Immigration Makes Negative Side of News in Britain

found online by Raymond

 
From Neil Bamforth at MadMikesAmerica:

Regular commenter Bobbie Peel accused me of always writing negatively, especially about ethnic minorities. Having mulled this accusation over for a couple of days it has occurred to me that Bobbie is absolutely rrrrrrr – bear with me it’ll come – rrrrrr – I’m nearly there – Bobbie is absolutely right.

There. That wasn’t so hard to say now was it?

Well, yes actually. We never like agreeing with criticisms about ourselves, do we?

Well, I don’t anyway.

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Surviving Trump, Bye Bye Staff, Tariffs, Rugs, Debate Tactics

Saturday Rate of Exchange:
What Makes a Good Atheist?

from Burr Deming

 
Professor PZ Myers is a confirmed atheist. He has many issues with movement atheism. Among them is their public presentation:

Several of those guys pictured are dead. One, Neil deGrasse Tyson, doesn’t want to be associated with movement atheism. But that isn’t what bothers me most.

One problem is that they’re all guys, every one, except for Ayaan Hirsi Ali. They couldn’t be bothered to copy and paste a picture of Susan Jacoby or Annie Laurie Gaylor or Madalyn Murray O’Hair or Margaret Downey in there — heck, not even Ayn Rand, but maybe that would be too revealing of their political philosophy. If you wanted to demonstrate that atheism is a boys’ club, all you have to do is look at how they advertise themselves.

Ryan objects:

Yeah! And where are all the world-renowned Chinese atheists? What about the Hispanic ones? The Middle Eastern ones? The gay ones?

Maybe, just maybe, the faces here were chosen because they are the most recognizable atheists. Even the average person who doesn’t pay much attention to atheism has heard of some of them (Dawkins, Tyson, Maher, Gervais, MacFarlane, Carlin, maybe Jillette and Hitchens — most of whom are in entertainment) and the others are commonly discussed in atheist circles, whether atheists like Myers likes it or not. Myers offers Susan Jacoby, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and Margaret Downey as alternatives, but these are not household names and I do not often hear their thoughts on atheism discussed.

Of course, it’s not enough for him to declare these groups sexist and racist on the basis of their pictures despite not knowing their creators or members. He has to invent sentiments for them, like pining for the days “when the atheist boys’ club could be all rational and shit without some girl or social scientist or somethin’ coming along and putting a damper on the party with complexity and exposing your underlying assumptions.” I don’t think that this attitude does his own “movement atheism” (Atheism+) any favors, except among the already indoctrinated. It certainly doesn’t encourage me to listen to what he has to say on the subject.

It’s also strange to see Myers criticize these atheists for being “vigorously anti-Muslim.” Myers himself once said that “Islam is the religion of ignorance and hate.” I’m not sure when that sentiment becomes vigorous enough for Myers to oppose it, but I don’t think that the atheists in these pictures support rounding up the peaceful, non-theocratic Muslims and deporting them or for banning their religion, so I’m not sure why this point is important to him. Given how broadly he sometimes talks about Christianity, it also seems hypocritical.

Soooo… see you all at worship tomorrow?
 
Have a safe weekend.

WH: Diet Coke Panic No Disproof of Trump Courage

found online by Raymond

 
From Andy Borowitz:

According to one aide, when Pence opened the can, it made “an unusually loud noise,” sending Trump ducking under his desk in a millisecond.

At a news conference, minutes later, the press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, attempted to tamp down speculation that Trump had acted in a cowardly manner during the Diet Coke incident. “The President prudently repositioned himself under his desk in an aggressive crouch,” she said. “He was ready for anything.”

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New Kind of Blackmail: Naked Pics of Trump

found online by Raymond

 
From Joe Hagstrom at MadMikesAmerica:

The greatest danger coming out of this situation is not the usual spin about children being exposed to this nonsense or the denigration of the Office of President, or our Nation being robbed of its innocence for the 47 millionth time since I’ve been aware we have no innocence. The real danger is that the sweet Ms. Daniels intimated there may be pictures. Naked pictures. Maybe naked pictures of Donald Trump.

Then again maybe it was the threat of pictures of President Trump naked being dropped on North Korea that got their latest version of “Dear Leader” to say he may be willing to talk about North Korea giving up its nuclear program.

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Huckabee Sanders Warning on Steamy, Sexy Distraction

found online by Raymond

 
From The Onion:

“Look, I know how easy it is to get all hot and bothered while reading these tantalizing stories about the president, but Americans need to focus on the concrete problems affecting our nation,” said a sweaty, visibly aroused Huckabee Sanders, who flushed noticeably and bit her bottom lip as she encouraged reporters to concentrate on the issues concerning everyday citizens instead of whatever filthy, animalistic sexual acts may or may not have occurred during a hedonistic weekend in Beverly Hills.

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Best Recent News Correction

found online For Your Consideration

 
From The New York Times:

An article on deception and the new trade policy of President Trump

Skip to the correction:

Correction: March 6, 2018

Because of an editing error involving a satirical text-swapping web browser extension, an earlier version of this article misquoted a passage from an article by the Times reporter Jim Tankersley. The sentence referred to America’s narrowing trade deficit during “the Great Recession,” not during “the Time of Shedding and Cold Rocks.” (Pro tip: Disable your “Millennials to Snake People” extension when copying and pasting.)

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