I'll be back!

          I offer my apologies to all of you who have been following this blog. I've been out of town visiting family for a bit and then I was sick for a bit. I'm back now, and I will be posting new topics ASAP. I just got off work and I'm exhausted, but check back...I'll do my best to start posting again tomorrow.

The Tree of Knowledge

I love this. Brian Sapient of the Rational Response Squad made this video about a project sponsored by the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia, The Tree of Knowledge. I think it's an excellent idea...

This Kid Has Definitely Earned the Darwin Award!

          I got this from Skeptic Magazine. It's sad, but a definite candidate for the Darwin Award right here. The article can be found here, and I will just post the text below. Talk about an unusual way to go:

Ukraine - A Ukrainian chemistry student who had the bizarre habit of chewing gum after dipping it in citric acid, has been found dead with his jaw blown off.


The student's jaw was believed to be blown off by exploding chewing gum.


Officers found citric acid packets and a similar-looking unidentified substance, believed to be some kind of explosive material, on a table near the 25-year-old's body, Russian news agency Ria Novosti said.


Investigators suspect the student confused the packets and put gum covered with explosive material into his mouth.

Wow...just, wow.......

The Oxymoron Reading Room

          I had to snap a picture of this. I call it the Oxymoron Reading Room. I live three blocks from campus (it's really nice to live so close, that way I rarely have to put gas in my truck), and this is one block from campus. I walk past it every day. You can't see it, but the walls on both sides have book shelves containing all sorts of logical fallacies and pseudoscience that is being presented as real science. I find it quite laughable. Although, I am happy to say that in the last year since I've been here, I don't think that I've ever seen anyone in there, lol, so that's is definitely a good thing.


          And, I also wanted to apologize to any of you who have been following this blog for not posting very often this last week or two. It's the end of the semester, and I've been busy on last minute projects. Next week is also finals, so it will probably still be a bit slow till the middle of next week.
          I do want to thank all those who have been reading and commenting. I'm happy with the amount of visitors who have showed up in the short time since I've been writing. So, thanks to everyone :-)

The Crazy Fundamentalists Were Shouting Their Nuttiness on Campus Today

          Well, look at the nutjobs who were in the middle of my University campus the last couple days. These guys looked like Christians from the far nutjobiest end of the Christian spectrum. I had headphones in my ears and was running late for a class, so I didn't have any time to stop. I just snapped a couple pictures as I passed by. But I could hear this guy from a block away, shouting fire and brimstone and hellfire. However, I was glad to see that there were other students there who were telling him how full of shit he was.
          I looked up this guy's website. He calls himself Brother Jed, and he's been doing this for 30 years, preaching on college campuses. It sure is sad, in my opinion, when someone spends so many years telling everyone that they're going to hell and preaching this hateful type of message when there is so much joy in life that they are missing out on. It's just sad that people can be this demented. You can search "Brother Jed" on YouTube and find plenty of his craziness. I do think it is pretty funny that, although you probably can't see it in the picture above, that little blue bumper sticker on the leather bag is a "Palin 2012" sticker. It's fitting, wouldn't you say?

          I must say that a person has to be pretty twisted if they think that we all deserve to be burned and tortured forever in pain because of such trivial things. And, to devote your life to preaching such hatred is an utter waste.
          I don't care if someone believes in something utterly stupid, or even if they waste their life on it, even if I think it's a waste and they're missing out on reality. However, I do take offense when they tell me that they think that I deserve to be burned and tortured forever for not agreeing with them.

D.J. Grothe is the new President of the JREF!

          Just to let you all know, in case you hadn't already heard, D.J. Grothe has just been named the new President of the JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation). P.Z. Myers said that Phil Plait is stepping down to pursue a TV career, and although we're all sad to see him go, I hope it all goes great for him. I have been listening to D.J. Grothe on the podcast Point of Inquiry, (great show, by the way, I highly recommend it) for The Center for inquiry for a long time now, as well as serving as vice president of the organization for like ten years now, and I think that he will do an excellent job at the JREF in his new position.

Tis The Season, and Atheists are Jealous of the Holiday

          Yup, it's that time of the year again, time for the war on christmas, and Bill O'Reilly, along with others from FOX News are already spouting their stupidity. That's right, in responding to the wonderful way that so many humanist and atheist organizations have been posting billboards, bus ads, etc.,  in the attempt to simply let many non-believers (who may feel rather alone this time of year if they don't have any other freethinkers to relate to) know that they are not alone, are simply jealous and they "want more presents".



          These people, like FOX and Friends, dictate to the far right population. Most people who eat this up are christians, but are blind to reality and the fact that this holiday season is not theirs. Christianity stole the celebration of the season from other cultures before them. In fact, there have been many different celebrations from all cultures which take place this time of year since long before Christmas, or even Christianity were invented. Most originating with the winter solstice, which is a good reason to celebrate (also a practical reason) because the harvest and the changing of the season were what a population's survival depended on long ago. Apparently, FOX News and their followers don't realize that they don't own the month of December. Roy Zimmermann (gotta love him) made a good song for the season :-)



          And if you don't already know who Roy Zimmerman is, I'll also share with you one of his songs that got me liking his music. It's his song about creationism, "Creation Science 101" (click here to listen)

          And finally, yes, it IS that time of year. So, happy holidays, whatever you do or do not give a shit about, and happy winter solstice, or just happy december, to you all..........

Hitler, On Chiropractic Evidence

          Ha ha ha, I thought this video was funny. It's the same old scene from the Hitler movie that I have seen many versions of where people put all sorts of funny subtitles on, but this one is very funny. Also, because the word chiropractic could be replaced with any of the other baseless claims that people apply pseudoscience to, such as homeopathy, naturopathy, faith healing, etc. Anyways, laugh it up :-)

An Atheist Finds God

          Yeah, you heard me right, an atheist finds god! And, if you're like me, you may already be getting your feathers ruffled. But, hear him out, and wait till he starts presenting his evidence. In fact, I think I will pray to the same god from now on........

Jesus in a Can

          You think you have everything? I think not. You want a portable savior that you can take anywhere? Well, now you can, with Jesus in a can! And, as if that wasn't enough, now, and for a limited time,you can get 20% more jesus per can!!!!!!

Well, at least we now know how he got on the iron that was in the news the other day...

(personally, I think it looks more like the Mona Lisa, but that's neither here nor there)

Also noteworthy, it appears that the Flying Spaghetti Monster wanted to remind us all of his noodly goodness and how we all have been touched by his noodly appendages in one way or another, and he's made an appearance recently as well......

Apparently the sauce is strong with Tim Morgan, Ramen!!!!!!!

Talked to a Street Monk Today

          I was approached by a street monk today, on my walk home from class. Apparently this guy was from one more popular Hare Krishna movements here in the U. S. Well, I didn't mind hearing what he had to say for a moment because sometimes I find these kooky types somewhat amusing, also he was offering a copy of the Bhagavad Gita (while asking me if I was interested in knowledge, lol) that looked like a decent quality copy, and I've been meaning to get one to add to my collection of holy books. I like to have as many religious texts on my bookshelf as I can find for both novelty purposes, and for reference when some religious person wants to use a particular text in an argument.
          Well, moving on, unfortunately, the guy asked for a donation for the book. I gave him a few dollars, which I don't feel to bad about because it's a decent quality hardcover, and like 870 pages with good color pictures of famous paintings in the center, information on sanskrit pronunciation, glossary, etc. But, what I found very funny, after I got home and flipped through it, was when I noticed that there was a little ribbon bookmarker tucked in the middle. I opened to the marked page and had a bit of a chuckle to the idea that these guys must have marked this place on purpose, being that they were giving these to college kids.
          And the text where the ribbon was placed, which is Text 15 of the Bhagavad Gita, states:

"Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto me."

Ha, ha, ha, and the page explaining this verse goes on to explain that those philosophers, politicians, scientists, educators, administrators, etc., who do not surrender to the lotus feet of the supreme god, are not actually philosophers, scientists, etc., but only pose as such for material gain! Ha, ha, ha, I do find this insult to be quite amusing. It doesn't stop there either, it goes on to explain the "atheistic planmakers" are the ones referred to as miscreants in the verse, and that there are 2 classes of miscreants. 1), the mudhas, are those who are grossly foolish, and 2) the naradhama, or the "lowest of mankind". These naradhama are explained to be "socially and politically developed, but have no religious principals". So, us atheists, skeptics, and otherwise rational thinkers are, according to the Bhagavad Gita, the lowest form of mankind.

          I got a laugh out of this because lots of these older religious ideas, although kooky and silly, have poetic nature in their texts, and also are relics of our evolutionary history as we, as human beings, evolved our morals, values, and knowledge about the world around us. However, it's funny how all theologies, no matter how innocent and seemingly peaceful they look on the surface, all encourage and teach that it is wrong to use your brain and critically examine their doctrines, teachings, and the rest of the world around you. If you do, you would find  that the natural world functions fine by itself, without all these fairy tales. Not only that, but the endless discoveries of the natural sciences reveal a world so many more times more amazing, beautiful, fascinating, and awe inspiring, than anything that primitive man had ever dreamed up with our ancient ideas of golden clad gods and mythical spirits.