

What we desperately need is a report from beyond, from one such martyr, telling us what he found on the other side. I like the idea of a news flash "72 virgins revealed as 80 year old nuns ! Sports and Weather next.". Let them disprove that.

Here is a great idea (thenk yew verra much) ...perhaps someone could apply for a grant from a wealthy Saudi family, to research just how such feedback could be obtained. Think of the world-wide press this would generate, and the number of converts to islam ! I leave for another time a discussion on what a female suicide bomber (sorry, martyr) would find. Does she get 72 male virgins, and where do THEY come from, or is she suddenly and unexpectedly drafted to become one of the 72 female virgins ? Would she register for such a draft, volunteer, or flee to christianity ? The mind boggles at the possible complexity.

638. Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

Comment #120093 by rod-the-farmer on February 1, 2008 at 8:56 am

I have now sent letters to my Member of Parliament (plus a phone call), the Prime Minister of Canada, the office of the opposition party in Canada, and the Prime Minister of Afghanistan. Next are my local newspapers (2). Is it just me, or is there a rather deafening silence from the Four Horsemen ? One can imagine them girding their loins, so to speak. But if we lesser mortals can be fairly quick of the mark, I would expect them (plus of course the inimitable Pat Condell) to jump right into the deep end of this discussion. Anyone seen anything that has not yet made it to this web site ? Or some sort of update on the situation in Afghanistan ?

639. Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

Comment #120044 by rod-the-farmer on February 1, 2008 at 7:54 am

Whenever the topic of the veil comes up, and some muslim men say that muslim women have equality with men, I am reminded of a tactic sometimes used in debates. Team F will argue FOR, and team A will argue against. The date is set, and when the teams arrive, the moderator says the assignments were accidentally reversed, and team A will argue FOR, and team F against. Of course, the teams complain, saying "We studied and researched the position we were originally given". The moderator responds "You should also then know the strategy of the opposing view, and have answers for them. Just use the strategy you thought they might use against you, starting NOW." I would like to use the same argument against muslim men who support the wearing of the veil. I am told this habit (pardon the pun) is only about 400 years old. Therefore, to PROVE that muslim women are treated equally, all muslim men who supported the veil in the past, will now wear it, for the next 400 years. Of course, none of them will live 400 years, but their descendants will have to take up the....habit. They will not be allowed out in public without a female member of the family to accompany them, nor will they be allowed to drive a car, own property, etc. After all, men and women are equal in islam, are they not ? Goodness knows, women should be shielded from seeing things that might arouse them, like whiskery faces, strong calves, and ohh, those muscular forearms !

640. Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

Comment #118929 by rod-the-farmer on January 31, 2008 at 7:18 am

I both telephoned and wrote my Member of Parliament in Ottawa, Canada. Here is the site to locate your MP, for Canada

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC

I also found one for the UK, (see below)

http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/

and a previous poster listed something I assume is similar for the U.S. Those readers in Germany and the Netherlands may have a similar capability. I know there are more countries with troops in Afghanistan, I just don't have them handy.

My call and letter said the same thing. "If the duly constituted government of Afghanistan is going to pass sentences such as the one imposed on this student, then the people of Canada can no longer help defend that government. We will begin withdrawing our troops immediately, starting tomorrow, until all of them have come home."

One further point....I also copied the opposition party, so they can raise this issue during Question Period in the House of Commons. U.S. readers will likely not be familiar with this concept, as I am told there is nothing even close to it in the U.S. system of government. Canada inherited it from the UK.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/visitors/public-e.asp

Question Period is broadcast on TV in both English and French. I have personally sat in the gallery and observed Question Period. Unfortunately, some of the members present acted like juvenile buffoons, but I am told that is not uncommon with politicians.

641. Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

Comment #118832 by rod-the-farmer on January 31, 2008 at 3:41 am

Today I will CALL my member of parliament (Canada) who I met personally this past summer, to express my concern. He will remember me, due to the circumstances of our family visit. I will tell him I plan to contact the opposition party as well, to raise the issue that Canada should pull our troops out of Afghanistan, if this is what they are fighting for. If the opposition party can raise this question in the House of Commons, it may get some play in the media. There is already a lot of public debate on the issue of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, as over 70 of them have died there.

642. Happy Birthday Josh Timonen!

Comment #118829 by rod-the-farmer on January 31, 2008 at 3:32 am

Happy birthday Josh. A truly remarkable job designing (?) and running this site. When I compare the fundie web sites, we (you) have them all beat. I should probably make it my home page, I spend so much time here.

643. Scientists discover way to reverse loss of memory

Comment #118827 by rod-the-farmer on January 31, 2008 at 3:26 am

Fascinating to be sure. As for me, my father had Alzheimers for 10 years before he died, and it caused a lot of stress in the family. The older his children get, the more sensitive we become to the least possible hint of forgetfulness.

What I found of even greater interest is the statement that

The scene was in colour. People were wearing identifiable clothes and were talking, but he could not decipher what they were saying

I wonder why not ? Is the memory of speech sounds held in a different part of the brain ? Was there any traffic noise or bird calls in the recovered memory ? I can see THIS article being read by a great many people.

644. The Repeater

Comment #118807 by rod-the-farmer on January 31, 2008 at 2:37 am

I agree, another nail in the coffin for the anti-evolutionists. I find their claim that "micro-evolution is OK, we agree with that, but not with MACRO-evolution" is laughable. It would be like them saying "Yes, if you put one foot after another, you can walk to the store a few blocks away, but walking from the Middle East, all the way to Manchuria, then across the Bering Straight, and then down the west cost of N. America, all the way to Peru ? Ridiculous. It can't be done. Where is the evidence for that ?"

These people

(a) simply have no concept of the time available for all this to happen. It requires a step outside your own, small existence, and many simply cannot make this. Similarly, they have trouble with astronomical distances.
(b) can't quite grasp the idea that each step in evolution is based on the previous one.

Incremental actions, when compounded, can make for big differences. Maybe that is how we explain it to them. "If you invest $10 a week, using compound interest, how much will you have after 10 years ? 50 years ? 100 years ?" Showing that calculation to the uninitiated often expands their worldview in a major way. Now apply that same thinking to evolution, only THIS time imagine it happening over several millions of years. Of course we still have to say that some of the changes will not be positive, and then get into the natural selection discussion. Just typing that, I realise there is an analogy right there to the stock market. It too goes up & down. But if you chose correctly, over the long run, it goes up. Off hand, I don't know the calculation for compound interest. Is there something you can run on a pocket calculator, or do you need a scientific one ? It would be useful to pull out my PalmPilot and do the compound interest thing. A live demo is often convincing.

645. What should a scientist think about religion?

Comment #118803 by rod-the-farmer on January 31, 2008 at 2:10 am

Wonderer said

Actually, as someone who does a lot of arguing with fundamentalists, my experience is that the place to draw the line most effectively is at psychology.

I would be very interested to hear your arguments, please. Up to now I have avoided "arguing with fundamentalists", as non-productive, OR, a stress point in family relationships. While I do not consider myself well-read in the area of psychology (not nearly as well-read as I am in the world of science), perhaps there is room for a rank amateur to have a go. I now consider starting such discussions as part of my "coming out". I will have to be careful how I start them, so as not to appear confrontational. Perhaps a line like "I recently read something that was interesting/curious/strange.." to get things rolling.
I also agree whole-heartedly with Cartomancer that

Though I would add that this applies not just to scientists as commonly defined, but to all people who engage in evidence-based rational thinking.

646. Atheism and Violence

Comment #117983 by rod-the-farmer on January 30, 2008 at 5:57 am

Is it just me, or does this particular SJ character have a bad case of quotis obscurantis ? I didn't finish university, and although I consider myself moderately well-read, I don't think in one single article I have seen so many references to people I have never heard of before. I agree with the previous comment about SJ being famous for their logic at one time. This guy has single-handedly brought down the reputation of the entire order. And all this focus on the French Revolution ? Ahh....I don't see the relevance to 2008, and in particular to 9/11.

I too choked on so much of this guys reasoning. To paraphrase Groucho Marx,
"The internet lets you read about people in your living room that you would not want near your house."

As Dan Dennett said at the AAI conference last year: "They're on the run..."

I hope we are closing in on Gandhis' thinking,
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."

647. Dawkins is third most prolific internet Briton

Comment #117706 by rod-the-farmer on January 29, 2008 at 12:16 pm

I agree with Cartomancer. I have hardly heard of ANY of these people. Less than half. Maybe many of them are really UK-only people, not well known outside, or, not likely known by old geezers like me. (see photo.) Funny how many of them are related to Harry Potter. Those books, of course, are the work of the devil, of course, so we should almost consider them one of us.

648. A Letter From Hell

Comment #117696 by rod-the-farmer on January 29, 2008 at 11:55 am

who's an adorable little semi-theist then? yes you is, yes you is! Go on, push the ball to Cartomancer, that's it. Wheeee!

Did anyone else channel Dame Edna saying this ?

On the stage for her first visit to the "Just For Laughs" comedy festival in Montreal, she said that when she was invited to come to Montreal, she responded "Just tell me where it is, dearie, and I will BE there".

649. The Science behind the Large Hadron Collider

Comment #117062 by rod-the-farmer on January 28, 2008 at 7:17 am

Regarding the suggestions that there might be a catastrophic event when they turn on the LHC, this reminds me of a science fiction story I read many years ago. I think it was in Analog - Science Fact & Science Fiction magazine. The idea was that a midwest lab experiment had somehow accidentally opened a space-time tunnel into someplace else, and THAT place happened to be in interstellar space. The result was an opening directly into hard vacuum, which was promptly sucking all the air off the planet. First, of course, it inhaled all the lab and the personnel. The contractor hired (after several false starts) to resolve the problem, took the contract on the basis that he would own the property if he could shut the tunnel entrance down. He was smarter than the government who hired him (no surprise there). Once he enclosed the "opening" with two large steel hemispheres that clamped together around the singularity or whatever it would be called, he now had a earth-based source for hard vacuum. Just open the tap he had previously installed on one hemisphere, and presto, instant vacuum, which he sold for a healthy price.

650. The Science behind the Large Hadron Collider

Comment #116997 by rod-the-farmer on January 28, 2008 at 2:38 am

I tried the video links again, as suggested, and now they work. I would like to open a small debate, with a tiny rant. I get really annoyed at those who mis-pronounce the word "kilometer". It seems there are more and more people doing this, and it is especially annoying to hear it out of the mouths of scientists, several of them in these videos. The mis-pronunciation is "kil-aww-meter. This is incorrect. The word is pronounced "kilo meter". Think of the sequence, and speak them aloud - millimeter, centimeter, kilometer. Or of milligram, centigram, kilogram. The logic of the word type also supports this pronunciation. A kilometer is a unit of distance. Words like

speed Ometer
tach Ometer
Therm Ometer
od Ometer
spectr Ometer
ped Ometer
dos Imeter
Polar Imeter
Sphygmoman Ometer
Phot Ometer
Calor Imeter
Pyr Ometer
Alt Imeter
Man Ometer
Potenti Ometer
Bar Ometer
Anem Ometer

are all nouns, describing devices that measure something. On this basis, a kil-aww-meter would then have to be a device for measuring...kilos...which is the prefix for a thousand...of ....what ?

There is one word which causes a problem. Micrometer. Depending on where you place the emphasis, the word means either one-millionth of a metre (old term = micron), or, a device for measuring small distances. Same word, different meaning based on the pronunciation.
I would appreciate it if those who read this would make an effort to pronounce the word properly, and educate others. We all look stupid and a bit illiterate when we cannot pronounce such a common word correctly. Imagine running into a person who pronounced the country as "United Kingdome". You'd think he/she was a few cards short of a deck. And more so, if he/she refused to change !

If you have trouble getting your tongue around it, try "klicks", which was coined for the U.S. astronauts during the moon program.