401. Texas Fiction Science

Comment #219112 by Border Collie on July 26, 2008 at 9:27 am

Barbara ... thanks for that link. I just love watching YECs sodomize the minds of children. Yes, RD, it is child abuse. And I thought that my fundamentalist upbringing was sickening.

This 'weakenesses of evolution' thing is not just a foot in the door regarding evo. It is a foot in the door regarding global warming, spherical Earth vs. flat Earth, actuality of fossils, etc., anything and everything that, in their opinion, doesn't agree with so-called literal Biblical teachings. But, it doesn't end there. It includes anything and everything that any partucular congregation decides doesn't agree with Biblical teachings, anything and everything that their particular pastor disagrees with, anything and everything that a well to do church contributor disagrees with and on and on. This is so sad. Sorry for my rant but I was raised with these types and I know that promoting their agenda has no end and is energized by millions of dollars and their unending neurotic zeal.

402. Toward a Type 1 civilization

Comment #219092 by Border Collie on July 26, 2008 at 8:56 am

Sounds real good from a detached, global, from the moon, ivory tower sort of view but seems like a lowest common denominator, ant hill, termite mound, beehive, living in a cardboard box reality to actual people.

403. Texas Fiction Science

Comment #219074 by Border Collie on July 26, 2008 at 8:27 am

Well, if nothing else, there's precedent for stupidity in Texas ...
http://www.snopes.com/religion/jesusday.asp

Alun ... The problem is that this is Texas. When Cretinists (yes, I know how to spell Creationists) say 'strengths and weaknesses' they really mean 'weaknesses' only, as defined by them. This is simply a foot in the door for them to shred actual science education. Although it 'could' be a very good opportunity for good science teachers to blow the ID'ers out of the water by teaching real science about gaps, time and complexity, it won't happen. Once the foot is in the door, it's over. The ID'ers will be sitting on the school steps like hungry rabid wolves waiting to take issue with any teacher who dares to actually teach evolution as it should be taught. And, I guarantee you that there will actually be fundamentalist parents visiting the classrooms to make sure of this. Trust me on this, I was born here (or, as they say in Texas, I was 'borned' or 'bornt' here).

404. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #218778 by Border Collie on July 25, 2008 at 5:19 pm

Priests and teenagers going to whorehouses! Oh, Mr. Jesus, tell me it ain't so!

But, then, after the priests get through with the teenagers, there might not be much left of the teenagers for the whores to work with.

405. Texas Fiction Science

Comment #218760 by Border Collie on July 25, 2008 at 4:58 pm

Gaps, time and complexity ... their ill-informed bullshit never changes. If their stupidity wasn't so dangerous, it would be laughable.

And, a creationist f'tard denying facts ... imagine that. It's standard operating procedure.

I was under the impression that to make it to dental school that a student had to have a pretty damned good science and math background and be pretty smart. Furthermore, I also had this belief that one had to be pretty smart to make it through dental school. So, how can anyone with so much of a science background and with an apparently high IQ be so fucking stupid?!

I used to be proud to be a Texan. Now this stuff makes me sick and angry. It's one reason why I don't teach any longer. I don't know about you guys but going backwards doesn't seem to be any sort of answer to me. Or maybe the Dark Ages was/were(?) more fun than I've been thinking. Am I missing something?

I'm going to start writing letters.

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

Comment #217648 by Border Collie on July 24, 2008 at 1:55 pm

Damn, I'm glad you guys got the blinker/blinder thing worked out. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to sleep tonight.

407. Escape or betrayal.

Comment #217645 by Border Collie on July 24, 2008 at 1:49 pm

This is not just an (middle) Eastern issue. There are millions of American women (and men) in horrible, abusive, life-threatening relationships which they are afraid to leave because of social/cultural, religious, financial, family, whatever pressure ... Why don't they just leave? Fear.

408. Historian predicts the end of 'science superpowers'

Comment #217639 by Border Collie on July 24, 2008 at 1:37 pm

Maybe when we don't have an anti-science Christian fundamentalist in the top political office of the nation who utilizes lawyers to rewrite scientific papers and who constantly intimidates truth seekers, things will get a little better.

Tezca ... very relevant bear paw comment ... along with bear gall bladder, rhino horn, tiger bone and whatever other miraculous wonders there are in Chinese apothecaries ...

TWP ... Put that thang on safety so that you don't shoot yourself in the head!

409. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #216671 by Border Collie on July 23, 2008 at 11:39 am

'You deserve to know'? No thanks. I already know. Religion poisons everything.

410. Losing Sight of Progress

Comment #216165 by Border Collie on July 22, 2008 at 7:53 pm

Hey, if Hitchens has something of an epiphany regarding evo, that's cool ...

411. Losing Sight of Progress

Comment #215963 by Border Collie on July 22, 2008 at 3:09 pm

B of the B ... read Darwin ...
You must live in the southern US ...
I live on the diamond eye of Jesus on the buckle ...

And, yes, have you ever seen Ann Coulter? She is a physically attractive blonde ... maybe it's a male thing. However, she is the most vile excuse for a human I've ever heard or seen in the media.

412. Richard Dawkins on Al Jazeera English

Comment #215686 by Border Collie on July 22, 2008 at 8:57 am

Abdul from Scotland? Scary.
RD must have the patience of Job. I don't know how he does this stuff over and over and over.
Maybe every little bit of good information that gets out helps raise consciousness by a nanometer or so.

413. Losing Sight of Progress

Comment #215652 by Border Collie on July 22, 2008 at 8:30 am

Althogh I'm a normal, healthy, straight male, and even though she's an attractive blonde, just the mention of Ann Coulter makes my skin crawl.

414. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #215098 by Border Collie on July 21, 2008 at 9:36 am

We'll be fortunate if this isn't happening in all of Europe, maybe Canada, within five years and the US within ten years ...

415. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #214993 by Border Collie on July 21, 2008 at 6:56 am

Lest I and or we be too self righteous ... I don't know what it's like in the UK. However, in the US we still have a very long way to go on crimes against women and children, that is in the sense of blaming the victim. Women still, in many cases, basically have to prove that they didn't somehow entice or whatever the rapist or abuser and in many cases, children are blamed for the actions of adult perpetrators. So, anyway, while we're blasting the behavior of barbarians in other countries, we should continue to work on ourselves.

416. Nine face stoning death in Iran

Comment #214690 by Border Collie on July 20, 2008 at 7:09 pm

I've always loved how fundamentalist religion causes brain damage, esp. that part of the brain that judges the sexual behavior of others. Seems to me that they're just a few standard deviations worse than little old self-righteous gossipy church ladies in Texas. Do they just constantly crawl up each other's asses over there or what?! Damn. Oh, and truly, 'stoning' ... about as primitive a behavior as one can do and still be classified as a primate. Sorry for bringing that up, fellow primates.

417. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #214687 by Border Collie on July 20, 2008 at 7:02 pm

Does any poster here really care what Einstein believed or didn't? I don't. I mean, what difference does it make what any authoritative figure believes? Just read the best, look at the evidence, skip the bullshit and have a cup of coffee.

418. Jefferson Bible reveals Founding Father's view of God, faith

Comment #214681 by Border Collie on July 20, 2008 at 6:48 pm

Wow, just think of what Joseph Smith could have done had he been smart enough to cut and paste!

419. Dalai Lama defends Islam as peaceful religion

Comment #213593 by Border Collie on July 18, 2008 at 4:10 pm

Why does everyone need 'convincing' that Islam is a supposedly peaceful religion? And why are so many leader types so interested in 'convincing' us? I'm pretty sure that in the Lama's case he's doing everything he can to convince himself that if he says just the right words that Islamists won't blow up any more Buddhist temples. Good f'ing luck, Lama. It's the same question I ask myself when I see all the little Jesus fish on the backs of vehicles, here in Texas, that are speeding, running red lights, forcing other vehicles off the road, throwing beer bottles out of the vehicle windows ... you know what I'm saying. If they followed the better teachings of Jesus, they wouldn't need to convince me with a fish. And, as it is now, I see nothing of the better teachings of Jesus in their behavior and I think 'convincing' is a day late and a dollar short.

420. Texas State Board of Education approves Bible course for high schools

Comment #213575 by Border Collie on July 18, 2008 at 3:30 pm

Pardon me while I play devil's advocate for education for a moment. My feeling, and this is just me, is that the public schools in Texas should actually teach subject's like math, English, reading, science, geography, history ... you know. I mean, have the kids able to read on at least a sixth grade level by the time they graduate from high school, maybe have the skills to balance a checkbook, know that astronomy is science, astrology isn't, be able to find Texas on a map of the US and be able to find the US on a world map, know that Shakesphere actually existed and maybe know that there is such a thing as history. I know this is a radical idea but a guy has to start somewhere. Lastly, can we please postpone the Bible stuff until college or never and just keep it trapped at church and church schools until then?

421. Texas State Board of Education approves Bible course for high schools

Comment #213569 by Border Collie on July 18, 2008 at 3:15 pm

'many schools might unknowingly create unconstitutional Bible classes that promote ... disparage, etc.' 'Might' my ass. 'Unknowingly' my ass. 'Unconstitutional' yes. 'Promote' certainly. 'Disparage' for sure. TWP ... the bomb has gone off ... it's just not real loud yet. Being a Texan, this makes me sick. There's a good interview on Fox today about this with Barry Lynn and some wing nut. Like there aren't enough churches and church schools in Texas to teach Bible stuff ... Oh, well, just another nail in the coffin of Texas education which had already gone to hell in a handbasket.

422. Calling World Conference on Dialogue a Symbol of Unity Among Different Traditions

Comment #213563 by Border Collie on July 18, 2008 at 3:04 pm

Hello? Pouring gasoline on a fire doesn't put the fire out. Religion IS the problem. More of it won't help. Or, maybe it's just me; maybe I'm delusional. Where did I ever get the idea that religion inspires violence? King Abdulla's speech sounds like one of those really bad Nigerian phishing spams I get all the time that promise riches for a small investment from my bank account.

423. Bush Bureaucrats at Dept. of Health and Human Services Redefine Contraception as Abortion

Comment #213154 by Border Collie on July 18, 2008 at 8:17 am

Religions, which are generally DEATH/BLOOD/SACRIFICE cults, are NEVER respectful of life except in the sense that they can latch onto 'life' in some emotionally charged way so as to boost their control issues (at least in their own minds) over other people. And for you guys who weren't raised as fundamentalists I can tell you that they want to control ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that involves that little three-letter word ... sex. It's really not even about the life of a newly conceived human (or whatever the correct medical definition is), it's about wanting to control the sexual behavior of everyone on the planet ... except, of course, their own.

424. Bush Bureaucrats at Dept. of Health and Human Services Redefine Contraception as Abortion

Comment #213141 by Border Collie on July 18, 2008 at 7:59 am

'A respect for life is one thing all established religions have in common' ...

I love jokes!

425. Ten Commandments' of race and genetics issued

Comment #213126 by Border Collie on July 18, 2008 at 7:38 am

I'm so glad that there are groups of people out there who get together and decide how everyone else should think.

426. Anti-Darwinists turned away by Israeli academia

Comment #212503 by Border Collie on July 17, 2008 at 9:13 am

Surgical ... perfect ...

427. 'Condoms won't change HIV rates'

Comment #212499 by Border Collie on July 17, 2008 at 9:06 am

Preaching abstinence to humans has worked so well over the past hundreds of years. I'm sure that aids will disappear shortly in Africa.

428. Let's Get Rid of Darwinism

Comment #212488 by Border Collie on July 17, 2008 at 8:59 am

I don't see Darwin as being 'wrong' on anything. He simply did an astonishing job with what he had. It's always easy to judge the past with that 20/20 hindsight if that's what one chooses to do. A hundred fifty years from now, if we're not all a bunch of eastward-bowing rug-bumpers, there will be people saying that today's scientists were 'wrong'. The statement will be literally true ... so what? Today's scientists are doing the best they can with what they have.

429. The Return of Religion

Comment #212451 by Border Collie on July 17, 2008 at 8:28 am

Scientists/atheists/reasoning people are the ones who 'gaze out toward the transcendental' ... they have the guts to live with the question(s) ... they don't want or need simplistic, stoneage 'answers' to the unknown.

So, why have preachers of every ilk screamed and shouted for the past two thousand years or more? Every time I see the word 'strident' I can see the maniacal Southern Baptist preachers of my childhood striding and stomping, rapidly with giant steps, across the stage while screaming, shouting, sweating, spitting, trembling, turning purple, pounding their Bible ... all the while thinking about which deacon's wife they were having sex with next.

430. Fury at funeral songs ban

Comment #211564 by Border Collie on July 16, 2008 at 7:02 am

Try a Southern Baptist funeral in Texas ... the deceased and the funeral become nothing but vehicles for expounding church dogma and opportunities for preaching hell fire and damnation ... all for the glory, amen, etc., etc.

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

Comment #211558 by Border Collie on July 16, 2008 at 6:41 am

'Unrepentant science-heathen' ha, ha, ha, ha and ha!

One would think that one day, some day, the wingnuts would let go of the need for the blood sacrifice even if only in wafer/grape juice form.

432. Taking a Cue From Ants on Evolution of Humans

Comment #210897 by Border Collie on July 15, 2008 at 8:12 am

I'd like to read a book someday by one of the 'greats' that hasn't been eviscerated by a publisher. Yea, I know, dream on.

433. Dalai Lama defends Islam as peaceful religion

Comment #210881 by Border Collie on July 15, 2008 at 7:44 am

Up until now, I thought the DL was a fairly intelligent guy ... I reckon Hitchens was right.

434. The Politics of God

Comment #210407 by Border Collie on July 14, 2008 at 1:23 pm

Shoot low, boys, they're riding ponies ...

435. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #209834 by Border Collie on July 13, 2008 at 12:07 pm

Hey, it IS Oklahoma and it IS a Baptist Church afterall. You Euros are expecting WAY too much from the colonies.

436. Host Desecration is Old Anti-Semitic Nonsense

Comment #209830 by Border Collie on July 13, 2008 at 12:03 pm

So, if we could get enough consecrated crackers and wine together in one place and mix it all together, we could make a new Jesus? Scary.
I've found that in the South when enough crackers and wine get together there's usually a shootout or a pickup gets turned over.

437. Man Sues Church Over 'God Injury'

Comment #209824 by Border Collie on July 13, 2008 at 11:59 am

It does seem as if he did receive his 'real' experience ...

438. Lourdes fears priestly scandal will make profits dry up

Comment #209821 by Border Collie on July 13, 2008 at 11:57 am

So what's new? This scam is at least 2,000 years old.

439. Pope confirms sexual abuse apology

Comment #209816 by Border Collie on July 13, 2008 at 11:53 am

Afterall, we do live in an age when stating the obvious is considered profound.

440. An Irishman's Diary

Comment #209111 by Border Collie on July 11, 2008 at 3:22 pm

Must be a slow day in the UK ...

441. Weak US dollar hits papal profits

Comment #209102 by Border Collie on July 11, 2008 at 3:15 pm

Oh, my, what IS a Pope to do?

Well, actually, for those numbers, I'd wear a little red pope suit and do all sorts of gesturing and babbling Latin.

442. Thousands Flock to Revival in Search of Miracles

Comment #208753 by Border Collie on July 11, 2008 at 8:03 am

I'm as much of a hard case as many of you guys. The faith healers are worse than fingernails on a chalkboard to me also. This makes me very sad, however. I just try to have compassion for those people who are suffering. Maybe the whole thing is sickening but I can't pass judgment on a father whose daughter has internal organs on the outside esp. in a country wherein medical care is disappearing and has disappeared for tens of millions.

443. Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom

Comment #208739 by Border Collie on July 11, 2008 at 7:45 am

Damn, how dead does a horse have to be before the beatings stop?

444. Flatfish Fossils Fill In Evolutionary Missing Link

Comment #208734 by Border Collie on July 11, 2008 at 7:33 am

I really wish that the so-called opposing viewpoint of creationism would not even be addressed and or alluded to in articles such as this. It gives them, by default, credibility they don't deserve. Who cares what they think? Addressing the point of 'missing links' or transitional forms falls right into their hands. It wouldn't matter if scientists found every possible transitional form from the earliest fossils to now, the creationists wouldn't get it and they would still be wailing and gnashing their teeth over evo. Just do the science for the sake of science and forget about the creationists.

445. McDonald's Makes Jesus Cry

Comment #208219 by Border Collie on July 10, 2008 at 6:07 pm

McDonalds burgers make me cry. So what's new?

446. New legal threat to school science in the US

Comment #208217 by Border Collie on July 10, 2008 at 6:05 pm

I think they should have a 'debate' about evolution and creationism/ID on a TV show something like American Idol or Pet Stars with celebrity judges on a rotating schedule coming and going. Of course, they'd need lots of bright lights, noise, prompted applauders, good makeup, mouthfuls of shiny white teeth and, of course, lots of cute young females with large bosoms revealed by low-cut attire. I'm certain that this would work in the US for a couple of seasons anyway and probably so in the UK. And that, my friends, would settle the whole thing.

447. Religious bigotry upheld in court

Comment #208088 by Border Collie on July 10, 2008 at 3:08 pm

What a bunch of whiners ... on both sides. Why didn't someone else do the ceremony or why didn't the couple just go somewhere else? Good grief ...

448. New legal threat to school science in the US

Comment #207343 by Border Collie on July 9, 2008 at 2:39 pm

Trying to save Louisiana from creationism is like trying to save Louisiana from mosquitos, Tobasco sauce and crayfish. It isn't going to happen. Louisiana is one of the most backward states in the US, if not THE most backward. I'm surprised that anyone can even spell 'evolution' there.

449. An Original Confession

Comment #207331 by Border Collie on July 9, 2008 at 2:09 pm

Origin, boring? How does one get into Darwin's mind without reading Origin? I don't even have a degree in biology and I've read it two or three times. Whatever.

450. The BBC announces a major season marking the life and work of Charles Darwin

Comment #207326 by Border Collie on July 9, 2008 at 2:05 pm

If any of you Brits have information on how we Yanks can see this on satellite, Internet, DVD, etc., here in the US, please post it on this site. Thanks.