Monday, January 29, 2007

An ad I got through the postbox

Grumble begins.
I got this ad through the post today.in with an ad for Molly Maid. (You
tell me the connection.)
The ad features a large sketch of Albert Einstein (and who could argue
with him?) over a back drop of stars.
The headline starts:
"We use only 10% of our mental potential." (Okay, weak start. I guess
you could look it up at Snopes or you could repeat
bullshit unthinkingly and unwittingly add a bit of personal credibility
to it)
The text continues:
The world-famous mathematician Albert Einstein made a startling
statement, "We use only 10% of our mental potential." (Did he even say
that? At best it's probably a misquote)
However he did not say how to improve this. (Mind you he was a
physicist. Not really his research area.)
Yet now L. Ron Hubbard (Yikes!) in his research (peer-reviewed, of
course) has not only proven these words to be true (didn't I already
link to Snopes?), but more importantly, he has also demonstrated how to
tap into the dormant 90% (Get those alien ghost-hanger-ons off you and
there you go) and increase confidence and well-being (or you could take
up sports).
/Dianetics: The Power of the Mind Over the Body/, by L. Ron Hubbard, is
the most important breakthrough ever made in the field of the human
mind. (way better than PET tests or the functional MRI)
Flip it over.
In his book, Dianetics, The Power of the Mind over the Body, L. Ron
Hubbard makes (up) startling discoveries about the mind. (Alien ghosts.
That's it! Now I need a navy.)It has long been known that up to 70% of
Man's illnesses are psychosomatic (caused by the mind)(Germ Theory is
just a theory after all ). Up till now, no one has been able to offer any workable solution to this.
(nor to perpetual motion. Wanna guess why?) In the book, DIANETICS, the
single barrier to the mind's capacities is revealed and examined in
detail (Alien Ghosts. No we're not a cult).
The application of Dianetics techniques can raise intelligence (raise? did anyone else see Tom Cruise's meltdown last year?), lower the rate of illness and mental pain and bring about a happier and more confident state of mind. (didn't I already suggest jogging?)
The best proof of DIANETICS' effectiveness are the thousands of reports and successes it has generated. Here is a new insight into the mind, showing that its full potential is far in excess of past supposition.
Rid yourself of these barriers. (Alien Ghosts. Now where's the pub?)


Okay, forget the sub-Pooflingers schtick.
Scientology pisses me off. I think the best exposure to the light of the
tenets and operation was the South Park episode. My wife, who is Roman
Catholic in a CandE kind of way, kept asking me "Is this what they
really believe?" especially when the subtitle /This is What
Scientologists Really Believe/ popped up. She couldn't accept the sheer
vacuity of the belief that were being espoused.
Reading through Operation Clambake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Clambake) you get the sense that this is a scam-cult worse than the old 'tithe ore burne' days of the Catholic Church.
With the recent activity of the Scientologists in the UK (including an brand new multi-million pound headquarters in the City, the financial district of London) I suppose it was fairly
obvious that I'd be getting something through the post eventually. None the less a worrying development.
Grumble ends.

--
From:
The Eternal Gaijin
Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London

"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

If I where a science fiction author

I am:
Isaac Asimov
One of the most prolific writers in history, on any imaginable subject. Cared little for art but created lasting and memorable tales.


Which science fiction writer are you?

Sunday, January 28, 2007

On wolf v wolf

A comment I left at The Austringer. <http://austringer.net/wp/?p=493>

Beautiful job.
Every time they through out the 'problem for evolution' or 'science
can't explain' cards someone comes along with the left bower and
takes the trick.
It just goes to show that they never let a fact stand in the way of
an opinion.

--
From:
The Eternal Gaijin
Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London

"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Ethics test
















Naturalism

You scored 65 Objectivism, 57 Naturalism, and 60 Cognitivism!

There are moral facts, they can be reduced, and they can be the subjects of true or false propositions. You are probably a Naturalist.

"Different philosophical doctrines travel under the heading of “naturalism.” We can usefully distinguish two broad and important categories: methodological (or M-naturalism) and substantive (or S-naturalism) (Leiter 1998; cf. Railton 1990 and Goldman 1994). Naturalism in philosophy is most often a methodological view to the effect that philosophical theorizing should be continuous with empirical inquiry in the sciences. Such a view need not presuppose a solution to the so-called “demarcation problem”—i.e., the problem of what demarcates genuine science from pseudo-science—as long as there remain clear, paradigmatic cases of successful sciences. Some M-naturalists want “continuity with” only the hard or physical sciences (Hard M-naturalists); others seek “continuity with” any successful science, natural or social (Soft M-naturalists). Soft M-naturalism is probably the dominant strand in philosophy today."

















My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Objectivism
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Naturalism
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Cognitivism




Link: The Meta-ethical Theories Test written by jacostyle on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

The Secret Underground Bunker

 

 

 


So here are a couple of photos of the flat, the mosque next door and our Tube station.
Just so you know.
Posted by Picasa

So I'm watching 24...

And the villain next door is Kumar from /Harold and Kumar Go to White
Castle/ (/Harold and Kumar Get the Munchies/ for those in the UK) So I'm
starting off not taking the terrorist threat du jour seriously. Sorry to
Kal Penn but he doesn't exude menace or gravitas.
Somewhere in the 3rd episode they pan past a bunch of terrorists at a
detention centre (let's leave the politics off for a moment) and I
couldn't help thinking to myself, "Gee, that guy looks like Shaun
Majumder."
In the 4th episode I realized the second he spoke almost unable to sound
menacing or Middle Eastern through a haze of Newfoundland accent that it
was indeed Majumder. And the threat of the nuclear bomb seemed to
dissipate. I half expected him to say something along the lines of
"Well, we're ready to blow up the infidels, now let's go club a baby
seal and eat some cod while drinking screech." or something else that
would load a bunch of cliches into a single sentence.
Still...nice to see he's getting work. Outside of /Harold and Kumar go
to White Castle Because They Got the Munchies/, I mean. (Kumar's
brother, Captain Inattentive)

--
From:
The Eternal Gaijin
Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London

"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

So what's a fake psychic?

Monday, January 22, 2007

I've always felt this way about musicals.

I'm not a fan of musicals
Except this collection.
http://www.unsoughtinput.com/index.php/2007/01/19/the-best-musicals-are-fake-musicals/

--
From:
The Eternal Gaijin
Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London

"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Sunday, January 21, 2007

I think I get this...

But it did my head in by the 7th dimension.
http://www.tenthdimension.com/medialinks.php

--
From:
The Eternal Gaijin
Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London

"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Oh, yeah, someone's gonna roast for this

I'm not really sure what I was reading that referenced this series of
vids but humorously blasphemous is the way I'd describe it.
Ep 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzf8q9QHfhI
Ep 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzuxyq3ltls

Ep 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvWdkz8Ra54
Ep 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaZDcS-rMf4


Honestly, number 2 (Convincing new hire Jesse -- Jesus? Sorry Jesus --
to live a sinless life and be crucified in return for being made full
partner) and number 4 (Mr Deity gets his voicemail.) are the best.

--
From:
The Eternal Gaijin
Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London

"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Ed Brayton Noticed Too

There's a quickie over at Dispatches from the Culture War
<http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/> on Mr Hovind
<http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2007/01/hovind_gets_10_years_in_prison.php>.


--
From:
The Eternal Gaijin
Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London

"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

I know it's not polite but jeebus I can't help but love this:

Through Pharyngula <http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/>:
I've had a bit to say about Kent Hovind (PhD in FlintstonePaleontology).
You won't have to scratch behind the ears too much before I'll cough up
that I think the guy is a dishonest sleazeball. I don't know if he
believes what he spews, but I can say he hangs onto it and voms it forth
no matter what. He's been shown again and again that his crap is false,
claims that he'll change his presentation, and neatly omits to.
So when he's sentenced to 10 years
<http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007701190332>
for tax evasion and such I just get such a warmfuzzy.
By the way PeeZed Myers had a link to Shelly the Republican's prayer
request
<http://www.shelleytherepublican.com/2007/01/19/urgent-prayer-request.aspx>
to have Dr Flintstone get off (in a non-prison shower sort of way)

In related news the Canadian spy coin scandal of 2007 is over
<http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/19/update_canadian_spy_.html>. Still
think the Canadian Tire Money is legal, boys?

--
From:
The Eternal Gaijin
Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London

"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Today's the First Day of the Move

Our stuff got moved out on Monday.
My wife went to Heathrow to catch her plane to Osaka, via a couple of days in Ottawa.
And the dog is not happy. He's a real momma's boy and has been sitting around being a sook all day.
A quick video. This is the most I've seen him move since she left this morning.



I'm hoping to document Japan as we move there and stay in the country. There's no shortage of things to see in 15 second bites. That's the limit on my camera. I could do more I'm sure but I don't want to fool around with editing at the moment so it's just the mpeg capture for now.

Remember, We Take Jokes About Terrorism Very Seriously

I sometimes wish I had the balls to do something like this.



Don't you wish you'd done it?

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Believe it or not, I've actually met this guy.

In Xi'an, China my wife and I met him at a book signing. He makes a bit
of money on the side as the guy who found the terracotta warriors
<http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21015004-17102,00.html>.

--
From:
The Eternal Gaijin
Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London

"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."