Thursday, December 31, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The War On Solstice
Happy Holidays, Bill O'Reilly!
It's that time of year, the first snow fall, the thrill of black Friday, yuletide carols being sung by a choir and jackasses ranting about the "war on Xmas."
When I was a kid, and a Catholic, my family said, "Happy Holidays" all the time. It simply meant, "If I don't see you, happy Thanksgiving, Xmas and New Year." It referred to the holiday season.
But the O'Reillyites have to have something to bitch about. Those poor oppressed Xtians. They make it sound like "happy holidays" is a brand new slogan created a year ago by the liberals as part of the assault on Xmas. I've actually heard it said the liberals are trying to take away their right to say, "Merry Xmas."
And the store protests, almighty Atheismo, help me! The stores don't give two fucks about anyone’s religious holiday. Target management is not thinking, "Screw those Xtians. I'm not saying Xmas. I'm EVIL, ha ha ha ha!!" Nor are they thinking, "Ooh. Don't want to offend any Muslims by not including their holidays." Their thinking, "Happy holidays. It's warm and cheery in here. Come and spend your money." They're not being PC in order to spare people's feelings. If anything, they're taking advantage of the PC movement in order to be inclusive of everyone's money!
If the Xtians really want to protest an attack on their precious holiday, they should protest the stores who target Xmas specifically by saying, "Merry Xmas." Because when stores do that, they have one thing in mind. And it ain't the birth of X. It's, get your Xtian money in here. That's it. So the Xtians should be furious at the stores who DO say, "Merry Xmas," violating the sanctity of the holiday for commercial purposes. Shit the war on Xmas has been going on for centuries.
From now on when someone complains about the war on Xmas, I respond with, "Screw you. Xtians have been perpetrating a war on Solstice for two thousand years! Xmas is a stolen pagan holiday!"
It's that time of year, the first snow fall, the thrill of black Friday, yuletide carols being sung by a choir and jackasses ranting about the "war on Xmas."
When I was a kid, and a Catholic, my family said, "Happy Holidays" all the time. It simply meant, "If I don't see you, happy Thanksgiving, Xmas and New Year." It referred to the holiday season.
But the O'Reillyites have to have something to bitch about. Those poor oppressed Xtians. They make it sound like "happy holidays" is a brand new slogan created a year ago by the liberals as part of the assault on Xmas. I've actually heard it said the liberals are trying to take away their right to say, "Merry Xmas."
And the store protests, almighty Atheismo, help me! The stores don't give two fucks about anyone’s religious holiday. Target management is not thinking, "Screw those Xtians. I'm not saying Xmas. I'm EVIL, ha ha ha ha!!" Nor are they thinking, "Ooh. Don't want to offend any Muslims by not including their holidays." Their thinking, "Happy holidays. It's warm and cheery in here. Come and spend your money." They're not being PC in order to spare people's feelings. If anything, they're taking advantage of the PC movement in order to be inclusive of everyone's money!
If the Xtians really want to protest an attack on their precious holiday, they should protest the stores who target Xmas specifically by saying, "Merry Xmas." Because when stores do that, they have one thing in mind. And it ain't the birth of X. It's, get your Xtian money in here. That's it. So the Xtians should be furious at the stores who DO say, "Merry Xmas," violating the sanctity of the holiday for commercial purposes. Shit the war on Xmas has been going on for centuries.
From now on when someone complains about the war on Xmas, I respond with, "Screw you. Xtians have been perpetrating a war on Solstice for two thousand years! Xmas is a stolen pagan holiday!"
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Religious Freedom To Be Morons
I haven't blogged in a while and I know you're all sad about that. Sorry.
But sometimes all it takes to get me off my non-blogging butt is for several people to be assholes openly, in public.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate assholes. Everyone has the right to be an asshole. They should just keep it to themselves and not push their assholy agenda on the rest of us. Assholes want special rights and protections. And they want their assholyry taught in our schools. They want to teach our children that it's ok, that it's "natural" to be assholes. They want the right to marry each other.
Well it's a slippery slope people. Wake up. If we allow assholes to have their way, they'll force their asshole lifestyle right into our living rooms. Pretty soon our children will marry assholes and we'll all become assholes. And then what's to stop people from becoming total dickheads and douche bags, even mother fuckers?
So by now you may be saying, "D, you're not political. Why all this ass-un-holy fury? What inspired this anti-A-hole rant?"
Well, this:
http://bsalert.com/news/1990/Bill_Nye_Bood_In_Texas_For_Saying_The_Moon_Reflects_The_Sun.html
But sometimes all it takes to get me off my non-blogging butt is for several people to be assholes openly, in public.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate assholes. Everyone has the right to be an asshole. They should just keep it to themselves and not push their assholy agenda on the rest of us. Assholes want special rights and protections. And they want their assholyry taught in our schools. They want to teach our children that it's ok, that it's "natural" to be assholes. They want the right to marry each other.
Well it's a slippery slope people. Wake up. If we allow assholes to have their way, they'll force their asshole lifestyle right into our living rooms. Pretty soon our children will marry assholes and we'll all become assholes. And then what's to stop people from becoming total dickheads and douche bags, even mother fuckers?
So by now you may be saying, "D, you're not political. Why all this ass-un-holy fury? What inspired this anti-A-hole rant?"
Well, this:
http://bsalert.com/news/1990/Bill_Nye_Bood_In_Texas_For_Saying_The_Moon_Reflects_The_Sun.html
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
My Conservapeida Contribution
CONSERVAPEDIA1 is a website started by a bunch of paranoid Christians who want to turn America into a theocracy. The site is meant to look and behave like Wikipedia and is touted by its proponents as being a conservative answer to the left leaning Wiki. It is full of lies, slander and meaningless rants against anything liberal, libertarian or basically American, all not so cleverly crafted to appear as scholarly writing. Conservapedia does not allow users to contribute or edit articles, despite having a link labeled User Contributions.
Conservapedia has a variety of effects on individuals and society at large which will be subsequently elaborated on.2
These same paranoid Christians who created this site also want to rewrite their own holy book, which is just as well since most of them don't follow most of its dictates anyway. The want to make the bible more conservative because apparently the bible, which instructs us to kill those who work on the Sabbath, kill gays, kill those who worship other gods, sell our daughters into slavery (sexual and the other kind), cut off our foreskins, kill disobedient children, subjugate women and to commit many other heinous acts, is too liberal.3 They want to translate it with a conservative bias because modern translations have a liberal bias and translating the bible with a bias is wrong. Uh…yep, pretty much.
Conservapedia is conservative in every sense of the word. In its attempt to look legit it includes articles on math and science but in so doing it does two things, it 1] includes ridicule of the subject where it can, claiming its purpose is to undermine Christianity and 2] gives very little actual information on the subject. For example, the Conservapedia science page talks about how early scientists were creationist Christians while modern American scientists are “…more atheistic as a group.” Also the Wikipedia article on math is really long while the Conservapedia math page is short, which is good because math is boring.
______________
Notes
1I wish I were making this up!
2This is one of Conservapedia’s favorite bits of fear mongering. They frequently include this claim in articles about things they oppose, homosexuality, atheism, etc. and then fail to elaborate on the effects they mention.
3I wish I were making this up!
______________
Sources:
Conservapedia
http://conservapedia.com/Conservapedia
The Conservative Bible Project
http://conservapedia.com/Conservative_Bible_Project
Conservapedia: Science
http://conservapedia.com/Science
Wikipedia: Mathematics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Math
Conservapedia: Mathematics
http://conservapedia.com/Math
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Cameron and Comfort WOTM bullshit
They're at it again. Kirk Cameron and "other guy" Ray Comfort (the man so fond of the banana) are pushing their religious opposition to science, complete with all the typical crap creationist tend to include in their EVILution tirades.
This time the attack takes the form of a book give away on university campuses. Check it out.
http://tahoecommunitychurch.org/wordpress/?tag=darwins-origin-of-species-150th-anniversary
Yep, they're giving away Origin of Species. As far as I know the text is intact, unaltered. But they've included a 50 PAGE intro by Ray Comfort. It contains all the same crap creationists have pumped out and which has all been debunked and discredited time and time again. These guys know these arguments are fallacious, flawed, disproved, wrong and yet they keep recycling them. This is called lying.
Notice that the video promoting this project starts out with a collection of lies:
"Our kids can no longer pray in public. " Flat out lie.
"They can no longer freely open a bible in school." Lie.
"The ten commandments are no longer allowed to be displayed in public places." Lie. They are not allowed on government land. But in public, not so.
"And the Gideons are not even allowed to give away bibles in schools." Partial truth. In ONE school district in Missouri, the courts ruled the Gideons couldn't distribute to students, and this only applies to ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! Lie of omission.
"...in the top 50 universities in our country, in the fields of psychology and biology, 61% of the professors describe themselves as atheists or agnostics." True. But what he leaves out of the statement is that when professors from all disciplines were polled the number dropped to about 23%.
http://religion.ssrc.org/reforum/Gross_Simmons.pdf
Hmm...I could have sworn I'd head Kirk and Ray preach about the sin of lying.
This time the attack takes the form of a book give away on university campuses. Check it out.
http://tahoecommunitychurch.org/wordpress/?tag=darwins-origin-of-species-150th-anniversary
Yep, they're giving away Origin of Species. As far as I know the text is intact, unaltered. But they've included a 50 PAGE intro by Ray Comfort. It contains all the same crap creationists have pumped out and which has all been debunked and discredited time and time again. These guys know these arguments are fallacious, flawed, disproved, wrong and yet they keep recycling them. This is called lying.
Notice that the video promoting this project starts out with a collection of lies:
"Our kids can no longer pray in public. " Flat out lie.
"They can no longer freely open a bible in school." Lie.
"The ten commandments are no longer allowed to be displayed in public places." Lie. They are not allowed on government land. But in public, not so.
"And the Gideons are not even allowed to give away bibles in schools." Partial truth. In ONE school district in Missouri, the courts ruled the Gideons couldn't distribute to students, and this only applies to ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! Lie of omission.
"...in the top 50 universities in our country, in the fields of psychology and biology, 61% of the professors describe themselves as atheists or agnostics." True. But what he leaves out of the statement is that when professors from all disciplines were polled the number dropped to about 23%.
http://religion.ssrc.org/reforum/Gross_Simmons.pdf
Hmm...I could have sworn I'd head Kirk and Ray preach about the sin of lying.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
All Human Life Is Sacred?
There are many who are against universal health care on religious grounds. I don't understand this. There's nothing in the bible that says we shouldn't or can't collectively pay for health care. (Please feel free to correct me on this if there is a verse I'm overlooking.)
The hypocrisy of this is mind blowing. The Right to Life movement's mantra is ALL HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED! Apparently that phrase doesn't mean that the quality of all human life is sacred or that we have to be our "brother's keeper." Or perhaps they mean all human life that fits in a petri dish is sacred.
The religious want to have it both ways. (What? They're cherry picking? No! Really!?) At the beginning and end of life, life is sacred and must be vehemently defended. Abortion and euthanasia are murder and all good moral Christian men and women must join in the fight. But at any other point in life, when someone needs medical care, it's in god's hands and we have no responsibility for our fellows, either to make they're quality of life as high as we can or to keep them alive.
Bullshit.
The hypocrisy of this is mind blowing. The Right to Life movement's mantra is ALL HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED! Apparently that phrase doesn't mean that the quality of all human life is sacred or that we have to be our "brother's keeper." Or perhaps they mean all human life that fits in a petri dish is sacred.
The religious want to have it both ways. (What? They're cherry picking? No! Really!?) At the beginning and end of life, life is sacred and must be vehemently defended. Abortion and euthanasia are murder and all good moral Christian men and women must join in the fight. But at any other point in life, when someone needs medical care, it's in god's hands and we have no responsibility for our fellows, either to make they're quality of life as high as we can or to keep them alive.
Bullshit.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
God and other news
Mr. Deity Episode: Mr. Deity and the Planes. Free on iTunes.
And yes, they mean the 9/11 planes. Tasteless? How do you feel about God after watching?
And then, Michaiel Shermer guests stars on the latest episode, Mr. Deity and the Skeptic. Awesome.
And yes, they mean the 9/11 planes. Tasteless? How do you feel about God after watching?
And then, Michaiel Shermer guests stars on the latest episode, Mr. Deity and the Skeptic. Awesome.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Power of Prayer = 0
Dale and Leilana Neumann, a Wisconsin couple, watched their eleven year older daughter die rather than take her to the hospital, believing that her sickness was god's will and that seeking medical help would be putting the doctor before god, thereby angering god. They were tried separately and both were, rightly, convicted.
Dale Newman, in his defense, said, "...I found myself actually questioning whether there is a god. And so I called out in desperation, 'God, if there is a god, show me a better way!'"
"Show me a better way"? We live in a culture where anything can be interpreted as a sign from god. You want proof of god's existence? My grandma's cancer was healed! Look around at the trees and mountains and fields of grass. It's all god's creation. You don't think the apocalypse is upon us? Look at the middle east and sexual perversion in our society and the drug war. These are all signs of the end times! Etc.
And yet this moron couldn't see a "better way"! He could take the idea that, if you will, god gave us the ability to create and develop medical science as a sign!
When a person prays and an answer comes to him, it doesn't come from god. He THINKS of it. Prayer may act as a form of meditation in which, free from distraction, a person focuses on an issue and comes to a conclusion. But what happens is he figures stuff out, gets an idea, not that god flicks a switch, turning on the light bulb over his head.
But when someone prays, with pure faith in the idea that god will provide the answer, without thought, without effort on his own part, this is what he gets, his daughter dies.
Power of prayer = 0. Power of thought = infinite, or at least helpful.
By the way, if you think this was a slam dunk case don't be too confident. People like this are protected in many of our great United States by laws, supported by Christian Science, that don't allow prosecution of people in faith healing related deaths. Rightly these laws are being challenged and rescinded in some states.
And another thing. I hate that religious people give god the credit for everything. When something good happens, who gets the credit? The doctors who save the life of a child? The astronauts who flew to the moon? No. God. When something bad happens, it's part of god's plan. God isn't blamed for the bad things. No, again he gets the CREDIT!
If it makes you feel better, go ahead and pray. But if you want to get something done, think!
Dale Newman, in his defense, said, "...I found myself actually questioning whether there is a god. And so I called out in desperation, 'God, if there is a god, show me a better way!'"
"Show me a better way"? We live in a culture where anything can be interpreted as a sign from god. You want proof of god's existence? My grandma's cancer was healed! Look around at the trees and mountains and fields of grass. It's all god's creation. You don't think the apocalypse is upon us? Look at the middle east and sexual perversion in our society and the drug war. These are all signs of the end times! Etc.
And yet this moron couldn't see a "better way"! He could take the idea that, if you will, god gave us the ability to create and develop medical science as a sign!
When a person prays and an answer comes to him, it doesn't come from god. He THINKS of it. Prayer may act as a form of meditation in which, free from distraction, a person focuses on an issue and comes to a conclusion. But what happens is he figures stuff out, gets an idea, not that god flicks a switch, turning on the light bulb over his head.
But when someone prays, with pure faith in the idea that god will provide the answer, without thought, without effort on his own part, this is what he gets, his daughter dies.
Power of prayer = 0. Power of thought = infinite, or at least helpful.
By the way, if you think this was a slam dunk case don't be too confident. People like this are protected in many of our great United States by laws, supported by Christian Science, that don't allow prosecution of people in faith healing related deaths. Rightly these laws are being challenged and rescinded in some states.
And another thing. I hate that religious people give god the credit for everything. When something good happens, who gets the credit? The doctors who save the life of a child? The astronauts who flew to the moon? No. God. When something bad happens, it's part of god's plan. God isn't blamed for the bad things. No, again he gets the CREDIT!
If it makes you feel better, go ahead and pray. But if you want to get something done, think!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Chino, a short story
By Dan Gerics (c) July 2009
"Yo, Chino! Hold up!"
I caught up with him in the alley next to the Capital Theatre. He turned and swung at me in a reflex, presumably thinking I was someone he'd grifted, or more likely, the brother or ex-boyfriend of a girl he'd played. My brother had always been better at playing suckers than playing women, certainly better than I had been at either.
That's just the way it is. Whether you get along or not, there's always a big brother and a little brother. Chino was older, street wiser. He took care of me, defended me from dad, somehow convinced me that in spite of the booze and neglect mom loved me.
He left town after we had our falling out, just after dad died. He was nineteen, I sixteen. Though his leaving was surely due to our disagreement, I envied him the balls it took to just hit the road at nineteen with no money and no job and gas enough to get to the next county.
We’d fought about mom after dad died. He was through with her. Who could blame him? She’d let dad get away with his physical nonsense and never bothered trying to do right by her two kids. Chino had already said, “fuck her” long before he felt free enough to leave. I, on the other hand, had felt the need to try and heal myself and her, to have a relationship with at least one parent before we all died.
I never blamed Chino for his choice. I’m sure he thinks I did. That sucks.
Apparently he’s back in town. He left eight years ago. Last I heard he was just outside Chicago, still grifting and living shill to shill. I saw him today, the day I died, at lunch time. I was eating at the Lunch Studio when he breezed past the window. I paid the bill and went out to follow him.
By the time I hit the sidewalk he was nowhere in sight. I trotted down Saginaw street, south toward Court, peering into windows as I past. Then I thought of Paul’s Pipe Shop a few blocks ahead (he used to love that place) and picked up my pace.
I described Chino to the guy behind Paul’s counter. He said he’d been in and bought some Drum tobacco and a pack of cloves.
“Did you happen to see which way he went?” The guy shook his head.
I left him counting lighters and headed back up Saginaw, the way I’d come but on the other side of the street. I spotted Chino up ahead of me and shouted, “Chino!” just as he turned right, disappearing down Third Street.
I sped up and rounded the corner in time to see him disappear down the alley. I sprinted after him, thoughts of reconciliation fertile in my brain.
"Yo, Chino! Hold up!" I shouted.
He spun around and hit me with a glass bottle. Clearly he was ready for me. Thinking he was being tailed, he’d turned the bottle over in his hand, holding the neck like the handle of a club. The bottom of the bottle hit my right temple, sending sparks across my vision. I fell back, lost my footing and felt a quick sharp pain on the back of my head as I hit a metal handrail. The earsplitting crack of my skull fracturing must have been heard a block away.
Immediately numbness began to flood my body, the whole of the world seemed to be growing dark. I felt a sudden desperate urge to let him know who I was, that I meant him no harm, only to tell him that it was ok, that I’d forgiven him, that there was nothing to forgive, to reconcile, beg his forgiveness. All this before it was too late, before the falling darkness became complete.
I couldn't move, couldn't raise myself up off the concrete. It took all my strength to speak. I could only manage to whisper his name.
As I lay, blood ebbing, recognition darkened his face. He grabbed my head and turned it roughly so he could examine the right side of my neck. He found what he was looking for, what he'd have given anything not to find, the scar from dad's belt. He knew.
He sort of froze up for a moment, like a digital image from a dirty dvd, then let out a sad sigh, still holding my head in his hands, and very softly said one word, "oh," before everything went dark.
"Yo, Chino! Hold up!"
I caught up with him in the alley next to the Capital Theatre. He turned and swung at me in a reflex, presumably thinking I was someone he'd grifted, or more likely, the brother or ex-boyfriend of a girl he'd played. My brother had always been better at playing suckers than playing women, certainly better than I had been at either.
That's just the way it is. Whether you get along or not, there's always a big brother and a little brother. Chino was older, street wiser. He took care of me, defended me from dad, somehow convinced me that in spite of the booze and neglect mom loved me.
He left town after we had our falling out, just after dad died. He was nineteen, I sixteen. Though his leaving was surely due to our disagreement, I envied him the balls it took to just hit the road at nineteen with no money and no job and gas enough to get to the next county.
We’d fought about mom after dad died. He was through with her. Who could blame him? She’d let dad get away with his physical nonsense and never bothered trying to do right by her two kids. Chino had already said, “fuck her” long before he felt free enough to leave. I, on the other hand, had felt the need to try and heal myself and her, to have a relationship with at least one parent before we all died.
I never blamed Chino for his choice. I’m sure he thinks I did. That sucks.
Apparently he’s back in town. He left eight years ago. Last I heard he was just outside Chicago, still grifting and living shill to shill. I saw him today, the day I died, at lunch time. I was eating at the Lunch Studio when he breezed past the window. I paid the bill and went out to follow him.
By the time I hit the sidewalk he was nowhere in sight. I trotted down Saginaw street, south toward Court, peering into windows as I past. Then I thought of Paul’s Pipe Shop a few blocks ahead (he used to love that place) and picked up my pace.
I described Chino to the guy behind Paul’s counter. He said he’d been in and bought some Drum tobacco and a pack of cloves.
“Did you happen to see which way he went?” The guy shook his head.
I left him counting lighters and headed back up Saginaw, the way I’d come but on the other side of the street. I spotted Chino up ahead of me and shouted, “Chino!” just as he turned right, disappearing down Third Street.
I sped up and rounded the corner in time to see him disappear down the alley. I sprinted after him, thoughts of reconciliation fertile in my brain.
"Yo, Chino! Hold up!" I shouted.
He spun around and hit me with a glass bottle. Clearly he was ready for me. Thinking he was being tailed, he’d turned the bottle over in his hand, holding the neck like the handle of a club. The bottom of the bottle hit my right temple, sending sparks across my vision. I fell back, lost my footing and felt a quick sharp pain on the back of my head as I hit a metal handrail. The earsplitting crack of my skull fracturing must have been heard a block away.
Immediately numbness began to flood my body, the whole of the world seemed to be growing dark. I felt a sudden desperate urge to let him know who I was, that I meant him no harm, only to tell him that it was ok, that I’d forgiven him, that there was nothing to forgive, to reconcile, beg his forgiveness. All this before it was too late, before the falling darkness became complete.
I couldn't move, couldn't raise myself up off the concrete. It took all my strength to speak. I could only manage to whisper his name.
As I lay, blood ebbing, recognition darkened his face. He grabbed my head and turned it roughly so he could examine the right side of my neck. He found what he was looking for, what he'd have given anything not to find, the scar from dad's belt. He knew.
He sort of froze up for a moment, like a digital image from a dirty dvd, then let out a sad sigh, still holding my head in his hands, and very softly said one word, "oh," before everything went dark.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Buzz Aldrin's Right Cross
Violence is not the answer.
Hmm. Well, that kind of depends on the question, doesn't it?
In general I abhor violence. I don't hit my kid. I'm anti war. I tend not to want to fight someone who insults me. I've been in two actual physical fights I can remember in my life. Looking back there were no winners in either of them.
Ok, that's where I'm coming from.
But if someone were to take my greatest contribution to humanity, the very meaning of my existence, and dump on it...
Not that I've done anything earth shaking that will be forever remembered in the annals of history. But let's say that I had dome something amazing, like say, BEEN ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE ON THE MOON. Let's say I was one of a team who, piloting a spaceship whose computing power was on par with a DIGITAL WATCH, sat on a huge rocket, basically a controlled hydrogen bomb, which blasted us away from our home, our wives, our kids, our earth, our safety, steered that fucking tin can TO THE MOTHER LOVING MOON! Let's just say I was one of those amazingly brave sons of...
Ok, now let us just say that some jack off (Bart Sibrel) wrote a book about that journey claiming that it, all the contributions it made to society, science, technology, the history of cosmology, the pride of our country, were all a lie, that they never happened. Let's say jerk wad published such a book. Reason enough to become violent? Probably. But no. Hold off. He has the right to believe and to say whatever inane bullshit he wants.
Ok, now let's pretend that fuck off jerk accosted me in public, calling me a “coward and a liar…”
I know this is old news but it’s been getting a lot of play lately as this year marks the fortieth anniversary of Buzz, Neil and Michael’s famous walk. And, I hate to admit it, I just heard about this story for the first time today on an SGU podcast.
Anyway, if you haven’t seen it, check it out. It’s all over youtube. In 2002, Buzz, age 72 (That’s SEPTUAGENARIAN, bitches!), was waylaid by Sibrel, who call Buzz a “…coward and a liar…” at which point Buzz made another historic landing of a fist on the guy’s jaw.
Sibrel sued and LOST! The judge said the guy had it coming!
Hmm. Well, that kind of depends on the question, doesn't it?
In general I abhor violence. I don't hit my kid. I'm anti war. I tend not to want to fight someone who insults me. I've been in two actual physical fights I can remember in my life. Looking back there were no winners in either of them.
Ok, that's where I'm coming from.
But if someone were to take my greatest contribution to humanity, the very meaning of my existence, and dump on it...
Not that I've done anything earth shaking that will be forever remembered in the annals of history. But let's say that I had dome something amazing, like say, BEEN ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE ON THE MOON. Let's say I was one of a team who, piloting a spaceship whose computing power was on par with a DIGITAL WATCH, sat on a huge rocket, basically a controlled hydrogen bomb, which blasted us away from our home, our wives, our kids, our earth, our safety, steered that fucking tin can TO THE MOTHER LOVING MOON! Let's just say I was one of those amazingly brave sons of...
Ok, now let us just say that some jack off (Bart Sibrel) wrote a book about that journey claiming that it, all the contributions it made to society, science, technology, the history of cosmology, the pride of our country, were all a lie, that they never happened. Let's say jerk wad published such a book. Reason enough to become violent? Probably. But no. Hold off. He has the right to believe and to say whatever inane bullshit he wants.
Ok, now let's pretend that fuck off jerk accosted me in public, calling me a “coward and a liar…”
I know this is old news but it’s been getting a lot of play lately as this year marks the fortieth anniversary of Buzz, Neil and Michael’s famous walk. And, I hate to admit it, I just heard about this story for the first time today on an SGU podcast.
Anyway, if you haven’t seen it, check it out. It’s all over youtube. In 2002, Buzz, age 72 (That’s SEPTUAGENARIAN, bitches!), was waylaid by Sibrel, who call Buzz a “…coward and a liar…” at which point Buzz made another historic landing of a fist on the guy’s jaw.
Sibrel sued and LOST! The judge said the guy had it coming!
A! Sometimes I love this country!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Marriage is a Right
I'm Getting Married In The Morning...because I can...because I'm straight.
So I fell in love with two chicks, Kristina and her daughter Willow. Kristina insists that she is "our" daughter. I'm still training my tongue to say that.
Today we get/got (depending on when you read this) married. We explained to Willow that she'll be staying with gramma Debi for the weekend because we are getting married. So all week Willow's been telling people, "We getting married."
Speaking of gay marriage, a moron whom I engaged in a blog-comment argument, said gays don't have the right to get married because marriage is a privilege and not a right. I'm still trying to work out that asinine bit of illogic.
Anyway, here is what Kristina and I put in our wedding program. Written by my beautiful wife, it pretty much sums it up for me. Please, support EVERYONE'S rights in all things!
So I fell in love with two chicks, Kristina and her daughter Willow. Kristina insists that she is "our" daughter. I'm still training my tongue to say that.
Today we get/got (depending on when you read this) married. We explained to Willow that she'll be staying with gramma Debi for the weekend because we are getting married. So all week Willow's been telling people, "We getting married."
Speaking of gay marriage, a moron whom I engaged in a blog-comment argument, said gays don't have the right to get married because marriage is a privilege and not a right. I'm still trying to work out that asinine bit of illogic.
Anyway, here is what Kristina and I put in our wedding program. Written by my beautiful wife, it pretty much sums it up for me. Please, support EVERYONE'S rights in all things!
Program Note
Though neither of us believe in the conventions of marriage, we note that there are certain liberties and social graces we will receive as a married couple. The decision to be a couple in the eyes of the law is an easy one when a child is involved and you will reap the rewards. But there are millions of people who aren’t allowed to wed despite what they need, and it is for this reason that we cannot take our right/privilege to marry lightly. Gay and lesbian couples all over this country are denied the same rights as heterosexual couples and this is an injustice we cannot stand for. We encourage everyone to spread awareness about this issue, educate others on the topic and take your right to marry seriously.
No one is free when others are oppressed.
June 2009 is LGBT month.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Moral Absolutes
There are none. I don't know anyone who accepts or adheres to moral absolutes.
Lying. "Gramma you look great." "No, you don't look fat." "Yes, honey your solo sounded beautiful!"
Stealing. When someone's starving or their kids are starving...most of us wouldn't begrudge a single mother ripping off a store in desperate times.
Killing. Come on. We have self defense and justifiable homicide. Many of us support war.
The list goes on.
There are circumstances which make "bad" acts acceptable, necessary, sometimes morally imperative. Therefor the moral rules forbidding the acts are not absolute.
Most people who profess belief in the bible (and, I would guess, any other religious text) don't follow the laws therein contained to the letter. Everyone makes exceptions, allows for exigent circumstances. We interpret the laws and decide by various processes whether or not an act is "justified."
All this interpretation comes from our collective work as a community, whatever community we happen to live it. None of it comes from the bible or any religious text. The religious text just states the absolute law. We decide when it's acceptable, justifiable or necessary to break it. And laws that govern a society can be arrived at without the guidance of any religious text. In fact, in our society, the laws are made irrespective of religion.
So what use is a religious text as a moral guide?
Lying. "Gramma you look great." "No, you don't look fat." "Yes, honey your solo sounded beautiful!"
Stealing. When someone's starving or their kids are starving...most of us wouldn't begrudge a single mother ripping off a store in desperate times.
Killing. Come on. We have self defense and justifiable homicide. Many of us support war.
The list goes on.
There are circumstances which make "bad" acts acceptable, necessary, sometimes morally imperative. Therefor the moral rules forbidding the acts are not absolute.
Most people who profess belief in the bible (and, I would guess, any other religious text) don't follow the laws therein contained to the letter. Everyone makes exceptions, allows for exigent circumstances. We interpret the laws and decide by various processes whether or not an act is "justified."
All this interpretation comes from our collective work as a community, whatever community we happen to live it. None of it comes from the bible or any religious text. The religious text just states the absolute law. We decide when it's acceptable, justifiable or necessary to break it. And laws that govern a society can be arrived at without the guidance of any religious text. In fact, in our society, the laws are made irrespective of religion.
So what use is a religious text as a moral guide?
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Creationist Logic
It's funny how creationists often try to use science to disprove science. It goes something like this:
Science has proven X, Y and Z.
Therefore science is wrong.
Therefore god did it. ("It" being whatever the creationist happens to be taking issue with at the moment.)
Science has proven X, Y and Z.
Therefore science is wrong.
Therefore god did it. ("It" being whatever the creationist happens to be taking issue with at the moment.)
Friday, June 5, 2009
Atheist Blames God, D's Wager
It's kind of a twisted version of Pasqual's wager. When I first began to self identify as an atheist I went through a brief period of frustration where I felt I didn't have anyone to blame for bad things in my life and in the world. If there's no god, there's no one to shake my fist at in despair. But damn it, sometimes I have to shake my fist!
Today I came to a realization, I can still blame god even though I don't believe in him. It's like blaming an imaginary friend. You know, blasphemy is a victimless crime. This is how it's a twisted Pasqual's wager, which I call D's Wager (tm)(c) June, 2009. If I'm wrong and god's real, then I'm fucked anyway as I've rejected him, the divinity of his son, the whole bit. I'm going to hell. So it doesn't matter if I say things that piss him off. And if that's the case I'm not going to waste an opportunity to get in a few licks before I go.
So, flat tire? Fuck you god! Why don't you be real so I can ask for help and tell you to fuck off for ignoring me!? Money problems? Well I don't love you either, god! And while we're at it, why don't you go ahead and exist and take some you-damned responsibilty for all the suffering and shit you've caused!?
D's Wager, it's a lose-lose, nothing to lose proposition. And sometimes it just feels good to shake your fist.
Today I came to a realization, I can still blame god even though I don't believe in him. It's like blaming an imaginary friend. You know, blasphemy is a victimless crime. This is how it's a twisted Pasqual's wager, which I call D's Wager (tm)(c) June, 2009. If I'm wrong and god's real, then I'm fucked anyway as I've rejected him, the divinity of his son, the whole bit. I'm going to hell. So it doesn't matter if I say things that piss him off. And if that's the case I'm not going to waste an opportunity to get in a few licks before I go.
So, flat tire? Fuck you god! Why don't you be real so I can ask for help and tell you to fuck off for ignoring me!? Money problems? Well I don't love you either, god! And while we're at it, why don't you go ahead and exist and take some you-damned responsibilty for all the suffering and shit you've caused!?
D's Wager, it's a lose-lose, nothing to lose proposition. And sometimes it just feels good to shake your fist.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
My Baby's A Light Weight
When I take my two year old daughter Willow to the mall or to school she likes to do the rag doll thing where she'll hang by my hand and let her body go limp. She falls to the floor laughing her head off as I struggle to keep her standing.
When this happens I say, "My gosh Willow! Are you drunk!?" Sometimes people overhear this and I say with a shrug, "It's five o'clock somewhere."
Last week I was putting her in her car seat while she played the same game. As soon as she was in the seat she flopped, giggling furiously, to one side, while I struggled to buckle her in.
"Willow, are you crazy?" I asked?
She responded, "No. I'm drunk!" with great emphasis on the terminal 'k' sound.
When this happens I say, "My gosh Willow! Are you drunk!?" Sometimes people overhear this and I say with a shrug, "It's five o'clock somewhere."
Last week I was putting her in her car seat while she played the same game. As soon as she was in the seat she flopped, giggling furiously, to one side, while I struggled to buckle her in.
"Willow, are you crazy?" I asked?
She responded, "No. I'm drunk!" with great emphasis on the terminal 'k' sound.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Why
If science deals with how while religion deals with why, then religion has not held up its end of the bargain. There is plenty we don't know yet. But all we do know comes from science, not religion. This is because most of the time why without how is useless.
A child asks "Why? Why? Why?" because her world revolves around her. She demands to know why things happen to her. That's pretty reasonable. Then the child grows older and begins to learn in a structured environment, school or what have you, and is called upon to discover how things work because that's how we accumulate knowledge. This also begins the shift in the child's understanding away from the ego-centric view of the universe.
Why is an important question in many situations. Why was I fired? Why can't I touch the hot Corn Baller? But in most cases why is a part of the larger how. Why did the bridge collapse? We can't answer that unless we know how it's supposed to work, how metal, brick etc behave, how gravity, weather etc affect the structure.
Religion was invented by our ancestors as a pre-science way of explaining our experiences. Why did the rain flood us out? There must be some angry force to which we are responsible. Why are there earthquakes and forest fires? Because the gods of earth and fire are angry. Then we started to learn how these natural forces work and how do deal with situations as they arose and even to make predictions about some of them. As a result, we started not getting dead whenever there were natural disasters. We began to understand that how was a much more useful question to ask than why. And how much more exciting it is to learn about the world and the cosmos than to wonder at it without knowing!
But for many, the need to know why, especially why we are here, is a question that drives the more practical curiosity out of the spotlight. For many, "Why are we here?" is the ultimate question. The problem is that in all the thousands and thousands of years since we've been pondering the question, religion has yet to bring us an answer.
Religion is the refusal to grow out of the toddler stage of needing to be the center of the universe, of asking why without asking how.
A child asks "Why? Why? Why?" because her world revolves around her. She demands to know why things happen to her. That's pretty reasonable. Then the child grows older and begins to learn in a structured environment, school or what have you, and is called upon to discover how things work because that's how we accumulate knowledge. This also begins the shift in the child's understanding away from the ego-centric view of the universe.
Why is an important question in many situations. Why was I fired? Why can't I touch the hot Corn Baller? But in most cases why is a part of the larger how. Why did the bridge collapse? We can't answer that unless we know how it's supposed to work, how metal, brick etc behave, how gravity, weather etc affect the structure.
Religion was invented by our ancestors as a pre-science way of explaining our experiences. Why did the rain flood us out? There must be some angry force to which we are responsible. Why are there earthquakes and forest fires? Because the gods of earth and fire are angry. Then we started to learn how these natural forces work and how do deal with situations as they arose and even to make predictions about some of them. As a result, we started not getting dead whenever there were natural disasters. We began to understand that how was a much more useful question to ask than why. And how much more exciting it is to learn about the world and the cosmos than to wonder at it without knowing!
But for many, the need to know why, especially why we are here, is a question that drives the more practical curiosity out of the spotlight. For many, "Why are we here?" is the ultimate question. The problem is that in all the thousands and thousands of years since we've been pondering the question, religion has yet to bring us an answer.
Religion is the refusal to grow out of the toddler stage of needing to be the center of the universe, of asking why without asking how.
Genesis Revisited
I wish I could take credit for this. The video was created by this dude:
http://www.youtube.com/user/norwonk
Genesis, Version 2.0.
Text by Michael Shermer, editor of "Sceptic Magazine" and author of "Why Darwin Matters":
"To convey the logical absurdity of trying to squeeze the round peg of science into the square hole of religion, I penned the following scientific revision of the Genesis creation story. It is not intended as a sacrilege of the poetic beauty of Genesis; rather, it is a mere extension of what the creationists have already done to Genesis in their insistence that it be read not as mythic saga but as scientific prose. If Genesis were written in the language of modern science, it would read something like this."
Monday, May 25, 2009
All For The Glory Of God
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
Corinthians 10:31 (KJV)
On tv once I saw christian body builders. What? Yes, christian body builders. They were "...busting baseball bats for Jesus."
Corinthians 10:31 (KJV)
On tv once I saw christian body builders. What? Yes, christian body builders. They were "...busting baseball bats for Jesus."
Thursday, May 21, 2009
They don't stay two...it's true.
My fiance says that people who don't have children often satisfy parental instincts by pouring all that energy into their pets. Many people think of pets as family members. I sure did. When my first marriage dissolved, one of the hardest things about the break-up was the loss of my dog. Once I'd dealt with the feelings of inadequacy, the thought that I'd done something wrong, the total overhaul of the patterns of day to day life, the loss of contact with her family etc, once I'd gotten through all that, there was still this gaping hole in my life where Lois, our beagle, used to live. That hung on longer than anything else.
My fiance has a two year old girl, Willow, and so now I have a two year old girl, Willow. (I'm lucky, I fell in love with to girls and it's totally acceptable!) Willow is amazingly beautiful and smart. Needless to say, my affection for her has more than filled the void left by my pet-child, the beagle.
One of the coolest things, so far, is watching her develop, learn new things and incorporate experiences into her life. That's one of the big differences between a child and a pet. Children develop. See, we, humans, have this thing called intelligence, meaning we learn stuff. While Lois is still limited to her three track mind - feed me! lick your face! go outside! - Willow actually has new words and phrases in her vocabulary that she didn't have a week ago. So with Willow we don't have to do that thing pet owners do where they create a cartoon voice and dialogue for their pets. Kids provide their own dialogue.
For example, now when we get in the car to go to school she doesn't just say, "Bowie!" She says, "I want listen to Bowie!" (Yes, that's David Bowie.)
Or, when she and I were playing, tickling and peak-a-boo, like you do, she accidentally scratched my eye. When I reacted she leaned in, whispered, "Oh baby," and kissed my eye. I was a little weirded out. But it's behavior she'd observed in Kristina and myself, we call each other, "baby," and Willow picked up on it. A few days later I bumped my head putting her in her car seat. She tilted her head to once said and asked, "You ok, baby?"
Another time she overheard Kristina and me discussing diaper rash and echoed me saying that she, Willow, needed to put "medicine on her junk."
Language is fun.
Here's a poem I wrote for her.
My life smells of talcum powder
And stale cheerios
Yesterday, Willow told me for the first time,
unsolicited
that she loves me.
—Flint, 5/09
My fiance has a two year old girl, Willow, and so now I have a two year old girl, Willow. (I'm lucky, I fell in love with to girls and it's totally acceptable!) Willow is amazingly beautiful and smart. Needless to say, my affection for her has more than filled the void left by my pet-child, the beagle.
One of the coolest things, so far, is watching her develop, learn new things and incorporate experiences into her life. That's one of the big differences between a child and a pet. Children develop. See, we, humans, have this thing called intelligence, meaning we learn stuff. While Lois is still limited to her three track mind - feed me! lick your face! go outside! - Willow actually has new words and phrases in her vocabulary that she didn't have a week ago. So with Willow we don't have to do that thing pet owners do where they create a cartoon voice and dialogue for their pets. Kids provide their own dialogue.
For example, now when we get in the car to go to school she doesn't just say, "Bowie!" She says, "I want listen to Bowie!" (Yes, that's David Bowie.)
Or, when she and I were playing, tickling and peak-a-boo, like you do, she accidentally scratched my eye. When I reacted she leaned in, whispered, "Oh baby," and kissed my eye. I was a little weirded out. But it's behavior she'd observed in Kristina and myself, we call each other, "baby," and Willow picked up on it. A few days later I bumped my head putting her in her car seat. She tilted her head to once said and asked, "You ok, baby?"
Another time she overheard Kristina and me discussing diaper rash and echoed me saying that she, Willow, needed to put "medicine on her junk."
Language is fun.
Here's a poem I wrote for her.
My life smells of talcum powder
And stale cheerios
Yesterday, Willow told me for the first time,
unsolicited
that she loves me.
—Flint, 5/09
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Hello
By way of introduction let me say that this blog will be eclectic, often controversial (ooh I’m so dangerous. Ok, so offensive anyway) and most of all shamelessly self-promoting. I’ll include thoughts on stuff and things like science, skepticism, beer and hummus, also cartoons, gig announcements and much much more! Subscribe! I promise, you’ll get stuff.
So, to kick things off
And also buy some stuff from me at
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