Just thought this was cool.

Tags: cool, nature, owls

Sorry I have been out of it lately. Between work and a back injury I have not had the desire to post much. My back is slowly feeling better, but work is work!

Here is a musing: I have been comically engaged lately by the whole PZ/Dawkins expelled fun. It seems to me that by refusing to allow PZ in to see Expelled the film makers have been able to create the most negative advertising possible, which in turn will probably cause more people to see the movie when (and if) it ever comes out. Problem is, most people who go see it will probably do so to make fun, or have a good laugh at the idiocy on the screen.

Ben Stein is about as moronic as anyone can be. I thank DirecTV for my DVR every time he is on CBS Sunday Morning, just so I can fast forward through his usually imbecilic commentaries. How on Earth do the film makers expect anyone to stay focused all the way through a movie that he is narrating. Please. This movie was doomed from the beginning.

I think that the majority of people in this country are smart enough to see through the stupidity of this movie. So hopefully it will find its way to the trash heap of bad lies put on film such as Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods. At least Chariots of the Gods was somewhat entertaining.

This is an interesting interview with physicist Steven Weinberg concerning religion, physics/science, and the Large Hadron Collider. He has some interesting anecdotes, but I can’t say I agree with his sentiments concerning religion. Maybe I am in the minority, but I think religion and a true understanding of the universe do “collide.”

You’ve said that Darwin’s theory of natural selection was the biggest step in this direction. What about the possible findings in particle physics?

I don’t think that discoveries in elementary particle physics in themselves are likely to have anything like the impact of Darwin’s theory. After all, I don’t know of any religious people who say that the breaking of the symmetry between the weak and the electromagnetic interactions requires divine intervention. Discovering the Higgs boson, confirming the theory of electroweak symmetry breaking, is not going to upset people’s religion.

Will Physicists Find God? | Newsweek International Edition | Newsweek.com

Tags: physics, god, religion

I love this holiday. It is so retarded and a reason why I am not a believer.

In theater we have this great term: verisimilitude. Which basically means we try to produce something that, while not real, appears to be real. We reflect real life. It goes hand in hand with the willing suspension of disbelief. And this is what easter asks us to do. I now perceive all of the weird delusions of easter as shitty verisimilitude which is asking people to suspend their disbelief in something that IS NOT REAL and cannot physically happen. People don’t die, lay around for a few days, and then come back to life only to fly up into the clouds. Resurrection and Levitiation have NEVER been proven to be possible and outside of religious texts, have never been actually witnessed. Yet we are expected to believe the accounts of stories written a couple of thousand years ago. Stories that have only one source, do not show up in any other contemporaneous accounts, and are in no way provable.

What a bunch of crap.

Happy Vernal Equinox, everybody!

“After being nailed to the cross, I feel so refreshed, like all my sins are washed away,” Mamangon said. “I will continue this until my son Alex is cured.”

Devotees nailed to cross - World Faith- msnbc.com

I think we should all try a little cross nailing to get that refreshed feeling.

I mean really, I am sure we need a little shock and andrenaline rush to make us feel better, until we come down from the cross and think: “Holy fuck! I gots holes in my hands!”

These are some real delusional, ignorant, asshats!

Tags: delusional, crucifixion, stupid, asshats

Go for it Rob Sherman and Daughter. I hope this law suit goes forward and that the judge backs up Mr. Sherman. Prayer, even disguised as a “Moment of Silence” has no place in public schools.

The lawsuit was filed by talk show host Rob Sherman, an outspoken atheist, and his daughter, a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School.

‘Moment of silence’ challenged in Ill. - Education- msnbc.com

Tags: prayer, religion, education

It is evident that for him the mathematical nature of the world and its comprehensibility by humans constitute the circumstantial evidence of the existence of God.”

Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities

Do we convict on circumstantial evidence? I don’t buy his argument. I feel he is basically dressing his own idea of intelligent creation in different clothes. Just because we can describe the universe through mathamatics does not mean that it is evidence of god.

Tags: templetonprize, math, science, ID

Concerned about what they see as a rise in the defamation of Islam, leaders of the world’s Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols. It was a key issue during a two-day summit that ended Friday in this western Africa capital.The Muslim leaders are attempting to demand redress from nations like Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and again last month, to the fury of the Muslim world.

Muslim leaders want to curb ‘Islamophobia’ - Mideast/N. Africa - msnbc.com

These muslims simply want to rest of the world to fall into line and agree with their concept of reality.

If this isn’t religious fascism I don’t know what is.

The problem is, most of the countries they want to sue have fairly entrenched systems of free speech, are secular governments, and I certainly hope would never bow their crazy need to control everyone that isn’t Muslim. I agree with Pat Condell on this one, these countries need to see the light and STOP bowing to religious pressure.

Tags: Islam, fascism

Ok, I am a little bothered by this post, by Dave Scot from the UD blog. The real offending paragraph:

Evolutionary theory doesn’t explain exactly how the first life was created and doesn’t demand any particular modus operandi. However, that’s not to say it doesn’t make any assumptions at all. It assumes that the first life was a simple cell and the mechanism(s) described by the theory made a simple common ancestor (or perhaps a few simple common ancestors) into the complex and diverse spectrum of life we observe today.

Does neo-Darwinian Theory Include the Origin of Life? | Uncommon Descent

As has been repeatedly pointed out these dummies really don’t understand science, and they sure don’t understand evolution. First of all, science doesn’t make assumptions. It poses questions, and searches for answers. I don’t think you will find an evolutionist who assumes that the first life was a “simple cell.” Any scientist worth his salt will state that they don’t know what the first living organism was. They will say, however, given what information we now have that it is likely that life started out as a single celled organism. We still do not know how that came about, be we are learning.

He then goes on to lambast Dawkins as being unable to state unequivocally that he and others presume the first life was this or that.

Dawkins chose to maintain the illusion by admitting that design is a possibility then tried to weasel out of it by saying that the designer is almost certainly an evolved intelligence. If he doesn’t say almost certainly then again he admits to holding a non-scientific presumption.

What he doesn’t realize is that there is a subtle difference between “presume” and “assume” (no ass jokes here…). Presumption usually means that a probability is involved-in this case, due to evidence there is a scientific probability that life started as a single celled organism. Assumption requires no such probability or evidence. So, yes-Dawkins, and others, make presumptions about the beginning of life, they do not, however, make assumptions.

Dave Scot is trying the old word switcheroo here, trying to lure his audience into believing a lie. He does not give us any information from where he has gotten these supposed statements from Dawkins, who may or may not have stated anything of the sort Scot is using here. Which, in my book, is a tad intellectually dishonest.

Tags: evolution, IDiots, intelligent design, dawkins, darwin

H/T to The Friendly Atheist…

YesNoGod.com - Do you believe in God?

Tags: atheism

It seems that the Southern Baptist Convention may be caught between a rock and a hard place on this one. On one side, they want to be able to do their part to help fight global warming, but by making a statement that they should, are they not, on the other side, giving credence to the very science that they fight so hard against when it comes to the evo/creation debate?

I find it interesting that the theist heavy-weights like Dobson actually tried to fight against the NAE policy director Cizik, claiming that moral issues were more important than the environmental fight. But when one thinks that the rapture is going to come at any time, one is less inclined to think about the repurcussions of damaging the world in which they live.

The competing and evolving views on climate change within the Southern Baptist Convention mirror a debate that has played out among members of the theologically like-minded National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group that represents about 30 million people in 45,000 church congregations, including many Baptist congregations.

Its Washington policy director, the Rev. Richard Cizik, has pressed for years for more action to combat climate change, saying in a recent documentary that “to harm this world by environmental degradation is an offense against God.”

His advocacy raised eyebrows given that global warming sometimes conjured “impressions in people’s minds of being liberal, democratic, left wing, big government, tied to population control, all these kinds of things,” Cizik told CNN last year.

Several conservative evangelicals signed a letter in 2007 urging the association to rein in Cizik or encourage him to resign. The signers included James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Gary Bauer, a former presidential candidate and president of American Values.

“We have observed that Cizik and others are using the global warming controversy to shift the emphasis away from the great moral issues of our time, notably the sanctity of human life, the integrity of marriage and the teaching of sexual abstinence and morality to our children,” their letter said. “The issue (global warming) should be addressed scientifically and not theologically.”

Southern Baptist leaders shift position on climate change - CNN.com

Tags: southernbaptists, global warming, environment

I just heard on the news that Steve King, republican douche-bag idiot congressman from Iowa has stated that the Islamic militant leaders will jump for joy if Obama is elected. He states that Obama’s name and heritage will only help the terrorists. WHAT A FREAKING IDIOT! This is the same Steve King that was behind the “Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith” resolution (H.Res. 847). (yes, it has been resolved that we are a christotard nation.) At least not all of his constituents are snowed by his idiocy. This once again proves my point that republicans are willfully ignorant lying right-wing theistards.

Representative Steve King:

* Espouses Extreme Right Wing Politics
* Attacks and Smears Opponents
* Spends Billions Recklessly
* Defends Cockfighting
* Was named “One of the Worst People in the World”
* Voted to Deny Iowa’s Children Health Care
* Voted Against Helping Katrina Victims Rebuild
* Defended the Abuses in Abu Grhaib
* Voted Against Renewing the Voting Rights Act

He is going to have a steep hill to climb, but in the end I am sure that at least bringing notice to this issue is worth it. An athiest solidier would have more reason to act morally, in my opinion, as he knows that this is his only life and will fight to keep it. He would be just as good a leader (if not better) because he knows that he can’t fight alone and that the need to protect his own life rests in protecting and helping others in his platoon. Prayer has nothing to do with being an effective leader, and I am sure that just because he is atheist, he isn’t going to restrict others under his command from doing what they need to do, be it prayer or anything else.

Hall alleges he was denied his constitutional right to hold a meeting to discuss atheism while he was deployed in Iraq with his military police unit. He says in the new complaint that his promotion was blocked after the commander of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley sent an e-mail post-wide saying Hall had sued.

Fort Riley spokeswoman Alison Kohler said the post “can’t comment on ongoing legal matters” and offered no further statement.

According to the lawsuit, Hall was counseled by his platoon sergeant after being informed that his promotion was blocked. He says the sergeant explained that Hall would be “unable to put aside his personal convictions and pray with his troops” and would have trouble bonding with them if promoted to a leadership position.Are all equal?

Hall responded that religion is not a requirement of leadership, even though the sergeant wondered how he had rights if atheism wasn’t a religion. Hall said atheism is protected under the Army’s chaplain’s manual.

“It shouldn’t matter if one is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist,” said Pedro Irigonegaray, an attorney whose firm filed the lawsuit. “In the military, all are equal and to be considered equal.

“Maj. Freddy J. Welborn was named in the lawsuit as the officer who prevented Hall from holding a meeting of atheists and non-Christians. It alleges that Welborn threatened to file military charges against Hall and to block his re-enlistment. Welborn has denied the allegations.

The lawsuit alleges that Gates permits a military culture in which officers are encouraged to pressure soldiers to adopt and espouse fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and in which activities by Christian organizations are sanctioned.

Hall’s attorneys say Fort Riley has permitted a culture promoting Christianity and anti-Islamic sentiment, including posters quoting conservative columnist Ann Coulter and sale of a book, “A Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam,” at the post exchange.

Atheist soldier says Army punished him - Military- msnbc.com

Tags: atheist, army, law, military, prayer