Prophecy!

I have been warned that portents of my personal doom have been issued.

I predict that within one year of this date, Pharyngula, Panda's Thumb, EvC, RichardDawkins.net and Uncommon Descent will all have so completely degenerated as to become nothing but embarrassing footnotes in the history of internet communication. I also predict that P.Z. Myers and Richard Dawkins will have so embarrassed their home institutions that overt attempts will have been initiated to have their tenures revoked on the grounds of moral terpitude and seeking to overthrow the government. Public institutions like the University of Minnesota and Oxford cannot continue much longer to tolerate representatives so lacking in moral and ethical fiber as these two pathetic products of a "prescribed" and now terminated organic evolution. They make Ward Churchill look like Shirley Temple. Unlike Churchill who was never a threat to anyone, these two actively seek to destroy Western Civilization. I also predict there will soon be an Atheist Political Party. We already have an Atheist Political Action Committee (APAC) and a professed atheist member of the House of Representatives.

It is hard to believe isn't it?

Fortunately for them, by that date, February 9, 2009, the physical destruction of our civilization will have proceeded to such a degree that thinking people will no longer be concerned about intellectual trash like Richard Dawkins and P.Z. Myers.

You should all be worried. This time next year, you'll all be huddled in your bunkers as civilization collapses around you, while I'll be off flaunting my moral turpitude in an opium den with a pair of contortionist twins and a tank of squid, giggling maniacally over my brilliant schemes that have Destroyed the World! Bwahahahahahaaha!

After all, John A. Davison could never be wrong, could he?

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I have been informed that I have survived a rather dreadful deadline. How is this for a prediction? ...Pharyngula, Panda's Thumb, EvC, RichardDawkins.net and Uncommon Descent will all have so completely degenerated as to become nothing but embarrassing footnotes in the history of internet…
I have sad news to report. John A. Davison has gone insane. No, I know, he's been nuts for a long, long time, but I was just purging the ol' trashed mail folder today and discovered that he has been writing to me two or three times a day, usually just by dumping his latest comment on his poor dead…
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Who is writing the history of internet communication? And regardless, wouldn't it be a pretty big deal to even be a FOOTNOTE in history? Most people don't even get a cameo.

By October Mermaid (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Congratulations PZ and RD!

If this prediction is anything like the other predictions these jerks make you should both be more influential, more secure and wealthier this time next year.

I find that picturing all that being read out by (Invader) Zim makes it much funnier.

By Adnan Ahmad (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

About the only thing that I'm willing to prophesy is that within one year of this date, Jesus still will not have returned.

You know -- the problem with predictions like this is that there are never any penalties for being wrong, but all the glory if you're right.

We should institute a Vigilante Inaccuracies in Prophecy Enforcement Restitution (codename: VIPER) cause. When people make predictions like this, and they are incorrect, they lose an appendage. Fingers, toes, whatever. We can start small. If you're dumb enough to make one prophecy, you'll probably make more.

Eventually, we'll get around to harvesting their ears, which we can give to Dolph Lundgren to wear around his neck...

"It is hard to believe isn't it?"
Why yes. Yes it is.

All ur tenures r belong to us!

By Abby Kelleyite (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

"Terpitude." Yet another godiot shows his real intellect.

You know, if a guy wants to pretend to be erudite, he should at least have the presence of mind to spell the fucking word right.

What, did someone say creationists have actually put forward a testable prediction?

/me rejoices

By Dutch Delight (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Uh, 'terpitude'?

I have to laugh at people who use words without bothering to find out what they mean. Or how they are spelled. They guess at the meanings of words and never check their guesswork. And, when proven wrong, they never right themselves. They're content to misunderstand others and be misunderstood themselves, despite the problems being all of their own making.

Think of this guy's output as correlated noise.

JAD is pure comedy gold!

You read that ranting old fool? Why?

He knows that no one is going to call him on it a year from now, since catching him out on a lie/stupid statement is about all of the discourse we ever have with him. It's like saying that Ben Stein is ignorant of science, something so obvious that we usually switch the subject to his paranoia and his more surprising ignorance of economics (which he learned at Yale).

OK, I suppose it's just a slow day. After all, I could have ignored it as easily, but didn't.

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7

It's that good old Christian spirit again. It's funny how they can never seem to love their neighbours, turn the other cheek or stop themselves from bearing false witness (supporting ID)!

I rekon there's a deep fear in most of them. They react so personally and strongly to the slightest disagreement...

In a hundred years there'll probably be some SSRI-like drug that'll be pescribed to 'faith delusionals'. That's if they haven't killed everyone first!

By Paul Phoenix (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Is that deperation I smell in the air?

By Kytescall (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

...while I'll be off flaunting my moral turpitude in an opium den with a pair of contortionist twins and a tank of squid, giggling maniacally over my brilliant schemes that have Destroyed the World!

Why wait a year?

"I also predict that P.Z. Myers and Richard Dawkins will have so embarrassed their home institutions that overt attempts will have been initiated to have their tenures revoked on the grounds of moral terpitude and seeking to overthrow the government."

So making the government on the side of the Xtians...

"I also predict there will soon be an Atheist Political Party. We already have an Atheist Political Action Committee (APAC) and a professed atheist member of the House of Representatives."

Also confirming that the current government(s) are Xtian based.

"Fortunately for them, by that date, February 9, 2009, the physical destruction of our civilization will have proceeded to such a degree that thinking people will no longer be concerned about intellectual trash like Richard Dawkins and P.Z. Myers."

So the physical destruction of our civilisation is going to proceed under the direction of the above-mentioned Xtian governments....so why is he complaining about atheists?

Is it me, or is this just normal no-brain-Xtian-fundy type logic??
(I know

I keep noticing phrasing and vocabulary that seems to repeat itself throughout John D's various posts, here in particular the odd usage of the word "prescribed", which is one of his favorites; in fact, reading it, I knew immediately who wrote it before I reached the end. These little bits of conceptual 'idee fixe', bearing personal and private meanings (technically you would call this his 'idiolect') are, if I remember some of my clinical psychology, tags or markers to very real & clinical Delusional Paranoia -- the kind that requires professional intervention, in other words; not just the garden-variety delusion and paranoia of all the ID crowd. It's no wonder even they have cut him loose.

By Geoffrey Alexander (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

"I find that picturing all that being read out by (Invader) Zim makes it much funnier"

http://media.putfile.com/Crazy-Person

Well, I tried my best. You'll notice I totally mispronounced "Oxford" but I didn't want to have to start over.

He's totally gonna sue me now. In Crazy Court.

By October Mermaid (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Sorry for being a complete dolt, but this is John A. Davison as in Professor John A. Davison.

Professor of what and where?

Professor of Stupidity at the University of Idiotic?

No seriously, I want to quote him for my book so I'd like to know who he is.

Question: Why would the Universities of Minnesota and Oxford want to maintain their present reputations -- when they could have the academic "prestige" of a Bob Jones, Liberty or Regent?

Follow-up: Can you recognize a rhetorical question?

"Terpitude"?

Doesn't this mean having the qualities of a University of Maryland graduate?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't know Dr. Myers had tenure? Regardless, I can foresee no reason why the University of Minnesota, Morris would want to remove PZ from his position, mainly because he gives the school notoriety. I don't think many people ever thought UMM would be in the same sentence as Oxford, (No offense intended) regardless of what insane whacko wrote the sentence.

I find that picturing all that being read out by (Invader) Zim makes it much funnier.

Ahhhh! If John A Davidson is Zim who the hell does that make G.I.R???

By Lilly de Lure (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

You may not be able to see it, but right now I'm wiggling my hands at the monitor and casting a curse on you!

Less than 0.2% of the US congress are professed atheists. Irrefutable evidence of a conspiracy. QED.

"The responses to Coulter's current column (to which I contributed) show that I am not alone in that appraisal." - JAD

Now this explains a lot actually. I always wondered where Ann got her inspiration.

By Dutch Delight (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Good one, #25. Do PZ's kids know about his terpitude? That might be as bad as having an open and admitted thespian in the family.

Does anybody else find it a little strange that JAD includes Uncommon Descent in his list of "embarrassing footnotes" in the making? I'd heard he was uncomfortable at UD. . . .

Seems like John A. Davison awoke this morning and gave his trusty old box of magic squirrel turds a good rough shaking again.

People who demonstrate a personality as deranged Mr Davidson can not possibly this naturally stupid...

Did he catch magic syphilis or did he fall down 10 stories' worth of stairs while sniffing markers?

"You should all be worried. This time next year, you'll all be huddled in your bunkers as civilization collapses around you, while I'll be off flaunting my moral turpitude in an opium den with a pair of contortionist twins and a tank of squid, giggling maniacally over my brilliant schemes that have Destroyed the World! Bwahahahahahaaha!"

Are you fracking kidding me?!?!?! What I am gonna do with the brand new Sony Bravia 52" LCD HDTV Mrs. FMC got me for VD when this comes to pass?!?!?!?!

By firemancarl (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

John A. Davidson.

What does the A. stand for.. ASSHOLE?

Bwahahahahahaaha!

[Sorry, but a juvenile rant deserves a juvenile response.]

By CalGeorge (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

It's worth noting that he also predicted that his blog will be ignored. So that's at least one prediction already wrong.

After all, John A. Davison could never be wrong, could he?

Nor do I believe he's serious. Some of these guys go a bit too far and show themselves to be just trolling. Predicting the end of our civilization within a year? Come on!

While I don't doubt that many of the fundamentalists believe our civilization is doomed, I don't think you'll find many that would be willing to make such a firm and short-term date.

This guy is probably just saying whatever he needs to gain attention.

By Greg Esres (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Very clever PZ, by falisfying one of his predictions ("My enemies will ignore me!!") you have staved off the end of civilization!

From just down the page on "Professor" JAD's blog:

"It looks like it will be John McCain versus Barak Hussein Obama. If the Democrats take the White House and retain control of both houses, I plan to move to Australia, which is as far away from this country as possible."

Shit, I like Australia. Who would wish this on Oz?

Jeez. I went to his blog and looked around and it's actually kind of depressing. It just seems like some lonely, weird guy falling deeper into madness and practically begging other people to comment and keep him company.

Now I kind of feel bad. >.<

By October Mermaid (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

This prediction is important enough to be written up for publication in Rivista di Biologia

And if they reject it, maybe it could be submitted to Proteomics.

By Steve LaBonne (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

"I also predict that P.Z. Myers and Richard Dawkins will have so embarrassed their home institutions that overt attempts will have been initiated to have their tenures revoked on the grounds of moral terpitude and seeking to overthrow the government"

Since Richard retires from his chair this year, who would want to bet that John "If I had shit for brains there would not be enough to manure the roses" Davison will claim that he has been sacked ?

By Matt Penfold (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

From just down the page on "Professor" JAD's blog:

"It looks like it will be John McCain versus Barak Hussein Obama. If the Democrats take the White House and retain control of both houses, I plan to move to Australia, which is as far away from this country as possible."

Shit, I like Australia. Who would wish this on Oz?

Pat Robertson, duh.

You must admit that John A. Davison is a man of his convictions. Here he is making definite predictions knowing full well that if they don't come true he'll have to give up his belief in God. So come next year, he'll be one of us.

I predict that within one year of this date, Pharyngula, Panda's Thumb, EvC, RichardDawkins.net and Uncommon Descent will all have so completely degenerated as to become nothing but embarrassing footnotes in the history of internet communication.

Well, that prediction is already true for one of those sites, so I guess Davison is on a roll.....
(I'll leave determining which one as an exercise for the reader).

I kinda agree with October Mermaid. If you look at his CV and whatnot, match up all the dates, you get the distinct impression of something like senile dementia going on. He clearly has formed the impression (in Unabomber fashion) that the fact he's ignored by absolutely everyone constitutes proof that he's on the right trace. The Mermaid is right: it's pretty sad.

Bad typing day: "on the right track."

For a moment there, I had expected that to be a new prophecy from Pat Robertson.

I am the Devil! I shall destroy civilization, when I destroy that Jehovah/Allah fella.

Which side are Myers & Dawkins on, you ask? Well, they seek knowledge, honesty, & enlightenment, so they are on the side of good. Their enemies are my friends; John A. Davison is one of them. Evil fool.

By Beelzebub (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

So, uh, why would UM and Oxford be forced to sack PZ and Dawkins if nobody will be concerned about them in the least? Also, won't all websites be footnotes in the history of internet communication if there's so much physical destruction?

I am not sure there is even any means of removing an Oxford Fellowship. Once you get a fellowship I am pretty certain you have it for life.

By Matt Penfold (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

I picture JAD looking into the mirror each day, for hours on end, telling himself repeatedly how important his life has been. This is obviously a very lonely existence compounded by possible mental illness. The comments on his blog(s)are just depressing cries for attention.

You know PZ, you could take care of that moral and ethical fiber deficiency by having a bowl of Jesus Bran in the morning. Two scoops of Jesus in every box!

I predict that if Jesus Bran was a real product, it would be the best selling cereal of all time.

In Australia we'd say he's got a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock.

By Silmarillion (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

If you have the squids, why do you need the twins? (or vice versa).

Just asking.

Noni

By Noni Mausa (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Moral tUrpitude. Lurid Darwinism. As they get more desperate, they sound more and more like they stepped out of a time warp from the thirties.

On the one hand, why bother with such a deranged kook? On the other hand, awesome: please repost with a status update in exactly one year.

By Spaulding (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Re: #27

If John A Davidson is Zim who the hell does that make G.I.R???

vmartin, of course.

By CortxVortx (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

I predict that if Jesus Bran was a real product, it would be the best selling cereal of all time.

[Brownian furiously scribbling in his 'Million-Dollar Ideas' notebook]: Lessee... "I-n-v-e-n-t-J-e-s-u-s-B-r-a-n." Hmm. Why not go for the trifecta? "I-n-v-e-n-t-G-o-d-J-u-i-c-e-&-H-o-l-y-G-h-o-s-t-T-o-a-s-t."

No, PZ !!! No !!! Stop !!! Each time you say a word, the Western civilisation crumbles a little bit more ! It's currently collapsing around me ! The roof is falling !!! Aaaaaahhh !!!

By Christophe Thill (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

"Unlike Churchill who was never a threat to anyone"

I think Nazis and Fascists would tend to disagree.

YAY!!!! I love the periodic up-poppings of JAD. It gives me something to giggle about while walking around my office.

His brand of crazy is something to be cherished, not all the time mind you, but something you can put away in the closet and bring out every once in a while to cheer you up for a bit.

... "P.Z. Myers and Richard Dawkins "... "seeking to overthrow the government" ... [and]..."Western Civilization" no less.

A conspiracy to overthrow the government and western civilization? And you never let us in on the fun? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you. The hidden depths and neither of you let it get out. Cagey guys. It is always the quiet ones don't you know.

On a more serious note it sounds like this loon is setting himself up for a break. Possibly a violent one. He claims both PZ and RD are in a plot to bring down the government, treason, and western civilization. I suspect these are capital offenses in his mind.

He has set himself in opposition. He has declared his enemies worthy of destruction for their plot.

If it doesn't happen to his satisfaction and according to the prophecy provided by the blinking neon sign on the inside of his skull he will be at a crossroads. Face his own failure to understand reality. Fat chance with that one. Or, accept that if the prophecy is to come true and to avoid being declared a liar he will have to make it come true through violent action.

Beware. This guy is sending up flares announcing his inability to maintain his own behavior within normal social controls. He has announced an excuse system justifying violence. As a friend in the mental health field might put it: He has made it clear that he is a threat to himself or others. He has crossed the dividing line between those who stay out of institutions and those who don't.

This guy is about to fall apart. Everyone needs to back off and duck so they don't get hit by the shrapnel when he does. I would be talking to the law and anyone else who might help strap down this loose cannon. This guy is going to get someone hurt.

It is time for the friendly young men in the nice white coats to step in and stuff him into a pretty white jacket with extra long sleeves that fasten around back so nobody gets hurt.

I would take this seriously. Even as I laugh at him. Better safe than sorry.

... flaunting my moral turpitude

Is there any other kind? Does it come in different flavors?

By Pierce R. Butler (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Dipwad can't even get his lame quotes right:

"Birds of a feather flock together,"
Cervantes

Uh.... no. Cicero's Cato Maior de Senectude (Pares Cum Paribus Facillime Congregantor) quoted by Livy and translated by Philemon Holland ca. 1600CE. Why one would even think a Spanish writer would coin an English phrase is beyond me.

"Conscience doth make cowards of THEM all."
after Shakespeare

After is right. The Bard said it made cowards of US all. A bit deeper that.

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Attributed correctly! But the whole quote is so totally against what he stands for I've got to include it with some emphasis:

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

"Everything is determined...by forces over which we have no control."
Albert Einstein

Why the ellipses? That is the full line.

"Mankind fiddles while earth burns."

Why quote something that is a) not attributed and b) was made up by the author apparently?

By Sarcastro (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

I realised it was JAD before I even got halfway through the first sentence. I find that rather telling. As creationist lunacy goes, he's in a class of his own.

By Ginger Yellow (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

October Mermaid: That was brilliant. The "western civiliSATION!" part made me spit out my tea Brilliant!! ^_^

By Adnan Ahmad (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

I, for one, look forward to cruising around in our post-apocalyptic future wearing my Fedora and wielding a katana and a shotgun as I battle roving gangs of mutants for supplies.

Please, John Davison, tell me one thing! Will this bleak dystopia have robots?

I freaking love robots.

I'm hoping with the 3 interviews I have over the next 2 months I won't be in the West to worry about the downfall of our civilization. However even if I'm in Japan, I will continue to read your blog, panda's thumb, dawkins etc. If your the brain who's pinky?

Again, you call him out, but will not allow him to comment.

There are words to describe this sort of behavior. Cowardly and hypocritical.

Again, I have no desire to hear JAV's responses. But you are just as low as him if not lower to call him out then prevent him from responding.

Perhaps so you can hear more clearly the unadorned adulation of your fans?

"...If your the brain who's pinky?"

Bad Astronomy?

By Adnan Ahmad (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Again, you call him out, but will not allow him to comment.

There are words to describe this sort of behavior. Cowardly and hypocritical.

Again, I have no desire to hear JAV's responses. But you are just as low as him if not lower to call him out then prevent him from responding.

Perhaps so you can hear more clearly the unadorned adulation of your fans?

What, so we can see him type I LOVE IT SO! again?

He's insane. He offers nothing but comedy. He is a Joke. Period. There is no reason to let him on here to derail EVERY thread on this blog. Please.

Matt @ 66: JAD's original quote refers to Ward Churchill, not Winston Churchill. Ward Churchill is most (in)famous for his "little Eichmanns" quote, comparing the 9/11 WTC victims with Nazi Adolf Eichmann and claiming that they got what they deserved.

By Bureaucratus Minimis (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Davidson concludes, in post #27: Fortunately for them, by that date, February 9, 2009, the physical destruction of our civilization will have proceeded to such a degree that thinking people will no longer be concerned about intellectual trash like Richard Dawkins and P.Z. Myers.

"Everything is determined...by forces over which we have no control."
Albert Einstein

"A past evolution is undeniable, a present evolution undemonstrable."

For an interesting insight, check out the beginning of his post #28: It looks like my prediction about Al Gore will not come true, but there is still time.

Rather a jarring juxtaposition I'd say. In terms of inspired sooth saying, that is.

By Crudely Wrott (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

I cans make predickshuns?

Yeah, Pat Robertson's predictions for 2007 went really well, didn't they. Didn't he predict a large terrorist attack on an American city that would take the lives of perhaps millions?

So, how'd that one turn out?

I like post #8 here. We should all be saying this to Pat by now:

"Hold out your right arm, Mr Robertson. This will only take a minute."

I want to be with ya'll when we end western civilization. Shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers of godless heathenism and cephalophilia!! I can't wait. Ahh, when do we start?

And apologies to Mr. Davison for the extra D.

By Crudely Wrott (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Nobody, shut the fuck up.

So you think we're clannish and tend to agree. We get it. Thanks for the tip.

But you know what? You sound like every other IDiot we've heard from. Yeah, you're a real fucking original, ain'tcha?

Seriously, you're a boring broken fucking record. Go find another hobby.

Dipshit.

Nor do I believe he's serious. Some of these guys go a bit too far and show themselves to be just trolling. Predicting the end of our civilization within a year? Come on!

Concepts like "serious" don't really apply to someone with 0.9 Tc.

I think Nazis and Fascists would tend to disagree.

He's talking about Ward Churchill, whoever that is.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Dawkins' retirement is announced, then Mr. Davison predicts that Dawkins will lose his tenure. In other predictions, I predict that in 2008, the Giants will bet the Patriots in the super bowl. In 1776, the colonies will declare independence from England. I can predict the past with an amazing 90% accuracy.

By Thoracantha (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Cephalopodophilia. Liking just heads is not enough.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

"If the Democrats take the White House and retain control of both houses, I plan to move to Australia, which is as far away from this country as possible."
Doesn't he understand that Australia has an immigration policy and that it may very likely prevent him from such a move? They don't actually require a criminal record anymore, for example. I'm not sure they'd welcome someone that gives all the signs of being deranged.

By tim Rowledge (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

So if he's wrong, will he be executed in the way prescribed for false prophets in the Old Testament?

Deu 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

His turpitudenous twerpitude outshines your terpitude.

"I plan to move to Australia, which is as far away from this country as possible."

Please be sure to take Ken Ham with you.

"Fortunately for them, by that date, February 9, 2009, the physical destruction of our civilization will have proceeded to such a degree that thinking people will no longer be concerned about intellectual trash like Richard Dawkins and P.Z. Myers."

Amazing that the Christianity, Western Civilization and the United States of America are utterly defenseless against two collage professors. The Communist had it all wrong, Karl Marx should had a blog.

Could it be that Nobody is JAD?
I love it so!

'The University of Minnesota and Oxford?'

Has one of your vulgar billionaires bought another of our hallowed, ill-maintained and self-regarding institutions?

I predict that within a year, John A Davison will have created another new blog because the old one is "full".

Seriously, though, I think Art @ #68 may be right. I'd be concerned about what this guy is going to do next. He's not in a good place right now and the outcome could be bad...

By Brain Hertz (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Oh Man! PZ is so lucky. The more of these sorts of lists you make the more street cred you get.

I've got to make the list by this time next year. Somehow........

"Fortunately for them, by that date, February 9, 2009, the physical destruction of our civilization will have proceeded to such a degree ..."

You mean the Singularity is ahead of schedule? AIs and nanobots run amuck? I thought we had until 2045. Someone get Kurzweil on the phone, stat.

JAD wrote:

I submit that no scientist of any significance, past or present, ever dreamed of being a declared atheist, and I now offer this opportunity for any atheist (ergo Darwinian) to produce such a person with his credentials.

Richard Feynman springs to mind. In "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" he discusses why he is an atheist and why so many scientists are atheists, and I think his credentials and significance are unimpeachable.

Reading his blog it is amazing that he should talk about PZ's sycophants, when he has that pathetic VMartin following him everywhere.

"Or, accept that if the prophecy is to come true and to avoid being declared a liar he will have to make it come true through violent action."

The Turner Diaries, part 2.

A Brief History of Internet Communication

1. The United States Government funds the Department of Defence's research arm, DARPA, whose engineers create during the 1960s a network of linked computers designed so that messages of military importance can be shared in the event of catastrophic attack.

2. As the fingers retreat from the trigger of mutually assured destruction, the networks start being freed up for use by non-military uses and soon the network spreads into universities and government departments across the United States. This is driven primarily by two researchers along - Bob Khan and Vint Cerf, designers of TCP, UDP and later IP.

3. The Domain Name System (DNS) came into existence, and applications started being built upon the Internet platform - the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), telnet, mail, IRC and USENET newsgroups. These provided a variety of ways for users to interact with each other and with information online.

4. For most of this time, the US Government funded a large amount of the network through the National Science Foundation's NSFNET initiative. In the late 1980s, discussions started about making the Internet fully private, and by 1995 the National Science Foundation had left the Internet backbone business altogether.

5. A significant shift happened when Tim Berners-Lee, then at the CERN physics laboratory, designed an elegant implementation of hypertext called the World Wide Web (WWW or W3) designed for decentralised networks and, along with others, designed standards including the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) which, along with a set of graphical and text-mode browsers allowed users to create and browse pages on the Internet. From this humble creation in the early nineties, the popularity of both the Web and the underlying Internet infrastructure grew to the point now where we have around 1.3 billion people connected to the network and an estimated 29 billion pages available on the Web.

6. A biology professor at the University of Vermont uses the creations of these engineers, hackers and scientists to predict that the world will end in 2009. He truly is a genius.

February 9th, 2009...we need to mark our calendars for this historic event

So, PZ, how long have you and Dawkins been working at this plan? Was Bush just a tool to aid in "the destruction of our civilization"? How diabolical! Genius!

Looking forward to that atheist political party. Though, not sure what good it'll do if the world is destroyed...

"If the Democrats take the White House and retain control of both houses, I plan to move to Australia, which is as far away from this country as possible."

Well, the US mental health system doesn't seem to be getting him the care he needs. Maybe a more socialized system will take care of him.

Could it be that Nobody is JAD?

VMartin, more likely.

Why am I suddenly hungry for pizza?*

*check PZ's Dungeon

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Ya know, if I truly thought that western civilization was going to collapse in a year, I'd be doing other things than blogging about professors at Oxford and UM-Morris -- such as stocking up on ammo and canned peaches.

I think this guy was on my blog a few months ago, predicting that because I post occasional erotic nudies on my blog, I would soon degenerate further and further into porno hell in an effort to titillate my insatiable audience, until I was at the very bottom, posting, I dunno, Christian spanking porn or something. So far hasn't happened.

I feel good about your future as well, PZ.

"You mean the Singularity is ahead of schedule? AIs and nanobots run amuck? I thought we had until 2045. "

2012, dude. The Mayans predicted it and everything. Bucky Fuller as well.

By Ginger Yellow (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

I love it so!

By Stuart Ritchie (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

ah, I see. the takeover by amoral atheists is so complete that soon the amoral atheists will lose all standing. that's some prediction.

I don't recall Davison being so obsessed with religion a few years ago, but then he is probably more than a little bonkers by now.

terpitude

"I do not think it means what you think it means."

I heard that P Z hates America so much he once, in his "terpitude," committed a piscatorial act off of the stern of a boat flying the American flag.

By bybelknap, FCD (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

"If the Democrats take the White House and retain control of both houses, I plan to move to Australia, which is as far away from this country as possible."
Luckily for all Australians, as far as I can gather the furthest you can get from the centre of the continental US is the French Southern Territories, roughly equidistant from Australia, Africa and Antarctica. Quite what the French have done to deserve this fucktard has never been adequately explained.. Even I, a citizen and resident of France's traditional enemy, England, would not wish JAD on them!

Bruce #53
Yep, Joel make WAY more sense.
Alan Alda IS the Antichrist!
PS Thanks for that link. That's one of my fave host segments from MST3K.

If western civilisation is going to end, shouldn't we all be moving to Japan?

Just saying...

I'm all for taking down people like Dembski, who pollute the public discourse, with no mercy. But this JAD seems to be a solitary nutcase, someone who is severely mentally ill... is it wise to provoke him? Won't calling him out just reinforce his delusions of relevance? This guy sounds like a shooting rampage waiting to happen. I'd leave him alone. Maybe point the FBI in his direction (I imagine someone must have by now).

Does the Trophy Wife get a pair of contortionist twins, too?

Sorry I'm late to the party, but I couldn't resist commenting on #44:

(from JAD's blog)
"It looks like it will be John McCain versus Barak Hussein Obama. If the Democrats take the White House and retain control of both houses, I plan to move to Australia, which is as far away from this country as possible."

Hey, I'm a former American who did move to Australia and as far as I can see, (at least from perusing the media where I live) most Australians are pretty impressed that the Yanks might just choose someone with the apparent vision of Obama, particularly after these last seven, dark and miserable years. Not only that, but we here have just ousted our own conservative government in a major way.

So, JAD, mate: consider the Welcome mat rolled up.

Actually, if he can't speak French, then sending him to the French Southern Territories wouldn't be too bad..

Easy challenge from Davison :

"I submit that no scientist of any significance, past or present, ever dreamed of being a declared atheist, and I now offer this opportunity for any atheist (ergo Darwinian) to produce such a person with his credentials. I especially challenge our current atheist leaders, P.Z. Myers, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens to respond to this opportunity here or anywhere else. They sure can't offer themselves as examples as they have contributed absolutely nothing of signicance to any aspect of the science they so arrogantly pretend to understand."

Ok, here's 10 significant scientists known for their Atheism, and all Nobel Prize winners :
S.Chandrasekhar
P.Dirac
R.Feynman
V.Ginzburg
F.Joliot-Curie
J.Monod
H.J.Muller
L.Pauling
J.D.Watson
S.Weinberg

By negentropyeater (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Religion is mental illness. EOT.

I can just see P.Z. now:

[C. Montgomery Burns voice] Its all proceeding to plan. Excellent!

PipeUp: ...particularly after these last seven, dark and miserable years.

You know, it's funny, I keep seeing or hearing people slipping up and referring to the past eight years, even a year or so ago. I keep having to point out that it only feels like eight years.

My best guess is that terpitude is immoral dancing. Which, if you do it with contorionist twins and a bunch of squid, could be pretty immoral indeed.

That might be as bad as having an open and admitted thespian in the family.

I remember a Mad magazine "all-purpose political smear speech" with such things as:

  • He has been known to subscribe to phonographic magazines.
  • When he was young, his parents urged him to masticate several times a day -- and required that he do it in their presence.
By noncarborundum (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

#126, I just flashed on PZ in a Dr. Evil suit training his "lay-ser" on the U.N. and demanding, "Muahahahaha ONE MILLION DOLLARS!" I'm probably too distractible....

By more of a tech guy (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

I wonder if Davison has any clue about Australian politics. I suspect that even the Australian conservatives would be far too "pink" for someone like him.

Why do you even bother to give that crackpot the time of day?

I'm surprised no one's suggested (in this thread at least) to bring JAD and Time Cube guy together for a good ol' down-home crazy-off, the results would be amazing, if one of them didn't manage to annihilate the other first.

"2012, dude. The Mayans predicted it and everything."

How about 2112? As predicted by Rush ; )

My old Hudson Terpitude is still the best car I ever owned.

By humbert dingle… (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

2012, dude. The Mayans predicted it and everything. Bucky Fuller as well.

Terrance McKenna pegged December 22, 2012 as the moment when the timewave graph of extropy (cultural novelty) hits an asymptote. Effectively, a sociological singularity. That's exactly one day after the end of the Mayan long-count calendar. Cool thing is that McKenna postulated this numerological novelty theory over a decade before The Mayan Factor popularized the whole 2012 thing.

Where did Bucky predict it? I wasn't aware of that one.

Speaking of McKenna, I wonder if his "stoned ape" theory of human evolution drives PZ spare like Hardy and Morgan's aquatic ape theory does?

By Sarcastro (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Moral terpitude! I haven't heard that phrase since that lad in Porky's shoved his cock through the hole in the showers to be grabbed by Beulla Ballbreaker.....

By cuthbert goggins (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Is it just me or are his rants getting more and more fragmented over time?

Nobody is JAD. JAD is the only one that gives a shit about what people think about him.

The insane often, especially in horror movies, are known to channel the spirits. JAD is clearly channeling that master profit, er prophet, of the JFK generation, the Amazing "I PREDICT" Criswell (so I can only ope JAD's wearing a tuxedo and greased down his hair).
Considering TAC's record, PZM, doom awaits you, as you will inevitably die, however long it may take!

# 131, You're not wrong, we just kicked the conservatives out over here (Australia) after around 12 years in government. The moment they lost the election half their party quit, so there's just not that many conservatives left. It also seems that the one's who hung around aren't actually conservatives since they just participated in an apology to the disenfranchised indigenous people over here see something the "real" conservatives refused to do.

"They make Ward Churchill look like Shirley Temple." -- John A. Davidson

[INTERIOR: February 9, 2009, PZ MYERS's secret lair built beneath the sprawling sewer system of Morris, Minnesota. While Western Civilization is reduced to smoldering ruins outside, MYERS sits atop the Cephalod Throne, surveying his squid aquarium. RICHARD DAWKINS stands to one side, near an old-fashioned Victrola and a dress dummy. He is using a curling iron to put ringlets into a blonde wig.]

[ENTER Tori and Dori, the contortionist twins. They are escorting at gunpoint WARD CHURCHILL.]

MYERS: Ah, Dr. Churchill. I suppose you are wondering why I've brought you here.

CHURCHILL: Wondering? Hardly, Dr. Myers. This is precisely the sort of discursive act I would expect from one so thoroughly reified in the rational-materialist hegemony. As I was saying in my recent monograph--

MYERS: Silence! I did not bring you here to hear you speak. Tori and Dori have their weapons trained on you, and should you manage to evade their gunfire, you would still need to traverse the moat of deadly Humboldt squid. I assure you, escape is impossible, and your cooperation is most necessary. Richard, help Dr. Churchill prepare for his performance.

[DAWKINS approaches CHURCHILL with the wig, a large pinafore, and tap shoes, size 11.]

DAWKINS: Dr. Churchill, it would be in your best interest to don this curly wig and pinafore. You really have no choice.

[CHURCHILL looks nervously at the twins, who raise their weapons and prepare to fire at a moment's notice. Reluctantly, he pulls the pinafore over his freshly pressed workshirt and jeans, and places the wig awkwardly on his head. As his humiliation grows, DAWKINS smears rouge on his cheeks.]

MYERS: Music, Richard, please.

[DAWKINS returns to the Victrola, gives the crank a few turns, and places the needle on the record. The unmistakable sound of On the Good Ship Lollipop is heard. MYERS settles imperiously on his throne and begins to relax. A smile plays across his face.]

MYERS: Now, Dr. Churchill. Dance!

Terrance McKenna pegged December 22, 2012 as the moment when the timewave graph of extropy (cultural novelty) hits an asymptote. Effectively, a sociological singularity.

Yeah... shame it's all based on subjective bunk and artificial manipulation of the curve.

That's exactly one day after the end of the Mayan long-count calendar. Cool thing is that McKenna postulated this numerological novelty theory over a decade before The Mayan Factor popularized the whole 2012 thing.

Ummm. Not quite. The end of the Mayan Long Count calander isn't exactly a sure thing, since we don't exactly know when it started.
Cecil takes on the Mayan Calendar buisness here. So either McKenna was one day off, or three days off, or many many years off.

"From just down the page on "Professor" JAD's blog:

"It looks like it will be John McCain versus Barak Hussein Obama. If the Democrats take the White House and retain control of both houses, I plan to move to Australia, which is as far away from this country as possible."

Shit, I like Australia. Who would wish this on Oz?"

I don't think we'll have a problem, as already mentioned - Australia is not as nutjob crazy far-right as America, and in fact we just ousted our conservative government quite decisively. Furthermore, ID has been a colossal failure here - the single effort to introduce it resulted in a national outcry and the proposal was almost immediately dropped.

So sure, Davison, come on over if you think you'll somehow fit in better here. Personally, I rather feel you'll be even more of an outcast.

HP! That was a work of genius!

Ha, he *really* hasn't been following Australian politics at all, has he!

Evertime someone predicts the end of civilisation as we know it and suggests we all bunker down in the hills, I notice a corresponding shortage of Spam on the supermarket shelves.

Me, I'm filling my bunker with caviar, foie gras and cabernet sauvignon. Fuck Spam.

By Bride of Shrek (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Fuck Spam.

Thanks a lot for that image.

Didn't Robt. Johnson record the Terpitude Blues?

By Sven DiMIlo (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

nobody is the (a) resident nitwit at ARN, or just "nobody," really.

By wildlifer (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

We already have an Atheist Political Action Committee (APAC) and a professed atheist member of the House of Representatives.

And thank God for that!

Test

Too many links in the first post, Nobody?

Sarcastro (#136):

Terrance McKenna pegged December 22, 2012 as the moment when the timewave graph of extropy (cultural novelty) hits an asymptote. Effectively, a sociological singularity.

Yeah, but he was high on shrooms at the time.

Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week. . . .

RodeoBob (#142):

Yeah... shame it's all based on subjective bunk and artificial manipulation of the curve.

Just like the Technological Singularity itself.

Shit, I like Australia. Who would wish this on Oz?

Is this supposed to be retribution for Ken Ham?

By Chris Noble (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Janine #144: Thank you. I don't know about genius, though. I think it's just a natural reaction to spending the afternoon and evening documenting the generation of flow streamlines from arbitrary seed points in a velocity field. /*shudders*/

#72 Adnan Ahmad:

Hehe thanks. I'm glad it got a laugh. I wasn't sure if anyone saw it, which might be a good thing, since I'm still kind of embarassed about that Oxford slip-up...

By October Mermaid (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Nick (#122):

Actually, if he can't speak French, then sending him to the French Southern Territories wouldn't be too bad.

Fluent penguin is probably more appropriate... and an extra sweater. But even the penguins don't deserve someone like JAD.

Bride of Shrek (#147):

Me, I'm filling my bunker with caviar, foie gras and cabernet sauvignon. Fuck Spam.

Ah foie gras. *salivates* Truly the only food where I can reluctantly overlook the ethical problems with its production. Unfortunately can't get the good stuff in Oz, only in France or Spain for the sublime stuff, so there are usually years between fixes. I've always wondered how the someone came up with the idea that, hey, if we force feed a duck or goose for a few weeks we can seriously plump up its liver to point that the quacker is only a life support system for the liver and that that liver would taste oh so good.
Abject apologies to the vegetarians and I am aware that there are concerns with the way foie gras is produced. Still tastes great but.

Tom #31,
I'm a thespian and an atheist. Also, my terpitude is without question. I have the whole atheist trifecta. Sadly, I have no blog so I won't get to a chance to bring on the apocalypse...

I have to kick kittens to make up for it.

By Michael X (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Oh no, will the apocalypse follow on the 10th? Will the
bloggers to those sites automatically have their
computers implode by their freaking god to show that they
are not kidding and mean business? You freaking deranged
morons! all your insane warnings and dire predictions all come from your cesspool mouths. Why don't you have your freaking god do it for you?

noncarborundum:

I remember a Mad magazine "all-purpose political smear speech" with such things as:

* He has been known to subscribe to phonographic magazines.
* When he was young, his parents urged him to masticate several times a day -- and required that he do it in their presence.

And some say he was a philatelist before he found the lord.

I haven't read all the comments so I'm probably repeating a point. But if this is like all those announcements that evolutionary theory is dead, I'd say you're pretty safe.

P.S. there's a book wending its way to you from the science blogging conference, but sloowwly - I think Anton Zuiker is reading it frst.

You should all be worried. This time next year, you'll all be huddled in your bunkers as civilization collapses around you, while I'll be off flaunting my moral turpitude in an opium den with a pair of contortionist twins and a tank of squid, giggling maniacally over my brilliant schemes that have Destroyed the World! Bwahahahahahaaha!

If that scenario comes with a stripper dancing with a large boa, as in From Dusk Till Dawn, would the result be moral herpitude?

And I guess JAD is demonstrating that he has given up trolling your blog, otherwise he would have read about Dawkins' retirement.

Oh fucking hell. JAD has defiled the state I live in. Apparently, he's a former Univ. of Vermont biology professor who resigned in 2000 after the "Thought Police" (his words) in the department started investigating his wacko, anti-science crap. See here: http://www.uvm.edu/~jdavison/

Just skim it. It's the usual "my revolutionary ideas were supressed because Big Science". . blah, blah.

Hey, you're one of the top atheists in the WORLD! So what are you doing teaching biology at some backwater state university campus? You need to get out there on the rubber chicken and talk show circuit and start shaking that money maker!

I tried asking this guy how he derived these predictions, but all I got in response was some mumbling about how I'm "too Educated stupid to UNDERSTAND!" and "singularity brain EVIL queer word bastard cannot understand but suppress the simultaneous four corner 24 hour rotation theory of everything".

I'm pretty sure it was him, anyway. To-may-to, to-mah-to.

I'll join you in the opium den. If you do bring the fall of civilization as we know it, i will herald you as a champion of the human race. I'm so not even freakin kidding.

I read the first sentence and knew right away who it was.

Ditto. It could have been any creationist nutter until UD was mentioned. JAD stands alone.

By truth machine (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Yeah... shame it's all based on subjective bunk and artificial manipulation of the curve.

Artificially manipulated subjective bunk... my favorite kind. Jeebus, we're talking about Terrance McKenna here not some peer-reviewed hard scientist.

Ummm. Not quite. The end of the Mayan Long Count calander isn't exactly a sure thing, since we don't exactly know when it started.

Like it matters. The joy of such theories is in their oddity not their truth. Even if we knew the exact second it started that wouldn't make any lame predictions of what's going to happen when it rolls over any more valid.

Cecil takes on the Mayan Calendar buisness here. So either McKenna was one day off, or three days off, or many many years off.

So what? It's just cool that they match up at all. Not important, not earth-shattering, not a roadmap to apocalyptic survival.... just cool in a twisted dope-smoking freak kind of way.

By Sarcastro (not verified) on 15 Feb 2008 #permalink

"It looks like it will be John McCain versus Barak Hussein Obama. If the Democrats take the White House and retain control of both houses, I plan to move to Australia, which is as far away from this country as possible."

How unsurprising that he picked Australia as his destination if John Sidney McCain doesn't win. But what else would you expect from John Australia Davidson? This is just further proof that he and his fellow Ozofascists -- such as Rupert Murdoch and Ken Ham -- want to infiltrate our nation, impose Sheila Law, and establish a global Australiphate!

Mark my words: if John Sidney McCain becomes president, we will be required to name all our children either Bruce or Matilda, and everyone will be forced at gunpoint to toil away at yeast vats in Vegemite factories!

Nobody is JAD. JAD is the only one that gives a shit about what people think about him.

VMartin loves him. I picture him as a little lapdog on a leash that JAD leads around every where.

How'd that Test post help you out there Nobody?

Ummm, when this happens, is there any chance I could join you in the opium den and have my own pair of contortionist twins? I could kinda use that therapy. And if I *am* given the OK to join you, could you please speed up the collapse of civilization? I could use those twins really soon, you know.

@ "Does that man have any family that can get medical help for him?"

This is exactly what I was thinking. The whole thing's been bumming me out ever since I read his blog. I don't know much about him, maybe he's a huge jerk, but what I saw was just depressing, and I'm not saying that flippantly.

He keeps repeating these bizarre phrases ("I love it so!") and stuff, so does he have an extreme case of obsessive compulsion or what? What's the deal here? I don't even know how old he is, but if he's pretty old, it's just going to make things even worse. He must have some friends or family to turn to. Regardless of what a jerk he is, he should NOT be blogging like this and getting so into it. It's obviously not doing him or anyone else any good, and that's no way for him to be spending his time.

I don't know, it's all just sad.

By October Mermaid (not verified) on 16 Feb 2008 #permalink

L. Pauling

Twice. He's the only person to have won two Nobel prizes so far (chemistry and physics).

To be fair, he later invented vitamin C woo...

------------

jpf, a few more such comments, and you get a Molly nomination.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 18 Feb 2008 #permalink

Nor do I believe he's serious. Some of these guys go a bit too far and show themselves to be just trolling. Predicting the end of our civilization within a year? Come on!

Concepts like "serious" don't really apply to someone with 0.9 Tc.

I think Nazis and Fascists would tend to disagree.

He's talking about Ward Churchill, whoever that is.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

Cephalopodophilia. Liking just heads is not enough.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Feb 2008 #permalink

L. Pauling

Twice. He's the only person to have won two Nobel prizes so far (chemistry and physics).

To be fair, he later invented vitamin C woo...

------------

jpf, a few more such comments, and you get a Molly nomination.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 18 Feb 2008 #permalink

He's the only person to have won two Nobel prizes so far (chemistry and physics).

Uh... I think you meant unshared Nobel Prizes, since Marie Curie won two Nobels, the first in physics (1903--with her husband, Pierre, and Henri Becquerel) and the second in chemistry (1911--unshared).

Also, Pauling didn't win a prize in physics, but the Peace prize (1964).

Curie is also the only person to win in two different scientific fields.