201. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152341 by Enlightenme.. on March 30, 2008 at 6:39 pm

I guess one thing we have to ask is; if this was published by the BNP, would we be unreservedly in support of it's legitimacy to be seen?

Still Yes, I'm afraid to have to say.

You have probably seen some posts by a fellow going under the name Fanusi Kayal, LaTomate? - He often says much the same thing - though he tends to go further rather apocolyptically about nuclear conflict and the like also.

Funily enough though - I think we may see less trouble here in Britain - my feeling is that last year's Mohammed the bear incident made some farce of the whole 'taking offence' thing in some quarters, and has caused a sort of schism to develop between those who think this is the way to say 'I'm Muslim and proud' and those who've decided to grow up, and attempt to change British foreign policy through the more grown-up channels.

202. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152332 by Enlightenme.. on March 30, 2008 at 5:57 pm

^ Re 28, Paine
Some of it was from 'Undercover mosque'

One thing I can say I have never seen before, is the head of the man beheaded [with sound also] nor a woman's severed head still with hijab on.

I liked the part where Wilder's states that the actual 'desecration of Quran' tearing sound actually wasn't, and states that that is not up to him.

A possible reason also for this getting pulled was because Kurt Westegaard was unhappy with his cartoon being used for what he sees as anti-Islam use rather than his original intention of anti-Islamic terrorists - obviously an important distinction.

Sadly, Paine, concerning your hopes for the British media to continue to screen documentaries like undercover mosque, this is less likely to happen now, because it was put under serious investigation by the police for supposedly being sensationally edited to sow disharmony - for which I'm pretty sure it was cleared unreservedly, but the message from the authorities was clear - Watch Your Step.

203. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152326 by Enlightenme.. on March 30, 2008 at 5:29 pm

Comment #152287 by gyokusai on March 30, 2008 at 3:53 pm

"Behead those who say Islam is violent!"


That pic was a spoof.

204. Beware the Believers

Comment #152216 by Enlightenme.. on March 30, 2008 at 12:59 pm

Thanks for the Belgian footie Geoff!

Frankus - I think your dog Shayla has distemper or summat - have you had her checked, she's madder than my mum's siamese cat.

205. Beware the Believers

Comment #152186 by Enlightenme.. on March 30, 2008 at 11:25 am

^ Perhaps a bunch of us could pimp our avatars for a week or 2 in tribute to the vid - which I like, for it's main message that you'd do best to learn some science, find out who Sam Wilberforce [not William Wilberforce - see pharyngula] was, etc.

Yo Frankus..erm..podaar..my maan.

206. Beware the Believers

Comment #152176 by Enlightenme.. on March 30, 2008 at 11:05 am

"Surely its funny to see anyone buggering a bald transvestite"

Well.. I don't know about that, South Park seems to rip the piss out of pretty much everything 'above' it's juvenile constituency for no reason other than the bucks. The only story it tried to tell is getting rid of religion would not automatically rid us of warfare - well Duh!

207. Beware the Believers

Comment #152172 by Enlightenme.. on March 30, 2008 at 10:57 am

^ Reckon that avatar needs the pink-fur bucket hat to complete it!

208. Beware the Believers

Comment #151990 by Enlightenme.. on March 29, 2008 at 10:14 pm

Re 178

Thankyou Dr Benway for dramatic leemur, that did bring tears to my eyes!

(I'm sick of signing in every time - what am I doing wrong?, it used to autocomplete my name at least, is that the same for everyone?)

(Still think it's by eminem undercover)

209. Beware the Believers

Comment #151955 by Enlightenme.. on March 29, 2008 at 6:35 pm

So what if it were a viral-ad for expelled (unlikely) - expelled will get discussed a lot, and probably achieve a measure of 'success'/notoriety - but the truth will out in the end, and the people who think it helps their cause will attempt to disown it only *after* it comes to be seen for what it is and the damage is done.
As far as I can tell, the video indicates there is a bandwagon people want to hop on - hell, sometimes I wish I lived in America, so I could feel involved in the 'culture war' !

210. I always aim to misbehave

Comment #151902 by Enlightenme.. on March 29, 2008 at 4:30 pm

Re; post #35

Here is a link to the whole Ben Stein interview, it's good:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4609561480192587449&hl=en

211. Beware the Believers

Comment #151714 by Enlightenme.. on March 29, 2008 at 8:45 am

"But I couldn't even raise a smile"

Bah humbug - You old fuddy-duddy, not even when Dan Dennett pops up from the bottom goin' Yeah! ?

212. A New Pope

Comment #151653 by Enlightenme.. on March 29, 2008 at 6:21 am

I saw the tesco invasion of Denmark skit - classic.

Anybody else notice the incognito sneaking in by Dan Dennett at 39 seconds?

213. The Atheist Apocalypse

Comment #151644 by Enlightenme.. on March 29, 2008 at 6:04 am

Love Harris' costume as a sort of spock-jedi.

But I'm sure they got the wrong Hitchens, that looks more like his brother peter to me.

214. I always aim to misbehave

Comment #151616 by Enlightenme.. on March 29, 2008 at 4:10 am

Love the utube vid, the bit where Dennett jumps up from the bottom of the screen goin' Yeah! is good, but the Eugenie as an underdressed little girl is a bit iffy!

215. Austin Dacey - The Secular Conscience

Comment #151063 by Enlightenme.. on March 28, 2008 at 5:13 am

This really is worth persisting with;
I finally managed to download it by going to COI
>archive>march08>austindacey, and downloaded successfully from there.

216. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #151029 by Enlightenme.. on March 28, 2008 at 3:37 am

Happy birthday, (Sir) Richard.

217. The Secular Conscience

Comment #147764 by Enlightenme.. on March 21, 2008 at 8:03 am

Any apologist who cites the case of what was done to Antony Flew immediately sinks beneath contempt - invoking Flew into an argument gets about as much credit as invoking Hitler does.

218. The Secular Conscience

Comment #147692 by Enlightenme.. on March 21, 2008 at 6:11 am

"The assertion 'There is no god' is a theological statement."

But that is not what people here are generally asserting, merely that there is a dearth of evidence for anything supernatural and that obviously includes gods.

[god-damn you epeeist]

219. The Secular Conscience

Comment #147503 by Enlightenme.. on March 20, 2008 at 6:17 pm

PJG, Al-rawandi,
I'll change the avatar.

220. The Secular Conscience

Comment #147182 by Enlightenme.. on March 20, 2008 at 2:23 am

^ We have collectively decided that slavery is evil, and in a way it therefore follows that the apologetics for scriptures that condone it fall under their term - evil.

Sigh - just seen president Talabani (Iraq) state that "The root of all evil is in politics - there is no religious divide here"

221. The Secular Conscience

Comment #147173 by Enlightenme.. on March 20, 2008 at 1:41 am

"2) that you can be moral without religion"

The problem here is the word 'can'
...be moral or immoral.

"and even if religion makes people feel happy it doesn't make it true"

That's a given, however a lot of people feel the prescription is still required to counter the percieved natural order to look after #1, and are willing to put their faith in it.

We're not fighting for the truth, in my opinion, but simply to erode the belief in belief.

222. Sci-fi guru Clarke to have secular funeral

Comment #147152 by Enlightenme.. on March 20, 2008 at 12:47 am

^ Only geostationary satellites are in the 22,000 mile Clarke orbit - they've been labelled as such for years.

223. Sci-fi guru Clarke to have secular funeral

Comment #146886 by Enlightenme.. on March 19, 2008 at 2:12 pm

"..of the opinion that there may be some evolutionary element attached to religion"

Yep,- fight, flight, feed, f***, or fawn.

224. Atheists claim censorship by billboard company

Comment #146268 by Enlightenme.. on March 18, 2008 at 9:25 pm

Psypro,
Indeed, a grey area,
This sort of stuff has come up in UK recently regarding Christian private landlords being able to refuse bed & breakfast accomodation to homosexuals (or even unmarried couples I believe if they choose) , but if they ran a hotel they would be obliged to obey the law.
I'm sorry I can't say further as I didn't pay that close attention.

Also other stuff about Catholic adoption agencies able to turn down same-sex couples 'on-principle'

That's getting off-topic though!

225. Atheists claim censorship by billboard company

Comment #146265 by Enlightenme.. on March 18, 2008 at 8:59 pm

I'll add a pat on the back to early posters in this thread.

But let's not count chickens - the thread could just as well have devolved as evolved, partly due to the fact that a lot of us treat these comment sections as a forum ;)

^: "I believe there are web based outfits that will make bumper stickers. And, I'll bet it wouldn't take long to have some "Beware of Dogma" buttons made. etc, etc."
Tch tch, bloomin' capitalism eh - principles out the window.
Root of all evil isn't it!

226. Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

Comment #146208 by Enlightenme.. on March 18, 2008 at 7:00 pm

Last sentence on above report has been excised between versions 7 & 8 of this news report;

http://www.newssniffer.co.uk/articles/107819/diff/7/8

227. Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

Comment #146202 by Enlightenme.. on March 18, 2008 at 6:41 pm

Just seen a 5-minute report on Beeb news 24 suddenly cut off at: ... in 1998 "...was overshadowed.."(cut)

??

228. First 'Rule' Of Evolution Suggests That Life Is Destined To Become More Complex

Comment #146192 by Enlightenme.. on March 18, 2008 at 6:17 pm

So.. how do blind cave fish evolve?
Is it sudden deletions of the whole set of blueprint for eyes - 'devolution'?

Or is it additional information for not wasting energy building eyes, followed by eventual withering away of the superceded dna?

Either path could add up to the same number couldn't it?

229. First 'Rule' Of Evolution Suggests That Life Is Destined To Become More Complex

Comment #146064 by Enlightenme.. on March 18, 2008 at 2:54 pm

If there was some mass extinction that took us back to invertebrates, who knows what the results might be?

230. The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing

Comment #144366 by Enlightenme.. on March 15, 2008 at 6:13 pm

"You can't see punctuation when you're listening to a book."

My parents used to listen to a comedy skit by.. Victor Borge.. I think it was, called phonetic punctuation, I'll check you-tube
Edit; yep thought so;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4qii8S3gw

231. Contribute to science directly by volunteering some of your computer's processing power!

Comment #142573 by Enlightenme.. on March 12, 2008 at 7:20 pm

22. Comment #140429 by Geoff on March 7, 2008;

Enlightenme #2 Only Brin's sci-fi, I'm afraid; Haven't read any of his non-fiction. Coincidentally I'm reading "Foundation's Triumph" now! (I always have a fiction and a non-fiction book on the go, depending what mood I'm in).

232. Contribute to science directly by volunteering some of your computer's processing power!

Comment #139668 by Enlightenme.. on March 6, 2008 at 11:34 am

Not entirely convinced by rebuttal #1

^Seti@home Geoff?
Are you familiar with David Brin's work at all?

233. How to abandon your God

Comment #139658 by Enlightenme.. on March 6, 2008 at 11:00 am

^Your in the wrong room 4fins, this is 'postmodern hippy bullshit'.

They normally appear in around a week or so in the main artivcle thread.

234. How to abandon your God

Comment #139490 by Enlightenme.. on March 6, 2008 at 1:40 am

^ Now there's a campaigning idea, first we've got to win over the Jedis though!

235. What's the Point of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

Comment #139481 by Enlightenme.. on March 6, 2008 at 12:44 am

The simple people*

*They that must be lead by us - the 'above average'

236. How to abandon your God

Comment #139474 by Enlightenme.. on March 6, 2008 at 12:16 am

^Yes, but consider what happens at the boundary of a black hole.
Looked at from this side of the binaverse the godly particles enter our universe, whilst the antigodly particles disappear into the black hole.
Break on through to the other side.

237. What's the Point of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

Comment #138692 by Enlightenme.. on March 4, 2008 at 5:37 pm

Maggie: "It wouldn't be spring, without the sound of the odd cuckoo" *
Letts: "Mh-aah, the blessed Margaret"
I also felt a great twinge of nostalgia hearing her in her pomp.
(RD was of course central to Maggie's success - having written her manifesto, and the screenplay for Wall street)

'Collaborating for a better society' [A of C being a 'spokesman for all faiths'] - I think this has become the general concensus on what the arch-bish was about hasn't it?
After all, that's just following the example set by the pope when he showed what side the vatican was on in the Muhammad cartoons row - ie protection of Islam against 'blasphemy' should trump western secularist values.

Anyway - What's the point of the AoC? - I'm beginning to warm to antidisestablishmentarianism, because of the fact that this at least holds them in check, though it all started out as an unspoken faustian bargain, it seems to have worked out well in the long run, and I'm beginning to wonder if that has been a central difference between European and American statecraft.

*Cuckoo - parasite in the nest - purpose? - keep your enemies closer.

238. Fleabytes

Comment #137480 by Enlightenme.. on March 3, 2008 at 1:27 am

"At the most basic level, my baby daughter is weak and vulnerable, but if I don't expend my energies in protecting and nurturing her, my genes have a vanishingly small chance of being passed on further"

Sorry to hear you have no brothers or sisters!

239. Evolving Mistakes

Comment #135088 by Enlightenme.. on February 28, 2008 at 2:11 pm

^ "...the male not to release all the gemetes out willy-nilly but deposit them into the female next door..."

It's a bit dry out on land under the hot sun - they need to be kept alive in a warm moist environment, happily for us,
'cos..

Everee sperm is sacred, everee sperm is gooood,
eevry sperm is neeeeded, in your neighbourhood,
..iiiiif a sperm gets waaaysted, god gets quite iraaaate.

240. Evolving Mistakes

Comment #134916 by Enlightenme.. on February 28, 2008 at 10:20 am

^ "I considered myself to be above average, "knowledge wise","

Welcome in, I'm also part of the 95% who consider themselves 'above average' ;)

241. Evolving Mistakes

Comment #134532 by Enlightenme.. on February 28, 2008 at 12:22 am

I love articles like this!
I was really surprised by the ratio of supposed beneficial/deleterious mutation in e-coli @ 1/100,000 I thought it should be 1 in manymillions.
Wonder how many of the 99.9% of extinct organisms simply got 'too perfect' to evolve when the environment changed through evolving towards Sturtevants ideal?

Ashton Black;
"Or am I missing something?"
I felt the same shiver down my spine at the thought of 'overspeeding virus evolvability' - life always finds a way, doesn't it?

242. DLD08 - Life: a gene-centric view

Comment #130339 by Enlightenme.. on February 20, 2008 at 11:01 am

Watched this a couple of weeks ago..there's a bit of handbags in it!

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

Comment #128801 by Enlightenme.. on February 18, 2008 at 1:35 am

^ "By assigning a stronger position to Islam in "Muslim Communities" he is trying to foster the position of the church and Christianity in the wider society."
---
"I thank him for helping us towards a completely (and constitutionally) secular state"

Trouble is I think the 'peoples front of Judeas' are taking a short-term expediant of uniting against their common enemy - Secularism.

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

Comment #128721 by Enlightenme.. on February 17, 2008 at 7:10 pm

^That would be interesting to know - might it be few, because most of the people polled were coming out of mosques where I don't think women would feel comfortable voicing a dissenting view - or conversely might it be quite a lot, because of a sort of 'sisterhood' effect?

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

Comment #128710 by Enlightenme.. on February 17, 2008 at 6:14 pm

rod-the-farmer,
I think somehow it's gonna need women, and artists to try and get things moving on this - or does that sound terribly MCP of me?
I feel like doing something myself at times to challenge blasphemy/religious hatred laws, I just can't quite think what yet! but I do feel it's time for Activism.
I did see a good defaced billboard recently, which had a burka painted onto the face of an otherwise semi-clad model, but most of the proto-banksys at the moment still seem obsessed with anti-globalism & stuff.

Off-thread a little - I think the teddy-bear thing last year has had a very good slow-burning effect in the west of taming/shaming sympathies for Islamic radicalism.

246. Virus immunity 'created in lab'

Comment #128132 by Enlightenme.. on February 16, 2008 at 9:30 am

"Ooh, someone's been reading too much "V for Vendetta"... :-P"

No I don't know that one, all I can find so far is a comic-book series about a UK '90's dystopia, I'll read the wiki and decide if I want to check it out.

No.. what I am re-reading is my '89 copy of Selfish Gene, where Richard points out that in the '76 version it was a more innocent time when he did not foresee the analogy of errors in digital transcription to DNA errors being realised in malicious ways by such malcontents.

edit; Ooh, I've just found out the film has Stephen Fry, John Hurt and Natalie Portman in, so I shall check that out.

247. Ayaan Hirsi Ali asks for protection

Comment #128126 by Enlightenme.. on February 16, 2008 at 9:10 am

Count me in for standing in front of people being threatened by agitated mops.

248. Virus immunity 'created in lab'

Comment #128090 by Enlightenme.. on February 16, 2008 at 5:11 am

"They were probably selected for because of the cost in energy associated with them. Fortunately the developed world has lifted most of the body's energy costs. And I can't think of any evidence of useful viruses (though my knowledge is limited I admit)."

Part of the view of life is that it is all evolved as parasite>symbiont>indistinguishable part of us - see; Mitochondria.
Another is that viruses in particular are a breakaway part of DNA that has found an easier vector than sperm/egg, and therefore no longer acting in our interest!

249. Ayaan Hirsi Ali asks for protection

Comment #128086 by Enlightenme.. on February 16, 2008 at 4:44 am

Thanks for your suggestion & link Homoeconomicus,
Just written a cc e-mail to this lot representing South west;

1. BOOTH, Graham
Independence/Democracy Group

2. CHICHESTER, Giles
Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats

3. FORD, Glyn
Socialist Group in the European Parliament

4. JACKSON, Caroline
Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats

5. KNAPMAN, Roger
Independence/Democracy Group

6. PARISH, Neil
Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats

7. WATSON, Graham
Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

250. Virus immunity 'created in lab'

Comment #127971 by Enlightenme.. on February 15, 2008 at 8:18 pm

3. Comment #127916 by John Done on February 15, 2008

Seriously? Immunity? I knew biotech would get us somewhere! My bet is, it'll take us many other places in the near future.