Posts Tagged ‘ FTB ’

Aggression begets self-justification

Jun 13th, 2013 11:30 am | By

The part about anger and catharsis (in Mistakes Were Made) is in chapter 1, about cognitive dissonance. The need to think well of ourselves means we always have to justify our bad shit. The discussion of catharsis theory is a branch of this.

Venting is especially likely to backfire if a person commits an aggressive act against another person directly, which is exactly what cognitive dissonance theory would predict.

When you harm someone, then you have a powerful need to justify that. How do you do that? Convince yourself that the person you harmed is a terrible person who deserves to be harmed.

That would explain a lot, including things that have been puzzling me for a long time. … Read the rest

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As fish are unaware of the water

Jun 13th, 2013 10:34 am | By

I’m reading Mistakes Were Made (but not by me). Long overdue. Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson.

There’s a bit on the idea of anger and venting or catharsis that I recognize from Tavris’s book Anger, which has always spoken to me. That’s because I’ve sat through so many work meetings where people “got their issues out into the open” and everybody talked piously about how this would make things so much better, and I always noticed that it did no such thing, it made them worse. When people vent their anger they don’t then sigh and smoke a cigarette and feel all happy and relaxed. They get more angry.

More on that later. First there’s a part where they’re … Read the rest

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No wonder people use pseudonyms when talking trash

Jun 13th, 2013 9:26 am | By

People hide their real names when calling people “niggers” and “cunts” because they don’t want to find themselves in the situation Taylor Chapman is, with millions of people knowing what a vile abusive racist sexist person she is, or at least allowed herself to be for nine minutes one evening.

“This shit’s about to go live, bitch!” Chapman screams at a female employee. “Right on Facebook, ’cause I already posted what your dumb ass did last night, so I hope you’re happy with your little fucking sand n—er self… I’m about to nuke your whole fucking planet from Mars. You think ya’ll are tough, big fat Arabs bombin’ the trade center? I’ll show you tough.”

She also

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Nirmukta

Jun 12th, 2013 6:20 pm | By

I’m late in pointing out (and rejoicing) that Nirmukta is here. Hooray! Meera Nanda pointed me in their direction when they first started up – what a thrill to have them at FTB.

Make them welcome.… Read the rest

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We don’t need more women CEOs

Jun 12th, 2013 5:56 pm | By

A social studies teacher gave the commencement address at Eastern High School in Greentown, Indiana, on June 2, and told the girls to go to the back of the line.

I challenge you to devote yourself to your families and your children. If you choose to have a career, God’s blessings upon you. But I challenge you to recognize what the world scoffs at, that your greatest role in your life will be that of wife and mother. The greatest impact you could ever contribute to our world is a loving investment in the lives of your precious children. To solve the problems plaguing our society, we don’t need more women CEOs. We need more women as invested mothers.

We … Read the rest

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Human rights in Nigeria

Jun 12th, 2013 5:40 pm | By

Check out Yemi’s interview on Nigeria’s “Kill the Gays” bill on Sahara TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNvoAGzUz1c

 … Read the rest

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Outrage in the sexism community

Jun 12th, 2013 10:18 am | By

Outrage? What is the sexism community outraged about now? About people complaining about sexism, of course; what else? Stalin!! Mao!!!

It’s the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Bulletin that’s in the hot seat this time. SF and Fantasy are proudly active branches of the sexism community, as we all know, along with gaming and computer science and “skepticism” among others.

A growing chorus of science fiction authors have been speaking out about sexism in the genre after much-criticised recent editions of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s (SFWA) magazine, Bulletin, which featured a woman in a chainmail bikini on the cover and the claim that Barbie is a role model because she “maintained her quiet

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Elton John’s stage outfits

Jun 12th, 2013 9:35 am | By

Russia has unanimously passed a law against “gay propaganda” (as the Independent translates it).

The Indy reported yesterday, before the law passed:

A number of regions have already adopted a similar law, and now MPs from President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party want to implement a nationwide ban on “gay propaganda”.

The law defines the rather nebulous concept as “spreading information aimed at forming non-traditional sexual behaviour among children, suggesting this behaviour is attractive, and making a false statement about the socially equal nature of traditional and non-traditional relationships”.

Fines for breaking the law will be up to £100 for individuals, £1,000 for officials, and £20,000 for organisations. Already there have been doubts about how to define propaganda,

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The Saudi flag

Jun 12th, 2013 9:09 am | By

There’s a ferocious Jesus and Mo today.

The original?

The Arabic reads: There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet.

The picture reads: And if you don’t agree we’ll cut your fucking head off.… Read the rest

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American Atheists has an urgent request

Jun 11th, 2013 3:47 pm | By

From Dave Muscato of AA:

We have an urgent message for anyone who may be in a position to help.
Please assist us in spreading the word.

We need to contact anyone who is related to an atheist or other
nonbeliever who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11. This is
extremely time-sensitive.

We need the names of atheist victims of the attacks, and we need
contact information for relatives who knew them personally and can
vouch for the fact that they were nonbelievers.

If you have contact with anyone who knows a victim from 9/11, please
contact us immediately.

Our phone number is 908-276-7300 extension 7, or email
dmuscato@atheists.org. Again this is extremely time-sensitive.

Thank you and please … Read the rest

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Robert F Kennedy Jr isn’t afraid to read science

Jun 11th, 2013 11:35 am | By

Which is good, according to him, because journalists, according to him, are afraid to read science. Even ones with PhDs in science like Phil Plait and Laura Helmuth (health and science editor of Slate).

As RFK Jr. explained, “journalists get their information from government officials who are saying there’s no problem. Not one of them has picked up the multitude of studies that say thimerosal is the most potent brain killer imaginable.” When RFK Jr. challenged the university scientist about a study of the biological activity of thimerosal in vitro, which “everybody accepts because journalists hadn’t read it,” the scientist said, “ ‘Oh, yeah, you’re right about that.’ He backpedaled.” That’s because “now he was dealing with somebody who

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Syria: purported teenage atheist murdered

Jun 11th, 2013 10:54 am | By

He was fifteen. It’s not even clear that he was an atheist. (But what difference does it make? It’s not as if it’s any more acceptable to murder if they were correct in thinking he was an atheist.)

Coffee seller Mohammad Qataa was allegedly shot in the face and neck a day after being kidnapped by an Islamist group in Aleppo, called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, once previously known as the Nusra Front.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the boy had been arguing with someone about the existence of God, and was heard to say: “Even if the Prophet Mohammad returns, I will not become a believer.”

But other sources suggested that the

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The real culprits

Jun 10th, 2013 5:11 pm | By

You know that thing about all the raping going on in the US military? You know whose fault that is? I’ll tell you. It’s those pesky liberals trying to “take over the military.” That’s right! They cause all those guys in uniform to trip and fall onto women and get their penises all stuck accidentally up them. It’s a liberal holocaust type of deal.

Fox News contributor Allen West agreed with radio host Michael Savage’s assertion that “Khmer Rouge feminists” are attempting a “coup” against the military by proposing to change the military chain of command in sexual assault cases. West also used the sexual assault issue to criticize liberals for wanting to “put women into combat arms units” “so

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Some doodle

Jun 10th, 2013 4:05 pm | By

Wow, the Google doodle today. If you haven’t already, click on the play button. At Google.Read the rest

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One of these things is not like the other

Jun 10th, 2013 7:18 am | By

No.

#bbpBox_343880208274825217 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0084B4; }#bbpBox_343880208274825217 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; }It's odd nobody described the year long campaign of vilification aimed at Chris Mooney as bullying or harrassment. Oh right, no it's not...June 9, 2013 5:00 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite@PhilosophyExpJeremy Stangroom
  1. It wasn’t year long. It was season long – summer 2009. It was about four months, June through September, while the promotion of Unscientific America was in high gear.
  2. It wasn’t incessant. It responded to articles Mooney, or Mooney and his co-author Sheryl Kirshenbaum, wrote attacking “new atheists.”
  3. It lacked a number of features of the harassment campaign that Stangroom is minimizing by tweeting this.

Still. I get that it probably felt like … Read the rest

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Pick up the Skype

Jun 9th, 2013 4:43 pm | By

I mentioned yesterday that I was more cheerful about the Dublin conference, and added that it was because there had been some communication. I was cryptic about it because I’d forgotten to ask if it would be ok for me to mention it.

(Some buffoon pretended to think I was making a threat. Seriously – “there’s been some communication” – a threat.

#bbpBox_343548986336112640 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0084B4; }#bbpBox_343548986336112640 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; }I'm now happy about going to Ireland. There's been... a 'communication'. And I'm not telling you what is was, so BE AFRAID! #atheismplusJune 8, 2013 7:03 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite@atheismplusAtheism+

Not a communication, some communication. And why would that be a threat anyway? … Read the rest

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“To destroy skepticism and atheism”

Jun 9th, 2013 11:49 am | By

Another branch of Deep Rifts, this time nothing whatever to do with me (hooray!).

The story, as concisely as possible: before the Freedom From Religion Foundation had a Facebook page, someone set up a group called Freedom From Religion Foundation as a place for fans of FFRF to hang out. It apparently became rather…contentious as time went on, and meanwhile FFRF got itself a Facebook page. On Friday the publicist for FFRF posted there.

My name is Lauryn and I’m the publicist for the FFRF. Eric and other admin have been kind enough to agree to shut down this group  by June 30 and start a new group. The reason for this is because our pages have been

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Defense attorneys made the shocking argument

Jun 9th, 2013 10:52 am | By

According to Reality Check, the Texas case didn’t happen the way it was described.

It is not in dispute that the defendant, Ezekiel Gilbert, paid the victim, Lenora Frago, $150 for 30 minutes of escort services advertised on Craigslist. After Frago refused to have sex with him, the defendant shot her. Frago was paralyzed and the defendant was charged with aggravated assault.  When she died seven months later Gilbert was indicted for murder instead.

At trial, defense attorneys made the shocking argument that Gilbert was justified in shooting Frago because she had stolen from him and Texas law permits the use of deadly force to defend one’s property at night. That a defense was raised in this case based

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To the neglect of their duties in the home

Jun 9th, 2013 8:09 am | By

I don’t think I knew, before yesterday, that Ireland’s constitution has a clause about women and “their duties in the home.”

It’s in Article 41, starting on page 160 of the government version.

2° The State recognises the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law.

That’s an alarming sentence already. It sounds Vaticanesque, but I haven’t been able to find anything from the Vatican that says, as that sentence seems to, that the family is “superior to” (and thus immune from?) the law. I have a feeling I’ve written about the idea before, too, but I haven’t been … Read the rest

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Reasons not to be a prostitute in Texas

Jun 8th, 2013 5:56 pm | By

Prepare to turn pale with horror, then scarlet with rage. Prepare also to send a message to the Texas Attorney General.

A court in Texas just exonerated a man who shot and killed a woman who had refused to have sex with him. She’s dead, and he will serve no time at all.

Here’s what happened: Ezekiel Gilbert shot and killed a Craigslist escort after she left without having sex with him. His lawyer argued that since he had paid her $150 for the evening, he was justified under Texas law in shooting her because state law allows people “to use deadly force to recover property during a nighttime theft.”

It’s legal in Texas to kill a woman for refusing … Read the rest

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