Richard Dawkins brings court case

[stijndeloose]

From Josh's blog:

PPS: I should note that RDF have apparently removed my name off of articles that I wrote on RichardDawkins.net. Both ‘Surviving Jesus Camp’ and ‘Expelled Overview’ say they were written by “The Richard Dawkins Foundation” and not me personally. And they’ve also taken the line off of the website which stated “Designed by Josh Timonen”. Lovely.

From RD.net:

Surviving 'Jesus Camp'
By JOSH TIMONEN - RICHARDDAWKINS.NET
Added: Tuesday, 03 October 2006 at 3:00 AM - An RDFRS Original

And:

Expelled Overview
By JOSH TIMONEN - RICHARDDAWKINS.NET
Added: Tuesday, 25 March 2008 at 3:00 AM - An RDFRS Original

Interesting.

 

[Professor Yaffle]

I was referring specifically to the RDFRS in the USA. I don't know where to find the numbers for the UK entity or their laws.

This page seems to have the relevant info:
http://www.volresource.org.uk/briefing/fin_acs.htm

 

[cj.23]

From Josh's blog:

To be fair trc found that he names have been put back - http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...mp'&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au&client=firefox-a

cj x

 

[stijndeloose]

To be fair trc found that he names have been put back - http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...mp'&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au&client=firefox-a

cj x

Ah, wow. That's even more interesting! Thanks, cj!

 

[Uncayimmy]

This page seems to have the relevant info:
http://www.volresource.org.uk/briefing/fin_acs.htm

Thanks, PY. What occurs to me is that what's more relevant is the audit requirements of Josh's company and where it was based since that's where the alleged malfeasance occurred.

 

[volatile]

I don't understand what caused the decision to offshore the store in the first place. The news report said it Charity Commission rues prohibited the store being in the UK, but that's definitely not true - plenty of charities use merchandise sales as a revenue stream!

 

[Ryokan]

Considering Dawkins considered this guy a friend, and even dedicated a book to him, I suspect this was not done lightly. It isn't done just at random.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

It is sad, even more so because Timonen and Dawkins had been close friends (see the dedication page for The Greatest Show on Earth).

"Close friends" or "Josh was playing Richard to get at about $650,000"?

 

[Uncayimmy]

I don't understand what caused the decision to offshore the store in the first place. The news report said it Charity Commission rues prohibited the store being in the UK, but that's definitely not true - plenty of charities use merchandise sales as a revenue stream!

I'm not familiar with UK law, so this post is based on information on the web. Apparently, there are conditions under which a charity must set up a subsidiary in order to trade in goods. There are also reasons to do it even if it's not required.

 

[Pardalis]

Looks like he had a very expensive girlfriend to entertain.

ETA: I'm talking about Timenon's girlfriend, in the article, I just realized my post could be misinterpreted as meaning Timenon's was Dawkins' girlfriend...

 

[AlBell]

While I still absolutely love Richard Dawkins, perhaps he has learned a lesson from this about being too proud to admit he hired the wrong guy

Life is a learning experience

Yeah, one could hope Dawkins didn't need to be told there were instructions on the sole explaining how to dispose of liquid in the boot.

But so far it looks that way.

 

[AdMan]

"Close friends" or "Josh was playing Richard to get at about $650,000"?

Perhaps I should have worded that "Dawkins considered Timonen a close friend."

 

[NiallM]

I seriously doubt he wrote that himself. He's always rather humble in his books, at least. Maybe he's getting senile.

He is directly and personally responsible for the contents of any writ he issues. Every word of it is there at his behest and agreement.

As for humility, I've rarely seen it used as a concept alongside Dawkins. The RDF is a vanity project, pure and simple. His ego shines with every word he utters on the subject of atheism and religion. Please separate his elegant and graceful writings on biology from his strident error-strewn and sometimes intensely personal attacks on religions and on religious representatives.

As an atheist I've long been of the view that he pollutes the debate.

It upsets me because he was a stunning advocate of evolutionary teaching and his books really are superb pieces of work. The best contribution that he could make to naturalism and reason would have been to continue chipping away at that coalface where he was steadily chipping away at the front of creationism, ID and other such manifestations of fundamentalism.

Once he abandoned that valuable work and tried to attack the bigger issues he became an embarrassment.

This court case punctures his credibility in a big way. It exposes his serious lack of judgement and also exposes a problem with his charitable foundation, which was seemingly paying $90k a year for an entry-level and unproven webmaster.

 

[Cain]

I want one of these gigs. Does it matter that I can't code for **** or that I make "controversial" comments? I will change for 90K a year and working from home. Doesn't Randi clear over 200K a year?

I need a cushy job at a non-profit. Preferably one that I agree with it, but I will totally sell-out if the money's right.

 

[SezMe]

I do, it must be hard for both, but I am laughing heartily after how they treated us in the past.

I guess I'm out of the loop, cj. Who is "us".

 

[zooterkin]

I guess I'm out of the loop, cj. Who is "us".

Members of the RDF forum, I believe. (I was one, for less than a day; I joined, they closed down...)

 

[Chaos]

I want one of these gigs. Does it matter that I can't code for **** or that I make "controversial" comments? I will change for 90K a year and working from home. Doesn't Randi clear over 200K a year?

I need a cushy job at a non-profit. Preferably one that I agree with it, but I will totally sell-out if the money's right.

When you´ve found that job, ask them if there´s one for me as well.

 

[cj.23]

I guess I'm out of the loop, cj. Who is "us".

My apologies, yes not us at all! I don't think the JREF has ever had any relationship with them - I meant member of the Richard Dawkins.net forum cmmunity, of whom I was one. Now a lot of the old members lurk around rationalia.com (currently giving a malware warning), rantsnraves, ThinkingAloud and possibly the largest group are at rationalskepticism. I post heremainly these days as it happens, but I am Jerome on most atheist forums -- and oddly not an atheist, but very much part of the community, and very saddened by the whole mess. Just goes to show that ultimately ideology counts for less than community I guess - i'm pretty sure Doc, plumjam and I would be equally horrified if this forum was to be closed or the JREF ripped off -- but I can't see that ever happening.

cj x

 

[pipelineaudio]

I dont get it, where did JT's girlfriend get brought up in the thread and how old is she?

 

[zooterkin]

I dont get it, where did JT's girlfriend get brought up in the thread and how old is she?

From the link in the OP:

Timonen handed over financial books that detailed his embezzlement, Dawkins says, including $500 meals, trips to Timberline Lodge in Oregon and the Malibu Beach Inn, and $314,000 in "salaries" paid to Timonen and his girlfriend -though Timonen and the Foundation agreed that the $278,000 it was aware of paying him would be his combined salary for running the store and performing his other duties.
Timonen's "significantly older" girlfriend, defendant Maureen Norton, allegedly used at least $100,000 of the charity's money to upgrade her Sherman Oaks home before she put it on the market.