Your video, 4 Year Old Baffled By Nursery Rhyme, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Anyone who is honestly "baffled" by ignorance and stupidity isn't that smart to begin with. Ignorance and stupidity is easy to understand. What's difficult is dealing with it in a constructive way.You cannot change someone's mind without proof of some sort.

Theists basically need God to come down from Heaven and tell them that he doesn't exist. That's how hard fighting ignorance and stupidity is.

Congratulations! Your comment on Baffled by Stupidity: Richard Dawkins has just received enough votes from the community to earn you 1 Power Point. Thank you for your quality contribution to VideoSift.

This achievement has earned you your "Silver Tongue" Level 2 Badge!

Even if it's true that the vaccine sometimes causes the disease, that doesn't at all debunk herd immunity. I don't even see how it's an argument against vaccines unless the number of people getting the disease from the vaccine is very large.

I find it baffling that this is a thing that people are against. Vaccines are one of the greatest advances in history and have, without a doubt, saved many lives.

Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) - Rocksteady - 91%
Batman: Arkham City (2011) - Rocksteady - 91%
Batman: Arkham Origins (2013) - WB Games - 74%

When I first heard that Rocksteady wasn't making Origins I was baffled. When I played it I was surprised just how similar it was to City. Well, similar in that it felt like a rushed sequel in the same engine with the same assets. The only thing WB seemed to have added was bugs and poor design choices.

As it turns out, Rocksteady never lost Batman - the reason they did not develop Arkham Origins is that they were developing "an unannounced Arkham game". I guess WB didn't want to wait 4 years to make some more money off the back of recent success. I've no idea if it was calculated, but it's worked out very well that a cash-in failed to dent the reputation of the franchise because WB made their own development team the fall guys...

ps. Is smashing somebodies face into a fusebox really non-fatal Batman? Really?

What is Islam? Who or what are Muslims?

It seems every single debate over whether Islam is a religion of peace or of violence comes down to this same argument over who or what defines those terms and there is never an agreement. Indeed, much of the conflict in the middle east is due to followers of Islam arguing over who's particular interpretation is correct. Meanwhile in the western world religion is something that, as the late Hitchens put it, we take "a la carte". It seems you can no more describe a person by revealing their particular faith than you could describe what food you had last night by giving somebody the whole menu to the restaurant. You might ascertain that it was perhaps Thai food... but little else.

Still though, when we go the texts we do find quite unequivocally immoral preachings. I think the religious really have to find an answer for this. We aren't buying the alternate interpretations or the lost in translation theories. When you describe yourself as a Muslim or as a Christian, or as any other faith, it seems to me you don't really have much of a right to get upset when we call you on the evil shit in your holy books. You might protest that you are not that "kind" of Christian, but the speed at which you dismiss any given passage is only matched by the speed at which you declare divine truth for another. We understand the vast plurality of beliefs, which is why it baffles us that you subscribe to a particularly narrow set of ideals whilst simultaneously admonishing us for tarring you all with the same brush.

"If it were done as a single nerve in a direct route, it would be subject to damage from a jerking head motion"

"That doesn't make much sense as all nerves start as large bundles and get smaller as they subdivide."

Correct. My point was only that a shorter route might not be beneficial, even though the right inferior laryngeal nerve goes directly to the larynx. After rethinking that statement, I retract [or redact] it. Either way would work.

Stress relief, however, is in place due to nerve bundling. I haven't done any dissections myself [yet], but from the video, it is apparent that the RLN in the giraffe's neck was well secured in its pathway to the larynx, requiring scalpel separation, rather than hanging loose, and thus well protected from damage due to shock.

I have read where descending aortal repairs in the upper section [arch] can cause damage to the RLN, resulting in subsequent hoarseness to the patient, and I can see why. This is just something that surgeons have to deal with.

But the argument that "no designer would ever make a mistake like that" makes an unfounded assumption, that IF there was a designer involved, that it could/would have been done differently. Dawkins' view of design implementation assumes a bottom up, de novo approach, which is not what ID proposes, at least from my perspective. I view ID as incremental gene tweaking to modify existent physiologies, at least subsequent to the Cambrian era.

"Imperfection is the norm but a lot of it won't cause disease. The idea that you can pick and choose which part of biology a designer intervenes baffles me."

Complex integrated designs like mammalian anatomy will always be subject to imperfections, failures, and can be improved upon. As far as how designs were implemented, the evidence is that they were incremental, and may have varied as to the source, and the methodologies.

Earlier complex designs may have been 'de novo', compound eyes for example, but in later eras, modifications appear to be modifications of what's there. Thus, it's entirely possible that design implementations may have been from various sources, and using various techniques.

But back to the question of 'bad design' as a refutation of design, I do not see the RLN as an indication of that, just a progression from earlier mammalian forms, as well as a necessary result of the descent of a functional heart as the embryo develops. Same for the male vas deferens.

If it were done as a single nerve in a direct route, it would be subject to damage from a jerking head motion

That doesn;t make much sense as all nerves start as large bundles and get smaller as they subdivide. In humans the course of the left recurrent nerve is a minor curiosity but when you make the vertebra that much taller and add another 6 feet of nerves going back up the neck then it supports the idea that giraffes and ourselves are from a common mammalian or even more distant species. Clearly the existence of the recurrent laryngeal nerve doesn't seem to cause a discernible weakness that's susceptible to being selected against, however it is ODD because if there are any arguments for supporting the course of the nerve for structural reasons then you would have to ask why are none of the other important structure of the neck supplied recurrently.

As someone who has done plenty of human dissection. I've seen enormous variation in structure. The anatomy books are a general map but by no means applicable to individuals. The coronary arteries of the heart and the cerebral arterial flow of the circle of willis are examples of anatomy that's well illustrated in idealised form but seldom matches up to the textbook on an angiogram.

imperfection is the norm but a lot of it won't cause disease. The idea that you can pick and choose which part of biology a designer intervenes baffles me.

Your video, 5 Baffling Things about Twitter Porn accounts, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

This achievement has earned you your "Pop Star" Level 36 Badge!

Nah, not surprised it gets cold in winter, but baffled that no matter if its get very cold, normal or warm, its always climate changes fault.
That is completely against basic science, because their claims are obviously not falsifiable.

I'm still baffled by the way planes/wings work, and how the moving air above the wing has less pressure, I sort-of understand the physics, and get it, but it still baffles me that it works.

I can totally understand where Morgan is coming from about the guns thing. I live in Japan now which has very strict gun laws. Virtually no one here owns a handgun personally. Cops are issued one for their jobs but never use them (it would be national news if a cop discharged a firearm in the line of duty). People who do legally own guns (mostly shotguns and rifles) have a legitimate need for one--they live in rural areas and stand a good chance of encountering bears or other dangerous wildlife.

As I understand it, England is very similar (even stricter--their cops don't normally carry guns). So coming from those kinds of cultures, America's gun culture seems completely bizarre. Japanese people find it baffling that anyone living in a first-world country would want to--let alone "need" to--own a handgun unless they were actively engaged in criminal activity. I'm sure Morgan feels something similar.

Personally, I admire Switzerland's approach to gun control--the military trains virtually everyone in how to safely use firearms and has them keep a government-issued military weapon in their home (but without ammo--in the event of an invasion or mobilization of the militia you have to report for duty to be issued ammo). What you get then is a population that respects and knows how to use firearms and therefore enthusiastically uses them for both sports and recreation but rarely for crime--Switzerland has one of the lowest gun murder rates in the world.

This map serves as a great reminder of just how trustworthy NATO has become over the last 15 years. When Germany was given the green light for reunification, part of the deal with the Russians was that NATO would not expand eastwards beyond Germany, especially not into the Warsaw Block.

The Warsaw Block is gone, its counterpart NATO is knocking right at the Russian doors and the media are baffled by the Russian behaviour vis-a-vis Ukraine/Crimea.

Good times, my friend. Good times. Better keep the strategic popcorn reserve at the ready.

ah thank you for your kind words my friend.
much appreciated.

many here on this site of late appear to have acquired super powers and have the ability to discern my intentions.
which to my surprise are always egotistical in nature....the mind..it baffles.

the belittling,trolling and smug arrogance grates on my nerves and is so un-necessary.
all multiple forms of bullying i detest.

little kings..
in their little fiefdoms..
demanding respect while giving none.

i would chuckle if it were not so heart breaking.

but i am duty bound to stand up and point to the rot and the decay.
few ears listen and even rarer for a heart to be touched.

and even when i do that my words are ridiculed and dismissed.
corruption seeks to blind the seeker and deafen one who would listen.whispering always to the most intimate and despicable of our natures.
selfishness knows no bounds...it just wants more.

i am losing this battle.
my integrity..questioned.
my motivations...projected by those with lesser constitutions.
sacrifices ..all in vain,for naught but a harsh word and a suspicious glare.

as if i were the enemy.

where is the love?
the joy of creation and just being?
of connecting with another and rejoicing in that small moment of realization?

ah my friend,i struggle with those who choose pettiness over substance and to the absolute deafening roar of silence.the pervasive shadow of fear has infected and conquered more territory over the past year,seeping like a stain.

and the oblivious rejoice in their own ignorance.
thinking themselves clever.
doom has never before held such a beautiful and entrancing countenance.
we revel in our own stink and call it lovely.
dancing like macabre ghosts on a sterile landscape...
love and joy left long ago...
and we clap like monkeys and gleefully chatter as the noose is drawn tighter.
and the smell of death and fear grow stronger,but the allure of violence distracts us from our own emptiness.

what is it worth if there is no love?

ah..but this is why yours was/is so precious.
thank you my friend.

there is love,
and with that...
there is hope.

because i love you.

@chingalera

Your delusion as to what the fuck police are baffles me. Here, we have a video clearly showing not only the cops are NOT using excessive force, be it physical or tazer, doing everything in their power to actually resolve this situation in a manor that is civil up to and including explaining why they did what they did ALL THE WHILE not releasing the information of what the girl did to keep it private (likely, there was a warrent issued for her arrest for something she did OFF camera), and yet you're still claiming to the "gun totin' bullies" schtick.

I could cite thousands of examples of police officers doing their jobs correctly, and I take PERSONAL offense to the notion that A) "All cops are cocksuckers" and B) "All cops are felons". Why? Mostly because, unlike you, I actually know quite a few personally. Including my Father, and step mother.

Lets go ahead and actually skip a shitload of the easy shit, like the fact my step mother is (and for the past almost 9 years has been) the President of an optimist group, whose primary goal is to raise funding for underprivileged children and give them access to things like sports, and in some cases educational scholorships.

Lets graze over the fact that my dad and a good deal of my own local police officers actually put on not one, but two musicals (Caught in the Act / Caught in the act II) to raise money for Charity (the womens Y, and unfortunately I can't remember the other one).

Hell, we'll even skip the time I was in DETROIT, and while on the highway blew a tire and needed to pull over to the side of the road to change it, only to have a police officer see this going the opposite direction, get off the highway, and then back ON the highway, so he could park behind us and keep his lights on so that we remained safe while doing so.

Lets focus on the fact that you're citing one example of you. Where a friend apparently was in too deep a sleep, or drugged up to answer a phone call from the people she's now paying to call the police when the alarm system goes off and they can't reach her.

They then show up, and either you, or somehow she, answers the door and lets them in, only to seemingly be a rude prick about it, and one of you winds up getting yourself arrested. Your entire post on the subject is incredibly vague (yes, I'm sure the fact that you said the cops sunglasses make you nervous was the exact reason you had whatever happen to you happen.) And yet, you still have the gall to maintain that the entire problem is with the people who did their jobs right in the first place. (You know, showing up to a distress call about a home that may be broken in to)

Also, if you're referring to those of us who actually maintain that the police aren't all the devil in bullet proof vests with badges as "cunts who are afraid to show their asses", you're once again wrong. I've stopped voicing my opinion on the matter, it typically goes nowhere. I'll cite law, you'll cite something crazily in some form of gibberish, and at the end of the day, neither person has made progress.

You want to voice your opinion, fine. I'll stay in the shadows and save both of us a lot of time arguing back and forth. DO NOT drag my family's honour through the mud by insinuating that part of it is somehow the bane of the earth because my Dad and Stepmom signed onto a group of people "To serve and protect" the damned community.