tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61794857815309734602024-03-06T05:37:44.996+00:00Opinionated PrimateSometimes a primate gets angry. Sometimes a primate has a view. Sometimes a primate just has to throw some poo! From TV to News, Religion, Music and more, if it annoys him it'll become a target. Duck and run, folks!Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-16365512808161594092019-11-26T22:04:00.001+00:002019-11-26T22:17:33.189+00:00Currys PC World Breaking Consumer Law?<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: medium;">I’ve
not posted an update here in a while, as I’ve had more important
things to deal with in my personal life, but I feel it’s time I
dusted it off, if only to warn other potential customers to avoid
Currys PC World. Here’s why.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: medium;">I
needed a laptop. To be more specific, I needed a laptop with a decent
screen and processor as I dabble in digital art as a hobby. When I
saw an ACER Aspire 5 A515-43 15.6" AMD Ryzen 5
Laptop on offer from Currys PC World with a 15.6” IPS screen
and AMD Ryzen 5 3500u processor for £399, down from £549, I decided
to take the plunge and one was ordered, delivery was on the
13<sup>th</sup> November.</span></span></div>
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Let
me here take a moment to explain why £399 is a lot of money to me,
and why I feel so aggrieved by the attitude of Currys PC World. For
over ten years I was an unpaid carer to my late mother, who passed
last December. Since then I have been unable to work as I’ve been
dealing with my own health issues, which have included a stay in
hospital, numerous tests, and still now being on medication for what
was dangerously high blood pressure. Money is not, as you will
appreciate, something I can fritter away, this was a considered
purchase.<br />
<br />
You can therefore imagine my anger when the
laptop arrived and was not of the specification Currys PC World’s
website stated: it lacked both the Windows Hello function and
fingerprint scanner.<br />
<br />
I contacted their Knowledge Team on
Twitter and was offered a refund, on which I’ll comment later. They
also apologised, thanked me for the information, and assured me the
website team would update the specifications. They didn’t. I
informed them of this problem on the 14<sup>th</sup> November
yet as I write this on 26<sup>th</sup> November their website
still displays the incorrect specifications – meaning potentially
thousands of customers have since been knowingly misled into a
purchase. Indeed on one visit to check I saw the website stated that
over 5300 people had viewed the laptop in the previous 24 hours, all
of whom who subsequently chose to buy had done so based on false
pretences.<br />
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Did I accept a refund? No. Because it wasn’t
viable. I couldn’t source a laptop with equivalent quality screen,
CPU, memory and storage but with the missing features elsewhere for
the same price because the one I’d bought had been on offer. I couldn’t
purchase one with the missing functions from PC World without paying
out substantially more, simply to regain what I had already thought I
was purchasing. Catch 22, no laptop or a laptop missing features –
nice choice, Currys PC World.<br />
<br />
So I wrote a letter of
complaint to Alex Baldock, their company CEO. This letter was signed
for at their Head Office on 18<sup>th</sup> November, and went
completely ignored. This means that not only were their Twitter
support made aware of their error on the 14th, their Head Office were
also told – so they have absolutely no excuse to still be knowingly
mis-selling the product on the 26<sup>th</sup><br />
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Tonight
I have decided to have one last ditched attempt at getting Currys PC
World to right this situation satisfactorily by emailing their
Customer Services Manager. I don’t hold much hope that they will
give any more thought to their customers’ rights under UK consumer
law than the rest of them at the company, but if I hear anything back
I will update this blog to reflect the outcome.<br />
<br />
I’ve
already lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority,
who also regulate online advertising, and BBC’s Watchdog, because
what’s to lose, right? Plus there’s the reviews on Trust Pilot
and such sites, because I want other potential customers to know what
they’re getting into with Currys PC World.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-small;"><i>Below
are screenshots taken tonight, 26<sup>th</sup> November, showing
they have still not updated their website. This is legally
irresponsible of them and completely unacceptable of a company their
size.</i></span></span></span></div>
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<br />Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com0London Borough of Enfield, UK51.6622909 -0.1180650999999670651.5834714 -0.27942659999996705 51.741110400000004 0.043296400000032931tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-78478029714860893222018-05-23T20:07:00.000+01:002018-05-23T20:19:30.902+01:00What The Zuck Is Going On At Facebook?<br />
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After the furore over the Cambridge Analytica exploitation of users' information, and the now well established extent to which Russian, and other, trolls flooded the platform, we are being assured, including via TV ad campaigns, that Facebook is finally cleaning up its act to protect us. But is it?</div>
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I debate on Trump supporter pages regularly and, if my experience is any indicator, Mark Zuckerberg's assurances are simply not being borne out.</div>
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You cannot move on there for links to websites that are easily identifiable as fake, further delving into their origin via the likes of an ICANN registery search confirms they are invariably registered anonymously in Panama, Macedonia, or similar - with many showing as barely months old. This check takes me seconds using a mobile phone, I cannot believe it is beyond the ability of the trained hamsters at Facebook.</div>
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However many times these links are reported as false news they are never, or very rarely, removed. I see the same sites with different fake articles popping up time and again, and most give reason for the easily manipulated respondents to post the most offensive and ignorant bile before sharing it on - which is precisely their aim.</div>
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Then there's those posting these links. If Facebook is genuinely keen to root out this scourge they have a funny way of showing it, because they fail to remove even the most blatantly obvious of propaganda spreading trolls.</div>
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Take, for example, "Mike Vanhol". He doesn't debate, his total interaction amounts to posting links to clearly dodgy websites, ones carrying articles designed to cause hate and division.</div>
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But how do I know he is not, as his profile claims, in Delila, Virginia? The first clue would be the URL to his profile, which usually has the member's name. In his case, his name is really...</div>
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https://www.facebook.com/bube.cvetanoski</div>
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The second, equally obvious, giveaway is found in his profile's likes. Here we find plenty of cyrlic text and mention of the TV show "Backstage Macedonia"<br />
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One does not need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure this out, yet Facebook repeatedly fail to remove the account even when the above inconsistencies and his penchant for spreading dodgy links is pointed out to them in reports.<br />
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Another example, that of "Alicia James". This one, like Mike, posted nothing but dodgy links. She had even stolen her profile image from the Ronald McDonald House Charities website, where it was of a family they had helped - something the charity confirmed to me by email. All of this was reported to Facebook repeatedly, so why did it take them months and countless reports to remove it?<br />
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Then there's Donna J. Blair, another demonstrably fake profile. Her profile photo is easily found via a reverse image search to have been taken from a news article on Trump merchandise. Her profile URL has the name "servis.tiho"<br />
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Facebook repeatedly allow this troll to continue spreading propaganda even when told that Servis Tiho references a business located in Macedonia. All easily confirmed in seconds.<br />
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Take "Johnny Crawford" as a final example. His profile is suspiciously empty, he does nothing but share potentially harmful propaganda, and his profile URL reveals his real name to be... Aleksandar Swadok!<br />
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Again, alerting Facebook to this achieves nothing, however much detail you give them. These are just a few of countless examples.<br />
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So what are Facebook doing? If members are using the comment option on a report to explain IN DETAIL how it is obvious the account is fake and nothing happens then they are clearly not doing enough.<br />
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In the meantime the problem is increasing with more and more fake accounts appearing and an ever growing number of fake websites being shared. Their target audience, wanting their confirmation biases and prejudices fed, will invariably either ignore those of us trying to warn them of the problem, or will be actively hostile and attack us for daring interfere.<br />
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The real killer is that all of this is often happening on pages where even the admin are trolls from Macedonia or similar. I was booted from one such page where the entire admin team was Macedonian, their profiles didn't attempt to hide it. These pages' existence is intended to draw in the gullible to feed them fake news and propaganda to spread, and it's working.<br />
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Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook dropped the ball. They need to do more to regain control, close down these pages and trolls, and stop merely giving us empty assurances.<br />
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Thanks for reading</div>
<br />Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com0Romford, UK51.577076 0.1783189999999876851.4981575 0.016957499999987691 51.6559945 0.33968049999998767tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-3504337099922056032018-05-23T02:22:00.000+01:002018-05-23T02:25:41.048+01:00I Want To Destroy America...apparently.This is my first blog update in a while, some may have wondered where I've been, let me tell you...<br />
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I took a break from debating creationists to debate Trump supporters on Facebook. In the Zenn diagram of these two demographics it's almost a circle, the arguments just change. Sadly they're no less rational and a lot more offensive.<br />
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I'll concentrate here on the mindset of most I encounter. Intransigent imbeciles would be to put it mildly, and in a term most would have to Google. Doubtless there are those of this mindset who support Hillary, Bernie, Obama, Stein, or any other politician anywhere. My experience is with Trumpers, for it is on his supporter pages I have been spending my time. Don't ask me why, I think I'm a masochist who just doesn't like pain.<br />
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First off, Trumpers will believe anything, and I mean anything. As long as it conforms to their confirmation bias and/or plays to their prejudices, they will accept it. Not only that, they will even tell you straight out they do not care if what they are reading is true, or question who is posting it, they agree with it anyway.<br />
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If you warn them that the person they're responding to is a fake account, usually either Macedonian, Kosovan, Filipino, Indian, or Pakistani, and the material being posted is at best untrue and at worst potentially harmful they will invariably do one of two things; ignore you, or attack you.<br />
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When they attack is when you see just how intellectually bankrupt, wilfully ignorant and hateful they can be.<br />
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Take, for example, Tina. I encountered her last night. Tina's issue was not that she, as an American, was being misled with propaganda. Her issue was that a Brit such as I was interfering, I should apparently sort my own country out first. Less said about that irony the better when I look at the middle east!<br />
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Tina attacked me because I always criticised these articles, I didn't praise Trump for what they said. Think about that - in her mind I should have been praising Trump for something which was demonstrably not true. How does that make any sense, to agree with and praise anybody for something that is simply untrue?<br />
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For the record, I've called out fake negative articles about Trump, too, but they are far fewer in number, especially on pro-Trump pages. I just don't like fake news, whoever it is about.<br />
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As further example of how insufferably ignorant Trumpers can be, Tina then went on to bring up one of the favourite bogeymen of the right, George Soros. She made several accusations against him, none of them new to me. I responded by citing a Channel4 article which systematically debunks all of the conspiracies and gives a background to their origins. Did she read it? Clearly not, because she responded with a photo of him in a Nazi uniform - a photo my article had already debunked as being of Oskar Groening! She then responded with an anonymous YouTube video, which indicated it was time to give up and go to bed.<br />
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Yet, no, Tina wasn't finished. She has spent most of today attacking me, too, telling everybody I'm a Brit troll who should be ignored. She also took to trawling my personal wall and disliking posts, even those completely unrelated to politics or America.<br />
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The irony of all this, and one which seems completely lost on Tina and those who have expressed similar opinion, that a Brit should butt out, is that this is happening on Facebook pages owned and run by... foreigners, often Macedonians. The page Tina and I are on is owned by a couple who claim to be Norwegian but are likely also Macedonians. Either way, not American.<br />
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There's also the irony that she told me she doesn't care where people are from when they share articles. Yet she does care about where those warning about their veracity are from?<br />
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She went on to accuse me having an agenda of hating Trump and wanting to destroy America. I'm doing this, apparently, by drawing attention to fake news articles, which strikes me a strange way of doing it!<br />
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I've used Tina as an example as that was my most recent encounter and she neatly encapsulates all of the Trumper head-desk inducing insanities.<br />
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Last year I was booted from one Trump supporters' page where the admin team, about 8 strong, was entirely composed of profiles that made no attempt to hide that they were all in Macedonia or Kosovo. It existed solely to plant fake news articles for Trumpers to nod agreement to and share.<br />
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I'll close with this thought; what is happening on Facebook is part of a wide raging and longterm cyber attack on America, a cyber war designed to damage her democracy and cause hate, instability and division. I have many good friends there, I care about them, I care about their futures. I've seen the same propaganda campaigns used in European elections, and the UK's Referendum. I want better for America.<br />
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If you knowingly turn a blind eye to propaganda, or help promulgate it, you are not a patriot. In wartime you would be called a collaborator. Yet what else can you call those, like Tina, attacking an ally who is trying to protect them and defending those intent on harming their country?<br />
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Next time, if I can be arsed, I may delve into some of the articles I've seen and the troll accounts that Facebook should be removing, but so often don't.<br />
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Thanks for reading.Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com0Romford, UK51.577076 0.1783189999999876851.4981575 0.016957499999987691 51.6559945 0.33968049999998767tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-57738129552206250762016-06-06T01:38:00.002+01:002016-06-06T01:54:15.794+01:00Giving It To Mirillis, For Free!<div style="text-align: justify;">
My first blog update in a while and one that departs from my usual topics to tell you about my recent experience with a company called Mirillis. Sadly it's not a positive experience and one that I hope they can learn from in future.<br />
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On March 19th of this year Mirillis gave away their Action! 1.30 screen recording software via the website <i>www.giveawayoftheday.com</i>, which is a great site from which you can often get some very useful software. This was the page...</div>
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I, like many others, downloaded Action! 1.30 as it may have come in handy, though it's not something I would have needed to utilise that frequently. Along with the installation file, those downloading Action! received the following ReadMe.txt file that explains how to register it. Note how this text file included both the required Registration name and key...</div>
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The one time I did try Action! 1.30 it seemed pretty good, it did the job and I was happy with it, but I didn't need to use it again until a week or so back. That's when things get a little bit silly because, upon starting the software, I received this dialog box…</div>
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My serial was made public and so they have blocked access to the application? I've not made this serial number public (I even obscured it in the screenshots above), but I've a pretty good idea who did – Marillis themselves in the ReadMe.txt that they provided to everybody installing it!</div>
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A mistake, surely? So I emailed Marillis, thinking they would put things right. No. They didn't. Here's the first email and their reply…</div>
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Okay, so the serial number was only supposed to be valid for one day for installation. Fair enough, that's standard with <i>Giveaway of the Day</i> offers, but I had installed it on that day, as I told them, and it had worked okay! It makes absolutely no sense to give away a piece of software and limit use to the day it is installed, that also isn't the idea of <i>Giveaway of the Day.</i> That's why I was emailing them, so I replied and again they responded...</div>
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Now they're saying, as per the dialog box when I attempt to run it, that the serial number was blacklisted due to a terms of use violation; the serial number was made public.</div>
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Yes, I know it was made public, Mirillis, <u>BY YOU</u>, just as I had said in my first email. You are the ones who included it in the ReadMe.txt which we all downloaded during the offer period, so you violated your own terms of use and are penalising people who have done nothing wrong as a result because it's obviously flagging as having multiple users!</div>
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This is either rank incompetence on the part of Mirillis and now they're unwilling to do the decent thing and provide users with a working application, or it was a cynical and disingenuous ploy to get some publicity by giving away the software on giveawayoftheday and then disabling it shortly after in the hope we would take them up on their discount offer and buy the latest version.</div>
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No, Mirillis, I will not be buying your software, discounted or not, neither now or in the future. If this is the standard of customer service you offer I would rather look elsewhere, and I'd recommend anybody else considering your software do the same.</div>
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Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com4Enfield, Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6522994 -0.08071189999998296151.5735064 -0.24207339999998295 51.731092399999994 0.08064960000001703tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-58079458658184943002016-01-07T03:28:00.000+00:002016-01-07T05:12:47.933+00:00Roseanne Barr's Barrage of Bullshit!If you're not aware of what Roseanne said of atheists on Twitter I'd advise reading these excellent blogs before continuing with this one.<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1632044254"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/12/31/roseanne-barr-calls-atheists-very-anti-semitic-on-twitter-and-then-keeps-going/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/12/31/roseanne-barr-calls-atheists-very-anti-semitic-on-twitter-and-then-keeps-going/</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danthropology/2016/01/roseanne-barrs-atheist-bashing-and-our-chitchat-betrays-a-common-ignorance-of-atheism/">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danthropology/2016/01/roseanne-barrs-atheist-bashing-and-our-chitchat-betrays-a-common-ignorance-of-atheism/</a><br />
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Okay, now my own encounter, which is in the form of an open letter to Roseanne.<br />
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Dear Roseanne Barr,<br />
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Having become aware of your comments you may remember I tweeted the following...<br />
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Note that I wasn't offensive and did not swear, nor did I do so at any time during our exchange, however much you wished to provoke me. This was a courtesy I extended you but that you neither reciprocated nor, in hindsight, deserved.<br />
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As you'll have seen from the blogs above, you made a very poorly worded tweet that implied that atheists are anti-Semitic and then compounded the situation. This didn't stop your sheepish followers wading in defending you with such lovely comments as this...<br />
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No, Paul, that is NOT what Roseanne originally said. Roseanne originally said this...<br />
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See? No 'many' there so maybe Paul should look in the mirror and go bye bye.<br />
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This is the tweet that caused the initial trouble and one that you, Roseanne, quickly deleted when called on it and replaced with one saying '<i>many atheists are anti semitic</i>'. Had you displayed the common decency and apologised for the original tweet it would have been bad enough, but you didn't and instead you went on the offensive when anybody dared confront you on this disgraceful accusation. Saying 'many' hardly makes the tweet any more acceptable, especially when you refuse to substantiate it with a single study that confirms atheists are any more anti-Semitic than any other group, which is all you were asked to do. Hardly unreasonable was it?<br />
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Imagine I had posted on Twitter something like this “<i>Jews are money grabbing Shylocks</i>”<br />
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(please note this is an example based on a stereotype I know is NOT accurate, so don't go whining!)<br />
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I would, quite rightly, be attacked by anybody with an ounce of decency. If I deleted it without apology and instead Tweeted that “<i>Many Jews are money grabbing Shylocks</i>” it would not make my words any less offensive and I would be expected to give some level of evidence to back up my slur. When posting anything in a public arena such as Twitter it behooves us to think first, type later.<br />
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I'll repeat for the hard of thinking that these categorically are <i><u>not</u></i> my opinion of Jews, I am using it as an example I do not agree with.<br />
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In a tweet to another user fruitlessly trying to reason with you I made the observation that maybe you are confusing anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism. After all, even many Jews don't agree with the extremist Zionists who are seemingly hell-bent on expanding Israel and even reinstating the Temple on the Mount regardless if doing so causes all out war with her neighbours in the process.<br />
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Your response to this tweet was astonishing...<br />
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You called me a “<i>Nazi Toad</i>”!? At no point had I even voiced my personal opinions on Judaism, Jews or Israel so how did you come to this conclusion? Oh, yes, because I disagreed with being labelled anti-Semitic by somebody who has never met me much less asked my opinion. You throw this disgusting name at others, too. I can only surmise you resort to this tactic either due to a lack of intellect or a paucity of evidence with which to back up your claims. Whichever it is, it's rather pathetic in a public figure of your stature.<br />
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Roseanne, you also have a habit it seems of playing the misogyny card …<br />
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No, Roseanne, I don't give a damn what gender you are, nor do I care what religion you are, so stop hiding behind red herrings. All I care about is that you felt the need to post something so offensive about atheists and then deemed it appropriate to hurl abuse and insults at anybody who dared approach you about it. You could have been a male atheist making your original comment and I'd have confronted you, because such bigotry needs confronting – especially when coming from a high profile celebrity with influence.<br />
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Please drop the whining 'they don't like a strong woman' act, it's rendered hypocritical when your next trick, one pulled on numerous people, is to block us and run away to tweet about us where we cannot respond. If you had the courage of your convictions you would debate reasonably with some maturity, offer evidence for your position and, yes, maybe even earn a little bit of respect from those you're openly maligning.<br />
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I was a fan of your show, I considered you a talented writer and comedian. I expected you to behave like a grown adult capable of sustaining an adult conversation. Instead you behave like a vicious, poisonous, narrow minded little narcissistic bigot with a chip on your shoulder so big it could feed the starving children in Africa, the ones your precious God doesn't seem to give a damn about.<br />
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You have also claimed that atheists attack Jews more than any other faith, another claim for which I suspect you would struggle to find proof. Persecution complex much? I've been debating theists of all faiths on Facebook for years and I rarely see Jews come under fire from atheists. To their credit, most Jews I've encountered seem genuinely decent people and so get treated with the respect they deserve, I've even defended them on occasion when Christians and Muslims have been attacking them. There is, obviously, good and bad within any group, but in my experience Jews are not usually extremists or self-righteous morons like you.<br />
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May I suggest that you have formed your twisted opinion by behaving towards atheists elsewhere in the same tone you use with them on Twitter, in which case is it any wonder when they turn on you? You cannot expect to repeatedly kick a dog and not eventually get bitten, however placid the dog may otherwise be. Perhaps you would rather atheists sat by silently whilst you malign us publicly. Sorry, we stopped doing that when theists stopped being able to torture and murder us for heresy. It's not just Jews who have been historically persecuted, nor is it Jews barred from holding office or serving on Juries in many US states. As wonderful as America is, I'm thankful I was born in a country where my atheism isn't used as a stick to beat me with and where I am not forced to hide my lack of belief like it's a dirty secret. When was the last time you, as a Jew, had to hide your faith to avoid ridicule or worse from a majority population of Christians? Exactly!<br />
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Roseanne, you also accused atheists of trying to censor you. No, we're not. We're expecting you to treat us with the same level of respect and decency with which you expect to be treated, and not throw out unsubstantiated propaganda and lies. Again, your persecution complex and transparent plea for support from your followers is laughably risible. Do you realise that, if anything, your atrocious behaviour on Twitter is likely harming the Jewish cause? Perhaps think on that before being so unbelievably stupid in future.<br />
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I doubt you've bothered to read this far, if you read any of it, so I'll end with another of your tweets...<br />
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At least you got this much right – Twitter does make it easy for imbeciles. You prove that every time you comment on there.<br />
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Now I've got that off of my chest I think I've earned a little swear, so here it is.<br />
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Fuck you, Roseanne, you deluded mooncalf! Fuck off back to the 90's and go look for your career. Maybe it fell down the back of the sofa during that disappointing final season nobody liked?<br />
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Much love,<br />
DawkinsDog<br />
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<br />Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com2Enfield, Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6522994 -0.08071189999998296151.5735064 -0.24207339999998295 51.731092399999994 0.08064960000001703tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-8434973482687799492015-08-16T01:55:00.002+01:002015-08-16T01:55:43.199+01:00The Immorality of the Missionary's Position<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been nearly a year since the shits stopped hitting my fan and it's time I finally got back to updating this, given I pay for this place and have a right to use it.</div>
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What brought about this decision? A debate I had on Facebook these last couple of days, one that has done nothing but strengthen my belief that religion is a blight on human decency.<a name='more'></a></div>
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My position was this; God is all knowing, or so Christians claim, and so must logically know whether we will 'find him'. By extension he must be creating people whom he knows he will condemn to the lake of fire upon death. This contradicts any notion of his benevolence.</div>
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However, what really stuck in my craw and got me typing was this;</div>
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I made the case that a child could be raped by a pastor and, as a direct result of that abuse, lose their faith in God and the church, turning atheist because they cannot reconcile a loving God with one who would sit by as a child was abused, a completely understandable consequence and one I suspect is all too common given the pervasiveness of paedophiles within the Church. According to Christian doctrine this child will be cast into the lake of fire upon death as they didn't repent. On the other hand, the pastor could later repent their actions and be forgiven, being granted Heaven upon their death.</div>
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This struck me as patently unjust and contrary to all logic and reason. Not to the former Irish prison missionary I was debating, oh no! His response was that all people are sinners, including the child, and if the child didn't later repent for his own sins he was deserving of God's judgement and an eternity in a lake of fire, and the pastor was deserving of forgiveness if he repented.</div>
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I said that I would never hold against a person the results of such abuse, I would certainly never eternally punish them for losing faith in me for not helping. His response? That I was just trying to justify sin! No, if I was there to have stopped the rape and save the child I would have done so, then he might have repented and be spared the lake of fire. That's what makes most humans better than God!</div>
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He also tried the tired old argument that the child could later repent, even though in my scenario I had explicitly stated that they didn't due to the trauma they'd faced robbing them of their faith. How could the child repent if God had already foreseen that they wouldn't? Logically they can't.</div>
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Think about this...</div>
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God knew before he created the earth that the following would happen.</div>
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1. The child would be raped</div>
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2. The child would, as a result, lose his faith</div>
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3. The child would, at God's behest, be eternally tortured</div>
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Where in that scenario is God not a complete and absolute psychopath?</div>
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If we use an analogy, imagine the following;</div>
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A father has a child. That child is sexually abused in full sight of the father, who stands by and does nothing as the child pleads with him to stop the attacker. As a result of this the child loses all faith and respect for his father, they grow apart and the child never speaks to him again, even hating him.</div>
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Who would you blame, the father or the child? What if the father, because his child rejected him, decided to later kidnap and submit him to intense and agonising torture for not loving him?</div>
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It would seem that according to the complete whackjob I was debating this would be an entirely just outcome, because God punishes all crimes. No, he doesn't. We've already established that the pastor suffers no punishment because he repented. He wasn't even obliged to make reparation with his victim, only to apologise to God. God wasn't the victim, God was the passive voyeur of the crime!</div>
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It is encounters such as this online that drive my antitheism. It takes a very sick and perverse sense of morality to defend a God who is so sadistic that they would punish a victim under these circumstances.</div>
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I'm aware that many Christians who may read this will argue the cockwomble I was debating is wrong. Is he? I've seen similar sentiments from other Christians, some of whom even admit it is troubling. Christians don't seem to ever agree on doctrine, that's why there's thousands of denominations all claiming the others are doing it wrong.</div>
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Let it be said, though, that if this prison missionary is right God is a vicious, capricious monster who cares not one jot for us but only for his own self serving need to have his arse kissed. The fact that these people spout such poisonous rhetoric without so much as a scrap of evidence their God exists leads to me to think humanity is infected with a disease, one that only rationality and reason can hope to cure. No amount of apologetic gymnastics and cognitive contortions can change that.</div>
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Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com1Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6522994 -0.08071189999998296151.5735064 -0.24207339999998295 51.731092399999994 0.08064960000001703tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-48838987322082453072014-10-26T14:43:00.001+00:002015-08-16T03:24:08.707+01:00Open Letter to Lions Denialists' Admin<div dir="ltr">
An open letter to Robert Bennett,<br />
<br />
Following my tweeting of two of your posts, taken from your Facebook group The Lion's Den, you chose to make the following comments on your group.</div>
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"I feel sorry for the guy who is doing this, he is in his 40's and lives with his parents, and spends every waking hour spewing his anti-Christian hate."<br />
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"The emotional release he gets from spreading his anti-Christian bigotry and hate must be phenomenal!"<br />
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Further down, a response from Barry Wannell said<br />
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"Well I trust and pray we can rout out the cancer quickly!!"<br />
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Cancer? That's a nice way to talk about a fellow human being, I'm sure Jesus would approve lol<br />
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As you obviously aren't giving me right to reply to these allegations on your page I have chosen to address them here.<br />
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You might object to me replicating posts I find moronic, which is no more than many do on pages such as Fundies Say The Darndest Things (to which I never post) but never have I, nor would I, make an attack on somebody's private life as you have stooped to. This proves what type of spiteful person you are and that you are in no position to judge me. Yes, I tweeted what you posted but I passed comment only on what you had posted, not on your personal life – that is a line I would never cross.<br />
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Let me tell you about me, so you can see if you find your vicious little comment acceptable.<br />
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Yes, I'm in my 40's, I'm 43. It's true I live at home, but not with my parents – my father passed in <a href="tel:1987">1987</a> and, as is customary, we didn't keep him around the house afterwards. I live at home for two good reasons. Firstly I have my own long term health issues which preclude my working, but for which I claim no financial support even though legally entitled to it. Secondly, and this is where I really do take issue with your comment, I am a carer for my mother who is in her 80's and suffering ill health, and for whom my own life and healthcare has had to be put on hold repeatedly for nearly a decade. As to spending all day spewing anti-Christian hate, I don't. I have better things to do.<br />
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So it's okay to use this against me, Robert? You feel you were right to drag my personal life into your pathetic attack for the benefit of your baying sycophants?<br />
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Some more about me; I've never smoked, taken any drugs and only very, very occasionally touch any alcohol, never having been even remotely drunk. I've never stolen. I've never had a speeding or parking ticket. I give freely of my time to others, often at my own expense, and I am always there for friends when needed. Of course, as an atheist, none of this matters apparently because the bible says we can do no good, but I do think if we were playing “Who's the better person poker” you and your fellow fundies would be facing a Royal Flush with nothing but a pair of twos and a Joker.<br />
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Why do I do what I do with Twitter? I'll tell you.<br />
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When I joined Facebook I had absolutely no interest in religion. It was a non-issue to me, just as it isn't to a great many in Britain. I was, however, interested in science, so I joined a page about evolution as I was reading a book on it at the time. It wasn't long before I read of how those of us who accepted evolution were being called Satanists, Devil Worshippers and other ridiculous things on Christian and creationist pages, and by the odd troll who would join the evolution page to make idiotic comments. At first I just laughed it off. Then out of curiosity I joined a few pages. What I saw on them has driven me from having no interest in religion to calling myself an anti-theist.<br />
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From ignorant denial of proven science, as evolution is, to the stomach churning poison that is homophobia and other such bigotries. I've read things that make the Westboro Baptist Church look mild, including that atheists in America should be put in concentration camps, and worse. I've learned how atheists are treated in America, from prohibitions on holding office (contrary to the Constitution), to polls that show them considered the least trusted societal group, and bars on them even performing jury duty in some states.<br />
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Whenever I've joined pages I have not trolled, I have always tried to debate against these things sensibly but I have been met with varying degrees of arrogance, ignorance, scorn and outright hatred. It gets hard to keep your composure when it's always the way, though rarely have I ever let rip and said what I wanted to – but even calling somebody 'cupcake' for their homophobic posts warrants suspension on some pages, because the admin share those homophobic sentiments and defend them.<br />
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I've been told that I deserve, yes deserve, to burn in hell for eternity – why? Simply because I'm an atheist! I've had page admins PM me with viciously hateful bile, calling me things like a “disgusting queer” for defending same sex marriage. I'm not gay, I'm simply of the opinion that equality should mean equality! I've even been physically threatened by Christians from the safety of their monitor the other side of the world. Your own wife's PMs to me, to which I did not respond, were hateful and used terms such as “whining pom”, “gutless wonder” and “chicken”. I'm a gutless wonder yet you hide behind a closed page to abuse atheists and spout your nonsense, including your unfounded personal attack on me, and now you're apparently witch hunting for anybody passing me screenshots, threatening and removing some even though they have done absolutely nothing. For the record, nobody has passed me any screenshots, they didn't need to, so you can stop threatening and banning, it makes you look arbitrarily vindictive. You owe innocent people apologies.<br />
<br />
It would be amazing if I didn't despise your religion, but contrary to your accusation I do NOT hate Christians. Nor do I hate your god, because I do not believe he exists. It would be like accusing you of hating Zeus or Odin, or unicorns. It is your faith I take issue with when it is taken to extremes, as it is by those seeking to deny equality to others, foist mythology into school science classes and instigate changes to legislation that favour their personal religion and oppress others.<br />
<br />
So, yes, I posted some bits I find incredibly dumb on Twitter. That wasn't my intention when I started the account but the temptation to share the stupid was too much. There was a time when I dutifully blanked out the names of all the people, until several told me I shouldn't bother.<br />
<br />
As unbelievable as this may seem, my closest friend is a Christian. The difference is, they cannot abide your type of Christian any more than I can. They see you as an embarrassment because they support equality, science and a progressive future.<br />
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Just as it does the religions of others displaying such archaic, backward thinking, hateful bigotry, science denial, ignorance and intolerance is harming your faith more than any atheist could ever hope, but you are also harming those around you by perpetuating this fundamentalist mindset that would drag this planet, or at least large parts of it, back to pre-Enlightenment times given the chance.<br />
<br />
Maybe after reading this you will understand why I have little time for those who post things about Ian Juby, who even other creationists have debunked, or his ilk as evidence of anything. Atheists on your page are mocked, just as they are on other similar pages, yet mocking Christians is forbidden. I hadn't even posted on your page before you and some others were prejudging and accusing me, I knew there and then I wouldn't last long even if I kowtowed to your every whim. Maybe, just maybe, had I been welcomed without the firing squad loading up their rifles I would have respected your rules.<br />
<br />
Yes, I posted some screenshots on Twitter, at least I have never told somebody they deserve eternal torture at the hands of a contradictory loving god. I know which I think is more despicable, and if you didn't post it I couldn't screencap it in the first place. Nor have I made personal attacks on you or your private life, anywhere. So stop being the hypocritical Christian that you are and stop making them about mine. Your high horse is looking a bit tired, it's time to get off.<br />
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You and your merry band of atheist deriding reality dodgers can share your delusions in private. I won't share any more screenshots from your page, I didn't realise you were so embarrassed by your beliefs.<br />
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OpinionatedPrimate.</div>
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com108tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-88209055713626030062014-10-02T18:19:00.002+01:002014-10-02T18:19:11.935+01:00A Tale of Cupcakes & Cretins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here's a funny thing. You'd join a Facebook page called “<i>Respectful Debate & Sharing Group</i>” and expect it to offer just that, right? Oh how foolishly optimistic of you. Instead what you'd find is that the admin team remove you for confronting homophobes, bigots, reality dodgers and atheist baiters, then blame you for the most pathetic of reasons.<br />
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Let me give you an example.<br />
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The below picture was posted by one of their members, Barry;<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvQpBzj9KX4hr3yt6YUVq8U1hCr54RM8fxplXb8PFXdx3e9P8-hHqCvg2OdYdHS4l5rzz9s8MpHVf4KCOMwnxTYiRQRv39s93SnSDcnpdGUt-dxofCO3gl6QWIPl9vVGxvS6vFBo0cjCeJ/s1600/BarryOP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvQpBzj9KX4hr3yt6YUVq8U1hCr54RM8fxplXb8PFXdx3e9P8-hHqCvg2OdYdHS4l5rzz9s8MpHVf4KCOMwnxTYiRQRv39s93SnSDcnpdGUt-dxofCO3gl6QWIPl9vVGxvS6vFBo0cjCeJ/s1600/BarryOP.jpg" height="290" width="320" /></a></div>
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It doesn't raise a topic, it doesn't come with any suggestion of debate, it's a straight attack on atheists and hardly respectful. So I commented to that effect. The page owner, Janel, defended it, to which I said that she would as she isn't the target. She then threw in the tired old veiled threat of “<i>You do not have to be here if you don't want to be</i>.” This is cowardice, it's the pathetic “<i>If you don't like it, leave or be removed</i>” tactic.<br />
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Then Barry piped in with the equally tired old canard of “<i>the problem is your conscience has been pricked and you don't like it so are fighting back.</i>” No, Barry, my conscience is clear, I'm fighting back because I'm sick of morons like you taking potshots at atheists on that page (and others) and getting away with it constantly. For all I was sorely tempted, I didn't swear, I didn't blaspheme and I didn't break any rules.<br />
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It's not as if the idiots know what the word 'warning' means as, right before booting me, one of the admin, Keith Lythgoe, had thrown his dummy out of the pram defending the OP and telling me to stop complaining, that the admin were “<i>not in the mood</i>”. I wasn't given a chance to reply, I was removed whilst I was typing (probably a good thing under the circumstances, given I was equally not in the mood for their shite and was going to leave in a vitriolic venting of shock and awe proportions that makes this blog update look like Beatrix Potter!)<br />
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I'm sorry, the admin team are “<i>not in the mood</i>”? Then perhaps you shouldn't be fucking admin if you can't deal with individual cases competently, instead lashing out at me because you're having a collective baby sulk over what others have done and I played no sodding part in!<br />
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My patience with that page and its band of banal bosses has worn thin since I was recently suspended for a few days, again by hair-trigger Keith. Do you know why? It's because I referred to a disgustingly homophobic bigot as “<i>Cupcake</i>” jokingly a few times and as “<i>Tweedle Dumber</i>” once, when he waded into a thread where yet another member was talking utter bollocks and tried to outdo him. We are talking here about people whose comprehension levels would worry a toddler.<br />
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So you'd be lead to believe it's fine to be a homophobic bigot, it's fine to make really offensive comments even aimed at other members who are gay, yet if you call them “<i>cupcake</i>” you're removed?<br />
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Well, yes, that is precisely the case, as the admin Keith Lythgoe put it in a PM to me...<br />
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“<i>As far as homophobic remarks are concerned, myself and the other Christians express our convictions about that without hateful or demeaning language.</i>”<br />
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Really? Who is to decide what is offensive, the one telling the homosexual they have a choice, that they're sinful etc and should change, or the one having to sit there reading it? I'm not gay, nor am I black but I'd be confronting them the same way if they were making racist comments. This bullshit about expressing their convictions is just an asinine way of defending posting offensive crap and not having to defend themselves. “<i>It's my belief</i>” is a shield too often raised by the bigot, usually as they wave a Bible in the other hand.<br />
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Well, Keith, why can others not express their convictions? Calling somebody “<i>cupcake</i>” is hardly offensive, it's not like they were called a “<i>poisonous little bigoted piece of filth</i>”, which is frankly what my convictions make me feel they are, yet I would never have posted it.<br />
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An example of how respectful their behaviour is towards gay members, this was fine by the admin;<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcvExsodd05d0nL0yenF0LlGdl5xmNXrU-Ada0Huhshlygn3gYDN_If6pKjfZNfb5nWPGJbbpru1UISpLKn07JgoUltY2_ZCj1XOnYu1h7JTq1ODpPFIwUoTKcpxcBpORJcc9XN5utGGF/s1600/SonsMothers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcvExsodd05d0nL0yenF0LlGdl5xmNXrU-Ada0Huhshlygn3gYDN_If6pKjfZNfb5nWPGJbbpru1UISpLKn07JgoUltY2_ZCj1XOnYu1h7JTq1ODpPFIwUoTKcpxcBpORJcc9XN5utGGF/s1600/SonsMothers.jpg" height="202" width="320" /></a></div>
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They attempt to fool atheists into thinking they're open and inclusive by having an atheist admin, but it's abundantly evident that whilst he's the only competent member of the admin team he is there merely as a token. His presence is a way for them to dodge accusations they're a bunch of god obsessed, biased arseholes who actually have no respect for atheists or anybody not fitting their narrow minded ideal and so freely allow their fellow delusion dwellers to insult and attack them.<br />
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Doubtless Janel Sara, Keith Lythgoe and Lisa Goodson, the three Christian admin, would contend this claim. Yet what of the mass purge of around thirty members that occurred just days ago? Many of these members had demonstrably done nothing to warrant removal, I know for a fact that some had not even posted for several weeks so could not have broken any rules! It appears the admin have descended into a state of paranoia over people reporting posts and members, so went about arbitrarily banning innocent people. It's a shame the idiotic arseholes didn't instead boot those who were the cause of any reporting; the homophobes, the bigots and the baiters.<br />
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It's unfortunate but that page was pretty good until a few months ago when the page owner, Janel, took the shortbus over to another page, “<i>The Battlefield</i>”, and stocked up on what can only be termed the window-licking scum of society. Since then the page has become a piss poor imitation of The Battlefield, which itself is a piss poor imitation of an insane asylum crossed with a blocked sewage pipe.<br />
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Keith, if you're reading this you said you don't hold a grudge, remember? Neither do I. I do, however, have a blog upon which I can express my convictions. Must be awful not being able to delete this and boot me out without warning. Perhaps had you not blocked my rather than have the decency to discuss this via PM on Facebook I'd not be writing it, but both you and Janel did, so I am. It's not like I was ever rude or abusive in PM, as you both know, so you had no reason. I can only presume you blocked me rather than justify yourselves, which is typical.<br />
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Karma's a bitch. Talking of which, say hi to Janel and Lisa for me.<br />
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Oh, yes, here's the thread that got me permanently banned, minus Keith's little rant as he removed me before I could screencap that;<br />
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<br />Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com44Enfield, Greater London, UK51.651599999999988 -0.08370000000002164651.57280699999999 -0.24506150000002164 51.730392999999985 0.077661499999978345tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-61474277721154246762014-07-31T01:11:00.004+01:002014-07-31T01:12:50.527+01:00Open Letter To Sky TV's BossesDear Sky Bosses,<br />
<br />
I'm writing this open letter to you as I feel others need to know precisely how aggrieved I am with your latest money making scheme.<br />
<br />
Let me first of all explain my situation. I am a carer for my mother, who is in her 80's. I have no income and so any expenditures have to be justified. Frankly just paying your ever increasing subscription charges has been difficult enough. Your latest little tactic I find both indefensible and deceitful.<br />
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Until the 29th July I was able to come upstairs to my Xbox 360 and use your Sky Go service to catch up on such shows as True Blood, Ray Donovan, Banshee and Penny Dreadful – all shows I was not able to watch downstairs as my mother would not enjoy having to sit through them.<br />
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Now I find that you have removed my access to Sky Go via the Xbox, unless I pay you an extra £5 a month for Sky Go Extra. This leaves me without the access I need and, as I stated above, it is difficult enough affording your already expensive subscription, I cannot pay you more for a service I have already been paying for. Needless to say your subscribers will not be seeing a reduction in our subscriptions for this withdrawal of service, that would be expecting too much.<br />
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When I questioned your Twitter support team about this issue I was told “<i>I can appreciate that the changes to Sky Go on Xbox can cause frustration, and want to clear up why this decision has been made. This decision has been taken to allow us to provide the best service possible with Sky Go on Xbox, as well as to protect the content within Sky Go. If you're a Sky Multiscreen subscriber, you can get Sky Go Extra at no extra cost</i>.”<br />
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Frustration does not enter into it. I am bloody disgusted and furious with your company. I cannot afford Sky Multiscreen, if I could I would not need Sky Go anyway, I'd have the second box upstairs. I do not need the four device limit Sky Go Extra offers, I needed only one – which you have now denied me.<br />
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As to the lie, and it is a lie as it is nonsensical, that this move protects the content within Sky Go, you must think we are idiots. How can it possibly be intended to protect content when any such added protection is negated by simply paying you your extra five pounds of flesh to regain the same access?<br />
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Further to this, I would not pay this £5 a month extra on the grounds the picture quality via the Xbox is appalling. As others have noted on your own forums, the stream constantly appears to be below that which is required for a high quality image. It's not like you even offered HD streams, unlike other providers manage without expecting their viewers to cough up extra money. The quality was sufficient to catch up on missed shows, no more, and it was not worth paying extra for. No, before you suggest it, this has nothing to do with my internet connection - that's way more than sufficient for HD streams from the likes of the BBC's iPlayer, this is down to your company putting out at substandard bandwidths. Again, one check of your own forums will confirm this issue plagues your customers.<br />
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It's not like your satellite service is exactly reliable, either. When we had the recent storms, and as happens whenever we get heavy rain, our signal disappeared completely. This left us with no option but to use the Xbox's internet based stream to fall back on – something else you are therefore denying your paying customers.<br />
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There is no way you will get another penny out of me for something I was already entitled to until you realised you could milk the customer cash cow a bit more vigorously. I am disgusted by this move, as are many others judging by the numerous comments on your own user forums.<br />
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I will be seriously considering cancelling my subscription and going to Virgin. I've been with you for well over twenty years yet this is the way in which my loyalty is rewarded? It appears like you'll bait the hook, as currently where new subscribers get a Samsung tablet, but once we're caught you can treat us like dirt, nothing more than wallets to plunder. It's not good enough.<br />
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Shoddy, Sky, very shoddy.<br />
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Yours,<br />
<i><b>A furious customer</b></i>Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com1Enfield, Greater London, UK51.651599999999988 -0.08370000000002164651.57280699999999 -0.24506150000002164 51.730392999999985 0.077661499999978345tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-36485611807874114842014-06-06T20:12:00.001+01:002014-06-06T20:12:24.566+01:00Demon Haunted Courtroom<p dir="ltr">On a Facebook page we were recently discussing an incident where a young man went crazy with a knife and gun, injuring and killing others. Sadly an all too common event in the US. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Whilst most of us present were of the opinion this man was clearly mentally ill, judging by all of the reports surrounding the case, the fundamentalist Christian present disagreed. She was adamant that this young man was under the control of demons.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Where you or I might say of somebody "they had their demons" and mean it metaphorically, she truly believes that they are literal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This got me thinking on what the ramifications of such belief would be if the majority of the population believed as she did, and if the law reflected it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Imagine a court case where a man went into a school with a machine gun and took the lives of dozens of innocent students before being subdued and arrested. His legal counsel tells the court that he is possessed of demons.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If somebody does something against their will and under duress they're generally not found guilty. Even diminished responsibility can result in a reduced sentence or acquittal. So what would happen to our gunman? </p>
<p dir="ltr">In all likelihood he would be found not guilty as he was not in control, the demons were forcing him to do these things. I can easily imagine a situation where instead of being sent to a secure psychiatric unit he would be sent to the local exorcist before being pronounced cleansed of his demonic controllers and released a free man, especially if he was savvy enough to tell them he repented his actions. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Given that statistics show that the US produces more serial killers than the rest of the world combined it's not a pleasant thought.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The irony is, whilst the gunman we were discussing has clearly got mental health problems, the Christian who insisted he has demons says she doesn't have mental health problems, even though she claims to speak directly to the Holy Spirit and Jesus, and to have two reformed demons living in her garage, whom she has chosen not to send to Hell as they've changed their ways.</p>
<p dir="ltr">No, I didn't make that bit up. I'm not crazy enough.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We've only got to look at history to see where a legal system can go if you leave the religious in charge. Trial by ordeal was always fun; the accused having their limbs severely burnt and then seeing if God healed them. If he didn't, they were guilty.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Would sure as hell make Judge Judy more entertaining.</p>
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com1London, London51.508514 -0.1254872tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-22624616439096488122014-04-08T02:43:00.000+01:002014-04-08T04:01:46.845+01:00Suffer The Children<div style="text-align: justify;">
Time for another update prompted by an encounter online.</div>
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For this one I'm going to start with a short story...</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The scene; a road. It's night and the streetlights glow yellowy white. A woman walks along the road, she would be apprehensive of walking alone like this, were it not for the policeman standing the opposite side of the road, keeping guard. As she nears an alley halfway down the road a man jumps out, grabbing her and pushing her against the wall. He forces her to the ground, grapples with her clothing and rapes her. Throughout this the woman is pleading to the policeman across the road to help, her screams echoing in the night, eyes wide with fear.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The policeman stands and watches, rocking on his heels as the screams ring out, echoing on the brick walls.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The rapist, his urges sated, runs off into the night, leaving the woman scratched, bruised and traumatised. Picking herself up, she stumbles away, glancing back only to look at the policeman, noting the number on his shoulder.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some years later, the rapist realises what he has done and, feeling the guilt overwhelm him, decides to hand himself into the police. As luck would have it, the policeman the rapist goes to is the very one who witnessed the attack. The policeman asks if he is truly sorry, the rapist says he is. Will he apologise to the policeman? The rapist will. So the policeman, rather than escorting him to a cell to await punishment, pats him on the head and says everything is now okay, all is forgiven, and sends him on his way with a reward.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What of our victim? She was so traumatised she became a recluse, unable to go out. Her health declined, she lost her job, her friends, her home and her faith in the police. She decides to start a campaign against the police, in particular the officer who stood by and watched.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The policeman doesn't like this. It's an affront to him, he wants the woman to admire him. So he decides to find her and teach her a lesson, with torture. The life she has been leading since the attack is nothing compared to the misery, pain and suffering the policeman inflicts upon her, hour after hour, night and day, week after week, year after year until she cannot remember when it began.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But that policeman? It's not his fault, he was within his rights.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, what was the point of this rather distressing story. It's not exactly believable, is it? Well, compare it to what I was told only recently online on a Christian Facebook page.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I asked a simple question: If a child is molested by a priest and, as a result of that systematic abuse, loses his faith, grows up rejecting or even hating the god he now blames for standing by, and then, as many former child abuse victims do, commits suicide, will he go to Hell? Further to this, what becomes of the priest?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was shocked and disgusted by the response. You're probably ahead of me here.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was told that the priest was clearly not a true believer (no, they wouldn't be, would they) if they abused a child, but they could repent and be forgiven their sins and so go to Heaven.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, their victim, the child who was so traumatised they never recovered and many years later committed suicide would go to Hell unless they first repented for their sins to God. The same God who has stood by, like our fictional policeman, and watched as they were abused. The same God who has watched them suffer with the aftermath and reach a point they cannot go on.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And many Christians, though thankfully not all, see no problem with this!?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
How completely and utterly morally bankrupt can a person be to defend a doctrine such as this and how much cognitive dissonance must it take to not see the extreme twisted vulgarity involved?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As an atheist I'll freely admit I am not perfect, but I would never condone something so poisonous, so antithetical to all I hold right and just. And I would never bend my knee to a god I thought had such a disgusting disregard for his creation. I'd rather go to Hell with the victim than rub shoulder with the abuser and his self serving protector.</div>
<br />
<br />
<i>Further reading</i>:<br />
Child abuse victims are statistically far more likely to commit suicide later in life.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/22/child-abuse-permanently-modifies-stress-genes-in-brains-of-s/">http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/22/child-abuse-permanently-modifies-stress-genes-in-brains-of-s/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2010/192/4/suicide-and-fatal-drug-overdose-child-sexual-abuse-victims-historical-cohort">https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2010/192/4/suicide-and-fatal-drug-overdose-child-sexual-abuse-victims-historical-cohort</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/suicide-risk-for-child-abuse-survivors/story-fngburq5-1226665404286">http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/suicide-risk-for-child-abuse-survivors/story-fngburq5-1226665404286</a><br />
<br />Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com0London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.11806550000005751.583473 -0.279427000000057 51.741112 0.043295999999942991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-36277871319506612232014-03-17T02:42:00.000+00:002014-03-17T02:42:51.241+00:00Oh Go To Hell!<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've not updated this blog in quite a while as, to quote a Sister Hazel track, life got in the way, but I've decided it's time I pester you to read my mind's meanderings again as I need to get something off my chest. It's not a long one (oh shush!)</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
How many of you whilst talking to Christians have been told that unless we repent and turn to Christ we will face judgement and be cast into Hell? If you've debated on Facebook or any other religious based forum I'm betting it's most of you.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Why are they allowed to do it?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If I were to tell somebody, even on Facebook, that unless they did as I told them my friend would hunt them down in real life and torture them, setting them on fire, I would likely be reported, and rightly so. I'd very possibly be suspended or removed entirely by Facebook.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yet this is effectively exactly what Christians are doing to atheists daily, and nothing is said. They are telling atheists that unless we repent their friend will torture us.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If I said to somebody face to face that they would suffer unless they did what I told them I would probably be guilty of a criminal offence, just threatening violence is considered assault under UK law. Yet a Christian can thrust a Bible at me and tell me that unless I do what they tell me I will suffer not just violence but the ultimate torture. Again, nothing would be done about it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Christian defence seems to be along a couple of lines.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1. They'll claim it's not a threat, they're simply warning us of what lays ahead and are trying to save us.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is like defending a Mafia Don who tells you that you should do what he says or you'll sleep with the fishes because if you pay the protection racket he runs you'll get treated really well. It's still coercion, it's still a threat.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It also flies in the face of these bullshit claims that their god is loving. No loving being would be capable of creating the ultimate punishment, as Hell is. No loving being would condemn to an eternity a person who merely lacked belief in him. No. God is not loving if he sends good people to Hell for lack of belief. He's a monster and narcissistic tyrant.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
2. They'll claim that atheists cannot feel threatened by Hell as we don't believe it exists.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is irrelevant. The intent behind it doesn't change even if, as I do, I find such threats asinine and amusing. These Christians do believe Hell exist and they are threatening us that unless we repent we'll get what we deserve, eternal torture. They may think they're trying to 'save' us, but then a Mafia enforcer probably thinks he's doing the extorted storekeeper a favour, too. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It doesn't matter if I believe Hell exists because I am being threatened by somebody who does. If I were to tell somebody my friend would torture them if they didn't do as I said it wouldn't matter if they believed my friend existed, they would still be being threatened. What is really worrying is that my friend might not exist, I might know it's an empty threat, but these crazies actually do believe that Hell is real, and they are willing to defend a God capable of creating it!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Next time a Christian pleads they're persecuted remind them that no persecution on Earth can equal the eternal suffering and misery they believe atheists will be dealt by the God they love so much.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Any Christians reading this; please stop using these tactics, they're counterproductive as they make you and your God look vindictive, they make you look immoral for defending such a doctrine and it simply serves to reinforce that you actually have no evidence for your faith, so have to resort to threats. Which is rather silly, isn't it.</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com2London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.11806550000005751.583473 -0.279427000000057 51.741112 0.043295999999942991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-29326850263786440492013-05-09T02:19:00.000+01:002013-05-09T02:19:26.351+01:00T-Immobilized Further<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So last night I posted
<a href="http://theopinionatedprimate.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/t-immobilized-data-plans.html" target="_blank">this blog update</a> about T-Mobile unfairly prohibiting the use of
entirely legitimate services such as Skype and BT SmartTalk on my £10
a month supposedly “unlimited data” internet Pay As You Go
package. Today another nail was hammered into the coffin of this
company in the opinion of this particular primate.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I received the
following text message:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><b>Smart Packs are a
new way to make the most of your credit, a £10 Pack comes with 400
texts, 100 mins and 1GB data for 30 days. Get yours today, as from 17
June we're introducing some price changes that will affect your
current plan. To find out more about Smart Packs and for more on the
changes visit this link online or click here for free
<a href="http://m.t-mobile.co.uk/MakingChanges">http://m.t-mobile.co.uk/MakingChanges</a></b></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So instead of receiving unlimited text and internet, albeit with a
very loose definition of unlimited, I will receive only 400 texts and
1GB of data, still doubtless subject to the unfair prohibiting of
VoIP software. On top I will instead get a paltry 100 minutes of
calls and, to add insult to injury, it appears,
should that 100 minutes not be sufficient, the cost of calls will rise from an already high 25p a
minute to a ridiculous 35p a minute, that's a 40% increase! Are they mistaking their customers for sheep and attempting to fleece us?</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As readers will have seen, the package I am on was clearly advertised
as offering texts and unlimited internet “for life”, so how can
they now violate that advertised claim? Apparently very easily,
though their Twitter support team claim it was a difficult decision.
Either through an entirely appropriate predictive text error or perhaps because they saw how I ended my last blog
update, they are sorry if these changes cause me any 'incontinence'.</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBZhxMkcPm0pMA2FMx-YnozgMDVSOr3OAZEBYK-CDanSVM81FFBdaPDMBwbT3hkmzEHHbl62m-8nPE20347JItt6BdDYgRu8cVtddOgZcinFWGB7hSeeMp6WIMEGOpFwlKt8-bylvMLTu/s1600/TwitterPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBZhxMkcPm0pMA2FMx-YnozgMDVSOr3OAZEBYK-CDanSVM81FFBdaPDMBwbT3hkmzEHHbl62m-8nPE20347JItt6BdDYgRu8cVtddOgZcinFWGB7hSeeMp6WIMEGOpFwlKt8-bylvMLTu/s320/TwitterPM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Well who needs incontinence when companies like T-Mobile are all too
willing to take the piss?</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Remember, this is a company who refused to sign a Code of Practice introduced by Ofcom that was designed to protect customers from unfair terms, like the blocking of VoIP services. One can hardly be surprised at their seeming cavalier attitude towards their customers' rights or the service they supply.</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So what do I do? Do I continue to pay these people £10 a month, as I
have done in good faith for over three years, and receive a lesser
service with higher call costs and unfair prohibitions, or do I throw away well over £100 of
credit I have accrued and tell them to shove it where the signal
don't reach? Currently I don't know what to do. I do know that other
companies, such as Virgin, don't block Skype or BT SmartTalk even
though they ironically use the T-Mobile network! They also appear to
offer much better value for money, so what incentive does a customer
such as me have to remain loyal to a company which clearly has no
intention of returning that loyalty? In such a competitive market, this is clearly not the way to treat customers.</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Whatever happens, my faith in T-Mobile is badly damaged by this
situation. I had previously thought them a good company offering a
decent service, what I've learned in the last 24 hours has shown me
that is far from the truth.</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com2London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.11806550000005751.583473 -0.279427000000057 51.741112 0.043295999999942991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-69604065556803873922013-05-08T03:04:00.000+01:002013-05-08T03:18:52.128+01:00T-Immobilized Data Plans<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Relax, this one isn't
about religion, I promise. It is about the free and easy way in which
some companies, in this instance T-Mobile UK, bandy around the word
'unlimited' to mislead customers.<br />
<br />
I joined T-Mobile way back
in 2009 after seeing the following advert on Facebook.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz78M8EjaYZ4VW0GCgsQlGtPzKBRVQThVyXxJShoLFmv0sE4DylJpFj1CJfE6O4-f2ksPq81b0RRlgaTndhX2pb7zQRSRNM2aOKgYK8pF9Ppe5eb3gbuda525k4sIWT7URL7VuLNkS_GfL/s1600/tmobileadvert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz78M8EjaYZ4VW0GCgsQlGtPzKBRVQThVyXxJShoLFmv0sE4DylJpFj1CJfE6O4-f2ksPq81b0RRlgaTndhX2pb7zQRSRNM2aOKgYK8pF9Ppe5eb3gbuda525k4sIWT7URL7VuLNkS_GfL/s1600/tmobileadvert.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Now, I'm unsure on what
planet these companies reside but down here on Earth the word
'unlimited' has a dictionary definition, as follows (taken from
dictionary.com)</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword"></a><u>Adjective</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword9"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword10"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword8"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword7"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword6"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword4"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword5"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword3"></a>
1 - not limited; unrestricted; unconfined: <i>unlimited trade.</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword18"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword17"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword15"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword16"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword14"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword13"></a>
2<i> - </i>boundless;
infinite; vast: <i>the unlimited skies</i>.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword27"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword26"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword25"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword24"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name="hotword23"></a>
3 - without any qualification or exception; <i>unconditional.</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
would consider that both definitions 1 and 3 would, or at least
should, apply to any service touted as being 'unlimited'. Yet they do
not, not in T-Mobile's world.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
changed home internet provider recently, switching from the fifth
ring of Dante's Hell that is TalkTalk, where download speeds often
made dial up look respectable, to BT, who aren't without problem but
at least I no longer have time to make a cup of tea and take a nap
whilst a file downloads. Anyway, I digress.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
BT you have access to BT SmartTalk, a rather nifty VoIP app which
offers the ability to make calls using your mobile data but it be
charged to your home number. A wonderful idea, one I applaud BT for
introducing. If only it worked.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It
doesn't. Why? Because T-Mobile, in their infinite wisdom, seemingly
consider that the definition of 'unlimited' should read something
like this.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1 -
limited; with restrictions; confined; <i>limited trade</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
2 -
bounded; finite; <i>the limited skies</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
3 -
with qualification and exception; <i>conditional</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As
such, T-Mobile see fit to prohibit the use of such software as BT
SmartTalk, or indeed Skype, for those of us paying them specifically
for <b>UNLIMITED</b> internet.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
was advised by their Twitter staff that all Pay As You Go accounts
have restrictions and that I could change to a contract which does
not place these restrictions. But why should I? Am I not paying £10
a month for unlimited access already? I'm not even a heavy user, but
I do expect to have available that which is advertised. I am not in a
financial position to sign up to a contract anyway, I'm unable to
work due to health reasons and I'm a long-term carer for my elderly
mother. Finding £10 a month is sometimes a stretch, being expected
to find doubtless considerably more and be tied to a contract is
completely unacceptable and, as far as I'm concerned, a breach of my
statutory rights under UK legislation.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Looking into this
situation online I find that Ofcom, the UK's telecommunications
regulatory body, introduced a voluntary Code of Practice with regards
these restrictions, following a European Commission investigation.
Part of this was 'net neutrality', whereby those paying for internet
access should receive access to the full range of services available
over the open internet, and providers should not use the term
'internet access' for a service that blocks access to lawfully
available internet services. Such as BT SmartTalk and Skype.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It is telling that
T-Mobile was apparently one of only three companies, along with
Vodafone and Orange, who refused to become signatories to a code
designed to protect customers.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
T-Mobile might point to
their Terms and Conditions, if they're available to read –
currently that page is down for maintenance, yet no terms were
supplied when I was sent my sim card and no restrictions were stated
when I applied for it. This is, of course, academic as any Terms and
Conditions that impose restrictions must, logically, negate any
legitimate use of the word 'unlimited' when advertising the service.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Many other providers in the UK,
including budget companies such as GiffGaff, do not restrict users'
access to VoIP services. Indeed with GiffGaff I would receive not
only 1GB of internet, more than enough for my purposes, and unlimited
texts for £10 a month, but I would also receive 250 talk mins and
free GG to GG calls! For £2 more than I pay T-Mobile I could also
have completely unlimited internet, and all of this without the
necessity to tie myself to any contract. On top of this, even their calls are cheaper with calls to landlines or other mobiles being 10p a minute, after you use up your free minutes, not the 25p a minute T-Mobile charge. This might sound like an advert for GiffGaff but it's not, I'm just highlighting the difference between a company offering good value for money and those, like T-Mobile, merrily fleecing customers.<br />
<br />
So it is not as though
T-Mobile is any longer providing a particularly great value product,
things have moved on from when I joined, and imposing unfair
restrictions merely serves to damn them further.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I was of the opinion
that T-Mobile were a good company offering a decent service. No
longer. I find their restrictions completely unacceptable. You may
ask why I don't simply leave T-Mobile for another provider. Fair
question, but I am over £100 in bloody credit to these people, money
I will lose if I leave, and which was paid to them in good faith that
they would supply the service advertised – unlimited internet! That
is money I cannot write off and as a matter of principle I would not
anyway, as far as I'm concerned it was taken under false pretenses.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To add insult to injury, I had to switch to a micro-sim recently. For the privilege of continuing to be ripped off by T-Mobile they had the temerity to charge me £10 to supply one. Next time you're advised to visit your hospital's urology department I suggest going to T-Mobile instead, they are after all experts at taking the piss.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com1London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.11806550000005751.583473 -0.279427000000057 51.741112 0.043295999999942991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-91359857255906268402013-04-18T01:33:00.001+01:002013-04-18T01:33:20.567+01:00Solipsism’s Gambit<br />
Every so often I will see a Christian post something along the lines of “<i>Could you be wrong about everything you think you know?</i>” as though a yes answer would somehow equate to god's inevitable existence. Quite frankly, when I see it I just wonder if the person who posts it has actually thought through the implications or just think they're being, ya know, really clever n' stuff. They're not.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Their argument tends to degenerate into argumentation that if we could be wrong about anything we think we know then we could be wrong about the existence of god, evolution, the big bang and anything else they care to mention. They will even go so far as to argue that we cannot trust our senses at all on anything, because what we perceive as reality is only what our limited senses tell us.<br />
<br />
Even were I to acquiesce for the sake of argument and say, OK, we can't completely trust our senses on anything, we could be wrong from whether water is wet to whether 2 + 2 = 4, where would that logically lead us? It would lead us to the argument that those claiming knowledge of god's existence, to have experience of him in their lives, is equally based on the presupposition that their senses are not deceiving them.<br />
<br />
Ah, but they have a get out of jail card they'll play if presented this rebuttal. They will say that they know god exists because he has revealed himself to them, they know he is true because they feel him through 'divine revelation'. Great argument, dipshits, except it's fatally flawed.<br />
<br />
To make such a claim you would have to be sensing god's presence. Yet you're arguing that our senses aren't reliable, so how can you be certain of god revealing himself? Unless you're claiming you're so damn special you have an infallible sixth sense through which god communicates whilst the rest of us are lumbered with our faulty, unreliable five senses?<br />
<br />
Even the bible, much as the godbothering fraternity will claim otherwise, was written by men. We know this, nobody but a complete loon believes god actually wrote the bible. We'll be told he '<i>divinely inspired</i>' the bible through men. Okay, but through which senses was that done then? Because if it was men doing it they had the same fallible five senses we do, thereby rendering the bible unreliable, unless they too happened to be graced with this otherwise undetectable brain's bluetooth connection to the almighty that has so far managed to escape detection by those of us who give a damn about little things like evidence.<br />
<br />
So if you want to throw around complete toss such as questioning whether everything we know is wrong may I make a suggestion? Take your pathetic solipsism based bollocks and fuck right off, if that is the depths to which you have to plunge to try to convince atheists your god exists and to justify to yourself that you're not merely imagining him then you need to take a long hard look in the mirror.<br />
<br />
And, yes, you solipsistic gobshites, I actually did say fuck off, you didn't imagine that.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com1London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.11806550000005751.5834735 -0.279427000000057 51.7411115 0.043295999999942991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-2197650566077625532013-04-09T03:32:00.002+01:002013-04-09T03:32:52.721+01:00Belieb It Or Not<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB95DGigatjcqo8YbFDrlzmaOoLnCr7O1BtdZDtq-lS90jQ38eZj68vzkKUCWYlu3ZldnVq5iZFv0NoAj8hiKbO0Zqs0OPKmOAZiGSDyQ8tPYlhYohyphenhyphenfLc6PTJIm-RkwzpxvUbxy8fu0mJ/s1600/belieber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB95DGigatjcqo8YbFDrlzmaOoLnCr7O1BtdZDtq-lS90jQ38eZj68vzkKUCWYlu3ZldnVq5iZFv0NoAj8hiKbO0Zqs0OPKmOAZiGSDyQ8tPYlhYohyphenhyphenfLc6PTJIm-RkwzpxvUbxy8fu0mJ/s320/belieber.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
A little analogy which chanced to pass across my synapses earlier today, be thankful there isn't a soundtrack album to accompany this post!<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
There are millions of teenage girls who love Justin Beiber. They pore over his words as reported by others in magazines and online, earnestly believing that he is speaking personally to them with every glance at the camera as they watch his videos online for the hundredth time that day. Likewise his lyrics, such as they are, these girls will take to have deep, emotional import that goes beyond those of other mere ephemeral artists and speaks to directly their hearts. The poster on their wall isn't simply another formulaic pop puppet with stylized hair and manufactured appeal, he is their everything and every moment of the their waking day is spent thinking of him, knowing he is out there and one day they might even get to meet him. If anybody were to doubt the talent of Justin or point out his failings they risk castigation for their impudence. Were anything to happen to Justin, such as being rendered mute by a particularly merciful strain of virus, these girls would be heartbroken, believing their world was crumbling around them and even feeling there remained no reason to live.<br />
<br />
If you, like me, have an urge to tell these people to grow the f**k up and stop living a delusion you will understand how many atheists feel when Christians tell us that they have a “relationship” with Jesus, somebody they, like these girls, have never even met. If you exchange JB for JC you're left with the same basic pattern of unwarranted reverence.<br />
<br />
Taking the analogy further we can conclusively state that Justin Beiber does exist, much as many of us may wish he didn't. We can say with absolute certainty that the words attributed to him are for the most part accurate, if facile, because there is video of him speaking them. We also know what he looks like, a baby faced twunt. None of this can be said of Jesus, beyond him likely being just another in a crowd of apocalyptic preachers mooching around the Middle East.<br />
<br />
If anything, those claiming a “relationship” with Christ today are even more self deluding than the screaming teenagers with their “I'm A Belieber” badges and t-shirts. They've also been responsible for the proliferation of a lot of bloody awful “Christian Rock”, so maybe it's time they were told to grow the f**k up, too.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com1London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.11806550000005751.5834735 -0.279427000000057 51.7411115 0.043295999999942991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-84811009263922806952013-03-23T01:30:00.003+00:002013-03-23T01:30:53.610+00:00It Art In The Bible!<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Imagine you are
standing in an art gallery exhibiting the work of a long dead
painter. The painting, whilst not entirely abstract, is not a simple
landscape or still life. You stand for some time studying this
painting and you take from it a meaning that you feel the artist was
trying to convey.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />Along comes another patron of the art
gallery and stands beside you. Stroking his chin, head on one side,
he also studies this painting and, after a while, asks you what
meaning you took from the painting. You explain. This gentleman looks
at you puzzled, he disagrees. He takes a completely different meaning
and you are quite clearly wrong!<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
You remonstrate,
explaining with gesticulations to parts of the long dried oils on
ageing canvas. Still he disagrees, pointing to other sections of the
canvas, how the brush-strokes fall. Neither of you can come to
reconciliation.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Seeking to get to the
truth, you both decide to consult your particular art critics of
choice. Your art critic tells you that, yes, the meaning you took
from the work was the correct one. Unfortunately, the gentleman's
favoured critic supports his opinion.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Neither of you, nor
your art critics, can ask the painter, so it's a stalemate. Both of
you can't be right but neither of you can conclusively determine
which of you has taken from those simple strokes the correct
message.<br /><br />Now, where is this going?<br /><br />I'm an atheist [no,
really, I am]. So when I die will god simply snuff me out of
existence entirely, as many Christians maintain, or will god toss me
into the lake of fire where there will be a great gnashing of teeth
and everlasting torture, as many other Christians contend?</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The problem is both
those factions can only ever base their opinions upon the same book,
the Bible, and so clearly that book must be ambiguous at best on the
subject. Which, having read it, it is. I can also point to various Christian websites that will tell you both are correct.<br /><br />I've lost count of the
times I've had a Christian tell me it was their meaning that was
correct and those who have told me to the contrary aren't True
Christians™. It's frankly ridiculous that the 'true word of god'
can be so easily misinterpreted that we now have thousands of
denominations, many of whom would denounce the others as
wrong, sometimes even Satanic.<br /><br />Does it really make sense that a god, much less an all
knowing and loving one, would pass down such a confused message, or
allow it to become so confused through interpretations and
translations, when it is of such grave importance. It concerns our
supposedly eternal souls, should it not be as accessible as possible
to as many as possible? Or is the bible just a load of confused old
bullshit?<br /><br />I know which way I'm voting.</div>
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com3London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.11806550000005751.5834735 -0.279427000000057 51.7411115 0.043295999999942991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-24101518768019233632013-03-18T04:17:00.000+00:002013-03-18T04:50:43.814+00:00Omniscience VS Free Will, Again!<br />
Although I've already covered this topic elsewhere on my blog, after having attempted to explain this to a particularly stupid pair of theists for over two hours this afternoon, I feel compelled to explain it again, hopefully more clearly.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
The topic is free will and god's omniscience being incompatible.<br />
<br />
First a recap of what omniscience actually means;<br />
<br />
<i>1. universal or infinite knowledge.</i><br />
<i>2. the state of being all-knowing. </i><br />
<br />
This, by definition, means that god knows everything, including what decisions we will make before we make them. This poses a big problem for free will, because it cannot exist.<br />
<br />
Let's take an example;<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Tomorrow you will be offered a choice between a red and blue pill.</i></li>
<li><i>God knows beforehand that you will pick the red pill.</i></li>
<li><i>You cannot pick the blue pill without proving god wrong by contradicting his foreknowledge.</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
Unless you can pick the opposite of what god knows you will pick you can only ever have the illusion of free will. It may appear you had a free choice but to all intents and purposes the other pill may as well not be there, you could never choose it.<br />
<br />
One of the more ridiculous defences I've seen is that this scenario is false because god doesn't influence our decision. It's logically irrelevant whether he does or not, the result is the same – if he knows you'll pick red you cannot pick blue whether he moves your hand or not, doing so would still make his foreknowledge wrong.<br />
<br />
Another argument that defenders of freewill and omniscience compatibility will use is that god knows the outcome of all possible choices. At first glance this appears reasonable, but it's just as fallacious when examined logically.<br />
<br />
This is a more difficult scenario to explain but bear with me, I'll do my best.<br />
<br />
Imagine your life as a tree. It starts at the base and each decision you will face is represented by it forming branches left and right. Each time you make a decision you journey down a particular branch until you reach the next decision. These branches would obviously culminate in billions of final scenarios dependent upon the choices you made along your way through life. Bear in mind that your metaphorical tree is influenced by the decisions taken by other people, too. If another person takes a decision that influences your futures tree it would by necessity be different to if their decision did not influence it. Also bear in mind that we make hundreds of decisions every single day, from which sock to put on first to whether to travel by car or bus, which TV show to watch – everything can, like the butterfly effect, potentially cause subsequent potential future scenarios and options to change. So we are talking about a lot of branches on this tree!<br />
<br />
Remember, for this scenario theists argue that god doesn't know which decision we'll make but does know the outcome, he knows all possible outcomes and all possible futures. Yet for this to be the case those other futures must have potential to exist, we must have the ability to choose the branches that lead to them. Correct?<br />
<br />
So how can god be omniscient, all knowing, if he doesn't know which branch we'll take at any particular point? Omniscience dictates that he knows everything, which would include those decisions. If he does know then, as demonstrated in the pill example, we cannot logically choose the other branch as it would contravene his foreknowledge – this would effectively prune the tree back to one line we could not deviate from.<br />
<br />
He cannot possibly know all future possibilities and also know our every decision beforehand. Knowing our decisions beforehand logically doesn't allow for potential futures that include decisions other than he has foreseen, and without that possibility we cannot have true free will, only the illusion of it.<br />
<br />
One way around this I have seen is that god exists outside of space and time. Aside there being no evidence he even exists much less does this, the end result is the same. We live our lives in space and time, our lives and decisions play out in a linear manner. Therefore even if god is able to go back and forth, be every time at once or anything else, he still either does know our every decision before we make it, negating free will, or he doesn't, negating his omniscience.<br />
<br />
Hopefully this has made some level of sense, I'm typing at 3am and with a headache.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com1London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.11806550000005751.5834735 -0.279427000000057 51.7411115 0.043295999999942991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-42954387305691279672013-02-01T03:38:00.001+00:002013-02-01T03:38:15.218+00:00A Life Changing Experience!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid9SGKlsZ5To9S6ywGgCs3aqZgdxdzBPehtRSyPqG-1L63MZP08bQyqQ2oMttJU-m13WE1Ubsw4Xh14M5QXHTwPwR7xaveqhsVkOEIdGnCpB_G7X2Wradaca-IaNdCAq9Jtw7MQqGjrC-w/s1600/ufoblogbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid9SGKlsZ5To9S6ywGgCs3aqZgdxdzBPehtRSyPqG-1L63MZP08bQyqQ2oMttJU-m13WE1Ubsw4Xh14M5QXHTwPwR7xaveqhsVkOEIdGnCpB_G7X2Wradaca-IaNdCAq9Jtw7MQqGjrC-w/s1600/ufoblogbanner.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I need to tell you
about some incredible experiences I have, I wish you could all share
in this as it's life changing.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
About 5 years ago
whilst I was laying in bed the window lit up brightly and I sensed
what I thought were people in the room. The next thing I knew, I was
in a large room, laying on some sort of table and there were these
short, grey beings surrounding me. It seemed like I was there for
hours as they examined me. I remember so clearly that as they were
examining me they scratched me on the buttock. I then found myself in
a road around half a mile from my house. The aliens, as I have since
to realise they were, had clearly done something to my mind to help
sedate me as everything seemed so strange. Houses were the wrong
colour or had no windows and when I passed by a friend they had long
whiskers and large pointy ears, it was frightening. I made my way
home and fell into bed, exhausted.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The next day I recall
waking feeling disoriented and, remembering what had happened, upon
checking my buttock I found the scratch! My cat, who usually sleeps
in bed right beside me was not there, I found him downstairs so
something must have disturbed him in the night. He was sitting by his
food bowl and licking his claws, very unusual for him.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I was curious if
anybody else had had similar experiences so looked online. To my
amazement others had also found themselves taken and examined by
these beings! The more I looked into it, the more it made so much
sense. There is obviously an ongoing program where aliens abduct
people for experimentation.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Since that night I have
had other experiences. I noticed a bright light, brighter than normal
stars, in the night sky. A friend tried to tell me it was just the
planet Venus but I'd never noticed it before, I'm convinced that was
the aliens' craft. I've seen it several times since, in fact it seems
to be there most nights and I am increasingly convinced they are
about to make contact with humanity. One night I took my flashlight
out and signaled to their craft. That night they abducted me again
but this time they must have returned me directly to bed and they
didn't scratch me or disturb my cat.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Another thing that now
makes so much sense is the creaking I hear in my house at night.
After I have gone to bed I often hear the floorboards in the house
creak. I'd always heard this since moving into this house 20 years
ago but now I realise what is causing it – the aliens are in the
house checking up on me. I find this disconcerting but I have yet to
have them come into my room whilst I'm laying awake listening to
them.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
People ask me if I have
evidence of what is happening. I do. The scratch they gave me on my
buttock is proof! I wish I had taken a photograph of it to show you.
The creaking in my house, too. How else would you explain that? And
what about so many other people having similar experiences to me? Why
would so many people believe they have been abducted by little grey
men, just like we all saw in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Steven Spielberg MUST have had inside information on what is really
going on when making that film!<br /><br />I've tried to tell my friend
about this but he says I'm wrong. He says that man was created
special by god and there are no aliens out there to abduct people,
even suggesting I am being attacked by demons. I've asked him how he
knows god created us, does he have any evidence? He says he does have
evidence, he told me he knows because he feels god in his life, he
feels the presence of god all around him. Apparently he asked god to
help him sometime and he did.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I don't think my friend
is right. He says I'm succumbing to something called confirmation
bias and seeing things that aren't there, making connections between
unrelated events etc. He's wrong, I know it's true because I feel it
is, I've experienced it. You wouldn't understand until you've got
aliens in your life. I hope when they come for me next time they
don't get too near my cat, he sometimes lashes out with his claws.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com0London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.11806550000005751.5834735 -0.279427000000057 51.7411115 0.043295999999942991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-37270494317095347312012-11-08T01:02:00.000+00:002012-12-20T02:39:21.779+00:00Tesco Express Little Concern<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
A change from my usual
posts as this time I'll be writing about how one major British
company treats its customers like dirt. To find out which (if the blog's title isn't big enough clue) and how,
read on.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
On the 21<sup>st</sup>
September I stopped at the <i>Tesco Express</i> in Winchmore Hill, North
London (picture below) to get some petrol.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVETpNlc15wWCrQgmRTUk0KM9fjUllSpszpGsCAEPL2uWCc2WkurIjfzbqNUktb563PuKu7apBu1ntsU3QjQcWrLsqpBJyh3qSYrIZ3zmmXA88iGaBJVHgd5ViA6HgtjFPpDL_-c-sJzae/s1600/station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVETpNlc15wWCrQgmRTUk0KM9fjUllSpszpGsCAEPL2uWCc2WkurIjfzbqNUktb563PuKu7apBu1ntsU3QjQcWrLsqpBJyh3qSYrIZ3zmmXA88iGaBJVHgd5ViA6HgtjFPpDL_-c-sJzae/s320/station.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
This is not unusual as
it's local to me and I've often gone there. On this occasion,
however, something had made the floor inside the store as slippery as
ice. The result of this being that I fell, extremely heavily, onto
the hard floor and adjacent display units. What had caused the floor
to be so slippery is a mystery, though the fact that it happened
right next to a display of flowers would suggest either the floor was
wet or perhaps petals had fallen off etc. I was rather too shaken and
embarrassed to worry about it at the time, I wanted out of there as
soon as possible. As anybody who has fallen in public will know, it's
embarrassing and the last thing you want to do is cause a fuss,
especially if you're a grown man!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
At the time of the
incident, two members of staff had come over. One seemed more
concerned with placing back some disturbed bottles of Coke I had also
fallen into, and was the other side of the display from the incident.
The other member of staff asked “Are you okay?”, to which I
replied “I think so”, he then returned to his position at the
cash register. To my knowledge no attempt was made by the staff to
ascertain the cause of the accident, and no suggestion was made that
it be logged in any accident/incident book as I understand should be
common practice.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Both my knees and arms
had hurt since the incident but that was to be expected given the
force with which I fell but it was only later, on returning home,
that the lump on my left arm appeared, see picture below.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-l1_sWHkGP5H0sDGyX_2k3plRmGpRrjnG8kCIlQiwl1Z9DZ0843zfEIKg0AE-DpJxfBv7CNjKMtko9qwTzAwGiGYLfh9aARgHXDBNfM7Lbw3mnZe_-JvohYQP9xlvgyE34u8rFDpqo_q/s1600/blogleftbump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-l1_sWHkGP5H0sDGyX_2k3plRmGpRrjnG8kCIlQiwl1Z9DZ0843zfEIKg0AE-DpJxfBv7CNjKMtko9qwTzAwGiGYLfh9aARgHXDBNfM7Lbw3mnZe_-JvohYQP9xlvgyE34u8rFDpqo_q/s320/blogleftbump.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="text-align: justify;">As it was clear that I
had quite badly injured myself, though at this point I didn't realise
how badly, upon arriving home from work my brother returned to the
store to ensure they made a note of the incident in the
accident/incident book, as they really should have done to begin
with, in my opinion. A form was filled out, though so faintly in
pencil it's virtually impossible to read in places. A request to view
the CCTV footage of the incident was refused.</span><br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I had actually
attempted to call the store prior to my brother returning home but
the phone number on the receipt didn't work, resulting in a message
that it wasn't recognised. Calling another branch for assistance had
them give exactly the same number, as did a further branch after
which I gave up. This doesn't speak well of the company's competence
when they cannot even get a simple phone number correct.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Over the course of the
next couple of days the extent of the bruising began to appear,
bringing with it often excruciating pain in my knees, upper arms and
shoulders, which had both been badly strained. The photos below of
the bruising were taken, however they became even more severe in
subsequent days. It's important to note that the bruising doesn't
convey the pain causes by the strain caused to both shoulders and
upper arms, this was if anything even more painful than the bruising.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKdClZBY-HtihuPhoBdSYHxlXHRvBUz_aAfXIwomCrRWyHkbJpXVvJeiq6CbgKAmx9obchkANNyyNLej0cT6kQDiv0xvmv6jCwKtvmAm8fniYt6FgF62ADGCRsJPYvEikOn7MOKSb2_zq/s1600/blogleftarm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKdClZBY-HtihuPhoBdSYHxlXHRvBUz_aAfXIwomCrRWyHkbJpXVvJeiq6CbgKAmx9obchkANNyyNLej0cT6kQDiv0xvmv6jCwKtvmAm8fniYt6FgF62ADGCRsJPYvEikOn7MOKSb2_zq/s320/blogleftarm2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i>Right arm</i></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_YV090qKabIVE33pR7x8_QkFDv8JRfDTDP4Yljc1j0BJeEH3XbEtXaiSE8gjbJlI7GlKB-FOdenzD9WImyLmRjX7bEYtD9sbO2636ORqW1OeLgROIiQHKSIw0oHsnBJiCa0MVH4UvXKFl/s1600/blogrightarm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_YV090qKabIVE33pR7x8_QkFDv8JRfDTDP4Yljc1j0BJeEH3XbEtXaiSE8gjbJlI7GlKB-FOdenzD9WImyLmRjX7bEYtD9sbO2636ORqW1OeLgROIiQHKSIw0oHsnBJiCa0MVH4UvXKFl/s320/blogrightarm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Left arm</i></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdp_jQNtd9AOqJFhyDKpYPpLyQk-lDMXB9QHr6_5HFmNWt-FXs2uGvAGRc6Q-ef0rqfMReYYRhIX4XFbbK2jvYba9k_KNu2fQJzAt1quz23Y-eUQMlmBqANuCRCE79BLEjG09xk8LLhhHf/s1600/blogrightkneel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdp_jQNtd9AOqJFhyDKpYPpLyQk-lDMXB9QHr6_5HFmNWt-FXs2uGvAGRc6Q-ef0rqfMReYYRhIX4XFbbK2jvYba9k_KNu2fQJzAt1quz23Y-eUQMlmBqANuCRCE79BLEjG09xk8LLhhHf/s320/blogrightkneel.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Right knee</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
As a long term carer
for my elderly mother I was not able to sit quietly and avoid
aggravating the bruising, on the contrary I was constantly required,
as is usual, to move around, carry things and so forth. This was, as
mentioned above, often excruciating but I had no alternative. The
pain was, however, so bad that my mother refused to allow me to drive
her to her twice weekly doctors appointments, it likely wouldn't have
been safe considering the pain, and so had to pay for minicabs there
and back each time. I am only thankful that it was I that fell and not my mother as we were returning from a clinic appointment when we stopped at the store, I dread to think the extent of the injuries she may have suffered in my place.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
It was suggested by
several friends that I should complain to Tesco, possibly even sue
them, and so I took the step of writing to their Managing Director. I explained the situation and enclosed several
photos, including those shown above.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
After initially getting
a reply asking I be patient whilst they look into the matter I
subsequently received a letter dated the 5<sup>th</sup> October, from
Frances Hickling of the Chief Executive's office, apologizing for the
accident and saying that the staff were unable to locate the cause.
They also included a £50 Tesco Cashcard. It is hardly surprising
that they were unable to locate the cause given they did not
investigate until nearly a week after the incident and no attempt,
certainly to my knowledge, had been made at the time it took place
either. There is also the question of whether a company would admit
to discovering what had caused an accident given that it would
doubtless leave them open to legal proceedings.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
During that first week
I was unable to drive. This meant that several return trips had to be
made using minicabs, the total cost of which was rather more than
£30. On top of this the cost of the photographs being processed and
postage brought the total to well in excess of £40, so you'll
hopefully understand why I think that Tesco were taking the piss with
their offer. By the time it arrived I had suffered around two weeks
of often extreme pain and discomfort and was still badly bruised, so
I replied telling them how I felt about their response and offer of
compensation.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
The response, dated the
17<sup>th</sup> October, was somewhat dismissive and explained the
£50 Tesco Cashcard was not intended as compensation but as a
'gesture of goodwill'. Really? Well, I think your 'gesture
of goodwill' is a disgrace, it's an insult and merely serves to give
me the impression that your company doesn't give a damn about the
customer.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I'm actually writing
this on the 7<sup>th</sup> of November and the lump by my left elbow,
although no longer painful, is still evident and my right shoulder,
which bore the brunt of the fall, continues to give me occasional
problems. That is the extent of the injuries I incurred, that they
are still with me to some degree over five weeks on. So, no, I do not
think Tesco handled this appropriately and, no, I do not consider a
paltry £50 Cashcard I have to spend with them to be satisfactory,
not when I suffered as badly as I did and was left out of pocket to
nearly that much in the first week alone!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
For the record, before
anybody gets the idea I was out for the money, I wasn't. If I was
that kind of person I would have been claiming the carer's allowance
I am legally entitled to for looking after my mother, instead I
choose not to. I've also been unable to work due to my own longterm
health problems, for which I could also have claimed benefits but
choose not to. I am not some mercenary dick out for all he can get,
quite the opposite. All I wanted was to be treated fairly and shown
due consideration for the injuries suffered, I don't consider that
too much to expect.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
So, Tesco, may I say
that whilst I had always enjoyed using your stores I shall now avoid
doing so whenever possible and advise others do the same, because you
can shove your 'gesture of goodwill' up your complacent backside, it
was adding insult to injury. I'm hoping that the next time somebody
is unfortunate enough to injure themselves in one of your stores you
get sued for every penny you're worth, you deserve no less.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Doubtless Tesco Head
Office still have my contact details on file if they have any issue
with them being featured on this blog. Perhaps had they not been so
utterly incompetent and dismissive I'd not be writing it, so they
have only themselves to blame.<br />
<br />
<b><u>20/12/2012 UPDATE:</u></b><br />
<br />
My right shoulder, as mentioned above, continued to cause me problems. These problems increased dramatically a few weeks back, possibly as I cannot simply rest it as I'm a carer, until it was excruciatingly painful to move my arm, this made even dressing or eating extremely unpleasant and I've barely had an uninterrupted night's sleep as moving in bed causes it to hurt and wake me up. The pain became so bad that I was forced to speak to my doctor. He has diagnosed an injured rotary cuff and referred me for physiotherapy at my local hospital, for which there could be several weeks' wait for an appointment. In the meantime I am frequently in severe pain, I have been advised not to drive (so we're incurring minicab fees yet again for my mother) and it is, as you can imagine, pretty bloody unpleasant to say the least.<br />
<br />
To add insult to injury, literally, my last letter to Tesco had them pass the details to their Insurance Company, which curiously is also Tesco judging by the letter they sent. They said they would need my National Insurance number and full details of the incident before they could proceed. I received this letter the day after I had made my doctor's appointment, so held off replying until I had spoken to him a few days later. Before I could reply, however, I received another letter to say they had already completed their investigation (how, when they previously said they couldn't proceed without my NI number and details) and that they weren't prepared to offer any further help.<br />
<br />
I am frankly disgusted with the entire situation. I find Tesco's treatment of me to be wholly unfair, unsatisfactory and contemptible. I have been left grossly out of pocket, costs which are increasing with every necessity to use a minicab, I am in frequent agonizing pain, I cannot drive and my quality of life has been seriously negatively affected and looks set to remain so for the foreseeable future. If Tesco think this is acceptable then it speaks volumes of how little they truly value their customers. It is disgusting.<br />
<br />
Perhaps they should change their slogan from "<i>Every Little Helps</i>" to "<i>Very Little Help</i>" and actually be honest with their customers.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com6London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.118065551.5832455 -0.275994 51.7413395 0.039862999999999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-82920263194603643942012-09-27T01:41:00.001+01:002012-09-27T01:44:31.406+01:00Excrutiating Ezekiel Excretions<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The following was
posted on a Facebook page, “<i>Atheism, Satanism, and Humanism vs.
Biblical Christianity</i>”, by Penny Amanda Stone, who I have
mentioned before on this blog. The content of the picture, a quote
from Ezekiel, needs a response.</div>
</div>
<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4cm9YwntIDgbBD5hyFrCwnIKzSgOHpIXiufvXO2QJ3s7tYG-NWk1NmmY3Q00X-ehf61dn6B6WVVubYf35Rdn5aiR7_ECyRv_ojPk1ibW3HMMN5lYSHf8n-b7FW1RkSdNFXIbyA7hwtPX/s1600/exekielquote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4cm9YwntIDgbBD5hyFrCwnIKzSgOHpIXiufvXO2QJ3s7tYG-NWk1NmmY3Q00X-ehf61dn6B6WVVubYf35Rdn5aiR7_ECyRv_ojPk1ibW3HMMN5lYSHf8n-b7FW1RkSdNFXIbyA7hwtPX/s1600/exekielquote.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Read that through and
ask yourself this; why would a good, loving, compassionate person,
one who does all they can to help others and has never intentionally
done harm to anybody, require a new heart and mind? Are they not good
enough as they are, is their altruism and benevolent outlook
insufficient that they need to change?</div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Why the presumption of
a stubborn heart of stone? Does the good, loving, compassionate
person have a stubborn heart of stone purely because they are not a
believer in what is likely no more than an ex-Canaanite wargod who
has a history of directing and committing genocide?</div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What incentive is there
to exchange that good, loving, compassionate heart for an obedient
one? Is the obedient heart superior in any way? I see no reason to
think that would be the case, on the contrary I see the obedient
heart offered by God to merely be an exchange for a subservient
heart.</div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Why would a supposedly
perfect God require the contradictory narcissistic ego stroking that
is implied by our unquestioning obedience to him? Is this God so
fragile of ego that he would rather we kowtow to him, tugging our
forelocks like some Middle Ages serf addressing the Lord of the
Manor, than judge us on how we conduct ourselves towards our fellow
travellers through life?</div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When one reads that
quote from Ezekiel in the knowledge of what many Christians today
claim, that disbelief in God is a one way ticket to Hell, it throws
it into a whole new light. This incentive to accept God's offer of an
obedient (for which read subservient) heart is hardly benign. It is
no more peaceable than the incentives offered by a Mafia enforcer;
accept the offer or suffer the consequences. It is coercion, an offer
handed to you with the threat you must accept, it is the pernicious
cajoling of a poisonous doctrine.</div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It has no place in
civilised society.</div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com0London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.118065551.5834975 -0.275994 51.7410875 0.039862999999999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-2620933923238190392012-09-24T02:39:00.000+01:002012-09-25T19:11:25.507+01:00Anti-theism Justified Again<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Another wonderful
example of why I am increasingly anti-theist, because theism can lead
to the type of morally bankrupt thinking we will see here.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
On a Facebook page a discussion took place about prayer, started by a
Christian by the name of Penny Amanda Stone. After the usual round of
trying to explain that intercessory prayer has been shown to not be
efficacious in studies and any other prayers that are 'answered' can
be put down to confirmation or hindsight bias, I said the results
would be the same if praying to a roadkill otter, the topic changed
and so I challenged the Christian with a hypothetical moral scenario
as follows.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name=".reactRoot[407].[1][2][1]{comment411462798907136_411777778875638}..[1]..[1]..[0].[2]..[0]"></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6179485781530973460" name=".reactRoot[407].[1][2][1]{comment411462798907136_411777778875638}..[1]..[1]..[0].[2]..[0]"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></a></div>
<i></i><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><i>Penny, think on this. </i></i></div>
<i>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>If somebody
pointed a gun at you and fired but I threw myself in front of you,
saving your life but losing mine I would apparently burn in hell for
my atheism. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>The gunman could repent before he died then
you and he spend eternity in heaven whilst I burn. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>If
you can make a moral argument for this scenario then you are morally
bankrupt.</i></div>
</i><br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Her
response says it all.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<i>Well it shows that
you miss the point of the gospel........ Because we are all sinners
and the biggest sin of all is NOT admitting your sin to God and your
need of forgiveness. If they gun man repented. He would of pleased
God. Wheres you would of thought that your good deed entitled you to
heaven. </i>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
We are all sinners and
so if I selflessly sacrificed my life to save hers I would still
deserve to burn in Hell for eternity because I have not admitted my
supposed sins and asked for forgiveness, and it's perfectly okay for
the man who killed me to repent and go to Heaven with Penny because
he had pleased God?</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
How in the name of all
that is sane can anybody consider this a moral scenario!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I have touched upon
this issue elsewhere on my blog so I shall forego a long explanation
of how all this teaches us is that the Christian God is nothing but a
self interested, narcissistic, immoral scumbag who deserves nothing
but our scorn and derision. That people, like Penny, would defend
such a despicable figure is to me evidence of the moral bankruptcy
required to follow him.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Any truly benevolent,
loving or forgiving God, let alone a supposedly perfect one, would
not require us to apologise for traits he gave us, nor would he judge
us solely on our repenting rather than on our earthly actions.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
It's sickening and helps make me ever more convinced my anti-theism is justified.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3OEM38lGy15MQbZr9JmaG5mwdfO_Kku0Izs4TVgcEbK8jZn9iQpzEqLVXG59F6X3oPBTpb92ss3tU_XZmQ6RFkdrPNrgUWdA4Rz7zafPTr_atRjcdyQIpr0_5GdSplKemOC-4TGeiykaV/s1600/unbeliablebullshitcropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3OEM38lGy15MQbZr9JmaG5mwdfO_Kku0Izs4TVgcEbK8jZn9iQpzEqLVXG59F6X3oPBTpb92ss3tU_XZmQ6RFkdrPNrgUWdA4Rz7zafPTr_atRjcdyQIpr0_5GdSplKemOC-4TGeiykaV/s320/unbeliablebullshitcropped.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>UPDATE:</b><br /><br />After writing this post it was brought to my attention that somebody had asked Penny what would happen had Hitler repented before death, would he be in Heaven too. Her response is, frankly, unbelievable. I'll let you read it for yourself!<br /><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4iCFLLmN058Bp3PUWHWTnSEYkWQ8n9zU8i1I2_Gm2lmm6gKdF5gCi9MrkpO3lyCJDqaspFk4owHQXI_iQYyXd6FqjsAgw63QLGzAUAZHK0CEiAWczAUHdHBSf8BzxctG9Bn3cXKj1A32/s1600/pennyhitler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4iCFLLmN058Bp3PUWHWTnSEYkWQ8n9zU8i1I2_Gm2lmm6gKdF5gCi9MrkpO3lyCJDqaspFk4owHQXI_iQYyXd6FqjsAgw63QLGzAUAZHK0CEiAWczAUHdHBSf8BzxctG9Bn3cXKj1A32/s400/pennyhitler.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Amazing, isn't it, the depravity of the fundamentalist mindset that they can forego all morality to defend such an abhorrent teaching.</div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com1London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.118065551.5834975 -0.275994 51.7410875 0.039862999999999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-22396338544408086262012-09-12T02:58:00.000+01:002012-09-12T03:09:56.717+01:009/11 Eleven Years On<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I write this eleven
years to the day since terrorists decided to hijack several jets and
crash them, along with the hundreds of innocent passengers, into US
buildings, an act that would take the lives of thousands and leave
the world shaken and facing an uncertain future. In those eleven
years it appears we have learned very little.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Mohammed Atta and his
cohorts doubtless believed that their vile atrocity would be rewarded
by the reception of seventy-two virgins, and possibly a handshake
from Allah himself. Whilst it is certainly true that the cause of
9/11 stretches beyond a purely religious foundation, make no mistake
that their actions were largely justified by recourse to Islam and
the Koran, as utilized by Al Qaeda. Many will claim that the Koran
does not tolerate such atrocities. If only that were the case, for it
is equally true that these fundamental maniacs are just as able to
cite passages that make their martyrdom a blessing and a glory unto
their delusional godhead.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Let us not forget that
Christianity has also played a not insignificant role in all of this.
Al Qaeda chose to strike at a time when the President of the United
States, the most powerful man on the planet, was a drooling imbecile
who could hardly be trusted to operate a door handle. If reports are
correct, this is a President who claimed god speaks to him, having
told him to invade Iraq, and at one point being stupid enough to use the
slightly emotive under the circumstances word 'crusade'!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Yet whilst the more
unhinged members of Islam attacked the US and President Dribblechin
retaliated, there is another truth we would do well to remember –
neither side has even the slightest evidence the 'god' who guided
their actions exists. Even if we trace back the troubles in the
Middle East we find it largely revolves around the displacement of a
group of people who had long lived in the area to make way for the
founding of Israel, ironically for a people who themselves had just
been subject to ethnic cleansing yet saw no parity or hypocrisy in
their land grabbing. And why was Israel founded where it was? Because
of a damned biblical prophecy, from a god whom they cannot even prove
is real.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
When viewed from the
perspective of an outsider without any faith it strikes me as an
indictment of how badly religion still poisons our species. How many
more centuries must man be forced to live under the tyranny of
religions that impose themselves on believers and non-believers
alike, how many more must die in the same of Yahweh or Allah?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Sadly it appears that
the US, the very nation targeted for that appalling attack, fails to
understand how religious fervour is doing their potentially great
country no favours. Currently there is a dispute over the placement
of a cross at Ground Zero, one formed from the beams of the World
Trade Centre (given the construction of the towers it is far from a
'miracle' that such a structure was left standing). Atheists are
requesting that it not be granted permission and are being accused of
intolerance for their efforts.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Yes, of course
Christians require and deserve a place to go to remember those who
lost their lives that day. But it was not only Christians who
perished, there were victims from every faith (and atheists), and
they came from around the world. Would the Christians who are
hell-bent on having a cross to bow their head to be quite so
accommodating if the families of Muslim victims wanted to place a
monument depicting their religion at the spot they died? What about
Hindus? Sikhs? Buddhists? In a secular nation, as the US is
regardless the historically ignorant protestations of the Christian
right, each one of those faiths should be accorded the right if
Christians can have their cross.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
The logical conclusion,
at least as far as I can see, is the construction of a secular
memorial, one that serves the families of all who died and either
displays the religious symbolism of all religions, or one that
displays none. Ideally I would say none, because everybody was united
in loss that day. It may even help mend the wounds in inter-faith
relations that were inflicted that day if Christians saw Muslims
mourning and vice-versa. Instead it appears Christians would rather
further the animosity and deepen the rift by stamping their faith on
the location.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Thankfully I lost
nobody that day, I can only imagine the sense of senseless loss
endured by those who did. Had I done so and were I to visit New York
to pay my respects the last thing I would wish to see is a cross
because to me it would symbolize one thing, the fanatical adherence
to a baseless, anachronistic faith system that should have been
consigned to the pages of history. Just as with the faith that
inspired the lunatics that had brought me there to pay my respects.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
It is a sad fact that
whilst a handful of Islamic extremists hijacked four planes in 2001,
far more Christians appear to be determined to hijack the place of
remembrance. </div>
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com0London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.118065551.5834975 -0.275994 51.7410875 0.039862999999999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-39894195038417579202012-09-04T05:03:00.000+01:002012-09-04T05:03:47.606+01:00Shrek Goes Full Fucktard<br />
<br />
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This is incredible, even by creationist debating standards this is beyond crazy. Enjoy!</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />Those familiar with my
site will possibly be aware of Eric Johnson, also known as 'Shrek'.
He is the admin of the Facebook page <i>Atheism vrs Fundamental
Christianity</i>, which can be found here;<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/godmessage/">http://www.facebook.com/groups/godmessage/</a>
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Over the last few
nights, Eric Johnson has gone, for want of a better word, the full
fucktard. Before we go on, you need to see one of the 'rules' of his
page (rules which, incidentally, he copied directly from another page
without asking the owner's permission).</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<b>NO one will be
banned. </b>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Seems
rather unambiguous, I think you'll agree.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Yet
Eric has started banning people, and the reason for their removal is
quite, quite ridiculous. Eric only wants 'real atheists' on his page.
When pushed for what constitutes a 'real atheist' he says it's an
atheist who denounces God and Christ, and also spreads atheism in
public. Huh? So this moron wants atheists to proselytize atheism!?
What are we supposed to do, get banners and march in atheism's name?
Apparently so, yes. I'm serious, that is precisely what we must do to
qualify! That atheism has no dogma or doctrine requiring it is
immaterial, that atheism is, by definition, simply the lack of belief
in gods doesn't matter, not to Eric.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
This
raised a point; what of those atheists who live in areas where doing
so would negatively affect their lives? We know that in the US there
are many areas where the stigmatisation of atheists can lead to
barring from jobs, ostracism and in some cases physical abuse.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
When
this was put to Eric he said that if we truly believed in atheism we
would risk it, otherwise we are cowards. This is all very easy for
him to say, it's not him expected to jeopardize anything. So I asked
would he expect a Christian to publicly proselytize their faith in a
radical Muslim country where doing so could lead to death. Amazingly
he said yes, it would be better to be beheaded than hide your faith.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
At
one point he banned me, because I am what he calls just an 'online
atheist' not a 'real atheist', even though it was pointed out to him
that I am pretty much a full time carer, so opportunities to go out
spreading the word of atheism are rare even if I were of a mind to do
so. I'm not, as I don't feel pushing my atheism on others in public
is any more acceptable than others doing it to me, though I would
willingly discuss my atheism with somebody were it brought up, I'm
proud to be a free thinker and not some mindless god drone.</div>
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<br />
</div>
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Eric's
response to my protestation is quite incredible, he said, and I
quote;</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
“<i>I
am talking of real life scenario Ha ha ha. u r like Avatar hero
handicapped, using fake body to prove you are atheist online. Show in
real life like we do Sunday missionary work, go on streets to spread
the good message of Jesus. Like that you do or Not? Only those are
qualified</i>”</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_WB-0QB03rxHqhUC89O2WbPoDYrQIVRcPktSBufhBL11j_BXJVDSnrJSHa2xTvW7OkA0q-3rq0RP-LIMqWRlT-y24xrVL6AO8_Gam4HIMaJq44Ns4aGF9B1OJRKeWuBttW2PrfUovJsu/s1600/erickickingatheists2blurred.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_WB-0QB03rxHqhUC89O2WbPoDYrQIVRcPktSBufhBL11j_BXJVDSnrJSHa2xTvW7OkA0q-3rq0RP-LIMqWRlT-y24xrVL6AO8_Gam4HIMaJq44Ns4aGF9B1OJRKeWuBttW2PrfUovJsu/s400/erickickingatheists2blurred.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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I
dunno about you but I find the “Avatar hero handicapped” comment
to be absolutely disgusting, considering he knows my home-life
situation, he also knows my own health precludes much travel even were I not a carer. So such
a comment only instils in me a deeper hatred of this pernicious
little prick.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Thankfully
another member berated Eric Johnson for a day or so and he relented,
allowing me back as an 'online atheist'. I'm no such thing and such a
label is insulting as I am a life-long and proud atheist, I refuse to
be labelled by Eric or anybody else just to suit their bigotry.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Another
member was banned even though they posted photos of their membership
of the American Atheists Association. Apparently belonging to such an
association is simply not good enough, you must go out and proclaim
your atheism to everybody – even if they don't care.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I'm
lucky, I live in the UK where I could probably walk down the street
with a T-Shirt declaring “Christ took it up the arse from Judas”
on the front and “God doesn't exist, grow up!” on the back, and
it would hardly raise an eyebrow. Yet I do not feel I should be
expected to do this simply to prove my atheism. As it is, my car
proudly sports a Darwin's Fish, my lapel is always replete with a
Darwin's Fish badge and I have had frequent conversations with
friends and family about my lack of faith and views on religion –
to the point I've often been told to “Shut the fuck up about God
for once!”. Eric doesn't consider that sufficient.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I've
been members of many Facebook creationist pages over the years and
this is the first time I have seen such wholesale stupidity,
ignorance and bigotry from an admin who is set on culling anybody he
feels like. I would have more respect for him if he were to simply
say “I don't want you on my page” instead of concocting some
abjectly stupid reason such as “online atheist” to hide behind.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I
would urge any readers wishing to annoy this cretinous little moron
to join his page, we need more free thinkers on there to
counter-balance the number of utterly ridiculous fundies. But make
sure you're a 'real atheist' and not one of those cowardly 'online
atheists', because Eric doesn't like them!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Eric
Johnson, if you read this, and I know you are aware of the blog's
existence, you are without doubt one of the most banally stupid,
ignorant, intolerant, bigoted, poisonous little online bullies I have
met. And make no mistake, you are an online bully. You would never
dream of doing in real life what you have done the last few nights,
yet the safety of your monitor shields you from those you abuse. Well
fuck you, Eric Johnson. Fuck you, fuck your ex-Canaanite wargod and
fuck your Jewish blood sacrifice myth.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I'll
be uploading some choice screenshots from the discussion, which
continues even as I write this, when time permits me to edit out
names.</div>
<br />
Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com1London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.118065551.5834975 -0.275994 51.7410875 0.039862999999999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6179485781530973460.post-34404357996883132762012-07-13T03:28:00.000+01:002012-07-13T03:31:50.317+01:00Bad Attitude and Bad Admin<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
An examination of fine fundie fucktardery on Facbook with an old favourite from this blog, <a href="http://theopinionatedprimate.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/shrek-turd.html" target="_blank">Eric Johnson Shrek</a>, and somebody I don't think I've had the pleasure of venting over before, Daniel “Denial” Wood. This is what it's so often like trying to reason with those of whom it can best be said they are a few gospels short of a testament. The following took place on "<i>Atheism vrs. Fundamental Christianity</i>"</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It all started when somebody posted a video from the brilliant “Atheist Experience” featuring Matt Dillahunty. This video centred around the morality of “forgiveness” as taught by Christianity. There ensued a lengthy debate about the contents of the video, during which Daniel Wood gave his opinion, generally in the arrogant “I am right, you are wrong” manner he takes whenever he posts. The debate continued and then Daniel posted this.<br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3hj4HlgeMnYTphvYnYOcl1t1sanyEPWXHNVtoE7dQsiv4O1SHbhVNrAB7Zh575c8D51_nU_rescChiqznyFEGu58R4mmFPrmNI41llN015-wMS1KJNKCFckRW9BVAyAZ4xBdulI8O6vx/s1600/Daniel1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3hj4HlgeMnYTphvYnYOcl1t1sanyEPWXHNVtoE7dQsiv4O1SHbhVNrAB7Zh575c8D51_nU_rescChiqznyFEGu58R4mmFPrmNI41llN015-wMS1KJNKCFckRW9BVAyAZ4xBdulI8O6vx/s1600/Daniel1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So just because Daniel has opined the debate is over? I do not think so, so I responded with</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIHKBmu2lTK0EVAh2oUlYjka6jRew3bpuWwZvrkWp-0u69ru5rvGofTqsPqXo9LuAbJGM56n_HAMw_-WQh-tLxf6IAxM3uXxT6RogwFaAUIshpG1Cbnl_ITKXTxsslftaMJ0snnIakjS8V/s1600/daniel2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIHKBmu2lTK0EVAh2oUlYjka6jRew3bpuWwZvrkWp-0u69ru5rvGofTqsPqXo9LuAbJGM56n_HAMw_-WQh-tLxf6IAxM3uXxT6RogwFaAUIshpG1Cbnl_ITKXTxsslftaMJ0snnIakjS8V/s1600/daniel2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As you can see, I made no mention of Daniel's opinion, it wasn't particularly relevant given others were still debating. I also said I would love to see Daniel confront Matt Dillahunty with his views.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Daniel shot back in his customary arrogant way with the following.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMSP-8UwxgncLDoJwqjc1V8zZTccXd0VcaHvKXwFYkM187ttG6cjdag1At9PJNElQRIR_DkYK1m9tVvVhfVkbBwNGq7tmbE4KUAOMIad67Lo2CoNVZpyRilX1TrNeJJK5hi4ggi5HXEnT/s1600/daniel3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMSP-8UwxgncLDoJwqjc1V8zZTccXd0VcaHvKXwFYkM187ttG6cjdag1At9PJNElQRIR_DkYK1m9tVvVhfVkbBwNGq7tmbE4KUAOMIad67Lo2CoNVZpyRilX1TrNeJJK5hi4ggi5HXEnT/s1600/daniel3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now you've read my post, where have I shown an inability to read? This is typical of Daniel's debating style, he constantly accuses the opposition of illiteracy, lack of education, lack of comprehension skills and so forth. Ironically whilst demonstrating exactly those traits himself. It's because I have suffered his antagonisms for months that I no longer pussyfoot around him, as shown in my response.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnn4xtKZ7kb5eESRDd6dWcdjUM_dhgNbRv-jGNDl9ej2-uec4JNbPVxzxUySGVwm0AjFoNQQ9M_78YG9uyIINHKbXxoQRwYXacVGnOm0ZCaWVNYTY9sL6sr-kJ7JSpyRePTMev76m_KoVh/s1600/daniel4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnn4xtKZ7kb5eESRDd6dWcdjUM_dhgNbRv-jGNDl9ej2-uec4JNbPVxzxUySGVwm0AjFoNQQ9M_78YG9uyIINHKbXxoQRwYXacVGnOm0ZCaWVNYTY9sL6sr-kJ7JSpyRePTMev76m_KoVh/s1600/daniel4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At this point our old friend Eric Johnson Shrek, the admin of that page, stepped in with the following warning for me.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbq9rnucEpbwzJgUgAqTMfdmLEskQqGZuezr7FSVjwtsH8LW8ma_Pd0tfC-Y7jjagiIk48ugw62srGk_WuRGqiPpvPZKLTrmSS_JhF8We3uBFYqnjTJSvBZGYVDDoghcmE3YF-FNzmFRid/s1600/daniel5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbq9rnucEpbwzJgUgAqTMfdmLEskQqGZuezr7FSVjwtsH8LW8ma_Pd0tfC-Y7jjagiIk48ugw62srGk_WuRGqiPpvPZKLTrmSS_JhF8We3uBFYqnjTJSvBZGYVDDoghcmE3YF-FNzmFRid/s1600/daniel5.jpg" /></a></div>
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Hang on, Daniel is an 'elite' member, what exactly is one of those on a Facebook page!? He's not an admin, he's just another member, but suddenly he's 'elite'? I had to respond to that one.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Sazv3eUywzKSRGCwVkzwqfoaMG-oMN3rgLaUJp39P6zoD4nEYNim0yH6ZmXYhPkumEe1T3W1HrYRBdgUE2e-WXcRq0hEw-MmlL2BUJa9BFkGSkAA3PEeIWusbrwObUYUWSmBWEYaJP-p/s1600/daniel6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Sazv3eUywzKSRGCwVkzwqfoaMG-oMN3rgLaUJp39P6zoD4nEYNim0yH6ZmXYhPkumEe1T3W1HrYRBdgUE2e-WXcRq0hEw-MmlL2BUJa9BFkGSkAA3PEeIWusbrwObUYUWSmBWEYaJP-p/s1600/daniel6.jpg" /></a></div>
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Instead of dealing with Daniel's repeated abuses and insinuations, Eric Johnson Shrek shows his true colours by replying thus.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ110YI4LlOIqqJX0iTxY_reyihy6-1j_7ZAa-ibPlWIWmkEQTrk8ojqA44Rr6Z3jzJWLxI_4z5WcxY03U1H1nh0I7DN5TIAyBCYZC51wj4e5PI5zFv-pQ8hgS0GV_ljsNzkkyn9ABlyQz/s1600/daniel7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ110YI4LlOIqqJX0iTxY_reyihy6-1j_7ZAa-ibPlWIWmkEQTrk8ojqA44Rr6Z3jzJWLxI_4z5WcxY03U1H1nh0I7DN5TIAyBCYZC51wj4e5PI5zFv-pQ8hgS0GV_ljsNzkkyn9ABlyQz/s1600/daniel7.jpg" /></a></div>
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So what Eric is saying is that Daniel can be as offensive as he likes, if we don't like it we can leave? Yet if we are remotely offensive to him we get warned. This is impartiality from an admin?</div>
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Before I could respond, Daniel decided to let fly a stream of consciousness as follows, attacking Matt Dillahunty's abilities to debate and generally acting like the jumped up little twunt that he is.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygbFH3sUkrhPyxPPbwan6Cg3cQTmOICJgfiq67L0uyb9qrSYTgJsE7IaaOR7NfLr0dP1-4W0LoEF35asfGQfbdrgcaOZhBRlVkFRH9X0g7V0YTpquvAA6wrWVuRZC1fhlI65DiuwRQ676/s1600/daniel8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygbFH3sUkrhPyxPPbwan6Cg3cQTmOICJgfiq67L0uyb9qrSYTgJsE7IaaOR7NfLr0dP1-4W0LoEF35asfGQfbdrgcaOZhBRlVkFRH9X0g7V0YTpquvAA6wrWVuRZC1fhlI65DiuwRQ676/s1600/daniel8.jpg" /></a></div>
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So I respond in a manner befitting talking to the proverbial pigeon who craps on the chessboard. Only to again be accused of an inability to understand English.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhutzTWsm7zCnerCHKvJ5WGWQq23aEurn9LCsAe5HpnFuMO8c3Tp_0wJ45Hv-Wq5OPTpaPnHP0oXElzhJqLjQIVFM32V3oGRiOBY9JBSQYTZVnPIdQQV7x-PM1kamjayjbhy7LhFV6clIxm/s1600/daniel9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhutzTWsm7zCnerCHKvJ5WGWQq23aEurn9LCsAe5HpnFuMO8c3Tp_0wJ45Hv-Wq5OPTpaPnHP0oXElzhJqLjQIVFM32V3oGRiOBY9JBSQYTZVnPIdQQV7x-PM1kamjayjbhy7LhFV6clIxm/s1600/daniel9.jpg" /></a></div>
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The final part of the to-and-fro is as follows, where I again attempted to explain my point.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmW4JQz_Vj6vIMdf_0vs1V-Spod8-6TzpB0UfYqaaLuE5SFKP3Slob1tg1I8dhE4ukBx6yxt-wXymTxDnPpRX82e5uSDTcdspdWJ6aiyyn4uT0nsi6cALPYup4Y4NIrMrSnO1HwOdy2UwZ/s1600/daniel10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmW4JQz_Vj6vIMdf_0vs1V-Spod8-6TzpB0UfYqaaLuE5SFKP3Slob1tg1I8dhE4ukBx6yxt-wXymTxDnPpRX82e5uSDTcdspdWJ6aiyyn4uT0nsi6cALPYup4Y4NIrMrSnO1HwOdy2UwZ/s1600/daniel10.jpg" /></a></div>
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It may be that you disagree with the manner in which I speak to Daniel on Facebook but let me make something clear, he has accused people with several degrees from prestigious universities of being uneducated, because they don't agree with him. He repeatedly accuses people of comprehension difficulties, of needing to get an education and other abuse. He is, in short, a complete and absolute imbecile.</div>
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A further example of this cretinous little gimp for god's behaviour followed his posting of a series of videos. These videos, which weren't particularly short, were watched by a fair few of us as Daniel claimed they demonstrated that science makes appeals to the paranormal. They don't.</div>
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For weeks now, several of us have repeatedly asked that Daniel supply a timestamp in one of the videos where the professor presenting them confirms his assertion. He won't. Instead he insults us, saying it is like feeding children or teaching children who are unwilling to learn, both of which he refuses to do. He attacks our abilities to understand even the basics, of an inability to read and so forth and accuses us of his favourite word 'sophistry'. All the while we merely ask him to state in which video and at roughly what time in that video the presenter makes mention of science making appeals to the paranormal. Not once has he attempted to do so, why? Surely the rational response would be to offer than information!</div>
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Of course Eric Johnson Shrek does nothing to quell his abuses and accusations, allowing the atheist to be attacked because, frankly, it suits him. Eric makes little attempt to hide his contempt for freethinkers and nor does Daniel.</div>
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Well, Eric, you can suggest I leave your page if I'm offended. I'm not. I'm just disgusted with a "Christian" such as you allowing other claimed Christians to behave so abysmally. Eric, you are the keeper of that zoo of windowlickers and so it is incumbent upon you to step in when the exhibits, such as Daniel, start throwing their shit around. Instead you act when the spectators object to their faecal flinging, and only then to warn those who are the target!</div>
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As I get warned when taking Daniel to task on Facebook I shall instead give my opinion here. Daniel Wood is one of the most objectionably nasty, arrogant, insolent, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect" target="_blank">Dunning Kruger</a> exemplifying little c**ts I and many other have had the misfortune of encountering. He manages to encapsulate a degree of ignorance and arrogance that borders on Kim Balogh levels, and that really is saying something.</div>
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He would disagree, obviously, but then that's Daniel for you!</div>Opinionated Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577120668724689486noreply@blogger.com0London Borough of Enfield, Greater London, UK51.6622925 -0.118065551.5834975 -0.275994 51.7410875 0.039862999999999996