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Category: Creationism
Posted on: March 21, 2008 2:43 PM, by PZ Myers
I'm still busy at this conference, so I have to be quick — and here it is looking like this will be my all-time high traffic day, all thanks the hypocrisy and incompetence of the silly goofballs at Expelled. Anyway, Greg is collecting links, and here's another eyewitness account.
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Comments
We've all seen this (even shows up in the random quotes), but I still can't think of a better response:
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | March 21, 2008 2:49 PM
We bow to you, PZ.
Posted by: Skwee | March 21, 2008 2:51 PM
THE ODDS ARE PRETTY GOOD THIS IS AN ENTIRE PILE OF CRAP.
Since Dawkins was in Austin TX teh evening prior and couldn't possibly have left Austin until the next morning.
Perhaps he flew in a private jet to Minnesota but I doubt it.
People paid , cash chcek, now they bitch about their interview.
So Myers and Dawkins are super jerks, idiots, or just dumb...take your choice.
Posted by: Keith Eaton | March 21, 2008 3:02 PM
OH MY GOD! THERE IS NO WAY TO TRAVEL QUICKLY ACROSS THE COUNTRY! WE'VE ALL BEEN HAD!
Seriously, Keith. It's impossible to get to Austin to Minneapolis in less than 24 hours? Do you always travel by pack mule?
I wish I had thought to email Science Friday. I bet Ira Flatow would get a big kick out of mentioning it today.
Posted by: Carlie | March 21, 2008 3:08 PM
Keith, you have lost touch with reality. Even the people involved with Expelled say that PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins were there. The only PILE OF CRAP is to be found in your skull.
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 21, 2008 3:11 PM
And I guess the "PT mafia" also came up with phony photographs of Dawkins at the event? Because you know, someone posted a pic of him there.
Keith, let me guess, you think the moon landings in the 60s were faked too, right?
Posted by: Adrienne | March 21, 2008 3:13 PM
Keith, you are a moron. There is even a picture posted showing them all after the movie last night.
http://amused-muse.blogspot.com/2008/03/expelled-from-expelled.html
Posted by: Adam | March 21, 2008 3:14 PM
Many of you have been paying attention to creationist idiocy for far longer than I have, so I just have to ask: Does the point ever come when the mind-boggling stupidity of people Keith Eaton (#3) no longer leaves you stunned?
Posted by: Physicalist | March 21, 2008 3:14 PM
Since Dawkins was in Austin TX teh evening prior and couldn't possibly have left Austin until the next morning.
You are joking right?
e.g. American Airlines flt 1743 depart Austin Tx 9:00am
arrive Minneapolis, MN 3:10pm (and that's even with a change in Dallas)
get up earlier and catch the 6:00 am flight arrives at 9:55am, direct flight
Posted by: SteveM | March 21, 2008 3:14 PM
Keith probably thinks that missiles hidden by holographic projections of planes took out the WTC, too.
Posted by: Adrienne | March 21, 2008 3:15 PM
This has already appeared in the threads below, but I thought I'd point out that Expelled has Overstreet's reporting about Dawkins and Myers, here.
And of course Keith shows what an idiot he again. Dawkins was in the area for the Atheists' convention, and he knows how to get plane flights.
Sometimes I think Keith really must be a parody troll, trying to make ID and the rest of creationism look bad. Apparently he's not, but he's still as good as one.
Glen D
Posted by: Glen Davidson | March 21, 2008 3:17 PM
My mistake, he was there...uninvited..a real jerk move,
Here's an eye witness account that demonstrates the low gut wagon methods of Myers and Dawkins by an invited guest there legitimately.
"But enough about the film - the real highlight of the evening occurred after the showing, during the Q&A. Mathis led this discussion, and the second question was asked by a surprise member of the audience: Richard Dawkins, author of "The God Delusion," and arguably the biggest name in the movie other than Mr. Ben Stein himself. As this screening was by invitation only, Dawkins appearance was quite a surprise to both the audience and Mathis.
Dawkins asked a simple question: Why was one of his colleagues interviewed in the movie denied a chance to come see this movie and protest it and in fact was escorted out by security prior to admittance to the theatre? The irony apparently escaped Mr. Dawkins that he himself was a gatecrasher to the movie and was uninvited; nevertheless, he wanted to know why his colleague was turned away even though he himself was admitted as were his colleague's family.
I just happened to be standing directly in line behind Dawkins' academic colleague. Management of the movie theatre saw a man apparently hustling and bothering several invited attendees, apparently trying to disrupt the viewing or sneak in. Management then approached the man, asked him if he had a ticket, and when he confirmed that he didn't, they then escorted him off the premises. Nowhere was one of the film's producers to be found, and the man certainly didn't identify himself. If a producer had been nearby, it's possible that he would have been admitted, but the theatre's management didn't want to take any chances. "
I can hardly wiat for the 100 screen release date to see your cult revealed in full form for America to see clearly.
Posted by: Keith Eaton | March 21, 2008 3:19 PM
So, you're saying Dawkins wasn't there? So PZ and the other eyewitnesses are lying? blessman's blog claiming to have seen Dawkins "crash" the screening is also a lie? Christianity Today is printing falsehoods? Every single one of your fellow IDiots who has been frantically spinning to try to avoid seeming quite as stupid and dishonest as this story makes obvious, those people are all wrong, the whole thing never happened?
How can anyone be this dense without generating his own personal event horizon?
Posted by: phantomreader42 | March 21, 2008 3:19 PM
IT IS OBVIOS THAT JORDAN, NIKE, ADIDAS AND PUMA SHOES HAVE BEEN DESIGNED BY AN INTELLIGENT DESIGNER! WHAT USE IS HALF A SOLE? HALF A SHOELACE? YOU PEOPLE ARE BLINDED BY YOUR FAITH IN EVOLUTIONISMICS!
Posted by: ramiro quai | March 21, 2008 3:21 PM
Reagarding the 100 screen opening, a reminder for the new readers we might get today: Most theaters won't complain if you buy a ticket for a movie, and once you are inside, actually go and watch another one. If you really want to see Expelled, give your money to a worthier movie.
Posted by: ramiro quai | March 21, 2008 3:24 PM
#3: "Since Dawkins was in Austin TX teh evening prior and couldn't possibly have left Austin until the next morning."
Good one. PZ made the whole thing up.
Those people in the theater who reported seeing Dawkins were hallucinating.
What do they sprinkle on the popcorn in the Mall of America?
Posted by: CalGeorge | March 21, 2008 3:24 PM
WHAT USE IS HALF A SOLE?
I need soles!
Posted by: Satan | March 21, 2008 3:27 PM
Keith, trying to show he has a grasp of reality shows that there is, indeed, a PILE OF CRAP within his skull. Read up, there are links all over. All one needed to do to gain admission to the showing was reserve admission through Expelled website. There was no sneaking in. There was no skulduggery.
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 21, 2008 3:27 PM
It's like they've taken a page from Scientology of how to handle your detractors - make a big stink and shoot yourself in the foot.
And speaking of Scientology...
I'll bet John Travolta is thrilled that a movie is coming to the theaters that will make "Battlefield Earth" look goooooood!
Posted by: Calladus | March 21, 2008 3:29 PM
Keith, I thought Christianity was against bearing false witness. You might want to reconsider doing it again.
Posted by: Mikado | March 21, 2008 3:29 PM
Keith, your precious "eyewitness account" is a known fabrication. It's a pack of lies. And the author has done some frantic spinning once some blatant falsehoods came to light.
No tickets were required. PZ registered through the website, using his real name, clearly stating that he would be bringing guests. This has all been clearly pointed out. There was no gatecrashing.
The fact that you were shown to be so vastly, astoundingly, laughably wrong so quickly, would give a sane person pause, and encourage careful thought and verification before acting like a bigger fool. It doesn't seem to have that effect on you.
Keith, there are five reasons no one here takes you seriously:
The first is that you're an IDiot.
The second is that you're a huge IDiot.
The third is that you've reached the limits of IDiocy.
The fourth is that you've universally revolutionized the meaning of being an IDiot.
And the fifth is that even if you weren't such a colossal, monumental IDiot, you'd still have nothing to say but lies and invective.
Posted by: phantomreader42 | March 21, 2008 3:30 PM
Keith, get your facts straight. PZ didn't *have* to be invited. He preregistered on the Expelled website to see the movie, which was all he had to do (theoretically) to see it. As did Dawkins. Screeners did not *have to be invited*. Nor did they need tickets. So all of these claims of PZ "crashing" or "not having a ticket" are just plain old lyin' for Jesus(TM).
Posted by: Adrienne | March 21, 2008 3:30 PM
"Does the point ever come when the mind-boggling stupidity of people Keith Eaton (#3) no longer leaves you stunned?"
Yes. I just laugh now. Bad day, read some creationist bullshitting, and I know that my day is not bad at all..... There are people who have to survive parents like that.....
Posted by: Kim | March 21, 2008 3:31 PM
And by the way, Keith, assuming you haven't run away with your tail between your legs (yet), answer this, please: What, pray tell, is a "low gut wagon"?
Posted by: Adrienne | March 21, 2008 3:34 PM
"I can hardly wiat for the 100 screen release date to see your cult revealed in full form for America to see clearly."
Will they bar PZ from seeing the movie then, too?
They're wankers, Keith. Surely even you are feeling a little embarrassed for them now.
Posted by: Rey Fox | March 21, 2008 3:35 PM
100 screens only, are you shitting me? This movie is going to make about $10 with a release that wide.
Posted by: Adam | March 21, 2008 3:39 PM
This just in: jet travel, too, is 'just a theory'.
Posted by: AJ Milne | March 21, 2008 3:42 PM
there is a "contact us" page on the Expelled website if anybody is interested in asking them to explain why PZ was expelled:
http://www.expelledthemovie.com/contactus.php
Posted by: valerie | March 21, 2008 3:46 PM
Hmmmm having a "gut feeling" that it was impossible for Dawkins to be in MN and then extrapolating that feeling into a reason to throw out the whole story. Why does that type of reasoning sound so familiar?
Posted by: Jason | March 21, 2008 3:47 PM
Holy shit, Keith. Are you truly this fucking dense, or do you take special pills or something?
The movie was an open advanced screening. In other words, you witless turd, PZ, Dawkins, et al., all signed up by giving their names to a list which was then checked at the gate.
Really, man. Get some fucking help before your stupidity kills you.
Posted by: Dan | March 21, 2008 3:48 PM
Jason, are you always an ignorant fool? Why is your gut telling you that it was impossible for Dawkins to be in MN? Have you heard of air travel and transportation in general?
There's even a picture of them all after the movie:
http://amused-muse.blogspot.com/2008/03/expelled-from-expelled.html
Posted by: Adam | March 21, 2008 3:53 PM
#27: "This just in: jet travel, too, is 'just a theory'."
Teach the controversy, man!
Posted by: Joshua Arnold | March 21, 2008 3:54 PM
Um, Adam, I think Jason was pointing out the irony of Keith's stupidity.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | March 21, 2008 3:59 PM
Busy, busy, busy
Converting from atheism to Bokononism?
Posted by: Dianne | March 21, 2008 4:00 PM
Keith Eaton @ "I can hardly wiat for the 100 screen release date to see your cult revealed in full form for America to see clearly."
No it won't, God is on our side and He won't let us atheists be mocked like this.
Face facts Keith, why did Dawkins get in? God sent a warrior angel to protect Dawkins, that's why. God is sick and tired of you creationists making things up and created us atheists to take you all down. You better repent Keith before Jesus sends some warrior angels of His around ruff you up for messing with His chosen unbelieving elect.
Posted by: Bob L | March 21, 2008 4:02 PM
Posted by: Alexandra | March 21, 2008 4:02 PM
I think you're being too hard on the creationists.
To be fair: most of them are only familiar with one mode of travel, and that's the good old fashioned, saddle-up-the-Triceratops method. It's fair to say that no Triceratops could possibly have covered the distance between Austin and Minneapolis in that time. Even if Dawkins were skilled in riding the fastest two-legged dino (a tall order, as most of 'em are carnivorous), he could not have made it in time.
As for SteveM's post citing air travel schedules: don't you realize that that's just a theory? None of us were there to see Dawkins take a flight from Austin. Are you so ready to take it on blind faith? Also, don't you realize that air travel is just another implementation of the kind of corrupt materialist philosophy that says things have actual material, physical causes? Don't you realize that that kind of thinking led to the Holocaust? If the Germans hadn't realized that actual, material physical forces acting on human bodies could kill people, there would have been no Auschwitz.
Barry
Posted by: Barry Trask | March 21, 2008 4:03 PM
I wonder if any theaters that are going to show Expelled could be persuaded to show PZ being expelled from seeing the movie he was in at the end of their showing of Expelled.
It might be worth converting the pictures into a form that theaters could show, and asking them to show it.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | March 21, 2008 4:04 PM
Uh, Adam,
you misread Jason's comment. He was pointing out how these ideots disregard info. aka. baby with the bathwater argument.
Everyone else
Keith is a child. Keep on giving him attention by calling him names. It's just what he wants - he thrives on it.
Posted by: jsn | March 21, 2008 4:09 PM
One of the fundie Reality Distortion Field descriptions of the evening includes this observation in a paragraph about how a "rough cut" was ostensibly being shown:
Mathis also mentioned that several music cues might change before the final cut, which is understandable since several high profile songs and artists are used in the film.
I'm curious now about whether these "high profile" artists know their work is being associated with the movie. Have any attendees compiled a list? ASCAP and BMI would most definitely not care that showings have been free; the artists they represent deserve to be paid for their work if it's being used without their knowledge.
(It's the review quoted in the topmost post at lookingcloser.wordpress.com on 3/20.)
Posted by: editorkid | March 21, 2008 4:20 PM
An insult to children everywhere.
Posted by: blf | March 21, 2008 4:22 PM
Keith, let me ask you this: is your skull, like the $1.99 chocolate bunnies at K-Mart, completely fucking empty, or does it come with some kind of toy, like a Kinder Surprise?
Do us all a favour: grab a screwdriver and find out, 'kay?
Posted by: Brownian, OM | March 21, 2008 4:24 PM
ramiro quai "IT IS OBVIOS THAT JORDAN, NIKE, ADIDAS AND PUMA SHOES HAVE BEEN DESIGNED BY AN INTELLIGENT DESIGNER! WHAT USE IS HALF A SOLE? HALF A SHOELACE? YOU PEOPLE ARE BLINDED BY YOUR FAITH IN EVOLUTIONISMICS!"
Ramiro, evolution by natural selectiopn doesn't work the way that you imagine. It doesn't involve half an eye at any stage. What happens is that an organism evolves a few light-sensitive cells. Over millions of generations, the patch of light-sensitive cells become more complex, eventually becoming the many different eye types that exist now.
I hope that this helps you. I would also advise you to read up on evolution, if you are interested in this subject. Darwin's "On the Origin of Species..." is worth reading, to give an historical perspective. I'm sure that anyone who reads this book will recognize Darwin's thoroughness & intellectual honesty.
Evidence-based reasoning is involved in understanding evolution by natural selection, not faith. Faith is involved in religion & other superstitious beliefs. It is intellectually dishonest.
Posted by: Richard Harris | March 21, 2008 4:26 PM
Brownian, I have already run my tests on him. There is a PILE OF CRAP in his skull. If you want to think it is a toy, well, I have no idea what you play with.
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 21, 2008 4:27 PM
Richard:
I'm fairly certain (though, admittedly, some of it may be wishful thinking) that ramiro's post was satirical. The "evolutionismics" gives it away for me... I hope?
Good info to have posted though since there seems to be a fair amount of fundie traffic 'round these parts today. Maybe one of 'em'll learn a things or two. =)
Posted by: Avekid | March 21, 2008 4:32 PM
Richard, that post about Nike shoes was a joke. Oy...
Posted by: Rey Fox | March 21, 2008 4:32 PM
Barry Trask @ #37 "Don't you realize that that kind of thinking led to the Holocaust?"
I would also like to point out that the Nazis had the first operational jet. I mean is any surprise an atheist like Dawkins used a jet?
Posted by: Bob L | March 21, 2008 4:35 PM
Kieth-
last night I overindulged in irony, provided by what happened with PZ, and then followed by your posts in that thread as a chaser.
thanks for the hair 'o the dog this morning.
cleared my hangover right up.
psst:
you're really bugfuck nuts. seek treatment.
Posted by: Ichthyic | March 21, 2008 4:37 PM
Keith Eaton has been more than his usual crazy ever since he was marked by being post #666 on the Expelled blog.
Come on Keith- admit it - your'e the ANTISCIENTIST
Posted by: Benjmamin C. | March 21, 2008 4:40 PM
Ichthyic, is there a cure for PILE OF CRAP?
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 21, 2008 4:40 PM
Ichthyic, is there a cure for PILE OF CRAP?
I personally think there will be, someday. However, AFAICT at this point in time, you simply have to leave the area until you figure the stink has died down a bit, then come back and scrape it off the sidewalk with a shovel or high pressure hose.
As much as one can be tempted to do so, I have to admit that lighting it on fire and stomping on it typically just gets it all over your shoe and makes a mess.
Posted by: Ichthyic | March 21, 2008 4:49 PM
Avekid & Rey Fox, it did occur to me that it might be satirical. But let's use every opportunity to sock it to the IDiots.
Posted by: Richard Harris | March 21, 2008 4:50 PM
Hey Keith:
NWA 2076 AUS 7:30 MSP 10:19
Let me know if you need further explanation.
Richard could, in other words, have given his talk on the 19th, got up bright and early, flown off non-stop to Minneapolis, had a nice business lunch with fellow atheists plotting the further persecution of Christians, spent the afternoon in enjoyable demonic rituals, dined early on the blood of the innocent, and *still* gone to the movie!
Posted by: Gerard Harbison | March 21, 2008 4:54 PM
OTOH..
in the movie "Envy", the character Jack Black plays invents a substance that literally makes piles of crap disappear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envy_(film)
who knows?
maybe we will invent a spray that makes piles of crap disappear?
Posted by: Ichthyic | March 21, 2008 4:54 PM
Well, piles of crap come in all sorts of flavours. Some of the more fibrous, herbivore-type crap works well as fertilizer. The crap of omnivores and carnivores is much less useful for that purpose.
Posted by: Brownian, OM | March 21, 2008 4:55 PM
Funny yes but you should not have willingly left. They may be allowed to prevent you from entering the theater but certainly had no right to make you leave the sidewalk.
Arrest you? A policeman had no right to arrest you because you broke no law. A security guard has no power to arrest anyone for anything. He could however hold you untill real police arrived if you indeed broke the law but again you did not.
False arrest, massive publicity, huge embarrassment for professional asshole organisation etc.
You should have stood your ground.
Still very funny
Posted by: lawyer | March 21, 2008 5:25 PM
How's this for irony? Have you seen the movie's web site?
bolding mine.http://expelledthemovie.com/blog/
Wow, these people are bent so out of shape their tongues are flapping out of their assholes.
Posted by: Lesley | March 21, 2008 5:35 PM
The St. Paul Pioneer Press, a fairly substantial newspaper, reports on the Myers/Dawkins matter:
Pretty good stuff, if you ask me.
I don't know if I really like "Expelled" getting this publicity just now, however. But at least it's bad publicity, and even if it helps the movie sell, it'll look like the intellectual debacle that it actually is.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | March 21, 2008 5:41 PM
Just received the following email.....
"We regret to inform you that the screening in Santa Clara has been CANCELED due to technical issues. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you. We will not be able to reschedule prior to the film's release in theaters April 18.
Thanks for your interest in the film and we encourage you to check it out in theaters. If you have any further questions or concerns, please email jessica@motivemarketing.biz or visit the official film website at www.expelledthemovie.com.
Sincererly,
The Expelled Team"
Posted by: smittypap | March 21, 2008 5:44 PM
@smittypap (#58)
Oy! Sounds like they're afraid there are *atheist scientists* in Santa Clara who might also "sneak in" and ruin the surprise.
Alas and alack for these morons -- their movie is such a steaming pile of crap that even their manufactured Christianist PR won't save it.
And really, folks, the average Christianist is so friggin' stupid that a movie about unIntelligent Design is too TECHNICAL for him. They'll be intimidated and save their money for the latest Die Hard installment or other such dreck.
Posted by: Leigh | March 21, 2008 5:59 PM
@#58. Well ya know, after letting Dawkins get in and hammer Capt. Stupid during the Q & A, they had to cancel because the word was out on what a pile of shit the "movie" really is.
Posted by: firemancarl | March 21, 2008 6:02 PM
They'll be intimidated and save their money for the latest Die Hard installment or other such dreck.
10000 BC
Posted by: Ichthyic | March 21, 2008 6:02 PM
That is absolutely true. Ever since fundies disproved the Theory of Internal Combustion by ranting and raving, beating up engineers, and not taking their medications, no motorized transportation has worked.
If they disprove the Theory of Aerobic Respiration we are all doomed.
Posted by: raven | March 21, 2008 6:11 PM
Glen: Nice article. "Representatives of Motive Marketing, a specialist in marketing such faith-based films as "The Passion of the Christ" and "The Chronicles of Narnia," did not return phone calls about Myer's claims and about his barring from the film."
Uh-huh.
Wow, Overheatin' Keaton! You're in way over your head, and sinking fast. I suggest you sell your computer and use the money for psychotherapy and a pharmacology consultation.
Posted by: Kseniya | March 21, 2008 6:18 PM
Sort of but not really. The really extreme ones occasionally threaten to start killing people. Most of them probably aren't too serious. Some of them probably will shoot up a mall some day.
You are what you post.
Posted by: raven | March 21, 2008 6:19 PM
Interesting.
Last night, Kristine wrote a very simple "Dawkins stands up and asks MARK MATHIS why PZ was expelled."
Here is a Creationist's eyewitness account of Richard Dawkins' question to Mathis:
Dawkins asked a simple question: Why was one of his colleagues interviewed in the movie denied a chance to come see this movie and protest it and in fact was escorted out by security prior to admittance to the theatre?
Here is the eyewitness description of the same question, from a friend of Dawkins:
"Why, when he was featured in your film, when the entire theme of your film was free speech and oppression, did you EXPELL my friend and colleague Dr. PZ Myers from the viewing tonight?"
Now, neither eyewitness had a tape recorder, and it's likely that neither one is word-for-word accurate. They each mention details confirmed elsewhere that the other does not. From other accounts, there seems to have been several questions in a give-and-take discussion between the two participants, and they may have been combined by each person reporting the encounter. Generally speaking, our memories are not very reliable.
But they can be revealing in what we remember -- or think we do. Look at the very strange phrase in the first quote, that PZ Myers was "denied a chance to come see this movie and protest it..."
And protest it? Huh? This creationist goober thinks that Richard Dawkins announced -- to an entire room filled with creation-friendly folks -- that PZ Myer's purpose in going to see the movie was -- not to sit quietly and watch the movie from the audience -- but was as a PROTEST? You passively protest by staying away, so that word only makes sense interpreted as an active protest -- "to make a protest." To create a scene, to intrude, to bother people.
Why? Is that what he would have done, if it was him? Perhaps I'm reading too much into his phrase, here, but it just rings phony. I can't see this expression coming from Dawkins -- but seems to fit with the general paranoia from the creationist side.
The second quote sounds like something Dawkins could very well have said. It's more elaborate, which is a bit suspicious. It may have added rationale from discussions later -- memory often confabulates like that. But it doesn't sound false.
I think the creationist quote which includes the idea that PZ came there to "protest" may explain the mindset behind ejecting a biology professor from the movie. From the beginning, when I first heard about this, I wondered what the heck was going through their heads. Security guards? What were they afraid of?
To quell the protest, of course. Disruptions. Mayhem and pandemonium. PZ surely would bring squid ink and throw it at the projector.
Dumb.
Posted by: Sastra | March 21, 2008 6:20 PM
Stuart Blessman has responded at the "Looking closer" blog (http://tinyurl.com/yugv7q).
Not much meat in the comments, apart from a mention that there should be a link to this blog on the Expelled film site. The only thing is that I fail to find it there...
Posted by: Anon | March 21, 2008 6:29 PM
PZ I can safely say that you have greatly amused us all. Congratulations on hanging around long enough for these guys to show their incompetence (in this case about 20 mins)
Posted by: Richard Eis | March 21, 2008 6:32 PM
man, oh man. These self deceptive, irrational, unethical, moralistic bastards are getting me down. I'm surrounded here by those who seem rational until you begin to question the idea of an afterlife - and those who are batshit crazy over the 6 day creation concept and Jeebus as "The Way"(tm). They're the majority, the largest spectrum of humanity as testament to man's ability to suspend disbelief and reason. With these people, reason can be abandoned without notice to support their supernatural delusions.
It may be my flu talking, but I think if the universe had consciousness( I know, it doesn't), then it will be thrilled when the last of Homo sapiens has drawn its final breath. To quote Roger Waters: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up."
man, oh man, I'm tired.
Posted by: jsn | March 21, 2008 6:55 PM
This just in: jet travel, too, is 'just a theory'.
Technically, aerodynamics is only a theory resting on the more nebulous theory of air. Me and keiff have never seen a picture of air or a aerodynamic so stop forcing your world views on us. Stop worshiping at the murderous alter of Big Science. Oh yeah, John 3:16.
Posted by: me n keiff | March 21, 2008 7:24 PM
The problem with idiots like Keith:
"There's only so much stupidity you can compensate for; there comes a point where you compensate for so much stupidity that it starts to cause problems for the people who actually think in a normal way."
Friend of a friend
Posted by: John C. Welch | March 21, 2008 7:28 PM
10 bucks for that piece of shit? Kristine was right about the bj.
Posted by: danley | March 21, 2008 7:29 PM
Wait a minute, I realized why they had to expell PZ! Their website says he has not seen it yet. So their strict adherence to the truth meant they had to prevent him so that their website could remain honest.
Posted by: Wade | March 21, 2008 7:31 PM
This might be a logical reason why PZ was not allowed to see the private screening:
Cheering loudly at the screen is certainly disruptive.
Dawkins is a more staid individual, which is probably why he was allowed to attend.
Furthermore, the fact that Glen Davidson was able to deduce the URLs for registration forms and disseminate this information among evolution activist sites doesn't mean this wasn't a private screening.
Posted by: William Wallace | March 21, 2008 7:39 PM
Keith, let me ask you this: is your skull, like the $1.99 chocolate bunnies at K-Mart, completely fucking empty, or does it come with some kind of toy, like a Kinder Surprise?
Me n Keiff resent your meanness. The inside of his head is as solid as a meatloaf. He is just that brilliant.
Posted by: me n keiff | March 21, 2008 7:42 PM
N.Y. Times!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/science/21expelledw.html?ref=science
Woooo!
Posted by: CalGeorge | March 21, 2008 7:45 PM
N.Y. Times:
March 21, 2008
No Admission for Evolutionary Biologist at Creationist Film
By CORNELIA DEAN
Two evolutionary biologists -- P. Z. Myers of the University of Minnesota, Morris, and Richard Dawkins of Oxford -- tried to go to the movies at the Mall of America in Minneapolis Thursday evening. Dr. Dawkins got in. Dr. Myers did not.
On those facts, everybody agrees. After that, things break down.
The movie the two scientists wanted to see was "Expelled," whose online trailer asserts that people in academia who see evidence of supernatural intelligence in biological processes -- an idea called "intelligent design" -- have unfairly lost their jobs, been denied tenure or suffered other penalties as part of a scientific conspiracy to keep God out of the nation's laboratories and classrooms.
Dr. Myers asserts that he was unfairly barred from the film, in which both he and Dr. Dawkins appear, and that Dr. Dawkins would have been, too, if people running the screening had realized who he was -- a world leader in the field of evolutionary biology.
But Walt Ruloff, a partner in Premise Media, the film's producer, said the screening was one of a series the producers have organized for the film, which opens April 18, in hopes of building favorable word-of-mouth among people likely to be sympathetic to its message. People like Dr. Myers and Dr. Dawkins would not have been invited, he said.
Mark Mathis, a producer of the film who attended the screening, said that "of course" he had recognized Dr. Dawkins, but allowed him to attend because "he has handled himself fairly honorably, he is a guest in our country and I had to presume he had flown a long way to see the film."
Actually, Dr. Myers and Dr. Dawkins said in interviews that they had long planned to be in Minneapolis this week to attend a convention of atheists. Dr. Dawkins, an vocal critic of religion, is on the convention program.
And both had earlier complained that they originally agreed to appear in the movie -- then called "Crossroads" -- because producers told them it would be an examination of religion and science, not a defense of intelligent design, an ideological cousin of creationism. People who have seen the movie say it also suggests that there is a link between the theory of evolution and ideas like Nazism, something Dr. Dawkins called "a major outrage."
In an interview, Dr. Myers said he registered himself and "guests" on a Web site for the film's screening. A security guard pulled him out of the line but admitted his wife, daughter and guests -- including Dr. Dawkins, who, Dr. Myers said, no one seemed to recognize. Dr. Dawkins, who like everyone was asked to present identification, said he offered his British passport, which lists him as Clinton Richard Dawkins.
Mr. Mathis said in an interview that he had confronted Dr. Dawkins in the question and answer period after the screening and that Dr. Dawkins withered. "These people who own the academic establishment and who have great friends in the media -- they are not accustomed to having a level, open playing field," Mr. Mathis said. "I watched a man who has been a large figure, an imposing figure, I watched this man shrink in front of my eyes."
That is not how Dr. Dawkins recalls it. He said Mr. Mathis said "enemies" were attempting to interfere with the film.
"It is impossible to imagine what Mathis is afraid of," Dr. Dawkins said. "It is impossible to credit such bungling and inept public relations."
Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education, a group that opposes the teaching of creationist ideas in public school classrooms, said in an interview that her organization was setting up a Web site to counter the arguments made in the film.
Dr. Scott said she and other supporters of the teaching of evolution have been having "a horselaugh" over the events as Dr. Myers recounted them, immediately, on his blog, Pharyngula.
She said it was "just tacky" that the producers barred Dr. Myers from the screening, but added, "I don't think it's inappropriate for us to have a good laugh at the creationists' expense."
Dr. Dawkins said the hoopla has been "a gift" to those who oppose creationism. "We could not ask for anything better," he said.
Posted by: CalGeorge | March 21, 2008 7:50 PM
Willie Wanker keeps on spinning...
This might be a logical reason..
Then why don't they say "no cheering" on their booking form? Logic and you are not friends, are they?
Posted by: Zarquon | March 21, 2008 7:50 PM
You're really going to go with that, William? I mean, that's the kind of stretch only a delusional, paranoid twit would make. Which, I suppose, it seems I have answered my own question now, haven't I?
Carry on citizen.
Posted by: Dan | March 21, 2008 7:54 PM
Looks like the New York Times has it fairly correct. Dan and Zarquon you should have waited to hit that post button, you were just Pwn'd by the New York Times.
I am surprised you didn't play the "quote mining" card.
Posted by: William Wallace | March 21, 2008 7:59 PM
William, your skills at self-delusion are truly astounding.
Posted by: Carlie | March 21, 2008 8:08 PM
"Mr. Mathis said in an interview that he had confronted Dr. Dawkins in the question and answer period after the screening and that Dr. Dawkins withered."
vs.
Kristine:
"They didn't even recognize him when he sat through the film - not until he rose to speak, after being called on - by said producer, MARK MATHIS - at the Q&A. Holy shit, the blood drained from his face then!"
Dawkins the incredible shrinking man? Yeah, right. I'm going with Kristine's account.
Posted by: CalGeorge | March 21, 2008 8:08 PM
William: I am amazed by your rhetoric. Looks a lot like the one on Jeffrey Overstreets blog, where you have also posted. And where he chose to mainly publish posts that make unfound allegations towards critics of the Expelled move. Such as that the event was for a select few, when we have it from multiple sources that it was an open invitation on a web site. And claims such that the Expelled website is proponent of both sides of the incident, when there is no trace of any comments on it, apart from the comments to older blog posts.
Jeffrey has closed his comment thread, after some quote mining. Which is typical for people that subscribes to an authoritative worldview: that there is a truth and that they have found it, discussion closed. Quite a different mindset from the one of science...