Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

If Men Look At My Wife The Universe Will Fold In On Itself

Th1sWasATriumph

Sat May 08, 2010 2:28 pm by Th1sWasATriumph

Seen this? A few days late with it, but I’m blithely unconcerned.

A Muslim woman has been fined for wearing a burka in a post office in Novara, Italy, after the mayor passed a law forbidding face-covering garb inside public buildings. Mayor Massimo Giordano could maybe be described as an Islamophobe, but as far as I’m concerned that’s like calling someone a murderophobe or a rapistophobe. It’s entirely rational to dislike or fear Islam, which makes it not a phobia but a very sensible intellectual stance.

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Discussion (8) • Add Comment Tags: braim, burka, crime, fined, giordano, italy, marmouri, novara, woman
Posted in Censorship, Culture, Events, News, Reason, Religion

Singh-ing In The Rain

Th1sWasATriumph

Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:39 pm by Th1sWasATriumph

I can’t really apologise enough for that title.

As I anticipated would happen, Rabbitpirate beat me to laying the first League blogstone on the subject of Simon Singh and his sudden victory. Since I’m not a petty man/as good as Rabbitpirate, I’d love to see him do a longer musing on the subject without the dilution that my opinions would create. However I just wanted to highlight one thing.

Quoting from the BCA’s press release, “The BCA has considered seeking leave to take this matter to the Supreme Court and has been advised there are strong grounds for appeal against the Court of Appeal judgment. However, while it was right to bring this claim at the outset, the BCA now feels that the time is right for the matter to draw to a close. ”

Isn’t that beautiful? The legal equivalent of saying “I could smash your face in, I could . . . any time I wanted . . . only I’m not going to. Any time. But now I’m going home.” For “been advised there are strong grounds for appeal” read “quick, save face ANY WAY WE GODDAMN CAN.” And what’s the best way to save face? Lie. If there were truly strong grounds for appeal the BCA, an organisation that has happily made a decent, genuine, intelligent and (I’m fortunate to know this from personal experience) really lovely man suffer tremendously for years, would without hesitation appeal to continue. Of course they would. Singh said mean*, hurtful** and unfortunately absolutely true things about them so they responded with petty legality. If there was the slightest chance the case could be pursued, don’t you think the BCA would go for it? Just to hurt Simon?

I love seeing people forced to back down after attempting to use laws to censor dissenting voices. We’ve all had our run-ins with DMCAs on Youtube, but Singh has become the poster boy for hope and reason against the odds. And as the BCA sidles grumbling into the shadows, we can only hope that libel laws everywhere face a swift dissolution.

Rabbitpirate? Over to you, sir.

* “You are all frauds”

** “Your mothers are ladies of questionable moral integrity”

Discussion (2) • Add Comment Tags: action, bca, case, court, legal, simon, singh, victory, won
Posted in Censorship, Events, News, Reason, Science

God Love ‘Em, Because Someone Has To

Th1sWasATriumph

Wed Apr 14, 2010 6:57 pm by Th1sWasATriumph

I imagine it’s likely that Rabbitpirate is even now putting the finishing touches on a significantly better article on this subject. But hey, I’m a Leaguer – it’s my oft-shirked duty to expose the belly-white viscera of religious arse wherever it may show.

I’d hoped that childishly ripping on Gabriele Amorth, Righteous Exorcist 1st Class Of The Holy Vatican, might be the last slur I cast in the direction of Catholicism. My hope was in vain. (more…)

Discussion (3) • Add Comment Tags: bertone, catholicism, paedophilia, pope, scandal, vatican
Posted in Culture, Events, News, Reason, Religion

All Hail Satan, Lord Of The Scots

Th1sWasATriumph

Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:16 pm by Th1sWasATriumph

You’ve really got to admire Catholicism sometimes. I mean, really admire that thing. Not in a pretty way, of course. No. Not in the way that sunsets or elderly couples or kittens on springs or rubber corsets might be admired. More in the sense that I might admire, with horrified fascination, a trembling knot of worms drawn reluctantly from their gastric nest. Or a giant centipede blindly destroying a mouse. Or a botfly larva emerging from the withered husk of its host. I mean, none of us could profess a liking for Hitler but damn, did he get shit done.

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Discussion (11) • Add Comment Tags: accountability, exorcism, exorcist, satan in the world
Posted in Culture, Events, News, Philosophy, Reason, Religion

TAM London DVD coming soon, features Leaguers

AndromedasWake

Sat Feb 06, 2010 1:01 pm by AndromedasWake

It seems like a long time ago that Th1sWasATriumph and I stood outside the Mermaid Conference Centre in London freezing our nuts off. Actually, it was a long time ago! It was all the way back in October that hundreds of sceptics descended on London to sin their faces off with Reason™. Since then, a mighty machine has been secretly grinding away on the DVD, which is now available to pre-order.

Be sure to check out the preview video on YouTube, and pause around the 5:08 mark to see four of LoR’s finest giggling away like a bunch of twats. You can also click the image below to embiggen and gaze upon our collective, annotated beauty. There were several other League/YouTube sceptics there too, and it was great to meet you all! TAM London 2 is official and I still have a large collection of photos to share from the first event. Keep your eyes peeled for a blog post all about this (oh yes, it’s going to be epic!)

Discussion (4) • Add Comment Tags: DVD, TAM London, TAM London 2, The Amazing Meeting
Posted in Events