You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded.
To the question, “Why me?” the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply, “Why not?”
Atheist: Natural Morals, Real Meaning, Credible Truth

30 September, 2009

Blasphemy

I guess I better blaspheme if I am going to support International Blasphemy day.

·         There is no god or allah

·         There is no afterlife

·         Mohammed was nobody special

·         Jesus may not have even existed and at most was nobody special

·         Moses was a bastard

·         A cracker is a cracker, no matter what words are said over it.

·         There is no hell to burn in.

 

 

29 September, 2009

Blasphemy Day - 30 September

"Irreverence is the champion of liberty." –Mark Twain

Free speech is the foundation on which all other liberties rest. Without having the right to express our opinions, however unpopular, those willing to use political clout, violence, and threats will stifle dissent, and we must all suffer the consequences of this. As George Bernard Shaw quipped, "Every great truth begins as a blasphemy."

 

"Society bends over backward to be accommodating to religious sensibilities but not to other kinds of sensibilities. If I say something offensive to religious people, I'll be universally censured, including by many atheists. But if I say something insulting about Democrats or Republicans or the Green Party, one is allowed to get away with that. Hiding behind the smoke screen of untouchability is something religions have been allowed to get away with for too long." – Richard Dawkins

 

 

 

27 September, 2009

Sunday flyer

Quick flight by myself. Do I mind? Not really. It is nice to be on my own sometimes. No worries about the passengers. Saw the Lockeed fire burn area. There are a lot of stuff in there, mobile homes and motor homes. Very strange. It was also very hot, nearly 90 deg at the coast. Did a practice go around at WVI, obviously needed it.


-- Posted from my iTouch

25 September, 2009

"Protect Insurance Companies"

Alt med ghouls

In the wake of the death of Patrick Swayze, the alternative medicine quacks are speaking out, saying his death was caused not by his cancer but by his chemotherapy.  “Why couldn’t they have built [Swayze] up nutritionally and gotten rid of the toxins?"  Because that doesn’t work?  Would that be a good reason?

 

Antiscience advice like this from Mike Adams, Suzanne Somers, Jenny McCarthy, and others can and will lead to people dying if they act on it. These people are dispensing medical advice that is complete nonsense. Detoxifying the body won’t cure cancer, using herbs won’t cure cancer, aligning your chakras won’t cure cancer. If you have cancer, or know someone who has been diagnosed, please please please go to a board-certified and experienced doctor or oncologist. Don’t listen to celebrities, and don’t listen to alternative quacks.”

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/25/alt-med-ghouls/

 

16 September, 2009

GOP! Leave them behind! Let them wait for the Rapture!



I like what this guy said... they feel left behind in science and modern life, good is bad news since the second coming hasn't come. How to deal with the Christian Crazies? Leave them behind waiting for their rapture. Move on without them. The problem is that the Republican party is bowing to them and can't seem to break away.

15 September, 2009

13 September, 2009

'too controversial for religious America'

Charles Darwin film 'too controversial for religious America'

A British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American audiences, according to its producer.


Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective, described Darwin as the father of eugenics and denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder". His "half-baked theory" directly influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.

The film has sparked fierce debate on US Christian websites, with a typical comment dismissing evolution as "a silly theory with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over a century of trying".

Jeremy Thomas, the Oscar-winning producer of Creation, said he was astonished that such attitudes exist 150 years after On The Origin of Specieswas published.

"That's what we're up against. In 2009. It's amazing," he said.

Amazing. Embarrassing. Outrageous. I have to write the distributors of the movie Religulous. Surely they would distribute it.

"It is unbelievable to us that this is still a really hot potato in America. There's still a great belief that He made the world in six days. It's quite difficult for we in the UK to imagine religion in America. We live in a country which is no longer so religious. But in the US, outside of New York and LA, religion rules.

"Charles Darwin is, I suppose, the hero of the film. But we tried to make the film in a very even-handed way. Darwin wasn't saying 'kill all religion', he never said such a thing, but he is a totem for people."

08 September, 2009

Jupiter, Discovery and ISS

Jupiter and its 4 big moons.


ISS


and Shuttle Discovery

Managed to catch the ISS and Shuttle shortly after undocking today. 7:45pm pass. Not even dark enough to find any good guide stars but Jupiter was visible. Cannon Rebel XTi at 1/1000 sec on 1540mm telescope, 127mm aperature, f12. The Jupiter picture was at 1/3 sec.
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Labor on Labor Day


Had to clean a couple of plugs in order to get into the air on Labor day. It was good to bend the wrenches a little.
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