Drinking Liberally tonight

Gotta love Hillary. She'll do anything to elected. :)

Speaking of drinking....

Hey Bostonians! Ready for some more atheisty-sciency drinking? Now featuring Mike, the Mad Biologist!

The rule seems to be that anyone who won't do/say anything to get elected eventually gets eliminated.

Is there a Melbournian atheisty-sciency drinkathon organized?

"Gotta love Hillary. She'll do anything to elected. :)"

Unfortunately, this part is one of the things that's almost certainly sincere.

Is there a Melbournian atheisty-sciency drinkathon organized?

Get to work!

I guess I can relate to Hillary's life experience.
Heck, I too have been filled with the "Holy Spirit" upon occasion, though in my case it has usually led to a hangover the next morning.

This is a dissapointing departure from her position last summer, when she attended the Sojourners Convention. She had then expressed her suspicion of those who wore their faith on their sleeve.

Another one bites the dust, i guess.

"Someday, can we please have a president who doesn't babble about magic ghosts? Pretty please?"

Don't hold your breath.

#6 Get to work!
I'm a big idea kind of guy. The one who comes up with the concept. The concept is me getting shloshed and boring a heap of atheisty-sciency people senseless with my inanity.
The rest is details. I don't do details. Someone tell me when this piss-up is organized. :)

Hey PZ, have you seen this?

http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=080304120710.ad7gm7i6&show_article

Someday, can we please have a president who doesn't babble about magic ghosts?

What? You didn't enjoy the presidency of arch-atheist and Bible-burner Tom Jefferson?

At this point in time there is little chance of an atheist becoming a president or successfully running. They are one of the least trusted demographics in America, and there are too many Christians that use religion as the selling point. Speaking of demographics I'd love to see a face off between an atheist and a gay/lesbian. Who would America vote for? Hm...

Still speaking of drinking...we are always looking for folks to start new Drinking Skeptically chapters in their area!

I love it. The Christians get together to ritually drink the blood of their savior. We just get together to ritually drink.

#14 A quote from the site
Remember that drinking skeptically means drinking responsibly. If there's one thing science has taught us, it's the effects of alcohol on the human body.

Well, I'm handing in my skeptic card right now. I now see why people say science is bad.
I want a piss-up, not quiet social drink and my neurons and liver can just like it or lump it. :)

This seems something like an open thread, and I think I have something good for a bit of bar talk. It has some of the specifics of the Expelled film, and the ignorant blather of an engineer who thinks it's a "revealing" movie:

I attended a screening of EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED yesterday in Dallas. We got struck in traffic, and arrived about twenty minutes into the picture. It was still wonderful. My son Joshua, a business major at Baylor, and Charley, my long time retired air force father in law, came too. On about three hours each of sleep the previous night, we watched the movie with unwavering interest. Wow. I want everybody to see this important film. I now know where I will do my Christmas shopping.

John Sullivan, one of the movie's producers, said EXPELLED will open on about a thousand screens in February. This is about the same number of screens for Michael Moore's last documentary.There is sooooo much great stuff in this movie. Here are some bullets.

Like many great movies do, EXPELLED takes you on a roller coaster from belly laughs about some of the ridiculousness of Scientism, to anger at the manner Scientism treats good people, to alarm that atheism is being forced down our throats by the Academy, to hope that this problem can be corrected, and back to a belly laugh at one of Ben Stein's quips.

The identity of Scientism as atheism dressed in a cheap tuxedo (my words) came across strongly in the movie - especially in the interviews with atheists Richard Dawkins, PZ Meyers, and Michael Ruse. These men may have to change their occupation descriptions in 2008 to "Punch line for EXPELLED."

There are great animations of the inside workings of a cell. I'm not a biologist, but seeing this as an engineer invariably causes my jaw to drop.

The contribution of Darwinism to Nazi atrocities was addressed. This could have been over the top - but came off well. Parallel quotes from Hitler and Darwin were appropriately tempered by Berlinski saying something like "Of course Darwinism does not always lead to Nazism. It is, though, a necessary albeit not sufficient component." There was a chilling visit to a Nazi "hospital" where the "unfit" were gassed by Hitler's cult. The contribution of the euthanasia movement to the founding of Planned Parenthood was identified.

Old B&W movie clips were sprinkled throughout the film. One showed a 1950's middle school bully (Big Science) sitting on the stomach of a victim (ID proponent) pinning his arms back. The bully boy keeps saying "OK. Now you're on our side. Say you're on our side!" It was hilarious.

There are also a bunch of short custom animated cartoons. One is an animation of Richard Dawkins frustrated at the low probabilities emanating from a bank of slot machines. The audience roared.

There is plenty for the cerebral from both the scientific and political perspective. Dr. Richard von Sternberg, Dr. Doug Axe, Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, Dr. William Dembski, Dr. Jonathan Wells, Dr. Walter Bradley, Dr. Alister McGrath, Dr. Stephen Myer, Dr. Carolyn Crocker, Dr. David Berlinski, Dr. John Polkinghorn and yours truly were on screen. (I KNOW I'm missing some. Sorry.) Doug Axe and Stephen Myer did a lot of the heavy lifting concerning biology.

Here's a teaser. How do Michael Ruse and Richard Dawkins explain the origin of life? Be prepared to grin. I am reminded of Richard Feynman's explanation of all that is bogus: The closer you look, the more it goes away.

The Berlin wall is used as a metaphor for the divide between ID and the Academy. On one side of the wall are researchers who are required to conform to an ideology in order to get funding and tenure. Near the end of the movie, there is a back and forth between Reagan's "tear down this wall" speech and Ben Stein giving an speech on academic freedom. (a part of Ben Stein's speech is in the EXPELLED Teaser Trailer.) I admit getting a wonderful shiver.

This is the ice berg tip. There is so much wonderful stuff in the movie. Co-Producer Mark Mathis said there are a lot of fantastic scenes that could not be included in the movie. When the EXPELLED DVD is released, there will be a second DVD with these extras. This takes care of my Christmas shopping for next year.

www.interstructure.ca/pipermail/truth/2007-December/000296.html

There you are, Berlinski saying what he doesn't know, the old bugabear of atheism, a bunch of cheesy animations to get around the fact that they can't make a case out of their sad little morons.

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

Wow, that guy really like Expelled. Sounds like a great movie. Full of logic and facts I'm sure. I always suspected Naziism to require Darwinian evolution. After all, there was no slavery or racism before Darwin........

Try that Polygamy Porter if you get a chance. It's on Mitt.

It's on Mitt.

He's a bastard for dropping out. I wanted him to spend those kids broke.

My, my, Glen. That's very interesting.

There is plenty for the cerebral from both the scientific and political perspective. [A long list of people who are all called "Dr."] and yours truly were on screen

Oh really?

(Funny how the unnamed reviewer declined to used titles in reference to Dr. Dawkins, Dr. Myers, or Dr. Ruse. Nor does Dr. Behe appear anywhere in that list alongside Drs. Demski, Gonzalez, Crocker et al. Curiouser and curiouser!)

According to the source URL, this was "A review of the film by a Baylor Professor."

Oh really?

Gee... I wonder who wrote the "review"? Lessee... a Baylor professor who appears in the film?

Who could it be? Well, whoever it is, I'm sure he or she is completely unbiased, has no conflict of interest, and has offered a fair and appropriately critical review.

PZ sez: Someday, can we please have a president who doesn't babble about magic ghosts? Pretty please?

harv sez: No.

Of course being an ignorant dumbass does not always lead to agreeing with Ben Stein. It is, though, sufficient enough.

PZ Meyers
Trying to enrage the evil PZ by misspelling his name. Is there nothing these IDiots won't stoop to?

Gee... I wonder who wrote the "review"? Lessee... a Baylor professor who appears in the film?
Who could it be? Well, whoever it is, I'm sure he or she is completely unbiased, has no conflict of interest, and has offered a fair and appropriately critical review.

Is it teh sweaterz? NNNNNNOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!

Brian English: Trying to enrage the evil PZ by misspelling his name. Is there nothing these IDiots won't stoop to?

To paraphrase my hero Berlinski: The assumption of malice on the part of IDiots is consistent but not necessary in explaining the frequent use of "Meyers" in their rantings. A more parsimonious explanation is stupidity. These are really dumb people. We need not be surprised that they can't even bother to check their spellings. Do they ever check anything? (Only their brains. At the door!)

Sweaterz? Nah. I mean, I guess not. "Dr. William Dembski" appears in the list prior to "yours truly."

But who knows?

Zeno: Do they ever check anything? (Only their brains. At the door!)
Good point.

Jefferson is the only president I would have wanted to have a beer with. Heck it probably would've been home brewed.

God it's hard to tell just what is and isn't satire these days. The Expelled review was satire wasn't it?

@ Glen D.

Thanks for the find. Oh boy. I cannot WAIT until this movie is released. PZ is going to rip it a good one.

It is of little consolation, but Obama is just as delusional as Hillary.

"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals."

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?…

So Obama believes in hocus-pocus too.

OT, but Orac has a post up about a poll on Larry King's website asking whether people believe that 'vaccines cause or contribute to autism.' Seems the hordes of ignorance have got an early head-start, with 80% of around 11,000 voters saying 'yes.' Perhaps we can help to provide a touch of sanity.

Re #17

I am reminded of Richard Feynman's explanation of all that is bogus: The closer you look, the more it goes away.

Well, Feynman was right, you moron. Now maybe if more people start staring at you bozos you will go away too?

After reading the article, it's not even that she believes in invisible, mind-altering entities that really bothers me. It's more her comments that she believes the ENTIRE Bible is real. Now maybe she just meant that it physically exists in space but somehow I'm thinking she actually meant that the entire thing is true. How does one become a distinguished lawyer without learning how to tell if a document has been falsified numerous times? I mean politician, sure, but lawyers are supposed to work in some realm of evidence right? Maybe she just didn't read it or skimmed it. Like that silly report that congress got before the war saying exactly what a poor and unjustified war it would be.

It has some of the specifics of the Expelled film, and the ignorant blather of an engineer who thinks it's a "revealing" movie.

Well, to be fair it is revealing, as is his review. Just not in the way either he or it's makers had intended.

Well, Feynman was right, you moron. Now maybe if more people start staring at you bozos you will go away too?

How about if we threw beer over them whilst chanting "The Power of FSM Compels Thee"?

How does one become a distinguished lawyer without learning how to tell if a document has been falsified numerous times?

Dunno, but here is a lawyer I can actually raise a glass to.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/03/06/military.religion.ap/ind…

It is of little consolation, but Obama is just as delusional as Hillary.

Oh Goody - so the election to choose the most powerful human being on earth is turning into a decision about which of the following would make the most effective presidential adviser:

Eleanor Roosevelt's ghost,

A common or garden sky fairy

An intelligent designer who can't even wire eyes up the right way around

How is this situation supposed to be of even little consolation again?

Here's a link for Lilly de Lure about the constantly recycled story of Hillary Clinton supposedly "channeling" Eleanor Roosevelt's ghost. The junior senator from New York believes in the big sky fairy in a Methodist way, but she is not a New Age mystic. That helps a little, I suppose. [Link]

Both Democratic candidates are conventionally Christian. So is McCain, for that matter, but the Republican nominee has lain down with dogs like Hagee and is now covered with rabid fleas. (As for third-party candidates, I think Nader worships himself.)

Now we know the US cannot be entirely populated by brain dead morons, you Americans here are evidence of that, but why are the only people who have any chance of being elected president people who you just know would not have a clue how to sit on a lavatory seat unless shown ?

I mean I live in the UK, and we did elect Blair (for which I can only apologise) but sometimes he did seem to have moments of lucidity in between his delusional fantasies.

OT, but Orac has a post up about a poll on Larry King's website asking whether people believe that 'vaccines cause or contribute to autism.' Seems the hordes of ignorance have got an early head-start, with 80% of around 11,000 voters saying 'yes.' Perhaps we can help to provide a touch of sanity.

Bill Maher waxes eloquent on evil vaccines regularly but Sam Harris puts him front-and-center in the so-called "Reason Project" anyway because he's sufficiently anti-religious. Why let actual reasoning get in the way of ideology?

Yeah, some of Maher's stuff is pretty unsettling.

but why are the only people who have any chance of being elected president people who you just know would not have a clue how to sit on a lavatory seat unless shown ?

Because you Europeans sent your crazy religious people over here.

Brian English,
I'm in Melbourne, FL. Too bad you're probably in Melbourne, Australia. I think a Drinking Liberally chapter would be a hoot!

Between that and the war vote, I just can't take her seriously. I'm sure Obama's not going to be any better, but another few Supreme Court appointments by the GOP and we won't have a constitution at all.