Lotsa Kooks.

So far, I've got 413 kooks and kook organizations in a spreadsheet index, with 12 classifications.

And all I did today was Photoshop my first face-swap: Wild Bill Donohue has a portrait now!

How in the hell do the pro-bloggers find time to do it all?

Hero #02: Carl Sagan

It's been nearly 13 years since he died, and nearly 30 since I sat glued to the TV watching "Cosmos."

The man did everything, it seems, from advising Apollo astronauts to working on the gold records the Voyager craft are carrying beyond the solar system even now.

I wish I could say that Mr. Sagan inspired me to excel in science or some such, but it wasn't until after his death in 1996 that I started thinking skeptically about things. It was only a few months ago that I even started thinking about who I would even consider a "hero." I think I've got a good idea, now. He was a strong advocate for the sciences, for skeptical and critical thought.

I wish I'd listened to him when I was that kid in 1980.

John Boswell's Symphony of Science features some well-done nods to Mr. Sagan--if you don't like AutoTune songs, you'll still like this, because the "singer" is Sagan himself, in clips from "Cosmos."

Mabus, David (actually Markuze, Dennis)

This guy's just a low-hanging fruitloop, not really one of your more impressive kooks. According to Skippy the Skeptic's blog, Mabus is actually Dennis Markuze of Canada, a devoted Nostradamus fan who is convinced that the old boy predicted the existence of Depeche Mode.

Mabus is also obsessed with James Randi and his million-dollar challenge, claiming that Randi owes him that million bucks and sneering that Randi has "taken down" the challenge.

Doesn't like atheists, apparently. His most-recent post in the alt.atheism newsgroup:

Path: border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!postnews.google.com!r24g2000yqd.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail
From: David Mabus
Newsgroups: alt.atheism
Subject: Atheist Apocalypse
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:52:42 -0800 (PST)
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Lines: 4
Message-ID:
NNTP-Posting-Host: 174.142.32.173
X-Trace: posting.google.com 1259412762 29712 127.0.0.1 (28 Nov 2009 12:52:42 GMT)
X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:52:42 +0000 (UTC)
Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com

Kicking in the heads of atheists one at a time...


http://nostradamus-america.atspace.com/

Apparently, he thinks "kicking in" atheists' heads involves a ton of YouTube embeds of Depeche Mode videos.

But he's pathetically unoriginal:

David said...

Kicking in the heads of atheists one at a time...

http://nostradamus-america.atspace.com/

That was in the comments of the Skippy page I linked to above--May of 2008.

Heh.

I've asked him to complete a list of his other kook credentials so that a better entry can be completed here.

Given that Mabus is a troll, PZ Myers at the Pharyngula blog has seen fit to put Davie in the Dungeon--his blog's killfile.

Updates:
On Dec. 4, he replied to the "Lotsa Kooks" post...by linking to a post on the forum at forteantimes.com:

Posted: 02-12-2009 20:18 Post subject: Atheist Apocalypse

Kicking in the heads of atheists one at a time...

http://nostradamus-america.atspace.com/

This guy's more boring than _I_ am.

He's apparently got a boring FaceBook page, too--but it can't be real because it shows him as having FRIENDS (tip of the hat to PanamaFloyd for finding it). Going by his picture, Dennis has a garish gold face and no eyes, and grapes for hair. Scary.

December 13, 2009: Another discussion of Mabus, this time at Skeptic Friends Network (September 2009). Apparently this goofball threatened James Randi and his wife for "cheating" him out of the million-dollar prize.

Photographed at AAI convention.

People demand action on dealing with him; cops do nothing.

Petition goes out demanding action on his threats and stalking


Montreal police answer 4,000-name petition by announcing they'll finally investigate him; his mother says he's a good boy, misunderstood: cops probe death threats; Time to Institutionalize...

...and he's discussed Mabus before:
Markuze exposed
Update on Markuze
Goats On Fire

Some rightie jobbie thinks he's an undercover liberal

Arrested! Aug 17, 2011

Back-story of his exploits, leading up to the arrest
Notorious spammer brought down

Gets conditional release, goes back to trolling (no death threats so far); next hearing Jan. 25, 2012
Out and back in business

Nov. 20, 2012: resumed posting online (including alt.atheism) under the nym "Operation Archangel"); was re-arrested by Montreal police for violating the terms of his probation. Judge releases him in exchange for a promise to stop.
He's back...

November 21, 2012: wow, visited by the Great Man himself (see comments).

November 25, 2012: Tim Farley has a writeup on Mabus' rearrest.

Birthers at Work!

Over at the Daily Kos, I'm reading about an addle-minded Birther, Phil Wolf, who has basically screwed himself and his car dealership business with a billboard demanding that Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Obama prove his citizenship.

This reminded me of the birthers in my own workplace; a few days ago one of them showed us a birther email that he found very convincing (my comments in [brackets]:

--- On Wed, 11/18/09, [email redacted] wrote:

From: [redacted]
Subject: Fw: NEED FOR PRAYER
To: [long-ass list of email recipients redacted]
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 12:22 PM


On Wed, 11/18/09, [email redacted] wrote:

From: [redacted]
Subject: Fw: NEED FOR PRAYER
To: [redacted]
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 12:47 PM

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: [redacted]
To: [5 more names redacted]
Sent: Tue, November 17, 2009 7:58:57 PM
Subject: Fw: NEED FOR PRAYER

AS THIS E-MAIL MAKES ITS WAY ACROSS AMERICA AND BACK, EVERYONE WHO RECEIVES IT PLEASE STOP FOR A MOMENT AND SAY A PRAYER THAT GOD WILL PUT A HEDGE OF PROTECTION AROUND JUDGE CARTER AND HIS FAMILY.

[heh. I wonder if any of them participated in Operation Prayer Shield?]

Good luck judge!

Well well,

Here comes the Judge

Federal Judge Carter sets Trial Date for Obama's Eligibility!

The expedited trial has been set for Jan. 26, 2010!

[ah, yeah, about that--no it hasn't. See below.]

Many concerned veterans and citizens attended the hearing in Federal Court in Santa Ana in the lawsuit against Barack Obama to determine his eligibility to be President and Commander in Chief. About 150 people showed up, almost all in support of the lawsuit to demand that Obama release his birth certificate and other records that he has hidden from the American people.

Judge David Carter refused to hear Obama's request for dismissal. He indicated there was almost no chance that this case would be dismissed. Obama is arguing this lawsuit was filed in the wrong court if you can believe that. Obama would prefer a "kangaroo court" instead of a Federal court! Assuming Judge Carter denies Obama's motion for dismissal, he will likely then order expedited discovery which will force Obama to release his birth certificate in a timely manner (if he has one).

The judge, WHO IS A FORMER U.S. MARINE, repeated several times that this is A VERY SERIOUS CASE which must be resolved quickly so that the troops know that their Commander in Chief is eligible to hold that position and issue lawful orders to our military in this time of war. He basically said OBAMA MUST PROVE HIS ELIGIBILITY to the court! He said Americans deserve to know the truth about their President!

[Hah!]

The two U.S. Attorneys representing Barack Obama tried everything they could to sway the judge that this case was frivolous, but Carter would have none of it and cut them off several times. Obama's attorneys left the courtroom after about the 90 minute hearing looking defeated and nervous.

[HAH!]

Great day in America for the U.S. Constitution! The truth about Barack Obama's eligibility will be known fairly soon - Judge Carter practically guaranteed it!

Video from the press conference after the hearing coming soon. Congratulations to plaintiffs attorney Dr. Orly Taitz! She did a great job and won some huge victories. She was fearless!

[she's been largely ineffectual, actually; her big case with that other bucket of birther crazy Alan Keyes was dismissed by Judge David Carter--you know, the one they're gushing about above--in late October.]

This needs to be forwarded to everyone you know....

What a bucketload of crap. I got the guy to forward it to me--there's no way I'm gonna pass up an opportunity to mock birthers.

I especially like the bit about "plaintiffs attorney Dr. Orly Taitz," who was recently fined $20,000 for filing a frivolous lawsuit and could be disbarred. I wonder what those "huge victories" are that this dentist and soon-to-be-former lawyer has won?

(Yes, she does sign herself as "Orly Taitz, DDS, Esq.")

Johnathan Turley writes about Taitz' $20,000 FAIL:

The bill is in for Orly Taitz, the California lawyer leading the “Birther” litigation: $20,000 for sanctionable conduct. U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land previously issued a stern warning to attorney Orly Taitz and others in the so-called “birther” campaign: do not file another such “frivolous” lawsuit or you will face sanctions. Land threw out the lawsuit filed on behalf of Capt. Connie Rhodes who is an Army surgeon challenging her deployment orders due to President Barack Obama’s alleged ineligibility to serve as President. Land (a Bush appointee) noted that “[u]nlike in ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ simply saying something is so does not make it so.” In the most recent order, Land said that Taitz’s conduct “borders on delusional.”

There's already a Bar complaint against her in California--and Capt. Rhodes was considering filing one of her own back in October.


At any rate, I'm not surprised that my two co-workers are taken with this nonsense; both are conservative, neither of them is a fan of Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Obama (I need to start saying it that way at work, just to see if I get a reaction). Both of them seem willing to believe almost anything about him.

But all it takes is a Google search on a few words--"snopes+taitz+carter+2010+trial" to find the Snopes page about the email, and find that it's nothing but horseturds! The guy who showed us the email had it on his freaking NETBOOK. All his lazy ass needed to do was pop over to the Google and ask the Oracle whether the email was even true or not. He'd have found the Snopes link at the top of the search.

Lazy.

Pat Dollard...Ed Brayton's pet kook

Grab your popcorn, folks, this one's fun!

Over at Ed Brayton's "Dispatches from the Culture Wars" blog, there's a little kook trotting around, trying to make himself seem big and scary!

I'm jealous. I don't have a pet kook.

October 17: Brayton posts about a YouTube flick mocking iPhone apps and wingnuts in Congress. Pat, that tower of intellect, that POWERhouse of rhetoric, brought it: "Fuck you."

October 20: Brayton has noticed Pat. He mocks a mock church bulletin.

October 20: Pat whines about his mistreatment in a Political Byline post. Warning: Coultergeist greets you as a banner ad. He says he doesn't feel he has to explain himself...then explains himself at length, adding rants on abortion, gays, them evil Soshullist Libruls, his religious beliefs, and a few pounds of bible quotes to add weight to his non-self-explanatory self-explanation. He also responds in Ed's comments, calling him a stalker (comment #25) and then offering us comic GOLD with #56:

[snip long-ass hit-count listing for www.politicalbyline.com]
So, there. Suck it Libtards. and Don't bother leaving comments on my blog. Because I am not approving them, at all.

Why?

Because I do not *HAVE* to, that's why.

Well, DARN.

October 21: Ed has gone from merely noticing to being amused by this charming new kook of his. He mocks better than I do. He notes that Dullard put up a new post...but apparently it was too good for the Interwebs: Patty took it down. Here's a taste:

I have been sitting here all evening, thinking about this little dust up between Ed Brayton and myself. The last time someone made the fetal mistake of veering into my "Scope" if you will. They got "The Treatment" from me. Anytime someone has ever done anything that I felt was wrong. I did this to them; I did it to someone who decided that it would be cool to write an article that said, "F**** The Troops", I did it to a well-known Conservative Commentator, who did something that I felt was objectionable. Luckily for her, it was an old address.

Fetal mistake? That's a freaking brilliant Freudian slip given the obvious immaturity on display.

I figure if Ed Brayton does not have a problem insulting Christians, Conservatives and those who disagree with his views, then he should not have a problem with someone calling his house to challenge him on his views or even possibly coming to his house to challenge him face to face. Not that I would encourage such behavior, but if it happened, I would not shed a tear.

So, here's Ed's Address and Telephone Number and a nice aerial shot of his house...:

Wrong house, though. Dullard begs for help via Twitter!

November 8: Pat weighs in on the Fort Hood shooter, claiming (Nobel Peace Prize Winner) President Obama sent the shooter in on a mission to kill people.

Note how Dullard--sorry, Dollard--calls Obama "amabO." Oooh. Creative.

November 10: Wonkette weighs in on Dullar--dammit, Dollard! I just can't get it right! Anyway, Dullard goes off via Twitter on Congressman Anh Cao of Louisiana, a Republican who voted in favor of the House version of the Health Care Reform bill, calling him a "fucking gook" and "Some of us, have not forgotten what happened on Dec 7, 1941 either!". Wonkette runs some of the Twitter traffic; Dullard is mocked in the comments, and this tidbit about him is brought up:

Pat’s personal profile from his web site:
Martial Status: Single, Never Married.

Children: None

Age: 37 (Older than dirt)

Born and Raised: Southwest Detroit, Michigan. (lived there till 1989.)

Location: In the Suburbs of Detroit, Michigan AKA Liberal-Land USA.

How long I’ve been Blogging: Officially since February of 2006

Loves and Hates:

Loves:

Classic Rock
Blues Rock
Long haired and Skinny Women
Beautiful Women
Traditional Values
American Made Products
American History
Anything from the 1940’s
Traditional Christianity (Although Orthodoxy is a bit stiff for me…)
Kind people
Down to earth people; especially women
Intelligent Conversation
Pragmatism
People that are Unique and Intriguing

Hates:
Rap
Pop Music
Short Haired Women
Fat Women
Far Lefty Liberals AKA Communists (Same Difference)
Liberal Christianity
Rich Warren and his Purpose Driven Life CRAP!
Selfish people
Snobbish people
Rich people who love thier money more than others
Paying Taxes
Paying Bills
Having A.D.H.D.
Being Overweight
Getting Older (It Sucks!)

Heh. Here's Ed's take on it. Dullard has made his Twitter feed PRIVATE now.

November 12: Brayton makes Dullard--sorry, Dollard--the subject of his running series, "Dumbass Quote of the Day".

November 13: ...and another Dumbass Quote of the Day for Dullard!

How does one get a pet kook?

Chuck Baldwin--Internment camps!!

This kook is in my neighborhood. He runs a church (Crossroad baptist), does a daily 1-hour radio show, and is a failed Presidential candidate for the "Constitution" party.

He used to be in the Red Elephant party, but back in 2000 he jumped off the sinking S.S. GOP because (get this) Fratboy and Shotgun were...TOO LIBERAL.

But just being a Red (or former Red) and espousing the standard religious-right-wing stuff (he was the director of the "Florida Moral Majority") isn't what makes him a kook.

Let's start with this: on August 11th, 2009, Baldwin ran an opinion piece, "Why are internment camps being built?" in which he claims to have SEEN such a camp during a flight over Colorado.

Baldwin follows with a breathless claim that the National Guard is "advertising" for an "Internment/Resettlement Specialist" Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), 31E:

This is an advertisement by the National Guard promoting the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) of "Internment/Resettlement Specialist." Question: why does the National Guard need to recruit Internment/Resettlement Specialists? What do they know that we should know?

If you actually go to the page, it's obviously not an ad--it's a description of the 31E specialty. All you have to do is go to the main MOS list page on the NG site to find more "advertising" for other specialties!

OH NO!! There's a 14Z AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY SENIOR SERGEANT!! Why would they need air defense artillery?! Are they gonna shoot airliners down?!

PANIC!! There's also the 21C BRIDGE CREWMEMBER!! Why does the National Guard need to crew our bridges?! Are they gonna blow them up to force us to drive to the camps?!

I note that they've apprantly eliminated my old MOS, 31N. Obviously there's no need for a patch panel operator in this National Guard New World Order.


Baldwin tries to bracket the doubters with this:

Then, of course, there are those who continue to deny that these internment camps exist at all. But then, were there not thousands of Germans who denied the existence of concentration camps during World War II? These types of people would refuse to believe the sun came up in the east if the government spinmeisters told them it didn't.

The old "The Germans were wrong, so you must be wrong if you disagree!" Would this count as a Godwin's Law violation?

I did a little digging around, thinking that an "internment camp" believer might also be a Teabagger, Birther, or other anti-Obama kook. At this point I'll have to call it as "not a teabagger"--at the very least he tries to distance himself from them, while preaching the same "take this country back and restore it to its christian roots" and "socialism!!!" stuff.

As long as you're looking at that page, check out the loons lined up on the sidebar. A veritable sh*tmine of wingnut paranoia.

Popcorn Kooks (defined and listed)

This is a kook who has entertainment value--not as an entertainer, but because they're so "out there."

For now, all I've got are:

Pat Dollard
"Wild" Bill Donohue
David Icke