Comments by Peacebeuponme

Comment #219005 by Peacebeuponme on July 26, 2008 at 3:00 am

beanson

didn't have the balls for the Koran I suppose

Er, no. That was a deliberate send up of media squeamishness over all things muslim.

Bit of a crappy clip actually, but that bit was mildly amusing.

252. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #218512 by Peacebeuponme on July 25, 2008 at 1:43 pm

When did Teratornis disappear up his own arse? I thought he used to be ok, just a little verbose.

253. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #218460 by Peacebeuponme on July 25, 2008 at 1:05 pm

Richard Morgan

As far as I am aware, most theists, when asked why they dismiss all other gods but their own would reply that it's because their own god has declared that all the others are false.

This has got to be one of the silliest things I've read here for a while.

Richard, are you honestly saying that you reject Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Norse Paganism and Greek Mythology becuase 'your god' instructed you so?

Be honest.

Is it really just because you find those religions somewhat lacking credibility?

254. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #217729 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 3:03 pm

Those of you accusing kkelly of being a troll, what do you think about The White Pearl and Al-Rawandi ganging up on him playground style? What about the slightly bullying rhetorical style of Al-Rawandi? Should we bring up arguments and misunderstandings from other threads to defeat an argument we don't like? Isn't this just character assassination? An ad hominem attack? What does that tell you about his opponents in the argument?

Wait until you meet styrer.

Al does post in a somewhat forthright style, but is willing to be called on it and change his mind if necessary. Moreover he gets on well with pretty much all regular posters around here, managing not to rub them up the wrong way for the most part.

thewhitepearl has something of an excuse for hostility given kkelly's form when he started posting - in playground style "he started it, miss."

kkelly has made some interesting points (some that I agree with), but has approached this website in a rather cack-handed way. The reaction should not have been surprising. Its not a gay (or straight) pick up site for one thing.

Also, when socialising on the web, or out there in the real world, its usually wise to go with the flow and watch the group dynamic at first, which gets you onside. Pretty basic stuff.

H4D's post #217523 was probably the best thing said on this subject.

255. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #217436 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 10:51 am

TWP - there is never a need for Jesse Jackson full-stop.

And while we're on the subject, don't you think its time that NAACP got rid of the "Coloured" reference? I thought that was classed as an offensive term now. (I could understand white and asian people being just as offended to be classed as non-coloured).

256. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #217429 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 10:44 am

al - ok. I hope I'm not coming across as a quorn-eating, sandal wearer here anyway. Remember that I live in a country that has had Germain Greer foisted upon us (another Australian who has outstayed her welcome).

Luckily the sometimes funny, sometimes shit comic Viz had just the antidote:

Millie Tant

(If only for this: "she once refused to make a snowman, instead offering to make a snow-black lesbian rape victim in a wheelchair.")

257. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #217421 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 10:36 am

newskin

Humanism encompasses us all, regardless of gender, race etc. Thus we should be prioritising our action towards abuses against humans according to those that do the most harm. By subscribing to a concept such as feminism, you (somewhat ironically) propagate division and give rise to 'silos' that are part of the problem in the first place.

This depends on your perception of how successful the feminist movement has been. I'm minded to kind of agree with you, but we should make sure that factors which gave rise to the much needed (and much misused) feminist movement are no longer there.

There is still a real need for anti-racist or anti-homophobia organisations and movements, for example.

258. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #217413 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 10:24 am

It is interesting though to condemn a feminist for speaking out against a (potential) area of inequality, because they don't speak out against some greater inequality. This may mean they lack focus, but this is something we all do. We all have our pet campaigns, and do not spend all our energies only on the most important issues first.

Opposing the deposition of Saddam because we are not doing enough about North Korea, or Congo, for example, would be a similarly flawed view.

259. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #217380 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 9:53 am

This perturbs me, as I think American society is failing women. It expects them to look pretty and snag a husband, and I cannot stand these types.

A show as popular as Friends was even had a character who, despite being an independent highly successful chef, still had the only real ambition of having a 'big wedding'.

That comes up time and time again in US TV and films and saddens me.

260. Thousands Flock to Revival in Search of Miracles

Comment #217375 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 9:45 am

Irate

She had a book where she wrote down what she said to god and, yes - you guessed it - what he said back to her.

Did she ask him who was going to win the league this year? I fancy a flutter on Arsenal, but it would be good to have the backing of the big man upstairs.

261. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217300 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 7:04 am

PMs = Personal Messages, as it's plural.

Not to be confused with PMS of course, which I don't think you can get from a deluded clown.

262. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217215 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 3:51 am

We are individuals.

I'm not.

* 2 leggy beauties come out with a small prize for the 1,000,000th usage of the Life of Brian reference *

263. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #217212 by Peacebeuponme on July 24, 2008 at 3:38 am

Clearly they are choosing to ignore the dramatically life-changing, world-view threatening nature of being touched by the love of God.

Are you submitting that as evidence for your position?

264. Good Science Writers: Richard Dawkins

Comment #216443 by Peacebeuponme on July 23, 2008 at 7:49 am

Irate

May I suggest 'Flea Fishing by R. Dawkins'?

You may. Though of course it would be C. R. Dawkins.

That has cheered me up.

265. Richard Dawkins on Al Jazeera English

Comment #216391 by Peacebeuponme on July 23, 2008 at 5:58 am

Irate

Of course other despots do believe in an omnipotent deity:

Well, we know they say they do...

266. Good Science Writers: Richard Dawkins

Comment #216386 by Peacebeuponme on July 23, 2008 at 5:32 am

Irate

The improbability is in our minds - not in reality.

Well sort of. Actually, j. mills says it better:

Clearly eyes are common in terms of the number of species and individuals that have them, and more importantly the number of times they have separately evolved. But, a la Paley, you'd still be astonished to find one sitting on a rock on Ganymede.

Its improbable in of itself, but maybe not when you bring common environmental factors in to play.

267. Good Science Writers: Richard Dawkins

Comment #216380 by Peacebeuponme on July 23, 2008 at 5:12 am

Steve

If it turns out that life is very common, and certain complex features are pretty much universal, or at least very common (such as wings, eyes, legs), then the idea of there being an aspect of realy (as against apparent) improbability may be misleading. Also, it may give slightly the wrong impression to suggest there is any real barrier to complex life (as suggested by the idea of a "climb").

Hmm. Interesting.

I'm talking a bit blind here, as it is one of Richard's books I haven't read. However, my understanding was that he was using it to show how complex life evolved from simple beginnings, which is apparently improbable, by showing that it occurs by step-by-step changes over millions of years.

Even if it turns our life is common (that there are many other life-supporting planets) and that wings, eyes etc do seem to be common features, I don't think that causes a problem for what Richard is trying to say. Its still improbable as far as our perception goes for one life form to evolve into another vastly different from it. That's improbable on the face of it, until you bring in other factors such as environmental change over time.

Also, there is always as 'real barrier' to this: time. And I think Richard was explaining to the layman that there has been plenty of this for evolution to occur (provided it is directed by natural selection).

Sure I haven't written that well, but hopefully it makes some sense!

268. Good Science Writers: Richard Dawkins

Comment #216362 by Peacebeuponme on July 23, 2008 at 3:09 am

Roland

To reach some final gully or depression not peak. And this gully might be a glacier lake a suboptimal altitude and not the deepest point.

Its just improbable terrain, which can have peaks and gullys along the way. However, I don't see the problem of the "Mount Improbable" as a metahpor to explain how great evolutionay change can occur over time.

269. Good Science Writers: Richard Dawkins

Comment #216353 by Peacebeuponme on July 23, 2008 at 2:26 am

Is "Yay, first post!" any less enlightening than: "gee, I liked that book, I think I'll re-read it"?

Yes, I often wonder why people bother to contribute with "Great Post", or "I like Pat Condell".

However, in this case I'm struggling to see what to say of substance. The article is a bit light, consisting mostly of an excerpt from Richard's (admittedly wonderful) book.

270. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #215797 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 11:50 am

Anything that teaches people to be good and virtuous and upright and can moderate the drinking and the drugs and the partying and all the crazy shit that goes on today gets my vote

Not to dissimilar to Chinese communism. Which really doesn't get my vote.

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

Comment #215745 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 9:42 am

I found a clip of Joe Morreale dry-slope skiiing with his friends . I think wooter is in the crowd somewhere also.

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

Comment #215734 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 9:32 am

WHITEPEARL: DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND PUT THE DRINK DOWN, CLOSE YOUR LEGS AND STOP BEING A BIMBO AND HEAD OFF TO CLEAN THE DISHES!

I'm excited now. I get to use the 'offensive' button as well as 'troll'!

Hopefully he will try to advertise something soon so that I can click 'spam' as well.

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

Comment #215720 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 9:21 am

Just marking all Joe's posts as troll now. Yet again a mouth-breathing, uni-browed, idiot is ruining an otherwise potentially interesting thread.

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

Comment #215671 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 8:44 am

Joe

From now on epeeist i will call you 'the pebble thrower at the tide'

I'm going to call you 'imbecile who is soon to be moved to the alternate comment thread.'

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

Comment #215663 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 8:37 am

A communist could theoretically be elected in a democracy

Not a theorectical position now. Check out Cyprus

276. Richard Dawkins on Al Jazeera English

Comment #215613 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 7:47 am

The "rules" of mathematics?

1st rule: You do not talk about mathematics

2nd rule: you do not talk about....sorry. The second rule is "No Smoking."

277. The brain in love

Comment #215608 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 7:34 am

Been on holiday, Anna?

278. Richard Dawkins on Al Jazeera English

Comment #215567 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 6:20 am

Be fair. I think Al was referring to foreign accents. American, for example.

Even so, an Amereican for example, could quite rightly say that me and you have British accents, I think. Even if mine is a little on the taffy side.

279. Richard Dawkins on Al Jazeera English

Comment #215564 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 6:14 am

If a person from England, speaking English, says something it isn't with an accent my friend. They invented the fucking language you stupid fucking ass clown.

Err, have to respectfully disagree. Chat to some people from Surrey and then some Geordies, Mancs, Scousers and Bristolians. You will hear a variety of accents.

280. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215541 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 4:43 am

Epeeist - is this more like it?

281. Surgeon General Nominee Dismisses Homosexuality Paper

Comment #215474 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 1:41 am

Corylus

To witness a truly vile piece of propaganda and manipulation look at their entry for homosexuality. I see it is one of their most popular articles. Hmm. The prim and proper god-fearing prudes reading it must have a raging 'scientific' interest in this subject.

Stragetly though they do not seem to get as wound up by shellfish

282. Surgeon General Nominee Dismisses Homosexuality Paper

Comment #215466 by Peacebeuponme on July 22, 2008 at 1:22 am

Rod

Well, if few will do so, then I feel I must comment that some of the language on this particular thread is....inappropriate....for this site. While I support the rights of gays & lesbians to do what they wish in the privacy of their own homes etc., the terminology used by kkelly and some others is.....not.....necessary.

Kkelly's language was unneccesarily graphic and inappropriate, I agree. But it would have been so if he was directing unrestrained hetereosexual lust towards thewhitepearl in an open thread also.

No need for the somewhat uncomfortable and patronising "I support the rights of gays & lesbians to do what they wish in the privacy of their own homes etc".

283. Surgeon General Nominee Dismisses Homosexuality Paper

Comment #215286 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 3:08 pm

Or I'm going to start directing inappropriate comments at Al.

You pulling on RD.net again al?

* ducks *

284. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215181 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 1:07 pm

Evil Steve has arrived!

285. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215179 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 1:05 pm

Teratornis - someone menioned that they wanted RD's autograph, big deal. You are getting far too uptight about it.

And please, no comments like

Have I offended the Dawkins-worshipping faithful?

That's just silly. You are assuming a lot about me and others. I'm not interested in getting a signature, and I'd like to see you find a post of mine that's in any way sychophantic.

Like I said, a little perspective. I think your energies would best be spent in other directions.

286. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215160 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 12:33 pm

*runs away giggling*

Have to say I have trouble picturing that, especially given your current pic.

287. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #215153 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 12:12 pm

Teratornis. A little perspective, please.

288. VOICES OF SCIENCE - Available Now on DVD

Comment #215149 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 12:04 pm

YadsMood

. I was trying to say that at this stage in the thread, the disproportionate response of Styrer's is the real issue.

How shocking.

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

Comment #215140 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 11:31 am

Joe Morrale is the muslim equivalent of that guy off Goodness Gracious Me, who claimed that just about everything was "Indian.":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEldpMQGfYE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HJzy3WSYFM

290. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #215055 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 8:21 am

Dhamma - he's right. A court cannot find you innocent: you are presumed innocent to begin with.

291. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #215052 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 8:18 am

One night at my fraternity I was engaged in my usual Friday night of heavy drinking. I was hardly conscious when a girl from the neighboring sorority came over for a visit. She had a thing for me. I don't remember much, but I woke up in her bed.... sans my al-rawandi super hero outfit. I came back and everyone was telling me how I was way hammered and this girl had dragged me out of the house (of course none of my 'brothers' saw fit to protest this violation of my honor) and over to her place. I never got any other details. I avoided this girl like the plague for the rest of my days. Then my girlfriend joined this sorority and the awkwardness was incredible.

I don't chalk that up to rape, although I suppose I could (although I am still foggy on the details).

Swap this girl for a guy who anally penetrated you. Would you feel different then?

292. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #215044 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 8:12 am

decius

Secondly, there is something seriously fucked up with society condemning someone proven innocent, and it could in turn be tried as a case of discrimination, at least in principle. No doubt that it's even more difficult to prove than rape without hard evidence, but still...

We had a very interesting debate in the UK a while back about whether defendants in rape cases should gain anonymity, so that it did not cause a problem should he be found innocent. I was very convinced by a lawyers argument that this should not happen as it would severly impair one of the foundational aspects of our legal system, namely that you are innocent until proven guilty. Society, and particularly the tabliods, need to improve greatly in this area.

293. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #215029 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 7:55 am

Rachel

It may be that rape crisis centres collect stats and compare them against official police figures. Who knows?

Not sure whether you are in the US or the UK, but in the UK they have the OCS : The Official Crime Survey. This questions around 50,000 people a year and extrapolates. People tend to notify them even if they don't go to the police.

294. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #215023 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 7:48 am

In college I knew more than one man who had his life ruined because he slept with a woman who the next morning changed her mind and cried rape.

The year before I started at my college exactly this happened to a student. He slept with a girl (they were both very drunk) and the next morning she was fine until she spoke to her friends about the incident. Because she couldn't remember much about the evening they decided she must've been raped and promptly went to the university authorities (and not the police). The university told the guy they would just kick him out, but wouldn't involve the police as she did not want them to.

Quite rightly, he protested that actually, since he had done nothing wrong, he wanted the police involved and challenged his dismissal. She admitted in court that she couldn't remember a thing and he was allowed to finish his degree.

These kinds of incident are a slap in the face to women who have been through real trauma. I would however, note that they are far less common than actual rapes that go unreported.

Finally, that rapes occur in the western world does not put us on a par with countries who stone women to death.

295. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #215014 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 7:35 am

The one thing I always ask these self flagellating miscreants is "In a world with overwhelming military power, who would you rather wield it... the west, or countries like Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia?"

I agree, it would be lunacy to say anything but 'the west'. That said, I would probably rather the power was in the hands of the Nordic countries, than the US or even Britian. The point remains though that Iran and Pakistan are a far bigger problem for the world than the US (a democratic counrtry after all, of some 300 million people with much divergance in their views on foreign policy).

1) They are obviously situated near a legitimate target, and are always free to take up arms against the thugs and killers that are being targeted.

That is probably a little unfair. You may feel empowered to act in a certain way because you have access to weapons, a weights bench and relative wealth. Things may not be the same for others, expecially is such extreme environments. I would not want to wave away protestations of the citizens of Hiroshima or Kosovo or the Kurds in 1920 in such a fashion.

296. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #214994 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 7:01 am

Al - long post lost and no inclination to re-write. Just wanted to say I agree and will despair as again a thread gets corrupted somewhat by anti-US noise (and hawkish responses) when we should be talking about the backwards, horrendous, stoning practice in Iran.

There is of course an interesting conversation about the righteousness of western killing and how that is different to terrorism for certain cases, but that may be best dealt with elsewhere.

297. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #214988 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 6:46 am

Absolutely not. This is beyond the scope of adaptations. Changes in teeth and fur is within that scope. Teeth accidentally changing into baleen over time is not.

So ordains txpiper. No explaination of why mutations are restricted in this way is necessary of course.

Not that anyone can accuse txpiper of being dogmatic like RD.

298. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #214958 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 5:41 am

The brain is somewhat like a muscle - keep it exercised and it will usually continue to work for you reasonably well, even if it may creak a bit with age.

Alzheimer's aside of course. Happened to my grandfather, terrible to watch. I often wonder how the diagnosis of senility is different to that of Alzheimer's.

299. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #214929 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 4:22 am

The eight women sentenced, whose ages range from 27 to 43, had convictions including prostitution, incest and adultery, Reuters news agency reported.

I need Fanusi or Al-Rawandi to help me out here. I thought that you could have a temporary wedding granted under Islamic law, and that this was a common way to get Allah's approval for a bit of paid sex.

If that's true is it not a bit thick of these peope to end up being charged with prostitution?

300. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #214918 by Peacebeuponme on July 21, 2008 at 4:01 am

Interesting comment about the ghost writing of Flew's book from Richard.

Flew says this:

I needed someone to do the actual writing because I'm 84 and that was Roy Varghese's role.

Does he mean that Roy was there merely to take dictated notes? This can't be the case though surely, because any number of people could do this, including family members or a secretarial temp. Why pay a self-interested author of religious books?