101. Religious bigotry upheld in court

Comment #208359 by King of NH on July 10, 2008 at 9:37 pm

"Gay rights should not be used as an excuse to bully and harass people over their religious beliefs," she said.

102. IT'S A GODDAMNED CRACKER!

Comment #206886 by King of NH on July 9, 2008 at 12:01 am

The wafers are nasty, too... Like cardboard. Yuk!

103. Landlords protest after pub swearing ban gets them sacked

Comment #206825 by King of NH on July 8, 2008 at 9:15 pm

Oh, foul language...

I thought it was maybe a rule against making promises when drunk (I swear babe [refering to some indescretion]! -or- I swear I'll buy the next round). That made sense, and I didn't see what the problem was. This would be a good ban.

But foul language? Odd. The Landlords might be offended by "Fuckin' good beer" but I'm rather offended by "God bless you." Who's to decide what the more offensive? Answer: the customer. Now shut up... ...bitches.

104. Atheism on the buses

Comment #206820 by King of NH on July 8, 2008 at 9:06 pm

In most of NH they don't allow billboards, and the bus and trolley have no outside adverts. It's hard to make any statements large enough to gain attention. The Scarlet Letter seems the best choice (especially since the book was written here).

105. Degrees of religion

Comment #205998 by King of NH on July 8, 2008 at 2:40 am

This type of wishy-wash is almost worse than outright fundamentalism. Kia should read The God Delusion and Varieties of Scientific Experience. Then she might see how a willful and purposeful ignorance is an evil unto itself, perhaps the greatest threat to human civilization. Where action is needed, she will pray. Where education is needed, she will pray. Where support is needed, she will pray. I pity her, but I despise her worldview.

106. Teaching Evolution in Mexico: Preaching to the Choir

Comment #205973 by King of NH on July 8, 2008 at 1:48 am

I was saved by Dawkins from a missionary. I was watching a YouTube of his when someone knocked on the door. I opened the door, with Dawkins still yelling about how foolish religion is blaring in the living room, and a young woman dressed like Jackie Kennedy clutching a Bible just smiled, said "nevermind," and walked off. She was very courteous, for someone that threatens eternal hell on her neighbors for a hobby.

But Mexico is kicking American ass in science. One of the richest nations in the world is so unwilling to support science that its poorer neighbor will soon overtake it. When will the average American wake up and see that we are quickly becoming the laughing stock of the world, literally. I am embarassed to see 40% of Americans thinking Genesis is literally true. Holy $%#^! This is exactly like 40% of Americans believing in Santa Clause (I felt inspired by Santa to get you that, Santa is real).

AAAAaaaaarrrrRRRRrrrggggggghhhh... gh..ghh gh ... grow up

107. Merger of U.S. earth science agencies proposed

Comment #205870 by King of NH on July 7, 2008 at 8:36 pm

This does smell of budget cuts, but the truth is that these budgets have been getting cut. By pooling their resources, the agencies can work together to make strides visible and supportable by the tax-payers, ensuring better budgets by public will.

Ideally, I would like to see them remain separate and duke it out in REAL science, may the best brain discover the most. But since science is under such an attack in this country, I think it would be best to circle the wagons and win one battle at a time.

108. The Boundaries of Belief

Comment #205855 by King of NH on July 7, 2008 at 8:22 pm

So now we know what type of atheist McAllister used to be.

109. Does the Pope wear Prada?

Comment #204345 by King of NH on July 4, 2008 at 8:47 pm

He said the practice "aids the devotion of the faithful, and makes it easier to enter into the sense of mystery".

110. Christians challenge teaching of evolution

Comment #204342 by King of NH on July 4, 2008 at 8:41 pm

"We're a Christian organisation so we believe that God made the planet and God made the cosmos ... Science takes a theory and tries to establish it as the truth, and that's all this is."

111. Group Asks for Divine Intervention to Ease Oil Prices

Comment #204339 by King of NH on July 4, 2008 at 8:33 pm

"There is little, if anything, the average person can do to reduce gas prices generally," Neurohr told Cybercast News Service. "What they can do is reduce their personal dependence on gasoline by carpooling and utilizing public transportation."

112. Science is thrilling - except in our schools

Comment #203852 by King of NH on July 3, 2008 at 8:38 pm

I became an English major because I love the sizzle of a freshly flipped burger.

But I love science, mostly because of my university experience with core classes. I had a two hour break between my biology class and my world lit, and would hang out with my professor for most of it digging deeper into how the Kreb's cycle works, how much energy is locked in ATP... The was excitement in seeing real science and having such fundemental questions answered, questions I could only take wild guesses at before higher education. High school education alone left so many gaps of understanding between the memorized facts that I didn't know 'science' at all.

I have often thought of changing my major to science, but I am still fascinated by the history, structure, and origin of language; a subject explored by the science end but rarely approached from the other, liberal arts end. I hope my passion for both will help me bridge the entire subject in my graduate studies.

113. Former state science director sues over intelligent design e-mail

Comment #203434 by King of NH on July 2, 2008 at 11:21 pm

I still think we should take creationists up in a plane, about 30,000 feet, and shove them out. If they're right, God will let them sprout wings. If they're wrong, they'll finally shut up and let the rest of us advance a bit.

114. Evangelical Christians sign up to a 'Church within a Church'

Comment #203418 by King of NH on July 2, 2008 at 10:30 pm

Isn't this all just a tad bit like when kids argue about what Superman would really do if... Or what Batman really thinks of...

I mean, grow up people. Your god, your church, your faith... It's not real. Stop fighting over it. And stop gay bashing and saying your imaginary friend wants you to. You're gay bashing because your a hateful snot, the imaginary sky fairy is an excuse, and a shitty one.

A church within a church that split from a church that grew from a church... Stop it! It was entertaining for 30,000 years, but now it's old. g-r-o-w u-p !-!-!

115. Non-voters: It's all in God's hands

Comment #200534 by King of NH on June 27, 2008 at 8:18 pm

Just went to the Obama - Clinton "Unite for Change" rally today. It was great, but outside the rally were peple picketing Obama. But the signs weren't attacking the issues, they were attacking his race, his 'muslim' sounding name, his muslim heritage... All I could think was that these idiots get to vote! I wanted to physically throw these ^#$#^@s out of my state. At least the fundies are less likely to vote.

116. God hates Mars

Comment #199502 by King of NH on June 25, 2008 at 9:18 pm

Why do we spend billions on space exploration when that money could be better spent on long, drawn out wars, tax breaks for the oil industry, hookers for governors and senators, and bridges to nowhere?

I wonder: If we discover a simple bacteria on Mars that proves to cure some dibilitating disease, will people still insist it was a waste of money? If we gain insight into the building blocks of life, without actually finding life itself, and use that knowledge to cure cancer, is it a waste of money? This is why pure science needs to be funded, and funded well. We never know what will come of a seemingly intangible study.

117. Band T-shirt draws charge

Comment #199497 by King of NH on June 25, 2008 at 8:59 pm

There are laws even in the U.S. about language. You can't scream FUCK YOU to a 5-year-old in the checkout lane of the grocery store.

I'd be all over this if it just said "Jesus Is Not Real" but the profanity kinda takes it to a different "standards and practices" law field.

118. World Youth Day condom protest against Pope

Comment #199116 by King of NH on June 25, 2008 at 7:44 am

Other groups in the NoToPope Coalition are the Socialist Alliance, Resistance, Atheists Sydney and the Raelians...

119. Saudi Marriage Officiant : 'It Is Allowed To Marry A Girl At The Age Of One'.

Comment #199112 by King of NH on June 25, 2008 at 7:35 am

ThoughtsonCommonToad:

Muhammad really is quite vile, Jesus wasn't that bad. Not great but relative to a warmongering paedo.

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

Comment #199103 by King of NH on June 25, 2008 at 7:27 am

Cartomancer:

I'm beginning to wonder if the best option might not be to just abolish the official legal institution of marriage altogether.

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

Comment #199066 by King of NH on June 25, 2008 at 6:47 am

Wow, I guess a lot of Mormons, Catholics, and other Fundies fear they might run out and jump into a same sex marriage if the law isn't protecting them from it. It just baffles me. If you don't want to marry someone of the same sex, don't. End of debate. Who cares that someone else did? Not to mention that EVERY argument against same sex marriage is religious. I've heard people try and offer secular reasons, but they make no sence, they get flustered, and then they scream that gays and their supporters will burn in hell for ruining Christian families.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm sick of this. I don't care who marries who, so long as it's between sane adults. Hate is not a family value!!! (I read that on a bumper-sticker)

122. How Darwin won the evolution race

Comment #198438 by King of NH on June 24, 2008 at 12:17 am

The Wallace-Darwin 'controversy' reminds me of one in my own field: Grimm's Law (the changing of key sounds of a word, such as the 'p' of pisces turning into the 'f' of fish, or padre to father, and so on). Jacob Grimm, of fairy tale fame, did not come up with this theory. It was a student of his that had noted some similarities, and brought it up with Grimm. But the student had done no research, he was just inspired, so to speak, and saw the first glimmer. Jacob Grimm then trudged through Europe's and the near east's languages, comparing and contrasting sounds. Today we have Grimm's Law and I honestly have no clue what the student's name was. This seems unfair, but the credit deservedly falls on the man who 'trudged,' not the day-dreamer that simply fell upon a nifty observation.

The credit of discovery does not belong to the the person who says, "Wouldn't it be cool if..." any more than credit for making dinner belongs to the kid that said, "I'm hungry."

But aside from all of that, I think Wallace should be honored for his 'kick in Darwin's ass,' as well as every scientist and lay person that has excelerated and defended the Theory of Evolution. Wallace just doesn't deserve to 'own' the theory, so to speak.

123. Where do US lawmakers stand on science?

Comment #197975 by King of NH on June 23, 2008 at 2:50 am

Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL), for example, has come right out in favour of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. That, incidentally, is presidential hopeful Barack Obama's position, too.

124. On this Day: Galileo Sentenced for Believing Sun Is Center of Universe

Comment #197963 by King of NH on June 23, 2008 at 2:25 am

Of course, Galileo wasn't only persecuted by the church for his scientific studies of the heliocentric orbits. His book 'The Assayer" was a blatant thumbing of the Jesuits. In fact, looking at the entire inquisition of Galileo, it seemed he wanted the controversy. Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending the church, I'm just saying Galileo wan't some inocent man dragged from his lab, clueless as to what he had done wrong. Rather, this is why I like the man. I've heard he was a bit of a con-artist, too.

125. Award-winning comedian George Carlin dies

Comment #197952 by King of NH on June 23, 2008 at 1:50 am

I had hoped he would become the next UN Embassador. I'll miss him. He was funny as hell; smart as hell, too. A rare combination that created real talent.

126. Thinking ahead: Bacteria anticipate coming changes in their environment

Comment #197385 by King of NH on June 22, 2008 at 12:11 am

riemann:

Therefore phrases like "thinking" and "learning" cannot be used as mere metaphors with vauge definitions.

127. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates

Comment #197381 by King of NH on June 22, 2008 at 12:02 am

Fanusi Khiyal:

Have to disagree with you there King of NH, you can be a good religious scholar. You can study religious literature, comparative religion, influence, philosophical trends - the whole enchilada.

Vis a viz Islam, Ibn Warraq, Robert Spencer, Hugh FitzGerald, Ali Sina - they all qualify as good scholars.

It's the phrase 'theologian' that's a little strange.

128. Charles Darwin: 'Is man an ape or an angel?'

Comment #197379 by King of NH on June 21, 2008 at 11:42 pm

Thanks for the answers in comments 17, 18 and 22. But RNA is still a product of life. No other (simpler?) molecules who can do this? I've heard about auto catalytic reactions where chemicals produce more of themselves, but there's no mutation involved I suppose.

129. Christianity 'could die out within a century'

Comment #197374 by King of NH on June 21, 2008 at 11:04 pm

Of course Christianity will die out in a few decades, if not significantly less time. It's simple logic, and I'm surprised people are still confused here. You must understand one simple basic fact: following the rapture all True Christians(TM) will be bodily lifted from the earth and they will know the truth, no longer needing the faith of Christianity. I believe that the rapture is currently due in 2012. O geez, that's soon. Wow, gonna go get packed and figure out how to smuggle weed onto a rapture flight.

130. Bright Chunks At Phoenix Lander's Mars Site Must Have Been Ice

Comment #197062 by King of NH on June 21, 2008 at 2:43 am

I can't wait to be able to buy my first bottle of Martian Spring Water. Mmmmm, gooey.

Seriously, though. This is awesome. Water ice on another planet! Now why would Jesus have done that?

131. Should Strident British Atheist Richard Dawkins Dictate Education Policy to US States? Barbara Forrest Apparently Thinks So

Comment #197013 by King of NH on June 20, 2008 at 11:56 pm

These people sicken me. Discovery Institute is humiliating America and undermining the efforts of the intelligent all for personal glory and wealth. Sickening!

132. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates

Comment #196428 by King of NH on June 20, 2008 at 12:21 am

To paraphrase Prof. Dawkins, "What in the holy f^%*ing h&#% is a religious scholar?"

Scholar - (noun) one who devotes serious study to a topic

Religious - (adjective) pulling shit out of one's ass and flinging it at people as a show of dominance

The two don't go together. It's an oxymoron.

Aside from that, if your religion condones FGM or Faith Healing for Children, or pre-teen polygamy, then your religion is NOT entitled to respect.

133. Thinking ahead: Bacteria anticipate coming changes in their environment

Comment #196424 by King of NH on June 20, 2008 at 12:06 am

This is interesting as a bacterial study, but also in how it uses terms like 'learn.' It's easy to say that bacteria can't learn without a brain, and that this is just natural selection. But then what is learning? Obviously, this is not one organism learning a new behavior in one lifetime. There is a difference there. But there is no special magical box in our brain that 'learns' and 'thinks.' I guess I'm very interested to know if our brain cells are using the same mechanism to learn that the bacteria is using, just with better cooperation and specialization of cells. Perhaps the generational, natural selection/learning of bacteria is very, very similar to what we mean by 'learn.'

134. Teen's death blamed on faith healing

Comment #196415 by King of NH on June 19, 2008 at 11:09 pm

Can the parents now sue Christ for malpractice, since the creator of the universe seems to have screwed up something a first year med student could have fixed? And isn't a 'religious belief' defense being used here like a 'mental incompetence' defense? And how is it someone can't have a beer before 21, yet they can slowly and painfully die for Jesus at 14? Somebody needs to be talked to. This is insanity!

135. Charles Darwin: 'Is man an ape or an angel?'

Comment #195827 by King of NH on June 18, 2008 at 10:16 pm

Perhaps a bit redundant to mention on this site, but as a science teacher I generally find that those who don't believe in evolution simply don't understand the theory.

136. Darwinists for Jesus

Comment #195822 by King of NH on June 18, 2008 at 9:56 pm

My fear is that this is not a scientist explaining how evolution works. Dowd is using a scientific theory as a theological tool. I don't care what damage this may do to religion, but I fear that it will only further the terrible idea that sciene is religion, something one can choose not to believe in, or say with all confidence "[scientific theory] is against my religion."

Dowd should not teach evolution. But he could easily instruct his flock to seek out education on evolution, biology, history, etc.. If he did this, I would have no problems.

If this guy is a friend of evolution now, he's the kind that tells everyone he's your friend while you realize you will have to flee the country to ditch him and promise never to be friendly with strangers while drunk again.

137. Gay brains structured like those of the opposite sex

Comment #194603 by King of NH on June 17, 2008 at 3:43 am

Leodavinci:

No this is all wrong, people are gay because they have sinned, i can fix them, just say 10 hail marys and you'll be on the straight and narrow ;).

138. Vatican bans Dan Brown film Angels & Demons from Rome churches

Comment #194601 by King of NH on June 17, 2008 at 3:35 am

I was living in the 'Bible Belt' when the "DiVinci Code" was released. At one point I found myself in a group discussing that the book should be banned from public schools and public libraries. I laughed and said, "It's just a book: a fictional book. Who believes everything they read in some book? It's no threat." Everyone seemed to be considering this point, but then I blew it by being me. "Oh, that's right! Your entire lives are spent believing a book: a fictional book." When will I learn to keep my mouth shut while I'm ahead?

139. Astronomers find batch of 'super-Earths'

Comment #194598 by King of NH on June 17, 2008 at 3:27 am

I'm with Steve:

The idea that humans can destroy life is a little of an ego-trip. At the height of our nuclear age, we couldn't have even come close. Now, we may accidentally create a black hole with the hadron collider, but that's about as unlikely as finding Elvis riding papillion with Evil Kenevil around inside of it.

But this is no consolation. The earth "as we know it" is the earth we depend on for our own survival. Even subtract the global warming from the picture: we are actually running out of fish in the ocean; we are actually dying from blood clots cause by the pollutants in the air; our livestock alone is wreaking havoc on the planet. Exponential growth is unsustainable in any system, an idea seemingly lost on us.

140. Only a Theory

Comment #193760 by King of NH on June 16, 2008 at 2:42 am

When I first obtained the "Wedge" document, I assumed it was going to explain that evolution had to be contested because it was scientifically inaccurate. In fact it didn't even address the scientific case. It addressed the need to replace a "materialistic worldview" in society with a religious, mainly Christian, worldview.

141. Physicists in Congress Calculate Their Influence

Comment #193758 by King of NH on June 16, 2008 at 2:32 am

Sherwood L. Boehlert, the upstate New York Republican who until last year was chairman of the House Science Committee...

(For his part, Mr. Boehlert said, his last exposure to science was in a high school physics class, "and I got a C.")

142. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #193520 by King of NH on June 15, 2008 at 6:52 pm

Ghost9:

King of NH--

Agree with you totally about the awe and wonder---
but this entire site well says such can be discovered and stand on its own merits in humankind without reference or need of gods, god, or God.

143. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #193152 by King of NH on June 14, 2008 at 9:10 pm

[Darwin's] theory entailed the inference that we are here today not because God reciprocates our love, forgives our sins, and attends to our entreaties but because each of our oceanic and terrestrial foremothers was lucky enough to elude its predators long enough to reproduce.

144. Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind

Comment #191450 by King of NH on June 11, 2008 at 1:55 am

People hear voices not because they're touched by the divine, but because their brains are a jumbled up barely working mess. Heck, our whole bodies are - useless organs, painful backfiring biological processes, death, the works.

145. Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind

Comment #191443 by King of NH on June 11, 2008 at 1:31 am

I think most Americans are familiar with the relatively new issue of 'he/she, his/her, him/her.' One solution that was proposed in the 70's was to invent a new pronoun that was non gender specific, yet not neutral such as 'it.' They had decided on 'thon.' The concept failed, mostly because of the difficulties of purposefully changing language (it almost never works). But the funny part: 'thon' in Irish Gaelic means 'ass,' as in "Pog mo thon" meaning "Kiss my ass."

Assuming that a word must have a link to a similar or identical word in another language is a mistake many etymologists make, and it's sort of a joke in the field. In English, the word 'kluge' means exactly what it means in English regardless of what it means 'auf deutsch.'

Also note that in English, the word is [kloodge] while in German the word would be pronounced [kloo-guh].

146. The 14-year-old Afghan suicide bomber

Comment #191073 by King of NH on June 10, 2008 at 7:16 am

Rod the Farmer:

Perhaps we (western society) need to set up schools in this area, in which multiple subjects could be taught. If I were a young child, I might be much more interested in learning about arithmetic, writing, basic science, and perhaps some basic agriculture skills, than learning the koran and listening to political speeches.

"They said God would protect me when the time came."

147. Court Claim: Chimps Are People, Too

Comment #191068 by King of NH on June 10, 2008 at 7:05 am

We and chimpanzees can not mate (at least not successfully) so we're a different species and thus they are not human.

148. Hints of structure beyond the visible universe

Comment #191045 by King of NH on June 10, 2008 at 6:40 am

This is fascinating, and over my head. I took a course on Astronomy, but was rather baffled by the higher end material. My professor was brilliant and passionate, but seemed to assume we already knew quantum theory and how it applied to star formation, and went from there.

Is there any layman's rebuttal to the less extraordinary claim (in my opinion) that the 'universe' is not expanding, but only the kernel of matter and energy we occupy is. Why is it a wrong hypothesis that the universe is infinite, and that as far as our instruments can see is only a scratch on the surface of that eternal infinity? What evidence is there that there was nothing anywhere before the Big Bang?

149. A word for nonbelievers

Comment #190339 by King of NH on June 8, 2008 at 10:32 pm

To try and solve the disarray of atheism, I have had a revelation. I have now purchased a very large, flamboyant hat and have stitched gold thread into my bathrobe. I have chosen a site where, with your kind donations, we'll call it a tithe, I will build a mans.. er, meeting place. I will offer all who come to this meeting place (with proper tithe) general, vague advice on how I think they should be acting as atheists (no tithe-back guarantee). For those of you who would like to show how very atheist you are, send money, jewelry, priceless art, first-born sons, virgin daughters, deflowered daughters, and individual rights waivers to Atheist Pope, c/o the Vatican.

150. Albinos, Long Shunned, Face Threat in Tanzania

Comment #190326 by King of NH on June 8, 2008 at 9:14 pm

"The problem is, the people who follow witch doctors don't question them."

or

The problem is, the people who follow Priests don't question them.

or

The problem is, the people who follow Imams don't question them.

or

The problem is, the people who follow [political party official] don't question him/her.

or better...

The problem is, the people who follow don't question.

Do you follow where this leads? HA!! Oh, that was funny... follow.. lead.. he he... Okay, not so funny.