This was sent to me by a reader:

I didn’t even bother putting a title to this post because it really doesn’t need one. There isn’t a short catchphrase in the world that could do this picture and accompanying story justice.

MSNBC has a story that seems to further chronicle the decline of the American health care system. As someone who has spent his entire life with family members in the nursing field, many of whom have worked in hospital emergency rooms, I am absolutely appalled at the treatment of patients in our nation’s hospitals. The ironic thing is, don’t most opponents of universal healthcare argue that citizens of countries like the UK and Canada supposedly flock to America to utilize our haelthcare system, which seems to leave one thinking that maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

I read a lot of webcomics.  It keeps my mind off of the idiots around me.  Here’s a few panels of some comics I read this week.  Click the panels to view the whole thing.

So very wrong…

Let’s try to trace the evolutionary lineage of one, the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Spaghetthus monstrous).  In doing so, I aim to prove that the Flying Spaghetti Monster itself, the creator of all things starting with a mountain, some trees and a midgit [sic], must necessarily have been created.

Let’s start with what we have now:  A large, floating wad of spaghetti wrapped around two giant meatballs and covered with sauce and parmesan cheese.

The last few steps we have to work back through are quite simple.

The cheese must have been added to camouflage itself among the clouds.  Cats can see invisible things (often, why they stare into space for hours, as if looking for a pastaic deity to pounce on) and cats love dangly stringy things… like noodly appendages.  The cheese was added later to protect the FSM from cats.  But a cheeseless spaghetti would still be spaghetti.  This can easily be explained through micro-evolution.

Now comes the sauce.  We do not know what purpose the sauce has, but as we see with various types of Chinese Lo Mein, spaghetti doesn’t have to be sauced.  Therefore, without sauce, spaghetti would still be spaghetti.  No species change here.

The next step is a bit tricky.  The Spaghetti Monster must fly.  We cannot know, for we have not been able to closely study the FSM, what mechanism makes the flying spaghetti monster fly.  However, we do know that if one cooks spaghetti long enough, it becomes so floppy that it can animate itself to flop about until it acts like wings and offers the illusion of floating.*  Flying, flopping, and flacid spaghettis are all still spaghetti.  Micro-evolution.

The meatballs are an interesting feature, but easily explained.  Sometimes, as with lichen and Black Spiderman, two species combine and form a symbiotic pair.  Knowing this, it is easy to see how cooked spaghetti and meatballs would be attracted to each other.  We already know of at least one animated meatball [see Fig. 1], so it is possible that the two meatballs in the Flying Spaghetti Monster are related to this meatball.  This is not a new species.  It is a coupling of old species.

Now is the step of FSM evolution that can’t be reduced while still retaining the property of being spaghetti.  Spaghetti is not spaghetti when hard.  (Shut up!  My blog, my definitions of words!)  In order for our Spaghetti Monster to be malleable enough to wrap around the meatballs, be flexible enough to flop about and fly and be warm enough to sustain life, it must be cooked.  Who cooked the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

Going back to the cooking of the FSM, all can be explained by micro-evolution.  But until we get to the big change, dry spaghetti to cooked spaghetti, no mechanism–apart from some almighty Chef–exists to bridge that gap between species.  The Flying Spaghetti Monster is irreducibly complex!

Therefore the Flying Spaghetti Monster cannot have come from nothing.  If there is a pasta there is a Chef.

Who’s with me for some delectable Intelligent Cuisine?

[Phrase Intelligent Cuisine credited to this commenter.]

* I have no evidence, but if I say it with enough authority it’s good as true, right?  Right???

That’s right, you read correctly. Homosecular Gaytheist (+1) is now home to its very own resident straight guy. I guess I might as well give you a little background about myself, if you’re to at all understand the warped persona that is CJDeak. I am a liberal, teenage atheist living in the middle of old Christian conservative country. I was raised by a mixed family of Methodists, Baptists and Catholics, so its no small feat that I made it out alive. I started experimenting around with a little thing called “free thought” around 13, and I made a steady incline from “Fundamentalist Baptist” to “Deist” to “Atheist/Anti-theist”. I got tired of walking around seeing so much injustice, intolerance and hatred being committed in the name of the same book I read every night for comfort. It finally hit home with me when I was 14, at a church camp retreat intended to seperate us from the evils of modern society, so we could come closer to beloved Jebus. I spent the entire week reading the Holy Bible cover to cover, highlighting everything I had a question for my pastor about, and by the end of the 5th day, I was missing 14 pages because they had gotten worn through. In the words of Isaac Asimov, “Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force of atheism ever conceived.”

But that’s my two cents worth. I’ll pop in from time to time, either with a comment to one of Reed’s posts or something of my own I feel like ranting about. I look forward to lots of interesting comments and conversations.

Video below the jump.

The Onion

Greenishblu at Skepchick created a contest for the best sceptic-themed alcoholic beverage.

Here’s mine:

Religion

1. Mix equal parts whiskey, tequila, vodka and illegal moonshine.
2. Apply label to container: “Religion is not dangerous in any way. The more religion one has, the better they are. No part of Religion is illegal and those who say otherwise are evil secular anti-alcohol leftists.”
3. Drink Religion liberally and force others to drink it as well.
4. If anyone else makes a batch of Religion, it is inferior to yours. Force-feed them your own batch of Religion until they are drunk enough with Religion to either “convert” (Religion-user slang for professing the awesomeness of your own Religion) or die.

Warning: The label is entirely false.

Warning: If you must consume Religion, do it socially, rarely and with great caution.

Warning: Religion is highly addictive and has been known to destroy lives.

Warning: Keep your Religion away from children.

Warning: While under the influence of Religion, please do not vote.

You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment, which is that it “simulates” the feeling of drowning. This is not the case. You feel that you are drowning because you are drowning–or, rather, being drowned, albeit slowly and under controlled conditions and at the mercy (or otherwise) of those who are applying the pressure. The “board” is the instrument, not the method. You are not being boarded. You are being watered. This was very rapidly brought home to me when, on top of the hood, which still admitted a few flashes of random and worrying strobe light to my vision, three layers of enveloping towel were added. In this pregnant darkness, head downward, I waited for a while until I abruptly felt a slow cascade of water going up my nose. Determined to resist if only for the honor of my navy ancestors who had so often been in peril on the sea, I held my breath for a while and then had to exhale and–as you might expect–inhale in turn. The inhalation brought the damp cloths tight against my nostrils, as if a huge, wet paw had been suddenly and annihilatingly clamped over my face. Unable to determine whether I was breathing in or out, and flooded more with sheer panic than with mere water, I triggered the pre-arranged signal and felt the unbelievable relief of being pulled upright and having the soaking and stifling layers pulled off me. I find I don’t want to tell you how little time I lasted.

I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture.

All I can say is that someone with the fortitude of Christopher Hitchens succumbing to this torture so quickly is astonishing.  There is no way that waterboarding is not torture.  There is no reason why this barbaric practice should continue one more day.

(via Pharyngula)

WARNING: If you don’t like Internet drama, don’t read this post.

Myxoma, the ban-happy mod at RDF Chat, is a type of tumour.

According to the Merck Online Manual Home Edition:

A myxoma is a noncancerous primary tumor, usually irregular in shape and jellylike in consistency.

• People may feel short of breath or faint, or they may have fever or weight loss.
• Doctors confirm the diagnosis with echocardiography.
• Surgery is needed to remove a myxoma.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!!

HAHA!

HAHA!

HAHA!

“irregular in shape and jellylike in consistency”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Oh, Jesus Christ!  That’s fucking funny!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

From now on, all mentions of Myxoma or Myx on this blog will be linked to the wikipedia page.

WARNING: If you don’t like Internet drama, don’t read this post.

Thrawn over at Splendid Elles has a new post about the situation at RDFRS Chat.

I suggest giving it a read.  The wit of the fifteen-year-old is not easily matched.

A few of my favourite lines:

[...] the administrators and moderators at “Richard Dawkins chat” [...] have finally used up their last collective shred of brainpower and turned into some sort of retarded half Dalek, half troglodyte hybrid which regularly fails to pronounce “EXTERMINATE!”.

Still, “EXTERMINATE!” they do.

I spilled my soda on my keyboard when I read this.

Someone dares to question Big Brother Moderators, and they are promptly terminated. I don’t see any resemblance to various regimes us atheists like to distance ourselves from. Do you?

No… not at all!  Stalinanifesto shares no similarities with… oh wait.

myxoma is a thoughtless, cunting bitch with the social skills of a dead elephant and a figure to match.

I spewed the rest of my soda onto my screen when I read this.

As Evolved Rationalist reminded us in Thrawn’s comments: “The internet is SERIOUS BUSINESS.”

Four hours until episode twelve of Two Smokin’ Hot Freethinkers goes live on uStream.

Don’t miss it!

WARNING: If you don’t like Internet drama, don’t read this post.

Zukiwi just responded to my email.  I’m reposting it here.  (Zuki, think of this as me helping your lawsuit against me… HA!)

Reed, I seriously pity you for your lack of insights and maturity.

And I pity your naivety.  I’m 19 and have that as an excuse to be dumb and reckless.  You’re well into (or past) your forties.  You have no excuse.

You have some serious growing up to do. And yes I will take action, you do not have to worry about that, it is called “slander” and it’s illegal. Read your rights properly about Internet Stalking, Internet Harassment - And divulging of private information and specifically identifying a person, and members of her family. There are numerous cases like this on the Internet, and they have been won. Had you been smarter, you would not have used identifiable information, but your are not.

Actually, it would be called libel, not slander, if it was anything at all.  It can’t be libel, however, because it was all true, to the best of my knowledge, and I divulged no personal information about you that you had not already publicly divulged.

Aside from you being a moderator of RDFRS Chat with the username (not your real name) Zukiwi, no one knows a thing about you that you haven’t already put on the Internet except that you are a bitch who’s gone off the deep end and, now, that you are terribly uninformed about the legal system.

And the “numerous cases” are of people who harassed other people by publishing identifiable information about them, which I have not yet done, or publishing lies about them, which I did not do.

I am attacking your Internet pseudonym and not your name.  I am attacking your piss-poor job of moderating a chat room, not your actual self.  Learn the difference.

While you are at it, do take time to read the legal notice of proprietary rights on contents of RD.Net chat information and the forum.

Okay.  I’ve noticed them.  They refer only to information you submit to RD.NET.  They state that you cannot publish anyone else’s material on RDFRS Chat as if it was your own.  I neither published anything in the chat or the forum, nor did I claim what I published on my blog was entirely my work.  What was quoted from other people was clearly marked as such.

If you are claiming intellectual (that’s a laugh!) rights to your emails, fine.  You do that.  However, I can still post them here under Fair Use if the purpose is for comment or criticism, which it is.

It is unfortunate that in your ignorance and your arrogance, you failed to respect one of the most important principles. Tell the truth, which you failed, do not identify a person, which you failed. Honestly I do not quite care what you do on the net or your complains about RD.net chat, be they false, bi-partisan or simply your mere opinion, I do however, take issue with identifying me, my son, and my life. This has a price.

Actually, I told the truth and corrected my mistakes when I got the truth wrong.  (MaiForPeace was not banned.  I corrected that error.)  I also did not identify you by anything other than the name (Zukiwi) you chose to be identified by on the Internet.  It was a courtesy and not a legal obligation.

I did not identify you or your son.  I know your names, but I did not divulge them.  I only divulged your pseudonym, Zukiwi, and that you had a son with Asperger’s Syndrome.  If you didn’t want anyone to know that about your son’s condition, you shouldn’t have talked about it regularly in front of a full chat room.  I only brought it up because it was relevant to why you banned Imbrickle, which was relevant to the creation of the Skype chat, which was relevant to the discussion of the so-called “ban -o- rama.”

You should know there are also testimonials of your slander from people that were present on your Skype room. Life always teach us something, I guess yours will have to be that type since it seems you there is no level of reasoning with you

What slander?  I would like to see examples of this slander.  Because I want to show both sides of the story, I would like to post them here and comment on why I said them.  I want to present the alleged slander on my blog so that people can judge for themselves if it is or is not slander.

Also, RDFRS banned a moderator for potentially being a mole for me, someone who gave me access to the chat room and the moderator forums.  The person you guys banned was not my mole, which is not a confession that I had a mole.  I may have accessed that information in a way that Matalanifesto hasn’t even thought about.  You were quick to ban and you were wrong.  You folks banned him because you thought he was a mole, but now you gloat about having a mole in the Skype group?  The hypocrisy is astounding.

Please do forward the information, I would appreciate, it would make it easier.

I just posted the information on the Internet for all to read.  I hope it makes it so much easier for you. However, I doubt it would be easier than the alternative:  If I stuck my tail firmly between my legs; whimpered, “Yes, ma’am,” and obeyed your every whim.  Sorry, but that’s not how I roll.  I doubt that my publishing of this information, along with rebuttal and comment, will make life any easier for you at all.  In fact I sincerely believe that it will only exacerbate things for you.

But, hey!  You’re the one who told me to forward the information!  The law knows no sarcasm.

p.s.: I do not authorised you to divulge the content of this message, in part or in whole, publicly or to 3rd parties without my authorisation. This email is private and confidential.

Ha ha ha ha ha!  Riiiight.

Email is not confidential.  It is not a protected or privileged method of communication.

A one-sided statement of confidentiality is laughable and ignorant.  The only legally-binding confidentiality is one that is agreed upon in advance in front of a third witnessing party, preferably a notary.

You signed the email with your real name.  Out of tact, I will not publish it here.  However, if I wanted to publish your name now, as it was a part of your email which is here presented under Fair Use, I legally could have.

Be careful what you say on the Internet, Zukiwi.  Some of us are actually familiar with the law and aren’t intimidated by your threats.

I want you to understand that the man who approved this post for publication is my attorney.  He’s not just some dingbat I found on the strip, man. He’s a foreigner. I think he’s probably Samoan. But that doesn’t matter, though, does it? Are you prejudiced?

WARNING: If you don’t like Internet drama, don’t read this post.

The continuation of the RDFRS Chat saga.

I care so little about these petty people, but it’s way too much fun to fuck with them.

Zukiwi: Pas the message : I will take legal action  agaisnt bigots

I got the message.  Thanks.

Here’s my reply:

So I hear that you are going to wage legal action against me.

You allegedly told (name removed) that he was to pass on the message to me that I am a bigot and you are going to prosecute me.

Do you need any information (i.e. address, telephone number, full legal name, etc.) to issue a summons?  I would very much like to see you try and sue me for “bigotry.”

I’m awaiting the request for information.  I will gladly supply it and even foot the magistrate’s fee.  This looks like the beginning on the trial of the century!  (snort!)

Tomorrow (today, technically) at 4:30 PM EDT (8:30PM GMT, 1:30PM PDT), tune in for the live video broadcast of Two Smokin’ Hot Freethinkers Podcast.

We’ll be talking about several issues that are even MORE American than apple pie!  You heard me!  MORE AMERICAN THAN APPLE PIE AND CAPS LOCK ON THE INTARWEBZ!!!1!

Tune in on the uStream page before 4:30 PM EDT to watch Katie and I in action!  You can even interact with the show via a convenient chat room on the page!!!!  ZOMGLES!!!

The video is ONLY available to those who watch live.  If you download it later as part of the podcast, you will only get the audio… and as we saw last week, that’s never guaranteed not to suck.

Do it!

This is a skit I wrote and performed for No Shame Theatre last night.

Seven Words

by Reed Braden

Reed: I recently learned that the phrase “The Seven Words,” used by comedians to refer to the late, great George Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker and Tits, also refers in theological circles to the seven sayings of Jesus Christ on the Cross. That got me thinking…

[Reed exits, Man enters in Pope hat, reading from a Bible]

Pope: And, lo, they hung the body of Jesus onto a piece of wood. And it did hang there for quite some time. Possibly hours, maybe a day. The centurions did spit upon our Saviour and, behold, our Saviour did cry out:

[Reed re-enters in his underwear with stigmata on his hands, as Jesus with his hands stretched out still nailed to the cross]

Jesus: Jesus Christ, this really hurts! Father, forgive these little shits, for they know not what they do!

Pope: And the people, they felt ashamed. A thief, a common brigand, was hanged upon a piece of wood next to our Saviour’s piece of wood and he did tell our hero Jesus that he really did admire him. And Jesus did reply:

Jesus: Truly I say unto you, today you shall piss with me in paradise.

Pope: And the thief, he was glad in his heart. Our Saviour’s mother was there too. She had just gotten back from her errands in Lourdes, Guadeloupe, and Fatima, talking to frightened little children, telling them not to kill and beat people. John the Beloved, a bit of a buggerer, was there with the mother of our Saviour, when Jesus cried to her:

Jesus: Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother. Woman, do not fuck him. Thou must stayeth a virgin and be the virgin Mary. Thou art my mother… and that is disgusting.

Pope: And then a crow landed on our Saviour’s head and did shit on him.

Jesus: Son of a bitch!

[Reed tries to blow the bird off the top of his head]

Pope: And he did cry out:

Jesus: Eloi, Eloi, get this cunting bird off my head!

Pope: And theologians were very confused and did debate for hundreds of years hence if cunting was really a word or not. At that moment, Peter came out of the crowd to the feet of Jesus. “Jesus,” he called to the bloodied sack of godmeat on the piece of wood, “Jesus, Thou hittest the nail square on its head. The cock did crow thrice as I did forsake thee thrice.” And Jesus did say:

Jesus: All is forgiven.  Hey, Peter, is that a feather hanging out of thy mouth? I know this is a cheap joke, but I’m hanging on a fucking cross here: Peter, you cocksucker.

Pope: “O ho,” cried Peter, who was called the rock, “Thou did gettest me good that time.” And all did laugh at our Saviour’s pun. And then John the Beloved began beloving our Saviour’s mother too much. And our Saviour did say:

Jesus: Hey! I’m still alive up here and I can see you! John, you motherfucker, stop fucking my mother! Stop fucking my mother!!!

Pope: And then Jesus Christ, our Saviour did die.

 [Reed dies.]

Pope: With these words,

[Reed, annoyed, comes back to life and looks crossly at the man in the Pope hat]

 Pope: …he issued his last cry of bloodcurdling pain and torment:

Jesus: Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit, so that I may lie down betwixt thy tits and eat s’mores while thou readeth unto me a chapter of some book I like. Possibly a John Grisham. Perhaps a Stephen King. Aaaaaauuugh.

[Reed dies]

Pope: And theologians, once again, were very confused and for hundreds of years did debate as to whether God was a woman or not, or if Almighty God just had bitchtits.

[Reed exits]

Pope: Thus ends the account of the “Seven Words Of Jesus On The Cross That You Can Never Say On Television.”

We love you, George.

WARNING: If you don’t like Internet drama, don’t read this post.

I was wrong in the previous post that MaiForPeace was banned.  Someone mistook her for Peace_Nik.  I have changed the post accordingly.  Peace_Nik being banned is just as incomprehensible though.  Peace_Nik, although we had our skirmishes, was a great person and a model chatter.

Also, it seems that RDThrawn has now been removed as a moderator and was not (and I doubt will ever be) told why.  I think they may assume that since he is my friend, he was my mole into the mod forums.  They would assume wrong and would be demoting an innocent person.  Nice one, assholes!

Elles has a more detailed account of her own banning up on Splendid Elles.

Mat, Myx and Zuki are representatives of Richard Dawkins and the Richard Dawkins Foundation, whether they realise it or not.  Their actions reflect poorly on the rest of the foundation and Richard Dawkins himself.  The foundation would be wise to distance themselves from Matalanifesto and his chat room, SmallPopHypothesis.  Whether they buy the server out from beneath him or scrap the project altogether, they need to distance themselves.

WARNING: If you don’t like Internet drama, don’t read this post.

Ban -o- Rama

Myxoma and Zukiwi, two moderators on the Richard Dawkins Foundation chat room who are well-known for their trigger-happiness on the ban button, went on a banning spree, banning long-time users and even a few moderators.

Sadly, it looks like Internet Infidels all over again!

Elles, was reportedly banned for simply saying, “Freedom of speech!” after mulitple people were banned without warning.

Other people who were banned appear to include MaiForPeace, Peace_Nik, Yorkie (previously RichardOfYork), Andrew and Ftpansy.  The moderators will not confirm or deny any of these bans.  A lot of people were not banned but are leaving the chat room and joining my Skype group which has almost become a counselling group for RDFRS rejects.  The majority of these people are not troublemakers and were banned for merely being inquisitive, rational and skeptical; three things that Matalanifesto, the owner of the chat server, apparently does not condone.

In the exclusive moderator forums, one of the threads discussing the recent surge of bans was titled Ban -o- rama Stage 2, which not only shows disrespect for those long-time members banned yesterday but it borders on mockery.

One of the mods who has recently moved to the Skype group (he is not my source) posted in the moderator forums that he is, “quite insulted,” that the massive banning spree was not discussed with many of the mods before it happened.  “[The vote to ban] should not be called a unanimous vote as only a handful of mods were included.”  Myxoma seethed back:  “an emergency meeting was called.  The whole chat had decayed into chaos.  I’m sorry that you feel you were left out.”

I reviewed the chat record.  The “chaos” consisted of sceptics being skeptical and rationalists demanding their superiors (or so they like to think) be rational.  It really wasn’t chaotic at all.

BanFrank

I signed on the chat room under the name AnneFrank to see what the climate of the room was.  This was 12 hours after “Ban -o- Rama” began.  Even then, people were still awe-struck by the most unusual rumours of bans:  A user by the name of Slompoon was still amazed that MaiForPeace [Peace_Nik], a name that matches the owner’s character very well, was banned.  I didn’t know MaiForPeace [Peace_Nik], was banned before I heard this and I was equally amazed.

[Edit:  Apparently MaiForPeace was not banned.  Peace-Nik was.  Still, Peace_Nik was a long-time member, was highly respected among her peers and, even though we had our skirmishes, was an all-around delightful person.  MaiForPeace may not be banned but she also frequents the Skype chat.]

For the interest of brevity, I have removed other conversations that were going on simultaneously and some other superfluous text.

2008-06-28 03:41:14    Jackinbox maiforpeace has been banned from this chat?????
2008-06-28 03:41:26    Slompoon she has?
2008-06-28 03:41:38    Jackinbox ah!
2008-06-28 03:41:55    Jackinbox    why they have been banned?
2008-06-28 03:42:02    myxoma    Jack it is none of your business.
2008-06-28 03:42:11    Jackinbox why not?
2008-06-28 03:42:26    Jackinbox not a reason for not discussing it
2008-06-28 03:42:44    AnneFrank I think when mods and long-time users are banned, those who banned should be transparent about it.
2008-06-28 03:42:47    AnneFrank It makes sense.
2008-06-28 03:42:48    Roondog Can you speak to people like they are equals instead of this high and mighty tone you got going?
2008-06-28 03:42:48    andrew Because you’re not involved directly, Jack… therefore you are not allowed to question it whatsoever.. a bit like the spanish inquisition
2008-06-28 03:42:53    AnneFrank It’s *rational*
2008-06-28 03:43:20    myxoma    If anyone has complaints or concerns about moderator action you need to report it to other mods or email the admin.
2008-06-28 03:43:32    Roondog ohh that old mantra
2008-06-28 03:44:08    myxoma    Any complaints about moderator action needs to be directed to the admin.
2008-06-28 03:44:26    Slompoon    you are admin
2008-06-28 03:44:31    Jackinbox    how can we complain if you keep secret what happened?
2008-06-28 03:44:32    AnneFrank Myx, you know that won’t help anything if the corruption comes straight from the top. That’s like Rodney King complaining to the LAPD. It won’t work.
2008-06-28 03:44:41    Jackinbox do you have anything to hide?
2008-06-28 03:44:45    Ginrai Enough, guys… She will seriously ban you if you don’t stop.
2008-06-28 03:44:51    myxoma    Complain to Josh the RD.NET admin
2008-06-28 03:44:54    myxoma    Go ahead
2008-06-28 03:45:07    Slompoon k
2008-06-28 03:45:19    andrew Complain to Josh?
2008-06-28 03:45:29    AnneFrank    We have, most of us, but Joe owns the server and the chat room and RDFRS doesn’t have the resources to waste on buying it out from under him.
2008-06-28 03:45:31    andrew Matalanifesto owns this site
2008-06-28 03:45:34    andrew and you’re fucking him
2008-06-28 03:45:37    andrew you’re not going to go anywhere…
2008-06-28 03:45:38    andrew :|
2008-06-28 03:45:40    Roondog ohhh
ANDREW WAS BANNED
2008-06-28 03:46:18    darlets awwwwwwwww
2008-06-28 03:46:21    Roondog damn
2008-06-28 03:46:24    Roondog 1 down
2008-06-28 03:46:24    darlets now I have no hope
2008-06-28 03:46:27    Roondog whos next
2008-06-28 03:46:28    myxoma This kind of behavior is unacceptable.
2008-06-28 03:46:29    Slompoon well, i agree with that lol
2008-06-28 03:46:35    Roondog yeah it was
2008-06-28 03:46:35    myxoma You guys seriously need to grow up
2008-06-28 03:46:37    Jackinbox It seem Myxoma is a bit trigger happy.  Where were the warnings?
2008-06-28 03:46:41    Roondog he wnet too far
2008-06-28 03:47:35    myxoma    Matalanifesto is subject to RD.NET global rules and can be removed, as anyone else can, by Josh Timonen, the RD.NET webmaster.
2008-06-28 03:48:21    AnneFrank    And RD.NET won’t own the chat and will have to start again with a new server and build up the code from scratch again. Don’t think we’re stupid, Myx.
2008-06-28 03:48:38    Ginrai Anne, it actually isn’t that hard to make a chatroom.
2008-06-28 03:49:03    AnneFrank    It’s expensive to buy and maintain a server large enough.
2008-06-28 03:49:25    myxoma To be honest RD.NET does not have any interest in supporting the chat to being with as far as I know. They allowed him to volunteer to create the service out of his own pocket, and endorse the service as long as we follow the rules. We follow RD.NET global policies. The rules here are the same as in the forum.
2008-06-28 03:51:15    AnneFrank    And the mods in the forum don’t run amock with power plays, banning people for disagreeing with them (Imbrickle vs. Zukiwi) or for no reason at all (Elles vs. Myxoma).
2008-06-28 03:51:57    myxoma Annefrank, again, if you have issues with moderator actions it needs to be directed via pm or email.
2008-06-28 03:52:21    AnneFrank Why can’t it be discussed out in the open? What’s wrong with transparency?
2008-06-28 03:53:37    myxoma It is not discussed openly in the forums either. it’s the same rule as the forums! complaints are to be directed to PM and complaints about users and mods publicly are not allowed. It IS the same in the forums. How hard is this to understand. I am issuing an official first waring to all of you.
2008-06-28 03:54:07    Ginrai    … All of us?
2008-06-28 03:54:13    AnneFrank    Can you warn all of us like that? That seems a bit Nero-esque.
2008-06-28 03:54:22    myxoma    Annefrank, second warning.
2008-06-28 03:54:30    Ginrai    I haven’t said anything about it.
2008-06-28 03:54:30    AnneFrank    Woah!
2008-06-28 03:54:39    AnneFrank    What’s the official reason for that?
2008-06-28 03:54:51    myxoma If you have complaints or concerns about users, mods, rules, etc it is to be directed via pm.
2008-06-28 03:55:16    Jackinbox    We are not discussing the issue about mods. We are discussing the issue about not discussint the issues about mod. That’s very different.
2008-06-28 03:55:32    AnneFrank    Have I done anything to get banned yet? What’s the group consensus on this? Is this really a bannable discussion? I have a weird feeling I might get banned. I don’t know what it is… perhaps it was all of the other people who wished for rational explanations getting booted today.
2008-06-28 03:55:32    myxoma    That’s complaining about rules and protocol.
2008-06-28 03:55:49    Jackinbox    Is there a rule again that?
2008-06-28 03:55:51    myxoma    Annefrank final warning. Take up your complaint via email or pm
2008-06-28 03:55:54    myxoma YES
2008-06-28 03:56:02    myxoma ITS ON THE RULES PAGE ON THE FRONT PAGE
2008-06-28 03:56:04    AnneFrank    That wasn’t a complaint. Did you not read it?
2008-06-28 03:56:09    myxoma Read the rules before you sign up.
2008-06-28 03:56:16    AnneFrank    It was simply me asking if anyone else thought it was bannable.
ANNEFRANK WAS BANNED

(emphasis mine)

The rest of the transcript comes from an anonymous source who collected it after I was banned for asking too many questions.

2008-06-28 03:56:43    myxoma    What do you people not understand about this?
2008-06-28 03:57:09    Ginrai    Can I answer that question without being banned?
2008-06-28 03:57:14    Roondog are you ok?
2008-06-28 03:57:16    Roondog damn
2008-06-28 03:57:18    myxoma Me?>
2008-06-28 03:57:24    Roondog    rules are fine
2008-06-28 03:57:32    Roondog    but can they not be slightly bendy?
2008-06-28 03:57:45    myxoma Not when this situation has been going on for several days now.
2008-06-28 03:57:49    Roondog emm
2008-06-28 03:58:00    Roondog Does this stem from the gang situation?
2008-06-28 03:58:08    Ginrai Myx… Just tell them that you guys are talking about it.
2008-06-28 03:58:18    Ginrai Stop threatening them and tell them it is being discussed.
2008-06-28 03:58:20    Roondog I think the gang has disbanded
2008-06-28 03:58:25    Jackinbox    I’m reading it now and can’t find it. Could you point it more directly please?
2008-06-28 03:58:26    myxoma There were huge issues, that you may not be aware of, that needed to be cracked down on. We did and people don’t understand why we are enforcing the rules. It has been too lax here.
2008-06-28 03:58:40    Roondog it has
2008-06-28 03:58:41    myxoma Jackinbox at the bottom under complaints.
2008-06-28 03:58:42    Roondog I agree
2008-06-28 03:58:53    Roondog and I quit here for bullying
2008-06-28 03:58:59    Roondog came back on recently
2008-06-28 03:59:07    Roondog thanks to hard rule enforcment
2008-06-28 03:59:08    Ginrai    … I have not seen any of the issues you guys are talking about.
2008-06-28 03:59:12    Roondog but
2008-06-28 03:59:28    Ginrai    I’ve been coming here for about three weeks every day and I have not seen any of the problems with users bullying people or whatever.
2008-06-28 03:59:28    Roondog things should ebb freely for a bit
2008-06-28 03:59:53    myxoma    I state the rules over and over and people don’t listen. When you join this chat you are supposed to read ALL the rules, including the stuff about complaints, and including the part that states you MUST respect the requests of moderators, then if you feel moderator requests are unfair you are to report it to other mods, but in the meantime you are still expected to respect our requests. simple.
2008-06-28 04:00:06    Jackinbox    “If you have any queries, problems or comments relating to the running of the chatroom, please speak to a Moderator/Admin. ” Aren’t you a moderator, Myxoma?
2008-06-28 04:00:10    Roondog ok thats fair
2008-06-28 04:00:19    Ginrai    Myx, did you read what I said about the link to the terms and services does not work on the register page?
2008-06-28 04:00:23    myxoma    Jack, it says via PM or email
2008-06-28 04:00:35    myxoma I saw it ginrai I will add it to the growing list
2008-06-28 04:00:43    Jackinbox    and it doesn’t specify that we can’t talk about it on the chatroom. It just a suggestion to talk about it to a moderator
2008-06-28 04:00:56    Roondog but please understand right or wrong as atheists we are inclined to public debate. not that in this situation it is right but more that people will aim for ir
2008-06-28 04:01:07    myxoma I will add that to the list too. But you still agreed to respect moderator requests
2008-06-28 04:01:25    Jackinbox    “If no moderator/admin is present, you can email” you are present, as far as I know

(emphasis mine)

It really is sad to see the ol’ stomping grounds driven so far into the dirt of totalitarian dictatorship.  RDFRS chat used to be, “a clear-thinking oasis,” as the RDFRS logo reads, but now the chat room is only an oasis of clear-thinking if the thoughts coincide with the thoughts of the administration.  The turning point seems to have been after last year’s AAI conference when Matalanifesto’s sexcapades and Zukiwi and Myxoma’s power struggles started turning the chat room into a wasteland that people hated to go to and only suffered through to see old friends… like LAX.

The Beginnings of the Power Struggles

Matalanifesto & Myxoma

Much of the grappling for power by Matalanifesto and his horde of flying monkeys, Myxoma and Zukiwi, began during and after the Atheist Alliance International convention last year when Matalanifesto, a Brit, began a sexual relationship with a chat room moderator (we shall call her “Jennifer Anniston” out of respect for her private life) at the convention and then made frequent trips the to US to continue this relationship.  Jennifer Anniston had deep romantic feelings for him and was only setting herself up for a harsh heartbreak.  As she said retrospectively about how Matalanifesto came to woo her, “A lot can happen in those two minutes.”

One day, Matalanifesto called Jennifer Anniston and told her he couldn’t return to her house until he got more money for plane travel, he then flew to California to begin a sexual relationship with Myxoma.  Ms. Anniston had no clue about any of this until Matalanifesto appeared in Myxoma’s webcam in front of her and everybody else in the chat.  It was after that that Jennifer Anniston, a long-time user and a well-loved moderator left and several others of us left too.  It was no fun being there without her.  It was then that Myxoma began to feel her now-trademark sense of royal entitlement.  Zukiwi, for some odd reason, followed Mat and Myx as faithfully and obediently as if she were on a leash.

Zukiwi vs. Imbrickle

Zukiwi’s first outing into power hunger was several months ago when she disagreed with  Imbrickle, a neuroscience student, about the causes of Autism.  Zukiwi’s son has Asperger’s Syndrome so she thinks she knows everything about autism.  Imbrickle went to university and legitimately knows a great deal about autism.  You can see where I’m going with this.

After being yelled at by an angry Asperger’s mother for too long, Imbrickle blocked Zukiwi so she wouldn’t have to hear her yell at her or call her stupid any longer.  Zukiwi issued three quick warnings (that Imbrickle didn’t see, obviously, because she had blocked Zukiwi) and Imbrickle was banned.  Merely for disagreeing with a mod and keeping herself from being inundated with angry, uninformed rants, she was banned and never returned.  She is now on Skype with the rest of the RDFRS rejects.

Skype:  RDFRS Rejects

It was immediately after Imbrickle was banned that Rule110 and I started the Skype room to act as a refuge for those who were banned.  We didn’t think it would become a permanent haven or attract so many people.

I’ve noticed something:  It’s the smartest, funniest, most outgoing people who have been booted from or otherwise left the RDFRS chat and came to Skype.  Apparently it’s only the dumb and obedient who are left at RDFRS Chat.

As more people got banned, more people joined our Skype group.  Now there are 34 of us on Skype and that is nowhere near the sum of people wrongfully banned from RDFRS chat over the past nine months.

Conclusion

The title bar of the webpage still says “Community Video Chat,” even though the “chat” is now censored beyond reason, the “video” is only available on certain times of certain days, and the “community” doesn’t matter to the moderators and administrators at all anymore.  All those who for a long time have been loyal to the chat room have been banned or left with those who had been banned.  It’s sad.  It really is.  I met some of my best Internet friends through RDFRS Chat and I have very fond memories of what the room used to be before the power plays and jet-setting dick-wetting began.

I fully support the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.  The RichardDawkins.Net staff that I have met or communicated with have all been delightful.  They volunteer their time for a noble cause and are, in general, fantastic people.  Liz Cornwell and Josh Timonen especially.  My feelings toward RDFRS are not marred by the savagery of the administration of the chat room.

All people in this post from RDFRS Chat are mentioned by their chat names.

I was walking in the woods where my family might be buying some property when I felt so overjoyed by the miracles of nature around me and the beauty of the trees that I felt a guiding force pull me to look up and soak in a sunbeam that was bursting through the clouds right above me.  When I saw what was above me, my jaw dropped.  God was in the sky, revealing Herself to me.

Yes, God exists and is a woman.

Luckily I had my camera with me and was able to take photographic evidence that God revealed Herself, in all Her Glory, to me.

I’m joining a new church with an already-large Internet ministry.

Everyone knows that Atheists and others of the unchurched sleep in until 4PM on Sundays.  It’s the only way to truly avoid the crowd of bluehairs on the road driving from church to the cafeteria.  There’s no better way to wake up in the afternoon than to tune in live for a new episode of Two Smokin’ Hot Freethinkers Podcast!  (Except for maybe a blowjob by Rose McGowan.)

Tune in to our uStream channel before 4:30 PM EDT (8:30PM GMT, 1:30PM PDT) for the second live episode of Two Smokin’ Hot Freethinkers and catch the other episodes at TwoSmokinHotFreethinkers.blogspot.com!

I have an interesting question for my readers in reference to the Heinz mayonnaise ad referenced in my previous post about Bill O’Reilly.

If the ad were indeed a “gay thing” (which it’s not), do you think it would have run at all?

Levi’s Jeans had a commercial you might remember a while back where a guy pulls up his Levi’s and a street scene bursts out of his floor with a woman in a phone booth that he walks off into the night with:

What you might not remember is that there was a gay version of this commercial too. From what I remember, it wasn’t carried at all on network television and only a very few cable channels carried it, but it was very subtle: no holding hands, no kiss, no bodily contact.

If there was a company like Heinz or Levi’s that created a commercial with a gay couple who kissed on screen, do you think any networks or cable channels would show it?

So my friend Austin bought me this at a store called The Gay Dolphin.

It’s a bracelet covered with Jesuses and Maries.  (I assume those are the correct plurals.)

Why?

The Onion is celebrating Gay Pride this week.  The Onion RSS feed has been resending every article they have ever written about gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals since Monday.

A large banner stretches across the page:  “CELEBRATING GAY PRIDE.” They even have a new logo for the occasion:  The usual onion in gay pride colours.

It’s always nice to see a progressive company stick up for the rights of those who need them.

But must my RSS reader be filled with stuff I’ve read before?  Yes, we’ve all read “Local Bar Comes Out As Gay,” “Gay Gene Isolated, Ostracized,” and the all-too-true “Where Do Homosexuals Get All Their Energy.”  They’re all laugh-out-loud hilarious, but so is the stuff you right on a daily basis!  Can you not write gay-themed articles this week and publish only the new ones?

I think you’re just using Gay Pride to lax off of work.

(I’m only kidding.  I love The Onion and read it religiously.  Keep up the good work.)