Posted on

PZ Catches Some Flack

blood.jpgPZ Myers posted a link to a new video, in which a Dutch somebody or other takes a whack at Islam … by showing pictures of beheadings, bombings, etc. You’ve probably read about it by now. The film is called “Fitna,” and does present a pretty harsh picture of Islam.

A substantial number of the commenters interpreted the posting of the link as a racist attack on Muslims, and they jumped on Prof. Myers in the comments with claws out on all four feet.

Those poor, maligned Muslims, can’t catch a break because so many people are so racist, so hateful, and the Muslims are really just downtrodden lovers of peace, blah, blah, blah.

Basically, they misinterpreted what Myers did, and what he said, and overreacted.

Here’s my comment on the thing:

Continue reading “PZ Catches Some Flack”

Posted on

Vintage Whine

i-slam-piglet.jpgWhoa. Found this at The Amboy Times. 

Excerpts from “The List of Things that Offend Muslims.”

Sharia law demands submission not only from Muslims, but from non-Muslims as well. This makes respectful coexistence nearly impossible with Muslims in Infidel lands. The examples below serve as reminder that submitting to one complaint or another only emboldens Muslims to seek to further their ultimate goal of establishing sharia.

Continue reading “Vintage Whine”

Posted on

Air & Space Museum, Wash., DC

Ten seconds in the door and I’m over by the Apollo 11 Command Module, lines of moisture running down my face. I stand there looking at it, touching the transparent case it rests in, for a good ten minutes.

I’m overcome by just how magnificent an accomplishment this thing represents. In an era when Washington seems a fount of lies and stupidity, this was something done by MY people, the people of learning and reason and courage. Men sat in this thing, and traveled to the Moon! And came back alive!

Maybe I can’t match the feat, but I can recognize the magnitude of it. In my atheist heart, I reserve reverence for true achievement.

This, the real thing, kindles bright sparks inside me, and sets off tears.

apollo11.jpg

Posted on

Trip to Washington DC

guards.jpgI just got back from a day trip to our nation’s capitol.

Whew. Impressive place. I got to see the Air & Space Museum, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Natural History Museum, and the White House.

Standing in front of the White House, I talked to some of the young guards while I took pictures. Nice kids. I asked one of them “Is it okay for me to take your picture?” and he answered in good humor, “I can’t stop you, but I’m not going to pose for you.”

I was expecting squads of uniformed gunnies tooling around in armored Humvees, but I walked around all day and saw very few armed presences. There were a LOT of people with earphones on, though, and I wondered if some of them were plain-clothes cops only posing as iPod drones.

I walked around wearing my Harmless Idiot Field, and nobody so much as looked at me all day. Considering that I have a telephoto lens big enough to conceal a baby bazooka, that was unexpected.

Fitness pretty much went out the window during this trip. I did walk about 10 miles around the National Mall, but I also ate junk food the whole time I was there.

I know it’s bad of me, but as long as Dick Cheney sits in the White House, I will think of it as Castle Greyskull.

greyskull.jpg

Posted on

Non-issues, and Other Dangers

crusades2.jpgThis is a bit of a discussion I’m having with another blog commenter over at Unscrewing the Inscrutable, a nice Christian who seems sometimes open-minded, sometimes not, but always quite a bit not, if you get my meaning. I’m posting it here because the discussion that my reply evolves into is something I want to have heard in more than that one place.

He says:

The whole thing of Darwinian evolution, to me now it is a non-issue. The development of the physical world, whether through the eons of cosmology or a magical “Poof!” make no difference.

And I answer:

And there’s yet another way in which we differ.

Rich, in this and some of your other comments, I’ve noticed that you have that typical religious “doorstop” in your head. You’re willing to have the door swing so far – say in accepting “microevolution” – but no farther.

Yet I begin to wonder if the underlying real reason you’re here is that you, too, realize it, and you’re searching for some reason to let it go, and accept that some of the stuff in your head is useless and counterproductive … and FALSE.

Continue reading “Non-issues, and Other Dangers”

Posted on

Upsetting the Elephant

elephant.jpgSo. All the blues and reds went out to vote today.

From numbers harvested off ABCNews.com, at 9:30 p.m., the total number of nominating convention delegates won by the various candidates makes McCain look like he’s well ahead of Clinton and Obama, but if you look at the raw numbers of votes each candidate got, a different story entirely emerges.

Looking at the vote tallies for the frontrunners of each state for which there were comparable figures at the time I wrote this, the Democratic frontrunner is outvoting the Republican frontrunner like so:

  • AL – 1.6 times as many votes
  • AR – 1.9 times as many votes
  • CT – 2.1 times as many votes
  • DE – 2.0 times as many votes
  • GA – 1.8 times as many votes
  • MA – 2.8 times as many votes
  • MO – 2.8 times as many votes
  • NJ – 2.0 times as many votes
  • NY – 2.9 times as many votes
  • TN – 3.7 times as many votes
  • UT – 3.4 times as many votes

I realize all the numbers aren’t in yet. In a couple of the states, the numbers showed a 10-time lead in raw votes for Democrats, and I figured something was squinky with the tallies for those states, so I threw them out.

Still, if these early results show a lead in numbers of voters in each state ranging from 1.6 to 3.7 – roughly 2 to 4 times as many voters picking a Democratic candidate – we might have a really good November.

Subvocalizing to self: don’tgetcockytoosoontocelebrate

But damn! Wouldn’t that be nice??

Posted on

Two More Down

mccain.jpgGiuliani out, John Edwards out.

Giuliani wasn’t ever going to get it — he’s not all that popular even here in New York. Despite Fox News’ hammering us day after day with the phrase “America’s Mayor,” he was never suited for the White House. He’ll become CEO of some corporation, and make more millions, and we’ll all be better off.

Still fighting on the GOP side: McCain, Huckabee, Romney and Ron Paul.

Still fighting on the Democrat side: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

I wish the Ron Paul camp well. I will always believe that everybody has a right to equal access to the White House, and to equal publicity and consideration if they’re a serious candidate.

I will always disagree, for instance, with those people who say Ralph Nader shouldn’t have run, or that he “helped” George W. Bush get elected. The White House is not some prize that’s intended to go only to the mainstream candidates.

Continue reading “Two More Down”

Posted on

America, Interrupted

bush.jpgTime Magazine takes Bush’s State of the Union address and details the word frequency.

He used the word “terror” 23 times, but the word “future” only 13, and “hope” only 11.

He used “security” 13 times, but “freedom” only 9.

“Nation” got 24 mentions, but “citizen” only 10.

He spoke of “Iraq” 39 times, but “Afghanistan” only 8.

“Enemy” was important enough to mention 12 times, but “peace” only 8.

“Education” got 4 mentions, but “faith-based” and “holy” each got 3.

The word “science” did not appear.

 …

Followup: A commenter at Pharyngula, Brian W., has pointed out an error in this post:  

Um, Bush DID use the word science.

“On matters of life and science, we must trust in the innovative spirit of medical researchers and empower them to discover new treatments while respecting moral boundaries. ”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080128-13.html

He also used the words “sciences” and “scientists”.

As I said over there: My bad, Brian. I’m another of those Americans who can no longer bear to hear Bush speak. I used the word list from the Time Magazine site, trusting that it would be complete.

Posted on

Dear President Obama

obama.jpgIf it’s you, that is. Clinton could still take the marbles, and other than having to sit through four years worth of the Republican Hate Machine, I’m okay with that.

But … there will come a time early on in your administration when you’re tempted to say “Let’s move on. Let’s put this whole sordid business behind us and get on with the nation’s important business.”

I hope you won’t do that. Because the nation’s important business, after 8 years of Bush and Friends doing just about everything they could to screw up America and suck billions of dollars out of it for themselves and their thief buddies, never mind anything else, IS the current mess, and the people who caused it.

I realize you have to work with Republicans, and that will be a good thing — they’re Americans, too, after all — but there are some people who should definitely not be able to just walk away free.

Continue reading “Dear President Obama”