751. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #222189 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 9:10 pm

One thing I've learned in life is that there is no such thing as the 1. I know the fairy-tale pays the bills in Hollywood, but it's just fantasy. Relationships develop and deepen and there's no perfect person....When I was younger there was a girl who I had the hots for and thought that she'd be the perfect partner, but she didn't think the same of me and nothing happened (except she rejected my advances, etc). I moved on and don't think about her at all these days and am happily married.....

752. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #222186 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 9:06 pm

At least it's good that you're not drowning your sorrows each day.

753. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #222185 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 9:05 pm

Poor swans. Are they that weird white variation or the standard black swan?

754. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #222182 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 8:56 pm

J. Mac, males that compete for mates and loose or are at a lower echelon do suffer depression. Humans are hypothesized to suffer depression when in a lower power situation too. For example, you may be a go-getter in a low power job and end up suffering depression if the chances of scaling the hierachy are non-existence. It's surmised that in these situations depression, in reducing one's drive, stops one from railing against the situation and accepting it somewhat. The adaptive benefit being you don't was energy and resources chasing rainbows or injure yourself tackling a dominant male who would kill or maim you....

Would that require a degree of imaginative capacity unknown outside our own species?

755. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #222179 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 8:48 pm

And there are CERTAINLY many animals that form lifelong pair bonds, much stronger than we promiscuous apes, so strong in fact that in some animals if the mate dies they LITERALLY wither and die themselves.

756. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #222177 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 8:44 pm

Probably a wise call Carto. Often you joke about luring young guys like you're a black widow, so I was riffing on those lines. Oh well, there's not much help I can offer which isn't mere platitudes and stuff. I'll stop making light of the situation. :)

757. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #222174 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 8:41 pm

I read somewhere that there were complaints about Mo's wives takin' their constitutional out in the open because at that time in Mecca, or Median, Mo and gang weren't doing well and so used the desert. So Mo, conveniently, has a vision that told him to make all his wives cover up so that people didn't notice them doing the toilet. That's probably apocryphal.

758. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #222173 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 8:37 pm

Poor Carto.

You're pining and withering? Can't you just have a meaningless bonk to get you through now and then? Do it for us Carto, even if you, erm, aren't quite 'into' it. The site would suffer. Quite selfish of me I know.

I'm not sure that many animals suffer from unrequited love. I'm not sure the extent that an animal can be said to consciously love. It's all speculation.

759. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #222169 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 8:31 pm

If the relationship is imaginary, then it's not the relationship that exists, friendship, but another? You got the hots for him or you think you're King Carto and he's a loyal subject? I just don't have enough immagination....

760. Kung poo panda 'The Sex Lives of Animals' exhibit digs deep.

Comment #222167 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 8:24 pm

Or male nipples ;-)

761. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #222165 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 8:22 pm

Don't feel bad Layla, just an observation. Goldy put it better. It's like falling madly in love. In fact, the analogy of dogmatic belief that brooks no questioning and being in love with a person and ignoring any detrimental comments is quite a good one.

Thanks for the info. I'd hear the Satanic verses were about Mo allowing worship of other deities then later changing his mind and saying Satan must've done it. Perhaps the whole Quran is the work of Satan if he can so easily trick Mo?

762. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #222152 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 7:38 pm

Then a hungry goat ate the only piece of paper containing that verse, so it didn't make it into the Qur'an! ;-)

I have one piece of advice: Stay the hell away from converts, they're batshit insane -- and I say this from personal experience. ;-)

763. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #222139 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 6:52 pm

Hadith Qudsi contain "revelations" from Allah that aren't in the Qur'an.

764. Breeding for God

Comment #222135 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 6:22 pm

Here's an article for ya Goldy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/24/religion.middleeast

765. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #222130 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 5:36 pm

Found this on wiki: Sacred Hadith

Apparently they rank higher than other Hadith, but less than the Quran....

766. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #222129 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 5:32 pm

Goldy, this was the brew
Hayward's 5000

767. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #222128 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 5:28 pm

Thanks Layla. I'd read somewhere that there is a small section of the Hadith that is considered the word of God like the Quran. Thus the Quran wouldn't be complete. Have you heard this?

768. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #222123 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 5:10 pm

Dalton damaged. Ring sting factor not too high. Heat shield not ablated during reentry. Perhaps more curry next time. :)

Oh, and I tried an Indian brew. 7% alcohol. Not bad. Thanks for the suggestion of the Chicken Korma (I think it was you).

769. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #222114 by Brian English on July 30, 2008 at 4:35 pm

It is perfect, complete, eternal, and immutable

770. Council ban on atheist websites

Comment #221611 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 9:39 pm

mmmm, hot vindalooo, ***drools***

771. Atheism FLEAmix

Comment #221607 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 9:36 pm

Is this book in the flea market yet?

http://www.amazon.com/End-Reason-Response-New-Atheists/dp/0310282519/ref=pd_sim_b_4

I love the blub: response remains a powerful, passionate, irrefutably sound set of arguments for Christian thought. The clarity and hope in these pages reach out to readers who know and follow God as well as to those who reject God.

Irrefutably sound? Probably airy fairy stuff that you can't refute because it isn't an argument...

772. Council ban on atheist websites

Comment #221605 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 9:34 pm

mmmm, Chicken Korma.......

773. Atheism FLEAmix

Comment #221603 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 9:33 pm

Amazon says that it's only 112 pages. Probably not much bang for buck page wise, if nothing else....

774. Council ban on atheist websites

Comment #221599 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 9:30 pm

Carto, how would you describe the Scottish?

775. Council ban on atheist websites

Comment #221573 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 8:15 pm

So that's your plan to loose the man-boobs Goldy? Don't you know that wasting away isn't good for your health?

776. Atheism FLEAmix

Comment #221530 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 5:55 pm

Fizhburn, you can pen a book using your god logical operator.

The one that basically functions the opposite of the conjunction operator:
P & Q is true iff P and Q are true.
P g Q is true irrespective of the truth values of P and Q because the god operator (g) is omnipotent and does what it fucking likes and you'll beat me up if I disagree.

777. Faith is not the answer

Comment #221512 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 5:19 pm

It's Christmas in heaven....

778. Faith is not the answer

Comment #221471 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 4:46 pm

Goldy, if you can drive it across the puddle and it still be in working order I'll consider it. :)

779. Atheism FLEAmix

Comment #221467 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 4:45 pm

Predicting David Robertson in the next 24 hours. This prediction is not based on fuzzy feelings but on induction.

780. Faith is not the answer

Comment #221464 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 4:42 pm

Goldy, you're a whore with man-boobs. This site has gone down hill. Where's wooter and jooter when you need them?

781. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220822 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 5:13 am

Bonzai, you're right. But the irony is, they'll breed a lot of kiddies, but refuse to educate them. So you have the irony of those kiddies collecting the Darwin award because they remove themselves from the gene pool due to ignorance. It's all Darwinian in the end, isn't it?

782. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220819 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 5:10 am

Decius, I forgot. Italy is one of the most wealthy countries in the world. You don't need 10 kids to ensure your retirement. Women are educated and can make choices. This probably has an effect on birth rates (natality) too....

783. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220817 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 5:08 am

Steve, mater hommunculi.

784. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220815 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 5:06 am

Decius, Spain and Italy have defacto state religions, like England. The church gets fat and lazy (how many Cardinals does Rome have compared to something like Australia?) In countries where the church has to struggle for power over people, it's not lazy and it's stance on contraception does have an effect....

785. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220813 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 5:04 am

Carto, it's possible that Aids will one day be curable. Unfortunately children won't be, unless you want to be charged with murder....

786. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220806 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 4:58 am

Thinking of it, is there such a thing as "artificial conception"?

787. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220805 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 4:57 am

Laurie, for your consideration: http://philosophicalneuron.blogspot.com/2008/07/its-intuitive.html

EDIT: you already know about my unkempt mind sludge....

788. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220802 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 4:54 am

Are we Catholics then? No, we're Protestants and fiercly proud of it! Martin Luther may not have realized the full significance of his actions when he nailed his thesis to the Wittenberg church, but because of his actions I can now go down to the local store and ask for condom. In fact I can say "Harry, I want to buy a condom. No, make it a French tickler because I am a Protestant."



I understand your pain TWP. I'm probably wrong in the above, but it's been a few years....

789. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220797 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 4:49 am

There's some lovely filth here Dennis....

790. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220793 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 4:44 am

Good blog post Quetz!

791. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220790 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 4:19 am

Help! Help! I'm being repressed!

792. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220768 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 3:08 am

by virtue of having been taught constantly and definitively, over a period of many centuries, by a consensus of Popes and Bishops around the world

793. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220766 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 2:59 am

Laurie, that's ex cathedra, not ex catheta. They must have made a mistake as they certainly are taking the piss like a catheta......

794. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220733 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 1:33 am

Dr Doctor, you bet me too it!

795. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220732 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 1:32 am

General Prayer Fault, works for me. I was imagining some blue screen of death that one could get on Win98 when one dereferenced a NULL pointer (0x00000000).

Steve, don't put too much mental effort into it. It was my usual idea (scientific skepticism): our senses and thoughts are generally reliable, but not perfect which doesn't mean we reject either but that we don't claim things as being 100% true just because we think they are......

796. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220729 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 1:29 am

I was looking out windows or trying to look up cute girls' dresses. Luckily, I'm not the smartest cookie in the jar, but I remember things pretty well. And any RE exam just relies on regurgitating stuff from memory and not questioning or thinking, so it was perfect.

797. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220728 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 1:27 am

Steve, check out my latest blog post. Mike's had a look and left a comment. Maybe you might find some charm in it. I thought I was making a good point, but I may not have been....

798. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220725 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 1:25 am

Now you're getting it Steve. What were you doing during RE classes?

799. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220724 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 1:24 am

I think there must be a low level swizzling prayer system where you think the prayer is going to a name but it is really going to an actual address somewhere outside of the universe, address 0x000000.

800. Catholics To Pope: Lift Birth Control Ban

Comment #220720 by Brian English on July 29, 2008 at 1:20 am

Steve, you're missing the big picture. Saints intercede on your behalf. So, God is convinced by your tout (Saint), but God knows in any case. This would seem to rule out the need for Saints, but polytheism runs strong in the Catholic church. Anyway, according to the Catholic church, if you receive a sacrament from a defrocked priest, but you didn't know he was defrocked, then you and God are cool, therefore, if you pray to a Saint that you believed was a Saint, then you and God are cool. There's so much leg room in religion. :)

Do you know that although the Catholic church is very authoritarian it has a doctrine that says nothing you do is a sin unless your conscience tells you so. So, you could piss off the whole Catholic world and be excommunicated yet still be in God's graces if you did it in good conscience. I think this is how the church gets around the fact that many saints (Francis of Assisi) were originally persecuted for heretical doctrines but later it was revealed that they were doing God's work (TM).

But you were Catholic, so I guess you knew this.