Freethought Forum http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/ The Freethought Forum is a general discussion forum with a premium on free speech. en Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:11:56 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg Freethought Forum http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/ Frothy Mixture of Semen and Feces Has a Reputation Problem http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23608&goto=newpost Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:07:08 GMT Rick Santorum really, really wants to run for president, you see, but since Dan Savage granted his last name such distinction in 2003, he has a pretty insurmountable Google problem (http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/rick-santorum-google-problem-dan-savage). ---Quote--- For voters who... Rick Santorum really, really wants to run for president, you see, but since Dan Savage granted his last name such distinction in 2003, he has a pretty insurmountable Google problem.

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For voters who decide to look him up online, one of the top three search results is usually the site SpreadingSantorum.com, which explains that Santorum's last name is a sexual neologism for "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."

Santorum's problem got its start back in 2003, when the then-senator from Pennsylvania compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia, saying the "definition of marriage" has never included "man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be." The ensuing controversy prompted syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage, who's gay, to start a contest, soliciting reader suggestions for slang terms to "memorialize the scandal." The winner came up with the "frothy mixture" idea, Savage launched a website, and a meme was born. Even though mainstream news outlets would never link to it, Savage's site rose in the Google rankings, thanks in part to bloggers who posted Santorum-related news on the site or linked to it from their blogs. Eventually it eclipsed Santorum's own campaign site in search results; some observers even suggested it may have contributed to Santorum's crushing 18-point defeat in his 2006 campaign against Bob Casey.
Savage hasn't updated the site in years, and it's still dominating Santorum searches. If Rick does run for president, Savage will start linking to it and getting linked to all over again, so there will be tons of fresh links bumping up the froth results while the official campaign languishes downpage. Even the SEO pros are stumped. ]]> livius drusus http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23608 My Security Shield http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23607&goto=newpost Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:34:52 GMT ... Someone in my household fell for it. No, it wasn't me. :glare: We had a little talk about what's a real firewall warning and what's a malware ad.

So, anyway, this solution looks good, but I'm looking for endorsement and/or other recommendations from an :ff: geek or three.


LOL GOT MAC AMIRITE :derp: ]]> Sock Puppet http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23607 Ruh-roh, roid rampage. Rets ro, Reorge. http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23606&goto=newpost Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:00:00 GMT Everybody panic (http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/07/two-asteroids-to-pass-close-to-earth-on-wednesday/), two asteroids to pass close to Earth today. Image: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/09/07/c1main.asteroids.nasa.jpg Is this a little preview? Image:... Everybody panic, two asteroids to pass close to Earth today.




Is this a little preview?



Holey crust, Batman, a 100 meter crater? That's right, Robin, in Colombia Monday. ]]> The Sciences Dingfod http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23606 It is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me Harle. http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23605&goto=newpost Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:34:46 GMT Quite a diverting place you have here. I look forward to experimenting on you all. :dna:

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1. How'd you find the Freethought Forum?
I was looking for an obscure version of 'Sympathy for the Devil' and I found the Satan FAQ. That was a few months ago and I've only recently rediscovered this place.

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2. Are you a member of any other online forums? Which?
A typology forum for INTPs. I don't put a lot of stock into the MBTI though, I just like the community that has accrued there.

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3. How do you feel about smilies (emoticons)?
:giggle:

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4. How do you feel about 3500+ smilies?


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9. What's one thing you've always wanted to do but never have?
Dress up as half of Daft Punk. Robots in leather, what could be better? :robot:

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10. What is your single favorite place in the world?
Well there is this desolate little piece of rock sticking out of Lake Powell, where I want to someday build my evil high-tech underground lair.

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11. What's the significance of your username?

12. What about your avatar?
Trying to start a theme, so I'm at least somewhat memorable. I doubt I'll have the patience or time to build up a 3-dimensional reputation via brilliant threads and insightful comments, so I'll settle for a superficial one and give you a hot chick in a steampunk harlequin outfit to remember me by. Yes yes, you're very welcome. ;)

So, can I stay? ]]> The Archway Harlequin http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23605 <![CDATA[Questions and topics for Jehovah's Witnesses?]]> http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23604&goto=newpost Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:51:45 GMT Hi all-

A couple of Jehovah's witnesses came by our house on Monday, and I talked to them for about 15 minutes. They asked me if I was an athiest, and I said yes, and they asked me why, and we talked a bit. Basically I talked about empirical evidence, and the nonsense of a God of infinite love that will have you burn in a lake of fire for all eternity if you don't believe in Him, and that all the different religions have conflicting beliefs and all claim to be the one true religion. One of them wanted to talk about how we are born knowing there is a God and I disagreed, and they wanted to talk about how JW gave them morality, but I told them that values could be discerned and held without having to base them on religion or a belief in God. They held up their non-participation in politics as a virtue. There was some more but that's the gist.

Anyway, Qingdai mentioned a few things we didn't get into, like some counter-questions regarding blood transfusions, or how they say they base their lives on the teachings of the Bible but skip over the must marry a virgin, stoning to death of adulterers, burnt offerings, etc.

Anybody have some good questions about JW or religion to offer the nice fellows from the local church when they come back? I was thinking the 144k thing, blood transfusions, and their stance on homosexuality might be a good place to start.

Oh, best quote that they soft-balled but I totally whiffed on- "We're not trying to convert anyone." That's why they were going door-to-door with religious literature. To not convert people. ]]> Philosophy chunksmediocrites http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23604 Following the money that pays for Islamophobia http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23603&goto=newpost Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:15:57 GMT Mondoweiss has collected some stories that appeared on a certain Joyce Chernick and her husband Aubrey:
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Politico follows the money on the Islamic center opposition campaign, though it buries the neoconservative angle, the juicy one, deep in the story, who's funding the opposition:

there’s also big money behind the mosque opposition, as highlighted by the relationship between Horowitz’s Los Angeles-based nonprofit, Jihad Watch — the website run by Spencer “dedicated to bringing public attention to the role that jihad theology and ideology play in the modern world” — and Joyce Chernick, the wife of a wealthy California tech company founder.

Though it was not listed on the public tax reports filed by Horowitz’s Freedom Center, POLITICO has confirmed that the lion’s share of the $920,000 it provided over the past three years to Jihad Watch came from Chernick, whose husband, Aubrey Chernick, has a net worth of $750 million, as a result of his 2004 sale to IBM of a software company he created, and a security consulting firm he now owns.
Meet the Chernicks

Anyone who knows Jihadwatch and Spencer knows that it is a hatemongering rag and Spencer is a raving loon who doesn't know the first thing about Islam, but likes to pretend he does.

But there is more. Besides the opposition to the mosque (the one that is not a mosque and is planned near Ground Zero), Horowitz and Spencer, they also fund Pajamas Media, "Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles; the Anti-Defamation League; the Zionist Organization of America; MEMRI, a group that distributes translations of inflammatory Arabic language material; the Investigative Project on Terrorism, a group that tracks what it depicts as the threat of radical Islam; the American Jewish Congress; CAMERA, a group that tracks what it says is anti-Israel bias in the media; the Central Fund for Israel, a clearinghouse for moneys directed to pro-settler groups; and a number of conservative think tanks".
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Finally, Laura Rozen also follows up on it, showing the Chernicks' links to the Hudson Institute, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and.... inevitably... the Central Fund of Israel, which funds settlers in the West Bank, including their "urgent security needs," and is administered by a 6th Avenue fabric store.
In other words: the people fueling the fire of confrontation between 'Islam' and 'the West' are the same people funding the only people who stand to gain from this: Israeli settlers.

And over here our very own Geert Wilders has been painting the conflict between Israel and Palestine as one between the 'Judeo-Christian West' (I guess some European Jews must be bien étonnés de se trouver ensemble with the European far right these days) and Islam. The Palestinians don't really want their land back, they just hate the Jews and all of us in Europe and the US too. And guess where Wilders gets his money? Well, your guess is as good as mine because he won't tell us and according to Dutch law he doesn't have to as long as he gets no money from the Dutch state. :facepalm: ]]> Watser? http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23603