Author Archive
Mythbusting the God hypothesis
If you don’t read “Least I Could Do“, you’re missing out on a daily dose of high-quality humor.
RAYNE FOR JESUS ‘08
Congratulations Space X!
A little bit of history was made Sunday evening at 23:16 GMT when Space X’s two-stage Falcon 1 rocket successfully made it into Earth orbit.
After three failed attempts, Space X has become the first privately owned company to send a rocket into orbit. A warm congratulations go out to everyone involved. I can’t imagine how excited they all must feel, but the cheers in the background of the video above give you some idea.
Awesome and utterly awe-inspiring! Keep an eye out around the 3:00 marker (after stage 1 separation) when the edge of Earth appears in the upper-left corner of the screen. I’m almost at a loss for words. This is just amazing.
Seriously… congratulations to everyone at Space X! You’re all heroes in my book.
On life, being jobless and my lack of recent blogging
A few readers have emailed me asking why I haven’t written any new posts or if something has happened recently. Well, yes…
I’m jobless.
During the last week of August, the owner of the company I worked for gathered everyone together for the first ‘mandatory’ meeting in the company’s history to announce that he’d sold the business. “Nothing will change.” was the mantra of the day. I heard it from his mouth several times during the meeting and continued to hear it as we were introduced to our new boss. The only problem was… something was changing. Mainly my job ceased to exist. And that’s a pretty big change for zero day’s notice.
I’ll spare you the slimy details and some rather mean-spirited ranting and just say that I’ve been having quite some trouble finding replacement employment during our country’s economic disaster.
Although I’m trying to keep my chin up, a depression of sorts has been hanging over my head like a bad cartoon cloud for the last month now and I’ve found it very difficult to focus on anyone else’s happy, job-filled life. To put it frankly, reading about other people’s vacations, family trips, purchases and day-to-day activities just makes things worse. So I’ve found myself just blazing through my feed reader, ignoring everything that wasn’t a job listing or a potential source of income.
I’m by no means angry at anyone (other than my ex-boss for not giving us a notice the company was being sold to a firm 30 miles away) but I am a little bitter all the same.
During this last week of Sept. and the first couple weeks of Oct., I’ll be moving out of the apartment I can no longer afford and regular blog posting will be very slight until things start moving for me again. I appreciate the kind words of encouragement I’ve already received and offers to put me up until I can find work. My housing situation is taken care of at the moment (thanks Mom) and all my time and efforts will be directed towards finding some form of regular employment.
With all that said, If you know of anyone seeking print or web design, please send them my email or direct them to my oDesk profile … or if you’re financially sound at the moment and just feel sorry for me, consider making a PayPal donation. Every penny helps.
Hopefully things will perk up here sooner rather than later and I’ll be able to continue daunting creationist IDiots, spreading the godless good news and ranting my usual rants. But until then expect posts to be short, few and far between.
The future is in our hands
A Concerned Matt Damon
And rightfully so.
Via: Ungodly Cynic
Live LHC Webca…
As funny as this is, bad things can happen when people don’t have the critical thinking skills to weed out silly arguments and understand the truth.
Via: The Bad Astronomer
Darwin made manifest in Dayton, TN
You gotta love The Onion. A fantastic hit on creationist’s use of the word “Darwinism” to describe people’s acceptance of evolution as a religious belief system.
DAYTON, TN—A steady stream of devoted evolutionists continued to gather in this small Tennessee town today to witness what many believe is an image of Charles Darwin—author of The Origin Of Species and founder of the modern evolutionary movement—made manifest on a concrete wall in downtown Dayton.
The article has some hilarious satirical quotes to go along.
I brought my baby to touch the wall, so that the power of Darwin can purify her genetic makeup of undesirable inherited traits,” said Darlene Freiberg, one among a growing crowd assembled here to see the mysterious stain, which appeared last Monday on one side of the Rhea County Courthouse. The building was also the location of the famed “Scopes Monkey Trial” and is widely considered one of Darwinism’s holiest sites. “Forgive me, O Charles, for ever doubting your Divine Evolution. After seeing this miracle of limestone pigmentation with my own eyes, my faith in empirical reasoning will never again be tested.”
Dayton’s not that far away. I may make the pilgrimage to this holy site.
Via: The Onion
In da beginnin…
At least this theory has some level of photographic proof. I’m skeptical, but its still more than most creat-design proponent-ists can show.
Jon Stewart lets the Republicans eat their own words
I sometimes wonder if these people remember that the videos of their previous statements are still around.
UPDATE: I don’t know why Comedy Central makes videos embeddable if they’re just going to remove them later. As a result, I will not be ’sharing’ anymore Daily Show clips. Sorry.
Obama answers Science Debate 2008 questions
It seems pretty clear that Barack Obama is at least interested in bringing science back to the White House. Despite declining the actual debate, Obama has answered the 14 questions put forth by the team behind the Science Debate 2008.
I felt really good reading through his answers. I mean, the man actually thinks the public’s understanding of science is important for the future of our nation. Imagine that. He addresses stem cell research, health, energy space exploration as well as the importance of a president’s team of science advisers.
Scientific and technological information is of growing importance to a range of issues. I believe such information must be expert and uncolored by ideology.
I will restore the basic principle that government decisions should be based on the best- available, scientifically-valid evidence and not on the ideological predispositions of agency officials or political appointees.
Sounds good to me.
Via: ERV
The 1st Carnival of Evolution
Minds more brilliant than my own bring you fascinating collections of fantastic evolution reading material in the 1st Carnival of Evolution. 3.7 billion years of molecular changes culminating in the emergence of matter inspecting its own origins and existence.
Do you care about the science behind evolution? Do you marvel at the tiny molecular machines spewing out coded messages to the microscopic inhabitants of your own bodied world? Do you grow irate at the ignorance pushers, the peddlers of relatively impotent gods, and the disintegration of science education in the modern world? Do you like to stay abreast of current topics and scientific findings in the study of the organismal existences surrounding us or those long gone?
If so, this is the blog carnival for you.
They’re currently asking for submissions for CoE #2, which will be hosted by EvolutionBlog.
Via: The Atheist Blogger
This religion has caused an error and will be closed
Via: FailBlog
Lori Lipman Brown on The Colbert Report
Don’t miss Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, an alliance that includes the American Humanist Association on tonight’s Colbert Report.
From her office at AHA headquarters in Washington DC, Lori has worked tirelessly to defend the rights of nontheists and the separation of church and state. Now her message, and ours, will reach millions of mainstream Americans, particularly young people.
The show air at 11:30pm / 10:30c, but check your local listings just to be sure.
UPDATE: The Friendly Atheist reports that Lori Lipman Brown’s interview has sadly been postponed until tomorrow night for a first-ever Friday Night broadcast of The Colbert Report. Who knows why… Maybe the Report is planning something special for our nontheist crusader.
Via: American Humanist Association
Update Via: The Friendly Atheist
Christian Science Textbook
The sad part is, its not all that far from the truth. Clicky Image for full comic.
Found Via: Incredimazing
Those Vikings may have had a point
Beliefnet has a short but somewhat interesting article on the variety of loony belief systems represented on their site. The article, Five Religions You’ve Never Heard Of, focuses on the core beliefs of and a few choice quotes by some of the self-proclaimed believers in Asatru, Sant Mat, Eckankar, Ahmadiyya, and Maltheism.
While I was reading, a quote by the Asatruar Beliefnet member John_T_Mainer really hit me.
I will face my challenges with a grin, accept nothing less than victory until death, and face my gods and ancestors secure in the knowledge that I made the most of the life they gave to me, and that my children and neighbors will face less danger and strife for my efforts.”
Sure, he believes in Thor and Odin and that they gave him his life but at lease he’s not wasting it. And most of his declaration speaks true to humanists, atheists, and agnostics. Live life to the fullest and make the world a better place for everyone else. Or, as I like to put it: Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes!
You really have to feel for the Maltheists though. They believe God exists. They just think he’s a total ass. Although I’m pretty sure this is just what happens when devout belief is mixed with Bible reading/study. The ones that don’t identify as Maltheists probably spend the rest of their time at church, reaffirming their belief in their wonderful and just misery-maker.
Via: Reddit:Atheism
