101. Write to UCF

Comment #219448 by AllanW on July 27, 2008 at 2:03 am

I sent an email to President Hitt along the same lines as many others. Interesting points made in this thread but I was always taught to think carfully about the intended audience and adjust the points I made and the language used accordingly (thank you Sir Ernest Gowers). The content and language in this case was aimed at the President of a substantial, publicly-funded university not your average religious delusional.

On a side note; Cartomancer, PM for you raising the idea of trying to arrange a get-together for as many of the regular posters on here as can make it to the Valedictory lecture in October. I ordered my ticket in the week just past and found out that there were very few left. Is anyone interested in such a meeting? I'll be travelling down to Oxford specially for it and as it is such an 'end of era' sort of event I'd welcome meeting in the flesh the people who I've come to view as friends but have never actually shaken hands with; Cartomancer, Steve and anyone else here who can make it to Oxford in October. Please let me know your thoughts.

102. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #219089 by AllanW on July 26, 2008 at 8:50 am

steveroot;
'They couldn't have removed the prostate, because then the individual would have been an *aprostate*, and would have to be executed. ;-)'

Nice one, centurion :)

103. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #219079 by AllanW on July 26, 2008 at 8:36 am

Hahahahaha

Is this retard Morreale still posting here? Keep it up, you do the cause of reason and secularism a great service; thanks.

I especially love the capitals that reflect when he would be in real shouting-mode in his sermon. An excellent example of the religious mindset at its most 'transmit-not-receive'. The content deserves and needs no comment; pure, undiluted ignorance. Bravo! I'm sure your sky fairy is really proud of your performance.

104. PZ Myers Desecrates a Eucharist

Comment #219070 by AllanW on July 26, 2008 at 8:25 am

Yeh, thanks Jamcam87, I know it's exciting when you discover this kind of stuff but we saw it already.

105. PZ Myers Desecrates a Eucharist

Comment #219006 by AllanW on July 26, 2008 at 3:07 am

Sad and pathetic effort at humour IMO. Even the supposedly wry inclusion of the 'Scene missing' caption as a comment on media cowardice falls flat. Not a good effort and certainly sub-standard compared to the ballsy and principled and educational activities of PZ lately.

106. MnIndy interview: Unrepentant science-heathen PZ Myers still intends to prove 'this cracker is nothing'

Comment #218361 by AllanW on July 25, 2008 at 9:56 am

One of the salient points for me in the way PZ has handled this (apart from coming out of it with his dignity intact IMO) is precisely how he has skewered the imbecility of this particular belief; it's a cracker. I agree with severalspeciesof that I think a few theists who are not yet beyond the pale will indeed think about this and move towards the 'Light (so to speak :)).

It's a happy co-incidence that I would also like to believe that some religious cult will think twice about playing the offense card if the reaction will be to highlight their delusions to a wider audience and invite even more ridicule; a win all round as far as I can see.

You're right though Steve, died-in-the-wool religiots will not be swayed but I think some of those who aren't and lend tacit support to religious delusions WILL accept this consciousness-raising effort.

107. MnIndy interview: Unrepentant science-heathen PZ Myers still intends to prove 'this cracker is nothing'

Comment #218304 by AllanW on July 25, 2008 at 7:35 am

Well, I'm with the majority of Pharyngulites and Richard on this one. I applaud PZ's post on his disposal of the cracker; the points he made in that post, particularly the last paragraph are a stirring reminder of what reason and secularism are all about.

The hysterical and unreasoning responses from Catholics need no commentary just underlining.

I'm also tending towards the points Brian English and Quetz made on this thread in that identity or definitions are often imposed (against the targets will) so atheists should deal with those labels head-on rather than try to dispute the semantics; that tactic has not been too successful so far.

It may be a little cliched, it may not be the closest 'fit' to what some atheists hold to be most true but as a consciousness-raiser this cracker stunt works for me. I support it heartily.

108. The Return of Religion

Comment #212275 by AllanW on July 17, 2008 at 12:47 am

'...I find this kinda remarkable. '

Why remarkable? It is a predictable, evidenced and oft-repeated demonstration of delusional behaviour. Just look 2 posts up from your last to see it in action again :)

109. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #210833 by AllanW on July 15, 2008 at 6:15 am

'Where will it all end? '

I'll take a shot at that;

Chinese, European and Middle East companies and investment institutions will continue to convert their vast dollar debt holdings into substantive investments in US infrastructure and strategic corporates (including medical, science and advanced technology innovators) increasingly over the next three years in order to offset the inflation erosion of their own currencies versus the dollar.

Once they see the end to that process the governments of these areas will be under pressure to gain political advantages as the price for further debt rollovers and servicing shortfalls that the US fall prey to and fail to satisfy. look for places on the UN Security Council, World Bank, IMF etc to be given to these governments with US support

110. Forget not to smite

Comment #209733 by AllanW on July 13, 2008 at 6:09 am

'Can anyone help? '

Yes. Don't use them and stick to modern phonetic German spelling; many do nowadays.

111. Forget not to smite

Comment #209550 by AllanW on July 12, 2008 at 3:13 pm

You know, Richard is pulling-off a remarkable feat; he is becoming more and more notable in society while remaining out of the reach of 'Private Eye'. I can't think of many public figures who consistently fail to be ridiculed by that esteemed organ. Congratulations Richard and long may it continue.

112. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #209548 by AllanW on July 12, 2008 at 3:08 pm

That's a kind thought, phil, but I fear you mistake 'concern' for my brand of Englishness. I personally feel no more concern for Joes mental and physical health than for anyone else I have no real contact with; that is to say a general neutrality and reserve until further information is available. I suffer from being English (which in my mind necessitates a reserve from prying into other peoples' private lives) and from being liberal/tolerant (which, again for me, fits my natural inclinations to respect other peoples privacy so they will reciprocate).

Joe is plainly young, naive, indoctrinated (either by others or himself) and under the powerful delusion that he has access to some great spiritual truth. I wish him well on his journey to conquer all of these afflictions but I'll do very little to actively help him in this regard without being acquainted with him personally and that is unlikely.

113. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #209538 by AllanW on July 12, 2008 at 2:42 pm

phil rimmer
'would you not consider Joe capable of some form of repair, at least? '

I know the question was not directed at me but I'll venture a reply. Yes he is, in my opinion. A person so plainly willing himself to shut-out the reality around him is placing his mind under terrible and continual stress; either he will collapse under the strain or a self-preservation instinct will cut-in at some point and small parts of his brain will begin to construct a route out of his current mania.

I'd hope for his sake that this latter option happens so he has some chance of becoming a functioning member of society. At the very least under the first option I hope he injures no-one else before his collapse into complete dysfunction.

114. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #209479 by AllanW on July 12, 2008 at 11:56 am

Good grief, Fanusi, buy a pause. I don't see many people here arguing that capitalism is crap at creating goods and financial returns. I for one am happy to admit (as I did earlier) that it is effective at addressing some economic resourse-allocation issues effetively and does so in part because it is the most effective system man has so far designed at tapping into some of the most basic human urges. It's not going away any time soon.

But you seem to conduct your part in this debate in the same intransigent, monopole manner as other debates. I have great respect for your views, insights and attitude with regards to Islam but here you just seem to see monsters where few or none exist and glory where there is only tarnished reality.

115. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #209433 by AllanW on July 12, 2008 at 7:52 am

DamnDirtyApe;

'Raising quality of life of its citizens is in my humble opinion the key indicator of a successful state.' Agree but the devil is in the detail as always. The corollary is 'Decisions and the results of decisions that diminish the quality of life of citizens need to be reversed, learned from and not made again.' I would, just as an example, use this as a rule of thumb to assess the activities of corporations. They have their charters, terms of existence, rights and opportunities granted to them by society; should their activities cause widespread harm all of their conditions of existence should be reviewed.

Epeeist;

'The problem with economics seems to be the scientism that it prides itself on without it taking on board the rest of the methodology of science, i.e. the testing and falsification.' That was exactly my point; there are some encouraging tendencies lately for economists to adopt the scientific method in order to fulfil these objectives but the striking thing about them is that they are entirely micro-economic in nature so far. They can provide useful models for limited circumstances but no one so far has got close to this standard of rigour for generally or widely applicable models; I think that's telling about the pseudo-scientific nature of economics.

116. Religious bigotry upheld in court

Comment #209409 by AllanW on July 12, 2008 at 6:22 am

I think Rachels analysis and points in Comment #209393 are spot-on.

117. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #209400 by AllanW on July 12, 2008 at 5:56 am

Interesting development of this thread into a discussion about capitalism. Also interesting that many responses broaden the debate into consideration of social and political issues and away from the strict economic points. I'm siding with the broader analysis/capitalism-isn't-the-only-answer side. And here are a few of the reasons why.

Economics as a discipline has proven over the last thirty years (some would say longer) to be theoretically and practically unable to model, predict and proscribe for mass social behaviour. Keynesian economic theories gave way to Friedman's monetarist ideas and they in turn are now being deserted. The results? Boom and bust economic management was replaced by serial market failures; the latest of which is more widespread and damaging than anything for seventy years. The reason? Economic theories are so far removed from reality by their assumptions and simplifying structures as to make them useless for predictive purposes.

It is therefore unfortunate that political leaders have placed so much emphasis at such a high level on economic thinking as a panacea for society. Economic theory and its various fashionable gurus have proven time and time again that they lack the intellectual and factual rigour to be considered anything more than interesting theology. The reason? They fail to make the fundamental connection that all markets are constructed and operate within, all economic decisions are taken and influenced by, all participants live and occupy positions within social and political structures.

I repeat, all markets are social and political constructs relying for their creation and sustenance on societies decisions. Corporations have their existence granted to them within not superior to the societies in which they exist. Economic participants do not exercise economic decisions from within an abstract, fully informed and carefully delineated model but within a complex, irrational, uninformed social landscape. All economic models assume these realities away and therefore suffer from inapplicability, an inability to be predictive in useful ways.

Discussions on this thread reveal most peoples' misconception of these facts; the 'choice' argument from free-market/capitalist supporters, as an example. The argument goes 'but capitalism is great because it gives everyone the same opportunity to progress and achieve'. As epeeist started to point out, in many ways this makes the assumption that everyone starts from the same position (competitively) and it is only motivation and energy that differentiates people and their economic outcomes. This is plainly inaccurate. Only one example of where this theory departs from reality would be to point out, as a famous economist said once, some people start at third base in the baseball-game of life (inherited wealth, innate personal abilities, accidents of geography, education etc). And that's without moving on to arguments that people do not have perfect market information, do not have access to the full range of the economic tools for competition.

My personal illustration is strikingly similar to epeeists; my grandparents came from the four corners of the British Isles and Ireland. None stayed in school past the age of fourteen. They all worked throughout their lives in manual industries at the bottom of the social scale. None of my extended family of the subsequent generation before me even went to University. I have no doubt whatsoever that the two social conditions that enabled me to achieve more of my potential as a human being than my forebears were the establishment of the National Health Service and reforms to education. Neither of which were created as the result of strictly economic decisions and both of which (see the thread where this was debated between Star Spangled Eagle and myself) are possible within a dominant capitalist economy. Without these conditions I have no doubt that my life would resemble my grandparents' to a remarkable degree.

So the 'wider society' side of this debate is where I stand while giving full credit to what capitalism has and can achieve. No economic structure that man has envisaged has delivered economic returns to compare to it yet it needs to be seen not as an end in itself but as one tool to be managed WITHIN a social and political landscape aimed at the greater good for the most people, in my opinion, as that is the real goal to enable us all as a race to progress.

Sorry for banging on at length; please feel free to disagree now :)

118. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #207077 by AllanW on July 9, 2008 at 6:51 am

al-rawandi;
'How does that afternoon proceed?'

Depends how quickly you can get the golf attire off behind the bunker.

I'll get me coat ...

119. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #206597 by AllanW on July 8, 2008 at 2:11 pm

Oystein;
'I have always been told I have the mind of a hotel manager.'

Do you mean that as a good scientist you have reservations?

I'll get me coat ...

120. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #206327 by AllanW on July 8, 2008 at 9:26 am

ertu, you wank-stain, there is nothing to respond to! We face the truth all the time in that you are a lying, thieving creationist who neither responds nor reads responses.

marking as troll.

121. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #206224 by AllanW on July 8, 2008 at 7:22 am

marking ertu as wooter/clearmind sock-puppet; troll.

122. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #206200 by AllanW on July 8, 2008 at 7:02 am

unityisfact marked as troll.

Back to tea-drinking; Ringtons Traditional :)

123. Churches' secret talks to stop gay surge

Comment #205603 by AllanW on July 7, 2008 at 1:53 pm

PBUM;

Thank you for the correction, much appreciated.

I knew he wasn't a Stoke fan and was born around Stoke but couldn't remember which place (and wasn't interested enough to look it up ) but thought that any southerner who mixed-up Manchester and the Midlands as Cartomancer did wouldn't be able to distinguish the different Potteries villages anyway so I was safe :)

124. Churches' secret talks to stop gay surge

Comment #205502 by AllanW on July 7, 2008 at 11:31 am

Paula;

'Can you imagine the obnoxiousness of the filter through which they view the world?'

Frankly, no.

Cartomancer;

'that ugly Mancunian bastard Robbie Williams'

Correction; he is an ugly bastard from Stoke :)

125. Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection

Comment #205081 by AllanW on July 6, 2008 at 1:49 pm

Well, it looks like our pleasant delusional chap is really watching his game of Rounders so I'm off to bed; early morning journey so must get my beauty-sleep :)

Night night all.

126. Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection

Comment #205048 by AllanW on July 6, 2008 at 12:40 pm

No problem, Steve; my point was really in relation to his remark about not being able to provide anything plausible to do with the resurrection. I should have been more clear.

127. Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection

Comment #205044 by AllanW on July 6, 2008 at 12:34 pm

Hawhawhaw!

'My faith is based on a revelation from God (if I may Steve), not on a tradition handed down to me.'

So how do you know the epiphany was sparked by God not Allah or Vishnu or Zeus or Baal or ...

you get the picture?

You don't need to provide a water-tight answer just something plausible for the discussion to continue; care to have a try?

128. Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection

Comment #205028 by AllanW on July 6, 2008 at 12:11 pm

Heeheehee

Reading the evasion and complete misunderstandings of our new, pleasant friend SupportsChrist is like watching a child swim into shark infested waters; by the time they realise exactly what their circumstances are they are doomed already.

I expect nothing more from anyone so deluded in their religious belief that they think it's an argument-winning formula to point to a site that in effect says ''cos the Bible says so ..'.

129. Sharia law 'could have UK role'

Comment #204877 by AllanW on July 6, 2008 at 3:40 am

In catching up this weekend by reading this whole thread I see that epeeist pre-empted my contribution by linking to Matthew Parris' article (post #83).

As Parris makes the point, the 'you can use Sharia within the structure of English Law' argument needs a careful deconstruction as it might lead to unfortunate consequences. I agree with him.

Edit; The comments section to Parris' article is quite encouraging IMO.

130. Prayer refusal pupils 'disciplined'

Comment #204588 by AllanW on July 5, 2008 at 9:59 am

I'm pleased to see the independence of thought exhibited by these two kids but on the other hand, the teacher seems to be either thoughtless in their appreciation of how a 'practical' such as this might be received by some of the participants or genuinely stupid enough to be surprised that it would cause a controversy.

131. Crack annoyance squad wanted

Comment #204453 by AllanW on July 5, 2008 at 2:41 am

T.shirt for NSW;

Front;
"Don't be offended"

Back;
"it's not just YOUR God I don't believe in ..."

132. I believe that there is no God.

Comment #200402 by AllanW on June 27, 2008 at 1:46 pm

Comment #200395 by theIdiot on June 27, 2008 at 1:26 pm
A far more reasonable and accessible post, mate.

'If someone thinks they have a better classification for me, they are welcome to express it.'

How about; a person who has been exposed to religion throughout their life but as they learn more about the real world (and developed obvious intelligence) has seen that the literal truth that the gospels espouse is wholly inadequate to explain physical reality yet who still desperately wants to find an accommodation, a comfort with notions of truth, justice and love but can't within the confines of a broken and deluded theology.

I don't know if there is a briefer term for it theIdiot but I'd say you were a capable and thinking human who is growing.

133. I believe that there is no God.

Comment #200384 by AllanW on June 27, 2008 at 12:50 pm

theIdiot;
'I'm half atheist, half Christian.'

And wholly fucked-up.

'I believe life has a meaning and purpose, or at least i want to believe it does.'

Ah! Confusion AND belief in belief. Explains a lot. You're not very old are you?

134. I believe that there is no God.

Comment #200345 by AllanW on June 27, 2008 at 11:04 am

Guys, read his posts here and on the forum. Ignore the juvenile language and reread them with a clear head.

He's a nihilist who feels so pissed-off about it he has to spread his loathing and misery around. Just ignore, there's nothing of substance in his words just a loud yawp against the world.

135. We Urgently Need Your Help Now!!

Comment #200226 by AllanW on June 27, 2008 at 5:46 am

the_ignored on June 27, 2008 at 5:37 am
'Well, he signed it anyway.'

It was always going to be ...

Expect the next two and three years to be a living hell for science teachers, school boards and pupils in LA. Every rebel-without-a-clue on both sides of this argument will cause and document flashpoints. Many school boards will be engulfed in claims and counterclaims from both directions which will eat up time and money in costly wrangles.

It didn't need to be this way but is a direct result of this Governors crusade to introduce Creationism into the science class.

Good luck to everyone involved in the LA school system.

136. Stop distorting young minds!

Comment #200154 by AllanW on June 27, 2008 at 1:53 am

How wonderful! I sign-in to this site this morning expecting to read the usual articles and thread comments and I get a golden bounty; Robertson in full fundamentalist, frothing-at-the-mouth, loony-tunes glory! I always thought of his ideas as deluded and the way he presents himself as self-serving, lying, manipulative and downright nasty but, Praise The Lord!, he now places himself in precisely the same bracket as wooter. How else to interpret inanities like;

'which is why we should be allowed to have Christian education because we do not believe that children should be indoctrinated.'


Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. That is right up there with wooters 'God makes every snowflake'.

Thank you Robertson. Thank you a thousand times for definitively showing yourself. I can rest easy now and may even think of replacing my usual tag-line on posts relating to you ('What's this I hear about a cheque?) as this is so much clearer a demonstration of your idiocy.

137. PZ Myers - Science and Atheism in the Blogosphere

Comment #199865 by AllanW on June 26, 2008 at 12:43 pm

I'm sorry Schmeezers but you lose all credibility and all respect here the very second you use Flew in any argument. Goodbye.

138. MPs reject calls to cut abortion limit

Comment #199860 by AllanW on June 26, 2008 at 12:37 pm

Nova
'we need to discover that as accurately as possible and then use a low estimate to stay on the safe side. '

You have described exactly the basis and reason for the current legislative limits.

139. God hates Mars

Comment #199728 by AllanW on June 26, 2008 at 8:57 am

epeeists real name is Willy Wonka and I claim my five pounds :)

140. A War On Science

Comment #199714 by AllanW on June 26, 2008 at 8:30 am

The difference being, rationalE, that when theists adopt a theory they cling to it despite all evidence and while individual scientists might be reluctant to depart from a pet theory, they will in the end and Science as a whole will change its opinion as a result of new evidence.

The only thing I need to change my view on issues is arguments/hypotheses backed up by evidence; the only thing a theist needs to change their mind is .....?

141. A War On Science

Comment #199690 by AllanW on June 26, 2008 at 7:43 am

Comment #199688 by rationalE on June 26, 2008 at 7:35 am
'I thoroughly expect this comment to get me removed from this site.'

Then you spend too much time in the company of religious believers; this site tends not to censor and your reason-free, logic-free and content-free post is no grounds for changing that policy.

Your post is full of nebulous waffle that is incomprehensible; maybe you meant it that way. If not, try posting something simple, constructed in simple terms and using plain language. Then someone else outside your own head MAY be able to make sense of it.

An example of the utterly incomprehensible;
'a man of science would choose a theory with aspects that he cannot explain as a belief.'

142. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #199594 by AllanW on June 26, 2008 at 3:47 am

Good post, Steve.

And there's no bait to rise to, just interesting conversations amongst friends :)

Yet I'll pick up on the 'relative importance' part, if I may. I think there is relativity here and it relates to the key issue of opportunity. We should also draw a clear distinction between generalities and specifics; I'm talking here about current UK society and no wider at the moment.

The relativity is not that one aspect of sexual equality is completely won so we can move onto the next (I don't think it's practical to view these kinds of issues in such a discrete and serial way as real life almost never works like that). But rather that the laws of the land and the progress achieved so far in establishing the principles of equality (albeit not universally working fully) do not seem to begin to apply to all women in this country. You may argue that there are individual cases in certain industries of inequality and I'd agree but the individuals in those cases do receive the equality benefits of protection under the law in so many other ways and have them firmly in hand.

My problem is that ALL the equality benefits that should apply to all women in this country are disregarded for Muslim women solely on account of their religion. That's what is wrong in my eyes. The strictures of society need to be available to all even if they may in some cases be patchily or inaccurately realised; they do exist and can be claimed. But I see no feminist lobby raising the issue that Muslim women or female children in Muslim families are being denied their access to these rights.

I repeat, for me there is a relative difference between a woman who has access to abortion on demand, who can claim discrimination in social or employment circumstances etc and one who, through an accident of birth over which they plainly have no control, is subjected to FGM and arranged marriage before they are fourteen years old. How is this not an issue about which feminist groups should be breaking down the doors of Government every second of the day compared to ensuring that women have access to private members clubs?

143. Science is not philosophy

Comment #199135 by AllanW on June 25, 2008 at 8:19 am

' I assure you, there's no royalty here - If anybody makes an unsubstantiated claim or says something deemed to be stupid, they'll get taken to task without mercy - no matter who they are. '

Case in point; comments 319 - 339 on this thread 'Saving Us from Darwin'

No big deal but it kinda holes TeraBrats argument below the waterline.

144. Mormons urged to back ban on same-sex marriage

Comment #199128 by AllanW on June 25, 2008 at 8:07 am

Philip1978
'I will do such things, what they are yet I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the Earth.'

Oooh thanks Phil; took me right back to 'A' level English Lit. Ahhhhhhh those were the days :)

145. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #199114 by AllanW on June 25, 2008 at 7:39 am

Steve Zara;
'There is still considerable work for feminists to do. '

I didn't disagree that an issue still remains but is it the most important feminist issue in the UK today? In my opinion, no. I'm disheartened that FGM, arranged marriages and the disgusting mysogyny of Islam is not being confronted with the passion, creativity and anger that was evidenced in the past on other issues.

The availability of abortions on request exists, equal pay legislation exists, sexual discrimination laws in a wider sense exist. They all need to be enforced rigorously and continually monitored but where is the outcry at the despicable treatment of women by Muslim society in this country?

146. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #199094 by AllanW on June 25, 2008 at 7:19 am

Steve, please be careful with those statistics or rather the implications drawn from them (as the author of that article managed NOT to be). I have seen detailed analysis from the same sources (National Statistics) which draws different conclusions with more analysis. I don't dispute that there is still a like-for-like pay gap in some areas but the more widespread claim is a little spurious once you allow for factors of seniority, pay grade structures and working styles and patterns. There is still pressure to be brought for sure but it is not as straightforward as that article portrays.

Edit; Ah! I see ThoughtsCommonToad has some similar experience.

147. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #199085 by AllanW on June 25, 2008 at 7:11 am

I'll qualify my support for the position discussed for sake of clarity. I'm very sympathetic to the cause of equality in all areas of society, or should I say, I'm against sex discrimination. Yet as a sympathiser (presumably a target audience for equality issues) and a reasonably widely-read citizen I see precious little activity on the issues of arranged marriages, FGM, religious mysogyny etc from precisely the groups in society that I would expect to hear the most noise.

Is it a lack in my sensitivity to the good work that is being done (I'm just ignorant of it) or is it that there is a lack of priority to these things in the UK?

Caveat; I'm speaking from a UK perspective.

Edited for poor grammar :)

148. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #199057 by AllanW on June 25, 2008 at 6:25 am

Couldn't agree more with the tenor of the points made by Al and Podaar this last day or so with regard to feminist activity. Your last point being the most pithy;
'So go ahead and try to get your round of golf at Augusta National, but just realize that breaking the barrier of a club with 300 members (universe-wide) is your priority and that says a lot about you. '

Exactly.

149. Science is not philosophy

Comment #199033 by AllanW on June 25, 2008 at 5:30 am

TeraBrat;

'I'm so sick of all the negativity about anything that isn't said by one of the guru's. And the way the guru's are fawned on by some people is somewhat sickening too.

I see a new religion emerging on this forum. '

No, you are just petulant because not everybody thinks the same way as you do, agrees with you and thinks you're great. Get over it.

As for the religion snark, well, ignorant comments like that are not likely to swing your popularity upwards; see how that works? You call the posters here irrational and deluded and they think less of you for it because it is just a petty emotional outburst with no evidence back-up or considered thought to it.

Grow up.

150. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #198718 by AllanW on June 24, 2008 at 11:49 am

'His words, in an interview with an Italian newspaper, could, in today's febrile legalistic climate, lay him open to being investigated for a "hate crime'

No, Fanusi Khiyal, that is just journalistic hype. Not only is it not true but no-one seems to have acted upon it yet to test the proposition.