Two Of Hearts

This would be a great post for the Stacy-Q vid/song "Two of hearts..I need you, I need you," but for whatevah reason I can't post freekin' Youtube videos. God...are ya fucking with me, again. Any who...

I don't see any reason to be all Militant Skeptic (I just coined a new phrase) all the time. In fact, I'm turning it off right now. Here's why...James and Marjorie Landis was the married for 65 whole years in a row. In case you didn't know, that is a really long time. They were friends and sweethearts and peeps say that they were always together...until...

Marjorie passed away this week at age 87 (OK turn off skeptic meters right now) and her husband, age 89, passed away the same day, get this, 88 minutes later. If I wanted to ruin this I would start off with the good ol' "where do I begin on this one (numerology, psychology, miracle/miraculous, the power of the brain etc...)." Not today bitter atheist.

I just think it's sweet, well, as sweet as death can be.

88 minutes before his own death, James said to his awesome wife and friend of 64 years "It's OK. I love you. We had many good years together. I will see you real soon."

Yopu can begin crying right now....NOW.

* Article

All Hail The King, Or Not

I'll start off with a joke (and after yesterday, I need it)...What is Bishops Eddie Long's porn name...Eddie Long (rimshot).

"This scroll gives me the power to fuck boys with no recourse-n-shit."

Contrary to simple minded belief, most atheists don't hate religion, in fact we find religion very fascinating, like mythology and folklore, that is one of the reasons why we study it so much. Then again, I guess it depends on what religion we are talking about. If we are talking about do good religion that is unselfish, a religion where some kinda higher power, sumthin' more than humanity, something for mere humans to aspire to for the sake of good and goodness, then I can go for that (I don't believe in that, but it's better than the alternative). If we are talking about the Prosperity Gospel (God wants you to be rich) and the *alleged* boy fucker and abuser of power and trust, the Bishop Eddie Long, then fuck that shit.

I was a gonna take today off, that is until I saw the "promotion" of the Bishop. The Bishop Eddie Long, lawsuits and allegations, divorce and all, has bee promoted to...King. Yes, it's true, the King Eddie Long. I watched the video as long as I could but quite frankly, it was so full of bullshit that my simple atheist/skeptic brain went into overdrive and exploded.

"I out rake you Mr President...I'm the King. Wait hold on..Oh that was Elvis, he said I'm the King, baby."

I've always wonder how one become a pastor, a bishop and now King. Really, these clergy types also have Phd's in front of their names. Did they go to an accredited college and get a Phd. in theology or biblical studies...NO. Someone I know has a Phd. in front of their name (and last time I saw dude, he did not). I suspect that the "degree" was bought, plain and simple. It would be the coolest thing to have a Phd. in science, that would mean that you contributed to the whole of knowledge. You struggled for many years to make a discovery, to uncover something that was unknown at one time and you added to what is known. Phd. in religion...I dunno. To become royalty in religion...deff. not. Any who...

What I did see of the video was that a *scholar* got a 300 y/o scroll and because he presented it to Bishop Long...that makes him King. OoooKkkaaayyyyy. First of all a 300 y/o scroll is not that old considering that Christianity is supposedly 2,000 years old. The presenter make the fallacious pseudoscience claim that "most Jews wouldn't even get this close to an ancient scroll." Ok so what. That doesn't mean squat. He said that usually this (the scroll presentation) is reserved for cities. Dude really made it seem like the promotion of the boy fucker, err, Bishop Eddie Long was ordained by God. WTF. Besides that, it is super super weirdo for four grown men to carry and lift the boy fucker, err, I mean the Bishop, into the air on a thrown with the stupid scroll and a ridiculous hat (what's up with clergy and their super lame hats. yuck).

OK...I'm wandering (my brain power right now is not very powerful). This dude, the King is a multi-millionaire. He has luxury cars, private jets and loads of straight up cash. Look at his suits, they are probably more than a years salary for me. He *settled* with the men that he abused both physically and trust wise, which tells us that he didn't want to go to court for boy fucking. And his wife pretty recently filed for divorce. OK, I do believe in redemption of some sort and forgiveness. I'm not talking about the boy fucker right now...I'm talking about the congregation.

But why would you. You are supposed to be a man of peace. After all, are you not innocent.

Look at how packed his church is. Soooo full of well dressed believers that subscribe to the belief that God wants you to be rich. Have they already forgiven him (because to forgive him is to be closer to God and the closer one is, the more one makes, right). What about the abused men. I have not seen any reports about the well being of the men and in fact the only things that I have read about them is from members of the congregation that claim the men are "gold diggers." Gold diggers, really. I thought they were just people who trusted an authority figure and they were manipulated into having sex from someone they totally trusted...then thrown to the curb.

I wanna say that this is NOT Gods love, but one only hasta study religion for a little bit to admit...This IS Gods love.

Long live the King.

* Article Watch the video and be totally creeped out...I mean totally.

* Prosperity gospel

* tooootally crappy and anxious day yesterday. It has been mostly good as of late, but once in a while one crapola day sneaks in there. doing better today...so far.

Skeptic Meters, Breathing And My Beautiful Philippines

What can I say...I'm one of those super smart and great looking/sexy, know it all skeptics (and so are y'all, well, only if yer on Team Skeptic) so when I discover sumthin'...I'm totally surprised. As you all know I totally heart my beautiful Philippines so much. So they have religious wars, seemingly no separation of church and state and the poverty...oh the poverty, so what. So what that they brag about being the most Catholic nation in S.E.Asia. So what that the witch doctor (daitu) and their *alternative medicine* is still used in many barangays today. This is where I draw the line tho...Buteyko.

So WTF is Buteyko, I'm mean besides bull of the shit...it's breathing; specifically breathing thru the nose, and sometimes hyperventilating. Really peeps I always tell people this, if anyone were to see/feel chi it would be the Asian guy that grew up, err, Asian and studied martial arts (c'est moi). No offense but when white people try and tell me about tai chi and chi gung I roll my eyes. I was the poster boy for alternative medicine at one point. If ginseng and echinachea were fer real, wouldn't I know about that. If the art of healing hands (Reiki) were for real, or shiatsu and accupunture and accupressure were fer real...wouldn't I know that. I think so (1).

I guess click the Buteyko link if you wanna waste your time, or you can just trust and believe me (I have never ever lied in my life) that it is fakey fake. When reading the description in the Filipino newspaper my skeptic meter went off like a drunk Mel Gibson in a kosher supermarket-that means a lot. If this is not written down anywhere, it should be...everyone's skeptic meter should go off when there is any product that claims to cure a whole host of ailments-panacea. The article claims that if one practices this *special* breathing technique then one can cure anything from asthma to a limp dick.

I couldn't resist...I Googled "limp."

Other warning signs are stupido thingies like "the medical establishment doesn't want you to know about this," "proven technique that is centuries old," "it's natural." (2). If you hear or read these things and your skeptic meter is NOT going off, then you need to change the battery in your skeptic meter cause the shit isn't working.

This is the first style I learned. 1972 baby (it kinda sucks cause you end up spitting all over yourself).

So, is it possible that there could be benefits to using this technique...sure. We all need to breath, breathing is cool. In fact I do it everyday. The body needs oxygen and so does the brain. If one uses any breathing technique, esp. combined with what the New Agers call-mindfulness, then of course there will be benefits. One can use any meditation, yoga, Gojo Ryo Karate has cool breathing techniques, tai chi and chi gung are also really effective breathing techniques. The thingy about it is we already know how to breath, naturally. It is fakey fake for anyone to tell you (esp. if they are charging money) that they have cornered the market on breathing. If you just sit in a chair and concentrate on making deep breadths, as opposed to any of the techniques I mentioned, I do not see any difference, well except for your bank account (it will be smaller and...limp).

I'm not sayin' don't breath, I'm sayin' don't spend money learning something that we already do naturally. As those great philosophers from the late 80's said "Don't believe the hype (and don't spend money on it)."

(1) I'm not sayin' that after one of those treatments one will not feel good, what I'm saying is that there are real world, physical (physiological) happenings that make those things work. It's certainly not chi.

(2) Just because something is old and natural doesn't mean that it's correct. For example blood leeching is old, so there.

* Article in GMA News Philippines

The Voice Of Gawd Is An Offstage Assistant

OK, I'll try my best on this one. My mental capacity is up and down, just like my moods. No don't cry kind gentle and very good looking readers, I'm mostly on the up. It's just that....you know. Any who...

Apparently there is a charlatan in the UK by the name of Psychic Sally Morgan. I guess she can speak to the dead and all that shit (psychics can do anything, right) and her powers are so awesome that she got all butt hurt because people (skeptics, media) think that she's a fraud (imagine that).

"Thanks 'Gawd', that was a great show. Job well done, now let's go get a beer...Barry."

Was it a year ago, or a couple of years ago, when Simon Sing, member of Team Skeptic, got sued for libel (is that an English word. It means that someone is gonna sue you cause you talked "shit") because he said the correct (chiropractic medicine that deals w/subluxations is fakey fake). Unfortunately for The Si-Man, he had to go thru a shitty and long court process just to prove his "innocence". After hella time and money...he got off (and he never did anything wrong in the first place. So unfair). Which brings us to this...

Psycho Sally is going to go all "libel" on the UK press because they called her a fraud and a cheat...and stinky (OK, I made up that last one...maybe). Keep in mind, she can sue me also...after all I'm talking shit. That is why in the aftermath of the Sing case, there is much talk about reforming the libel laws across the pond.

If my understanding is correct, then if you talk shit about someone and they don't feel that it is correct (or they are shallow and vengeful)...then they can sue you. Am I missing something. Don't we have freedom of speech-n-stuffs (1).

Well Team Skeptic would be in for another long haul except this pic/video that has surfaced staring Psycho Sally. So these weirdos *claim* to be able to talk to your dead relatives, they charge money for it, they make a good living and...they are scamming good, honest people. If she were truly a psychic, someone that can see the future-n-stuffs, then she would have known that pictures and videos of her taking off an EARPIECE THAT TRANSMITS INFORMATION FROM ONE PERSON BACKSTAGE DIRECTLY INTO HER EAR would surface. Turns out the voice of a God, or sumthin', is really an assistent piping the information directly into her ear. So much for the *miraculous*. Maybe she was talking to Bruce Lee, I dunno....

Off the top of my head I cannot think of any of the other charlatans by name that have been caught doing this (Team atheist/skeptic nerd help me on this one) but even my Nor Cal stoner memory remembers that this has happened many times before. I'm sure JREF has lot's of that evidence.

I Googled "UK libel laws suck" and this came up. Whatevah.

This is about that free speech the skeptic, atheist, secular blogosphere keeps talking about. Really...really, these frauds can be all, err, fraudulent, sell their scammy wares and rip good honest people off, but if they get called out on it by Team Skeptic, then Team Skeptic gets sued (which costs hella time and money just to prove the obvious-innocence). Often times peeps ask, What's the harm. Let people have their illusions, err, beliefs." Well this is the harm.

Hope we nipped this one in the bud.

* Stephen Law UK philosopher dude covering the action.

* Prove your powers

* Pullin' out an earpiece. busted, yo.

(1) I know I'm being simple, but am I wrong.

Why Team Skeptic Is Made Of Awesome

Look man, I'm a know it all skeptic (just like you guys), I'm smarter than the average nonskeptic (by a million gazillion miles), I'm better looking, my hair is more luminescent and fragrant and yeah, that six pack thing. Any who...When I do not know the answer to something, I just tell the truth-"I don't know the answer." Revoke my skeptics card if you must, but I have never heard of the Nasca Lines of Peru.

Luckily, my homie Rob at The Skeptics Dictionary has...thehh


"The Nazca lines are geoglyphs and geometric line clearings in the Peruvian desert. They were made by the Nazca people, who flourished between 200 BCE and 600 CE along rivers and streams that flow from the Andes...Dark red surface stones and soil have been cleared away, exposing the lighter-colored subsoil, creating the "lines"... From the air, the "lines" include not only lines and geometric shapes, but also depictions of animals and plants in stylized forms. Some of the forms, including images of humans, grace the steep hillsides at the edge of the desert...it is unlikely spacecraft could have landed in the area without disturbing some of the artwork or the soil. There is no evidence of such disturbance."

The last line is the best because it implies that aliens were in on it. There have also been people that have theorized that is has something to do with Astrology of the time, which as ancient and not as smart as us people they certainly were capable of that-that was their "religion" per say. Others have said that it is a massive track where they had running races-as indicated by the "curvy" nature of the tracks (prob. not); while others have theorized that it is a massive aqueduct system, because after all, they do live in the desert. While anything can be possible, as skeptics we have to ask...is it probable.

Hey aliens, touch my monkey.

First of all, could these early Peruvians have used the lame technology of their day (did they even have shovels), using countless generations of workers (and for all intensive purposes, they were slaves-right(?)) over hundreds and hundreds of years time to build elaborate designs into the hard rock desert landscape. Yes, absolutely. Whether the workers did so voluntarily or by the encouragement of the whip, that remains to be seen. 

Did they build it for running races. Mmmm, I don't think so. Could it have been a way to capture the precious water that is so, errr, precious, in the desert climate. Yyyyyeeeeeaaaaaaa, I guess, but the civil engineer that came up with the idea is totally stupid by ancient or modern standards (Why not make a lake, right), so I don't think so.

Lastly, is it a landing strip for those aliens that weirdoes keep talking about, even tho there is no evidence for aliens ever ever, and there probably will never ever ever be evidence. It seems highly unlikely to me. Just like the Loc Ness monster or Bigfoot, dontcha think that after the 100's of years looking for these things that we would have seen them by now. Didn't Carl Sagan send a message to aliens in, like, the 70's. If there were aliens dontcha think they would give a shout out to Carl "The Man" Sagan. I think so, dude was so epic.

This is the beauty os skepticism and even the scientific method. If you don't know something, that is know it with evidence and reason, hypothesis and testing, then just say that you don't know the answer. We don't have a Gawd to put in the gaps-we have to find a real answer. If anything, instead of making shit up why don't we find out together. If rather do that than say "Aliens" and offer no proof, rhyme or reason. In fact we can quote the character Jeff Spicoli for the 80's documentary Fast Times At Ridgemount High when famously answer the question from Mr Hand by saying...

"I don't know."

...and that kind gentle and very good looking readers, on this cold windy day, that is "totally awesome."

* Article BBC

The Not Necessarily Religion News Roundup

"We support boy fuckers, we support boy fuckers..."

What is up with my numbers. It's like down by 100 hits. Y'all need to help me spread the gospel of the six pack. Tell all the super hottie atheist/skeptic ladies over 30, about that really epic guy that is developing his own writing style and is, without a doubt...the most humble person you can ever meet (Ghandi thinks I'm humble, so there). Any who...

Penn St. officials finally did the correct thing and fired their head football coach known as Jo-Pa. Here's the nutshell. THERE WAS BOYFUCKING, ERR, RAPING GOING ON WHEN HE WAS IN CHARGE, HE KNEW ABOUT IT AND HE DID NOT REPORT IT TO THE POLICE. So much for what could have been the most regarded tenure in sports history. I mean freekin' shit, peeps are comparing Penn St. to the Catholic church (if someone did that to me, there'z-a-gonna be some fighting goin' on). I actually dunno if Penn St. is a religious school (are they, are they?), but I do know that all the idiots that "protested", err, rioted when they heard that Coach "I Allow Boy Fucking On My Shift" Jo-Pa had been fired, are exactly like the losers that cover up for Boy Fuckin' Priests-n-such.

Fo sho I'm one of those know it all skeptics and a very proud member of Team Atheist...but that doesn't mean I'm totally rational all of the time. Par example, I haven't watched any 49'ers games this season and that is something I have done (that is watch the games, all of them) since I was a little kid. If you are Filipino growing up in the Bay Area, you WILL be Catholic, you WILL be a 9'ers fan and you will see a therapist later in life. But dagnabit, wouldn't ya know it, the one season I decide to not be a fanatical fan, then my freekin' team is in first place. Sports fans (and players) are allllllll about the stupidstition, so ya know what that means....if I watch a game and they lose, then it's my fault (and if you don't understand that, fo sho I can't explain it to you. That's what a fan is...fanatical.). Go Niner's.

Coach of the year.

Gov. "Pray for rain" Perry went Sarah Palin last nite and "misspoke" (if you will notice, I have, only GOP'ers and Christian wingnuts "misspeak". Really, I'm keeping stats on it. Like Roger Clemens). GOP'ers are all about small government and when asked what three departments would he cut, Gov. Rainmaker couldn't name the third one. Oopsie. It doesn't matter, he's not gonna win anyways...I hope.

Good week for pro-libs at the ballot box, esp. in Mississippi and their really dumb personhood amendment. I have mentioned it many times here, but, it is really stupid pants to fight the same fights over and over again (scopes monkey trial, Roe v. Wade, creationism v. science etc..). The thing about it is, we have to fight those fights. If this bill was passed it would have erased many of the gains in the feminists and reproductive rights movements. We won this time, but what I would like to see in the future is the statistics on how many humans God kills. He's responsible for everything, right. There are way more miscarriages than abortions, therefore God kills more babies. Women go thru their cycle every month and all those lost or unused cells ARE humans right (according to their philosophy), so God, once again, kills hella humans, right. I think so.

Finally, a Tibetan Buddhist leader to his peeps "Stop lighting yo'sef on fire. There must be another way." Well said, my bald Asian brother.

This is the article I read the other day and I started a post...but I'm too dumb to finish it. My question is...Is Quantum Theology the same as Christian Theology, or what the hell is it. It sounds a lot like The Tao of Physics kinda stuffs. Maybe by this weekend I'll figure it out. Maybe.

This is that new docc. all the cool atheist/skeptic kids are talking about The Fabric of the Cosmos. I do believe that it answers the question of the day from last week (what is in empty space, or is that even possible), but honestly, I was watching it last nite and I got stoned and I didn't understand it. Cool graphics tho.

Oh buddies...oh, buddies. Before krissthesexyatheist, at one time in this baddass life o' mine, when I was studying martial arts, I was more like "Chris the guy that believes in Complimentary Alternative Medicine (CAM). When I read this the other day I just thought it was cool. Unbeknownst to me there is an epic battle over wild ginseng. They can bring in tons of money and in Korea it supports an industry that pays top dollar for the yucky tasting and no medical value root. Thanks LA Times.

Lastly, yes kind gentle and very good looking readers all good things come to an end, stay at home, uneducated and really stupid moms, as reported by the LA Times, have been using Facebook to transfer viruses over the mail. Back in the day there wuz this thing called chicken pox parties but now you can get chicken pox in the privacy and connivance of your own home. These stupid mothers are having other stupid mothers-with infected kids, lick loli pops, send it thru the mail and then...well, you know. I wrote about it the other day.

Well peeps, that is all for now. It is super sunny here in Sac Town, could be warmer tho, but still...I can't complain.

Lates.

Chicken Pox Party

Wow, that is so attractive.

 I haven't heard the term "chicken pox party' in a long time. It seems that that was the thing to do when I was a kid, even tho I never went to one or knew anyone that went to one (I'm just sayin' that the term was more commonly used). If you don't know what that is it is when one unfortunate kid in the neighborhood gets chicken pox, then all the, well meaning, parents take their kids over there to contract the illness (I guess by hugging the poor pocked person). This is due to the belief that you want to get chicken pox as a child because if you get it when you become older, then you will die (I don't know if that is true or not). I have no stats on this but...the chicken pox party died out because of super awesome science, specifically vaccines.

But as all you kind gentle and very good looking readers know, the celebrity, magic potion, CAM, stupidity endorsers have started and sustained the anti-vax movement. Their world is like Superman's Bizarro world-the opposite is true. To them vaccines do not prevent preventable diseases, no quite the contrary, vaccines cause illness (go fuckin' figure). Needless to say, because of celebrity endorsers like Jenny McCarthy, many well meaning parents skip the vaccinations to, ironically, save their children. What has happened since that movement has proliferated is a lowering of the very important herd mentality and a return of many preventable diseases.

Recently there have been many articles about parents that met people on the Facebook and got them to send loli-pops that were licked by infected kids, or saliva. I guess the hope is that, thru the mail, their children could get chicken pocks at the preferable correct and young age, and then they wouldn't have to trip on it for the rest of their lives.

Once again, I guess it's a good idea, just like, I guess a chicken pox party is a good idea, except the, ya know...you are not supposed to send viruses thru the mail (anthrax anyone) and licking a loli-pop is not a very efficient way to transfer the illness. In fact, now that I think of it, the good idea is not so good anymore...actually, it's quite the dumbness.

I have a better idea. Howz about, and this is for all you well meaning parents out there, you use common sense and ask yourself...who knows more about science and medicine 1) Jenny McCarthey or, gee, I dunno, 2) DOCTORS. All the best intentions are for bullshit if you are making stupid decisions like that. Not only are you putting your child at risk (by not getting vaccinated), but you are endangering the rest of us with your dirty unvaccinated children.

There is a reason why the chicken pox party went the way of the dinosaurs, no not ice age...because there are better ways...like that science and medicine that skeptics keep talking about.

* I had chicken pox when I was, like, ten or so and it was during Christmas time, which is also near my birthday. I was quarantined and it sucked.

* Mom as a bioterrorist.

The Devil Is In The Details

Do  you see it, how about now...now...now..............NOW?

 I'll tell ya what Team Skeptic, I mean besides I heart ya-n-shit...I heart me some pareidolia just as much as the next skeptic but when peeps are just straight up making shit up, then I call BS.

Oh my garsh, the Devil has been spotted "high up in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assissi. If you look at the bottom left of the above part of the mural, you can see...the Devil...right? The artist, Giotto di Bondone may have been playing a joke, says one super old crusty super old art historian dude. In fact Giotto was not the only one joking around in his paintings back in the day. Previously it was thought that Andrea Mantegna in the 15th century, as well as others, joked around and put stuffs in their work.  Me currently,  like right now, my thought is...c'mon this is fake.

What is this the Da Vinci Code? There are secrets-n-stuff hidden in super old painting. Whatevah...If that is the case then, below, are the hands of God appearing mysteriously in clouds...right.

 Or how about this (awesome) elephant in the clouds, below. Am I to believe that in the first picture, at the top, that is the devil in the bottom left hand corner-with the hook nose-n-stuffs, and that it was intended to be there, like, purposely and all. Or is it just a coincidence and we (humans) are just making shit up (because we are pattern seeking animals and that is how we evolved and survived throughout time) and it is a coincidence that there is a face there in the painting or in the clouds, or a piece of Jesus toast, or whatevah.  And who is to say that it is the Devil anyways, why not God(?).

I think this discovery is fake. Oh wait...that's what pareidolia is...dugh.

Awesome.

* Skeptics Dictionary Pareidolia

*BBC News Article

Double Dog Epic Science Win

 Oh science...why are you so truth-y-n-all. That is why I heart ya so much. What is it about the truth that Team Atheist and Team Skeptic heart so much...THE TRUTH. Fo sho science does not know everything (and no one ever said it will. is that even possible. no) but, I believe, it is the best  and most reliable knowledge out there (compared to, let's say...theology). One of the beauties of science, is that it can change when better evidence is presented (read "change" in a Homer Simpson voice, "Mmmmm, change.")

First up in the Double Dog Epic Science Win is this father daughter duo from one of my favorite cites, B-zerkeley. Richard Muller, of the Berkeley Erffs Surface Study, was a climate change skeptic, but as the sayin' goes...his heart and mind changed...err, due to that pesky evidence that Team Skeptic keeps talking about.

Dude pursued long held climate skeptic theories (remember Climategate) and he analyzed hella data (because that is what scientists do, right) and guess what...no not chicken butt this time...He concluded that the erffs temperature is 1.6 degrees more right now than in the 1950's. This is the best part and this is for Team Prog-Lib. The study was partially funded by those guys, the Koch brothers. And that my kind gentle and very good looking readers makes this particular science victory...even sweeter.

This is a Bay Area two fer, cause next up is the City I was born in...yes, my wonderful San Francisco (baby, I may come back one day, once day. le sigh). This science win has to do with those urban legends that Team Skeptic loves to debunk (ya know, cause we are all thruth-y-n-stuffs) specifically the bronze plaque in the Mission district that claims to be the place of the Cities origin.

Legend states that in June 29, 1776, the first Spanish settlers camped at Lake Dolores (aka Dolores Lagoon). I'm not gonna go all geek creek geologist-n-all (I'll leave that up to the two brainiacs pictured above. thanks), but the latest research claims that "No way Jose. It is physically impossible for those water formations and a canyon to physically exist at these points in the city (read the super good NPR article for, ya know, the real details-n-stuffs).

Fo sho the article has science-y stuffs, but what I wanna point out is this. The people that put the (incorrect) plaque in the Mission district are hella pissed. They did not wanna be interviewed for the article. They spent years researching the topic and dagnabit, they-ze ain't gonna change. What did the scientists say.

"The two creek geologists would like to see the plaque taken down or at least revised. They say there's nothing really wrong with a creation myth, but they'd prefer the truth (NPR)."

Thank you science,

Heart Kriss

* What is this strange feeling welling up inside of me. Let's see, the sun is out, I've been taking my meds (thanks again science), I have supportive friends that love me, my internet presence is killin' it (the six pack blog is back up to 300 hits a day, yippie), and I have the full range of feelings again (both positive and negative)...is it happiness. Fuckin' hope so......

Poisoned Halloween Candy

 I read a million gazillion newspapers everyday...and the LA Times, often times, has some good atheist-y and Team Skeptic articles. Today they tackle the super stupid myth, urban legend, or as I call it, stupid stupidhead, of Halloween candy being poisoned-n-such. OM(nonexistent)Gawd...we're, agh, WTF. Any who...

Oh noz, a lion escaped from a private rare animal sanctuary. Kill it.

 Tricks in The Treats: The Myth of Poisons Halloween Candy the Mighty LA Times busts out with the "There have never been any substantiated cases of strangers tampering with Halloween candy." In fact the Times has written about it several times: "One area hospital has been x-raying candy for years and has never found anything," "candy poisoning (is a) myth."


Sociologist Joel Best had been trying to debunk the stupidhead myth for 30 years. Dude's Snopes interview is pretty much everything you need to know about the myth of Halloween candy poisoning that you needed too know but just was not interested enuff to ask about...because y'all think it's stupidghead, also. For 30 years dude has been looking at the numbers, the actual reported cases (that turned out to have another explanation, like fat kids eating too much.) and there have be no incidences of this urban legend ever happening. So why...

I have a theory that
Halloween is only popular because of the Slutty Halloween Costume Industry. It's true.

Well, to live in fear of course, right. After all we are America and we are a Christian nation (at least that is what we are told). We have to fear the terrorists, fear God (ironically because he loves us so much), fear the government, our neighbors, people that are different than us and yes, candy. Fear the fuckin' candy. After 9-11 the myth of the killer candy legend grew to include malls that give out candy. Now you can't go to a mall and get candy, because, I guess, the terrorists fucked up that candy. Sheez.

#teambro member (@Invisible_Govt) just suggested to me that maybe it's parents that don't want their kids to eat hella candy. Awh, I can just see that at the diner table, after a nite of collecting that sugary kid-crack called candy, and the kids greedily try and ingest all the candy at once, then the parents busts out with, "Nooooooo, wait..." So awesome.


If I were a parent (1) I would be more scared of a drunk driver than the mythical razor apple. And I know...I drink a lot. Have fun tonite everyone. Don't Drink and Drive (but do everything else).

(1) I wanna a half white half Asian baby to dress up as food for Halloween. Hope to c'ya soon (nonexistent) Kriss baby.

In the meantime...there are many kinds of "babies".

Is this my baby, DAM it's just a picture. 

* LA TIMES...Tricks in the Treats.

* The Always Good and Rational...Snopes.

Thoughts On Yesterday's Question Of The Day

OK, so I work at this place that we call the #atheistcafe. It's not really, but WTF. There are some Team Atheist members, skeptics, philosophy clubs, believers-yes, we let believers in (I will gladly take anyone's money), punk rockers, hippies and professional types. This one customer in particular, "R", proposed the question of the day yesterday. What is in vacuumless space and can you quantify it (I assume he means measure it). Can you pump the "everything" outta a space. What is left? Oh joy, I didn't know the answer (I said dark matter which wuz incorrect), soz I asked around.

I'll be first to admit that, yes I'm a skeptic, I know science-y stuffs, but I'm totally deficient in the areas of astronomy and cosmic stuffs. Funny thing, I probably know more about ass-trology, than astronomy. Go figure and try and take a way my skeptics card. Any who...

The first person I hit up is this very nice fellow who years ago he took some sort of test and Sac State gave him (because he earned it) a BS, astronomy (he had been studying on his own for years and got offered this test I never heard of. I dunno). Dude told me 1) there is no such thing as a pure vacuum and 2) there is no such thing as a pure vacuum. The most empty space, whatever empty is, will still have dust particles in it, perhaps energy of some sort-a truly nothingness cannot really exist (if I understood dude correctly).

(Immediately I thought, can nothing exists, is there such a thing as nothing and even if there was, then could we call this nothing...something. Just give it a name and actually, I thought that's what dark matter/energy was....anyways).

The difference between space and let's say this table I'm sitting at is that all the particles that make this chair are totally packed together, hella, like so many. In space, I guess whether is is vacuumless or not, the particles are totally hella far apart, they are still there, but there is not as many and once again...totallly far apart.

So what do you call that. One of my tweeps, "T" suggested that it is vacuumless energy and free space. Vacuum energy is when space has no matter, then this is what is left behind. Click the link because it is to cosmological-y for me to explain and I don't understand it anyways. I don't think this is the answer tho, because if there is energy there, then we can call it energy (we're trying to find nothingness, define it and measure it. does it exist). Free space is vacuum and we already said that there is no such thing, so there.

Which brings me to this. I'm stumped. The question, if you will recall...What is in vacuumless space and what would you call that and could you measure that. OK, here's my new answer. If we see it in micro and macro, and I might get sort of Eastern philosophy-ie so if you do wanna take away my skeptics card, then you will be justified (I have to do something I dunno the answer), then perhaps we can 'see' it.  Is the space between the stars the same thing as the space between the smallest particles in atoms. As far as I know there is no definition for that space. We have not thus far been able to see or measure this totally small something that we are calling nothing. OK, now be really patient....

Is there such a thing as nothing. Can you take something and cut it in half so much that eventually it becomes nothing. It is like infinity...is there such a thing because you can always add one. As long as time exists, then you can always add one. But there it is, time is not infinite, it is finite. The universe will end one day, right...or will it keep expanding forever and ever. Whatever...

So if time is infinite then you can always add one...doesn't that mean there is not such thing as infinite (cause you'll never reach it). Likewise, can you cut something in half forever. Can you cut something in half and then one day there will be nothing. That's not very infinite-y.

Back to the question. What is in empty space, what do you call it and can you measure it. My answer...I dunno. Maybe a theoretical physicists or a mathematician knows. Hell maybe a philosopher can answer this. Howz about a theologian, can that person answer this (NO!). Just so ya know, the dude that asked me this question didn't know the answer either.

So what do you guys think (that's code for you Troy)?

-------------


Update later, early October-ish. On Nova. have ya heard about that show-kinda epic-n-such-any who...The Fabric of the Cosmos... is too awesome for 'lil old me to describe. Team Atheist/Skeptic you should goober out on this (and if you have "that lucky lady"...then you should cuddle...it's cold right now. Awesomeness.

Working Both Sides

Honestly, for a while growing up I thot I wuz Japanese. I didn't know what a Filipino was/is.

 O yea, ready for some super vague-y vague-ness reporting and commentary that may or may not make sense...too bad. I wanna say "kettle" and "black" again but I've said that too often the past couple of months. But what can ya expect, after all, we are dealing with religion, ya know, that thing that Team Atheist says is synonymous with "making sense", right(?).

What is that really good Kurosawa movie when the samurai works both gangs and instead of him killing all of them, or being killed him self, he gets them to kill each other-and then he gets paid on top of that (what a frackin' baddass). It was the inspiration for that Clint Eastwood movie, I believe it was called-and fo sho I've been wrong before, A Few Dollars More. Any who...

Team Atheists' mbff, Bill Donohoe has responded to the stupid that the Rev. Robert Jeffress has been saying as of late. In case your are not a prog-lib, atheist, skeptic, nerd, political junkie, baddass, then let me fill ya in. The Rev-J said the stupid last weekend when he went all "Mormonism is a cult" blast. There is way more, must remember to finish this one (1).

So our good friend Bill, president of the Catholic League, responded to Rev-J's dumb dumbheadedness with...

 "Where did they find this guy? When theological differences are demonized by the faithful of any religion—never mind by a clergyman—it makes a mockery of their own religion. Rev. Jeffress is a poster boy for hatred, not Christianity (Catholic League Newletter Home, Ya I read that. Dontcha?).

 Wow Bill, hate much. That was not a very Christian-y comment. That last statement is what we have been sayin' about Bill for a very long time, err, our good friend Bill. Oh did I mention that the Rev-J called Bill's religion "the outgrowth of a "corruption"called the "Babylonian Mystery". Wow again. I don't even know what those words in that order means, but I sure know me some fightin' words when I hear 'em. Those are fighting words. Wait there's more. This is religion, there is always more hate.

Rev-J...


“Much of what you see in the Catholic Church today doesn’t come from God’s word. It comes from that cult-like pagan religion. Isn’t that the genius of Satan (CLN)."


Oh no he didn't. Wait did I mention that the Rev-J is one of those evangelical Christians (I forget which one, the one that spreads hate and intolerance) that believes that they practice the one true religion and everyone else practices Satanism, or something like that. So kind gentle and very goodlooking readers, you can see why our good friend Bill went off with his "Where did they find this guy" blast. So epic on both sides...the hate that is.

I dunno, this atheist is content to sit back and watch both sides go back and forth, lobbing hateful comments and then responding to the response of an earlier lobbed hateful comment. I'm sure I've mentioned this a million gazillion times, but classic military strategy, the one move, basic fighting principles 101, if you don't know this, you don't know squat...divide and conquer. Hell, I would like to participate, err, I dunno, maybe talk some shit and do the "Hey Bill, wanna know what Rev-J said about you." You know stoke the fire a little, enuff so that both organizations and philosophies go at it and eventually burn into nothingness.

Oh in a perfect world. Until then, I'm a gonna watch them battle like one watches a tennis match, and yes...I will enjoy it.

(1). Rev-J also blasted Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism as "false religions." And this morning I read an article where some separate church state peeps want the IRS to look into Rev-J for violations. This guys talks to Gawd. So rich...

* Article

News Roundup On Follow Atheist Friday

Why is it that when Team Atheist is in the news...it is always a bad negative thing. Oh well, any publicity is good publicity, right(?). Any who, Elevatorgate was the feature article in my favorite religion news aggregator, Religion News Service. The awesome sauce thingy about elevatrogate is that as a community, Team Atheist did address sexism and we are game to combat it within our own ranks. We need the ladies so much in the sciences, in the atheist blogosphere and in skepticism movements. BTW, RNS has a pretty fair amount of ladies writers reporting the news, so bully for them. Check it out.

Yesterday I wrote about how Islamophobia is being taught to the F.B.I., the armed forces and law enforcement. Today the F.B.I. has announced that it is dropping those programs (should never have happened in the first place). Check out yesterdays posts there are good links to Mother Jones and Slate. For those keeping track of the Christians that want to take over the world, known as dominionist, there is lot's of info for your score cards.

So, it is totally bad for authorities to teach Islamophobia and it is also super bad and wrong for uneducated and super stupid citizens to go old school and try their hand at vigilante violence. 9/11 is also the anniversary of stupid heads that attacked a peaceful Sikh dude because they thought he was...Muslim. So frackin' stupid, but I geuss that is what bigotry is-stupid. It is like when a loser calls me a 'chink' or a 'Jap' when I'm 100% brown hunky Filipino. At least get it right.

In the City by the Bay, the city that brought us OJ Simpson and your truly, 2,000 dirty stinky unimmunized kids were sent home from school because they did not receive the whooping cough vaccine. Gee I wonder if the deadbeat parents subscribe to the Jenny "I've killed many kids" McCarthey's philosophy of vaccines are bad bad bad, or are they not versed in the understanding of science, medicine (hello, herd mentality), or is it...all of the above. Regardless, keep your dirty stinky not-immunized kids away from me. I don't want to die of a disease that is easily preventable. Really.

Keeping with the pseudoscience-y stuffs...Dr. Oz, the multimillionaire that thrives off of selling bogus products with no medicinal value to people that really need help, has been called out for yelling "fire in a crowded theatre." Oz said that apple juice has too much arsenic in it and is hazardous to children. Basically the test he used was for something else (wastewater) therefore the results are no good, arsenic occurs naturally in lot's o' things, like, water, and I don't know this fo sho, but dude is probably selling the cure to apple juice arsenic (phobia) poisoning. Dude, scam much. Sheez.

I don't have too much info on this one, but my skeptic meter is going off. Authorities report that a young boy has emerged from the woods in Germany...speaking English. I don't know if this is a case of mysteriously speaking a foreign  language (skeptics dictionary) or an Ishi thing. I just know it sounds fishy and is a job for Team Skeptic.

Lastly, Christians at Vanderbilt U infiltrated a frat party with hidden microphones demanding that they repent.

That is all folks.

Really, honestly, I'm not attracted to stupidity. I don't care what the 'packaging' is. Awesome, sweetheart, atheist, skeptic lady, that is totally smart-n-stuffs...I'm still waiting and still available (and I don't care what the 'packaging' looks like. I way better than that. Hope to c'ya soon...whoever you are, Kriss.

Head For The Hills, Erff-Quake

Me schtinks an erff quakes is coming...or a fart.

Thanks SF Chron, my skeptics meter is going off. The article "Do zoo animals forecast erff-quakes" reminds me of the skeptic classic, Does the moon cause crime (or an increase in crime)? This is why skepticism is so important (so I have something to do when having my morning coffee). The claim is that right before an erff-quake happens, animals have that special animal erff-quake radar that tells them of the upcoming disaster...and they head to the hills in droves.

Back in the day in ancient Greece, 373B.C., it is said that hella snakes, centipedes and weasels fled Helice right before a huge quake. Today, Zoo personnel also claim that either, there is total calmness, or pandaemonium (that doesn't look right) right before a quake (which should set off a skeptic meter, which is it). Right before a 7.3 quake in China in 1973 it is said that snakes emerged from hibernation in sub-freezing temperatures to head for those hills that peeps keep talking about. So obviously the animal kingdom naturally has a built in seismograph, created by evolution thru natural selection just for these occasions, right. Wrong, err, maybe...let's check it out.

"I think our owners are home." "Nah bro, that's the mail-person."

Immediately I think of two thingies 1) dogs know when their owners are arriving home 2) a full moon increases crime and 3) anecdotal evidence is filled with human err (and I guess that is three things).

One of those great urban legends is that dogs know when their mommies and daddies are arriving home from work, or whatever. Dog owners go all anthropomorphic and project their human wants and feelings upon their trusted doggies. As humans we want so badly to believe that our dogs love us so much that they can recognize the sound of our vehicles, can smell us coming from a great distance, or even have dog to human telepathy that alerts them of arrival.

No. Several studies with hidden cameras have shown that yes, the dogs get excited when the owner pulls up in their car, making it appear that they anticipated the humans arrival. What the cameras also show is that the dogs get excited and go to the door when the mail-person comes to deliver the mail, a truck passes by, a squirrel climbs a tree outside, the neighborhood kids kick a ball into your yard etc....And, there is always an and, the err of anecdotal human evidence.


The relationship between the full moon and crime have been debunked time and time again. Correlation equals causation (or is it visa versa), except for when it is not. Do crimes occur during a full moon? I'll quote Sarah Palin, "You betcha." Does the moon cause an increase in crime...no frackin' way. What those super good looking, know it all, smarter than you skeptics say about the moon/crime thingy is that one only notices that when a crime occurs when there is a full moon. Crime happens all the time whether there is a full moon or not. Can we conclude the opposite with the same kind of thinking that the lack of a full moon is responsible for crime-not if ya want to be considered sane.

Humans, that's us peeps, have gone all evolve-y-n-stuffs and have learned throughout time that there are patterns and relationships in the world we live in. Observation has led to the understanding of weather patterns, the understanding of growing a seed into a plants, germ theory, etc...But just because we see a pattern does not mean that there is always a relationship.

Ya know what, I don't know if, or to what extent, animals can predict an erff-quake. Can they feel the vibrations before the actual quake comes, do they have some kind of internal pressure gauge  thingy that goes off right before the big one. I dunno. What I'am saying is that animals were heading to the hills in droves anyways, regardless of quake or not and I haven't seen enuff evidence to conclude that snakes, raccoons, or anyother animal, have the ability to predict an upcoming erff-quake.

* SF Chron article

* A science-y looking paper that....proves me wrong. Oh nozzzzz. Dogs know their owners are coming home. I just glanced at it, but it seems that dog telepathy is the reason for the ability...or dookie.

How To honor 9/11 Victims and Survivors

If you want to be a total dookie head and dishonor all those who have died in 9/11, the survivors, and all the family and friends affected, then promote pseudoscience, conspiracy theories and extremist religion. For those that want to inject more religion into this, when Mayor Bloomberg correctly did not include religious speakers in official capacity for today's 10 year anniversary, they just don't get it-religion is the cause of 9/11.

There are many many resources to debunk the 9/11 conspiracy theories. It has been years since I have read up on that stuffs (I can't believe that people still debate this), but that Popular Mechanics article, from what I recall, is the best. There are so many points that I could go over...fo sho I will not do that here (there are much better places for that). But...

I will mention the explosive devices thingy. So the claim is that the government planted explosive devices all over the buildings, so much so that when they pressed the button, the buildings fell in such a manner that it looked almost exactly as if it were a controlled demolition (weird and paranoid much).

Reall...really. So we are to believe that the government planted hella bombs all up and down and thru two buildings that are full of workers (50,000 plus), when there is 24-7 security and surveillance and no one noticed. Of all the peeps that did the planting, not one of them talked. It must have taken tens if not hundreds of workers planting bombs to accomplish a job like that. So none of them talked and not one person working in the building noticed. This is just one example of many that does not make sense and quite frankly...I'm too smart to believe that.

For those that believe that more religion will make this better I say...WTF. Religion is the reason why 9/11 happened. Like I said the other day, Islam and Christianity are like cats and dogs. They might lick each others butts some times, but given the chance...they will eat each other. What does it take to encourage a peep to, I dunno know, let's say hijack a plane, crash it and kill everyone on board including themselves...religion, the promise of an afterlife where one reaps heavenly rewards that pales life here on suffering erffs, an eternal awesomeness promised from Gawd himself that says, "Yea bro dude, your life is dookie, but if you blow up stuff and yourself...I'll take care of you in cloudville...and don't forget all those virgins that peeps keep talking about." But why did Islam go all Islam on NY City buildings.

One of the best and most important thingies about the battle and desire for secular society is that it is fair and equal for everyone. There is not one dominate religion, or belief, over another. And that is why all the forms of Christianity, whether it be Catholicism or any of the million gazillion evangelicals, are against secularism-they want to dominate. It is not enuff that American Christianity dominates the landscape here in the states, it has to spread...even in the nonChristian countries like the Asias and the Middle Easts.

Look at Egypt and Israel right now. The peace that has prevailed since, is it 67', is being replaced with protests and embassy bombings. Israel is loosing friends and people are looking at Palestine the way we used to look at S.Africa and apartheid. China and N. Korea are very wary of the spreading of American Christianity (and I'm not taking their side, just making a point), but S. America, Africa and S. E. Asia are experiencing growing numbers of American evangelical believers. Dontcha think that the indigenous religions will feel that their culture is being whitewashed, that there is a very real takeover happening. I think so.

The way to honor all those f-ed up by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 is to put extremist religion in it's proper place (nonexistence) and stop fueling stupid conspiracy theories. This is why The Mighty New Atheist are so important. If everyone, not just Team Atheist, knew that humans wrote the bible and Qu'ran and that they are not of divine origin, then would people be so eager to kill themselves and others, or be in a hurry to go to cloudville to collect the very overrated gaggle of virgins.

If the aggressive factions of extremist and literal religions could be transformed to symbolic and liberal religions, then we wouldn't have people that believe Gawd told them to kill, take over and dominate others. If we can win this very important battle for a godless public square, a place where everyone has freedom and equality and one religion does not dominate over others...then wouldn't we have world peace.

Honestly, we don't know...but we should at least try.

* Good hub page for everything that debunks 9/11 conspiracies at the awesome eSkeptic.

* Review of Forged the B. Erhmann book by the awesome Tim Callahan. Hint, the bible is fakey fake.

* Popular Mechanics