Jul
30
I don't believe in God, but I'm not into making a big deal out of it, which is why I generally don't mention it, and if I do I'll usually say it like that rather than declare that I'm an atheist. ...
Jul
30
Thoughts on science, history and philosophy of science, atheism, religion, politics, the media, education, learning, books, films, and other fun stuff.
Jul
30
Thoughts on science, history and philosophy of science, atheism, religion, politics, the media, education, learning, books, films, and other fun stuff. Archives by date Archives by topic RSS. Search. blogphoto.jpg ...
Jul
30
An Orange County atheist organization announced it is placing two ads at bus shelters in Mission Viejo. The locations are Marguerite at Venado and Marguerite at Heritage Square. Backyard Skeptics is a Villa Park based ...
Jul
30
I don'w know if this website is a parody or if it's for real, but it made.
Jul
30
In my experience, religions tend to be like bedpans: either cold and empty, or full of shit.
Jul
30
The SoberAtheist is written by and for atheists who are working a traditional twelve step program of recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. The blog offers advice on how to work the steps as a non-theist and how to ...
Jul
30
Professor Richard Dawkins’ documentary of faith and the problems that religion brings.
Jul
30
It's been a busy few days for those of us who like to keep track of the activities of monsters that probably don't exist.
First, we have a report from Auckland, New Zealand, where a swamp monster is threatening a multi-million dollar railway tunnel project.
Apparently, the site of the tunnel was the home of the Horotiu, a dreadful monster that could cause the trains to crash if the tunnel project is completed. Glenn Wilcox, a member of the Maori Statutory Board, objected to the fact that the siting of the tunnel was done without consideration of the feelings of the Horotiu. "After all," Wilcox said, "the Horotiu was here first."
So Wilcox and others have proposed to the City Planning Board that they have ceremonies to placate the Taniwha, which are local deities who (if they are happy) might intercede with the Horotiu and prevent him from wrecking the trains.
So, what we have here is that city administrators are being asked to placate invisible, mythical entities, so that they will intercede for them with another invisible, mythical entity. I'd go further into this, but I'm sensing some thin ice here, given that my grandmother used to pray all the time to St. Jude, asking him to pass along her messages to Jesus. So I'll just move along to...
... El Chupacabra taking a vacation in Siberia.
Evidently deciding that the summer heat in Texas and New Mexico was just too much, our friend EC has decided to pack his bags and head to cooler climes. And true to his name ("Chupacabra" means "goat sucker") he has begun to exsanguinate Siberian goats, which are three words I bet you've never seen used in the same sentence.
The English language version of Moscow News reports that livestock owners near Novosibirsk have found numerous goats dead, and drained of blood through puncture marks in the neck. No one has seen the wily creature, but of course parallels to alleged attacks in the United States were immediately drawn.
“If this creature is not stopped it could make its way to Novosibirsk! Only our police force are doing jack-diddly about it,” complaining locals told reporters for Komsomolskaya Pravda. “They say that there is no Chupacabra. Come if you will journalists, have a look at what is happening to us.”
The most remarkable thing about this, in my opinion, is the use of the word "jack-diddly" in a Russian news report. I wonder what the Russian word for "jack-diddly" is?
The people of the village of Tolmochevskoye, where the attacks took place, decided that an appropriate course of action was to ring all the church bells, and organize night patrols. So far, the approach seems to have worked, and there have been no more reports of dead goats. The Moscow News concludes by saying that at least "the beast has turned out to be a boon to troubled parents, presenting a very useful threat for naughty children."
So, there you have it. New Russian parenting strategy: "Eat your borscht, or I'll throw you outside and El Chupacabra will get you."
From the chilly tundra of Siberia, we move along to the even chillier oceans surrounding Antarctica, where we have reports of an aquatic humanoid called a "Ningen." Supposedly, the Ningen is all white, with huge eyes and a torso that ends in a mermaid-like tail. Below we have what is alleged to be a photograph of a Ningen:
Interestingly, the whole Ningen thing apparently started much the way that Slender Man did, with some posts on an internet forum. People read them and reposted them and elaborated on them (and did some fancy Photoshop work on their own accord), and now we have Ningen reports coming in from as far away as coastal Namibia. (These being undoubtedly sightings of the rare African Crested Ningen.)
A YouTube video (here) goes into the photos and video clips that are alleged to be Ningens. What strikes me as curious is how bored the narrator sounds, which is kind of weird given that he evidently believes they exist. Myself, if I discovered evidence of scary mermaid-things in the ocean, I'd actually be excited enough to have at least some minor vocal inflections.
In any case, I have to admit, real or not, they're kind of creepy-looking, with the giant eyes, and pasty white skin. I think they'd make excellent minions for Cthulhu, don't you?
And that's the Monster Round-Up for today: albino mermaids, swamp monsters, and El Chupacabra visits Siberia. As always, we'll be waiting for hard evidence confirming these reports to turn up.
Unfortunately, thus far there's been "jack-diddly."
First, we have a report from Auckland, New Zealand, where a swamp monster is threatening a multi-million dollar railway tunnel project.
Apparently, the site of the tunnel was the home of the Horotiu, a dreadful monster that could cause the trains to crash if the tunnel project is completed. Glenn Wilcox, a member of the Maori Statutory Board, objected to the fact that the siting of the tunnel was done without consideration of the feelings of the Horotiu. "After all," Wilcox said, "the Horotiu was here first."
So Wilcox and others have proposed to the City Planning Board that they have ceremonies to placate the Taniwha, which are local deities who (if they are happy) might intercede with the Horotiu and prevent him from wrecking the trains.
So, what we have here is that city administrators are being asked to placate invisible, mythical entities, so that they will intercede for them with another invisible, mythical entity. I'd go further into this, but I'm sensing some thin ice here, given that my grandmother used to pray all the time to St. Jude, asking him to pass along her messages to Jesus. So I'll just move along to...
... El Chupacabra taking a vacation in Siberia.
Evidently deciding that the summer heat in Texas and New Mexico was just too much, our friend EC has decided to pack his bags and head to cooler climes. And true to his name ("Chupacabra" means "goat sucker") he has begun to exsanguinate Siberian goats, which are three words I bet you've never seen used in the same sentence.
The English language version of Moscow News reports that livestock owners near Novosibirsk have found numerous goats dead, and drained of blood through puncture marks in the neck. No one has seen the wily creature, but of course parallels to alleged attacks in the United States were immediately drawn.
“If this creature is not stopped it could make its way to Novosibirsk! Only our police force are doing jack-diddly about it,” complaining locals told reporters for Komsomolskaya Pravda. “They say that there is no Chupacabra. Come if you will journalists, have a look at what is happening to us.”
The most remarkable thing about this, in my opinion, is the use of the word "jack-diddly" in a Russian news report. I wonder what the Russian word for "jack-diddly" is?
The people of the village of Tolmochevskoye, where the attacks took place, decided that an appropriate course of action was to ring all the church bells, and organize night patrols. So far, the approach seems to have worked, and there have been no more reports of dead goats. The Moscow News concludes by saying that at least "the beast has turned out to be a boon to troubled parents, presenting a very useful threat for naughty children."
So, there you have it. New Russian parenting strategy: "Eat your borscht, or I'll throw you outside and El Chupacabra will get you."
From the chilly tundra of Siberia, we move along to the even chillier oceans surrounding Antarctica, where we have reports of an aquatic humanoid called a "Ningen." Supposedly, the Ningen is all white, with huge eyes and a torso that ends in a mermaid-like tail. Below we have what is alleged to be a photograph of a Ningen:
Interestingly, the whole Ningen thing apparently started much the way that Slender Man did, with some posts on an internet forum. People read them and reposted them and elaborated on them (and did some fancy Photoshop work on their own accord), and now we have Ningen reports coming in from as far away as coastal Namibia. (These being undoubtedly sightings of the rare African Crested Ningen.)
A YouTube video (here) goes into the photos and video clips that are alleged to be Ningens. What strikes me as curious is how bored the narrator sounds, which is kind of weird given that he evidently believes they exist. Myself, if I discovered evidence of scary mermaid-things in the ocean, I'd actually be excited enough to have at least some minor vocal inflections.
In any case, I have to admit, real or not, they're kind of creepy-looking, with the giant eyes, and pasty white skin. I think they'd make excellent minions for Cthulhu, don't you?
And that's the Monster Round-Up for today: albino mermaids, swamp monsters, and El Chupacabra visits Siberia. As always, we'll be waiting for hard evidence confirming these reports to turn up.
Unfortunately, thus far there's been "jack-diddly."
Jul
30
Editors Note: Don't know if this is true, but it makes for a fun story) You must read this�for a change, a proper decision by the courts!! In Florida, an.
Jul
30
Following his appearance on Fox News's show, America Live w/Megyn Kelly, American Atheists ' Communications Director, Blair Scott received multiple death threats from Christians.
Jul
29
Atheism is a belief on what is available as evidence. We do not invoke super natural forces to answer questions. We do not need faith to disbelieve a higher power anymore than we need faith to dismiss Russel's Teapot. ...
Jul
29
Well, I never got back to the blog last night; I apologize! I appreciate the continued discussion below the atheist post, though, and want to expand on that topic a little. To start with, I think I need to be a bit more ...
Jul
29
A Facebook friend posted an article from the Center for Inquiry to my fb page. It seems the Air Force has included a discussion of religious/biblical justification for nuclear war as part of the training for those charged with launching nuclear missiles. Here is the short article, worth a two minute read: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/news/cfi_condemns_use_of_religious_materials_for_instruction_in_nuclear_war_ethi
I am ambivalent. Not sure where I land on this. My instincts tell me that with the hyper-religiosity inherent in the Air Force Academy (a major issue with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation) and throughout the military services that this is another proselytizing attempt at worst, or the unnecessary invoking of Judeo-Christian doctrine at best.
But on the other hand there is a reality that must be confronted. A vast portion of the military is in fact Christian. They were before they entered the military, and carry that affliction around with them on active duty. In the unique position these nuclear missile specialists are in, they would be faced with a life changing ethical/moral dilemma in the event they are asked to launch nuclear weapons. The very thought of such an event should send shivers up all of our spines as its ramifications, including global nuclear war, is the stuff nightmares are made of.
If any one of those airmen hesitates just long enough to ask the question "What would Jesus Do?” or start babbling prayers for guidance, or fumbling with their rosary beads and waiting for a sign from God during the critical moment, we could well be worse off as a nation than had the launch order been immediately executed...unquestioned and instantaneously. If by settling the religious issue or, shall I say, if by justifying mass killing on religious grounds as part of training it eliminates that hesitation, then this may in fact be a reasoned and logical approach.
So, it's not proselytizing to non-Xtians, or even the government endorsing one religion over another. It’s a matter of recognition that the job of these selected few, largely believing, must never be impaired by thinking too hard on how their deity perceives mass destruction. They lay it out and nail it shut: “He's done it lots of times, and He has endorsed it lots more... it’s all good. So be ready to push the button on command.”
I wonder if CFI has given it this kind of thoughtful consideration. I’ll give the Air Force a pass on this one.
[Thanks to Linda Mortensen for the inspiration for this article]
I am ambivalent. Not sure where I land on this. My instincts tell me that with the hyper-religiosity inherent in the Air Force Academy (a major issue with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation) and throughout the military services that this is another proselytizing attempt at worst, or the unnecessary invoking of Judeo-Christian doctrine at best.
But on the other hand there is a reality that must be confronted. A vast portion of the military is in fact Christian. They were before they entered the military, and carry that affliction around with them on active duty. In the unique position these nuclear missile specialists are in, they would be faced with a life changing ethical/moral dilemma in the event they are asked to launch nuclear weapons. The very thought of such an event should send shivers up all of our spines as its ramifications, including global nuclear war, is the stuff nightmares are made of.
If any one of those airmen hesitates just long enough to ask the question "What would Jesus Do?” or start babbling prayers for guidance, or fumbling with their rosary beads and waiting for a sign from God during the critical moment, we could well be worse off as a nation than had the launch order been immediately executed...unquestioned and instantaneously. If by settling the religious issue or, shall I say, if by justifying mass killing on religious grounds as part of training it eliminates that hesitation, then this may in fact be a reasoned and logical approach.
So, it's not proselytizing to non-Xtians, or even the government endorsing one religion over another. It’s a matter of recognition that the job of these selected few, largely believing, must never be impaired by thinking too hard on how their deity perceives mass destruction. They lay it out and nail it shut: “He's done it lots of times, and He has endorsed it lots more... it’s all good. So be ready to push the button on command.”
I wonder if CFI has given it this kind of thoughtful consideration. I’ll give the Air Force a pass on this one.
[Thanks to Linda Mortensen for the inspiration for this article]
Jul
29
The acolytes of the new atheists like Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris are very fond of accusing religious believers of being vilely intolerant, and how we are in desperate need of a cultural atheistic home makeover in order ...
Jul
29
Shouldn't theists really start calling themselves agnostics?
Jul
29
News: Atheist bus-shelter ads in O.C. question God | bus, gleason, ads, backyard, shelter, skeptics, group, one, non, atheists.
