I really didn't mind being called/considered an atheist until Dawkins came along.

My day was super annoying, only partly of my own making. One minor thing: I got a document that I drafted eons ago, which has since gone through various layers of editing in another department. I gave it right back to them today for a final look-over, and it turns out to be full of serial commas, which that department doesn't believe in. So I had to go through and take them out. Dude, none of you people noticed that before? I thought it was the final approved version! @@

Anyway, now I'm home with wine. And a long weekend! WOO HOOOOOO. My first Patriots Day off since high school!

And I keep from going berserk re: sexism by avoiding asshats, which I realize is not much of an activist stance.

that is proof that women have the power in sex relationships.

I can't find where it's described that way. I'm sure it has been by someone, because jerks abound, but I don't see that in Dawkin's post, and the psych study he links to makes the same points you do about possible reasons for the disparity in how men and women view casual sex. In the clarification after the initial dust-up, the women who raised the issue said they weren't objecting to the "challenge" itself or its point; they did have issues with how it was presented. (It looks like all the videos were replaced after thing settled down so I can't trace back to specifics.) Digging into the Krauss thing... I can't find as much, but yes, he does sound like a deluded ass.

And Dawkins can be an ass too. But if I admire a person, that doesn't mean I respect all of their views, and support everything they've done. (Luckily this is not an issue with Scott Adams, who has always been terrible.) Given that I personally tend to admire people on the "outspoken jerk" end of the spectrum, it's pretty likely that they're going to say things even I have problems with.

There's a tipping point where the bad stuff overhwelms the good, but... when you say "revered" I feel like you're taking their status to mean that the attendees and organizers support their opinions on all things. I don't think that's the case, even if the "you must either worship X or loathe it beyond all reason" attitude is something the internet is excellent at fostering. Dawkins gets plenty of criticism from within the skeptic community, and while I'm not familiar with Krauss, I know several other speakers listed have also been polarizing at times.

On the larger question... for me to be enraged about something, I first have to be surprised by it. And I rarely find it surprising when groups of people behave abominably. I don't really recommend sharing that attitude, though.

I really didn't mind being called/considered an atheist until Dawkins came along.

Why does it bother you now? Dawkins, despite his fairly-typical 70 year old highly science educated white guy's cringe-worthy foot-in-mouth gender statements has done a hell of a lot for getting atheists out of the closet and into the public eye. He's a brillant, often hilarious speaker and writer. And this will (language NSFW) never fail to bring me up on a down day [link] (Richard Dawkins reads his hate mail)

Plus he totally fell in love with his wife for her spicy brains.

any ladies take yaz or the generic equivalent? i have 4 months (unopened) of the generic and it's no good for me. finally got to the gyn and a new prescription for name brand only, no generic substitution. free to a good home, i hate throwing things away.

On the larger question... for me to be enraged about something, I first have to be surprised by it. And I rarely find it surprising when groups of people behave abominably. I don't really recommend sharing that attitude, though.

Oh yeah, then there's that. I'm kind of resigned to most kinds of asshattery.

oh, and Sarameg, one the suits you linked to is currently onsale at my local costco for $19.99. at least i'm pretty sure it's the same one, i seriously considered it but i can't deal with straps that don't cross in the back.

Speaking of swimming, I was finally able to get into the pool today for the first time in nearly three weeks. It took me 67 minutes to swim my mile, and I was exhausted afterwards, but it felt so damn good! I'm hoping I'll get up early enough to go again in the morning (if not, the afternoon for sure), and then again on Sunday morning. I then popped over to Best Buy (for printer ink and the new Harry Potter dvd) and the grocery store to fill up my fridge.

When I got home, my cat was obviously relieved that I hadn't left her for another twelve days--she was all Velcro Kitty yesterday and still a bit clingy this morning.

Here's his response, Strega: [link]

When the Million Dollar Challenge was offered at the American Atheists meeting, it deeply offended some feminists, as can be seen from the article cited, and by the comments that follow. Why? Isn't the sex difference in availability simply a fact, demonstrated by experiment and dramatised as folk wisdom by the Million Dollar Challenge? Why does the recounting of a fact give offence, if it is true? Part of the reason seems to be the old fallacy that if something is 'biological' it is inescapable and can be used to justify bad behaviour. Needless to say, that is nonsense. Paradoxically, one objection to the Million Dollar Challenge is precisely that it doesn't tell us anything we didn't know already.

Yes, Richard. It's biological. There is no cultural issues here, at all. And the women writing to object are called, "hysterical twaddle."

When the organizer of the conference/Director of the Alabama chapter of American Atheists was asked, "What was the point of the million dollar challenge?"

He responded (copypasta):

The point was to show that women hold the power over men.

So I think I may have conflated what Dawkins thinks the point is with what the organizer thinks the point is. But given Dawkins' boneheaded response, I don't think so.

Plus he totally fell in love with his wife for her spicy brains.

One of my favorite Lawrence Miles lines:

Religious extremists are people who plant bombs in family planning clinics and fly aeroplanes into heavily-occupied buildings. Evolutionary extremists are people who write overly smug blog entries and shag Lalla Ward.