Paul's blog

Archive for the ‘In the news’ Category

Apparently, last weekend Congressman Pete Stark (D-California), has come out as someone who does not believe in a supreme being. This makes him the first congressperson ever to admit such a thing.
He made this statement:

When the Secular Coalition asked me to complete a survey on my religious beliefs, I indicated I am a Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being

To be perfectly clear:

ALL HE DID WAS INDICATING ON A POLL THAT HE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN A SUPREME BEING.

That’s all. Nothing more. He didn’t confess that on ‘the floor’, he didn’t request special treatment and he certainly didn’t bash other people’s beliefs. He was just being honest (while he was the first one to ADMIT this, I’m sure there are more people in congress who share his disbelief).

And LOOK at the reactions!

For a long time I have believed that a very important basic ingredient for people’s tendency to be religious is fear. (To be a God-fearing person is considered a positive Christian trait, and you’d better fear hell too!).

I have seen the fear component manifest itself often and at various levels of consciousness, but seldom have I seen it so clearly as in this outburst from The Christian Seniors Association (CSA). See link.

Allow me a few quotes from that article and my comment on it:

… they want to establish a right for liberals to bash Christians and berate God around the clock …

ALL HE DID WAS INDICATING ON A POLL THAT HE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN A SUPREME BEING.

It is time for religious members of Congress to push back.  A simple declaration of a belief in God by members of Congress on the House floor will be greatly informative for the American people…

To “push back”? Note: Pete Stark did NOT announce his disbelief on the House floor.

ALL HE DID WAS INDICATING ON A POLL THAT HE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN A SUPREME BEING.

We have long recognized that all of this hot air about ‘separation of church and state’ has been a veiled effort to intimidate and silence religious voices in public policy matters …

Isn’t it a bit ‘un-American’ to call your own country’s Bill Of Rights ‘hot air‘? And no, it was not to intimidate, and no it was most certainly not veiled. It is a very CLEAR meassure to, indeed, keep ‘religious voices out of public policy matters’. That’s why it’s called ‘separation of church and state’. But in any case, it’s not something that Mr. Stark even so much as mentioned.

ALL HE DID WAS INDICATING ON A POLL THAT HE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN A SUPREME BEING.

If the liberal House leadership refuses to recognize lawmakers who want to affirm their belief in God …

Wait a minute now, NOBODY was refusing anyone anything …

ALL HE DID WAS INDICATING ON A POLL THAT HE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN A SUPREME BEING.

But based on some of these remarks, I think it IS valid to state that it is the CSA who ‘refuses to recognize lawmakers who want to affirm their disbelief in a god‘.

Congressman Stark’s statement [ … ] could be the moment which defines the decline of our country …

You’ve GOT to be kidding me! This would define the decline of our country?

ALL HE DID WAS INDICATING ON A POLL THAT HE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN A SUPREME BEING.

… the day that religious Americans stood-up to the liberal bullies who are so determined to use the power of government to silence prayer and every other religious expression of free speech.

Okay, NOW someone is REALLY going overboard here. NOBODY wants to deny religious people their right to pray and believe whatever they want. All that the non-religious people ask is to not have those beliefs FORCED upon them and that their tax money isn’t spent on some specific religions.

However, congressman Stark didn’t even mention that request.

ALL HE DID WAS INDICATING ON A POLL THAT HE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN A SUPREME BEING.

While I agree there is some rather nasty bullying going on here, it is NOT Pete Stark who is the bully!

This is a fight which is destined to be fought in America and we think it should begin today.

This is a FIGHT?

ALL HE DID WAS INDICATING ON A POLL THAT HE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN A SUPREME BEING.

And suddenly we hear from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) again!

I must admit, I wouldn’t have been surprised if we never would have heard from him again (like a few other high profile terrorists who made the headlines when they were captured).

“I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z,” Mohammed … said …

Mohammed, … also said he was responsible for a 1993 attack on New York’s World Trade Center, the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, and an attempt to down two American airplanes using shoe bombs.

Wow! He was the guy behind all that?

Does that mean we’re now going to release Ramzi Yousef, who we have in custody for masterminding the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center? (Granted, KSM IS his uncle). And Bali? I thought they picked up Abu Bakar Bashir for that. For that same bombing in Bali, the US has Riduan Isamuddin (known as Hambali) in custody (in an ‘undisclosed location’, which, as we now all know, means either Israel or somewhere in Europe, probably in one of the Balkan countries).

But, as it now turns out, is was KSM who masterminded it all and confessed to it all.

You know … somehow I can’t get the thought out of my mind that KSM was being … well … let me say … ‘given an incentive’ or ‘persuaded’ to admit all this. I also wouldn’t be surprised if some of the pressure that was put on him involved some levels of discomfort. Maybe even more than some ‘okay’ (Cheney!) ‘waterboarding’.

If I would have had the same audience as some of my bluddies, I could imagine the TONS of comments along the line of “I don’t give a rat’s ass: FRY the pig!”

And, you know, I totally understand that sentiment.

But is it right? Wouldn’t we be stooping down to what we so despise in our ennemies? Besides, from a practical point of view: if we (illegaly!) torture them so that they confess .. so that we can kill them legally .. what’s the point? Why not (illegaly) kill them right away? Saves a LOT of money, time and problems.

Anxious to receive some comments on this .. but I know, that’s slightly problematic with only two readers 😉

And yes, I also put this in the ‘religion’ category. Is KSM a serial killer, a beast, an animal? No, I think he’s primarily just a deeply religious being.

Link to article: link

Update:

Today [3/15/2007] it became known that KSM also admitted to having beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.

In fact, I thougt that that was what he was picked up for in the first place, but anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear tomorrow that he masterminded Jimmy Hoffa’s disapearance as well, or had the hand in JFK’s assassination.

Link to article: link

An unknown number of the new George Washington dollar coins, that went into circulation on February 15th, are lacking their edge inscriptions (which includes the phrase “In God We Trust” .. so the conspiracy theorists are having a field day with it!).

The first ones of the ‘error’ coins went for over $500 on eBay. Currently they are still going for anywhere between $70 and $300. (This article (link) quotes lower prices but I just checked eBay).

Now, here’s the thing that got me: LOTS of ‘smart’ people are now offering ‘UNOPENED rolls’ of 25 of these coins on eBay with the added description “ERRORS????”.

I think this is both clever and silly. Clever, because they just wait for a buyer dumb enough to fall for it, and then they simply go to the bank, buy a roll for $25 and send it to the buyer who paid God-knows-what for it. It’s silly, because everyone and his brother is doing this, so they can only hope to make, at most, a few bucks on the transaction. Sure, they can’t lose any money, but who cares about making a few bucks? It’s simply not worth the effort. I guess it takes the attitude of an entrepeneur (whether I make money or not, I can’t lose on this, so we do it…) to engage in these kinds of deals.

What’s really mind boggling, though, is the fact that people are indeed bidding on this! Even though they can avoid the S&H costs and profit margin, by going to their own bank and buy their own ‘UNOPENED roll .. ERRORS???”.

Anyway, I’m in the market for one of these coins. I bid $10.

I just read about a pastor here in Florida, who has “666” tattooed on his arm and claims to be God: link.

He knows he’s God, because he has had a dream in which angels told him that.

I don’t quite understand why God needs to be told by angels that he is God, but then, there’s so much that I don’t understand.

More interesting however is that his “claims of divinity have angered Christian leaders, who say he is a fake“.

And they know this how exactly?

Didn’t the religious leaders in (the ‘real’) Jesus’  time say exactly the same thing about Jesus?

(Oh, and by the way, the usual answer to the question raised in this post’s title is: “about one hundred years”)

<warning: rambling!> 

I just read something that struck me as the weirdest news I’ve read in days (and I do read a lot of weird stuff!).

Here’s what I read: link.

This is what I thought was weird:

a. He mummified in a year, due to the low humidity. Low humidity in New York? (and with a broken water pipe in his house!)

b. If I don’t pay my monthly electricity bill, I don’t get to watch TV for another year!

c. He was found in front of a blaring (deaf?) TV. And he has been blind for years?

But then, maybe it’s not all that weird after all.

First I think I once heard that they can’t cut off your water (you need it to survive) and electricity (that may kill someone). (Does anyone know if there’s some truth to this?)

Second, maybe using a TV as a radio isn’t that bad an idea after all. You get all the news channels, and for shows like Jeopardy, Deal or No Deal, and basically all sitcoms,  music and ‘talk’ shows… who needs to actually see anything? In most cases it’s probably preferable to not having to watch what you’re listening to! I know quite a few programs that I prefer to not even listen to! Actually, now that I think of it, the only movies you probably would want some visuals with are porn movies. And even those are usually horrible to watch (someone told me that)(and not really on TV, here in the US). Okay, maybe programs about art and nature too, but then again, they usually have very nice music too! And, unfortunately, these programs are rare. So in conclusion, TV programs that are actually worth watching are rare. Extremely rare.

Basically, our TV programs show us the taping of a radio show.

So, as for finding this blind man sitting in front of his TV? I grew up without TV, and the whole family would listen to certain radio programs. And we sat in front of the radio! All seven of us.

So, maybe, after all, not that weird at all.

Just sad.

Although… I’ve always said, that when it’s my time, I want to die in my sleep.

Maybe in front of a blaring TV isn’t that bad either…

(and it also may not be that uncommon:  link )

Read in the news today (link):

Teens who drink alcohol could be caught three days later under a high school’s new testing policy for students.

The test, which will be given randomly to students at Pequannock Township High School, can detect whether alcohol was consumed up to 80 hours earlier.

I think this is wrong. Very wrong.

If I had a kid in that high school I would make it very clear to the school that I, as a parent, am responsible for raising my kid. And that the only thing I expect from the school is, that they teach my child reading, writing and arithmetic (and a few other things). And where I, as the parent, reserve the right to meddle in what my kid is being taught I do not want the school to meddle in how I raise my kid. It’s simply neither their task nor function.

What is next? Tests to check if they have smoked? Tests to see if they had sex? Tests to check if they got enough sleep? Tests to see if they have been to church? Lie detector tests?

Will the phrase “there will be a test tomorrow” take on a completely different meaning?

In my humble opinon, schools should only do what they were created for: to teach our kids certain skills. And they’d better focus on that, since they’re not doing that good a job compared to the rest of the world. I know quite a few high school graduates who can’t spell ‘definitely’ and don’t know how much 7 times 8 is. Maybe the school should test the teachers for alcohol use!

This is Big Brother stuff that we should allow nor condone. It, again, is a measure that erodes our privacy and freedom. Yes, high school kids have a right to privacy too.

Besides, so what if a few kids actually do consume, oh horror, some alcohol? It’s not like they killed someone. This all sounds like overreacting anyway. It’s like treating dandruff by decapitation.

And make no mistake: you and I are paying for these tests!

(And I’m not even going to mention that the test is far from perfect and rather prone to false positives: what is that going to do to a kid, having to see a counselor for having used regular mouthwash or eaten a nice salad with Balsamic vinegar. The stigmatic effect of false positives alone should be enough reason for abandoning this whole stupid, hare-brained idea. Okay, so I mentioned it anyway. Bite me!).

(For those who wondered: there is no ‘a’ in “definitely” and 7 times 8 is 56).

(And, no, do not click on that picture)

As usual, Pat Robertson has made a prediction for the new year.

And no, I’m not going to make him NCOTW for that .. that would be too easy.

Anyway, Pat predicted that there will be a terrorist(s) induced mass killing somewhere after September 2007.

Actually, I shouldn’t say ‘prediction’, because Pat obtained this information, first hand, from God Himself.

God wasn’t very specific about the actual number of victims, the method or the place (which somehow takes away a bit from the usefulness of this revelation, but okay, apparently God likes to keep some ‘outs’), but Pat ‘believes’ millions of people will die in this disaster, which is ‘probably’ nuclear in nature and involves major cities.

Last year, God told Pat that storms and possibly a tsunami would crash into America’s coastline. The tsunami never happened (why did God say ‘possibly’ .. wasn’t he sure?), but, granted, it rained in New England in 2006.

He used this to emphasize his good track record: said Pat:

“I have a relatively good track record,” he said. “Sometimes I miss.”

What is all this I business? Isn’t it God who would have that track record? Isn’t Pat just the messenger? The channeler?

Even more curious is this “sometimes I miss“. Okay, so it’s obvious that God, being omnipotent and all that, doesn’t miss anything. But what does Pat “miss“? Isn’t he listening when God speaks to him? That’s pretty rude! Or does God speak a language that Pat doesn’t fully know (and if so, why doesn’t God speak English, just like the rest of the world)? Or does God mumble, speak too fast or too soft? How can Pat “miss” things? Very odd, these “misses”.

I’ll let you in on a secret here: I can’t prove it of course, but somehow I have the distinct feeling that Mr. Robertson wasn’t told anything by the Lord, but that he just made it all up, so that in the event there is a horrible terrorist attack with millions of victims in a major city (uhm, duh, you can’t get millions of victims by bombing Bandera, Texas), he can then proclaim to be the new Moses with a direct, and proven!, line to God and that everybody has to listen to Pat “Moses” Robertson “from now on”. That’s what I think!

I could be wrong of course.

But I don’t think I am.

Here’s a question for my readers:

If you can talk to dead people, you’re called a psychic (well.. actually, talking to dead people is easy: the trick is to get them to talk back to you, and this is what most psychics claim happens).

Now, if God talks to you … are you a psychic?

Link to article

(disclaimer: I own Home Depot stock, so I am slightly biased) 

Bob Nardelli, CEO of Home Depot, resigned yesterday.

He was an inflexible dictator with a huge disregard for Home Depot’s shareholders.

A huge disdain even: during last year’s shareholders meeting, where a lot of shareholders had some tough questions for the board of directors -about the CEO’s insanely high compensation package and the horrible business results: stock had sunk 9% in the same period that competitor Lowe’s saw a 185% increase!-, only ONE board member showed up: Nardelli himself. He was an absolute arrogant prick, didn’t acknowledge any of the severely time limited questions and ran out after only 30 minutes. The shareholders were steaming!

Home Depot stock hasn’t gone anywhere the past few years: he basically screwed up.

And now, yesterday, he resigned.

And I’m mad as hell.

Not because he left .. good riddance .. but because this screwup got rewarded with a severance package of $210 million!

That’s almost a quarter billion dollar!

NOONE should get such an amount, not even for having done outstanding work, and thus certainly not for having accomplished close to nothing (and most definitely not when it’s essencially my money!).

This is criminal. Corporate greed in its extreme. I’m so mad, I can barely type. I simply feel robbed. In a very brutal way. Violated almost. Grrrrrrrrr….

Someone… quick, get me my bloodpressure pills!

(rant warning) 

I have thoroughly had it with all this political correctness business. It’s about time we again say it as it is.

If people are offended by the truth and the facts, then that’s their problem.

The latest “politically correct” idiocy I read this morning was about the Bush administration telling the Grand Canyon Park that their employees can no longer comment on the age of the Grand Canyon, so that they won’t offend creationists (probably based on the incorrect assumption that all creationists think the earth is only somewhere between 6,000 to 10,000 years old). (See link to article)

Folks, this is not politically correct. This is politically wrong!

It is wrong, it is cowardly stupid, it is frightning, it is dishonest, and above all, it’s unfair to our children when we are no longer allowed to teach them the facts of life, simply because a small group of people who are too delusional to accept some simple facts and too afraid to use their own God-given brain, could possibly be offended by the truth.

(the above sentence was designed to offend. Every time my right to free speech or free access to scientific knowledge is infringed upon or blocked in order to prevent some people from being offended, then I will have to protect my rights and access to knowledge by negating the effect of the political correctness by offending the very group that was being ‘protected’.)

So, since we’re now at a stage where, when you ask a park ranger how old the Grand Canyon is, he will put his fingers in his ears, close his eyes and starts humming loudly, we have to wonder how long it will take before he’s forced to explain that, well, there’s a distinct possibility that it’s 5,000 years old, created by Noah’s flood (or by a Scottish tourist who lost a dime). (Link to the Noah’s flood farce)

And why stop at the age of the Grand Canyon? There is a large group of people, who, based on biblical interpretation, are convinced that the Sun goes around the Earth (geocentrism), and not the other way around (heliocentrism). Shouldn’t we tell our college’s astronomy departments to refrain from telling our children that the planet Earth goes around the sun, so that we don’t offend these geocentrists? (see for instance this website -there are many like this, no kidding!-)

And Nasa should at once stop broadcasting images of the International Space Station circling the Earth, since this will, no doubt, deeply offend the good folks of the ‘Flat Earth Society’! (See their website -they’re serious! No, really!-).

Not to mention the majority of all politicians who should immediately refrain from making any sound, because anytime they open their mouths they deeply insult my intelligence.

None of that nonsense! You can’t make an omelet without breaking an egg. Grow up, get a life, work on getting a thick skin. Feeling offended is being insecure. It’s that simple.

I wish I had the power to start a strong ‘boycot-political-correctness’ movement.

Let’s tell and say it how it is. Simple, factual, truthfully and to the point.

This is so cool.

I have waited for it for so long, knowing it would come some day.

But then, I started to lose hope, and after years I simply gave up on it.

And then, all in a sudden: surprise! Out of nowhere … Who’d have thought …

Finally, Time Magazine has elected me ‘Person of the Year 2006’.

Link to Time’s “Person of the Year 2006” site