Happy Yule

Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, Happy Winter Solstice, etc...

And I Thought It Was Cold Here in Arkansas

This morning it was 10°F here in NE Arkansas but get a load of this!



Yipes! That's just nuts!

The Beauty of Nature

Just in time for Winter Solstice!

Click here to see more beautiful microphotos of snow flakes.

This is Perfect for Festivus

For several years I've considered celebrating Festivus instead of Christmas at this time of year. You know, the holiday that was made popular on Seinfeld. Anyway, I ran across this video on a great Festivus Website. It's perfect for Festivus:



------------------Happy Festivus!------------------

A Moving Story on NPR

I heard this commentary by Benjamin Tupper, a captain in the Army Nation Guard (who also just happens to be an atheist), on NPR's Morning Edition this morning and just had to share it. The link will take you to a transcript of the story and also allow you to play it. His story is very moving. It is also refreshing to hear an atheist speak out and be heard by the nation. And, have us portrayed in a positive light.

Repelled by Expelled

Well Roger Ebert has finally reviewed Ben Stein's horrible, piece of crap, pro-ID film Expelled. To say he didn't like it is an understatement. I always knew that Ebert was a good movie reviewer but now I find out he's also a rational, thinking person! Here's a quote from the review:

This film is cheerfully ignorant, manipulative, slanted, cherry-picks quotations, draws unwarranted conclusions, makes outrageous juxtapositions (Soviet marching troops representing opponents of ID), pussy-foots around religion (not a single identified believer among the ID people), segues between quotes that are not about the same thing, tells bald-faced lies, and makes a completely baseless association between freedom of speech and freedom to teach religion in a university class that is not about religion.

The Nigerian Spam Scam

Did you ever wonder what happens if you respond the one of those "Nigerian" emails promising to let you in on a bunch of money? Well you can find out in this funny article at Silicon.com.

“The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted.”

That's the conclusion of an article in the online version of the London Times. It summarizes a 2005 study that was published in the Journal of Religion and Society, a US academic journal. It provides strong evidence that a high incidence of religious belief correlate with higher rates of various social ills such as STD s, teen pregnancy, abortion, murder, violent crime, suicide, etc. And, though correlation is not the same as causation, it does show that even though a country is highly religious it isn't necessarily highly moral.

In Honor of Charles Darwin's Birthday

Drink a toast to Charlie with Chumbawamba:

Darwin Day is Coming

Mark you calendars now and start planning your Darwin day event! February 12th 2009 is the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. There are sure to be celebrations all around the world. There's all kinds of great information on the Darwin Day Celebration website. Incidentally, last July 1st was the 150th anniversary of the theory of evolution.

Smak Dem Christians Down

This song speaks for itself:

Whew...

...I know... it was a landslide. But still, when I think back to 2004 I can't help but feel like we just dodged a bullet. One thing's for sure, the new president has his work cut out for him. A lot of people are expecting him to work magic with the economy. I hope that Obama can get it across to them that there are no easy quick fixes for this mess. After all it took eight years to get us here.

I thought Obama's speech was quite good. However, I was a little disappointed by this line:

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled.

I know it was just wishful thinking, but I half expected him to include "atheists" in the list. Oh well, I can dream, can't I?

VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!

Today is election day. I know, I know, it sounds trite, but this is probably the most important election day we've ever faced in our lifetimes. We have the opportunity to make a change in the direction that this country is going and, maybe, just maybe, restore it's standing in the world a little bit. In case you're confused and haven't made up you mind yet, here's a little video to watch:



Now... go out and VOTE!

I'm back

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. We've had a very eventful October. Everything from my father-in-law's death/funeral to my daughter's 18th birthday. But, I'm back and ready to go...

Another PSA from NationalBanana.com

It sure is a good thing we're getting rid of this guy. I just hope we don't end up with This Guy 2:

A Solution for the Abusive "Holy Men" Problem

This sounds like a great product. Not only would it help with the pervert catholic priest problem but I'll bet it could handle these misogynistic fundi-jewish assholes too!

The Attack of the Chronophage

I've always been fasinated with clocks. Especially unusual designs. This one has got to be the most unusual I've seen in a long time:

Alaskan Women Against Palin

There was an anti-Palin rally held in Alaska on September 13th. It was bigger than than the pro-Palin rally that was extensively covered by the press and yet we didn't hear anything about it in the media. I was made aware of it by Snopes.com and found the video on YouTube. But, it's important for everybody to know that Sarah Palin doesn't represent the views of all woman (or men).

Roy Zimmerman Explains Bush Foreign Policy

Here is a new video by Roy Zimmerman that really explains the Bush Iraq Policy. The song is from his Thanks for the Support CD:

Great Video

Here is a truly inspiring video made by the Center For Inquiry. Sure wish this could be broadcast during prime time:

Jon Stewart Does it Again

This one had me laughing out loud:

Tax Cut Truth

Believe it or not, about 53% of Americans actually think that their taxes will increase under the Obama tax program! Well, here's a nifty little site that does a good estimation of how much your taxes will be reduced by the Obama tax plan. It also shows how much more you would pay under the McSame plan. Try it out: www.ObamaTaxCut.com

The Anne Kilkenny Letter

I ran across this letter by Wasilla, Alaska resident, Anne Kilkenny, about Sarah Palin a few days ago but was not sure if it was genuine. According to Snopes it is. It's quite telling and provides a look into who Sarah Palin really is. It's a little long but worth reading. Basically, it confirms most of what we already know about her, including the fact that the information presented by the Rep. party was not completely true.

The Genius of Jon Stewart

He does a great job of pointing out conservative hypocrisy:

This just about sums it up...

Lies, lies, lies!

I watched Sarah Palin's speech last night and boy does it scare me. It was chock full of lies. That would be worrisome enough but, what makes it worse is the way people are reacting to it. Of course, the Republicans at the convention went all gah-gah, that's to be expected. But the press (and everybody else, for that matter) are making more of her gender, her pregnant daughter, and her "hockey mom" status than what she actually said. She lied about Obama, she lied about, herself, and she lied about McCain. Please, we need to focus on WHAT is being said, not who is saying it.

How Obvious Can They Be?!

McCain chose Alaska governor, Sarah Palin as his VP running mate. I hope I'm not the only one that sees the obvious similarities to what went on this past week in Denver. (e.g., picking a woman during the week that the women's suffrage anniversary occurs, and being "historical," and the fact that she is a union member and has "working class" roots) Some of her views really worry me. Things like being anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-gay rights, and anti-environment (in favor of drilling in ANWR). Talk about a "hail-mary" tactic (or should I say "hail-sarah"). One good thing is that the GOP can't criticize Obama's lack of experience anymore; Palin is much less experienced. She's only been governor for less than two years and before that she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (pop. about 9000). Before that she was a council woman and a served as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. I sure hope that disappointed Hilary supporters aren't fooled by this move, because, except for her gender, she sure ain't anything like Ms. Clinton.

And Now Something Completely Different...

It's... This guy on YouTube plays his hands like a virtuoso. In this video he performs a Rossini overture (The Barber of Seville) with great intonation, breath control, dynamics, vibrato, and expression. Amazing:

New Byrne/Eno Record

Wow! One of my favorite musicians, David Byrne, is releasing a collaborative CD with Brian Eno called Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. The last time they worked together was almost 30 years ago on an album entitled My Life in the Bush Of Ghosts. Here's David's announcement video:

Scripture: the first refuge of the Ignoramus

Good ol' Pat Condell. He sure does tell it like it is. I was just perusing his channel on YouTube the other day and ran across this video. I've always wondered why xtians insist on quoting scripture to us non-believers. First of all, we've probably heard it all before (many of us being raised in xtian homes), and secondly, it won't sway us because it is simply fiction written by a bunch of bronze age tribal desert nomads and really has no relevant meaning for today's world. Anyway, watch and enjoy... it's pretty funny:

I've Gotta' See...

...this movie if for no other reason than for this musical number:



And here's the trailer:

Something new

I've justed added something new to my blogroll. It's a physics blog called Built on Facts. It's cool... check it out.

PZ Myers Desecrates the Cracker: the Video

ROFLMAO! This video is simply hilarious.

Crackergate: The End?

Well, as promised, PZMyers has put jesus out of his misery, that's assuming that the cracker that he "desecrated" was actually consecrated and transubstantiated. The essay that he wrote to accompany the picture of the so called desecration was very good. I especially liked the conclusion that nothing should be held sacred. And to illustrate that idea he included a page from the koran, and a page from Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion. The last paragraph was the best:

By the way, I didn't want to single out just the cracker, so I nailed it to a few ripped-out pages from the Qur'an and The God Delusion. They are just paper. Nothing must be held sacred. Question everything. God is not great, Jesus is not your lord, you are not disciples of any charismatic prophet. You are all human beings who must make your way through your life by thinking and learning, and you have the job of advancing humanity's knowledge by winnowing out the errors of past generations and finding deeper understanding of reality. You will not find wisdom in rituals and sacraments and dogma, which build only self-satisfied ignorance, but you can find truth by looking at your world with fresh eyes and a questioning mind.

You owe it to yourself to read PZ's complete blog entry.

So, is this the end of "Crackergate?" Well, the fact that the "Desecration" blog entry has over 2300 comments posted to it may be a clue.

"Kiwi" a Video

I ran across this video on YouTube the other day and thought it was great.

Al Gore's Challenge

On 25 May 1961 John F. Kennedy made his famous challenge to the US to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. Many at that time thought it impossible but on 20 July 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Now Al Gore has made an equally difficult challenge, one that is more critical to the survival of humanity:

Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.

Again, many are saying that this is not possible. And, while it may be very difficult, it is within our reach. After all, we managed to put a man on the moon with far less sophisticated technology than is available today.

This is so important. I hope that everybody will get behind Mr. Gore and push our government and industry leaders to make this challenge a reality. As Al said:

We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that has to change.

Here is Al Gore's speech in its entirety. I encourage you to watch the whole thing, it is very inspiring:


To get involved yourself go to WeCanSolveIt.org.

The PZMyers Saga Continues

As you may know I am a reader of several blogs but my favorite is Pharyngula by Dr. Paul Z. Myers, a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota at Morris. He is a wonderful teacher and writer and I always enjoy his posts concerning biology and evolution. He is also a very outspoken atheist and always manages to say exactly what I feel when it comes to religion and the other superstitious silliness in our world.

Recently, he posted an entry about the Florida State University student, Webster Cook, and his run-in with the Catholic Church over the communion host and the fact that he left the mass with it instead of eating it. Mr. Cook drew the ire of Bill Donohue and the Catholic League (a fundamentalist Catholic organization). Dr. Myers was justifiably outraged over the treatment that Mr. Cook received, which included death threats, all over a little piece of bland bread.

At one point in his post PZ said,

Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers? There's no way I can personally get them — my local churches have stakes prepared for me, I'm sure — but if any of you would be willing to do what it takes to get me some, or even one, and mail it to me, I'll show you sacrilege, gladly, and with much fanfare.

As a result, he is also receiving death threats as well as other nasty email and comments on his blog. And all because of something he wrote. Keep in mind, he hasn't actually done anything to a cracker!

Well, today he was interviewed by the Minnesota Independent concerning the whole mess. It's a good interview and really puts things in perspective.

This situation has given us another opportunity to see christian "love" in action.

FOX Smears Obama

I never intended to use my blog as a political soapbox, but this is just too maddening to let go. The FOX network has been blatantly attacking Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, using racist and hate-filled comments; things like, "accidentally confusing" Obama's name with Osama, calling Michelle, Barack's "Baby Mama," or referring to Michelle as a terrorist. Not only is this just plain wrong but it's unethical and bordering on criminal. Here is a video that gives several more examples of this abuse:



MoveOn.org has a petition that you can sign that, when it reaches half a million signatures, will be presented to FOX at their headquarters. It will also bring this to the attention of FOX's advertisers (hitting FOX in their money-belt). If this makes you angry then click this link to sign the petition.

The OUT Campaign

You've probably noticed the large scarlet letter "A" on left side of this blog. It stands for Atheist and is the symbol of the OUT campaign. The idea was started by Richard Dawkins. He has proposed that it's about time that we atheists, freethinkers, humanists, and other godless people come out of our closets and stand together. There are more of us than we think and if we started to speak out we could encourage others to join with us. And, we could be a voice for science and reason in a world of superstition and credulity.

The Wall of Separation

I've just added a new blog to my blogroll (below left). It is the official blog of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Check out the latest post... very intersting.

Graham Chapman Memorial

I just ran across this today. It's such a fitting memorial for Graham Chapman... funny and touching.

One Nation, Indivisible!

Happy Independence Day! In honor of the day I did a little research on the idea that the USA is a Christian nation founded on Christianity. What I found is that this just isn't true. It's a lie that the fundi-wackos have been trying to pass off as truth for many years.

The most conclusive evidence that this is not a Christian nation comes from the US Constitution itself. The document that our government and laws are based on. Nowhere in it is there any mention of God, Jesus, Christianity, or any other religion. In fact, religion is mentioned only twice: In the 1st amendment it says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," which Thomas Jefferson interpreted in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of 1 January 1802:

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."

While it is true that "separation of church and state" is not explicitly mentioned neither is "freedom of religion," and yet, both are implied by the 1st amendment. The other place where religion is mentioned is in Article VI, Section 3, ". . . no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

There is also much evidence for the secular nature of the US government to be found in the words of the founding fathers themselves. So Happy Birthday USA, one Nation, Indivisible, with liberty and justice for ALL.

Happy Evolution Day!

Today is the 150th anniversary of the first public presentation of evolution by natural selection. On July 1st 1858 the works of both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace were presented at Linnean Society of London as a joint reading of their papers. You can read more about this at the Beagle Project. This is just the beginning of a great year to promote evolution and science in general as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of evolution and Charles Darwin's 200th birthday!

A Shining Example of Christian Love

Leave it to good ol' Fred Phelps to give us an example of christian love at it's best. I'm sure that if George Carlin could see this he would be laughing. A word of warning: this video is exactly what you would expect from FP, it will make you laugh and angry at the same time.

Busy, busy, busy

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days. I'm playing viola in the pit orchestra for a local production of "The Wizard of Oz" and have be so tired at the end of the day that I haven't been online at all. Tonight is closing night so I'll be well rested by tomorrow.

A Cool Ad

I saw this on Pharyngula and just had to share it... it's great!

A Little Bit of Irony

This article in LiveScience titled "North Pole Could be Ice-Free This Summer" is truly distressing. Considering that the ice at the north pole has not melted during the span of human memory. It's just more evidence that global climate change (a.k.a. global warming) is real. But what really struck me was this passage:

Russia and other countries, meanwhile, have been arguing over who has rights to the region's resources, including potential oil reserves.

I wonder if I'm the only one who sees the irony in this.

I'm New to This

Well this is my first blog. Although it's my second post. George's death inspired me to start blogging. I don't know how often I'll be posting but I'm going to try to put something up everyday.

Gee, he was just here a minute ago.

The world of non-believers lost a great member and advocate and the world at large lost a brilliant comedian on Sunday. George Carlin died Sunday, 22 June 2008. He will be missed.

George Carlin: In His Own Words


George Carlin: On Religion