I rarely do this, but we’ve got a troll who deserves an outing. wordplague has been plaguing this thread — 62 comments in 10 hours! — claiming to be a graduate student somewhere. He’s being over-the-top misogynistic, making rape jokes, bragging about making rape threats, making death and mutilation threats, and man, he really, really hates his advisor, who is a woman, working in a lab that uses lasers and liquid nitrogen. If I knew who he was, I’d be calling his advisor right now to warn her she’s got a time-bomb in her lab.
But I don’t know who he is. So I’m just going to release his IP address. All of his comments come from a couple of gateways at bremerton.nmci.navy.mil. I don’t know what research facilities they have in Bremerton — I know of the Bremerton Naval Hospital — but he may just be lying to us all. If any authorities at the naval institutions in Bremerton or NMCI want my assistance tracking down the creep, I’ll gladly forward the stuff I’ve got to them. He needs help.
The Atheist Foundation of Australia would like their prime minister to answer one simple question:
Dear Prime Minister. Against the strongly expressed concerns of mental health professionals, teacher unions and secular organisations, why do you allow the outrageous situation to continue where largely unqualified, religious evangelists have access to young children in public schools, in the form of the National School Chaplaincy Program?
She’s been dodging it, of course, and I suspect that if she were backed into a corner she’d be entertainingly frantic in her efforts to escape. So let’s corner her! And she has made the mistake of making that possible.
Dear members and supporters,
OurSay is giving us the opportunity to directly ask Prime Minister
Julia Gillard a question, and we have chosen to focus on the
outrageous taxpayer funded National School Chaplaincy Program.
This Saturday, Gillard will answer three of the most popular questions
as chosen through OurSay. One of these questions could be ours.
Please follow these simple steps to make sure that we have a seat at
the table:
We only have until Thursday but, if we all came together – we could
make sure that this important issue is being heard by Prime Minister
Gillard and all of Australia that very Saturday.
Regards, David Nicholls
President – Atheist Foundation of Australia
PS. Make sure that you sign up and vote seven times to get an answer
from Gillard on Chaplaincy.
It’s a poll with some teeth. Let’s make Gillard dance!
Whoa. That ought to give one pause — arrested for free speech, you’re thinking? That does cause one’s knee to jerk.
But then she was also arrested in May when she chained herself to a library door to protest being banned from the Wayne State campus in Detroit. She’s been ordered to stay away from the researchers she threatens, but then she travels to their university to harass them — that sounds like stalking to me.
The situation here is that Marino’s got nation-wide bands of dedicated followers, those followers have in the past shown a willingness to undertake violent, destructive action on behalf of their cause, and Marino has been actively inciting others to kill researchers. You want an example? Here’s an example, and it’s also a great example of her incoherent state of mind.
The image on this page [a chalk outline labeled "animal abuser was here"] is not a cute logo. It is my personal belief that if you are a sadistic animal torturer, that is all you deserve – a chalk outline. That’s my opinion, not a threat. It’s not even inciting anyone because, unless you read my words and run out and murder David Jenstch (sic) (an idea that amuses me immensely), I’m not responsible. If you have time to think about it and form your own conclusions, my words cease being the impetus. Eh, that used to be the law at least. Who knows? Who cares? We have a job to do and that’s all that matters…. NIO is no longer mincing words. This is war!… Nothing is off limits at NIO!
…
if there are no consequences, there is no threat. If you spill blood, your blood should be spilled as well…. Some of the more high profile pacifists have said that I am “violent” and “unbalanced”. I think they finally may be right about something!
If I have my way, you’ll be praying to us for mercy!
It’s just her “opinion”, she’s not inciting anyone — she would just be amused by David Jentsch being murdered by someone who read her suggestion to go murder him. She’s not responsible, she’s just telling everyone that researchers’ blood should be spilled, and that nothing is off limits.
She’s a danger to others. It’s good news that she’s being constrained to protect the citizenry.
I was talking with a couple of Christians after a band practice one evening. It dawned on me how primitive but totally defended their ideas were. Of course if they were rational they would not be religious. I noticed the religious invoke God or the supernatural (capable of something illogical or inexplicable) whenever I have cornered them or their arguments and was able to show their views were wrong, self contradicting or baseless. They use invoking the supernatural as a ploy in any argument they are losing. They also use a supernatural claim when they do not know, understand or accept evidence.
I wish I could be there. The Humanist Film Festival is happening on 26-28 October, and they’re looking for submissions. If you’ve got anything that fits their categories, send them in soon. They’re looking for films that speak to humanist themes, including:
Reason, Critical Thinking and Skepticism (such as claims of the paranormal, critical thinking education, rational living, etc.)
Ethics and Human Wellbeing (including human rights, women’s rights, gay rights, rational ethics, challenging scriptural ethics, sex education and attitudes about sex, etc.)
Science and the Natural World (e.g. science appreciation, science education, evolution, global warming, pseudo-science and pseudo-medicine etc.)
Freedom of Thought, Speech and Critical Inquiry
Challenging the Claims and Value of Religion (e.g. anti-apologetics, education about atheism and atheists, uncovering problems with religion, etc.)
Separation of Church and State
Joie de vivre and human thriving (art and aesthetics, living the good life, human progress etc.)
And here’s their mission:
The Portland Humanist Film Festival is an outreach event designed to broaden the understanding and acceptance of a secular, humanist world view. It specifically addresses audiences who are friendly to our views but who are not necessarily familiar with atheism or humanistic ethics, or why we value reason and scientific thinking. The Film Festival presents these themes through an accessible, entertaining medium.
Got any suggestions? If you’re a godless filmmaker, think about sending them something!
Massimo Pigliucci lays out the story of the misogyny wars tearing bloody great rifts in the atheist/skeptic community. I doubt that it will heal anything, though, because the reasonable position he lays out is exactly the one that the freethoughtblogs and skepchick communities have been arguing for since the very beginning.
But one can hope that one more reasonable voice might wake up a few more people.
I suppose if you’re Catholic you could write the Pope’s name in. I have no problem with that, either. The Supreme Court would probably approve that, as well, given its current constitution.
I knew this whole network thing was a bad idea — all the great writers here sometimes make readers forget that I’m supposed to be the ☆star☆. The other day, Taslima Nasrin got more traffic that day than I did, all for this horrific post (warning, very chilling, with many photos of woman mutilated by acid). And then that odious twit, JohnTheOther, picked up on it and started ranting about how evil Taslima was, on his psycho MRA site, AVoiceForMen (nope, not linking there). Furious denunciations from demented sociopaths and lots of attention to the criminal abuse of women around the world? Good work, Taslima!
And then Ophelia Benson hit the two million page views mark (just since joining FtB). Way to grow, Ophelia!
And now Jason is bragging that he he has fans who give him free beer in my presence. I’d congratulate him too, but I’m too busy clinging to the tattered, fading fragments of my fame and weeping.
Me. James Mason. A Star is Born. And everyone else on FtB is Judy Garland.
A group of creationists has gained approval from the Government to open a fully state-funded Free School in 2013. The group are behind the plans for ‘Exemplar – Newark Business Academy’, a revised bid from the same people who proposed ‘Everyday Champion’s Academy’ last year. Everyday Champion’s Academy, which was formally backed by Everyday Champions Church, was explicitly rejected due to concerns surrounding the teaching of creationism.
In February 2011, while promoting the Everyday Champions Academy bid, Everyday Champions Church leader Gareth Morgan stated that ‘Creationism will be taught as the belief of the leadership of the school. It will not be taught exclusively in the sciences, for example. At the same time, evolution will be taught as a theory.’
And the United Kingdom won’t even have the compensatory advantages of great jazz, cajun food, and a willingness to party all night long. Creationism, boiled cabbage, and Morris dancing? There’s not one win anywhere in there.
Follow the link, read the details, and complain to your government!
I agree. Ed Clint deserves the reputation he’ll acquire from his hard work.
If only he had some talent or a sense of humor, it wouldn’t have required quite so much work…but I’m glad he’s found a way to compensate for his shortcomings with obsessive diligence.
Ed Clint now denies having anything to do with that site. I guess I’ll have to accept his word.
Ed Clint also says Paula Kirby’s “Sisterhood of the Oppressed” was a fair and reasonable document. Calling people Nazis is OK when it is carefully justified.
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July 17, 2012 at 8:04 am 
PZ Myers 
…and this is a 
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