Tonight on The Independents: "Environmentally Challenged," Starring Bill Nye the Science Guy, Ron Bailey, Bjorn Lomborg, John Tierney, and More! (Bumped)

Friday night editions of The Independents (9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT, with repeats three hours later, on Fox Business Network) are organized around a single theme, and tonight's is about what happens when you attempt to apply cost-benefit analysis and the scientific method to environmental problems such as (but not limited to) the warming of the planet. Before we get to any of that, watch our interview from earlier this week with Wyoming welder Andy Johnson, who is getting threatened by the Environmental Protection Agency with fines of up to $75,000 per day for the sin of building a fully permitted duck pond on his property:

Chilling stuff. Anyway, "Environmentally Challenged" starts off with a contentious interview about global warming impacts and policies with serial debater Bill Nye the Science Guy. Next comes a discussion about the science of the stuff with Climate Depot skeptic Marc Morano (once tabbed by Media Matters as the "Climate Change Misinformer of the Year") and Center for American Progress Director of Climate Strategy Daniel J. Weiss, who refused to debate directly with Moreno, and chided us for airing his views.

New York Times science writer and friend o' Reason John Tierney is next with an update on his classic and controversial 1996 piece, "Recycling is garbage." Followed by "skeptical environmentalist" and cost/benefit addict Bjorn Lomborg, who talks about comparatively inexpensive solutions to pressing environmental problems, and vice-versa. Energy economist Jerry Taylor of the Cato Institute discusses fracking and future energy sources, and beloved Reason Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey talks on one of his favorite themes: how things are actually getting better all the time.

IMPORTANT NOTES: This show will re-air not just at midnight ET tonight, but also at 7 pm Sunday. On 7 pm Saturday you can watch a repeat of Wednesday's fab libertarian red meat episode featuring Greg Gutfeld, Belle Knox, Julie Borowski, Greg Lukianoff, and more. Finally, I'll be bumping this post in the 8 o'clock hour for ease of discovery by our time-sensitive commentariat. 

Comments

[Snark Plissken]

Oh Jaysus!

[Paul.]

How did the EPA get wind of this pond?

[Snark Plissken]

$75,000/day buys a lot of snitches in Wyoming.

[Paul.]

It's the question that's never answered and yet is so very important.

"SWAT raids small poker game on Maple Street"

If four friends come over and play poker every other sat night, which neighbor is turning me in and why?

[Andrew S.]

The (SWAT) Monsters are Due on Maple Street?

[mad.casual]

If four friends come over and play poker every other sat night, which neighbor is turning me in and why?

You know.

[Paul.]

My wife?

[Apatheist ?_??]

The billion dollar bracket challenge has already been busted it looks like.

[The Last American Hero]

No surprise there. Lot's of brackets probably have the correct winner, final result, and final four. It's in the field of 64 that it's nearly impossible to go 32-0.

[Tman]

BAILEY IS ALIVE!!!!

Actually he posted in the other thread and said he's working on a book, which sounds like something similar to what Ridley writes about in his eternal optimist perspective.

Good stuff. THE SKY ISNT FALLING YOU IDIOTS!!!

[Tim]

Look at that hat! No wonder they want him dead.

[Paul.]

You don't have to tell me three times.

[Tim]

The power of squirrel compels me.

[Tim]

Look at that hat! No wonder they want him dead.

[Tim]

Look at that hat! No wonder they want him dead.

[Tim]

Sigh

[Warty]

I like that the EPA got the stupid voice. It was intensely satisfying.

[sarcasmic]

Compliance is just their euphemisms for unconditional obedience.

At this point it has nothing to do with the law, and everything to do with someone at the EPA getting all pissy about being questioned. It's personal now.

This dude is fucked because the EPA has unlimited time and resources to use against him.

I wish him luck. He's going to need it.

Reminds me of when my father was putting an addition onto his house. The petty tyrant wouldn't give him a permit until he demolished his greenhouse. Why? The previous owner who built it didn't get a permit. So no more permits until all unpermitted structures were razed. Asshole.

[LemonMender]

"?who talks about comparatively inexpensive solutions to pressing environmental problems, and vice-versa"

I'm wondering how to parse this: "pressing environmental problems to comparative inexpensive solutions"? I can't figure out what is meant here.

[mad.casual]

"who talks about comparatively expensive solutions to far off environmental problems"

Is that not vice-versa as well?

[Matt Welch]

That was the intention, yes.

[Steve G]

What's this week's streaming link? anyone? TIA

[Notorious G.K.C.]

http://www.baqiworld.com/2011/.....ness-live/

[Steve G]

Thanks!

[JW]

Does Kennedy always have the Hypno-Toad effect on her guests?

[Bardas Phocas]

Japanese go nuts over hotty Crimean Prosecutor.
WTF is up with the Japanese? Why can't they be normal like us normal people?
http://www.bloombergview.com/a.....t-in-japan

[Brett L]

What big... eyes... she has.

[SusanM]

Normal is for wimps, Bardas.

[mad.casual]

Are you saying she isn't attractive?

I hope she's done some Russian porn. At least, more so than Belle whatever her name is from Duke.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

You call yourselves H&R commenters, and you missed this part of the article:

"Four candidates, all men, refused before Aksyonov tapped her."

[mr lizard]

Wow, I actually regret stopping at the pic in the article.

[Tejicano]

That is freaking horribly unfortunate phrasing. Shinjirarenai...

So were the four who refused made to watch?

[Brett L]

Finally, I'll be bumping this post in the 8 o'clock hour for ease of discovery by our time-sensitive commentariat.

You guys just about have Matt trained.

[Matt Welch]

Well, there is the small question of sartorial non-excellence....

[Sudden]

At least you haven't worn a Pujols jersey on there yet.

Btw, Matt I hope to see you at Doyer Stadium when the first Freeway series is underway.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I guess I'll have to go to more games this season since that bullshit with Time Warner and the Dodger network has left me without a channel to watch them on.

[Sudden]

I don't even have cable, so I'll be watching the majority of games at bars.

Let me know anytime you're making the trek to the Ravine. I'm right down the street (can actually see the stadium from my office).

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Sure thing. Most likely next month I'll be going to my first game with my father and brother.

And that close, huh? The traffic must be inconvenient if you are leaving the office on a game night.

[Sudden]

Not exactly. I both live and work downtown. So the walk from my office to my apartment is completely undisturbed by traffic patterns. I'm one of thos rare breeds in L.A. that drive once a week.

[Trials and Trippelations]

As a UNC fan I am very pleased Dook lost. I am finding that when filling out a bracket with Dook the question is how early will they choke. Lately the first round has been a good bet

[Fist of Etiquette]

Finally, I'll be bumping this post in the 8 o'clock hour for ease of discovery by our time-sensitive commentariat.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Do you have any idea how much useless debris will be floating around this post by then? Idiots making comments about GOD KNOWS WHAT all afternoon long? Post this at the last possible second, that way it's a pure live blog thread, white as the driven snow, when we first see Kennedy's gawdawful earwear.

[Steve G]

GAHH! There's a healthcare.gov ad on this page and my monitor didn't burst into flames

[GILMORE]

Youtube recommends things to me all the time and I don't understand why...

...until this one.

its an interview show where a guy gets stoned with comedians.

This episode features someone I like a lot = Matt Walsh, one of the UBC founders, veteran of NYC improv comedy scene, journeyman comedy actor etc.. I haven't even watched much yet. They're still just getting high.

http://tinyurl.com/npcgegz

(starting when the guest shows up and he gets high too)

I've now watched a lot more. Its just what you'd think it is = a disorganized interview show where the guys are stoned and constantly interrupt one another and laugh at random.

Example exchange:

"Have you seen the LEGO movie?"
"I cleaned up my house today"
"Oh that's good"

[Balloon maker]

Doug benson is goddamn hilarious. And hi functioning for a stoner. He has several podcasts and tours quite a bit.

[Byte Me]

Clint Eastwood to the EPA, while holding his M1A: "Get off my pond."

[SIV]

COSMOTARIANS CONGREGATE!

[Winston]

Does Matt Welch still support Socialized Medicine and anti-discrimination laws?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Common Core is indoctrinating our children with right-wing propaganda

"The Economics of Free Enterprise in a Global Economy" examines the principles of the United States free market economy in a global context.

? Students will examine their individual responsibility for managing their personal finances in a global economy.
? Students will analyze the role of supply and demand in determining the prices individuals and businesses face in the product and factor markets, and the global nature of these markets.
? Students will study changes to the workforce in the United States and the role of entrepreneurs in our economy, as well as the impact of globalization.
? Students will explore the challenges facing the United States free market economy in a global environment and various policy-making opportunities available to government to address these challenges.

Granted their is a glaring in accuracy in referring to the United States as a free-market economy, but this guy is pissed off that elementary school students would be taught supply and demand and personal finances.

Continued...

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Tea Party Republicans and Fox News might argue that "free enterprise the pillar of the United States economy," but as the authors of the revised frameworks concede in an addition that did not appear in the original draft, the United States has a "mixed economy" and "a degree of regulation, oversight, or government control is necessary in some markets to ensure free and fair competition and to limit unintended consequences of American capitalism" such as "unemployment, inflation, poverty, and environmental degradation." The original draft did not even mention the word capitalism.

The primary focus of the framework is on individual economic choice and responsibility. But people do not choose to be underpaid because they are Black or women or out of work because they are technologically unemployed or their company shipped their job overseas. When I was a teenager I had a nasty fight with my father about money that he did not have and hence could not give me. In the way only a teenager can hurt a parent, I said I guessed it was my fault - I should have chosen a richer father.

What the economic standards leave out is that "free enterprise" is not the same as freedom and that you only have economic choices if you have money. The 1%, maybe the .5%, have economic choices, the rest of us get to decide between Big Macs and Whoppers.

Clearly schools need to drill into students' heads that the capitalism is unfair so you're better off complaining and demanding free shit.

[Sevo]

"What the economic standards leave out is that "free enterprise" is not the same as freedom and that you only have economic choices if you have money. The 1%, maybe the .5%, have economic choices, the rest of us get to decide between Big Macs and Whoppers."

And the alternative leaves all of us with choice between standing in line for something or standing in line for nothing.
We can all be equally poor!

[GILMORE]

"The 1%, maybe the .5%, have economic choices, the rest of us get to decide between Big Macs and Whoppers."

"or NOT choose either"

I am confused how the person who wrote this fails to see how being able to choose What To Eat is in fact an 'economic choice'

As opposed to, say, needing to choose between 'food vs bribes to the komissar'

[Sudden]

What the economic standards leave out is that "free enterprise" is not the same as freedom and that you only have economic choices if you have money. The 1%, maybe the .5%, have economic choices, the rest of us get to decide between Big Macs and Whoppers.

This does beg the question: is the author of this column a 1%er? If not, what is his blood pressure and cholesterol like, since I assume he is eating either Big Macs at all times since he apparently only tells Whoppers.

[paranoid android]

When I was a teenager I had a nasty fight with my father about money that he did not have and hence could not give me. In the way only a teenager can hurt a parent, I said I guessed it was my fault - I should have chosen a richer father.

I can see that the lessons of that incident didn't exactly sink in.

[Sevo]

"I can see that the lessons of that incident didn't exactly sink in."

Or one of the "lessons" wasn't delivered.

[Sudden]

For all they rail against greed, progressives really are the greediest of parasites known to man. They simply cannot stomach the idea of anyone having more than them. Their entire worldview is motivated by the most base materialistic desires with no deeper philosophical underpinnings.

And the charge of greed for those that disagree with them is projection at its most vile.

[The Late P Brooks]

Center for American Progress Director of Climate Strategy Daniel J. Weiss, who refused to debate directly with Moreno, and chided us for airing his views.

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

[Derpetologist]

Did he leave his ball behind so the rest can play?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Wikipedia confirms this guy is a moron:

He is a former employee of Senator Jim Inhofe. While working for Inhofe, he served as his director of communications beginning in June 2006. As communications director for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under the Bush administration, he designed the EPW press blog, which won a Golden Mouse Award in 2007.[2] His career began working for Rush Limbaugh from 1992 to 1996, during which time he was often known as "Limbaugh's man in Washington".[1] After 1996, he began working for Cybercast News Service, where he was the first to publish articles accusing John Kerry of exaggerating his military service record.

You will find much in common with him no doubt.

[Sudden]

I understand that you're not a fan of his associations, but there is one part of that wiki entry that strikes me as the height of stupidity:

As communications director for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under the Bush administration, he designed the EPW press blog, which won a Golden Mouse Award in 2007.

If he worked for a Senate committee, what exactly is the relevance of stating the executive administration that occupied the office of the presidency at the time he was working for another fucking branch entirely?

[Derpetologist]

Guilt by association- yawn.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Morano is a useful idiot/ratfucker.

Like James O'Keefe is. I can't blame a legit scientist for refusing to debate him.

It would be like Carl Sagan debating Jerry Falwell on the cosmos.

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|3.21.14 @ 8:35PM|#
"Morano is a useful idiot/ratfucker."

Which puts him two steps up on you, asshole.
Go lick Obo's ass.

[Derpetologist]

Funny, Bill Nye will debate creationists, UFO kooks, just about anybody. And unlike Weiss, he actual has a background in science and math.

Weiss has some bullshit public policy degree and was a Sierra Club wonk.

[General Butt Naked]

Funny, Bill Nye will debate creationists, UFO kooks, just about anybody.

Which I've never understood. The act of having the debate implies those ideas carry enough merit to be debated.

[Derpetologist]

I think it's important even for kooks to have their say. The best debunking comes from a debate.

[Juice]

You know, I've never thought that and I don't understand why anyone would. To me all it takes to be "worthy" of debate is that enough people believe it and need to be disabused somewhat of their flawed thinking.

[Stormy Dragon]

The problem is that when the kooks claim they want a debate, they don't actually want a debate. They just want a chance to lecture you. They're not even going to listen to anything you say. So rather than repeating arguments they ignored the first thousand times in hopes they'll listen the thousand and first, you're better off not wasting your time.

Rational argument cannot hope to change a belief that was not rationally arrived at to begin with.

[The Late P Brooks]

What the economic standards leave out is that "free enterprise" is not the same as freedom and that you only have economic choices if you have money. The 1%, maybe the .5%, have economic choices, the rest of us get to decide between Big Macs and Whoppers.

Woe, woe, woe.

Somebody haz a sad.

[paranoid android]

A couple years ago, when I had maybe $500 to my name, I packed up everything I owned and moved to a new city halfway across the country. So is choosing where to live not an economic choice, or was my (formerly) broke ass actually part of the 1%?

[Derpetologist]

You see, in prog land, unless you're super wealthy, you're a victim, even though you're almost certainly freer and richer that most other people in the world or even in history.

That's some nice 110-proof derp right there.

[The Late P Brooks]

You're an angry, impotent little person, Shreeek. Have a shot of paint thinner, you'll feel better.

[Winston]

They should discuss bathroom equality. Do we really need separate bathrooms for men and women and doesn't that discriminate against the transgendered? And aren't urinals and peeing standing up symbols of the cispatriarchy and should be banned?

And according to Cracked.com we are pooping the wrong way so shouldn't toilets be designed more ergonomically? And Mythbusters showed me that hand dryers spread more germs so they should be banned as well. The Mythbusters also showed that the stall closest to the door is the cleanest which is geographical discrimination and othering of germs so people should be forced to go into each stall equally.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

INDEPENDENTS ASSEMBLE!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMWGXt979yg

[Winston]

Is that the British title?

[GILMORE]

re: AGW and people who make a living screaming and pissing themselves stupid over either side of it =

I have made the following point over and over and over again and have still not encountered any decemt response.

- "We could all in theory completely agree about the basic 'data'; that there is some warming, that a large amount of it is man made; that major contributors to the warming include carbon from fossil fuels as well as other industrial byproducts;

that said - even IF we all agree about all these things (which are themselves debatable in great detail)...

...these agreed-upon facts DO NOT LEAD TO ANY CLEAR POLICY RECOMMENDATION AT ALL = and worse, the ones proposed thus far all have the intelligence-insulting characteristic of being both massively wasteful while simultaneously doing nothing about the "problem" they are ostensibly designed to address.""

No "green" will ever sit across from me without having to first explain how and why the Ethanol Mandate is such a screaming hypocritical pile of shit, and why the Greens DO NOTHING TO STOP IT because they hate admitting that an Environmentally Activist Government can ever make a mistake.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Mercer beats Duke, and I agree with Gilmore.

What a day!

[GILMORE]

Don't worry; you're still a douchebag and no one is surprised.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Ah, at least we can count on Gilmore's being a jerk as a constant in this topsy-turvy world of March Madness.

[Byte Me]

Well, I am a little lit and I hate green, weenie environ-Nazis. So, this should be fun.

[General Butt Naked]

Any live streams of this thing?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

http://www.baqiworld.com/2011/.....ness-live/

[General Butt Naked]

Thakee Sai.

[Derpetologist]

It sure is interesting how no matter what the problem is, the solution is to do what progs have wanted to do since 1848, and do it immediately.

[GILMORE]

WITHOUT DEBATE BECAUSE DEBATE IS THE ENEMY

[kibby]

Wanting to debate clearly means you're a racist.

[Byte Me]

And sexist.

[GILMORE]

Whots wrong with sexy?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Overthrow the French king and kill the Archbishop of Paris?

[Winston]

Demand lots of free shit?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Days

And this was the Left that Bastiat sat with as Richman and co. constantly remind us.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Keep Yucatan from joining Mexico?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Prediction: Hitler mustaches hanging from her ears.

[GILMORE]

Gaia look for Kennedy? Her green palette is pretty deep.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Or hoops.

[Bam!]

Thin hoops.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

How does she know I'm an insomniac?

[Fist of Etiquette]

There's no doubt that the climate is changing?

[Byte Me]

It always is and always has.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Is Kennedy going to be killed before the first commercial break to demonstrate how dangerous the villain is?

[General Butt Naked]

A soberly clothed panel if I've ever seen one.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Global Warming is manmade in that it's made up.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"We're killing our world...ha, ha." And flies away.

Jesus Christ.

[Bam!]

Epic pause is epic.

[kibby]

Oh, killing our planet lady. Maybe you should do us all a favor & kill yourself!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Was that the otherwise hot Irish girl talking about landfills? Because she has so much more to offer.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

We invite comments and request that they be civil

[General Butt Naked]

NO ONE KNOWS...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Nye doesn't know who he's talking to.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ8xDia5RNY

For Gilmore's pleasure. Saw the Porsche/Lamborghini remark.

Top Gear is a fun show.

[GILMORE]

I hate the alfa 8C. Nice looks, but crap car.

This, on the other hand..

http://alturl.com/zite7

Want.

[GILMORE]

in case you are unaware = its a small german company that took M5 engines, juiced them up, stuck them in a light short chassis, then dressed it with that aluminum bodywork reminiscent of e-types and duesenbergs... cost about a quarter mill though, and the company is just coming out of bankruptcy again.

But still. Meow. Plus, they aren't bad drivers, according to Clarkson et al. Need to find that episode. he compared it to the new TVRs which are much cheaper, but shit, apparently.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I know, Gilmore. That was the point of the segment. Alfa set out to DESIGN a car by letting form rule over function for one second.

Top Gear understood art for its own sake but for a moment in time.

[GILMORE]

Also =just for giggles, note Clarkson's entirely different spin on the same car in this review below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JClMzCEM3ds

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Jezza describes the fastest car in. the. world!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Is Kennedy gonna be rude with this guy like she did the guy from Heritage?

[kibby]

I did not start drinking early enough for this show. I'm going to hate everyone by the time it's over.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I love all of God's creatures.

[kibby]

Then you are a better person than I.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Problem is, a lot of these mothefuckers ain't creatures of God.

*shotgun shell entering chamber*

[Winston]

I love all of God's creatures.

Do they all got guns?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

What a fucking asshole.

17 FUCKING YEARS BILL!

[General Butt Naked]

"What do we know for sure?"

"Weather is changing in surprising ways."

Is it possible to be sure and surprised at the same time?

[Derpetologist]

That folks, is called a contradiction.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Welch, you better shut this idiot down!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Welch is a believer.

[kibby]

Pshaw. Dream on...I love me some Matt, but his views on this make me want to beat my head against concrete.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

At least he knows the name of the network.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, slow it down everyone. Chillax. As my union friends will tell you, you're moving too fast.

[Bam!]

He seems to have a thing for Fox News channels.

[GILMORE]

Way to be a dick Bill.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

"We things get warmer they expand, with a couple of exceptions."

That's what she said!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

He needs to be more condescending.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Over/under on him disparaging Fox?

Speed, huh.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Arrogant ass!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

This is getting awkward. Bill is crossing over into econ.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Seriously. What a pompous ass.

The question was straight forward, Bill Nye the Science Guy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

THE INDEPENDENTS WILL TAKE THE POLITICS OUT OF CLIMATE SCIENCE.

[Bobarian]

There would be nothing left.

[GILMORE]

"the other side"?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

This is an example of the scientists claiming the science is settled?

[kibby]

Yeah, we sure could have used some solar panels in Ohio when I was growing up. Definitely would have been super helpful for about three weeks of the year.

[Derpetologist]

It sure would be great if Bill would explain how the world is supposed to get enough energy without using coal or oil.

[Bam!]

You head him: His magic wind turbines that someone is going to invent.

[Juice]

NOBODY BROUGHT UP NUCLEAR

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Bill looks astounded that Kmele is arguing about cost/benefit analysis when the fate of the world depends on us DOING SOMETHING.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Bill seems to be taking the posture of 'just follow me.'

And he's a terrible sophist.

I see this ending in fisticuffs.

[kibby]

He makes me hate bow ties a little. You have to be a pretty awful person to make that happen.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Les Nessman did it first.

[Winston]

Tucker Carlson and Matt Smith are not enough?

[kibby]

YOU LEAVE MATT SMITH ALONE.

[Winston]

NuWho is no patch on the Underwater Menace.

[kibby]

I haven't watched that far back. Got stuck on Five & like him too much to watch anyone else right now.

[Winston]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY0P9YLErYY

Such exciting footage!

[Winston]

Seriously who the fuck is Kennedy? Some washed up old VJ from the old days when MTV actually played music? How exactly does that appeal to the yutes?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Better question is, who the fuck are you?

[BardMetal]

He's Winston

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ooo, I sense an edit.

[Matt Welch]

His satellite feed cut out. True story!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I prefer to believe he totally lost his shit for a few minutes.

[Byte Me]

Invent this REALLY big battery.

I lol'd.
1. Pontificating about things that do not exist yet.
2. The production of batteries, by the greenies own measure, is a tremendously 'dirty' process. (as is the production of solar panels)

[Derpetologist]

What if UNICORNS?

[Byte Me]

That interview was really sad on Mr. Nye's part. He has gone full FEELZ on his position and said nothing coherent.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

[insert joke about the world's biggest dildo]

[Derpetologist]

Shorter Bill- if people don't agree with me, it's because the rubes are brainwashed and I'm not charismatic enough.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

No one calls him out on 17 years of no warming?

[Sevo]

No, I'm not watching, but no one asked about the lack of temp increase?

[Fist of Etiquette]

This is worse than the commie.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

We need more fear-mongering!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I think environmental issues take up its share of space in media. He didn't fail because of that. He failed because people call bull shit.

He offered nothing here.

[Bam!]

Oscar winning documentaries, green weeks on NBC, virtually every comedy program on TV -- Yeah, I think global warming is pushed pretty hard by the media.

[Derpetologist]

Worfrin treats all major symptoms of kligonitis. Do not take Worfrin with prune juice.

[Derpetologist]

Good news! Amy Winehouse has been sober for 3 years.

[GILMORE]

that's mean.

She's just hungover still

[Fist of Etiquette]

Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow.

[jesse.in.mb]

Koreans loved that film. I can't think of it as anything other than tomorrow-u.

[Derpetologist]

"Do you want to shut the economy DOWN?"

"I'm afraid not, clich?, dissenting Republican."

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Has science ever been about consensus rather than making testable models and predictions?

[Derpetologist]

All scientific progress has come from challenging the consensus.

[BardMetal]

Yeah back during the middle ages. The consensus really showed that Galileo guy.

[Byte Me]

Basically, the problem is cars, coal, and buildings. - Al Gore

All things Mr. Gore has an abundance of. I should call him 'Mr. Private Jet'.

[BardMetal]

Al Gore has about 20X the carbon footprint that I have but gets a pass because he cares, and I'm an evil asshole because I don't.

Why do I get the feeling that I could start the world's biggest tire fire, so big that it could be seen from space, and as long as I called it "the sustainable energy tire fire", and claimed that I was worried about global warming, that the greenies would love me.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

LIAR!

97% of the 39% that gave an opinion.

ASSHOLE!

[Derpetologist]

Wow! Every talking point out in 10 seconds. That's called staying on message.

[Byte Me]

I am at a loss for words to describe the utter intellectual dishonesty of that guy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

We don't know how the climate is changing, but the science is settled.

[SIV]

Apocalyptic religious cultists

[Winston]

Did anyone remember watching Bill Nye's old show? I know I used to. So has Bill changed or did we not just notice until now?

[Derpetologist]

I think he kept it under his hat when he was doing the kid show.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I imagine he's always been like that, but it wasn't evident when he was explaining basic concepts of science to kids.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oh, a nice, warm bath sounds nice right about now.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

So fucking what climate is changing? It always did. It's shockingly arrogant of us to think we can actually take on Mother Nature.

Take action against what?

Man, ridiculous.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I think it's awesome that every time Kmele invokes economics to discuss the impracticality of their solutions, the climate alarmists get stonefaced.

[The Late P Brooks]

When I want serious science and honest analysis, the first place I look is the Center for American Progress.

What a blathering moron. "Recharge stations!"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

WE. MUST. DO. SOMETHING!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kibby]

Kmele, I could absolute hug the stuffing out of you right now.

[Raymond Luxury Yach-t]

everybody shutup and let Kmele speak

[Francisco d'Anconia]

So, the rich.

[The Late P Brooks]

PUSSY!

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Well, first of all, it's not my job that will be lost. Second of all, just buy a hybrid with money from somewhere."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Amazing how these people run when faced with RATIONAL DISCOURSE.

I think the panel is asking fair questions.

What a piece of shit this guy is. What a jerk off.

ARGUE YOUR POINT, ASSHOLE. DEBATE.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Kmele off the top rope!

HUZZAH!

[SIV]

APOSTASY! APOSTASY!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Kmele. Keep it up. These guys are pathetic.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ha. Shrill is a pretty good description of Weiss in that last segment.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Someone should point out that the reason the climate alarmists get treated as snake oil salesmen is because they bullshit us with the economic benefits of "taking action".

Like seriously, there will be zero negative consequences to abandoning gas and coal because stimulus and the magical multiplier effect?

[jesse.in.mb]

I don't like the way this guy pronounces holocaust.

[kibby]

DENIER.

[jesse.in.mb]

I deny liking his pronunciation of holocaust, so I suppose so...

[Fist of Etiquette]

It ain't just a river in Egypt.

[Derpetologist]

Jebus, what coward. Some other clown (Gavin Schmidt) on Stossel also refuses to debate with a skeptic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYKggC5VOzA

[Byte Me]

Again with the "I won't debate anyone" bs? Really? Is THAT their only tactic left? That is anything but 'intellectual'.

REAL science IS skepticism. A REAL scientist is someone who tries to falsify his own theory (after finding data supporting it), and is eternally skeptical. Let us recall that, 500 years ago, it was a SCIENTIFIC FACT that the world was flat.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Let us recall that, 500 years ago, it was a SCIENTIFIC FACT that the world was flat.

PEDANT ALERT: but that's actually not true. Educated Europeans in the 15th century were well aware that the Earth was spherical.

[kibby]

Thanks to the Greeks!

[Francisco d'Anconia]

You know what else we can thank the Greeks for?

[kibby]

Thermometers?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Lesbians?

[jesse.in.mb]

Anal sex?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

You want breakfast try the dinner. You're obviously into Greek!

[jesse.in.mb]

Ah good. I was too lazy to hunt the clip down.

[Sevo]

Last name that sound like a case of the hiccoughs?

[SIV]

An evangelical would happily debate a pagan,a satanist or an Atheist.

They are so much more open minded than the AGWarmists

[Heroic Mulatto]

An evangelical would happily debate a pagan,a satanist or an Atheist.

That's because many evangelicals believe in presuppositional apologetics, so they don't view it as a debate as much as a chance to tell them how wrong they are.

[BardMetal]

Which makes them exactly the same as the global warming crowd.

[SIV]

No.Evangelicals don't force their religious beliefs on anyone. Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior has to be a purely voluntary decision on your part.

[Derpetologist]

Yes, it's all perfectly voluntary except for the whole damned for all eternity if you don't submit part.

[SIV]

Your choice, sinner.

[Derpetologist]

OK, Reverend Pascal. I'll convert tonight if you can answer these questions:

1. If everything requires a creator, what created god? If god doesn't need a creator, why does the universe need one?

2. If god wants people to believe in him, why does he let the devil run around and fuck up his plans?

3. Why does god demand belief on faith? The devil knows he exists and disobeys him any, so there would be no conflict with free will if chose to show himself.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Yes, it's all perfectly voluntary except for the whole damned for all eternity if you don't submit part.

If you were standing on train tracks unaware that a train was barreling toward you, would you begrudge a person for screaming at you to move or you'll be hit by a train?

You still have a choice to heed them or not.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

what created god?

to whom is the bachelor married?

[Derpetologist]

Moff:

Bad analogy. If someone is yelling about a train, and I look around and don't see one, would you begrudge me for thinking the guy is wrong? What if several people were screaming contradictory warnings? Should I believe any of them?

Pantsfan:

Saying god by definition doesn't need a creator but everything else does is special pleading. I could just as well define the universe as not needing a creator.

C'mon guys. You're smarter than this.

[The Deacon]

This question is logically problematic. If everything needs a creator, than no matter what exists, it must have been created. Furthermore, to be created means that someone or something had to create it. But then, who created the creator and so on? Logically, this would mean there would be an infinite regression of creators (prior causes), and we would never be able to find the first uncaused cause, since by definition (the question says that "everything needs a creator") there wouldn't be any uncaused cause. This would mean that the sequence of creations is eternal. But, if it exists that there is an eternal regression of creators, then who created the infinite regression of creators? Remember, the question presupposes that all things need a creator -- even the eternal sequence of creators -- which becomes logically absurd. Furthermore, if there is an eternal regression of creators that are eternal, then the question is not answered. In fact, it cannot be answered, since its weakness is that "all things need a creator." Of course, this only begs the question in that how did the process begin? Therefore, the question only raises the same problem it asks, and it is a question that, by its own design, cannot be answered. Therefore, it is invalid.

[Derpetologist]

Saying there must be a first cause and then labeling it god does nothing to answer the question.

I have no idea how or if the universe began. I don't think we'll ever know. There's good evidence the universe began expanding 14 billion years ago, and that's about all we know.

Everything else in the universe has a naturalistic cause, so if the universe had a cause, it's irrational to posit a supernatural one.

[The Deacon]

Aquinas spent several hundred pages explaining why the first cause must be God. Read that and then get back to me.

[Derpetologist]

Aquinas believed sperm contained miniature humans, so perhaps you'll pardon me for taking his scientific views with a few tons of salt.

[The Deacon]

You're suddenly applying science to metaphysics.
Go on.

[Derpetologist]

No, I'm pretty sure it's been going on like that for a few hundred years.

[The Deacon]

no matter how you section reality, you will end up will a state of affairs where the reason for that reality's existence is not in itself,it is something prior.
no physical quantity explains its own existence.
when you look at intelligibility you always assume an intelligence behind it.

If you came on a dictionary, you wouldn't think it was from an explosion in a printing press.

[Derpetologist]

Snow flakes have complex patterns and symmetry, but we know they are not made by gremlins.

The reason I wouldn't think a dictionary came about by an explosion is because there is no evidence that has ever happened.

[The Deacon]

Who said snowflakes were made by Gremlins?
You've gone into nonsensical verbal diarrhoea.

[Derpetologist]

I'm using snowflakes as an example of how something that looks designed actually comes about without a designer.

[The Deacon]

you assume there's no designer?

[The Deacon]

There's no design for DNA either, right?
http://storiesforspeakers.blog.....esome.html

[Derpetologist]

You're basically saying "I have no idea how DNA could come about without a supernatural cause."

That's called the god of the gaps argument.

[The Deacon]

You missed the point.
Get back to grade 11.

[Derpetologist]

If we were having this argument 1000 years ago, you'd problem be telling me that the plague is proof of god's existence, because how else could it be explained?

[The Deacon]

Have you submitted proof of your grade 11 equivalence yet? I failed to see it.

[Derpetologist]

Suppose I grant that god is the first cause. That does nothing to imply Christianity or creationism.

Every argument you've made so far could be applied to almost any other god. In fact, they have been applied to every other god.

[The Deacon]

Maybe if you coughed again you could spit your point out.

[Derpetologist]

How's this? I contend we are both atheists. I just believe in one less god than you.

[The Deacon]

I just believe in one less god than you.

And a triangle is just a square with one angle fewer.

[Derpetologist]

In order to be a believer in one religion, you must be an atheist about every other religion.

[The Deacon]

The world isn't divided up between believers and non-believers. The fundamental difference is the object of our belief and worship ? Christ, or something else. Do you worship God, or do you worship something else - career, power, influence over others, income, etc.

[Derpetologist]

I don't worship anything.

With a few changes, all of your posts could be used to argue for Islam.

"The world isn't divided up between believers and non-believers. The fundamental difference is the object of our belief and worship ? Allah."

"Mohamed spent several hundred pages explaining why he must be God's last messenger. Read that and then get back to me."

[The Deacon]

You worship what is most important to you in life.
Is it your job, is it your family? What is the most important thing in your life, that if you no longer had it, you could no longer go on. That is what you worship.
It doesn't have to be a supernatural thing.
If you failed to deliver to an important client.

[Derpetologist]

I'd have a hard time surviving without oxygen, but it's really stretching the definition to say I worship it.

[The Deacon]

are you stating as a fact that your lifestyle is only define by access to oxygen?
If you lost your home, you'd be cool as long as you could breathe?

[Derpetologist]

I don't bow down to anything. That's the literally meaning of the word worship.

[Derpetologist]

Why should assume one?

[The Deacon]

are you illiterate?
when you look at intelligibility you always assume an intelligence behind it.

[Derpetologist]

We assume intelligence behind things we know from experience are designed- things like buildings.

If buildings popped out of the ground like mushrooms, there would be no reason to assume a designer every time you saw a building.

So far, we've hit watchmaker, pascal, and first cause. I suppose the moral argument is coming next.

[Derpetologist]

We assume intelligence behind things we know from experience are designed- things like buildings.

If buildings popped out of the ground like mushrooms, there would be no reason to assume a designer every time you saw a building.

So far, we've hit watchmaker, pascal, and first cause. I suppose the moral argument is coming next.

[The Deacon]

The question is better phrased as a statement: "Everything that has come into existence was brought into existence by something else." This is a more logical statement and is not wrought with the difficulties of the initial question. In the revised statement, "Everything that has come into existence" implies that the thing that "has come into existence" did not already exist. If it did not already exist but then came into existence, then something had to bring it into existence, because something that does not exist cannot bring itself into existence (a logical absolute). This pushes the regression of creators back to what we would call the theoretical "uncaused cause" since there cannot be an infinite regression of creators as discussed above; and since an infinite number of creators would mean there was an infinite number of creations and created things, including things that cannot be destroyed since they would constitute things that exist. If that is so, then the universe would have had an infinite number of created things in it, and it would be full. But it is not full. Therefore, there has not been an infinite regression of creations.

By definition, the Christian God never came into existence; that is, He is the uncaused cause (Psalm 90:2). He was always in existence and He is the one who created space, time, and matter. This means that the Christian God is the uncaused cause, and is the ultimate creator. This eliminates the infinite regression problem.

[Derpetologist]

Virtual particles appear and disappear. Lots of crazy things can happen on the quantum level.

[The Deacon]

Some may ask, "But who created God?" The answer is that by definition He is not created; He is eternal. He is the One who brought time, space, and matter into existence. Since the concept of causality deals with space, time, and matter, and since God is the one who brought space, time, and matter into existence, the concept of causality does not apply to God since it is something related to the reality of space, time, and matter. Since God is before space, time, and matter, the issue of causality does not apply to Him.

[Derpetologist]

So god is uncaused, eternal, and is not bound by any of the stuff everything else in the universe is?

Please do yourself a favor and look up the definition of special pleading.

[Rabban]

Well it is either that or it was a cosmic lottery. The odds on the cosmic lottery are beyond long....

[SIV]

I'm an agnostic.

[Derpetologist]

You had me fooled.

[Heroic Mulatto]

A REAL scientist is someone who tries to falsify his own theory (after finding data supporting it), and is eternally skeptical.

According to Popper, yes. Unfortunately, not all scientists agreed with Popper's arguments, even when they were first introduced.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I think the roundness of the earth was known for centuries before that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.....Flat_Earth

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I can't still believe he actually publicly refused to debate.

I DON'T respect that.

Makes me ignore them more.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Thank Christ, a voice of sanity!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Let me declare here...I don't recycle much.

[The Late P Brooks]

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE OPINION!

[Trials and Trippelations]

People that "recycle" plastic bags at their local Target or grocery store are just wasting their time. When I worked for a grocery store we just threw them in the dumpster.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ha.

[Derpetologist]

Shhh! You're not supposed to say that out loud!

[Trials and Trippelations]

Aw, but it's so much fun to burst bubbles

[Heroic Mulatto]

Bubble Butts are more fun

[Francisco d'Anconia]

I'm not clicking on that again.

[Trials and Trippelations]

Shit slow mo ruined everything

[Heroic Mulatto]

Too much ass?

Here's a White man's edition, just for you.

[Aloysious]

I LOVE that vid.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Ha, the store I worked out just had me dump them out back. I never knew what became of them.

[kibby]

People actually do that? I never had anybody try that at a "natural foods" store in California -- I'd have laughed in their faces.

[Trials and Trippelations]

I moved to California for the academic year, and I feel like less stuff is recycled here than the other states I've lived in (MN, NC). My apartment complex has no recycling receptacles and I think the CRVs makes people more apt to toss their cans and bottles. I know I did for a while.

[kibby]

I had the exact same experience when I lived there! Arizona has had way more recycling opportunities than CA ever did. Ohio less so but still beats CA.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Outside many grocery stores are these shipping containers where people take their recyclables to get a voucher for the CRV refund.

It's a private business but I never did find out if they were subsidized in some way by the state.

[Trials and Trippelations]

It took me a while to find one. It's annoying to wait in the line at the shipping container. I'd rather not be charged a credit, and spend 2 seconds throwing my cans in a recycling container.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, we totally know the volume of carbon in the atmosphere during the last ice age. YOU'RE ALL CHARLATANS.

[Winston]

So "consensus." I thought we were all supposed to question authority which includes the notion that something is right just because authority figures say so?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Didn't you hear? If the oceans keep rising, populous parts of New York will turn into islands!

[SIV]

HERETIC!

[SIV]

Sorry, this was in reference to Lomborg

[Francisco d'Anconia]

The science is settled, from a man who clearly has no idea what science is.

I won't debate a sceptic. Really?

Ignorant fucks.

[Derpetologist]

If it made economic sense to recycle paper or plastic, hobos would have that in their shopping carts.

[Sevo]

"If it made economic sense to recycle paper or plastic, hobos would have that in their shopping carts."

It is easy to spot when the markets make that worthwhile; the bums empty the recycle bins before the city workers do.
When the market changes, that particular commodity stays there.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Trees grow back? Whaaaaaaaaaaaa?

[GILMORE]

GALACTUS IS CONFUSED. I ATE THAT COUNTRY LAST WEEK

[Byte Me]

Dear Matt Welch,

We farm trees, like everything else. That is all.

Sincerely,
Byte Me

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I feel better I don't care about recycling. You'll never get me to separate garbage.

But you know what's next. They will force me to recycle.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

New York City has garbage police. $150 fine if you don't separate.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's dangerous if Homer manages it.

[Derpetologist]

Can't someone else do it?

I always thought that episode was an unintentional burlesque of progressives.

Think about it- a lazy idiot riles up the low infos with grand promises, pisses a ton of money away, and ends up making a huge mess.

[Sevo]

"Think about it- a lazy idiot riles up the low infos with grand promises, pisses a ton of money away, and ends up making a huge mess."

The Obo administration!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Heh, I've thought of that angle too.

Bear patrol!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Fake Indians.

[Bobarian]

Iron Eyes Cody was supposedly Jewish.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

People who bring those silly bags to grocery stores as if they're having an environmental impact.

Suckers.

I always pay the 5 cents.

[jesse.in.mb]

Canvas bags are NOT an acceptable substitute for plastic bags if you're puking in the passenger seat of a car.

Or so I'm told.

[GILMORE]

The Independents Attire Review, 21 March 2014

Fleas Arguing About The Dog-Edition

- Kennedy: RED ALERT!! KLAXONS! Is it getting hot in here? That red-orange glow is curing my nascent brain cancer. I want to lick my finger and reach out and....ppsssssssh. As you may guess, We Like Red. We've never described Kennedy's Melanin-Challenged condition as a bad thing; but we can't help but go a little ga-ga when we see some life breathed into her Twilight-hued skin. I'll stop the world and melt with you anytime, Kennedy.

- Matt: Take 1 - Mortician-Tuesday Getup, Add 1 Silver Purple Tie from last week, Blend = Serve to bored and dispirited audience. Apathy ensues. Bitterness is washed away by warm whiskey and the promise of ....

- Kmele: If Mon/Tues was 'lessons in blue', today is a nice pairing of a Khaki-tan jacket with a brown tie; this week really cements Kmele's mastry of the dress lexicon, where we see repeat wins with classic combos, old standards given a fresh approach every day. what sets tonights otherwise bog-standard ensemble apart is Kmele's appreciation of Collar Variety, using spread collars, button downs, and tonights 'marlboro/short ainsley' to make the same-old stuff continue to look fresh and inspired. Keeping it real, he is.

Tonight's Video Quiz!

Explain how this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prTgCxr7vrY

-means, "Therefore, MOAR TAXES~!"?

Space is the place,

Thank you

[Winston]

Seriously I'm a layman but aren't there serious flaws with a scientific theory that makes incorrect predictions and can't even conclusively prove that global warming is causing bad weather?

Doesn't that mean that the science is not settled and they are quite a few things about global climate that they are not aware?

[BardMetal]

Yes thats true of science, but not the religious dogma that is global warming.

We are all sinners in the name of Gaia, but don't worry my son, for she will forgive your polluting ways if you just buy a few carbon credits from me.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I hated people who would bring those canvass bags to the store. They would always keep them at the very end of their cart so by the time the remember to give them to you the checkstand is flooded with groceries.

Or they would only bring two for a large order and get all pissy if you loaded them too heavy.

[kibby]

Ugh, people. If they bitched about the weight, I'd just take things out & move onto the next customer -- have fun figuring out how to carry all that stuff without bags!

[Raymond Luxury Yach-t]

Bjorn!

[Fist of Etiquette]

First question, Bjorn: How much is Big Oil paying you?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah! How much is Koch brothers paying?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Is the webstream choppy for anyone else?

[Byte Me]

"Have you run into the problem of a species being endangered?...Try FARMING! It's this great new product that allows you to cultivate the things you want to consume!"

[Raymond Luxury Yach-t]

we should eat white rhinos

[Corning]

gamey.

We should put white Rhino meat in dog food.

[Fist of Etiquette]

We get them onboard with bribes. Duh.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Frack it and let's go nuclear!

[GILMORE]

What we really need to do if we're scientists who believe strongly in AGW, is tell people who ask us questions that they're being stupid and then tell them the actual solutions are complicated and therefore you should accept any of them that Government cooks up.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oh no he didn't. Fracking cannot be the solution to Global Warming because that takes resources away from propping up green energy concerns.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He looks like Niklas Lidstrom.

[Byte Me]

Let's get Belle back. I want to make a movie about Fracking.

[GILMORE]

nulcear

[Winston]

So what are the environmental impact of those reusable bags? They still have to made and transported and thrown out. And are they washable? If not you have to get new ones (how reusable!) and if so then doesn't that mean you are using more water and electricity and have to buy more detergent?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Seriously, who would waster their time washing those stupid things?

At least I can throw away whatever bacteria attaches itself to a plastic bag.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I see Kennedy took my advice and applied darker lipstick.

She looks...Alive!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Yes, it's nice to find Kennedy attractive without feeling like a necrophiliac.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

She looked like she was advertising for a Morgue-Mart or Dentyne Ice.

[GILMORE]

Matt, your Marvin Gaye act is just so *dreamy*

[SIV]

So what is with all those Atheists taking and redefining the word "skeptic"?

[GILMORE]

why, what do they say it means?

Oh, you mean how its mostly a bunch of proggy athiests who are totally on board with Big Government to prevent all sorts of social ills?

[BardMetal]

Hey who needs a god when you can worship almighty government?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

MAAATT DAAAAAMUN!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Just got back from the Air Show. MRI results?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Won't know till next week. They had to send the results out to be read.

[db]

Wait, what? Been out.of the.loop this.week. I hope tbings are.OK.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Old ACL injury acting up. I think it's a meniscus tear. Nothing major.

[db]

Good to hear that. Heal fast!

[Francisco d'Anconia]

thx

[Fist of Etiquette]

MILFs!

[Byte Me]

Yoko Ono? Ew. No one wants to 'frack' that...

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Mothers I like to FRACK!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Wow. What a lame video.

I need me a bowl of Lame-O's!

[kibby]

Would you prefer those to be plain or extra plain?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Extra.

[GILMORE]

MATT DAMON WAS THERE!

THATS WHAT MADE THE WORLD BETTER

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Environmentalists would never stand for a solution that involves, however tangentially, the Koch Brothers.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Grass ruts?

[jesse.in.mb]

Fracking causes earthquakes!

Not really, but freak out about it anyway!

[Trials and Trippelations]

I thought hot weather did

[kibby]

I'm fairly certain it was the gays.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

No, homosexuals.

[kibby]

You...stop stealing my thoughts. It's impolite.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I think it's the other way around since you beat me by a minute. **narrows eyes**

[kibby]

*narrows eyes right back at you* You lookin' for a fight?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Come at me, bro!

[jesse.in.mb]

I think we cause hurricanes, which makes sense what with New Orleans and Key West. Although it wouldn't surprise me if we got blamed for the 1989 Loma Prieta quake.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Well it's certainly not San Andrea's fault.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Don't forget autism.

I mean, how do you think all these autistic people ended up on H&R?

[GILMORE]

Bonus: Grey beard-dude is KILLING IT with the gear. Get that man a beer and surround him with women.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think he can get his own beer and pussy.

[GILMORE]

To the contrary, I think the Fox News staff have had to erect a beer-and-pussy barrier around the studio to allow that man to testify unmolested.

[Bobarian]

That dude looks like he could parallel park a train. I bet he bowls overhand.

[Fist of Etiquette]

NO! I WANT WIND FARMS!

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Where do they think their electricity is coming from?

[Trials and Trippelations]

That thing in the wall

[kibby]

Mother Gaia is allowing it to freely flow from her womb without any man-made intervention.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Greeeeeeeeeeen lektrisety!

[BardMetal]

Well the greenies in Europe get most of their energy from Mr. Putin. I'm sure he appreciates the green opposition to most of Europe's domestic energy production.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Choosing among alternatives and weighing the risks? Sounds kind of wonky.

Sitting around with linked arms, singing and chanting? Much more fun!

[Derpetologist]

I knew a guy in high school who had a Che shirt, white guy dreads, the works. Very liberal. I later saw him pull up to school in an SUV while holding a taco bell bag.

Made me think...

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac
A little voice inside my head
Said don't look back, don't ever look back

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Go on...

[GILMORE]

Its from a song called "Fuck Canada"

[JeremyR]

Watch a Trader Joe's parking lot sometimes. It's surprisingly common...

[jesse.in.mb]

MIRACLE COPPER SOCKS!

Copper infused fibers and compression.

[Lady Bertrum]

Are you talking Tommy Copper?

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm talking about the MIRACLE COPPER SOCKS that I must go buy!

It's like a massage...for your feet!

[Lady Bertrum]

Uggh. Too much feet.

There's the real thing, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6an1XQ6rOA

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Yes.

Buy moar copper.

[SweatingGin]

Screw you, you're just going to dynamite the mines and it'll get nationalized, anyway.

[jesse.in.mb]

I hope you steepled your fingers and laughed menacingly before you posted that.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Maniacal laughter.

[Derpetologist]

Thanks to the skin effect, only the outer most layer of a wire needs to be copper.

[Derpetologist]

I know Halloween is a long way off, but couldn't Kennedy dress as Corpse Bride sometime soon?

[BardMetal]

Anyone else here find the premise of the Corpse Bride to be absolutely horrifying? or is it just me?

[Bobarian]

Didn't she dress like that on Wednesday?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

OMFG!

[kibby]

That is the funniest commercial I have ever seen.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I laughed.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

It's Ron!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Full disclosure: Ron Bailey is going to plug his book right out of the gate.

[SweatingGin]

so, wait... this is what Ron Bailey looks like?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Apparently now it is.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

First time I've seen him too. Not what I envisioned.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He's also literally a thousand feet tall so don't mess with him.

[Trials and Trippelations]

The end of the Planet of the Apes saga?

[Winston]

So when will the Progs revive the Down to the Countryside Movement?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.....e_Movement

[Derpetologist]

A chimp hanging himself?

Whoa, there proggies! Put a hand behind your head before you hit the ground.

How low can they go?

? Limbo limbo limbo LIE! Limbo limbo LIE!

[SIV]

Vee have vays of making you VACCINATE!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't care what you say, Ron really pulls off the Beiber cut.

[SweatingGin]

I was thinking, throw some star shaped glasses frames on him (borrow from Kennedy?) and he could pull off an Elton John look.

[Winston]

I demand Bailey discuss the ethical issues of transwarp and de-evolution into Giant Horny Salamanders.

[GILMORE]

Ron Bailey = "We have a blue pill, and a red pill here...."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

All these stats mean nothing to environmentalists. Sorta like how Wilbon hates the internet and Ron Washington sabermetrics.

[Byte Me]

Can we cope with the heat?

Um...we are a 'tropical' species. The only reason we can 'cope' with the cold is our technology and ingenuity, as this gentleman implies.

[BardMetal]

Not sure if I would go along with that whole "tropical species" idea. Human beings seemed to have fared much better in temperate climates.

[Bobarian]

Not at first

[GILMORE]

Ron Bailey: "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm tired of this planet anyway.

[Winston]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhQst2mFlJM

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He's fed up and being torn apart.

I feel the same way.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Okay, that edit wasn't because of any cut in the feed.

[Matt Welch]

Ron had stood up, taken off his face, and revealed the Truth. And you people can't handle the Truth....

[SweatingGin]

I knew he (and you!) were lizard people.

[Byte Me]

So, that guy on the History channel is right? I KNEW IT.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I was so hoping it was because Bailey suddenly lost his shit on air.

[SIV]

FUCK! Ron is going all EvPsych. It's Crazy Cult Night on The Independents

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The lion likes this. That is why he will eat you last.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Needed more German accent.

[GILMORE]

Ron Bailey: Checks Guestlist, looks Matt over, waves Kennedy and Kmele through the velvet rope, then stiff arms Matt and waves over the bouncer to push him back in line.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Admiral Akbar on the NY state commercial: it's a trap!

[GILMORE]

Ron Bailey: "Your planet will be destroyed in 16 of your Earth-Hours"

[Raymond Luxury Yach-t]

Future is goning to ok, if the statist don't fuck it up.

[Raymond Luxury Yach-t]

drunk

[SweatingGin]

we got that.

[GILMORE]

LOL

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Russians love their children too.

[Lady Bertrum]

"Everybody loves their children."

Speak for yourself, Matt Welch.

[GILMORE]

GLOBAL WARMING!!

It hates pets too

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Remember when Sting asked if the 'Russians love their children too?'

Ah, the fucking 80s.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Evidently the answer was 'no'.

[kibby]

Kmele is still winning tonight. Don't care what my Mom says, Kmele, you are flipping awesome.

[Steve G]

The Eye of Michelle Bachman is upon us!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Call me when it's her bush.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

When you put on the Ring, you only make yourself more visible to the Eye!

[Byte Me]

The 'whispering' eye?

[Fist of Etiquette]

AH! Lou Dobbs.

[SweatingGin]

Fuck, lou dobbs doesn't even phase me anymore.

[GILMORE]

I personally have a great deal invested in now-inland future beach property so this thing you people call a problem is in fact... AHHHFUCK DOBBS!!!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I have to confess something. Today, I did some fracking at the daycare when I found out one of my clients was likely to miss payment for the third time in four months. My sister took it all personal. Pft. Women.

And then my mother got involved and demanded I give her an apology. As the steam came out of my ears I said something like "My name is not Rufus! It's 9214 Quebec Inc.!"

Yes. It's come to that.

[SweatingGin]

"Today, I did some fracking at the daycare"

Far too dirty to look up on urban dictionary.

[Lady Bertrum]

What is the Canadian equivalent to Child Protective Services?

No reason, just asking.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It was my serenity now moment.

[db]

I'll be honest, I havr no idea what you just tried to communicate.

[jesse.in.mb]

Did you install a different keyboard on your phone?

[db]

No, just more careful this.evening. about to relax.with a Sierra Nevada Torpedo.in the.middle.of.nowhere, AZ.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Forget it. It's complicated. Tried to shorten but whatever.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Foster spoke some truth at the end, and I have to admit I liked the show's attempt at a neutral stance on AGW. There, I said it.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I liked it because Kmele and Matt repeatedly showed how full of shit the AGW alarmists are when it comes to solution.

Bill Nye and that guy from the Center for American Progress could only hand-waive about more green energy subsidies and how dire the situation is.

It nicely exposed the dishonesty on their side.

[Matt Welch]

The process of doing this show made me wonder for the first time if we aren't seeing a version of the drug war debate -- where for years you could just wave your hand to dismiss the anti-Prohibition people as insane, bad-faith potheads, the end, and so therefore you didn't actually have to argue rationally.

It was striking how much they wanted to put us in the insane-crazy bag rather than answer our real-world policy questions.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Is that a canvas or plastic bag?

[Heroic Mulatto]

OH SNAP!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I like that analogy. Just look at how Nye responded to Kmele's questions about the costs of "doing something": he first attacked a straw man that you guys had to dispel, then he could only equivocate by saying the inevitable destruction of Manhattan would cost more.

No concrete evidence to suggests you guys will be drowning any time soon because their models are wildly inaccurate. All they have are moral appeals and sensationalism.

[Bobarian]

You say that like the destruction of Manhattan is a bad thing.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

where for years you could just wave your hand to dismiss the anti-Prohibition people as insane, bad-faith potheads, the end, and so therefore you didn't actually have to argue rationally.

That's where they want it to go. If I were a neutral observer, which I'm not, I'd have thought both Nye and the second guy came off as disingenuous. They would like it to be like the drug war, it's not, and that fact infuriates them as they don't have the facts on their side to be able to engage effectively.

[Derpetologist]

If mudslinging didn't work, no one would do it.

[sarcasmic]

AGW is a religion.

When I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian family, I remember arguments against atheism were always against the atheist, not the atheism. So-and-so is an atheist, therefore they are a bad person. Never any arguments against what the person said. The arguments were always against the person. That's how it is with faith. It is a given that the opponent's argument is wrong. The consensus is that your argument is right. So the problem is not with the argument, but with the person.

You can't win in arguments against faith. It can't be done.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

AGW is a religion.

But as Kennedy will tell you, so is atheism! **ducks**

[sarcasmic]

Well Kennedy can fuck herself if she can't distinguish the difference between faith and a lack thereof.

[Derpetologist]

Bald is a hair color and not collecting stamps is a hobby.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

1,225 comments!

http://reason.com/archives/201.....a-religion

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

http://i412.photobucket.com/al.....844805.jpg

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

http://i412.photobucket.com/al.....844805.jpg

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

http://i412.photobucket.com/al.....844805.jpg

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

http://i412.photobucket.com/al.....844805.jpg

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

that was worth a quad post.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

http://i412.photobucket.com/al.....844805.jpg

[Francisco d'Anconia]

At least the squirlz have returned to previous levels of manageability.

[SIV]

Any rational person knows Atheism is a religion.

[GILMORE]

"It was striking how much they wanted to put us in the insane-crazy bag rather than answer our real-world policy questions."

You mean how the Bill Nye *started* the show by saying he thinks you're all idiots for just being on FOX? It seemed like he believes in only 'discussing' things with people who already agree with his presumptions.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

You mean how the Bill Nye *started* the show by saying he thinks you're all idiots for just being on FOX?

I forget, are scientists supposed to be objective or emotional?

Is Nye even a scientist or is he just some guy with a science show?

[GILMORE]

He's a 'science guy', which means he's better than you at least, dammit.

[Stormy Dragon]

Ever flown on a 747? Bill Nye designed the hydraulic pressure regulator that kept you from spinning out of control and crashing.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

You need to listen to your betters and not question. Hey, epicycles work, right?

[James Anderson Merritt]

What if the purveyors of epicycles had been able to create ever more sophisticated computer models to predict the movements of planets and other celestial objects? Would that idea have survived into the modern day? Would we have "Epicycle Scientists" promoting their "consensus view"? Hmmm...

[GILMORE]

"Fist of Etiquette|3.21.14 @ 10:04PM|#

Foster spoke some truth at the end"

WOW? Really? That's weird?! he does that... uh, like every night?! Its almost like..

...A FORMULA?

(conspiracy music)

All we need is a catchphrase to end the show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPQlXNH36mI

[jesse.in.mb]

Accented pilot is preventing me from closing the fox business video player.

DAMN YOU DOBBS LET ME GO!

[SweatingGin]

In a better time, he would have been XO of the HMS BeardedAccent

[Fist of Etiquette]

Accented pilot?

[jesse.in.mb]

Dobbs has some attractive beardy guy talking about the Malaysian plane thing.

I don't care about the plane at all, but can't close the window.

Ohh, he's gone. RUN AWAY!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I read a story about Australians searching for the plane and there was a video still of I guess a briefing given by one of the search pilots and I thought, Why are they talking to one of the Hemsworth brothers? But it turns out that apparently all the dudes in Australia look like a Hemsworth brother. So they have that going for them Down Under.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm not watching until the 9pm re-run. No spoilers, please.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

No spoilers, please.

Duke loses.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

WHAT IN THE HELL IS A CHANTICLEER

[Heroic Mulatto]

A rooster, I think.

[Derpetologist]

+1 Rock a Doodle

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

well that's boring.

[Heroic Mulatto]

well that's boring.

Heh. You never read the Nun's Tale from Canterbury Tales then, have you?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Hmm, I'll get on it.

[db]

ROASTER!

[jesse.in.mb]

This is Chanticleer from the 1991 hit movie Rock A Doodle

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Anyway. Great job flushing out the pomposity of your science guests.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

But how are the separatists behaving this evening?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Don't get me going!

[Winston]

Which Levesque was better? Gary or Rene?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Couillard calls PQ campaign "organized confusion."

[Winston]

the Liberals would deal with real issues like health, education an jobs

How about a proper editor?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

It's Juno week. My city is overrun with Canadian musicians and their hipster fans.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oh, fuck. Right.

Junos.

[Winston]

It's Juno week. My city is overrun with Canadian musicians and their hipster fans.

The fact that a Winnipegger is referring to "Canadian musicians and their hipster fans" as if they are foreigners says it all doesn't it?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Burton Cummings doesn't count.

[Winston]

Who?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

These Eyes...ARE CRYING!

[Winston]

I have no time for your old fogey music. Guess Who Else Doesn't have Time for your old fogey music?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Bob Saget?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Anne Murray?

[Bobarian]

Bachman Turner Overdrive?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Meanwhile, in Winnipeg

[Notorious G.K.C.]

You'll be nostalgic for that snow when you're sweltering in the hot Canadian heat in the middle of January, and Bill Nye is laughing at you.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I meant *tropical* Canadian heat.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Looks to be almost all melted.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

going back down to -13F tonight.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

+11 here. Pisses me off, I thought this shit was done. Was 60 the other day.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

FUN FUN

Understanding Paul Ryan's Racism in 3 Easy Steps
The question is not 'Is Ryan a racist?' but 'What type of racist is he?'

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

'Tis not a thing

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Light Rail is the answer.

What again, was the question?

[db]

How can I bankrupt my city and piss off people who don't even live there?

[Derpetologist]

But there's nothin' like a jen-you-wine, bona fied, electrified, 6 car light rail!

[db]

Going out for a burrito. Who wants one?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

my large intestine winced at the thought

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

burrito could mean anything. Where are you, and where are you going? Do they have al pastor?

[db]

Gila Bend, AZ, and it is one of I think four restaurants within 40 miles.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Sofia's. Semi-legit.

Do you work in the auto industry?

[db]

I have eaten a5 Sofia's several times and loved it. I am at Humberto's now. Relatively new place in the.old Dairy Queen building.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Do you live there, or business?

[db]

Business. I live in PA.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm going with solar if you don't work for VW.

[db]

Quite frankly I don't want to leave too many clues as to my employer lying around here for a number of reasons.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I get it. Haters gonna hate.

[kibby]

If you're buying & dropping it off at my apartment, then sure.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Guess the country.

[kibby]

Somewhere I'll never be able to go?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Malaysian Airlines has really cheap flights to China for some reason.

Too soon?

[kibby]

You're lucky we're all terrible here.

[db]

Peru?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Crimea?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

China?

[Derpetologist]

Mordor?

[db]

Well, one does not simply walk into the pictured location, for sure.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

One does not simply walk into King's Landing.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

One certainly doesn't walk out wearing a hat.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

East St. Louis?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

New Zealand?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Detian Falls, China.

I suspect Serious cheated. Per usual.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Those mountains in the background are characteristic of southern China. Come on people, read a book.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

BYDHTTMWFI

[db]

China was my first guess based on the.mountainsbut I thought maybe Pl?ya was playing a trick game.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The trick was I have never been to Asia, and those mountains looked Polynesian to me. But the volume of the water flow was too great, so I wondered where that wonderful place was....

[kibby]

Again, again!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I realize you are too busy reading classical philosophy and histories to read up on geography, so just use this:

http://geoguessr.com/

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

BEST GAME EVER.

[kibby]

SECONDED. It's addictive!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Did I play that with you about 6 months ago?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

possibly. I still get Aus and SouthAfrica mixed up.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Me too. Although Mexico has a pretty diverse geography to it that can be mistaken for various parts of the US.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I think we may have talked about that. Did you have a suspiciously high score that you posted here?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

I don't recall posting my scores.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I also first learned about it from here, but I'm not that good at it.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Is googling placenames cheating? I vote yes.

[kibby]

Definitely cheating. Learning a new alphabet is not, though. I spent far too much time trying to figure out where the hell I was in Russia one time.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I vote no. And not because I was .017 kilometers off on my last one because I looked up Yelp reviews for this cafe in Grenaa, Denmark.

[db]

Shadows are your friends. You can tell the.hemisphere just based.on.the shadows.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

I can tell Canada instantly. Any province.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It's like Minnesota, but metric.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I got really into that with somebody here (the name of whom I can't remember), and I lost. Because that guy had no life.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

I just got one within 3 KM.

I actually recognized it. It was South of the Border rest stop in SC. Passed it on our way to Myrtle Beach on the family vacation in 1976.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

I think it would be more fun if it was timed.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Agreed. I would not be able to get away with spending 10 minutes trying to figure out which Forsyth County I'm in.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

How would you know you're in Forsyth County if you aren't cheating?

KABOOM!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

There was giant sign that said "Neighborhood Watch: Report Suspecious Activity to Forsyth County Sheriff's Department"

[SIV]

That is a great game. Thank You

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Comparison of V10, V8 and 2014 V6 F1 engine sounds
on an electric guitar!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Salon contributor: Black conservatives are 'professional buck dancing blackface artists'

[db]

My God. When are people going to denounce this.kind.of.thing? Or do they just quietly discountsuch disgusting opinions? I know some feminists who publicly acknowledge that the brand.is.being tarnished by extremists.but.don't speak out due to a combination of .fear.of.ostracism and lack of respect for the extremists. Is it similar for members of a particular race denounced as "race traitors" by extremist members.of their.race?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

He also mentioned shoe-shining and banjo playing. And a willingness to sell themselves into slavery.

[amelia]

Looking forward to seeing this. Just the other week, I had the most aggravating conversation with a long time friend who first asked me if I "believe" in AGW. I said I am skeptical about the more extremist claims and the kinds of policies that are proposed to deal with it, and that I don't trust the IPCC. Next question on the agenda: "Well do you believe in evolution?" Which was insulting considering how long this person has known me, and that if she had been paying attention all these years it would be clear that I completely accept evolution. Jeebus, evolution and AGW are not the bookends of science.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Have you accepted AGW into your life?

[amelia]

She said it was like arguing about religion and I said "yes, but who's the believer here?"

[db]

When people say "scientists.believe" or ask me if I "believe" in soke scientific theory or hypothesis, I tell them flatly, "belief has no place.in.science."

[amelia]

And that really is spot on. So far I have been unwilling to be rude to people, honestly, and start talking about things like uh, the need for theories to be falsifiable, the overwhelming evidence that AGW believers have thrown scientific skepticism out the window, the dangers of mixing science and politics and the socially constructed nature of the "consensus" on AGW. But I need to get over it, and quite frankly find new friends if necessary...

[GILMORE]

Amelia, please see my comment way above where I talked about how "we all can agree about data", but that what many people mean by 'believe in AGW' means that you want to enact policies blindly without any concern for costs or outcomes.

The AGW 'belief' is an attempt to make the issue some kind of diametric canard (as you describe) - i.e. "either you're with us or against us!" when you don't even agree on what "With" means.

The best thing to do is turn the question onto them and ask, "why can't I accept the same facts as you but think your policies are bad for X, Y, Z reasons?"

[amelia]

I did see your comments, and I think you are exactly right. I appreciate your response to my post. Your question is precisely the right one to ask. I have to admit I responded emotionally, especially after she started talking about her recently born-again uncle who has now rejected evolution. I'm an atheist so why in the world would I reject evolution? Am I on par with some whacked out relative to her now? The kind of friend you don't invite to a dinner party? Honestly I have dreaded that I would ever have that conversation with her, but I wasn't prepared for how quickly it took a dive for the worst.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Time now for the Kiwi hipster report

[Notorious G.K.C.]

This has gotten some attention.

"To keep the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) free from potentially biased, sensitive, or controversial content, the following topics are avoided on the examination:

Violence (including guns, other weapons, and graphic animal violence)

Dying, death, disease, hunger, famine

War

Natural disasters with loss of life

Drugs (including prescription drugs), alcohol, tobacco, smoking

Junk food

Abuse, poverty, running away

Divorce

Socio-economic advantages (e.g., video games, swimming pools, computers in the home, expensive vacations)

Sex

Religion

Complex discussions of sports

Slavery

Evolution, prehistoric times, age of solar system, dinosaurs

Rap music, rock concerts

Extrasensory perception, witchcraft

Halloween, religious holidays

Anything disrespectful, demeaning, moralistic, chauvinistic

Children coping with adult situations or decisions; young people challenging or questioning authority

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Mention of individuals who may be associated with drug use or with advertising of substances such as cigarettes or alcohol

Losing a job, home, or pets

Rats, roaches, lice, spiders

Dieting, other concerns with self-image

Political issues

Any topic that is likely to upset students and affect their performance on the rest of the test

It is important to note that these guidelines are applied in the context of the purpose of the test as well as the overall passage or item. For example, some topics (e.g., the socio-economic advantages) may be mentioned in a text, although an entire passage would not focus on these topics."

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs.....ss.asp#Q12

[kibby]

So that basically covers...everything ever.

[db]

Keeee-riist. What the fuck are they allowed.to teach.and.test? God, if.they.only teach stuff that doesn't get tagged "TRIGGER WARNING" they.might as well graduate preschoolers wit a high school diploma and save everyone a.bunch.of.fucking money.

[Derpetologist]

when will the students begin blinking in unison?

[GILMORE]

If you took out the rap music it might be a decent recipe for a Norman Mailer novel.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Kristen Bell ?@IMKristenBell Mar 19
Sorry RNC -rich people SHOULD pay higher taxes because they can afford it. End. Of. Story. xo a rich person

Discuss.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The difference between Kristen Bell and Willie Sutton is that Sutton objected to having this sort of blatant statement attributed to him.

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/sutton.asp

[db]

Pay up, richie, until you.are rich.no.more. then.see how.you like being.part of the.overtaxed middle.class.

[Derpetologist]

Her answer is more coherent than one I remember getting.

I once asked a prog why rich people should pay more. The answer was "because it helps everyone dumbass!"

When I asked how it helps rich people, he said it prevents them from being robbed by poor people or some such.

[db]

YOU.MUST.GIVE.OF.YOURSELF.TO.THE.GREAT.RED.APE."

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm still going to see the Veronica Mars movie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The government can better, more efficiently utilize any resource. End. Of. Story.

[lap83]

Kristen Bell should buy me a new car because she can afford it.

I can definitely see the appeal of that logic.

[MJGreen]

They do pay higher taxes. But what does it mean, "because they can afford it"? I can afford a $4000 suit*, but that doesn't mean I should buy one.

*COME ON!

[BiMonSciFiCon]

+5000 holding the elevators

[Notorious G.K.C.]

New Belgian anti-sexism censorship law is strong enough for men, but made for women.

"Equality minister Joelle Milquet said shaming a man for being a house husband will be banned, but added that the legal protections were designed mainly for women....

"Such comments about men or women in general will still be allowed, but those found guilty of sexism towards an individual will be fined."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....sults.html

[Sevo]

"It was striking how much they wanted to put us in the insane-crazy bag rather than answer our real-world policy questions."

What is now called "climate change" has never been a single question to be answered, it has always required decisions involving several questions.
The catastrophists presume given answers to a couple of them and proceed to supply the answer to the last question ("how do we best respond to this") with "The government must handle it!"
I'm sorry to see Bill Nye fall into that sort of sophistry; he's been a good example of critical thinking on other matters in the past.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Warty revealed

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Not even remotely alpha. I'm a little bit surprised.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

If they get Phil Plait next week I promise I will watch every second.

[db]

I used to love reading "Bad Astronomy" until Plait went full retard and became a Bad Scientist himself. Jesus, dude, read a book on scientific self-fooling and unintentional fraud and then.look in the.mirror, Phil.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Same here. Also same with the SGU.

[db]

Downloading the Rifftrax version of "Night of the Lepus" right now.

[lap83]

I miss Rifftrax, I used to d/l their stuff all the time before I went back to school. Night of the Lepus sounds like it would be a good one.

[amelia]

I've seen Night of the Lepus. Thundering bunny rampage. It was funny.

[adifferentken]

Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a Lagomorphologist!

[jesse.in.mb]

Turkish Twitter ban causes DNS graffiti

[db]

Does that count as meta?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Night kids.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Am I the only one still watching?

[The Deacon]

yes. but derpy is still grasping.

[Derpetologist]

Please continue with your fallacies. Maybe you'll stumble onto one I've haven't heard in a while.

[The Deacon]

Point one out.

[Derpetologist]

Argument from verbosity

"Aquinas spent several hundred pages explaining why the first cause must be God. Read that and then get back to me."

"Marshall Applewhite spent several hundred pages explaining why there must be a space ship behind the Hale-Bopp comet. Read that and get back to me."

[The Deacon]

That's your final answer?

[Derpetologist]

Oh, I have many others. This stuff is an endless mental playground.

[The Deacon]

Hey Derpologist, I'm glad we're chatting.
I have to leave now but if you want to continue this just let me know tomorrow in any thread.
Call me out, I'll come back.

Cheers!

[Derpetologist]

Alright then.

I'll give you a question in advance: do you really believe a guy walked on water, turned water into wine, and rose from the dead? Would you believe a story like that from anyone else?

[Snark Plissken]

You are questioning that Obama really walked on water?

[RishJoMo]

That actually makes a lot of sene dude.

http://www.ANon-VPN.com

[James Anderson Merritt]

I watched the show, and was pleased to see some very intelligent questions asked. I was disappointed, however, that not nearly as many good answers were provided. Bill Nye was especially disappointing in his comments and responses. I wish he had spent a little more time explaining WHY he and his colleagues are so convinced that 1) human activity is to blame for the increasing rate of climate change that he mentioned; 2) human activity (or coerced INactivity) can effectively retard or reverse harmful climate change.

My view of the level of climate science at the present time is that it is comparable to that of medical science in the 18th and 19th centuries. Practitioners know a few things, and have some diagnostic, explanatory, and predictive ability. But there are still many areas of ignorance (and worse, dangerously wrong ideas and practices!), which have yet to be illuminated by rigorous scientific effort. Nevertheless, practitioners feel they must do SOMETHING; they also exhort others to follow their prescriptions. I worry that their "model" of climate, for all its vaunted sophistication, isn't much better than the "balanced humours" model that led well-meaning, educated physicians -- following the overwhelming contemporary consensus of their profession -- to bleed George Washington to death.

What I want to see is a program that asks, and presents the best available answers to, these questions:

(continued in reply comment)

[James Anderson Merritt]

1. Is there a solid model of climate that enables accurate prediction of the rate and nature of expected climate change? If not, how accurate is the best model we have?

2. Why is undesirable climate change (or an acceleration of climate change, according to Nye) being attributed to human activity? Why are "consensus scientists" so sure about this?

3. Whether or not humans are responsible, is there anything we can actually do to halt or reverse the undesirable changes, or is our best bet simply to adapt as humans have always adapted to continuous change? If we can do anything, what is the cost-benefit analysis for the option(s) available to us?