Comments by Apathy personified

Comment #229406 by Apathy personified on August 13, 2008 at 2:36 pm

Am I allowed to find it slightly funny that kkelly got some of you to actually look up 'goatse'? - Almost like some adult rated version of 'rick rolling'.

Edit: Comment 24 is well out of line, that's the type of post that people object to - you really should remove it and apologise to Steve.

202. The God Delusion

Comment #229329 by Apathy personified on August 13, 2008 at 11:31 am

Yes, and now you have finished admiring the cover - Open the bloody thing and read it.

Also, are the ft not a bit behind the game here? - It was published in 2006.

For the New Atheists whom Dawkins has inspired, this book is a badge of pride, to be worn on the coffee table or a prominent shelf. Its presence alone says: I am an unbeliever; I am not ashamed and I am not alone. And for those most devoted followers, perhaps it says something more: for if you squint a little, from a metre or so away, the words "the" and "delusion" start to blur, and you are left with three words that spell out the greatest blasphemy of all: "Richard Dawkins: God".

Oh, *chuckle chuckle*, atheism is like a religion and RD is their prophet, *chuckle chuckle*. Try a new gag, that one's old.

203. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #229320 by Apathy personified on August 13, 2008 at 11:15 am

timmydou,
Can you explain why you think the ruling was biased?

204. The Afterlife for Scientologists

Comment #229316 by Apathy personified on August 13, 2008 at 11:07 am

Dhamma,
Oh yes, they laugh at scientologists, same as us - but they never make the jump to their own religion. By modern standards we consider the christian myths to be less crazy than the scientology fiction - but that's probably mostly down to it being a very long term cultural phenomenom.

m.o.kane,
I'm afraid it's already been done. Think about the huge evangelical church organisations in America - They are big business, making a lot of money selling a product/service, religion.

205. Al-Qa'eda in Iraq alienated by cucumber laws and brutality

Comment #229242 by Apathy personified on August 13, 2008 at 9:04 am

hungarianelephant,
Haha - *ahem* I'll assume that the UN just has too much time on its hands and is not staffed by sexually repressed individuals with a fetish for standardising the size of vegetables.

206. Al-Qa'eda in Iraq alienated by cucumber laws and brutality

Comment #229187 by Apathy personified on August 13, 2008 at 8:02 am

And i was lead to believe that US and British troops were doing badly in the PR stakes.......

Anyone who makes laws on cucumbers has too much time on their hands or (more likely) is clearly sexually repressed.

207. The Afterlife for Scientologists

Comment #229181 by Apathy personified on August 13, 2008 at 7:52 am

Scientology is so full of absolute shit, that even making jokes about it becomes a tedious task.

Hubbard is reputed to have told John W. Campbell, 'I'm going to invent a religion that's going to make me a fortune. I'm tired of writing for a penny a word.'

Quote from wikipedia - need i say anymore.

208. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #229087 by Apathy personified on August 13, 2008 at 4:51 am

Ha - good shit, we need more judgements like this, especially as this seems like an attempt to muscle in on uni applications.

To the christian schools who are now appealing: 'Awww, diddums - is big nasty science bullying little, defenceless and misunderstood religion?'

Pathetic, they should stop playing the 'help, help, we're being oppressed' card and go home.

cited legitimate reasons for rejecting the texts - not because they contained religious viewpoints, but because they omitted important topics in science and history and failed to teach critical thinking.

Well, can't be letting the students have all the evidence and the ability to analyse it critically now, can we? - Your god (he ain't mine), they might even make their own minds up.

I wonder why they don't go after physics more - though i'm very curious as to what part god plays in chemical reactions, maybe he/she/it gives encouragement to the nervous little electron?

209. Saudi Arabia Bans Dog Walking in Capital

Comment #228841 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 3:37 pm

Goldy,
Ha - you switched threads on me! Hope your wednesday morning is going well.

Carole,

WP and AP, are you....flirting??

We were, until the moment was interupted - now we have to run away from the virtue police.

210. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228804 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 2:48 pm

Al,
Somehow, i always knew you'd end up racing to the mexican border, to freedom......

Have fun.

211. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228771 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 2:11 pm

Al,
Haha - quote mining at its finest.

Morning goldy.

212. The HMS Beagle Project

Comment #228730 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 1:08 pm

How would one go about procuring a method of entrance to said vessel?

213. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228726 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 1:01 pm

Speaking of..I just went to full cricket status.

Oh? For Quetz or the new age mystic spiritualist bollock spewer on the other thread?

214. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #228717 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 12:48 pm

Besides, try to bat me and you'll get more than you bargained for.

Hee hee, them's fighting words!

215. Saudi Arabia Bans Dog Walking in Capital

Comment #228711 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 12:43 pm

whitepearl,
Funny - i always say 'See you in a while, crocodile'
:)

216. Saudi Arabia Bans Dog Walking in Capital

Comment #228704 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 12:38 pm

Well, that just goes without saying.

Hee hee, sorry - couldn't resist.

Hmmm, i'm sure there must be some archaic reasoning behind that. I guess at night people sleep (well, those who aren't nocturnal) - so it's assumed that you are going off home to bed, so 'good night' being 'have a good nights sleep'.

On another side note - in most languages, when people depart, they roughly say 'until we see each other again' - au revoir, da svedaniya, auf wiedersehen, etc - but in English we say goodbye, which comes from god be with ye.

217. CBI wants more pupils in science

Comment #228697 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 12:17 pm

MRA,

Good information is good information, no matter what form it takes.

Nobody doubts that - but TV is 99% useless filth about vacuous cretins and only 1% information. (In Britain, anyway)

I'll admit, i may have slightly indulged in hyperbole there.

218. Saudi Arabia Bans Dog Walking in Capital

Comment #228694 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 12:14 pm

Afternoon whitepearl,
*Apathy passes whitepearl her afternoon coffee*

Ha - the islamic schools will have to double the content of its curriculum: - teaching the koran AND map reading.

I'm all for the celibacy practice.

For them, right?

219. CBI wants more pupils in science

Comment #228692 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 12:08 pm

Well of course the CBI wants more students to do sciences - they want to build the future economy on the lucrative 'high tech' or new technology markets. Britain can not compete with the sheer manufacturing power of the US, India, China and the other large nations - so we have to find niche markets in which to try and dominate, thus ensuring that Britains economy remains as strong as possible.

At the moment, there is not enough learning and too much fact memorisation in the school system as a whole, but science especially suffers from this as it gets in the way of explanation and actual understanding (i finished A levels 3 years ago - may have changed but i doubt it).

220. Saudi Arabia Bans Dog Walking in Capital

Comment #228681 by Apathy personified on August 12, 2008 at 11:43 am

I'm surprised it's taken them this long to ban it - it's not like it's a new chatting up technique that was just invented by scientists at the national pick-up lab.

Men of Saudia Arabia - you'll just have to ask for a light or directions instead, if you want to flirt.

221. Charles Darwin investigated whether blondes have more fun

Comment #227733 by Apathy personified on August 10, 2008 at 2:24 pm

Ha - Darwin, great man. I also love the fact that 'Do blondes have more fun?' was around so long ago - (hee hee) making it one of the unanswered questions of the post enlightenment period.

However, what about males with blonde hair? Do they have more fun?

222. More reviews of 'The Genius of Charles Darwin'

Comment #227695 by Apathy personified on August 10, 2008 at 1:18 pm

Matt7895,
Ohhhh, nice modern interpretation of Neitzsche - though it paints a really pathetic picture of the world when the monsters we fight are, in fact, tv critics

223. More reviews of 'The Genius of Charles Darwin'

Comment #227678 by Apathy personified on August 10, 2008 at 12:59 pm

8teist,

but then how bright do you have to be to write reviews of programs that are on the telly?

Ha - good point.

Kathryn Flett was more interested in the decor, you are right about Hermione Eyre and AA Gill was probably looking at a video of himself doing the washing up in nothing but an apron.

I'm very wary of pasta, what with it's celestial connection, it can convince people to do anything.......

224. Novel on prophet's wife pulled for fear of backlash

Comment #227656 by Apathy personified on August 10, 2008 at 12:29 pm

[Had Fanusi's post, but i'll let Quetz be the host - he's a god, so better placed to host it]

whitepearl,
You're welcome :)

Edit: Removed content.

225. More reviews of 'The Genius of Charles Darwin'

Comment #227652 by Apathy personified on August 10, 2008 at 12:25 pm

Is it me, or are all these tv reviews very weak when it comes to explaining what the show was about or what it was like to watch?

The AA Gill guy in the times is just a dickpole -

he became tongue-tied and muddled about selling evolution.

That certainly wasn't the impression i got, or for that matter, any of the other critics - who mostly complemented RD on his explanation of the science.

226. Novel on prophet's wife pulled for fear of backlash

Comment #227640 by Apathy personified on August 10, 2008 at 12:18 pm

Regretably i can't add to this discussion as a lot of the comments are coming up as -

104. Comment #227636 by Fanusi Khiyal on August 10, 2008 at 12:09 pm
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whitepearl,
*Apathy passes whitepearl a large, freshly made, cup of coffee*

227. An atheist plays God's advocate

Comment #227374 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 6:33 pm

Laurie,

if one could get the England top order to actually move their feet, they might find the middle more often

I don't envy the coach who has to try, that's a tough job...

I'm hoping good ol' Team GB will bring back a few cycling, rowing and sailing medals.
Did anyone see this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7548855.stm

228. An atheist plays God's advocate

Comment #227356 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 6:02 pm

whitepearl,
Ha - touche. Although sometime one wonders about love

Laurie,

the edge to slips.

Currently a popular shot for the England top order, i regretably add.

229. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227335 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 5:37 pm

NewEnglandBob,
I'm ashamed at myself for laughing, a little, at that - were that the case then a proportion of the people on the london underground shouldn't have survived.

whitepearl,
Never been to any of them - but NY if you want a shopping trip and oregon for some quiet time (i think/hope that's right) - sounds good though.

And what do you mean you aren't sure?

PM in a minute might explain

230. An atheist plays God's advocate

Comment #227322 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 5:19 pm

dhamma,
Hey - i help where i can :).

whitepearl,
Hee hee good response.
However, Dhamma, whitepearl - The winning video

articulett,
I agree - it really annoys me when people don't argue with what RD says, but just say 'Oh, he has an opinion different to mine - how strident, let's ignore his point and talk about how rude we think he is'

231. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227321 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 5:12 pm

mordy,
No worries - i certainly got it (the joke that is). In a similar vein to the two ronnies 'four candles' and 'fork handles' sketch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz2-ukrd2VQ

232. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227314 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 4:55 pm

mordy,
Haha - i guess it is. I of course could not comment on *ahem* hair pieces, or love.

kkelly,

Isn't the leading theory that homo sapiens simply out-competed them?

I think it is, but there could have been other factors - think colonisation of North American, sure we had guns, but we also had germs.

I guess you are probably right about not being able to extrapolate from the sequence though.

whitepearl,
I know what you mean, any ideas where you want to go?
Me - to be honest, not sure, but thanks for asking:).

233. An atheist plays God's advocate

Comment #227310 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 4:44 pm

dhamma,
Would this link here explain?

whitepearl,
I'm touched :)

234. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227303 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 4:29 pm

whitepearl,
Thanks for the link. How are you btw?

kkelly,
Oh, now i get it. You cheeky bastard - address the rest of my initial post on this thread if you don't like the plagiarised joke i posted.
dora the explorer indeed - my posts are at least up to pokemon standard

235. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227294 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 4:06 pm

WTF?
Who the hell is Dora the explorer? What the hell is a fanfic?

You did say please though, well done.

236. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227292 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 3:58 pm

You could be - i seem to remember you have made various references to herpes in a few previous posts, you were also complaining about not understanding the RD.net humour - so i thought i'd tell a fairly harmless joke about herpes.

237. Neanderthal DNA Shows They Rarely Interbred With Us Very Different Humans

Comment #227286 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 3:44 pm

It'll be good when they get the neanderthal genome sequenced - hopefully it may give some clues as to why our ancestors survived and they went extinct, maybe things like susceptibility to certain types of bacteria that humans are immune or unaffected by, crazy shit of that nature. (Not a biology person so i hope that makes sense and is not some hocus pocus sci fi muppetry)

kkelly,
In reference to a previous discussion, i heard a joke today that you may find funny, though i don't think it's offensive enough for your tastes.

-'What's the difference between love and herpes?'

-Herpes lasts forever

238. Novel on prophet's wife pulled for fear of backlash

Comment #227266 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Regardless of the quality or historical accuracy of this book - fear of violence is not an acceptable reason for not publishing it. There have been countless crap books about the christian icons, all published, all lacking any shred of truth - but they were still published.

Nobody wants to be bullied into self censureship by the islamic fundies, but no one wants to stand up against it and be counted.

Ah well, in the interest of fairness - any future books that shed what is considered an unfavourable light on all other religions will have to be declined for publication, no more da vinci codes then......

239. An atheist plays God's advocate

Comment #227256 by Apathy personified on August 9, 2008 at 2:56 pm

you couldn't put Dawkins in a Narnia book or he'd be forever lecturing the Pevensie children about the non-existence of Aslan.

RD would probably advise the kids that if they did see a fully grown male lion on the prowl they should run for their lifes (literally) - but that's besides the point.

This whole incident has really shown up a lot of british journalism for what it is - cheap gags about famous people without any real analysis or substance and certainly no room for accurate facts.

240. Father, son and holy toast

Comment #226863 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 7:17 pm

kkelly,
Carto does have a wonderful way with words (hmm, alliteration)
whitepearl is right, we try to keep humour not so personal - in the case of the comment you mentioned most people didn't see the original thread you were quoting from, so thought you were just being offensive.

Laurie,
Haha

241. Father, son and holy toast

Comment #226841 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 6:47 pm

kkelly,
I'm you could find some of the jokes funny.

Oh, yes, that comment - i seem to remember some protests of outrage at that - i think it got marked as offensive as well as troll.

242. Father, son and holy toast

Comment #226825 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 6:29 pm

chuckgoecke,

I've heard, that if you get baked, that kind of thing can happen.

LOL - never thought i'd hear a joke about stoned biscuits.

243. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #226812 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 6:10 pm

mordy,
I totally agree - No doubt she'll be claiming, 'Clever me, am I someone and I rattled Richard Dawkins - i must be as intelligent as i think i am'

244. Bill Maher hates your (fill in the blank) religion

Comment #226810 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 5:58 pm

Thanks Maxamillion - i've seen so many clips of interviews that some of them seem to melt into one.

Good morning Laurie, btw.

245. Richard Dawkins replies to Libby Purves

Comment #226803 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 5:35 pm

From the reply Robert_S posted

I assume he means the 1976 Horizon poll asking 2000 respondents

Emphasis mine.

Does she honestly think he is using that poll? I don't know what poll he has used, but i'm pretty certain that RD would have used a recent one.

Just wait for what she says after the next episode - bet she has already written her comment about it, just left a few blanks like 'When Dawkins BLANK, he was ramming atheism down peoples throats'

246. Bill Maher hates your (fill in the blank) religion

Comment #226779 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 4:42 pm

I haven't seen expelled, but i thought they also edited the interviews? like adding long pauses to pretend RD didn't have an answer and things of that nature - Or was that something entirely different?

Let us also remember the clear distinction here, expelled set out to lie and attack the reputation of many scientists - Religulous is a comedy film that seems to be having a go at people who take myths seriously.

Having said that, should he have told them the truth to start with? Probably - Would any of them agreed to do it? Doubt it

247. Father, son and holy toast

Comment #226773 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 4:32 pm

Meh.
If someone wants to EAT THE FACE OF JESUS for breakfast, that's up to them.

248. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #226765 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 3:57 pm

Quetz,

You guys are ruining all the fun. :(

Sorry, but for me the joke stopped when it was pointed out there would be no arguments and i'd be totally in charge.
Could not handle that, need excitement, not cold predictability.

Also,

Indeed, damn uppity yahoos. It's about time someone put them in their place.

Hee hee, thanks for joining me on death row when NZ and Australia wake soon :).

249. Why Islam Is Unfunny for a Cartoonist

Comment #226759 by Apathy personified on August 8, 2008 at 3:46 pm

Bonzai,
I never got the impression that Jung Chang was claiming to know what Mao was thinking - she might have inferred a few things, but i thought that was quite common when writing about someone who has been dead for over 30 years and you have no official help from those with the info (CCP).

Most of the sources she did use are likely to have been eye witness accounts and i think some stuff from the old soviet archives - there are plenty of them, though i agree that you can't take everything written in them as gospel, but you can certainly see trends.
I won't disagree about her opinion of Mao being made up before she wrote the book - but after the accounts in 'Wild Swans', how could it not?

I thought Maos wondering libido was quite well documented? - I agree it isn't the worse thing he did, or strictly important - but i think she's trying to paint a picture of how he lived compared to the rest of the population at the time.