These sort of billboards are popping up everywhere

I am currently reading Greg Epstein’s book “Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe.” In this he gives a brief description of humanist ideas going back thousands of years.

It’s amazing how non-believers have always been slandered when it comes to ethics and morals.  Often critics think that “not worshiping God means little more than worshiping one’s own stomach. The ideas of Epicurus (341 BCE  270 BCE) are often presented that way and this is far from the truth. Epstein quotes the following from Epicurus “Letter to Menoeceus“:

“When we say, then, that pleasure is the end and the aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do by some through ignorance, prejudice, or willful misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. It is not an unbroken succession of drinking bouts and of revelry, not sexual lust, not the enjoyment of the fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of the soul. Of all this the beginning and the greatest good is wisdom. Therefore wisdom is a more precious thing even than philosophy; from it spring all the other virtues, for it teaches that we cannot live pleasantly without living wisely, honorably, and justly; nor live wisely, honorably, and justly without living pleasantly.”

Humanists and other non-believers actually have a long tradition of ethical and moral thinking. As Epstein points out “we are the children, the descendants, of a great but misunderstood wisdom whith its roots in the ancient East and West – deep in the soil of the human spirit.”

Permalink

Similar articles

I recently put up a post about a study that demonstrated that religious types basically put their own beliefs in for Gods.  Most of us have noticed this throughout our lives and when explains why there are so many denominations of the Christian religion along (over 300).  They all define God for themselves and if you have read my post on how Scriptures make it clear that ALL MEN WILL BE SAVED, you will see they will even contradict the word of their God just to believe what they want to believe.

On that post I had a commenter that isn’t a Christian but apparently believes in some form of God.  Obviously, another religious type defining God for him/herself.

Here is the comment:

“Assuming that one actually believes that the Godless can have a moral compass, it’s obvious that they too suffer from this flaw. They just name Society, Natural Law, or something other than the Gods.”

I thought this comment demonstrates what lunatics these people are and why they are a great danger to any society.  It takes a belief in a God to get someone to crash passenger jets into buildings.

1. It demonstrated again that they believe what they want regardless of the evidence.  Clearly they think those with a God have a moral compass and those of us without a God can’t have one.  Maybe their imagined God explained this to them during their meeting of the invisible minds.

2. I wonder how it is possible that I function in a world if I don’t have a moral compass.  I don’t break laws, I don’t cheat on my wife, I pay my bills, I take care of others that are in need, I take care of animals that are in need, I have spent nearly 6 years of my life devoted to helping others in a foreign land…etc.  I seem to be able to do it all just fine without a “moral” compass from God.

3. I know of Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Larry Craig, Jim Baker, Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggart, and many more Godly Christians that don’t seem to use their compass.

4. How many Christians do we know of that have been divorced and then remarried and thus, according to Scriptures commit adultery.  Not only that, breaking a direct promise to the Almighty God (until death do us part).  Lying to the creator and then betraying that promise would surly be at the top of the list on the moral compass, wouldn’t it.

5. What about those Christian Crusades and the slaughter of millions to include children, babies and the unborn child in the womb of the mother?  Personally, I am glad I don’t have that kind of moral compass.

6. What about our Christian President George Bush and his Christian Administrations and the Christians that re-elected and thus supported/approved of a war based on lies of WMD and ties to 9/11 and torture?  I guess if that is morals then I too can follow their example and kill others because I don’t like them maybe because they follow a different God.  The good old days of the crusades?  These Christians with their “moral compass” sent American Soldiers/Heros to their death based on lies.  Complete disrespect for human life.

7. What about the Christian witch hunts that killed and tortured, sometimes by burning to death, those that didn’t agree with them and claiming it was good because they had the “moral compass” of God?

8. I guess they learned it from their Father above that apparently flooded the earth and drowned most all life through a slow, torturous death to include children, babies, and the unborn child in the womb of the mother (abortion).

I want nothing to do with their “moral compass” and I am not foolish enough and my ego not so big that I actually think an almighty creator talks to me personally, loves me as a special person and that I am so awesome that I get to go and live with him just for saying I believe.

I believe the study is correct and people that claim to believe in God will put their own beliefs in for their God.  Just as they make an endless number of claims about their God and NEVER support it with evidence.  No wonder we can have over 300 denominations of the Christian religion and a multitude of God’s to worship.  NO ONE  is ever held accountable to explain, provide evidence, prove, demonstrate with facts or reason that their one versions of God is remotely true.

They have a free license to lie and make up any excuse.  Like George Bush, “God sent me on a mission”.  Of course he did George and the fools that believe in your God bought the story.  I believe that “God agreed with your plan” because they too have this hate for anyone that is different and especially if they believe in a competing God.

Look at the hate these Christians have for Obama.  Like the KKK (by the way, Christians following a moral compass) they have a racist hate for Obama and his family.  Fox News (The Christian Opinion News Channel) is the number one outlet for hate against Obama.  Everything they told us we should do in support of Bush, they contradict with respect to Obama.  What do Christians do?  They believe what they want, when they want and how they want as long as it allows them to hate the person they want and condemn others for opposing them.

I and many others spoke out against torture and the war in Iraq.  What did Fox News and the Christians do to us for speaking out against lies, and other immoral acts?  They told us we were Un-American, were terrorist and terrorist supporters, that we betrayed America.  Wow, seems their moral compass isn’t working so well.  I wonder why they didn’t call us un-Godly?  Oh…I guess that would then allow us to come back and make the comparison I just did and they wouldn’t want that exposed, would they?

[on BELIEF and ACTION]

It is possible to know one’s beliefs by looking at their actions, but it is impossible to know one’s actions simply by looking at one’s beliefs.

For belief is different than action, and rare is the person who acts according to his or her professed belief.

Humans are mortal, by definition, and know for certain very little about things immortal.

Hypothesis and superstitions, often termed belief, aim to simplify what is supernatural, i.e., what is not of this earth.

One’s beliefs cannot change reality, they cannot explain the past or define the future. At most, a belief may shape the present, and only our actions can agree with our beliefs.

If our actions do not match our beliefs, then it is only the present that we disgrace in the name of the future.

A belief which does not match our actions is but another’s, whose existence is never real enough to call our own. In this light, it is only possible to say that actions exist and beliefs are as only as real as said actions.

The action which differs from belief must relinquish any ties to that belief, for they are separate, they are an ‘other’ unto each other.

A fool professes a belief and guides not his actions to follow. The wise guide their own actions accordingly, and in doing so, set forth a belief which no soul can dispute, as it is backed with action.

Workout notes 1 mile on the AMT, then 3 on the stair master. On the latter, I tried to touch the support bars minimally. Then, 2200 yards of swimming: 500 warm up, 5 x (25 free, 25 back, 25 fly, 25 free) on 2, 5 x (25 3g, 75 free) on 2, 500 drill/swim (fins), 200 in 3:13. I swam next to the lady who is fast and wears a nice orange with black design suit. (yes, I like it). When I got out, we exchanged smiles and nods.

Injury: not noticeable during the workout, but I had some calf tightness later in the day.

Football Notre Dame fired its coach. I admit that I was underwhelmed when they hired him, but was impressed during their first season. Coach Weis hit his high point at the start of his second year, where they whipped Georgia Tech in Atlanta and then but a 41-17 beating on a Penn State team that was to finished ranked; it was 41-3 when PSU got two late scores. Then his team got blown out by Michigan and then the season went downhill; though they did pick up exciting come from behind wins against Michigan State and UCLA.

They ended that year by getting slaughtered by USC and LSU.

Speaking of football, I am enjoying the Saints-Patriots game; it is now 10-7 Saints in the second quarter.

(from yahoo)

Posts
Academia Professors who teach large numbers of undergraduates frequently get “snowflakey” e-mail messages from students who have blown off the course for most of the semester and now want special attention. Here is a sample.
Science: Climate Change

Paul Krugman points out that those who use the recent e-mail exchanges between scientists as evidence that climate change is some cooked up conspiracy just don’t know academic research.

Here is a Scientific American article that rebuts common crackpot arguments.

Human behavior Here is an interesting post on how people get scammed and what human behaviors scammers take advantage of.

How people respond to injustice When there is a campaign to stop an injustice (say, like the bus boycott from the civil rights era), sometimes groups pick their “public victims” carefully. For example Rosa Parks was not the first one to refuse to give up a seat to a white person.

Frankly, I have no problem with this; being right doesn’t mean that one will win. I wish that those activists pushing to keep same-sex marriage on the books understood that.

Yes, in principle, these rights should be guaranteed in a liberal democracy, but all too often, they do have to be fought for.

Religion

Not offensive at all, right? Well, of course, religious conservatives (some of them) are belly-aching.

Politics

Here it is claimed that women are more onto Sarah Palin; the idea is that women are better at spotting phonies.

Actually, many women approve of Sarah Palin (as I’ve talked about before).

But yes, there is a gap:

Note that the approval gap between young and old is greater than the approval gap between men and women! (or statistically similar)

Oh yes, don’t fall for this false comparison between Governor Palin’s favorability rating and President Obama’s job approval rating:

According to the latest poll numbers, Sarah Palin is nearly as popular as Barack Obama. Or maybe it’s that Barack Obama is nearly as unpopular as Sarah Palin. At least that’s how some commentators see it: As the Los Angeles Times’ Andrew Malcolm noted Monday, “Sarah Palin’s poll numbers are strengthening. And President Obama’s are sliding.” In Tuesday’s Washington Post, former Bush strategist Matthew Dowd wrote that “Palin’s favorability numbers are a mirror image of those of Obama.”

he problem is, they’re comparing apples to oranges. Both columns refer to polls that show Palin’s favorability rating at around 43 percent—mere points away from Obama’s job-approval rating of 49 percent. But as Media Matters has pointed out, favorability and job approval aren’t the same thing. A politician’s favorability rating is a general sense of the public’s feeling about him. His job-approval rating is an evaluation of the work he’s doing.

When you compare favorability ratings—apples to apples—Obama still leads Palin by a distance. The latest Gallup poll puts Obama’s favorability 16 points ahead of Palin’s, ABC puts his lead at 18 points, and CNN says it’s 18 points higher. (Only Fox has the gap in single digits, with a seven-point spread.) It’s impossible to compare their job-approval numbers because, well, Palin doesn’t have a job.

(hat tip for this topic: Science Avenger)

Political Predictions
Paul Krugman doesn’t see massive improvements in the economy, but doesn’t see Obama losing in 2012.
As far as Congressional elections, I admit that I don’t care if blue dogs lose seats; Nate Silver points out that if one judges members of Congress by the votes that they cast on big issues rather than by self-identification of “progressive/conservative”, the anticipated D losses will be smeared out over the spectrum.

• XKCD—A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language

• Views of the Solar System—Planetary Icosahedrons

• John Scalzi—Education Is Not The Answer for Star Trek’s Bad Science

• on Gizmodo—Earth’s Weather Like You have Never Seen It Before (Video)

• on the NYT—Letters: An Evolutionary Bent Toward Religion?

• Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Top Ten Favorite Facts About the Universe

• In pictures: Darwin photo competition

• ‘Fur and Balanced News’: Sesame Street Adds Muppet Based on Bill O’Reilly

• David Morrison: The Truth About 2012 (video)

• What’s the harm in belief in magic? Scores of albinos in hiding after attacks, that’s what…

• Humor Troythulu Style: Chick Tract Satire—Who Will Be Eaten First?

(Last Update 21:17, 11/30/2009, Text & Link Added)

Mary Jo Coady and her college aged daughters believe this iron image of Jesus is PROOF that he is listening.  I guess that also proves he is real?  If he is listening then it must be proof that he is real.   She also believes the image on her iron has reassured her that “life is going to be good”.   She plans to keep the iron in a closet and buy a new one.  It would suck if she used it and gave Jesus a little taste of hell fire burning.

This religious types will claim anything as evidence, proof that their God is real.  Yet when presented with actual evidence supporting evolution, they will deny it.

Imagine presenting them with an iron with the face of Darwin on it and claiming, this is proof that Darwin was right.  No evidence required, we can just created it where we want it to be and then claim it is actually evidence and proof.  Amazing, isn’t it.  Critical reasoning and thinking skills are not part of the Christian skill set.  Logical thinking is not allowed in the church or when reading Scriptures.  Believe it like they tell you or you will be punished with pain by fire for an eternal life or torture by their God of love, compassion and mercy.

Yeah, no wonder they don’t like logic and reasoning.

First there was this cringe-worthy article here by the vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, Greg Craven, which concluded with this keen half-truth: I am not quite clear why our modern crop of atheists hates Christians, as opposed to ignoring or even politely dismissing them, but they very clearly do. There is nothing clever, witty or funny about hate. .

It is true that there is certainly nothing clever, witty, or funny about hate. But criticizing religion is not hate; it is a necessary counter-balance to the unwanted and illegitimate intrusion of religious belief into the public domain. When religions attempt to influence policy policy, then it’s time to play religious whack-a-mole. It is a criticism that needs to be heard.

So let’s look at the ‘hate-filled’ response to Craven’s wretched piece:

Facing a new attack with an international audience playing close attention, religions have as little rational argument in their favour as ever. There was a time when they could deal with dissent through more draconian measures: the kind that can still be practiced in, say, Saudi Arabia. Having lost the power of the gun in the West, apologists of religion have a new weapon: being offended.

Rather than confronting (say) Dawkins’ arguments with counter-arguments, people like Craven, and many others like him, instead cry out: why are you picking on us? All we want is for you to respect our beliefs. And so, the crybaby theists hide behind the demand for respect, which sounds reasonable enough. The more shameless – and their ranks are represented in many religions, such as Muslims, Christians and Jews – complain that when someone criticises their religious faith, the people who belong to that religion are being subjected to abuse.

From the article here.

The bottom line is that such special pleading is a way for theists to avoid answering their critics. The cry that religious beliefs are not being treated respectfully often demonstrates incredible arrogance and hypocrisy. The solution is not for atheists to shut their gobs; the solution is for theists to get their favoured superstitions out of the public domain keep their religious beliefs private.

I am back in Peoria; I decided to defer my first “welcome back” workout to tomorrow morning. This is the last full week of classes but I should be ready for it.

Travel notes
1. I-55 from St. Louis to I-155 (Lincoln, IL) was more crowded than normal. Otherwise, the trip back was uneventful.
2. On the way back, we listened to an unabridged version of The Kite Runner. I’ll say more in a later post.

Football I missed most of the games because I was on the road. But of note:

1. Houston creamed Rice 73-14; it was 59-0 at the half!
2. Hawaii upset Navy 24-17; well it was “sort of” an upset. That trip is seldom easy, at least in the regular season.

3. I love the USC-UCLA game. For one, I find the team colors (both sides, together on the field) to be dazzling. Perhaps this is because I cut my teeth as a football fan when I lived in Japan and my only contact to seeing the color of big time football were the color photos in Sports Illustrated. Yes, this was the big game that year:

This is from this year:

Of course, the action is often good and this year’s game featured a controversy: USC was up 21-7 with less than a minute to go and had the ball. The did a kneel down and UCLA called a time out. Hence, USC ran a play action pass and scored.

This lead to a spirited “discussion” between the two teams.
Cool uniforms, a long tradition and usually good play: what more can you ask for?

Sure, some rivalries mean more to me (Army-Navy, ND-Navy, ND-USC, Texas-Texas A&M) but this is my favorite “disinterested fan” rivalry.

Posts
Given the lighthearted nature of the above, I almost feel guilty about adding this to today’s posts.

But here goes: in Africa, albinos are often murdered and their body parts then sold on the black market because some witch doctors claim that the albino body parts have “magical powers”.

I enjoy this guy.

Final del s. XVIII. Origen del Gospel. Nace por parte de la población en las iglesias afroamericanas. La palabra original es GodSpell, que en castellano se traduce como «llamada de Dios». Se le denominó de esta manera ya que era un canto evangélico que invitaba a las personas al rezo. Además, las letras, en el gospel original suelen reflejar los valores de la vida cristiana.

1895. Primera publicación musical afroamericana. Se publica una pieza de lo que más tarde se llamaría Jazz. Tras la guerra de sucesión americana se aboliría la esclavitud y la población afroamericana comenzaría a desarrollar su música.

1910-1917: Surge del jazz de Nueva Orleans. Intérpretes como Louis Armstrong y Jelly Roll Morton saltan a la fama.

1930. Se comienza a popularizar la música gospel. La América negra comienza a cogerle gusto a ritmos más optimistas.

1941. Inicios del Rythm and blues. Louis Jordan & Tympany Five editan I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts of Town. Venden un millón de copias. El saxofonista servirá de inspiración a los nuevos talentos del sonido popular negro, como Ray Charles.

Ahmet Ertegun delante de algunos de los discos más importantes de Atlantic Records

1947. Nace el término Rythm and blues. Creado por Jerry Wexler de la revista Billboard. Sustituyó al término conocido como “race records” (grabaciones de raza, también conocido como música racial), considerado ofensivo y molesto para una parte de la pobñación que vivía  segregada en la sociedad norteamericana. Herb Abramson y Ahmet Ertegün fundan la compañía Atlantic Records para rellenar el vacío en la industria musical dedicado a la música negra.

1949. Se comienza a definir una nueva identidad negra. La Iglesia tiene un papel fundamental en el incipiente movimiento por la lucha de los derechos civiles. Los predicadores instaban a sus fieles a tomar conciencia de su raza y su historia y enorgullecerse de ellas.  Tras la II Guerra Mundial surge el Be-Bop, como una “separación” del Swing. Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker. Surge el Cool, como contraposición al Be-Bop. Miles Davis y John Coltrane.

1950. Nace Chess Records. Los polacos Leonard y Phill Chess fundaron la mejor compañía de blues y rock and roll de la década de los 50. Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Etta James o Chuck Berry formaban parte del sello.

Recopilatorio de Chess Records

1954. Nace el soul. “I Got A Woman”(Atlantic Records) de Ray Charles se considera el primer tema soul de la historia. Es la primera vez que Ray Charles combina los ritmos gospel con las letras populares del blues. No gustó mucho al principio ya que se creía que convertir una melodía gospel en tema de blues era casi un sacrilegio.

1955. Consolidación del soul. “Please, please, please” de James Brown le dio un nuevo giro al término y la influencia del soul saltaba a la vista. El nuevo género caló hondo en la población.

1959. Nace Motown Records. Con base en Detroit, Berry Gordy crea  la casa discográfica de artistas tan importantes como The Jackson Five, The Supremes, Steve Wonder… y consolida el sonido de la joven América.

1960. Crisis del Jazz. El jazz atravesó una crisis de público y ventas a finales de la década de 1.960. Las audiencias juveniles estaban a favor de la música de soul y de rock, mientras que los aficionados adultos se sentían ajenos a las abstracciones y falta de emoción de gran parte del …El jazz atravesó una crisis de público y ventas a finales de la década de los 60. Las audiencias juveniles estaban a favor de la música soul, pop y rock, mientras que los aficionados adultos se sentían ajenos a las abstracciones y falta de emoción de gran parte del jazz moderno, por lo que los músicos de jazz volvieron a extraer ideas de la música popular.

1961. Stax Records. Fundada por Estelle Axton y su hermano Jim Stewart, originalmente con el nombre Satellite Records, Stax es la casa discográfica de genios de la música negra como Otis Redding e Isaac Hayes. Junto a Motown, comparte el honor de estar considerado el sello más importante de la historia del soul.

1965. Primer compromiso directo del soul con la política negra. Sam Cooke, como respuesta al tema de Bob Dylan “Blowin’ in the Wind”, or el hecho de que una canción tan punzante con el tema del racismo en América viniera de un compositor blanco, publica su canción más popular “A change is gonna come”. El tema ejemplificó la lucha por el Movimiento por los derechos civiles en Estados Unidos en los sesenta.

1967. Revolución del soul. Acrecentada por la reivindicación de los derechos raciales y la aparición del single de Aretha Franklin “Respect”, que causó gran impacto el la población afroamericana.

1968. El nuevo sonido: Funk. James Brown empieza a dar un nuevo sentido al soul, contribuyendo en añadirle dureza y mayor agresividad rítmica y sonora acorde a los tiempos que se vivían entonces, dando paso al funk.

1969. Integración racial. El grupo Sly & The Family Stone sin haberlo planeado se convirtió en un ejemplo de igualdad. Integraba miembros blancos y negros por igual, y mujeres del mismo modo que hombres, por lo que se trata de la primera banda multirracial. Con el sencillo “Everyday People”, con más de tres millones de copias vendidas, lanzó al grupo a la fama mundial, propagando mensajes de paz, amor, tolerancia; todo ello aderezado con una irresistible música de raíz soul y funk

1970. Cuando el soul conoció al funk. Stevie Wonder comienza a explorar el sonido funk utilizando un nuevo invento: el sintetizador. En 1973 publica “Superstition” dando un sentido más urbano a la música funk.

Talking Book disco al que pertenece el single "Superstition"

70’s. Encuentro del funk con la psicodelia. El grupo Funkadelic (conocidos también como P-Funk), fundado por George Clinton, estableció una innovadora mezcla de lo viejo y lo nuevo, fusionando los ritmos sincopados de James Brown, el rock ácido del guitarrista estadounidense Jimi Hendrix y la mezcla de sonidos del grupo Sly and the Family Stone.

Finales de los 70. Nace el hermano pequeño del funk, el hip hop.

80’s. El nuevo soul. Representa la “igualdad”, a la América negra de clase media. E

l soul de los 80 era más tranquilo y sosegado que el de los años 60 y 70. Anita Baker es un exponente importante de esta generación.

La intérprete Anita Baker

Finales de los 80. Se consolida el rap en la industria y nace el New jack swing. Up & Town nació como discográfica de hip hop. Andre Harrel decidió no centrarse solo en el rap, entendió el rythm and blues de diferente manera. Unió el soul con el hip hop, nació el new jack swing. Fue un género de transición, que abrió la puerta al público a los sonidos R&B y hip-hop actuales. Bobby Brown sintetizó este nuevo concepto.

1991. Origen del R&B. “You remind me” de Mary J. Blige se convierte en un éxito a nivel nacional. Marcó la llegada de un estilo agridulce, con la calidez del soul y la dureza del rap.

1992. Nacimiento del Hip hop soul. El disco de Mary J. Blige “What’s the 411?” se convierte en un nuevo híbrido musical reciclando el soul clásico y del rap de los 80.

(HuffPost) – The mistaken belief that albino body parts have magical powers has driven thousands of Africa’s albinos into hiding, fearful of losing their lives and limbs to unscrupulous dealers …

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/29/10000-albinos-in-hiding-a_n_372976.html

Pat Condell once again lays it on the line in this very poignant rant about religion and it’s only savior from criticism…blasphemy laws. Like it or not, Pat Condell speaks for many of us who are tired of religious oppression and the idea that false doctrine should be respected.
He has many other videos in his youtube channel.

Religion = The most insane thing ever made… believing in gods in 2009, that’s pure insane madness spiced with greed and selfishness..

Okay, so I’m a bit superstitious.

 No.

I’m a lot superstitious. Like Roy, my boyfriend,  says, “You’re a theatre person. . .” [(it's usually followed by " so you can't judge others") not that I do. I never do.] So, I’m a theatre person and I have all sorts of superstitions. Lately though, I’ve been thinking of a particular one. It has to do with a necklace and the clasp (or latch, if you prefer. . . . oh, y’know, the close-y part.)

One; if it moves to the front, you make a wish (and kiss it) before putting it back.

Two; if it moves to the front, someone is thinking of you. You kiss it, like you’re thinking of them, too, and put it back.

Three; if it moves to the front, someone is thinking of you. To find out who it is that’s thinking about you, you ask a person to hold up three fingers. You assign a name to each finger (the first three names that pop into your mind). You then ask the person to lower one finger, and that’s the person who’s thinking of you. To go further, you assign “Love” and “Friendship” to the remaining fingers. Again, ask the person to lower another finger and that’s what their thought was imbued with.

Hee hee! I love superstitions.

Got any other fun ones?

Well, it turns out that I was thinking of an adaptation of the story, not the story itself, when I picked this one… but I do my best in the discussion all the same. Just getting over a case of pneumonia, I’m afraid, so it’s fairly short, and my voice is a bit off. Don’t leave just yet though – next show (December 11), we’ve got Christmas readings and songs and generally enjoyable things… all with a Darkly Lit twist.

The episode can be found, as always, here:

http://darklylit.podbean.com/mf/web/67uzf9/DarklyLitEp5.mp3

As promised, the link to the version I *was* thinking about:

http://www.archive.org/download/NBC_short_story/NBC_Short_Story_The_Oblong_Box.mp3

And, as always, music provided by Nox Arcana – and this time, by special guests the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society!

The HPLHS, who produced A Very Scary Solstice.

They came to American soil to escape persecution in Europe…
The natives of America helped and taught the Pilgrims agricultural and survival skills.


.
Then later, more new settlers came and they became the persecutors…

Then much later on after several broken peace treaties and more invasions, they were forced to move away from their homelands and their sacred grounds suffering their persecution…

.

Is this how we thank the people that assisted the European settlers back in the autumn of 1621?

.

Workout notes 2 miles at Barton Springs in 1:12:58 (36:07/36:51). 39 F air temperature (68 F water); not my fastest but this was in line with what I do when I am at the start of swim training; I’ll take it given I haven’t swam longer workouts lately.

The pool was almost empty at the start (6:30 am); some tri-geeks and old farts showed up when I left.

Travel Yesterday, traffic on I-35 from Dallas to Austin was HORRIBLE; that trip took about 4:30 when it normally takes 3; mind you there weren’t accidents. This was pure traffic. I hate this stretch of road; it is by far the worst part of the trip.

One note: in Dallas we stopped at a sports bar to eat; it was called the Sports City Cafe. The food was good and they had lots of TVs including one at each booth. The waitresses wore black cropped spandex shorts and pantyhose; young guys would have loved that.

Posts

Sports
Women’s spectator sports struggle to draw fans. Though men don’t watch women’s sports that much, they watch more than women do!

But that doesn’t explain why WNBA attendance was on a steady decline even in boom years. Doesn’t explain why, four decades after Title IX was supposed to bring an explosion of interest in women’s sports and 13 years after David Stern’s creation tipped off, that the league continues to struggle.

The play, by all accounts, has never been better. The attendance has never been worse, off nearly 30 percent from its peak in 1998.

Two franchises folded in the past year, and it could get worse as NBA owners such as the Maloof family in Sacramento shed their teams. The deciding game of the WNBA finals sold out only after Phoenix Suns players bought and gave away tickets in the upper bowl of US Airways Center, and television ratings remain minuscule.

The LPGA Tour, meanwhile, will have its smallest schedule in nearly 40 years, with 24 tournaments — and just 13 of them in the United States. There are huge gaps between tournaments and, although prize money has not been announced, it is likely to be down.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. New generations of women who grew up playing sports were supposed to be the foundation of fans who would rather go watch women play basketball or soccer rather than pay even more money to watch men do the same thing.

But it hasn’t happened.[...]

Interestingly enough, the reason professional women’s sports have struggled to survive isn’t necessarily that men don’t watch them — it’s that women don’t either.

A survey earlier this year by Scarborough Research, a marketing research company, revealed that 14 percent of adults had some interest in the LPGA. But 63 percent of those fans were men, and just 10 percent of women said they were interested in the sport.

The WNBA numbers are similar, if not so lopsided. Again, 14 percent of fans said they had some interest in the product, with men outnumbering women by a slight margin.

So what do women watch? Well, they’re big on the Olympics, but they also like sports involving men.

One out of every three women identify themselves as “loyal” NFL fans, while one in four feel the same way about major league baseball. Meanwhile, just 6 percent say they are “loyal” WNBA fans, the same percentage that identify themselves as fans of monster trucks.

With those kind of numbers, it’s easy to see why the Maloofs shut down the Monarchs, and why sponsors are shutting off the LPGA. There’s not nearly enough critical mass for either sport to grow past niche status.

Yes, some men will watch because some men will watch anything involving a ball.

Political Correctness in Academia gone mad: in Great Britian, some are proposing that the word “fail” not be used any more to describe academic performance and the phrase “deferred success” be used instead.

see more Epic Fails

Politics

President Obama verus Governor Palin in 2012? Nate Silver does some analysis of approval rating versus head to head poll numbers of Obama-Palin and Obama-Romney. Evidently, Romney is a bigger threat (but not much of one). Silver also goes on to address the practice of cherry picking data to back up one’s claims.

Speaking of President Obama, I certainly don’t agree with him on everything; I wish that he were a stronger advocate for civil liberties in the face of governmental power.

However, I strongly approve of his moves in the direction of clean energy.

Security: Schneier reports on the practice of computer users blowing off many computer security practices; it appears that security practices are often driven by things other than evidence.

Science Remember the guy who was in a vegetative state allegedly being able to communicate again? Don’t believe it; this was a case of someone typing messages from the guy, purportedly guided by the guy’s hand. I get sick of these woo-woos at times.

Humor (sort of) Hey ladies, do you complain that your butt is too big? Not only does Sir Mix A Lot like Big Butts, but some women pay to have implants to get a bigger butt (and sometimes there are problems with those implants)

So, hey, ladies, if you have a big butt, put on spandex and do those deep bending stretches!

I remember my big-butted wife wearing black spandex tights and doing the above stretch in the gym; but being in public I couldn’t react the way that I wanted to. She flashed me a sly grin and said that I needed to focus on my own workout.

Metro tickets in my pocket

I finally drop my weary body onto the bed. It’s nearly 9 at night, and my son pops into my room and wants to go out. It’s Thanksgiving break. He’s 16. Of course he wants to go out. To a nearby pizza joint, about two miles away. Friends are waiting, and he has that open, earnest look on his face that is – well – irresistible. It had been a long day of baking. I was right where I wanted to be. But he wasn’t where he wanted to be.

“Can I drive? Please?”

You’ve never driven at night before, I say.

The fist in my stomach materializes in seconds. Remarkable. If I could package “Fear in a Flash” and sell it, I’d be rich. But who would want it?

“I need to learn to drive at night, Mom.”

I’m so tired, but he’s right, dammit. Each of these steps with him, in the car, has been much more difficult than with his brother. For me. I didn’t think giving him driving lessons would be so wrenching. He’s done well, but the problem is the accident almost three years ago, when my older son was driving and I was in the passenger seat. Only two blocks from home. Flashbacks, still.

My right arm stiffens. I’m suddenly aware of pain.

You’re right.

He goes for the car keys on the kitchen table as I get out of bed, throw on my jeans, and feel in the pocket for a few bucks to give him. Metro tickets. Metro tickets from Paris, in my back pocket.

Paris is only a subway ride away

Did you know that you can get to Paris on the subway?

Let’s be clear – I can walk a half mile, take the subway, get out at the airport, board a plane, wake up in France, take another train, then subway, eh voilà – PARIS. See? Easy. All you need is a subway card, and metro tickets. The rest – well – those are just details.

I keep metro tickets in the back left pocket of my jeans. All my jeans. When I do wash, I’m very careful to remove them, and put them back when the jeans come out of the dryer. After all, Paris is only a subway ride away.

Black cat

We get in the car and I begin to talk about driving at night. How it’s different from driving by day. I don’t know where the words come from, but they do. I don’t know how I can articulate these distinctions until we are right there. In. The. Moment.

He listens attentively. It’s one of the reasons I love him, profoundly. There is no guile. No arrogance. He genuinely doesn’t think he knows it all.

He adjusts mirrors, we back out onto the dark street, and drive. He’s going slowly, as I asked him to. Suddenly, a black blur shoots in front of us and he brakes. It’s disappeared already. A black cat. I fix my eyes on my son; he has blanched, but he resumes driving.

“Wow,” he says.

Do you see how quickly something can happen? And it’s so much harder to react at night.

He nods. We continue without incident, and he parks behind the pizza place as he gets out of the car and I slide over to take the wheel. You did well, I say.

“That’s bad luck, you know. The cat.”

The thought had crossed my mind. Of course. But I will shape his impressions – and my own – into something positive. If I can.

No, I say. I’ll call it good luck. You didn’t hit him, and everyone’s fine. So I’m going with the theory that a black cat scooting across the road in front of us, who lives, promises good luck for 2010.

He shakes his head like I’m crazy, tells me he’ll get a ride home and won’t be late. I watch him walk into the restaurant. He moves like his dad. Gracefully.

Mashed potatoes

You can help me cook, I say.

“I was planning on it,” he answers.

It’s late now, but he’s home. Content. Something in him has changed this week, and I can’t put my finger on it. We argued last weekend, which is rare. I told him some things I shouldn’t have. Or should have. I’m still not sure.

Perhaps I told him things he needs to know, but not in the best way: our financial realities, his dad’s part in that. He was angry with me over a situation I did not create and cannot control. He had a right to be angry, and I was the recipient of his anger. I am the parent who is present, and who will love him unconditionally. His emotions are safe with me, but no less painful for either of us.

There were calmer words a few hours later. And then, the balloons on Monday. Something has changed, and I can’t put my finger on it.

“Mashed potatoes?” he asks.

Yes, I say.

“Did you get sweet potatoes, too? I love your sweet potatoes.”

Yes. And for a green vegetable – peas or spinach?”

“Peas. And stuffing, too?”

Yes.

This scrawny kid can eat, and eat, and eat. And loves to eat well.

“I’ll do all the mashing,” he says.

The future is in each moment

My arm throbs when I must lift, mix, mash, cut for any amount of time. Last year, I had to ask for help. This year, he offers. And a black cat taught a lesson in a way that my words could not. A lucky black cat demonstrated that lives can change in an instant.

I am grateful for the black cat. I am grateful for my son’s growing awareness of the world around him, for anticipating as well as reacting. We will cook together later this morning, and eat together this afternoon. Most likely, there will be a gathering of teenagers here tonight, and their laughter will fill the house.

I will call my first-born later, and we’ll talk for a bit. He is missed.

My job isn’t done yet, but both my sons will soon be men. Good men. And I have metro tickets in my back pocket. Because Paris is only a subway ride away.


© D A Wolf

Big Little Wolf’s Daily Plate of Crazy

Aujourd’hui, mettre le pain à l’envers sur la table est considéré comme un mauvais présage. Cependant, peu de personnes sont encore capables d’expliquer ce qui est à l’origine de cette superstition.

Il faut remonter au Moyen Age pour comprendre cette croyance. A l’époque, les exécutions publiques avaient souvent lieu le midi, sur la plus grande place de la ville, là où se trouvaient également les boulangeries. Chaque boulanger réservait alors un pain pour le bourreau. Il le posait à l’envers, pour être sûr de ne pas le vendre à quelqu’un d’autre. Personne n’y touchait, car les bourreaux, qui exerçaient des métiers en rapport avec la mort et les cadavres, étaient aussi méprisés que craints, et la croyance populaire leur prêtait des pouvoirs maléfiques qui les contraignaient à vivre en paria, en dehors des villes, loin du monde extérieur qu’ils ne pouvaient que contaminer par le mauvais oeil qui les touchaient.

Aujourd’hui, les bourreaux n’existent plus, en France tout au moins, mais la symbolique du pain retourné est restée. Le pain à l’envers attirerait le bourreau et donc la mort chez soi, et reste encore associé au malheur.

Bishop Janusz Kaleta of Holy See, the Apostolic Administrator of Atyrau  was asked if the Vatican’s stand was clearly against gay tourism, the Bishop answered:

“The church teachings are from the Bible. If we change this teaching, we will not be the Catholic Church. Don’t expect the Catholic church to change these issues, because it is our identity.” When asked if the Vatican is open to dialogue about welcoming such homosexual groups of tourists in the future, Bishop Kaleta responded that “such demonstrations are just not ethical.”

The question was clarified to the Bishop that what was meant by gay travel was traveling for the purpose of a visit, not as a demonstration. To this the Bishop replied,

”I consider if someone is homosexual, it is a provocation and an abuse of this place.  Try to go to a mosque if you are not Muslim.  It is abuse of our buildings and our religion because the church interprets our religion that it is not ethical.  We expect respect of our church as we expect to respect that a person does not have to belong to the Catholic Church.  If you have different ideas, go to a different location.”

Apparently, child molesting priest are allowed and even excused and hidden as it is apparently respectful of the church if priest molest children?

I guess this is a religious thing and Jesus would not have wanted those without insurance to get the care they need.  I am sure Jesus would rather people suffer and that no one give to help others.  It just isn’t the Christian way or the Jewish way, I guess.  Don’t worry Lieberman, I am sure you have a big dollar job waiting for you when you are no longer a senator.

Go with the money, Jesus would! Right?  Oh yeah, you don’t believe Jesus is a God.  I forgot.

Dear God,

I realize you are very busy being everywhere at all times and because of that I know you have seen the millions of starving and sick children around the world.  I realize you are so full of compassion, love and mercy so my prayer should be an easy one to grant. Could you end the suffering of these children all around the world?

No, No, I am not asking that you end their suffering by drown them like you did in the old days.  I am asking that you end their suffering by providing them with clean water, providing them food and the medical care they need.

I pray this in the name of your Son Jesus Christ.  I am sure there are many Christians that pray to you to end suffering of children around the world.  So with my prayer and their payers, I am sure your promise to answer our prayers will come true.

I can see it now, I will wake in the morning to a special news announcement that food and medicine has fallen from the sky and been delivered to all that need.

Yes, I realize we spend millions of dollars on Churches and I realize that us Christians have more worldly things than any of the suffering could ever imagine having.  I realize you asked us to sell our possessions and give to the poor but since you have the power to provide to them all, why should we?  Oh, time to go, I want to play xbox on my 60 inch plasma display….

Thanks for your help on this one!

Peace out, dude!

While again attempting to make any negative implication they can to Obama, Fox News was discussing the Ft. Hood event and attempting to imply it was a terrorist attack, prior to any investigation having been completed.

Then we get to the WTF moment provided by Perino:

PERINO: And we had a terrorist attack on our country. And we should call it what it is. Because we need to face up to it so that we can prevent it from happening again.

HANNITY: I agree with you. And why won’t they say what you just so simply said?

PERINO: They want to do all of their investigations. I don’t know. All of the thinking that goes into it. But we did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term. I hope they’re not looking at this politically. I do think we ought it to the American people to call it what it is.

It seems they want to avoid that FACT that 9/11 happened under the Bush Term.  They would love to forget the fact that Bush was warned of the event and even told it was likely to happen with the use of planes crashing into buildings.  The fact that they had once before attempted to blow up the twin towers should have been a clue to the Bush administration that it was a top candidate for attack.

Perino hopes they are not looking at this politically?  Tell that to yourself, idiot.  George Bush seemed to believe he was put in place by God Almighty and probably thought we couldn’t be attacked.  He likely prayed to his God to protect America thinking that his God actually was real (delusional people are not good with power or leadership).  Superstitions are not true, Bush.  Fox News, you seem to believe superstitions are true as well but if your God is so real and so powerful, why did you not pray to protect American and have all terrorist destroyed?  What?  You don’t love America?  Or did you actually pray and again not get answered?

Following are more comments I have received from Christians and my reply:

Christian: “First off, you have no evidence that there isn’t a God. That leaves the possiblity open that there is a God.”

Truelogic: You can not prove that Buddha is not real, so that leaves the possibility open that he is real.  You cannot prove that any God is not real and thus that leaves it open that any and ALL Gods are real.  You cannot prove that breaking a mirror doesn’t bring bad luck, that leaves it open that it is possible.  You can’t prove that I don’t have a magical, healing, invisible Dog that only I can see and that he actually created all things.  That leaves it open that it is possible.

However, what is likely?  It is not likely that any of the man made Gods are true and it is not likely that I have an invisible Dog.  Just because I want to believe in an invisible being doesn’t make it true because someone can’t prove it isn’t real.  We can provide substantial amounts of evidence to show the Christian God is not real.

1. We could address the never ending list of claims made by Christians (virgin birth, dead walking, snake talking, walking on water, talking and writing bush (while on fire), man flying into the mountain tops with another invisible man named Satan (also not proven), …etc.

2. We could address the many similarities in the Christian God and those that came before him.  Such as Horus how was born to a virgin, preceded by a bright star in the sky, had a father named Joseph and mother named Mary, visited by three at birth, announced by an angel, …etc.  There are other Gods and stories that are direct copies from earlier religions….therefore, not likely original or true.

3. We could demonstrate that the Hell of the Christian bible is a copy of the Egyptian hell created long before Christianity came along.

Those are some examples of evidence to show that the Christian God is not likely.  Now, I can provide more evidence against the Christian God than I can against an invisible Dog.

Christian: From what we do know scientifically is that every shred of evidense points to a delibrate designer.  How about our Universe?  Something had to start it right?  There is endless amounts of scientific data to support a Creator or Designer.   Are you a Big Bang believer? Excess Quarks? or what… If you are so sure he doesn’t exist you must have so explanation for how the earth was created.”

Truelogic: Again, as an Agnostic, I am honest and do not make claims about how everything came to be.  I am honest in that I state, I don’t know.  If you were honest, you would not claim to know the one invisible power that created all things, especially when you have NO evidence to support your claim.  It is just dishonest and immoral for you to do so.

If you believe there MUST be a designer or creator then prove that it is YOUR Version.  The Christian version.   Everyone seems to think their God has done it and yet NONE prove it.  You are no different.  Your God is not more real than any other God and since you claim ONLY your God is real, the onus of proof would lie on you to prove your God is the only God.  Therefore, I would reasonably expect you to provide evidence that the others are NOT real.  Fact is, you can’t do it.  You may not like facts but science uses facts and that is why I don’t believe there is a space station above the earths atmosphere, I know it is there.  I have even seen it in my telescope.  I didn’t notice your God or any other God floating around above it either.

Now, if you believe all things must have had a designer and things are so complex that they couldn’t just happen.  Then we can reasonably apply that logic to your God and thus your God is far more complex if he created complex things and thus he must have a creator.  Maybe Allah or Buddha created your God?  Can you prove they didn’t?

Of course you can’t prove it but it would be absurd if I actually thought that if you can’t prove I am wrong, I must be right.  That would only expose me as being completely ignorant.

FACT is, you can not prove your Version of God is the ONLY real God or that he is even remotely true.  Sorry, but those are the facts.