Hey, look, I'm not too late with the Molly awards! The Molly for the month of December is split between John Morales, who seems to turn up in the list of candidates every month, and Leigh Williams, who stirred up some controversy in the voting because she is a Christian and we are, after all, a godless horde. I figure hanging out with us at least makes her an honorary atheist, since so many of her fellow co-religionists will damn her to hell anyway.
Now think back to January 2010. Which commenter should get the award for that month? Leave a comment here.
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Alan B
AJ Milne
Megan Fox
No question about it.
It has to be Paul W.
Congrats to the winners!
I don't recall encountering LW, myself, but I'm far behind on my reading. JM is not a moment to soon.
Votes to follow once I find my notes (i.e. get off work) or my brain.
Yes. "Astrology is compatible with science is therefore a statement of fact."
Congratulations! (Happy to finally be able to say that to Morales!)
AJ Milne
Paul W.
Congratulations to John and Leigh.
For this month, Celtic Evolution and AJ Milne.
Congratulations Leigh!
Oh! I missed my chance to vote. No matter. John and Leigh are good picks. :) Welcome, both of you.
First one I'm thinking of this month would be pixelfish.
<gulp>
Thanks, everyone¹!
(Past my bedtime, I'll review nominees and post tomorrow.)
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¹ Especially to those who voted for me, but really to everyone who helps make this place what it is by their participation.
John Morales and Leigh Williams, a hearty congratulations to you both! And it's about damn time for you, John Morales. ;) Woohoo!
For January, I would like to place three votes:
amphiox continually provides cogent educational comments and remarks that make me laugh.
Gregory Greenwood is always a pleasure to read and I love it when his imagination soars to caricature the deluded as happened often in January (exhibit 1—on Demain, exhibit 2—on Yahweh).
lose_the_woo always crack me up and it's hard to beat his Beavis and Butthead impression.
post-post edit:
Hmm. Reading over the endless thread comments from last month, I was inclined to go for Carlie, but I see she already got the OM last August.
So I'm going to pitch in for lose_the_woo too.
I'm going to agree with aratina cage: Gregory Greenwood deserves an OM.
Also, Josh the Offical Spokesgay.
Congrats to John M !
For January,
Gregory Greenwood
AJ Milne
Congrats to John Morales (long overdue) and to Leigh Williams... I didn't vote for you, and I still wouldn't for the same reasons, but I respect the selection as well as the reasons given by those who did vote for you. I raise a glass to you both!
For January I wrote down AJ Milne and lose_the_woo.
Congrats to John Morales & Leigh Williams -- both very deserving.
Out of the many deserving people in January, I'm going to select:
Paul W
Gregory Greenwood
I always look forward to reading their posts, and often save bits and pieces to mull over later...
Congratulations to the newly minted Mollyists!
I actually wrote names down this month — I always intend to, but never have managed it before — and my noms for January go to:
Celtic_Evolution
and
a_ray_in_dilbert_space
Celtic Evolution
Sven Dimilo
tsg
So many outstanding commenters here, but nevertheless I'll vote for Gregory Greenwood, whose comments are consistently insightful, entertaining and a pleasure to read.
Kudos to John & Leigh!
PZ can we award a bar to the order of Molly?
If we can then I nominate Sven diMilo for his work on The Undying thread and Lynna for her work on the dreaded Mormons
a_ray_in_dilbert_space – long overdue!
Gregory Greenwood, too.
Make that another for Gregory Greenwood.
Let me aslo add a vote for Sven DiMilo too. (Almost forgot.)
Congratulations, John and Leigh!
For January, Paul W and a_ray_in_dilbert_space
AJ Milne definitely
Celtic_Evolution too
You will have to nominate both for tentacle clusters, as they are previous Molly winners. Past Molly winners can be checked using the Commenters link in the masthead.
Oy, how did I not know Sven had already been Mollified? I do that every month.
My votes are for AJ Milne & Celtic_Evolution. Always worthwhile reads.
Nerd of Redhead @26. I asked PZ (@20) if we can award a Bar to an OM, I know Sven and Lynna have OM's. If someone gets a second award of a medal it is referred to as a bar e.g. VC and bar ( a rare occurance)
Congrats John and Leigh.
_____________<;,><_____________
I can't vote for January as I have hardly been here, but Gregory Greenwood and Alan B are overdue Mollies.
_____________<;,><_____________
Congratulations to John and Leigh!
Speaking of Molly...it's been 3 years now since she died. Her biography was just published and I recommend it. "Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life" by Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith. They capture her essence so well. Reading it is like reading one of her columns: bright, sassy, intelligent, and real.
Congrats to John and Leigh. Both well deserved.
For January, Paul W gets my vote, even though he plays hell on my beer supply with his tl;dr posts. (As in "Shit, it's another 3 page post by Paul W. Better get another beer before I dig in!")
Great googly moogly! I go off to the hinterlands for a couple of weeks with little to no Internet access, and then I come back to this. You cannot imagine how astonished and gratified I am.
I think I'm more surprised that John hasn't already been Mollified long since than by anything else.
Athena, thanks for the heads-up about the biography. I can tell you, all of us here in Texas miss the hell out of that ole girl. Without her we're just falling further and further behind.
Congratulations, John M and Leigh W!
Leigh, I apologise for missing your December comments. Which thread is going by the acronym TSKTS? (Oher readers, please feel free to enlighten me.)
Praise you Jesus for Mollying John Morales, and chalk up yet another answered prayer for Smoggy (that makes 2 now).
Also, congratulations Leigh, you don't know how good it feels to have another Christian Molly on this infernal blog. Would you like to join my Pharyngula prayer and corporeal mortification group?
Yours in Christy things
Smoggy
P.S. My next month's prayer is for a_ray_in_dilbert_space
The one that's, you know, titled that way:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/01/tstkts.php
Congratulations. The Orgy Room is being prepared for the Initiation as we speak.
As for the votes, AJ Milne and Celtic_Evolution.
Congrats to both John and Leigh!
This month I vote for fellow physics nerd a_ray_in_dilbert_space and also for Paul W.
i wish i had more time to comment so i could win an award for defrauding my company of work hours. probably help if i was smarter, too...and funnier. and didn't ramble on so much.
smoggy, you old so-and-so! how's the upside down part of the world?? still up to your tits in sheep-buggery?
cracka?
cracka!
Is dat you cracka?
[sniff]
I sure miss the company of the faithful on Stuffgodhates. They're all atheists on this blog you know--not a believer among them. It's a hard life being God's missionary in such a situation.
How is the old gang? Has anyone shut Ben up for good yet? Did Curtis ever come back and forgive those who called him a fag? Has Paganannie been sacrificed to an oak tree? Did Nun get that car out of her vagina? Has Josh cracked the stand-up circuit?
What about you? Are you still going to come and visit me in Noo Zillund? I've got a woolly girl who'd be keen to meet you.
Smoggy
Congrats to Leigh and John M.
Now I want give my next vote goes to AJ Milne, because . . . well I just like reading his responses.
Also, I think Josh, Official SpokesGay is due one too, because he brings relevant cultural references that goes way over my head. (And because he called me a vain circuit boy. This OM nomination is revenge. ;-0)
it's true, smog. it's me.
God's Divine Blog is dead.
but nun's still a whore.
Congratulations to John Morales and Leigh Williams.
Like many others, I would like to place a vote for AJ Milne and Celtic Evolution.
I just looked at the molly page and just realized PZ posted my nomination next to John Morales. If you read carefully, there was huge grammatical error.
*headkeyboard
well, smog, it would appear that the Good Lord has decided to explain his hatred for haiti to us:
http://stuffgodhates.com/2010/02/85-haiti/#comment-39872
i'll stop stomping all over this thread now.
congratulations to John and Leigh :-)
my votes this month are a_ray_in_dilbert_space for general and continued awesomeness, and Paul W both for excellent posts here and, as Sven put it, "for Service on Foreign Bandwidth"
Cracka and Smoggy,
Glad to see you are both still around - I was afraid Cracka's liver or Smoggy's girlfriends would done you in.
Yo Yo
A request: when someone wins a Molly, could you provide a link (or links) to the comment (or comments, or a sampling thereof) that are being honored?
Mollys are a lovely idea, but you have to be a vastly more diligent reader than I am (and I read this blog every day) to know who or what is getting the award.
Yo Mama! You're alive as well! I felt sure God would have done in all the regulars who used to frequent his dying blog (y'know, like a Mafia don knocking off all the witnesses to his crime). Hang in there and watch out for angelic hitmen, or else come and hide in Noo Zillund with me.
PS This is an atheist thread and they're voting for the months best commentator. If you come back vote for someone with a cool name who can string a sentence together. There's a Pastor named T.estes who isn't frightened to teabag for Jesus.
My votes are for Celtic_Evolution and Gregory Greenwood.
"teabag for Jesus"
Now that sounds like a postcard moment. :-[]
I think there should be some kind of negative counterpart to the OM, to be awarded to the worst commenter each month. It could be called the "Order of Ben Stein" (OBS), and could be awarded for acts of flagrant stupidity, evidenceless ranting and pointless abuse. Shaun/T.Estes would be a worthy recipient of this award.
Emerging briefly from my cocoon to nominate a_ray_in_dilbert_space and Celtic Evolution. (However, having emerged from the cocoon, I think I've destroyed the viability of it, my incomplete pupal self will dry up and wither. *crawls off feebly*)
Congrats to both, well deserved. This will mean 4 OMs in the same place come January!
this month (well last month) my votes go to Gregory Greenwood and a_ray_in_dilbert_space. They know what they did...
Isn't that what the dungeon is for?
Got to like when Walton actually flashes some humor. OBS; Oh, BS! Nicely played. You really must do this more often.
Oh and that obviously should be March, not January. Haven't had my morning coffee yet :P
Congrats to John Morales and Leigh Williams.
My next vote is for Celtic Evolution.
Molly, NYC:
Actually, no.
That is, not usually: Occasionally there's a single comment, or more likely a single thread, that stands out... but much more often, it's recognition of sustained excellence over a sizable tenure here.
Or more rarely, as in my own case, it's a futile attempt to shut someone up by giving him a pat on the head! </kidding... I hope>
And you want to award this in the same thread as the Molly? Won't that cause a rift in the space-time continuum and thus launch a lacklustre-to-mediocre episode of ST:TNG?
Also, OBE – Order of the British Empire.
Gregory Greenwood, and Starfart, for more than once proving to be the undisputed master of outrage.
No -- OBE stands for Out of Body Experience.
Ask any skeptic forum.
KENNY!!!!!
Finally John Morales got his long overdue OM. Congratulations to John and to Leigh for winning the recognition of the Pharyngula faithful.
So many worth people are Mollyless.
Aquaria should be recognized for her intelligence, good writing, and "come at me, world, I'll kick your ass" attitude.
a_ray_in_dilbert_space is one of those people whose posts I always read.
Gregory Greenwood writes the English good and thinks ever gooder than that.
Sven D @ 36, I thought for some reason that TSKTS was a December thread.
For January's Molly/Mollies, I vote for AJ Milne and Gregory Greenwood.
I haven't voted much this year, but I am totally stoked to see another of them there Christians with a little street cred. Congratulations to Leigh Williams, and also a well-deserved tip of the hat to John Morales.
For next month, my vote has to go to....
Who else? The voluminous and thoughtful offerings of Paul W.
It seems to me that knockgoats deserves a vote.
Knockgoats is the nom de blog of one Nick Gotts, and 'e's already got one. (Though tentacle clusters are deserved).
I vote Celtic Evolution
Congratulations to John Morales and Leigh Williams!
a_ray_in_dilbert_space for this month.
BTW, I voted for John, and he actually got one! Usually, my support is the kiss of death, at least since Cuttlefish won, but that was a landslide, for obvious reasons. So congrats, John. And Leigh, even though I feebly protested that we already have a token Christian (hi Scott!)
No OBE is the Ottawa Board of Education.
#62 and #64
Wiki gets it right!
Thus "OBE" is a class of the Order (Officer), not the Order itself.
(It can, of course, also stand for Out of Body Experience.)
Congratulations both - esp. John Morales, because (as predicted) it means that South Australia is now the Molliest Australian state with two resident OMs.
As for my January vote...I'm going to have to go away and think about it a bit.
@ CJO -
Thanks, I did speculate that the two may be one and the same.
I still think he deserves my vote. :D
Cheers.
Frankasarus--KIDDING!! (begins global mailings of replacement key boards)
Gregory Greenwood for the January Molly.
Are there 'rules' prohibiting awarding Mollys to previous winners? If not, Sastra would share the award.
"Yo Yo Ma Ma" is an excellent nym.
I (as usual) think all the candidates mentioned above meritorious.
This time, I'll highlight a_ray_in_dilbert_space who I think is particularly strong at 'hard science', but is cogent and informative on many other subjects.
As an example, I offer a link to ARIDS's response to a semi-rhetorical 'gotcha' by an anti-atheist stirrer; easily the best of a number of such, IMO.
I also want to especially mention AJ Milne for consistent snarky humour, Gyeong Hwa Pak for a light touch masking hidden depths, and Strangest Brew for insightful if opinionated comments made in a stream-of-consciousness style I've grown to appreciate. There are more such who impress me, but I don't want to get carried away (more than I have already, anyway :) ).
Finally, a shout-out for Rorschach — not the sort of commenter that will likely get Molly nominations¹, but to whose posts I always pay attention.
--
PS I don't think I can manage John Morales, OM as a nick, I'm not good at handling honorifics. But it does make me happy to know I could!
--
PPS I take this opportunity to remind Leigh, OM that she's due for a grilling regarding her Christianity on the Endless Thread.
<Fetch...THE COMFY CHAIR!>
--
¹ (Tends to be terse and dislikes prolonged disputations)
Now we have three christians with Mollies! Well!
Walton, award yourself the BS prize, you have long deserved it.
As near as I can tell from reading the posts the award to John Morales is merited. I am even more pleased by the award to Leigh Williams. If they are merely based on eloquently agreeing with a consensus opinion they become a trifle, how shall I say it, circle jerky.
That is, not usually: Occasionally there's a single comment, or more likely a single thread, that stands out... but much more often, it's recognition of sustained excellence over a sizable tenure here. (Bill Dauphin, OM @60)
Perhaps a selection of their best hits, then?
Right now, all that happens when the Mollys get awarded is I know someone said something terrific, but there's no easy way of finding out what. And I suspect I'm not the only one.
(Also, this linklessness seems weird; online declarations usually come with links to demonstrate/verify whatever is declared.)
Could I get an honorary "folly" award?
Damn, it's Molly time already?!
Congrats to John and Leigh!
I'm nominating Gregory Greenwood and Paul W this time around.
No, linklessness is essential to the integrity of the Mollyfication project in toto. For linkage is not in itself a great good. Rather, to link is to connect, to connect is to put in contact, contact is conducive to conduction, conduction results in diffusion and then where are we? Diffuse? Further, clearly, to link would be to, mmm, specify? where specification itself would be suspect. Gestalt is the word for which I grope. Nay, link not, for that would suck.
Or not.
Congrats to John Morales, always a good commenter, OK, and to Leigh.
Frank - The Queen of Trolls is Brenda. You don't even rate sitting at the foot of her chamber pot.
Ah, Brenda. How could I ever forget the irascible Brenda? After her tone-trolling, Nancy didn't even register on the meter.
Congratulations to John Morales and Leigh Williams.
I vote for AJ Milne. This month and always until he gets his OM.
I was blown away by Paul W's work on this non-Pharyngula thread. Read it, then read his comments here. Then vote for him as well.
I vote for a ray in dilbert space. Because he's so smart, and I love his nym.
PPS I take this opportunity to remind Leigh, OM that she's due for a grilling regarding her Christianity on the Endless Thread.
I haven't forgotten, John. I have pending replies to David and SC also, I think. My hope is to get those loose threads tied up this week.
Assuming, of course, that I don't have to go to Oklahoma to rescue my feckless clients. Why, oh why, must they always disregard the Best Practices I have worked so hard to teach them? Tomorrow will be another long day of long-distance troubleshooting. They hitched up and galloped to the ice storm without even the slightest attempt to test the equipment before departing. And since they've refused to bring the trailer we use as an onsite command center out and test it quarterly, no doubt dirt daubers or other vermin have damaged the satellite dish mounts . . . again.
Smoggy, thanks so much for the kind invitation, but corporeal mortification is being well taken care of by the upper respiratory infection I brought back from East Texas. In fact, I feel lower than whale shit in the deepest ocean. Additional mortification would be, I think, an embarrassment of riches. Please do feel free to pray for me, however.
I've consistently enjoyed contributions from a_ray_in_dilbert_space and Celtic_Evolution lately and I think they're both deserving of recognition. Thanks, you two.
OK, and our friend AJ Milne is such a consistent good read all the time, every month, that we've kind of been taking him for granted, folks. Let's remedy that omission.
@Leigh: sorry to read you are sick. Corporeal mortification indeed, with nasty URIs. Feel better soon.
You are well deserving of your OM. Can't wait to read your response on the Endless Thread...and I hope you don't have to drag your sick self to OK to rescue feckless clients! (Another woman who likes the word feckless...I KNEW I liked you.)
Having now followed some the links elsewhere, I too have to cast my lot for Paul W. Damn.
I must also shamefacedly admit that I'd somehow missed (or forgotten?) that NoROM is a chemist. As a mea culpa my second vote'll be for Alan B.
Congrats to John and Leigh!
Votes go to:
a_ray_in_dilbert_space
AJ Milne
Pixelfish
I've been remiss when it comes to keeping up with the all conversations, so apologies to Paul W and others whom I may have missed, or partially ignored. When time permits, I'll go back and enjoy your brilliance, then I can vote for you belatedly, should that be necessary.
Rorschach, I don't just love your comments, I trust you (big mistake, possibly :-)), so I'll throw a vote your way though I think the gladiators in the troll wars will probably whip your ass.
Paul W. for the comity and reconciliation thread.
Paul W. for his thoughtful and thought-provoking commentary, and to encourage him to post more extensively here.
Many congratulations to John Morales and Leigh Williams!
I've been out of the reading loop long enough that I'm woefully ill-informed as to recent excellence in comments. Therefore, I vote for one who is overdue from previous elections: AJ Milne.
I'm sure there are many other deserving. Congratulations again to the winners!
Still learning,
Robert
My vote goes to PaulW
How can we have so many Mollies without shellfish?
Finally coming up for air after a particularly brutal week. Congrats to Mr. Morales and Ms. Williams--how the hell can anybody call this an echo chamber when two such diverse voices are recognized in the same month?
Next month's vote goes to Alan B. for educating me about geology and also many things British.
Belated congratulations to John and Leigh!
My Molly vote is Alan B, but also Paul W, who deserves some kind of special foreign correspondent award, because damn. That's some good writing.
No argument here.
Also, a_ray_in_dilbert_space, who can hold my attention on a variety of topics.
Note to self for next month: Paul W.
Paul W. has been truly awesome recently.
Paul W. the man is awesome.
Paul W. is always right and never wrong. He is, in fact, The Man.