A Plethora of Palabras

Wow. This will be a busy post. I have a lot to say.

First, this YouTube Video has me highly stressed. I've got a very low opinions of all politicians, but is this little clip (verified, thanks) a racist rant from Hillary Clinton? It's her but is what she saying racist? Interesting thing to wonder about. I have to wonder why you'd repeatedly point out why you're white thus drawing attention to the fact your opponent is black. I hereby officially throw my hat in the Obama ring -- my first public statement of support for any candidate (none of whom I am overly thrilled with). This hat contingent upon whatever fool he picks as VP.

Second, the evil empire, AKA Microsoft, has come public about COFEE. Yeah, the same company that sells many of you guys your operating system software and recommends and installs all sorts of security updates has given an all-access pass to your local law-enforcement agency. No joke. This is just absurd. And if there's such a simple back-door to get around your operating system protections, how long for the terrorists to figure it out? The USB thumb drive contains 150 Microsoft programmed special commands to allow the user to decrypt passwords, recover all of the computer's data stores, and read a complete log of the computer's Internet activities. It works on-site with any Windows-loaded computer, including PDAs. That means not only your desktop but your mobile device too. I'm glad I'm not using their programs -- the question is why are you?

3. Jesus Made Me Puke is the title of a Rolling Stone article. David Higgins gets credit on this. While I subscribe to Rolling Stone, I hadn't yet read this issue. Why should you read it? You want to know what evangelicals do behind closed doors? Actually, you probably don't want to know. But you should. You might just lose a little sleep at night after reading this.

4. Tina Turner is coming out of retirement. She'll be here November 2nd and I'm excited. I've put in for the ticket lottery and hope to score some. The tickets go on sale Monday. Oh PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. I wish the International Tina Turner Fan Club was still around and giving us the good seats. Damn. I love Tina. See my review of her final Florida concert here.

5. Cal Rugby once again dominates the Rugby universe.The California Golden Bears blasted out to a 40-0 half-time lead and never looked back against Brigham Young University, taking the 2008 national collegiate championship, 59-7, this past Saturday at Stanford’s Steuber Rugby Stadium. It was the fifth straight title for the Bears and 24th in the history of the Cal rugby program making them the most dominating team in any Division One college sport.

6. I've got Neil Diamond tickets for 10-26-08, which I am also excited about. Nobody cares but me, but, yes, I love Neil Diamond and am greatly looking forward to his concert. I am going with the Mann family.

7. Last, but not least, a brief review of a quirky book called "The Somnambulist" by Jonathan Barnes. This books is unusual. Very much so. I rather enjoyed it. It's set in London -- the Victorian one. It's got humour of the driest sort, often black at that. It's got adventure. If the title frightens you, this book isn't for you. It's got lots of big $50 words, all used properly and without any effort by the author. It's quite the entertaining piece, and if you're in need of something different, this book is for you. I mostly recommend this to readers who would enjoy light fantasy and light science-fiction. Others will not appreciate its charms.

8. Don't forget to read Little Brother. I'm serious. Read this book.

Bush's religious zealotry

I just need to point something out to my small core of faithful readers. Once again I read where Bush is saying he looks to God for answers. It bothers me on many levels because the Constitution, last I checked, clearly mandates the separation of Church and State. This means, among many things, you can't teach religion, you can't bring it with you to public office. You may certainly believe in whatever God you wish. You may not, however, use it to help you make the decisions. An elected official is to make decision on what is good for the country -- not what some mysterious voice from heaven tells him/her.

Bush is the worst kind of zealot: he's a fascist, dangerous person. He would, given the chance, turn our nation into a theocracy. So would Mitt Romney -- he said as much today when he said Nativity scenes and menorahs should be allowed into places they are currently not permitted.

If you wonder what's wrong with a theocracy, allow me to list some countries that cannot separate their states from their churches: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican are all virtual theocracies. Until recently so were Iraq and Afghanistan -- and we all know how well that's worked out.

Somehow, I'm not seeing the slow drift towards a religious state as a good thing.

Appleism (Apple Becomes a Religion)

I use StumpleUpon regularly, and it dropped me into a blog which has a fascinating post. I'm sorry it took me so long to blog it, but here it is. David Kuo writes a rather interesting piece entitled "Welcome to Appleism – the religion that is Apple." I don't want to spoil it all here without encouraging you to read it first.

He starts with this statement: Apple isn’t a cult anymore, it has become a full blown religion with scores of millions of followers. The frenzy around the iPhone brings to mind the clamoring throngs that greeted Jesus at the height of his ministry. And it's a telling statement because he's right, there is a frenzy. Though, I daresay, it's more consumerism than anything resembling religion. The frenzy is no different than that surrounding the Nintendo Wii or any other über-hot item.

Lest you think I am disagreeing with Mr. Kuo, I am not. Apple has certainly become a religion of sorts, but a proper one that has developed over time. Its members are fiercely loyal, even when they shouldn't be. The evangelize their religion by trying to convert all their friends. I do that very thing, but I will not recommend one of Apple's "bad" products, though happily they are few and far between.

Mr. Kuo also states "Appleism espouses a liberal worldview that challenges conventional morality and norms and encourages creativity. It was clearly seen in the famed 'Think Different' ad campaign." And that is a key point because Think Different embodied the spirit of Apple. Mr. Kuo missed the very most important point of all, though. You either get it, or you don't.

I have friends and relatives that will never get it, and I don't even bother trying to convert them anymore. Not to put down my friends/relatives, but those who have converted have seen the light and realize the bliss of being righteous and knowing you've done the right thing. I'd love to insult the unconverted lot and say the intelligent ones have converted and the less-than-sharp have not, but that's a generalization and wholly untrue. There is no quantifiable measurement of get it, but anyone who is an Appleist, certainly gets it. There is research that does quantify the fact Apple users are statistically smarter than PC users (see previous blog entry) but I don't feel the pressing need to rub it in your face*.

It's no secret that I think different. That's probably why I get it.

(* Besides, all Mac vs PC arguments can be won by uttering the phrase Windows ME which will shut up even the most virulent Microsoft supporter).

Shrek The Third, Diggs, Jerry Falwell

I am rather pleased with the title of my blog entry for today.

1. First, I have removed the "Digg This" button from my individual blog posts as not one single person ever used it. The master button remains. StumbleUpon buttons also remain as sometimes a kind soul takes a liking to what I've said and decided to share it. Digg has become a wasteland and it's time I wash my hands of it.

2. The infamous Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church is picketing Jerry Falwell's funeral according to a Fox News article. Apparently Mr. Phelps (the "God Hates ...." guy) thinks Falwell was far too liberal. No, I am not making this up. As stated in dozens of online news reports: The Westboro Baptist Church says it intends to state a protest at the funeral of Rev. Jerry Falwell.The funeral will be Tuesday at the Thomas Road Baptist Church, the church Falwell founded, in Lynchburg, Virginia. On its Web site, Westboro says it will "preach" outside the funeral "of the corpulent false prophet Jerry Falwell, who spent his entire life prophesying lies and false doctrines like 'God loves everyone.'" I have previously blogged the joyful passing of Mr. Falwell, but let the record show, I'd rather have Falwell than Phelps. Phelps make Falwell and Robertson look like raging liberals. They are all hateful bastards and I'm sure I shall have the opportunity to spit in their face when I meet them in Hell. Ain't none of us going to heaven.

3. Today I saw Shrek The Third with Adrian, Pablo, and Timmy. My sister did a no show. I would love to tell you how the third movie was better than either the first or the second. The only thing I can say was it was a fast paced movie, and was (happily) over in around 90 minutes. This film will not win any awards, unless there's a category for unnecessary sequels. Sure, it had its moments, but generally speaking it just didn't do a whole lot for me. The animation was utterly fantastic -- the humans were realistic, which is considered the holy grail of animation. You could believe the characters were real. Unfortunately, they spent all their time on the animation and the clever jokes, forgetting any bit of reasonable plot. And they skimped on the music, a hallmark of the previous Shrek films. I just can't recommend this movie at current prices to anyone. Wait for it to hit the dollar theatre.

Jerry Falwell Dies at 73

Never take joy in the death of another, but in this case it's a little hard not to. The world, today, is a better place than yesterday. Now that Mr. Falwell, found of the obscenely named "Moral Majority", has popped off, perhaps some of his compatriots in religious intolerance will follow along. I hope it wasn't painful, because I don't wish that on almost anyone. But the honest answer is Good Riddance. I am confident that if Heaven and Hell exist, he's burning eternally in purgatory for his sins against humanity.

From the AP Wire: The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and built the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73. Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said "CPR efforts were unsuccessful," he said. Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell "has a history of heart challenges."

One ought not preach intolerance and hatred, and when you preach against exclusion for any reasons (gays, for just one example) for something that cannot be controlled, you are preaching hatred. When you stand for saying someone will go to hell for not sharing your beliefs, you are becoming a fascist. Falwell was not a nice man, he was not a good man, he was an evil man. And if you really believe in God, evil men will go to Hell. I'll find out because I'm pretty sure I'll go there too -- I hope there's an opening in IT (of course, being Hell, it's probably a Windows shop.)

Intelligent Design and a bit of Heaven and Hell

I've decided to make a serious post about a controversial topic. I've done that before in my Why Led Zeppelin Sucks thread. This one's a bit more serious than that one.

Intelligent Design is anything but. I want to state that as my opinion clearly and for the record. There is absolutely, unequivocally no intelligence in it whatsoever. It's shit passing itself off as science. It is, simply put, the Bible-Thumpers passing off their beliefs as science. Before all you bible-thumpers jump in, and I'm sure you will, let me say I am not against the Bible -- it's a very important book. I am also not against God. I think everyone needs to have something in their life to believe in. If God is your thing, that's great. I mean that. So spare me the e-mails saying how much I hate God, because I don't. This post is not an attack on God or the Bible. There's plenty of other people who can do that in their blogs but it won't be me.

However, what most of the Bible-Thumpers fail to understand is that they create deep resentment when they try to ram their beliefs down other people's throats. And it's worse because they're wrong. I even support their right to teach their kids whatever they want -- including this total sham of a concept called Intelligent Design. However they shouldn't and can't force it onto other people as much as they feel it's their right to do so.

What happens when they do? This: UC Berkeley Makes War On Religious Zealots -- That's right, their kids don't get into school because they have been turned into mis-educated morons. But that, as a parent, is their right. If they want their kids to be morons, they can. Hell, even our President is a moron so that's no so bad, right? I don't know why a person would want their child to be an idiot, to grow up learning something that simply isn't true. However, there are people who grow up believing it's okay to discriminate against someone because their skin is the wrong colour, their sexual preferences are different, or they practice the wrong form of religion, so obviously there are some pretty screwed up parents in the world. Yes, people want their kids to grow up to be Nazis and Klansmen.

It all starts innocently enough with a book. The book called Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins is a textbook. Yes, a textbook. There's a big fuss being made about this book and what it does and doesn't contain. I had the (mis)fortune of actually reading selections from it. It moved me enough to write an Amazon review of it. And do you know why I trashed the book? If you answered "because you don't agree with it" you'd be totally wrong.

It's because this festering pile of bound pages, doesn't bother to defend its own position with facts. If you want to take the position Intelligent Design is valid, that is certainly your prerogative. If you want to write about it, you are certainly entitled. If you want to write a textbook about it, you have to find some way of proving your points or, if you can't, clearly label them as conjecture. This book does neither.

What this book does is try to defend itself and straddle the fence. Neither side is served by this for when you straddle the fence, you tend to fall off. My review is called "Idiocy becomes Science" and to sum it up: It is disturbing anyone would actually consider something so full of tripe, illogical leaps from 'facts' to 'conclusion' as worth buying much less believing. Whatever your beliefs, this book sells them short. If you're in the Darwin camp, it's just plain wrong. If you're a creationist* it has the same problem -- it doesn't make the case. In short, this book fails to serve ANYONE anything of any value. You HAVE to take a position and defend it one way or the other. If you cruise by my review, give it a helpful rating, please. In fact, rate all the reviews. It's fun unlike this ignorant excuse of a book.

So it's the start down a slippery slope. It's okay to teach kids right from wrong, isn't it? So when we teach them lies and things that are untrue, how can we expect them to determine which ones are 'wrong' and which ones are 'right'? You can't because it doesn't make sense. It is no coincidence that many of these self-same Bible-Thumpers proclaim a love of God and preach hate at the same time. It's people like this who will go to the Hell they so firmly believe they are avoiding. A very specific example: one Bible-Thumping group is picketing Ms. Corretta Scott King's funeral because she believed in equal rights! Sadly, I am not making this up as you can see for yourself. Yes, their God apparently is a hateful God and all that bit in the Bible doesn't really apply. Reminds me of Orwell's masterpiece Animal Farm: All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

A long time ago I had posted some similar comments on AOL in a message board and I got some rather nasty e-mails informing I was going to Hell and they were going to Heaven. I got news for those closed-minded, evil bastards. If heaven is full of people like that, I don't want to go there.

But you know what, I don't think that's true. I know a lot of church-going people and most of 'em are pretty normal. Just like everyone else. They're not bigoted morons. I think they'll all go to their vision of Heaven. All those nut-cases will be really surprised to find themselves in Hell. Hopefully I won't be seeing them. It's sad but a few people ruin it for everyone.



* that's Intelligent Design no matter what anyone's claims

Please note that anonymous comments to this post are subject to rejection.

UC Berkeley Makes War On Religious Zealots

This article is so beautiful I want to cry. As a card-carrying, lifetime member of the University of California Berkeley Alumni Association, I may have never been so proud of my school.

UC Berkeley has decided that you actually have to meet certain criteria to enter our hallowed institution and some schools seem to object. Please, read the article at http://tinyurl.com/c43tt for the full details. (Berkeley has always had criteria, but they, as one of the best schools in the world actually enforce them.)

Berkeley objected to a science book that said: "The people who have prepared this book have tried consistently to put the Word of God first and science second. If at any point God's Word is not put first, the author apologizes."

Thank god* the UC Berkeley Bears have standards and are willing to stand up for what they require as a proper education. This isn't a discrimination issue. Berkeley has a hard science requirement and there's no reason a student can't take a qualifying class at another school. All schools have any number of requirements for admission and you must meet them all.

* That is so ironic I can't stand it.