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Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
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No doubt soaring cathedrals, stirring music, moving stories and parables, help a bit. But by far the most important variable determining your religion is the accident of birth.
Richard Dawkins
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« DI: consult a lawyer | Main | The revolution seems to have begun »
Category: Local
Posted on: December 12, 2006 4:52 PM, by PZ Myers
Weird. How many of you parents ever thought you'd be glad to hear your kid was getting called into the principal's office?
Oh, man, this homophobic student, Andrew Jallo, has discovered Skatje's blog and is truly making a fool of himself—he has discovered sock puppetry, but doesn't have the slightest idea how to cover his tracks. The Drama!
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Comments
What would happen if they replaced the word Jocks or Fundies for every usage of gays.
The school would be up and arms and the kids arrested.
Posted by: Steve_C | December 12, 2006 5:36 PM
I notice hoody found his way over there...
Posted by: Karley | December 12, 2006 6:05 PM
Your daughter's a real trooper, PZ. Kudos.
Posted by: Friso | December 12, 2006 6:52 PM
You must be very proud. I would be.
Posted by: Alun | December 12, 2006 7:31 PM
I actually laughed out loud at the sockpuppetry, ha.
Posted by: A Teapot | December 12, 2006 8:09 PM
Feisty teenage daughters are a lot of fun, aren't they? Like mine, yours makes me think there might actually be some hope for the future of this country after all.
Posted by: Steve LaBonne | December 12, 2006 8:56 PM
Ha! If my son weren't gay, I'd be encouraging him to fly north and woo your daughter. [If she's ever cloned, may I have one?]
Posted by: DominEditrix | December 12, 2006 8:59 PM
Ooh! Ooh! MY daughter just told me:
"Daddy, you're a bad man - and reading Pharyngula makes you worse!"
*I* must be doing something right too!!
Posted by: Hoo Boy! | December 12, 2006 9:28 PM
I see Robert O'Brien is still a pathetic geek with no life:
Robert O'Brien Says:
Skatje:
Your "side" appears to be almost entirely populated with rabble who found their way here via Daddy's blog. Your actions (criticizing Andrew behind his back and tattling to the principal) and Daddy's (posting about high school banter on his alleged "science" blog) are hardly courageous or commendable.
Robert
PS I am the one who let Andrew know you were criticizing behind his back.
December 12, 2006 @ 7:17 pm
Posted by: Arden Chatfield | December 12, 2006 10:15 PM
Hilarious and amazing. Your daughter outclasses most adults. We need more kids like her roaming the planet.
Posted by: Dan | December 12, 2006 10:25 PM
Be proud, PZ. I hope that my future children will be as smart and brave as your daughter.
Posted by: Natasha | December 12, 2006 10:35 PM
I like the idea that Andrew Jallo's future employers will be able to read every word of his ignorant, homophobic rants — forever.
Welcome to the Transparent Society. Throw stones if you can deal with the consequences.
Posted by: Blake Stacey | December 12, 2006 10:56 PM
I'm sure Andrew could still get into Liberty University or Pensacola Christian College.
If he's smart, which I really don't see alot of evidence of, he has already applied and accepted somewhere. Talk about "permanent record"... yikes.
Posted by: Steve_C | December 12, 2006 11:37 PM
Addendum: Oh yes, in addition to Robby's obviously hypocritical condemnation of those giving Skatje moral support, his comment was an obvious attempt at intimidation, making him exponentially more shitbaggish.
Posted by: Tyler DiPietro | December 13, 2006 12:15 AM
Worst... Sockpuppet... Ever!
I can see him not realizing his IP was being logged.
But using the same email address?
And the "Yah" almost made me choke on a chicken wing.
Posted by: Mark | December 13, 2006 12:19 AM
Your daughter gives us hope that the next generation of people will be slightly more progressive than this one, and that such an iteration may continue as it has before.
Then again, looking at Andrew Jallo... ugh. Makes me want to vomit. Of course, I already have my hands full counteracting against Kyle Bristow and his Michigan State chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom. Ugggh maybe I shall vomit now.
Posted by: Michael Saelim | December 13, 2006 1:10 AM
After thinking about a post I made in this thread that was likely by now rejected, I just wish to deliver this notice to PZ: I regret my lack of judgment in writing what I did (but not the part preceding it).
Posted by: Tyler DiPietro | December 13, 2006 1:12 AM
PZ, you should be proud of your daughter.
I also think that readers of this blog should avoid the temptation of posting on Skatje's post. Let the high schoolers resolve it without adults interfering.
Posted by: Niket | December 13, 2006 1:26 AM
PZ, if your daughter was one of my students, I'd be damn proud of her. I agree with Niket that adults should stay off her blog, for a lot of reasons, but I think all of us should encourage her to fight the good fight....SH
Posted by: Scott Hatfield | December 13, 2006 2:06 AM
It looks like Skatje doesn't need our help anyway; she's wiping up the floor with that idiot.
PZ, please tell her I said "YOU GO, GIRL!"
Posted by: anomalous4 | December 13, 2006 2:06 AM
I also think that readers of this blog should avoid the temptation of posting on Skatje's post. Let the high schoolers resolve it without adults interfering.
How very patronizing. Skatje is in college and is more mature than most adults.
Posted by: truth machine | December 13, 2006 3:41 AM
How very patronizing.
Then by all means continue the spectacle of grown men and women duking it out in a battle of wits with a highschool dork. Did any readers of this blog who posted comments there, arguing with him, even notice how ridiculous they looked?
Posted by: Anatoly | December 13, 2006 4:58 AM
No? Clubbing odious little goblins is therapeutic. :)
Posted by: Azkyroth | December 13, 2006 6:19 AM
Agreed, Azkyroth. Reducing odiousness is always to everybody's advantage. Except the odius, of course, but to Outer Yark with them.
Furthermore, I have little doubt that some frightened gay students at that highschool are reading that blog (and perhaps this one with the cross-linking).
I enjoy the thought that one of them gets a little smile when he sees how much sheer disagreement with the homophobic crap exists. Whether that is from his own peers in school or from adults, this is a good thing.
I'm more than willing to look like a silly adult for an outcome like that. I'm glad others are willing, too.
Morph
Posted by: MorpheusPA | December 13, 2006 7:27 AM
"Clubbing odious little goblins is therapeutic. :)"
Verily.
Posted by: Drhoz! | December 13, 2006 8:22 AM
Not only that, not all of the odious little goblins are high school kids. My snark caused one woman, a Stacey Something-Or-Other, to ask me "Are you gay?" Turns out she's a married mother of two defending that ignorant little shit.
As I posted in Skatje's blog, I'll post here: she's already figured out something it takes most people much longer to piece together: it never matters what a high school kid thinks of you.
You really should be proud of her, PZ.
Posted by: Akusai | December 13, 2006 8:28 AM
Oh yes it does, the opinion of my children means the world to me.
Posted by: kai | December 13, 2006 10:21 AM
So how do I post this without being a concern troll?
Reading the quoted words in her "A special post for my dear friend Andrew" caused my adrenaline to shoot through the roof. Not from an excitement high, but from a "oh shit, the next thing that happens is that a fist connects with your cheekbone" fight-or-flight reaction.
At the same time, it'd be downright irresponsible of me to express this directly on Skatje's blog, especially in the absense of any actual physical threats from Andrew or his supporters. I mean, what's that say, that people should back down because of perceived future threats from those with an oversupply of testosterone?
There's no rational reason for this, but my heart rate's up, my leg muscles are jittering, and my stomach has the slightly cold feeling it gets when under adrenaline.
(I can't even come up with good psychological reasons for this, having had myself the relatively privileged high school existence one gets from being a large, athletic white boy)
I mean, sure, one shouldn't needlessly poke random strangers, but civil rights for all aren't something you just shrug off as not worth it.
Give 'em hell, Skatje.
Posted by: Daniel Martin | December 13, 2006 10:22 AM
I've been a lurker on this site for a long time and I enjoy it immensely. PZ's rants about creationists and ID'ers are always enjoyable and the peanut gallery does a great job of skewering those who show up in the comments section to defend those concepts. But, I think PZ and the rest of the folks who participated in the attack on this high school kid were way out of line..
Jebus, people, 17-18-year-old kids regularly make assholes out of themselves. Teen aged boys say stupid, macho things to try to establish their own masculinity. Do any of you remember what a jerk you were when you were 18?
Skatje's response to what he said was appropriate and I commend her for it. But for a bunch of supposed adults to go over to her site and gang up on the high school kid, humiliating him just so you can demonstrate your moral superiority was nothing but bullying.
Let the kids fight about this among themselves.
Posted by: orogeny | December 13, 2006 11:05 AM
PZ, I'm here to give you some kudos for, apparently, teaching your daughter how to use the English language correctly when her school is obviously incapable of doing so. I'd expect a half-bright 5th grader to have a better grasp of grammar than the class president of her school (who is taking college level English!?) seems to have.
I won't even go into the obvious dearth of Civics lessons...
Posted by: Sarcastro | December 13, 2006 12:14 PM
I don't think they were out of line - at least, not most of them. Some name calling and such was, but the majority was simply arguing with valid points.
Being 18 years old isn't adult enough? Once he's old enough to vote against gay rights, he's open for criticism from everyone.
Posted by: Skatje Myers | December 13, 2006 12:23 PM
Let the high schoolers resolve it without adults interfering.
I'm out of my teens, but I'm still an undergrad. Can I interfere? :-)
Once he's old enough to vote against gay rights, he's open for criticism from everyone.
Good point, Skatje. And he's two (or three?) years older than Sean Whatzizname who made that anti-evolution video, and who was judged "old enough" to be the target of criticism of adults. Constructive criticism, anyway.
Posted by: Kseniya | December 13, 2006 12:52 PM
It's never wrong for someone to be humbled. Especially for a blowhard class president who thinks he has power and doesn't think his "beliefs" can be criticized.
Name calling is pointless. But the guy is a jock. I'm sure he thinks that gives him a pass too.
Posted by: Steve_C | December 13, 2006 12:59 PM
"Let the high schoolers resolve it without adults interfering."
High schools kids spouting eliminationist rhetoric isn't funny...it's scary, adults are right to get involved.
Posted by: Sean | December 13, 2006 1:12 PM
You have a point, and I apologize for ignoring this obvious exception, but I believe the basic idea of my statement still stands.
If this high school is anything like mine was, "College Prep" classes, or the equivalent, are the only classes between AP and Remedial. They're not in any way tied intrinsically to college-level learning or even college attendance; I was told by and old teacher/current friend of mine that at my old HS, only 1/3 of students in the College Prep classes actually attend college. They were only called "College Prep" in a misguided attempt to make everybody feel smart and accomplished without having earned it. It is very possible that this is not generalizable to other high schools, but given the trends in American education and the obvious dumbassitude of the kid, I'd say it's a distinct possibility.
Posted by: Akusai | December 13, 2006 6:59 PM
"Teen aged boys say stupid, macho things to try to establish their own masculinity. Do any of you remember what a jerk you were when you were 18?"
Vividly. But if someone hauled me up for it I hope I would have had the guts to apologize and withdraw my comments. At least I would have slunk away and hoped that everyone would forget about it.
I wouldn't start throwing my toys out of the pram.
Posted by: Jo | December 13, 2006 7:05 PM