Tuesday, September 11, 2007
WMD wasn't nothing. Suddenly it's all worthless again.
On August 31st I noted that the UN found WMD. Somewhat jokingly because of the pathetic nature, well now it's even more pathetic. Stupid ass Bush.
Fragments Of Ingersoll
Robert Ingersoll,
SUPERSTITION puts belief above goodness -- credulity above virtue.
Here are two men. One is industrious, frugal, honest, generous. He has a happy home -- loves his wife and children -- fills their lives with sunshine. He enjoys study, thoughts, music, and all the subtleties of Art -- but he does not believe the creed -- cares nothing for sacred books, worships no god and fears no devil.
The other is ignorant, coarse, brutal, beats his wife and children -- but he believes -- regards the Bible as inspired - bows to the priests, counts his beads, says his prayers, confesses and contributes, and the Catholic Church declares and the Protestant Churches declare that he is the better man.
The ignorant believer, coarse and brutal as he is, is going to heaven. He will be washed in the blood of the Lamb. He will have wings -- a harp and a halo.
The intelligent and generous man who loves his fellow-men -- who develops his brain, who enjoys the beautiful, is going to hell -- to the eternal prison.
Such is the justice of God -- the mercy of Christ.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Even theists get damned for Evolution.
In a letter to Bowling, ministers in Caro, Mo., expressed "deep concern regarding the teaching of evolutionary theory as a scientifically proven fact," calling it "a philosophy that is godless, contrary to scripture and scientifically unverifiable."
Evolution is not only highly evidenced, fits a great deal of facts, it's also a mathematically sound functional algorithm. It isn't a philosophy. It is Godless (in the sense that it doesn't assume God), it is contrary to scripture, and isn't "scientifically unverifiable" -- rather it's one of the most scientifically attested theories around and forms the bedrock of modern biology.
I tend to agree with the fundamentalists that evolution is anti-religion insofar as evolution cannot be true if a literal reading of their holy book is held, and the scientific implications of evolution do exempt a good deal of facts which are core to the story of Genesis. Though, with one side having no evidence and being patently absurd, and the other part having an entire world of evidence serving as the bedrock to several sciences. It's a wonder people choose the way they do.
Evolution is not only highly evidenced, fits a great deal of facts, it's also a mathematically sound functional algorithm. It isn't a philosophy. It is Godless (in the sense that it doesn't assume God), it is contrary to scripture, and isn't "scientifically unverifiable" -- rather it's one of the most scientifically attested theories around and forms the bedrock of modern biology.
I tend to agree with the fundamentalists that evolution is anti-religion insofar as evolution cannot be true if a literal reading of their holy book is held, and the scientific implications of evolution do exempt a good deal of facts which are core to the story of Genesis. Though, with one side having no evidence and being patently absurd, and the other part having an entire world of evidence serving as the bedrock to several sciences. It's a wonder people choose the way they do.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Anti-atheist bias... Up 4 points
B. An atheist
Yes No No opinion
% % %
2007 Feb 9-11 45 53 3
1999 Feb 19-21 49 48 3
1987 Aug 10-13 44 48 8
1983 Apr 29-May 2 42 51 7
1978 Jul 21-24 40 53 7
1959 Dec 10-15 22 74 5
1958 Sep 10-15 18 77 5
1958 Jul 30-Aug 4 18 75 7
Is Evolution Random?
Is evolution random?
No. Evolution is non-random. It's like rolling ten dice and rerolling all those dice which didn't roll a six, and continuing the proccess for the 15 rolls it takes and declaring it a miracle. Look the odds are 6^10 that I would roll that! I rolled it in 15 and the odds of rolling that in a single roll is 1 in 60 million! That can't be random!
Evolution, like the dice, builds upon past success. It's the antithesis of random.
No. Evolution is non-random. It's like rolling ten dice and rerolling all those dice which didn't roll a six, and continuing the proccess for the 15 rolls it takes and declaring it a miracle. Look the odds are 6^10 that I would roll that! I rolled it in 15 and the odds of rolling that in a single roll is 1 in 60 million! That can't be random!
Evolution, like the dice, builds upon past success. It's the antithesis of random.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Moving Story... tainted...
A 76 year old woman was found after being lost two weeks wandering in the forest. The rescue workers were scaling back operations and then they happened upon her. As I'm reading this story a little nugget sticks out at me...
That's where I stopped caring and stopped reading.
A hunting party later found a disoriented Harold Anderson, but there was no sign of his wife.
"I thought I'd never see her again until the rapture," he said.
That's where I stopped caring and stopped reading.
Ladies and Gentlemen
I've always been rather amused by men getting first billing on everything that lists women and men.
Jack and Jill*
men and women
guys and gals
boys and girls
him and her
he or she
his or hers
Although, from time to time you hear 'girls and boys' though it tends to be passive voice.
With the very notable exception: Ladies and Gentlemen. Though for the life of me, I can't attribute this linguistic non-sexist oddity to women. Rather it would seem that Gentlemen just let the ladies go first.
*Admittedly there was a pretty good short lived show where Jack was guy and Jill the girl. Though, we aren't talking about obscure shows.
Jack and Jill*
men and women
guys and gals
boys and girls
him and her
he or she
his or hers
Although, from time to time you hear 'girls and boys' though it tends to be passive voice.
With the very notable exception: Ladies and Gentlemen. Though for the life of me, I can't attribute this linguistic non-sexist oddity to women. Rather it would seem that Gentlemen just let the ladies go first.
*Admittedly there was a pretty good short lived show where Jack was guy and Jill the girl. Though, we aren't talking about obscure shows.
I hope this is an FBI pedophile sting...
It's basically a site offering teenagers for certain prices, ranging from 50k to 3k (apparently the girl for 3k is a foster kid, damaged and about to be booted out of the system). With shockingly good testimonials...
Who could argue with that!
For the low low price of 27k,
Who could refuse!?
“I was SO scared getting married so young, but my husband is an okay guy and I am SO proud that because of me my parents were able to get their first brand-new car and take the trip they always wanted to. I couldn’t have done it without your site!"
—Katrina K., married at 14
Who could argue with that!
For the low low price of 27k,
Sarah calls herself a Goth but we insisted she not dress in black for this photo. She reads and writes a lot of depressing poetry and it takes a lot to get her nose out of a book. She says she’s an Old Soul in a new young body and she’s already been married lots of times and she might die again tomorrow so why wait?
Who could refuse!?
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Blow em up...
Early in the 6th season of Star Trek: DS9 the Federation placed a large series of mines blocking off the entry of the wormhole to the Delta Quadrant. Rather than your ordinary space mines these were self replicating ones. So each time they blew up a mine the nearby mines would replicate a new mine. Well, after a while the Dominion with the help of Damar figured out a way to deactivate the mines ability to replicate so they could take the mines out in one swoop after they were all disabled. The Resistance on DS9 (currently under Dominion control) tried a couple different ways of stopping the mine field from being disabled.
What they should have done was blow them up. The mines are self-replicating, and due to the week long process of disabling them all, they could have bought some time by blowing the mines up. The non-replicating ones would clearly be less fit than the replicating mines. If you take out a replicating mine you get another replicating mine. If you take out a non-replicating mine, you get a replicating mine in its place.
They could have done well to try to destroy the mine field early while they were being disabled. Sure, they protected the deflector dish and the weapons control, but it wouldn't be hard to shoot stuff at some mines and blow them up. The replicating mine wildtype would take over the pool of mines quite rapidly.
What they should have done was blow them up. The mines are self-replicating, and due to the week long process of disabling them all, they could have bought some time by blowing the mines up. The non-replicating ones would clearly be less fit than the replicating mines. If you take out a replicating mine you get another replicating mine. If you take out a non-replicating mine, you get a replicating mine in its place.
They could have done well to try to destroy the mine field early while they were being disabled. Sure, they protected the deflector dish and the weapons control, but it wouldn't be hard to shoot stuff at some mines and blow them up. The replicating mine wildtype would take over the pool of mines quite rapidly.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Why prostitution should be legal...
Guy left his toddler in the car in Reno when he went to a whore house. Security brought the child inside and called the police on the father.
Only point that needs to be made. If it weren't legal there that might not have happened like that.
Only point that needs to be made. If it weren't legal there that might not have happened like that.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
You're the smartest person on the planet!
Nobody can understand that people are smarter than them, at least to any degree. The ability to tell that somebody is smarter than you... requires that you be smarter than them, and thus by proxy that you be smarter than yourself.
I honestly believe that everybody thinks though are roughly the smartest person on the planet. They may be tied for first with 5 billion other folks, but they are totally right up there. I personally can't gauge how much smarter a person is than me, but I can tell you how stupid they are in exacting detail. I can rank the less intelligent with absolute precision, but for the more intelligent... eh, they seem on par with me.
Intelligence is, in part, the ability to gauge intelligence.
I honestly believe that everybody thinks though are roughly the smartest person on the planet. They may be tied for first with 5 billion other folks, but they are totally right up there. I personally can't gauge how much smarter a person is than me, but I can tell you how stupid they are in exacting detail. I can rank the less intelligent with absolute precision, but for the more intelligent... eh, they seem on par with me.
Intelligence is, in part, the ability to gauge intelligence.
Monday, September 3, 2007
When Clinton Was President...
When Clinton was President we had one category 5 hurricane: Mitch.
While Bush has been president, we've had eight! : Isabel, Ivan, Emily, Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Dean, Felix
I know, what you're going to say... Oh that's just global warming and the hot water feed the hurricanes power. No. It's an amazing correlation!
Well, under Bush 41's one single 4 year term. There were two: Hugo, Andrew. Though, if you count the time they were president Elect, Bush 41 gets Gilbert added to his tally. Andrew would then not be added to Clinton because it was a month before he won the election. So since this figuring helps my cause let's count president elects.
Bush 41 had 4 years with 3 category 5 hurricanes.
Clinton had 8 years with 1 category 5 hurricane.
Bush 43 has 7 years with 8 category 5 hurricanes.
Bush 41 (R) has a .75 cat5/year index.
Clinton (D) has a .125 cat5/year index.
Bush 41 (R) has a 1.14 cat5/year index.
This also should note that in the last couple weeks Bush 43 has been averaging 1 cat 5 hurricanes a week!
While Bush has been president, we've had eight! : Isabel, Ivan, Emily, Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Dean, Felix
I know, what you're going to say... Oh that's just global warming and the hot water feed the hurricanes power. No. It's an amazing correlation!
Well, under Bush 41's one single 4 year term. There were two: Hugo, Andrew. Though, if you count the time they were president Elect, Bush 41 gets Gilbert added to his tally. Andrew would then not be added to Clinton because it was a month before he won the election. So since this figuring helps my cause let's count president elects.
Bush 41 had 4 years with 3 category 5 hurricanes.
Clinton had 8 years with 1 category 5 hurricane.
Bush 43 has 7 years with 8 category 5 hurricanes.
Bush 41 (R) has a .75 cat5/year index.
Clinton (D) has a .125 cat5/year index.
Bush 41 (R) has a 1.14 cat5/year index.
This also should note that in the last couple weeks Bush 43 has been averaging 1 cat 5 hurricanes a week!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Phantom Limb Syndrome and the Secret.
There is a rather worthwhile site called Why Won't God Heal Amputees. Which notes that in Mark 11:24 Jesus says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." As well as other references to the same thing, Matthew 7:7, Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:24, John 14:12-14, Matthew 18:19 and James 5:15-16. If you pray for something, the prayer will be answered. So why doesn't God heal amputees? God apparently deigns it a good idea to cure 95% of testicular cancers and 5% of Pancreatic cancers (or at the very least allow people with this diseases to live 5 years). Why is it so arbitrary? Why no amputees? Does god hate 5% of testicular cancer suffers (enough to give them cancer AND kill them), and 95% of Pancreatic cancer suffers... this I suppose could be the case. Why then does god hate 100% of amputees? And hates them to the point that he refuses to do what he said he'd do in the Bible.
Well, whatever the case, even if religion doesn't work shouldn't woo work? The Secret is an Oprah promoted bit of woo which says basically the universe is govern by the Law of Attraction, if you think believe good things and believe you have them you will have them as the universe will provide them. Despite the obvious problem that the opposites attract and not like forces, this idea promotes a blame the victim mentality (Oprah's ancestors must have really been negative ninnies to get slavery brought down on their heads), it also fails the amputee problem.
A number of amputees suffer from Phantom Limb Syndrome. Which is to say that they BELIEVE THEY HAVE THEIR DAMNED LIMB! Shouldn't the law of attraction provide them with an new leg or what not? I mean seriously, if you wanted a test case this is it. People honestly believe that they have the limbs to such an extent that they get hurt. They fling their body out of bed and use their non-existent leg to catch them to no avail. They walk through doors making sure to not bump their spirit arm. They suffer constant pain and aches in the missing part of their anatomy. Certainly, that's should provide some credit from the universe. They believe they have their limbs, shouldn't the universe provide it?
Well, whatever the case, even if religion doesn't work shouldn't woo work? The Secret is an Oprah promoted bit of woo which says basically the universe is govern by the Law of Attraction, if you think believe good things and believe you have them you will have them as the universe will provide them. Despite the obvious problem that the opposites attract and not like forces, this idea promotes a blame the victim mentality (Oprah's ancestors must have really been negative ninnies to get slavery brought down on their heads), it also fails the amputee problem.
A number of amputees suffer from Phantom Limb Syndrome. Which is to say that they BELIEVE THEY HAVE THEIR DAMNED LIMB! Shouldn't the law of attraction provide them with an new leg or what not? I mean seriously, if you wanted a test case this is it. People honestly believe that they have the limbs to such an extent that they get hurt. They fling their body out of bed and use their non-existent leg to catch them to no avail. They walk through doors making sure to not bump their spirit arm. They suffer constant pain and aches in the missing part of their anatomy. Certainly, that's should provide some credit from the universe. They believe they have their limbs, shouldn't the universe provide it?
Spoke too soon...
Apparently for some reason the water all over the place is really really hot, and ever time a hurricane goes near it, it suddenly goes even faster...
Felix is now a Cat 5 hurricane. That didn't take long. Good bye Cancun.
Oddly enough The Intersection had a post noting how strong Felix had become so fast... My goodness already a Cat 4! Heh. Old news.
Felix is now a Cat 5 hurricane. That didn't take long. Good bye Cancun.
Oddly enough The Intersection had a post noting how strong Felix had become so fast... My goodness already a Cat 4! Heh. Old news.
That part of mexico is so screwed...
Felix is already a
Saturday, September 1, 2007
I have a theory...
I believe the Sun travels around the Earth. It just makes sense. Geocentrism is clearly the way our planet and the Sun are situated. However, since this idea would subject me to ridicule and make me a pariah, I won't stick my neck out.
I would be the oppressed by the scientific orthodoxy just like Galileo!
I would be the oppressed by the scientific orthodoxy just like Galileo!
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