Thought for the day

“I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my ego will survive. I am not young, and I love life. But I should scorn to shiver with terror at the thought of annihilation. Happiness is nonetheless true happiness because it must come to an end, nor do thought and love lose their value because they are not everlasting.”

-- Bertrand Russell, "What I Believe," 1925, reprinted in Why I Am Not a Christian (1957)

I have posted this before, but it is worth repeating.

Alpha Cam: Runaway Star

Credit & Copyright: Steve Mandel (Galaxy Images)

Explanation: Runaway stars are massive stars traveling rapidly through interstellar space. Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Alpha Cam has produced this graceful arcing bow wave or bow shock - moving at over 60 kilometers per second and compressing the interstellar material in its path. The bright star above and left of center in this wide (3x2 degree) view, Alpha Cam is about 25-30 times as massive as the Sun, 5 times hotter (30,000 kelvins), and over 500,000 times brighter. About 4,000light-years away in the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis, the star also produces a strong wind. The bow shock stands off about 10 light-years from the star itself. What set this star in motion? Astronomers have long thought that Alpha Cam was flung out of a nearby cluster of young hot stars due to gravitational interactions with other cluster members or perhaps by the supernova explosion of a massive companion star.

Adam Sandler - Thanksgiving song

This is so stupid it's funny.

Day of Appreciation and Love

Many of us are going to be spending Thanksgiving with religious members of our families, and will all have to endure "Grace" who happens to show up at most family gatherings. I just wanted to express that atheists are thankful (though we may hide in the basement during prayer time.) The big difference between atheists and believers is that atheists are thankful to real flesh and blood human beings who make our lives a bit better during our “brief moment in time.”

(originally published HERE on Nov. 23, 2005)

Although I have no religious beliefs, I still am very thankful for the many good things in my life. Who am I thankful to? My thanks and appreciation goes to my dear husband for getting up at 4 a.m. every day to drive over an hour to a job where he works hard all day long to provide for his family. I am thankful to him for his love and committment for more than thirty years of marriage. I thank him for being a loving and helpful father to his three children. I am thankful to my children for their love and the joy they bring into my life. I am thankful to my parents for giving me life. I am thankful to them for raising me and loving me even when I was not very loveable. I am thankful to my doctors for taking care of my health and doing all they can to cure my illnesses, and keep me and my family healthy. I am thankful to the truck driver who hauls my food to the stores where I shop, I am thankful to the farmer who grows and harvests the food. I am thankful to the inventors of all of our modern technology that makes my life so comfortable and convenient. I am thankful to our police officers and soldiers for protecting us. I am thankful to NASA to take us to worlds we cannot see from where we are. I am thankful to the teachers, the explorers, researchers, scientists and others who provide us with information we need to enhance our lives. I am thankful for the entertainers, writers, film makers, artists, musicians, actors, etc. who bring some joy and imagination to our lives. These are the ones to who I owe my thanks.

Thanksgiving is a day to get together with those we appreciate and love and to celebrate that love and appreciation we have for each other. I wish everyone, no matter what your beliefs are, a very happy Thanksgiving Day with all of those who matter most to you, whether there in person or far away but close in heart.

Happy Turkey Day everyone! Hang in there with the relatives!

Human invention never ceases to amaze me

A Bucket-Wheel Excavator on Earth

Credit: ThyssenKrupp Technologies, SwapMeetDave

Explanation: Please wait while one of the largest mobile machines in the world crosses the road. The machine pictured above is a bucket-wheel excavator used in modern surface mining. Machines like this have given humanity the ability to mine minerals and change the face of planet Earth in new and dramatic ways. Some open pit mines, for example, are visible from orbit. The largest excavators are over 200 meters long and 100 meters high, now dwarfing the huge NASA Crawler that transports space shuttles to the launch pads. Bucket-wheel excavators can dig a hole the length of a football field to over 25 meters deep in a single day. They may take a while to cross a road, though, with a top speed under one kilometer per hour.

The 3 most frightening words ever invented by any religion "Come Join Us" - Bad Religion

so you say you gotta know why the world goes 'round
and you can't find the truth in the things you've found
and you're scared shitless 'cuz evil abounds
come and join us

well I heard you were looking for a place to fit in
full of adherent people with the same objective
a family to cling to and call brethren
come and join us

all we want to do is change your mind
all you need to do is close your eyes

so come and join us
come and join us
come and join us

don't you see the trouble that most people are in
and that they just want you for their own advantage
but I swear to you we're different from all of them
come and join us
I can tell you are lookin' for a way to live
where truth is determined by consensus
full of codified arbitrary directives
come and join us
all we want to have is your small mind
turn it into one of our own kind
you can go through life adrift and alone
desperate, desolate, on your own
but we're lookin' for a few more stalwart clones
so come and join us
come and join us
come and join us

we've got spite and dedication as a vehement brew
the world hates us, well we hate them too
but you're exempted of course if you
come and join us
independent, self-contented, revolutionary
intellectual, brave, strong and scholarly
if you're not one of them, you're us already so
come and join us

A Fog Bow Over California

Credit & Copyright: Mila Zinkova

Explanation: Is that white arch real? 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. Close inspection of the far right of the full image will show one of the two suspension towers of the Golden Gate Bridge in California, USA.

God: A Career Retrospective

LINK TO SERIES!!

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

The Cat's Eye Nebula

Credit: J. P. Harrington (U. Maryland) & K. J. Borkowski (NCU) HS, NASA

Explanation: Three thousand light-years away, a dying star throws off shells of glowing gas. This image from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals the Cat's Eye Nebula to be one of the most complex planetary nebulae known. In fact, the features seen in the Cat's Eye are so complex that astronomers suspect the bright central object may actually be a binary star system. The term planetary nebula, used to describe this general class of objects, is misleading. Although these objects may appear round and planet-like in small telescopes, high resolution images reveal them to be stars surrounded by cocoons of gas blown off in the late stages of stellar evolution.

Ban religion, says Elton John

RIGHT ON, ELTON JOHN ! Religion has caused more harm than good and is STILL causing more harm than good. (Elton was my favorite singer in high school and for about a decade after till he turned "mellow" and started losing his voice.)




LONDON (AFP) - Religion should be outlawed because it lacks compassion and promotes hatred of homosexuals, gay pop star Elton John said in an interview.

The singer was speaking in a special "gay edition" of The Observer newspaper's Music Monthly Magazine, where he shared his views on subjects ranging from being a music icon to Prime Minister Tony Blair's stance on the Iraq war.

At a time when religion is the subject of fierce debate in Britain over the right to wear the Muslim veil and other faith symbols, John complained there was a general lack of leadership from spiritual leaders.

"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. From my point of view, I would ban religion completely," he was quoted as saying.

"Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate. The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion?

"Why aren't they having a conclave? Why aren't they coming together? I said this after 9/11 and people thought I was nuts. Instead of more violence why isn't there a meeting of religious leaders?" he said. WHOLE STORY LINK

Well...I can tell you why. Elton. It's because religious leaders believe that there MUST be an end of the world to "fulfill the prophecy" of the "final Armageddon" and the final "judgement" by their mythological sky daddy. So, looking for help via religious leaders is a asking them to give up their belief that a “final battle” will happen.

Reason and Science - Kermit

Thanks to Bacon Eating Atheist Jew for posting this from the Infidelguy. I love Kermie!

Infidel guy - Thanking God in Sports

The Infidel Guy criticizes athletes that thank God for destroying their opponents.

Woman fatally bitten by snake in church

Woman fatally bitten by snake in church

LONDON, Ky. - A woman who was bitten by a snake at a church that neighbors say practices serpent handling died of her wounds hours later, a newspaper reported.

Linda Long, 48, was bitten Sunday at East London Holiness Church, where neighbors said the reptiles are handled as part of religious services, The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Tuesday.

Long died at University of Kentucky Medical Center about four hours after being bitten, authorities told the newspaper.

"She said she was bitten by a snake at her church," said Lt. Ed Sizemore of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office.

Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in Kentucky. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 to $100 fine.

Police said they had not received any reports of snake handling at the church.

Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed.

Church officials could not be reached for comment.

(I guess she wasn't a "True Believer")

Just for fun

From B Z Toons

What’s wrong with the world? It’s a global reptilian conspiracy!

Just when you think you have heard it all, along comes something else! In all of my studies of mythology and world religions, I missed this somehow until GifS visitor Michael came by and introduced us to Credo Mutwa and David Icke.

In the following YouTube, Icke talks about how he believes that the human race has been secretly dominated by an extraterrestrial reptilian race whose members are somehow related to the powerful elite families of the world. He mentioned that these reptiles are from a planet called “Lemuria” and that they are able to change their appearance from reptiles to humans in order to enter different dimensions.

Alllllllrightythen!

Apparently, “amazing confirmation” is claimed to be found that a reptilian extraterrestrial race has controlled the world for thousands of years. A reptilian takeover of Planet Earth has occurred, and a shape-shifting Reptilian race (the “Chitauri” to Africans) has controlled humanity for thousands of years and how their bloodlines are in the positions of royal, political and economic power today.

I think these guys have found a way to sell books and DVDs and make themselves some buck-a-ronis!

David Icke Interviews Arizona Wilder

Remember to vote tomorrow!

In Illinois we are voting for governor…the incumbent Rod Blagojevich (D) or Judy Baar Topinka (R)

Though both have somewhat tainted records, and also have had to deal with allegations of corruption (and I am not thrilled with the choice, regardless)…I must choose one.

Eeeenie meeeenie miney mo….

well must go with the Dem even though I am not thrilled about it. Topinka’s associations with past Governor, George Ryan (R) (who is going to jail soon on racketeering and fraud convictions)concerns me more than the yet unproven accusations of Blago’s alleged political hiring.

I hate having to pick what I feel is the lesser of two evils. I would love to be able to vote for a candidate who I can at least have respect for.

God and Nipples

Maybe Sylvan can help?

MAD-TV - Christian Groupies

Touched by His Noodly Appendage

Found this over at Fark.com

"Before you open your mouth, know your joke"

UPDATE to better explain my position: it would have been an excellent joke, making an excellent point if he would have remembered the punchline! doh! Someone get some duct tape till elections are over!

Echoes from the Edge

Credit: NASA, ESA, and H. Bond (STScI )

Explanation: Variable star V838 Monocerotis lies near the edge of our Milky Way Galaxy, about 20,000 light-years from the Sun. Still, ever since a sudden outburst was detected in January 2002, this enigmatic star has taken the center of an astronomical stage. As astronomers watch, light from the outburst echoes across pre-existing dust shells around V838 Mon, progressively illuminating ever more distant regions. This stunning image of swirls of dust surrounding the star was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope in September of this year. The picture spans about 14 light-years. Astronomers expect the expanding echoes to continue to light up the dusty environs of V838 Mon for at least the rest of the current decade. Researchers have now found that V838 Mon is likely a young binary star, but the cause of its extraordinary outburst remains a mystery.

Flat-earther invasion

Student's "parody" costume of Hitler censored

No one complains about kids dressing up as serial killers or chain-saw murderers and zombie /psycho flesh-eating monsters. Hitler was a monster, so what is wrong with wearing a costume of an evil monster like all the rest of the gruesome costumes found in the Halloween macabre dress-up tradition? Before anyone reminds me that the difference is that Hitler was real, that he killed millions of Jews, and all the stuff which is common knowledge, let me just say that there are also real serial killers, real people who murder with chainsaws and other gruesome methods, and flesh eaters like the Hannibal Lechters and Jeffrey Dahmers who still exist in this world but haven't been caught yet.

Was this student's rights infringed upon?

Student causes stir with Hitler costume

NEW YORK - A Brooklyn high school student caused a stir when he showed up for class dressed as Adolf Hitler for Halloween. Walter Petryk, 16, defended his costume Tuesday, insisting it was a satire of the Nazi dictator.

But some students and officials at Leon M. Goldstein High School were not impressed.

School administrators ordered the junior honors student to remove his beige coat bearing a red swastika armband or possibly face spending the day in the office, Petryk told the New York Post for Wednesday editions.

Petryk refused, saying his parody was protected by his right to freedom of expression.

Petryk's stepfather, Howard Bloom, who is Jewish and lost relatives during the Nazi genocide, told the Post he was initially "very disturbed" by the costume but nonetheless defended his stepson's rights.

"If he had wanted to advocate my genocide, I wouldn't have allowed" the costume, Bloom said. "That wasn't the spirit in which he was doing this at all. He was doing it in the spirit of Monty Python and Mel Brooks."

The city's Department of Education discipline code allows for the removal of students from class if they wear clothing that causes a disruption.

(It's A HALLOWEEN COSTUME for crying out loud! If they want to be ridiculous, then be fair about it and ban ALL Halloween costumes for being outlandish and absurd and "disrupting" the normal school day. Geesh!)

The student succumbed to the pressure . . .

In order to avoid a disruption on the way to school, Petryk disguised his Hitler getup as a costume of Charlie Chaplin, adding a bowler hat and cane.

Sonnet Written in Disgust of Vulgar Superstition by John Keats

The church bells toll a melancholy round,
Calling the people to some other prayers,
Some other gloominess, more dreadful cares,
More hearkening to the sermon's horrid sound.
Surely the mind of man is closely bound
In some black spell; seeing that each one tears
Himself from fireside joys, and Lydian airs,
And converse high of these with glory crown'd.
Still, still they toll, and I should feel a damp,--
A chill as from a tomb, did I not know
That they are dying like an outburnt lamp;
That 'tis their sighing, wailing ere they go
Into oblivion;--that fresh flowers will grow,
And many glories of immortal stamp.

Another Spooky Nebula !

Credit: Adam Block, NOAO, AURA, NSF

Explanation: The dark nebula SH2-136 appears to be celebrating Halloween all of the time. The complex process of star formation create dust clouds of many shapes and sizes -- it is (this link is cool!) human perception that might identify a ghoulish creature, on the right of the above image, chasing humans. Halloween's modern celebration retains historic roots in dressing to scare away the spirits of the dead. Since the fifth century BC, Halloween has been celebrated as a cross-quarter day, a day halfway between an equinox (equal day / equal night) and a solstice (minimum day / maximum night in the northern hemisphere). With our modern calendar, however, the real cross-quarter day will occur next week. Another cross-quarter day is Groundhog Day and Walpurgis Night.

The Witch Head Nebula

I posted this back in June but thought I would bring it forward since it's so fitting for Halloween:

Credit: G. Greaney

Explanation: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble ... Maybe Macbeth should have consulted the Witch Head Nebula. This suggestively shaped reflection nebula is associated with the bright star Rigel in the constellation Orion. More formally known as IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula glows primarily by light reflected from Rigel. Rigel is located about one photo-width off the image to the right. Fine dust in the nebula reflects the light. The blue color is caused not only by Rigel's blue color but because the dust grains reflect blue light more efficiently than red. The same physical process causes Earth's daytime sky to appear blue, although the scatterers here are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. The nebula lies about 1000 light-years away.

Boston Legal's smackdown on religion

Thanks to Bligbi for pointing us to this:

Is Europe's traditionally secular liberalism threatened?

While we are here in the U.S.A. trying to hold back the Xian right on issues concerning separation of church and state, Intelligent Design being taught in public school science classes, women's right to choose, etc., we may be overlooking the growth of another rapidly growing religious group whose numbers are becoming significant enough to sway the outcomes of the above-mentioned issues. Some might call me an "alarmist", but I see that our challenges as atheists are only going to get larger, and maybe sooner than we think.

This may not be of immediate concern for Americans, but it is for the atheists and mainstream religious in Europe. Statistics show that birthrates among Europeans are in decline (along with meager economic growth) while there has been a steady flow of Muslim immigrants who settle in countries all over Europe, produce large numbers of children (who are then natural born Europeans), and are being raised to perpetuate the Muslim faith AND whose votes have a strong influence in the outcome of elections.

Omer Taspinar of Global Politics writes in his essay Europe's Muslim Street: "Islam may still be a faraway religion for millions of Americans. But for Europeans it is local politics. The 15 million Muslims of the European Union (EU)—up to three times as many as live in the United States—are becoming a more powerful political force than the fabled Arab street. Europe’s Muslims hail from different countries and display diverse religious tendencies, but the common denominator that links them to the Muslim world is their sympathy for Palestine and Palestinians. And unlike most of their Arab brethren, growing numbers of Europe’s Muslims can vote in elections that count."

From BBC News:Islam is widely considered Europe’s fastest growing religion, with immigration and above average birth rates leading to a rapid increase in the Muslim population.

The exact number of Muslims is difficult to establish however, as census figures are often questioned and many countries choose not to compile such information anyway.

Quote from: HARUN YAHYA : The Most Rapidly Expanding
Religion in Europe

When all the facts are brought together, they reveal that there is a strong movement toward Islam in many countries, and that Islam is increasingly becoming the most important topic of world interest. These developments indicate that the world is moving toward a totally new era, one in which, God willing, Islam will gain in importance and the Qur'an's moral teachings will spread like a rising tide. It is important to realize that this highly significant development was announced in the Qur'an 14 centuries ago:

They desire to extinguish God's Light with their mouths. But God refuses to do other than perfect His Light, even though the unbelievers detest it. It is He Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the True Religion to exalt it over every other religion, even though the idolaters detest it. (Qur'an, 9:32-33)

Should American Atheists and Secularists be concerned?
LINK: U.S. Muslims moving into prime-time politics

Carnival is back in town