In Memory of George Carlin 1937 - 2008

"Gee, he was just here a minute ago."

“Curse of the Fuwa”

This is almost comical. 2008 and superstition still prevails.

“Curse of the Fuwa” fulfilled by floods

BEIJING (Reuters) - Floods sweeping southern China seem to have fulfilled the final stanza of an Internet curse involving Beijing's Olympic mascots, but censors have been quick to remove postings that might fuel the superstition.

After a devastating earthquake struck Sichuan province last month, Internet users tied four of the five “Fuwa” mascots to the calamities that have struck China in the run-up to the Games, which begin in August. One Fuwa is a panda, the totem of Sichuan.

The others resemble a torch, reminding netizens of the protests against the international Olympic torch rally; a Tibetan antelope tied to widespead demonstrations in Tibetan areas; and a swallow that looks like a kite, linked to a deadly train crash in Shandong province.

The final Fuwa, sporting a fish, was left unexplained in the original superstition as a curse yet to come.

Unexplained, that is, until widespread flooding in southern and central China claimed dozens of lives in June.

“I am in Shenzhen. There is heavy rain for two days and no sign that it will stop… now the curse of the last “fish” has proven correct. What shall we do?” said a post by yellow_hades on Tianya, a popular online forum.

That and similar posts have disappeared quickly this week. China’s censors monitor the Internet carefully and remove any posts deemed inflammatory or not in line with government policy.

Major calamities, earthquakes in particular, were viewed in imperial China as a sign that a dynasty had lost the mandate of Heaven.

Although the Communist Party has tried to stamp out “feudal superstition” since it took power in 1949, the Beijing Games will start on the auspicious moment of 8:08 pm, on August 8 2008. Eight is a lucky number in Chinese.

Why people laugh at creationists

Many of you probably know this tool. VenomfangX has to be one of the biggest dumbasses on YouTube.

"I get laughed at" VenomfangX

No Good Choices

I am not the only one who is displeased with our choices this time around. I can't muster enough approval for any of the candidates...not even a third party candidates who are a bunch of kooks.

"Lord, make me chaste — but not yet."

Another sign that Obama's "change" rhetoric is bullcrap. I still predict: hopeful people will be greatly disappointed when their messiah turns out to be just like any other politician. How can we trust him when he turns his back on a church he supported for 20 years, turns his back on friends for political gain, changes his support for Palestine to a total support for Israel. How can we trust anything he says? And where does that leave us? Basically, still the same. With wimpy Democrats in Washington nothing has changed (we're only given excuses), and when Obama wins the White House...nothing will change. I would love to be optimistic, but I cannot. We don't know where Obama stands on anything...really. He could say one thing one day, then change his mind the next. You just never know. With McCain we know for sure nothing will change except in the death toll in Iraq.

Call me cynical, but we're basically screwed.

Here is the latest disheartening news:

Obama's money move lifts expediency over principle

Sen. Barack Obama's announcement Thursday that he won't participate in the public financing system for this fall's general election was no big surprise. He has been telegraphing the move for months. But it is disappointing nevertheless, particularly for a candidate who claims to be running as a reformer and a different kind of politician.

In this case, Obama is choosing to be different by becoming the first presidential candidate to spurn public financing since Richard Nixon's excesses led to its creation. That's not the sort of change voters expected when he pledged last fall to "aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."

*snip*

He's way ahead of McCain in that respect — but he's hardly the influence-free candidate he styles himself as. One-third of his money comes from the sort of big donors and bundlers whose influence public financing is designed to lessen.

Obama's pledge to reform the campaign-finance system after he gets elected reminds us of St. Augustine's famous prayer: "Lord, make me chaste — but not yet."

Real reformers don't do it just when it's convenient. The best way for Obama to support public financing is not to fix it later, but to participate in it now.

Whackadoo Ken Ham speaks at prayer breakfast at Pentagon

I found this over at Pharyngula today. It makes me a bit queasy that theguys with the big guns invited such a big nutjob to speak at their prayer breakfast (and that the US Military even has a prayer breakfast). During his speech, Ham starts talking about life on other planets and doesn’t think there is any based on the following “logic” (or lack, thereof).

The real world is the biblical world–a universe designed by God with the Earth at the spiritual focal point, not an evolutionary universe teeming with life. … Extraterrestrial life is an evolutionary concept; it does not comport with the biblical teachings of the uniqueness of the Earth and the distinct spiritual position of human beings.

So there you have it again, it’s written in their ancient mythology book, so it must be true.

Ham continues:

Jesus remains the “God man,” as he is our Savior. Jesus did not become a “Martian” or a “Klingon” or some other being—he became a human (as God).

So, it wouldn’t make any sense for there to be intelligent beings like us on other planets—they would be suffering from the effects of sin but can’t have salvation, as only descendants of Adam can be saved.

One day the whole universe will be wound up—the judgment by fire—and there will be a New Heavens and Earth. I always say that there can’t be intelligent life like us on other planets—the Bible does not say there is or is not animal or plant life on other planets—but I highly suspect not

Ok, where are my antacids?

Shout out for Out of Control

My husband has a blog but hadn't been writing much the past couple of years, but now has started writing again, mostly on politics, and has come up with 30 ideas for real change and would like some opinions about his ideas whether you agree with them or not. He'd like to hear from you. (He is posting his ideas one at a time and is currently at #3.)

Out of Control

Evangelical Christians who say they take the Bible literally, do not

H/T to Atheist Jew for this one:

Evangelical Christians who say they take the Bible literally do not take the Bible and what their "god said" literally. They twist and turn the meaning to whatever they want it to be. The t-shirts in the video that the woman is selling should say "what I want to believe my god said."

For instance, most Christians do not take the book of Leviticus literally even though it contains specific direction as what to do with smart-mouthed children (stone them to death), adulterers (stone them to death), etc. Thank human goodness and the laws of civilized countries, these things "god said" are ignored or written off as "that was just meant for the society in which it was written." My question to believers then is "so your god chose only one era in time to send his messages for people to write down to pertain to that one era in time and nothing before and after?"

Christians, THINK about that. Your god communicates in "one era" in all of time, and to an ignorant and superstitious era at that, but fails to communicate in our advanced era with all of our scientific equipment and laboratories. And we are supposed to simply believe in a god of ancient men, from ancient times (but never mind all those other gods from ancient days, and those other ancient texts...those aren't real.)

Hindus have ancient texts, Muslims have ancient texts, ancient texts and writings are written about the Greek gods, the Egyptian gods. Does that make their gods real? So why would an ancient book make your god any more real than their's? It's all a matter on what you choose to believe.

Atheist 13 Meme

I've been tagged by Tommy at Exercise in Futility to answer the following thirteen questions. I am one of those weird people who actually like memes. So, here goes!

Q1. How would you define “atheism”?
Atheism is simply a lack of belief in the existence of any god, gods, goddesses or any supernatural entities based on lack of evidence.

Q2. Was your upbringing religious? If so, what tradition?

I was raised as a Lutheran, but we weren't a strict religious family. We stayed home more from church more than we went. We did a brief stint the Baptist church after my grandmother passed away and my Mom didn't find the comfort she needed from the Lutheran church. My brother and sister got to liking the youth group and all the wild escapades we participated in with the teenagers of that group. We would act "holy" in front of our parents, then go racing around in cars between the church and whoever's parents house we were having the youth meeting that night. Then dutifully give our testimonies and say some prayers and read a few bits from the Bible and then it was party time. Baptist kids are pretty wild. Then it was back to the gloomy German Lutheran church where the service is much like a funeral service. I never became a member...was the only member of my family not to. I didn't go hardly at all after graduating from high school. I was done with it then, though went back to it after I had my own children, thinking I was doing the right thing. My husband, I and kids all left the church and our superstitious beliefs behind in the mid 90s and aren't at all regretful about it. Just sorry we didn't "see the light" sooner.

Q3. How would you describe “Intelligent Design”, using only one word?

Fantasy.

Q4. What scientific endeavour really excites you?

I would have to agree with Tommy here and say space exploration. It would be great if they found some kind of life forms on another planet in my lifetime, but doubt they will in that short amount of time. I wish I could live at least another 500 years just to see how far humans go into the cosmos.

Q5. If you could change one thing about the “atheist community”, what would it be and why?

There isn't really an "atheist community" since we are all pretty much individuals, no doctrines, no governing body, no organized "churches". As for atheist, I wish that those who are atheists would not be so afraid to speak up and let it be known that they are atheist. There are more of us than statistics show, I am sure. Many atheists are still hiding in churches.

Q6. If your child came up to you and said “I’m joining the clergy”, what would be your first response?

I would be a bit shocked because our three grown children are pretty adament atheist (one might be more leaning agnostic). But then it is their life and if they feel that is what they need to do, then it's their life. I will love them anyway.

Q7. What’s your favorite theistic argument, and how do you usually refute it?

I don't have any favorite theistic argument. They are all getting to be pretty redundant from "everything is so complex, something had to designed it all", or "where do you get your morals from?" Trying to explain we get our morals from the society in which we live, and those morals are instilled in us via our parents or caretakers. It doesn't mean that a child will follow everything he or she is taught, but for most children, if the parents are moral people, then kids are also. As for everything being complex and must have had a creator, I just say that those who say this just want an immediate answer for things they do not know, so just fill in those gaps with "goddidit."

Q8. What’s your most “controversial” (as far as general attitudes amongst other atheists goes) viewpoint?

At the moment, it is that I do not trust Obama as far as I can throw him. I think he is a Democratic fundamentalist Xian who talks to his imaginary friend every night and that is what everyone was on Bush about. But suddenly because it's a Democrat it's ok and they make excuses for him. I think that everyone is going to be disappointed, and this is going to hurt the Democratic Party even more. I get a bunch of crap on other sites for this viewpoint.

Q9. Of the “Four Horsemen” (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and Harris) who is your favourite, and why?

I think Sam Harris. He is soft spoken, intelligent, has common sense, holds the same opinion of Islam fundamentalists as he does Xian fundamentalists and makes no excuses for them.

Q10. If you could convince just one theistic person to abandon their beliefs, who would it be?

My sister. Religion has come between us since she has become a Baptist. She wouldn't have to abandon her beliefs, but just that irritating and self-righteous denomination that drives wedges between family members.

Now name three other atheist blogs that you’d like to see take up the Atheist Thirteen gauntlet:

Poodles, Atheist Jew, and Cyberkitten

Astronomers find three new "super-Earths" orbiting nearby star

This is incredibly exciting news!

Astronomers find new batch of "super-Earths

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - European researchers said on Monday they discovered a batch of three "super-Earths" orbiting a nearby star, and two other solar systems with small planets as well.

They said their findings, presented at a conference in France, suggest that Earth-like planets may be very common.

"Does every single star harbor planets and, if yes, how many?" asked Michel Mayor of Switzerland's Geneva Observatory. "We may not yet know the answer but we are making huge progress towards it," Mayor said in a statement.

The trio of planets orbit a star slightly less massive than our Sun, 42 light-years away towards the southern Doradus and Pictor constellations. A light-year is the distance light can travel in one year at a speed of 186,000 miles a second, or about 6 trillion miles.

The planets are bigger than Earth -- one is 4.2 times the mass, one is 6.7 times and the third is 9.4 times.

They orbit their star at extremely rapid speeds -- one whizzing around in just four days, compared with Earth's 365 days, one taking 10 days and the slowest taking 20 days.

Mayor and colleagues used the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher or HARPS, a telescope at La Silla observatory in Chile, to find the planets.

More than 270 so-called exoplanets have been found. Most are giants, resembling Jupiter or Saturn. Smaller planets closer to the size of Earth are far more difficult to spot.

*snip*

"Clearly these planets are only the tip of the iceberg," said Mayor.

"The analysis of all the stars studied with HARPS shows that about one third of all solar-like stars have either super-Earth or Neptune-like planets with orbital periods shorter than 50 days."

LINK TO FULL STORY

Great injustice about to be dealt to Louisiana public school students

click on cartoon to enlarge




What do we expect from a state with a backwards education system? They reap what they sow…idiots.

From Americans United:

The Sky Is Falling!: Scientists, Educators And Civil Liberties Activists Rightly Sound Alarm About La. Legislation

“On Wednesday, with just two weeks left in the legislative session, the Louisiana House of Representatives approved SB 733, a bill intended to facilitate the teaching of creationism in public schools.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn promptly responded, calling the proposed law an “embarrassment” and guaranteeing legal action if the measure is used “to promote religion in Louisiana public schools.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Center for Science Education, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the National Association of Biology Teachers and the new grassroots Louisiana Coalition for Science, decry the legislation as a poorly disguised attempt to bring creationism and its latest variant “intelligent design”(ID), into the classroom under the guise of academic freedom.

The legislature shouldn’t be allowing creationists to undermine Louisiana public schools. The House of Representatives just gave the Religious Right a green light to use other people’s children for their own agenda.” -Barbara Forrest

Why life isn't fair

Yep, Bob Smith needs to win a golf bet, Sam Jones needs to win at the horse races, and football players want their team to defeat their opponents who are also praying for victory. Starving children need food, others need organ transplants because their "intelligent design" isn't so intelligent, and hospitals full of children are being prayed for and no answers come, while many people are praising their god for their new Mercedes or SUV, for their child getting into a college of their choice, or that brand new house and other possessions, etc.

It is ludicrous that people actually believe that there is a god who listens to billions and billions of prayers and wishes (trivial or otherwise) from billions of people (while all the while keeping track of who is bad and who is good, who is going to heaven and who is going to hell as well as paying attention to all those ghosts up in heaven who are worshiping him.) Why don't god believers realize how BIZARRE their belief is that there is a god who is some sort of customer service prayer rep meeting the demands of people, putting some on hold while he waits on the next one in line? Completely goofy.

Another mystery solved

Another proof that if we wait and explore long enough instead of blindly believing in fantasy, answers can be found to explain things "magical", just as there are scientific answers to "miracles" that believing people attribute to their gods. Answers may not be found in our lifetime, but as long as humans keep questioning and trying to figure out these mysteries of life, answers will eventually come. (If humans survive long enough.)

Single-horned 'Unicorn' deer found in Italy
Scientists say the animal they have found could have inspired myths of magical creatures.

ROME - A deer with a single horn in the center of its head — much like the fabled, mythical unicorn — has been spotted in a nature preserve in Italy, park officials said Wednesday.

"This is fantasy becoming reality," Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, told The Associated Press. "The unicorn has always been a mythological animal."

The 1-year-old Roe Deer — nicknamed "Unicorn" — was born in captivity in the research center's park in the Tuscan town of Prato, near Florence, Tozzi said.

He is believed to have been born with a genetic flaw; his twin has two horns.

Calling it the first time he has seen such a case, Tozzi said such anomalies among deer may have inspired the myth of the unicorn.

The unicorn, a horse-like creature with magical healing powers, has appeared in legends and stories throughout history, from ancient and medieval texts to the adventures of Harry Potter.

"This shows that even in past times, there could have been animals with this anomaly," he said by telephone. "It's not like they dreamed it up."

Single-horned deer are rare but not unheard of — but even more unusual is the central positioning of the horn, experts said.

"Generally, the horn is on one side (of the head) rather than being at the center. This looks like a complex case," said Fulvio Fraticelli, scientific director of Rome's zoo. He said the position of the horn could also be the result of a trauma early in the animal's life.

Other mammals are believed to contribute to the myth of the unicorn, including the narwhal, a whale with a long, spiraling tusk.

Obama's little superstitious trinkets

I found this little item over at Friendly Atheist. I have been uncomfortable with Obama and his almost fundie-like faith, and the way he invokes his god into everything lately, and kissing up to the religious leaders, and now we find out he carries lucky charms and other items of "luck" around with him. The photo caption reads,

"Amongst the things that Barack Obama carries for good luck are a bracelet belonging to a soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler’s lucky chit, a tiny monkey god and a tiny Madonna and child."

Does this mean that Obama is a Christian, Muslim, and Hindu? (snark)

Republican John McCain carries a lucky penny, a lucky nickel and a lucky rubberband. And one of these men is going to have his finger on the nuclear button. Will either of them be consulting their lucky charms, or crystal ball or talking to their imaginary friend (or Dionne Warwick) to find out what they should do in a crisis situation?

It took Bush long enough to finish reading My Pet Goat in the last huge crisis, but to stop and rub all those lucky charms and talk to the Sky Boss, well...how long is going to take either of these two to make a decision of what to do?

GLAST telescope to open new window on the universe

Exciting! A new telescope is being launched on Wednesday which scientists hope will provide vital information about the birth and evolution of the cosmos.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A hi-tech telescope NASA plans to launch on Wednesday hopes to fling open a new window on the Universe, exploring extreme sources of gamma-rays that point to powerful and exotic phenomena.

The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, will search for energy blasts that point to black holes and other beasts, and hunt for clues to explain the strange, magnetized neutron stars known as pulsars.

The telescope may also unlock the mysteries of dark matter, which comprises about 25 percent of mass in the Universe but is invisible to the naked eye, compared with the five percent of visible matter.

The remaining 70 percent is known as "dark energy," a little understood phenomenon which is believed to speed the expansion of the Universe.

Scientists hope to gain vital information about the birth and evolution of the cosmos and study how black holes can spew jets of gas at stupendous speeds, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Link to full story

10 Questions every Christian must answer

These are good questions, but doubt that Christians will even watch this whole video. They will automatically go into the "you are persecuting me" mode and totally evade the questions. Or as some have done at the YouTube site, answer questions with questions like one dude wrote ten questions for atheists but never even tried to address even one of the points in this video.

Colbert, Stewart, and Leno jokes on Obama and McCain

Obama gets pander, Hillary and her many pantsuits, and McCain gets spiced up with a green screen.

The silly "God exists because you can't prove he doesn't" argument

Recently, I have had a couple of trolls come by and tell me that I cannot prove that god doesn't exist, therefore, god exists. So, if it is determined that gods exist because we cannot prove they don't exist, then the Hindu Monkey God or Lord Ganesha the Elephant God must be real because we cannot prove that they don't exist. We cannot prove that Zeus doesn't exist, we cannot prove that Isis and Osiris don't exist, so they must be real according to the reasoning of many Christians.

Here is a list of many, but not all, of the gods people still worship in the world today that must exist because we cannot prove they don't.

AGNI Fire God – Hindu
APOLLO God of wisdom, music, poetry and medicine – Greek and Roman
ARES God of war – Greek and Roman
AEOLUS God of winds - Greek and Roman
AESIR Principle God of Norse Mythology
AMMON Ancient Egyptian God – Identified by Greek and Romans with ZEUS
AMON Ancient Egyptian Deity – later on identified Sun God
AMPHITRITE Goddess of the sea - Greek and Roman
ARANYANI Goddess of forests – Hindu
ARTEMIS Goddess of Moon and Hunting - Greek and Roman – Apollo's twin sister
ASCLEPIUS God of healing - Greek and Roman
ASGARD Home of the Gods – Norse
ASHTORETH Goddess of love and Fertility – Syria
ASHURE God of War and Empire (ASSYRIA)
ASTARTE Goddess of fertility and sexual love –(Semetic)
ATE Goddess personifying criminal folly or reckless ambition - Greek and Roman
ATHENA Goddess of Wisdom, skills and warfare - Greek and Roman
ATLAS Titan – Titan holding the heavens on his shoulders - Greek and Roman
AURORA Goddess of Dawn – Roman
BACHUS God of wine revelry (Ancient Greek and Roman)
BOREAS God of the North Wind - Greek and Roman
CHANDRA God of Moon – Moon God – Hindu
CERES Goddess of agriculture and Goddess of Corn (Rome)
CRONUS God of Agriculture - Greek and Roman
CUPID God of love – Son of Venus – Rome
CYNTHIA Goddess of Moon
THEMETER Goddess of agriculture- Greek and Roman
DIANA Virgin Goddess of moon and Godess of hunting – Roman
DIONYSUS God of Wine and revelry - Greek and Roman (Bacchus)
DIS God of the lower world
DOLORES Goddess of sorrow- Greek and Roman
EOS Goddess of dawn - Greek and Roman
ERIS Goddess of strife and discord - Greek and Roman
EROS God of Love - Greek and Roman
FLORA Goddess of Flowers - Roman
GAEA Goddess Earth - Greek and Roman
GRACES the Three sister Goddesses who control pleasure, charm Elegance and Beauty in human life and in Nature - Greek and Roman
HANUMAN Monkey God – Hindu
HEBE Goddess of youth – Goddess who serves nectar - Greek and Roman
HECATE Goddess of Moon, Earth and Underworld later regarded as the Goddess of Sorcery.
HELIOS Sun God - Greek and Roman
HEPHAESTUS God of Fire and Forge - Greek and Roman
HERA Wife of Zeus - Goddess of Marriage - Greek and Roman
HERCULES God of Strength - Son of Zeus - Greek and Roman
HERMES A god who served as messenger of other Gods - Greek and Roman
HYMEN God of Marriage - Greek and Roman
HESTIA Goddess of Hearth and Chief Goddess of domestic activity - Greek and Roman
IDA Goddess of Youth - Old German
INDRA God of rain, thunder lightening and war – Hindu
ISHTAR Goddess of love and fertility – Baylonian
ISIS Goddess of fertility – Egyptian
JANUS God who was guardian of portals and patron of beginnings and endings. His head is shown with two faces- one in the front and one at the back- Roman
JUNO Wife of Jupiter - Queen of Gods and Goddesses of marriages –Roman
JUPITER Chief Roman God identified with Greek God Zeus
KAMA God of love - Hindu
KARTHIKEYA God of war – Hindu
LAKSHMI Goddess of wealth - Hindu
MARA God of death – Buddhist
MARUTH God of storms - Hindu
LUNA Goddess of Moon – Roman
MARS God of War – Roman
MERCURY God of Commerce, manual skill, eloquence, and cleverness – Roman
MORPHEUS God of Dreams - Greek and Roman
MUSE Any of nine Goddesses of literature, arts and sciences – Greek and Roman
NEMESIS God of retribution or vengeance - Greek and Roman
NEPTUNE God of the sea - Roman
NEREUS Benevolent sea God - Greek and Roman
NIKE Goddess of victory
NORSE Any of the three Goddessess of fate.
NYMPH Any one of the group of minor Goddesses - Greek and Roman
NYX Goddess of night - Greek and Romans
ODIN (Norse) –The chief God
OLYMPIAN Any of the Gods on Mount Olympus
ORMAZD The Supreme Deity and the Creator of the world. (Zores)
OSIRIS Ancient Egyptian God of the Lower world
PALLAS Goddess of wisdom- Greek and Roman
PAN Goddess of fields - Greek and Roman
PENANTES The household Gods of the Romans.
PERSOPHONE Roman Goddess
PHOEBUS God of Wisdom- Greek and Roman
POSEIDON God of sea- Greek and Roman
PRIAPUS God of procreative power –male- Greek and Roman
PROSERPINE Greek Goddess
PROTEUS The sea God who can change His own form at his will - Greek and Roman
PSYCHE Wife of Lord Cupid- Greek and Roman
RA Sun God and Chief God of ancient Egyptians usually depicted as having the head of a hawk
SARASWATI Goddess of learning- Hindu
SATURN God of Agriculture- Roman
THE METER Goddess of agriculture- Greek and Roman
THETIS A Sea Goddess
TRITON Sea God
VENUS Goddess of love and beauty-Roman
VESTA Goddess of fire- Roman
ZEPHYRUS Greek God of the West Winds.

So, trolls...do all of these gods people around the world believe in exist since you can't prove they don't?

Here is a good satirical video by Edward Current


Check out some of the other parody videos by Edward Current

Monkey Business

And now for a bit of odd news:

Indian school names monkey god as its chairman

LUCKNOW, India - He’s a revered Hindu monkey god. And now, he’s the chairman of an Indian business school.

Hanuman, the popular god known for his strength and valor, has been named official chairman of the recently opened Sardar Bhagat Singh College of Technology and Management in northern India, a school official said Saturday.

The position comes with an incense-filled office, a desk and a laptop computer. Four chairs will be placed facing the empty seat reserved for the chairman and all visitors must enter the office barefoot, said Vivek Kangdi, the school’s vice chairman.

“It is our belief that any job that has the blessings of Lord Hanuman is bound to be a success,” said Kangdi.

All Hindus know that Hanuman can lift mountains and leap oceans, but ancient texts make no mention of his business acumen.

“When we were looking for a chairman for our institution, we scanned many big names in the field of technology and management. Ultimately, we settled for Lord Hanuman, as none was bigger than him,” Kangdi said.

Hanuman is one of the most popular gods in the crowded pantheon of Hindu deities. His most famous feat, as described in the Hindu epic the Ramayana, was leading a monkey army to fight the demon King Ravana and rescue a kidnapped princess.

[sounds like some sort of video game]

The Sardar Bhagat Singh College in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, awards bachelor’s degrees in engineering and management. The school opened last year.

Demitoots and Republigongs

Watch the rest at http://www.aniboom.com/whitehouse

Bystanders ignore hit-and-run victim

This absolutely boggles my mind. A man is hit by a car, and the driver speeds off, and bystanders and passersby do nothing to help him. No one calls 911, no one attempts to give him aid. What the hell is wrong with people? And Christians, do not tell me it’s because of the “atheist influence” in a country that is supposedly “morally superior” because the majority holds God beliefs. Probably most bystanders in this video would most likely say they are god believers. This is absolutely despicable to stand by and do nothing no matter who they are.

Story from Associated Press
Video shows bystanders ignoring hit-and-run victim

"First Amendment embraces the right to select any religious faith or none at all."

From the Freedom From Religion Foundation:

On this date in 1985, Wallace v. Jaffree was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, forbidding school officials to direct "silent prayer" and meditation for the purpose of prayer in public schools.

“Just as the right to speak and the right to refrain from speaking are complementary components of a broader concept of individual freedom of mind, so also the individual's freedom to choose his own creed is the counterpart of his right to refrain from accepting the creed established by the majority. At one time it was thought that this right merely proscribed the preference of one Christian sect over another, but would not require equal respect for the conscience of the infidel, the atheist, or the adherent of a non-Christian faith such as Mohammedism or Judaism. But when the underlying principle has been examined in the crucible of litigation, the Court has unambiguously concluded that the individual freedom of conscience protected by the First Amendment embraces the right to select any religious faith or none at all.”

-- Justice Stevens for the majority, Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, June 4, 1985. For more about the Jaffree case, see here. Read about Ishmael Jaffree.

Fog Bow

Click on image to enlarge

A Fog Bow Over Ocean Beach
Credit & Copyright: Keith C. Langill (missionblvd.com)

Explanation: What is that white arch over the water? What is being seen is a fogbow, a reflection of sunlight by water drops similar to a rainbow but without the colors. The fog itself is not confined to an arch -- the fog is mostly transparent but relatively uniform. The fogbow shape is created by those drops with the best angle to divert sunlight to the observer. The fogbow's relative lack of colors are caused by the relatively smaller water drops. The drops active above are so small that the quantum mechanical wavelength of light becomes important and smears out colors that would be created by larger rainbow water drops acting like small prisms reflecting sunlight. The above striking image of a fogbow was taken last week with the Sun behind the photographer. The rocks in the foreground are part of Ocean Beach in California, USA.

" . . .the Arguments of Insects"

This is a great post by Mike O'Risal at Hyphoid Logic which is a response to IDer-Creationist Clyde who thinks that a tadpole developing into a frog, and a walnut developing into a tree is evolution. So many to educate, so little time...so little patience.

LINK: Of Cockroaches, Creationists, and Clyde Berg: the Arguments of Insects

Mike writes:

I ran across this opinion piece by Clyde Berg of Lebanon, Missouri in the Springfield News-Leader this morning. It's unusual insofar as its written by a Christian who accepts biological evolution but doesn't understand what the theory contains and pushes back the god in the god-of-the-gaps argument to the beginning of time. He goes on to explain his doing so as arising from a lack of mental capacity, which is at least an honest way of presenting an argument from ignorance. Unfortunately for Clyde, he wants to extend his own lack of mental capacity to all of humanity.

I found this via my friend Jimmer who pointed to Dana Hunter's "Carnival of the Elitist Bastards". Take time to read some of the articles in the Carnival...very good writing.

Ditching the crazies

It’s about time . . .

Obama quits Chicago church after long controversy

ABERDEEN, S.D. - Barack Obama said Saturday he has resigned his 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago “with some sadness” in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and more recent fiery remarks at the church by a visiting priest.
LINK : MORE

Republican John McCain also has had his share of renouncing crazy-ass god-botherers, like Hagee and others.

Earlier this month, McCain rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths.

McCain spurned the months-old endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain called the comment “crazy and unacceptable.”

Unfortunately, they continue to cling to the god delusions and stand firm in that their “faith remains strong” and they “continue to pray” and talk to their invisible friend every day.

Ditching the crazies seems merely for protecting their political campaigns. BUT…at least they realize they must remain moderate, and they are trying to bring their personal beliefs back to a personal level, which is refreshing.

Maybe now the trend of kissing crazy evangelical butt is coming to an end and we can focus on the real issues of this election?

Phoenix Mars Lander

Christian magicians

Travdawg pointed me to this site and I had to read it several times to make sure it was legit and not another satirical site. But it’s real! And the irony is marvelous! Christian Magicians Convention!

Some of the featured events at this international convention are:

Fulfilling God’s mission through your Gospel Magic;

[Gospel “magic”…the Bible is full of magic trickery…turning water into wine, rivers turning into blood, parting of the waters, raising people from dead…etc].

Following God’s command through your Chalk Drawings;

[Well, the bible says to come as little children.]

Rejoicing in God’s favor through your Ventriloquism & Storytelling;

[Like God taking through a burning bush, the devil talking through a snake…what talent! And we know the Bible is full of fantastic storytelling!]

Marveling at God’s Grace when children respond to His call through your Clowning

[God just can’t seem to get his message across without entertainment via goofy people and strange characters.]

Revealing God’s glory through your Puppetry

[That’s what most believers think their god is…a puppetmaster pulling strings of billions and billions of people alive and dead.]

Expressing God’s beauty through the art of Face Painting

[So God has a painted clown face??? ]

Declaring God’s word through Drama & Juggling

[Christians love to be dramatic…and juggling would probably wake up the boring services a bit.]

Delighting in God’s way through your Balloon Artistry; . . .

[Balloon “artistry?” WTF??]

Speaking of balloon artistry, check out this video. The very end is hilarious. (I thought so anyway.)

Yet another crazy-ass pastor spouting off divisiveness

Are these pastors so used to believing their god forgives everything that they think everyone will? Do they think they can say anything they want and then say...oh, I'm sorry and everyone will be like Jesus and forgive them? TOO LATE. Once the words are out there, no magic "I'm sorry" words can erase what has already been said. You can think your Jesus will forgive you, but many American voters may not. It sure seems as if the clergy at Obama's church doesn't want him to win in November. It seems to me that Obama needs to make a clean break from this church which seems to have become a real liability.

This has been the most fanatically-filled election ever.



Obama distances himself from another clergyman

Obama said he was "deeply disappointed" by Pfleger's comments.

"As I have traveled this country, I've been impressed not by what divides us, but by all that that unites us," he said in a statement. "That is why I am deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn't reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together in common cause."

Pfleger, the white pastor of predominantly black Saint Sabina Roman Catholic Church on the city's Southwest side, said he regretted his choice of words.

"These words are inconsistent with Senator Obama's life and message and I am deeply sorry if they offended Senator Clinton or anyone else who saw them," Pfleger said.

Clinton's campaign denounced Pfleger's comments.

"Divisive and hateful language like that is totally counterproductive in our efforts to bring our party together and have no place at the pulpit or in our politics," the campaign said in a statement. "We are disappointed that Senator Obama didn't specifically reject Father's Pfleger's despicable comments about Senator Clinton, and assume he will do so."

My first secular wedding

Secular weddings are even more beautiful than religious weddings because nothing is in the way. It's just the bride, and groom...giving their hearts and love to one another.

My son, Jeff was married on Sunday to a really great girl...we love her to pieces. The ceremony was secular at a little non-denomination chapel in the woods. This is the first wedding I have been to where practically everyone was sniffling...because there were no quotes from mythology books, no boring Bible passages to make everyone glaze over with boredom, no meaningless and soon-forgotten words written by ancient men...these were words written from their hearts, spoken from the heart and all unnecessary ritual, words, etc were not in the way of a genuine expression of love and commitment.

As my new daughter-in-heart gazed into my son's eyes, and he gazed into hers, everyone in the chapel could feel the love of two people, who absolutely adore each other with their loving family surrounding them. That's what life is all about, that is what love is all about. And that is all we need.

I wish them a long and happy life together.

Mission Accomplished