Saturday, December 29, 2007

Things I've learned during the X-mas break...

I learned a few of the following things and maybe a couple more...
Singapore is still a great city with great food and a lot of attractions for the tourist. Also, if you're at Boat Quay and the touts are getting on your nerves with their constant needling you to come into their restaurant and not the other guys', don't let your wife drag you into the Tex-mex place just so she can eat quickly get food and get away from it. The enchiladas are mediocre and the steak is tough. In a city of fantastic food, you can do better in the shopping mall food courts. Also, Durty Nelly's has good food at lunch, but nothing for supper. And Sentosa is a resort island that has a lot of stuff to do.
I learned that Oscar Peterson died.
I learned that American women are vacuous beauties and that English women are substantive trolls.
As a good Canadian, I would have said that Thinsulate or Polartec were the greatest inventions in the universe, however I have learned that the PS3 is now the single best thing that humans have ever created.
From Pretty Shaved Ape at Canadian Cynic, I learned that religious whack-a-doodles just can't help themselves and have to say undeniably stupid shit.
I learned that David Warren can't help himself either. But I repeat myself.
I learned that Mike Huckabee just can't help himself either.
I learned that the life expectancy of a Pakistani opposition leader goes up linearly with their distance from Pakistan, but goes down exponentially with their time back in the country.
I learned that Larry Bud Mellman died back in March. Hunh...
I learned that Italians tend to give a shit about the history of Christianity more than the so-called devoted folks in the US. They certainly understand the need to understand better.
I've been reminded that cdesign proponentists are mind numbingly repetitive.
I've finally learned to make shortcrust pastry by hand.
I learned the names of the 50 worst people in the States for the year 2007.
I learned a few more celebrity atheists.
Those are my big lessons of the last week. I wonder what the new year will hold.
Minna sama, yoi otoshi o!
Happy New Year and see you in January.





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Monday, December 17, 2007

My wife sends me these things...

My wife, Jebus bless the little limey, keeps sending me these little things and says something like, "Do you remember parmos? They were good, weren't they? I didn't know they were from Middlesborough."
I usually reply, "Are you just making up words, or what?"
What the hell is a parmo?

Finalists announced for World Parmo Championship - Gazette Live
THE finalists have been announced for the first ever World Parmo Championships - after votes came flooding in from Japan to Cardiff!


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Friday, December 14, 2007

Science marches on. What YOU got?

It's the end of the year and everyone is putting up various lists about stuff from 2007.
Here's one that will make you excited if you have more that 2 firing neurons.
Top 10 Scientific Discoveries - 50 Top 10 Lists of 2007 - TIME
A fave:

Top 10 Scientific Discoveries - 50 Top 10 Lists of 2007 - TIME
#6. "Hot Jupiters" Discovered

This October, British scientists identified three new planets outside our own Solar System, as part of an ongoing search for Earth-like exoplanets called the Wide Area Search for Planets, or WASP. The new planets, named WASP-3, WASP-4 and WASP-5, are about the size of Jupiter, and orbit so close to their suns that their surface temperature reaches some 2,000°C. That rules out the possibility of life on these "hot Jupiters," but scientists surmise that other Earth-sized planets may be making cooler, longer orbits around those same suns.


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Thursday, December 13, 2007

How is this anything any more than total bilge?

You know as someone who has a brain, this just seems like crap. Why the fuck to people listen to these whack-a-doodles?
--  From: 	The Eternal Gaijin 	Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan 	"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

And another comic to read





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The Modern World

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Just a few quick quotes.

Think of them as buttered popcorn for the brain. If that's what you like doing with buttered popcorn.

[GBG] Atheist News: Top 10 Atheist Quotes


Top 15 Quotes By Famous Atheists - The List Universe

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

On the Lighter Side

The Guardian runs these travel lists periodically, and after the last few days, why not think about unwinding in one of these pubs. Of course, the further south they get in England the less you want to consider eating there.
Top 10 cosy pubs | Travel | Guardian Unlimited

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Mitt Romney and "The Speech"

Mitt Romney, who loves to trumpet his faith all over the place and retreats behind the Wall of Rude when actually asked a question about it gave a speech the other day. It was a listening experience that was akin to slow pulling band-aids off your balls.
Reason Magazine - Flunking a Religious Test
"A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith," he said.

Rejected because of his faith, no. But rejected for his lack of faith? That's another question. Romney evinces a powerful aversion to skeptics. "We need to have a person of faith lead the country," he said in February, which sounds like a religious test to me.

I agree. It's funny how Mitt Romney grabbed onto the religious test the second he had to decide who couldn't be a serious leader in the US. And to do it he had to re-write history as the Faithheads always do.Faith or bust.
Now I don't think their should be a religious test for public office in the States or anywhere else for that matter. But if you have the un-Mitt-igated gall to talk about how important your religion is to you and how the faith of your fathers informs your decision making, people have the right to ask, "Um, how so?" and you don't get to say, "Whoa, dude. Rude," when they do. Don't tell us if you don't want us to ask.
The electorate can decide if you have anything of value to say about your values.


denialism blog : O'Donnell on Mormonism
Effect Measure : Freethinker Sunday Sermonette: Mitt Romney, George HW Bush, Mike Huckabee, Chuck Norris meet JFK
Governor Mitt Romney's "Faith In America" Address

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Omiyage of a sad, sad chapter


Avro Arrow mementoes on auction block
An important part of Canadian aviation history will briefly return to the spotlight Sunday as a Toronto auction house sells a collection of memorabilia related to the Avro Arrow jet. Company papers, employee notices, models and photos — along with a copy of the fateful speech in the House of Commons announcing the project's demise — will go on the auction block around 2 p.m. ET.


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Saturday, December 08, 2007

Romney Speech


HT to The Perplexed Observer
--  From: 	The Eternal Gaijin 	Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan 	"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Basic competence is just too much to expect.

The other day the British Government lost an absolute butt load of personal information. They sent it in the mail. Unregistered. On CDs.
And it just gets worse.

Scotsman.com News - Missing discs 'hold witness protection scheme IDs'
DETAILS of hundreds of people given new identities under witness protection programmes are included in the child benefit discs lost in the post by HM Revenue and Customs, it was claimed today.
Up to 350 people who have been given new names and re-homed after giving evidence against criminals are said to be among 25 million parents on the register.
It is claimed both the old and new identities are included on the discs, potentially putting their lives at risk and raising the prospect of a costly exercise to hide them again.


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The Mormons and the Origins of the Universe

I've noticed recently how easy it is to make a religious ideal look absolutely fucking stupid. Make a cartoon of it.

Christing fuck, people, how on earth can this be sensible. Suddenly the Scientologists look good.
HT to Onegoodmove.org
--  From: 	The Eternal Gaijin 	Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan 	"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

How will they lie their way out of this one?

Still unconvinced.



Pharyngula: 34 Unconvincing Arguments for God
Introduction - Atheism – the lack of belief in gods – is based upon a lack of evidence for gods, lack of a reason to believe in gods, and difficulties and contradictions that some god ideas lead to. Nevertheless, atheism is a tentative state, subject to change if compelling theistic arguments are presented. Following are some of the arguments that atheists have considered, along with some of the reasons these arguments have been rejected. (1) God-of-the-Gaps (God as a “free lunch”) - Almost every “proof” for the existence of gods relies, at least in part, on a god-of-the gaps argument. This argument says that if we don’t know the answer to something, then “God did it.” “God” gets to win by default, without any positive evidence. But is saying “God did it” really an answer? Intelligent design, god-advocate William Dembski has authored a book entitled No Free Lunch. However, “God” is the ultimate “free lunch.” Consider the following: We don’t know what gods are composed of. We don’t know what gods’ attributes are. We don’t know how many gods there are. We don’t know where gods are. We don’t know where gods come from or, alternately, how it is possible for them to always exist. We don’t know what mechanisms gods use to create or change anything. We don’t know what the “supernatural” is, nor how it is capable of interacting with the natural world. In other words, we know absolutely nothing about gods – yet at least one god is often given credit for many things. Thus, to say “God did it” is to answer a question with a question. It provides no information and only makes the original question more complex. The god-of-the-gaps argument says that not only do we not have a naturalistic answer today, but we will never discover a naturalistic answer in the future because no naturalistic answer is possible. Thus, to rebut a god-of-the-gaps argument, we only have to show that a naturalistic answer is possible. For example: We open the door to a room and observe a cat sleeping in a corner. We close the door, then open it again five minutes later. We observe that the cat is now sleeping in another corner. One person says “God did it by levitating the sleeping cat” (without offering any proof). Another person says “It’s quite possible that the cat woke up, wandered over to the other corner, and fell asleep again.” Thus, although no one saw what actually happened, the god-of-the-gaps argument has been rendered implausible by a possible naturalistic explanation.


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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

You could also end up writing a blog under a pseudonym...


ABC News: 22-Year-Old Virgin? Watch Your Health
While past research has linked early sexual activity to health problems, a new study suggests that waiting too long to start having sex carries risks of its own.

Those who lose their virginity at a later age -- around 21 to 23 years of age -- tend to be more likely to experience sexual dysfunction problems later, say researchers at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute's HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies.


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Was she home-schooled, or what?

Not quite a rap video

HT to The Uncredible Hallq --  From: 	The Eternal Gaijin 	Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan 	"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Getting a LooCDe TouV but not a JooViC but it is ready for the HouD.

--  From: 	The Eternal Gaijin 	Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan 	"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Buying a TV

I've just been down in Namba looking at TVs, as my wife, god love her, is enough of a bloke that she can't stand a CRT type o' deal much longer. So I'm out looking for Sony's, but not just anything in a model kicing around, but an overseas model. Which, puts the price up. A bit.
So we're gong to have it delivered next week. And I'm glad I've been taking those Japanese lessons. It helps get a few things done.

Monday, December 03, 2007

If the Stupid Burns, Explain Why There Aren't Forest Fires All Over the Red States

Self-explanatory. More people believe in talking snakes with fruit fetishes than in the Theory of Evolution.
And the ending writes itself.

Poll finds more Americans believe in devil than Darwin | Lifestyle | Reuters
More Americans believe in a literal hell and the devil than Darwin's theory of evolution, according to a new Harris poll released on Thursday. It is the latest survey to highlight America's deep level of religiosity, a cultural trait that sets it apart from much of the developed world.


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Kinda Cool Ways to Go.

I recently discovered Cracked.com recently and have had some fun with the lists. Look up terrifying foods for a kick (and a vom).

The 5 Most Kick-Ass Apocalyptic Prophecies | Cracked.com
There are a lot of apocalyptic scenarios looming out there, in various religious sects in the nooks and crannies of history. Though the scenarios are wildly different in method, you can rest assured that most will leave us all equally dead.

While we can't know which one is actually going to happen, here are the ones we're rooting for, along with the heavy metal album cover each most resembles.


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