The Bathroom Wall
With any tavern, one can expect that certain things that get said are out-of-place. But there is one place where almost any saying or scribble can find a home: the bathroom wall. This is where random thoughts and oddments that don’t follow the other entries at the Panda’s Thumb wind up. As with most bathroom walls, expect to sort through a lot of oyster guts before you locate any pearls of wisdom.
This is a test of the new Bathroom Wall
bumping
bumping
More testing.
Dang; if only somebody had told me there wuz gonna be a test I could’a studied fer it… :p
Entries here show up on the main page’s Recent Comments panel. Should they? I’m thinking that perhaps all the bathroom wall traffic will drown out the main PT comments rendering the Recent Comments panel less than useful.
I may not be able to prevent comments on pages from showing up in the recent comments box, but I’ll look into it. Thanks for pointing that out.
BTW the Update function is really cool. I trust it will be featured on the main site soon?
Oops, ignore my last comment. The answer is implicit in your original post
This should be fun!
http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/600991
Blog: Stages of denialism
Denialists never want to admit that they are wrong about anything, so they keep a debate going as long as possible to sooth their egos. Then, when their views are discredited by the mainstream scientific communities, they appeal to the prejudices of the general public instead.
Global Warming (GW) denialist stages:
“Global warming is not happening and may not happen. Why worry about it?”
“Global warming IS happening, but there is no evidence that humans are a factor in the problem.”
“Global warming is happening, humans are a factor, but there is nothing we can do to stop it anyway.”
‘Global warming is happening, humans are a factor, we can stop it, but the costs of trying to stop it would outweigh the benefits.”
Decades ago, most GW denialists were at stage one. Today, most of them are at stage two, with some already moving to stage three or four. Truly honest and fair people should have stopped at stage one.
Creationist (evolution denialist) stages:
“Species are eternal and unchanging, existing in their present form since Creation. There is no evidence for evolution.”
“Species do change, but only within the limits of created kinds. Evidence cited for evolution can also fit within Creationism.”
“Even if evolution occurs, an Intelligent Designer must have been involved, so complex are some biological forms.”
“Evolution is as unscientific as Creationism.”
The difference between a skeptic and a denialist, on any subject, is that a real skeptic knows in advance what evidence would convince him that something is real or that action of a certain kind is justified. A denialist has no such standards. His commitment to an ideology trumps any scientific standard. Gaps in scientific knowledge, which would motivate most scientists to look for more data, are wrongly used by denialists to reject completely a concept they do not like because of prejudice. This is dishonesty.
I’ve changed the panel size to ten to make it easier for y’all to play with it. We’ll eventually settle on a larger number.
Great idea.
Besides color (and tabbing the BW from the main page) I would suggest keeping or increasing PT default font size - no reason to humor trolls ranting off masses of texts.
With this PT has evolved as a dynamic site on the web. Kudos!
PS: In preview I get the default font size. Yet another reason to keep posted comments as default size.
‘Nuther thing: refreshed the 2nd page and got back to page 1. Saturday is cookie day, nom nom nom - but anyways.
There is cookie support, for the last viewed tab, but it may be iffy.
I’m not sure what you mean about font sizes. Are you asking for comments to have the same font size as the entries?
If you access the page normally via the url http://pandasthumb.org/bw/, then last page viewed will be properly retrieved. If you use the a link with a fragment ID, then it won’t try to cookie. I’ll try to patch the tabs library that we’re using to change that.
The tabs also understand links to specific comments and will load the proper panel. Try it out.
http://pandasthumb.org/bw/#comment-149706
It seems Sal Cordova has matriculated back to UcD. He is now holding forth on how Fisher’s Theorem is the death of Darwinism, on the back of Michael Lynch’s new book on genetic architecture.
If by Darwinism, Sal means the strawman pseudo-religion invented by creationists, great! Kick it down, Sal, just don’t erect Kimuraism in its place when you find that we haven’t all become YECs.
If, OTOH, Sal means a theory composed of strands assuming Deep Time, common descent, variability, and selection, then he should increase his dosage. Nothing in Lynch affects those things. As I understand Lynch’s work, the relatively small populations of eukaryotes and multicellular organisms coupled with neutral drift is the key source of variation upon which selection operates.
Sal also does a quick switch in his post between ‘biodiversity’ as used in a quote from Lynch, and ‘diversity’ as used in a discussion of Fisher’s Theorem. The two terms mean vastly different things.
Yup; both for hampering trolls and for editing breaks et cetera in fairly accurate previews.
Comment preview is going to become 2.0ified as well. The preview will be displayed on the entry page, probably under the update button.
On Wallace’s personal blog he whines
Such a lovely display of Christian ethics and morals… Not only is his foolish behavior undermining his own credibility (what little there is left of it) but Wallace seems perfectly content in dragging down Christianity with him.
Bump test:
http://pandasthumb.org/bw/#comment-149706
Okay, I changed the hue of the default color scheme to fit with our bluish color scheme.
[Crossposted from Good Math, Bad Math]
@ SC:
Oh, you are here now, kvetching over the same points. As the Panda’s Thumb thread that activated you is now closed due to your ranting, I will post my belated answer here instead. (Isn’t the ability to google crosslinks to get to the full picture wonderful?)
On PT:
The URL DiEb looked at and when skewered you, sparing me the analysis?
Here:
The thread here answered that already, but more detail is provided in the link above.
The continuing misunderstanding of how to make proper limits is clearly exhibited, demonstrating the shallowness that Mike Elzinga, DiEB and others have noted several times over now.
H fckng sshls. plgz t Dvsn NW bfr gt pssd ff nd strt fckng wth . dn’t wnt t mk m md. Trst m n ths. r scrt scks bg tm.
H fckng sshls. plgz t Dvsn NW bfr gt pssd ff nd strt fckng wth . dn’t wnt t mk m md. Trst m n ths. r scrt scks bg tm.
^ | | Oh good, it works.
Not only is his foolish behavior undermining his own credibility (what little there is left of it) but Wallace seems perfectly content in dragging down Christianity with him.
why oh why do you let people who are obviously not completely (or even partially) sane get to you so, Pim?
he certainly doesn’t speak for xianity, or ID, or creationism, or anything other than the random delusions flitting through his skull.
I hope you at least can confine your non-arguments with him in this new locale.
Frankly, i still say he’s not worth your effort.
What Ichthyic said. I made one final insult to whatever Wallace had been blubbering about, but he is not worth ANYONE’s time, save as a crashtest dummy.
So why post a mention of him at all? Well, I feel that creationists reveal the seabed of asshole-ish stupidity (as opposed to crackpot asshole-ish-ness and stupidity, though there are PLENTY of those, more mundane, types of creationists, of course!), but the thing that mimics a human personality sometimes takes on compellingly repulsive forms, unique in their awfulness. Anything unique is a treasure to be admired, at least for a very brief time. Or so I deeply believe. The wonder of the human mind, to this mere human, is that the most sickeningly ugly dross can be used to understand life (yes, and the UNiverse and everything.) Sal Cordova represents one of these bizarrely ugly mounds of dishonesty that move along sifting through the intellectual/moral/spiritual feces that covers the bare idiocy of standard creationism. I believe W. Wallace, like some self-poisoning pair of ragged claws, scuttling across the putrid floors of this silent poisoned sea represents another.
From a very, very distant point of view, William Wallace provides us all with a unique service, although thanking him for that service would be absurd: he provides it despite himself, and I would never wish his fate on the shittiest person I have ever met.
Booger!
Ben Stein pooped here.
Oh, for..
Bite down on your gag reflex and go look at the doctrinal statements on the websites of the Imperial Klans of America. Or the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Or the Aryan Nations. Or any of the Christian Identity-affiliated websites.
Virtually of them are creationist, and hold white people alone to be the children of Adam. (Blacks seem to be considered a separately-created servitor race, while Jews are the offspring of Eve and the serpent.) Even the Wotanists–that very special group of lunatics who mix white supremacy with reconstructed Norse paganism–are mostly creationist, and condemn “Darwinian evolution” as a “lie propagated by the sons of Muspel.” These guys hate Darwin.
This shouldn’t exactly be surprising. If you really really hate other races, the last thing you want to believe is that they share the same ancestry as you–either through Adam and Eve, or through three billion years’ worth of ancestors. Admitting common ancestry would make it very hard to shake the feeling that you owe other races some consideration, even if the Curse of Ham or whatever has left them clearly inferior. It’s much better to think that they’re separately created, just like Agassiz and Samuel Morton did.
The KKK was one of the most powerful influences in the south against teaching evolution in the public schools. Matter of fact, the Knights of the KKK are still campaigning against teaching evolution. If you go to their website you’ll see them taking the exact same line as other creationists about how evolution’s part of the “secular humanist” worldview and there’s a plot to indoctrinate kids into secularism by teaching them evolution and sex education. They endorsed the Cobb County stickers, and Mike Fair’s antievolution legislation in South Carolina.
Most creationists, of course, are not racist nutbars. But if you’re looking at the hateful fringe of American society, it is quite clearly dominated by creationists, and has been since Darwin’s day.
…or the Rethuglican Party of Texas.
As anyone capable of reading can see, Morning never criticizes common descent as a pernicious idea. She all but endorses the “out of Africa” origin of humanity, dismissing textbooks’ mentions of the genetically-discredited multi-regional hypothesis as motivated by bias toward racial distinctiveness.
“I hope there is no God” Finally, an honest atheist strikes the right chord.
See:
http://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/200[…]homas-nagel/
…and the nominee in the category of most off-topic post for 2009 is SC…
It appears the Sodomite religion of evolutionism can not tolerate even the slightest chink in its monopoly on taxpayer dollars. Yes, this hysteria is truly a testament to how quick and powerful the Word of God really is. Soon, the kids might begin to doubt the propaganda claiming the mouth and anus are sex organs!
Oh, come on, Toidel, don’t be a party-pooper. Next you’ll be telling us we can’t even eat our young.
Oh, and could you please connect the dots between the fact of evolution and a preference for the back door? I’m a little hazy on that connection. Thanks.
Stanton,
I challenge Ray Martinez in explaining the following with regards to the Dalai Lama:
1) He accepts evolution as valid science.
2) He has said that religion must change if whatever it professes is shown to be false scientifically.
However, I don’t think someone as delusional as Ray Martinez is capable of answering our questions.
Regards,
John
P. S. As a bonus, he should comment on Ken Miller’s belief - which I heard Ken say personally at a private NYC talk nearly three weeks ago - that those who belong to religions which are hostile to science should think seriously of terminating their memberships in these faiths.
I never said otherwise and I completely agree.
What I did say: “various segments in the evolutionary establishment” deny the round earth fact.
I said nothing deserving of this outburst. I can produce quotes of evolutionists denying the round earth fact. I also said “We commend the above book for not insulting intelligence.…”
You have made an honest mistake Matt.
Jeez, Toidel, you saying you can’t give or receive oral sex and still be a Christian? No wonder non-belief is on the rise (yuck-yuck!) and Christianity is waning!
OK, then produce them. Or are you annoyed at being caught in a lie?
And here is evidence that Creationists are liars by NATURE!
Maybe he should make “natural male enhancement” commercials.
Put up or shut up, asshole. Provide evidence to support this asinine claim, or fuck off and crawl back into your hole. You’re living proof that being a lying sack of shit is a religious duty for creationists.
wherearemymeds doesn’t give a flying fuck about the law, and never did. He’s just a Liar For Jesus™. In his delusional mind, any crime, no matter how heinous, is perfectly acceptable as long as it’s done in the holy name of jeebus. He can’t bring himself to find anything wrong with lying, stealing, child abuse, murdering anyone his cult finds inconvenient, or setting innocent people on fire. As long as he can convince himself it’s in god’s name, he will happily defend any atrocity. This is what his sick cult does to people, tears out every shred of humanity and makes them into sociopathic monsters.
Please, John. Let us help you.
he needs professional help. He won’t get it because he thinks there’s nothing wrong, while busily projecting his issues on to everyone who criticizes him.
I think, after watching it for several years, that it’s hopeless. Nothing will shock him out of it.
Keep trying though, maybe something random will ring a bell with him.
be careful you don’t try it in one of Sandefeur’s threads, though. He’ll just delete your posts and leave Kwok’s.
Your last post is a classic example of typical verbal diarrhea from you. Having read all too often your disparaging remarks about prominent scientists who happen to be theistic evolutionists, then maybe you’re the one in dire need of help.
Would this be natural or super-natural PZ?
Near Death Experience - The Tunnel - The Light - Life Review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8MTwyd-AlI
In The Presence Of Almighty God - The NDE of Mickey Robinson - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRpbNgBn8XY
The Day I Died - Part 4 of 6 - The NDE of Pam Reynolds - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA37uNa3VGU
Wow, John Wilkes Kwok, wannabe presidential assassin and obsessive-compulsive name-dropper, is saying someone ELSE is “in dire need of help”? I’m sure there’s a brilliant psychiatrist who went to your prestigious high school, John. You need to see them ASAP. Don’t wait for the nice young men in white with the butterfly nets to pick you up.
Would you acknowledge your mother dropping you on your head repeatedly as a natural cause, or do you claim your brain damage is a gift from your imaginary god?
hi pandas thumb, i was wondering if anyone else thought the female plays the biggest role shaping the evolution of humanity?
i was thinking because all the details of environment, having young provided for etc.. the female has the complex 1500+ genes X that defines its gender rather then a smaller 78 y.
while men are ready to spread like weeds Women do seem seem picky, dismissing without a second thought,. i am reasoning that they developed greater sensitivity to a wider set of properties, thus choosing the alpha is a very particular match that provides to the specific environment.
it seems logical, but maybe im missing something
Update