Second batch of pics from yesterday

I didn’t realize the Forestry Farm had a butterfly habitat until I was ready to leave. So, I used up the last of the space on my SD card to take a few photos in there.

Check out the rest here!

Had another photo day

and they’re up for browsing on my photostream.

Denounce your unreligion, win a prize!

I think it’d be a hoot to watch, but I hope the producers are in for a major let down because I don’t think it’ll work.

A game show is set to launch in Turkey that pits religious folk against ten atheists and if conversion is successful, the new theists can win trips to Mecca (if Islam’s their weakness), Jerusalem (for Jews) or Tibet (for Buddhists). Oh, there’s also the Vatican if they decide to be Catholic. I wouldn’t mind seeing the art in there, but I wouldn’t convert just to do that.

religious authorities in Muslim but secular Turkey are not amused by the twist on the popular reality game show format and the Religious Affairs Directorate is refusing to provide an imam for the show.

“Doing something like this for the sake of ratings is disrespectful to all religions. Religion should not be a subject for entertainment programs,” High Board of Religious Affairs Chairman Hamza Aktan told state news agency Anatolian after news of the planned program emerged.

The makers of “Penitents Compete” are unrepentant and reject claims that the show, scheduled to begin broadcasting in September, will cheapen religion.

“We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God,” Kanal T chief executive Seyhan Soylu told Reuters.

“We don’t approve of anyone being an atheist. God is great and it doesn’t matter which religion you believe in. The important thing is to believe,” Soylu said.

I’m just wondering why sane atheists would agree to compete. Would they seriously convert? I’d bet they’re fake atheists, hired by producers to play them on TV and be stereotypical. Then there’d be the big reveal later of “converting” them to religions they already belonged to before cameras were rolling. Oh, but “A team of theologians will ensure that the atheists are truly non-believers and are not just seeking fame or a free holiday.” Well, we’ll see…

I wonder what religion Soylu believes in if he believes people don’t care about what God you believe in. Ignorance truly is bliss, eh?

The only thing I totally agree with here is the comment from the Chairman of the High Board of Religious Affairs. I don’t think religion should be sold as entertainment either. There’s too much gadding about on stage for ratings and fame and fortunes and it’s all packaged to sell an image and the belief that God truly wants these people to be wealthy and wants their fans to give them more besides. Oh, and right. God is love. Love (the money)!

Frankly, the real big surprise here is that Turkey is the country trying this. It seems so.. so.. American.

I guess he really did read the future in his Tarot cards…

Here’s a news bulletin.

Don’t believe a man who says his Tarot cards indicate you should have sex with him like this girl did.

“He was reading my cards and told me that I wasn’t on a good path and that I had to do these things called ‘five’ and ’seven’ to make things better,” a 15-year old testified in court Wednesday.

She told jurors that Hector Ayala, 59, tricked her into having sex with him by convincing her that it would get rid of any bad luck and help her wishes come true, according to The Daily News.

Ayala, who was a family friend, read her Tarot cards when she was 13 and told her he saw misfortune in her future, but he could take care of that by performing oral sex on her.

“I kept thinking, ‘Is this rape? Is this rape?’ ” she testified. “I thought, ‘No, it wouldn’t be, because he cares about me.’ “

That’s just sad. But, it gets worse. She isn’t the only girl he’s manipulated in the same manner, telling them all he’s lifting curses by having intercourse with them. And once is never enough, of course.

Sicko.

Anyway, I’ll use this as a jumping off point to write about the history of Tarot cards, and a fascinating history they have.

They might have been in use as early as 14th century Italy but a Catholic priest in the early 1800s is partly responsible for Tarot as it exists today. Eliphas Levi studied the cards as a means of helping his own faith.

When he created his first Tarot deck, he incorporated his knowledge of religions, the elements in nature (fire, water, earth, air), and what were believed to be powerful astrological events and symbols (most of which are still popular today). There are even references to scriptures from The Bible shown in some of the cards. Levi claimed he created the cards as a tool to aid his students in the art of spiritual enlightenment, self improvement, and self awareness.

The makers of the popular Ryder-Waite deck borrowed heavily from Levi’s set when constructing it and started selling it in 1896. A. E. Waite believed very strongly in their ability to predict future events.

It was quite the parlour game back during World War I and again now,

people are opening up to the idea of Tarot readers, Astrologers, and Psychics, yet there are still some who believe the cards are evil, or hold some kind of evil power. This is simply not true at all. The cards do not possess any mysterious powers, nor can they harm anyone if they are read in the proper perspective. The Tarot cards reflect thoughts and actions in our subconscious and conscious mind. Mind over matter to use the term loosely. They can and should be used only for positive reasons. As with anything else, if used with negative or malicious intent, the negativity (evil if you will) that is created will only come back on the invoker.

I have an Arthurian set, myself. I got it in university and did manage to dazzle a few people with accurate (albeit general) readings based on what I gleaned from my hefty reader’s manual. Honestly, I don’t know if it’s any better than a magic 8 ball or horoscopes or even flipping a coin to decide what to do next.

It’s just like any other fringe thing, I guess. It has its supporters and its denouncers. The only way to gauge accuracy is after the fact, and how many wrong predictions are ignored or forgotten in the process? A friend I had when I worked at Wal-mart swore by them and made a bit of cash on the side doing readings for people. They all left pleased and hopeful, which might be the point anyway.

Penny J. Ward, the author of the bits I’ve been quoting, offers this at the end:

Almost every religion states in one fashion or another that if you do not believe in my God, you shall be rejected on your day of judgment (you’ll go to hell). Doesn’t anyone stop to think that we are all going to hell in someone else’s eyes?

President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The only limit to our realizations of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”

I guess if people feel the cards are easing their doubts, it’s hardly a crime to keep reading for them — unless it becomes the bait in an illegal con job like Hector Alaya’s “readings” were. That’s just sick and wrong.

I feel bad for these girls and hope the guy has sense enough not to try this same trick with playing cards in prison…

Have you met my big brother, Credit Card Company?

Steve Salerno wrote a piece on his SHAM blog, Attention Walmart Shoppers, which caught my attention. I’m not a Wal-mart shopper, but the article he mentioned might be interesting to anyone who is a bargain hunter on a budget and using credit cards to get the next big deal.

Have you used your credit card at merchants specializing in secondhand clothing, retread tires, bail bond services, massages, casino gambling or betting? Your credit card issuer may be taking note — and making decisions about your creditworthiness based on your purchasing behavior. The reason: Buying used clothing or retread tires may be an indication of financial distress and a preamble to missed credit card payments or defaults.

I don’t know if this is a concern above the 49th parallel or not, but it might be worth thinking about. In the States now, Congress and regulators are going to be watching for credit company shenanigans, to see if they’re linking spending habits with increased interest rates or lowered credit limits.

This recording of information is hardly a new thing. I remember it being a concern brought up about grocery club cards too, that the information saved in the little magnet strip could be used to target homes that buy certain products on a regular basis and pummel them with flyers and other more specialized junk. Did that ever happen? I have no idea.

As an aside, Walmart does independent studies of their own as to what they should stock based on the stats they collect about general purchasing habits of those who shop there. This instant record keeping they’ve got helps them keep their ordering up to date, but also helps them track shopping trends across countries, especially when it comes to what people are going to want when disaster strikes. They realized they’d better stock up on Strawberry Pop Tarts during hurricane season because people in past disasters migrated to that particular comfort food like rats to refuse. In case you think I’m kidding, here’s a link, and here’s one more.

Experts say cardholders concerned about keeping purchasing habits private or avoiding credit score dings should consider using cash or gift cards, stored value or prepaid debit cards. Shopping at large supermarkets or wholesale clubs — which offer a variety of product lines — may also keep some purchases private. Other tips: Spread purchases that may indicate risky behavior over several credit cards to avoid triggering an alert for a single issuer.

“Cash is the ultimate privacy protector,” says Stephens. “It’s kind of hard to trace. With most other payment mechanisms there is going to be a trail.”

But avoiding credit cards for the sake of privacy may present a quandary for some users: If they had the cash to pay for an item, they wouldn’t need a credit card. For others, the convenience of using a credit card over other payment methods far outweighs the potential privacy concerns.

I dunno. Think before you buy. Do you really need it, or can you live without it until you can afford to buy with cash? Will you be able to pay off the expense within a few months assuming no other major purchases are made with the card in the meantime? Do you really need it? Do you really need it? I’m asking twice because it’s important.

I bought year subscriptions to last.fm and flickr, neither of which I needed. Just thought I’d throw that out there. I could afford to pay those charges back the very day I did them, though, and that’s what I did.

I could just as easily take my card to an electronics store and get myself a brand new television. I want one. I don’t need one (yet), but I drool every time I pass a flat screen with a picture so crisp that I could climb into it and walk the streets of Paris. I really want one. But then I’d have to get a new TV stand and probably a new sound system because what’s a great picture beside shitty sound? Shitty.

Some furniture company called me today suggesting I come in and have a look at what they’ve got. I told the guy I already had all the furniture I needed, but I could have taken him up on whatever offer he was going to tell me about and gone to get a new couch tonight. I’d like a new couch. I forked out (cash) for a new office chair recently and it’s making my couch jealous with its sexy legs and reclined positioning. I tried to appease my couch with some discount tapestry cushions but it’s not fooled. Where am I sitting right now? On my sexy chair.

Maybe my couch would feel better if I put on a DVD. I could recline on those discount tapestry cushions, pop some corn and watch some Doctor Who…

New fotos on flickr

Somebody’s already made a favourite out of this one:

Go see the rest. Not that I’m forcing you or anything…

Advice Avenue via Atheist Street no. 3

I’ve encountered a couple of Billy Graham’s advice column responses and done posts about them to offer an alternative view and now I’ve discovered he recently wrote about the rise of atheism, calling it “a fad only fools follow.”

Hemant Mehta at Friendly Atheist wrote a rebuttal worth reading and I thought I’d take a stab at replying, too.

So, the letter:

Why does atheism seem to be growing so much in recent years? I guess there have always been people around who didn’t believe in God, but atheists seem to be in the public eye a lot more than they used to be. — M.M.

Yeah, I think there have always been, too. Why atheism is more known about now, though, might have something to do with the way people in the world can express themselves now. It’s easier getting news out that shows the trouble religions are causing (and trouble specific religious people are causing) when so much of the world is connected to a media outlet such as the internet. It’s easier now to show that there’s another way to think and live independently of religious regamentalism and preachy propaganda and still be good and do worthwhile things.

Atheism grows because people are finally becoming aware of the choice to be an atheist. That it’s okay to not believe what a church says is true. That it’s okay to question. In fact, I think it’s pretty depressing how many generations of people have grown up satisified with “God did it” as the be-all end-all answer to everything. How can that be a satisfactory answer? I’m glad people all throughout history have found answers beyond that non-answer. In the end it doesn’t matter if they were devout believers or what. They knew there was more to know and didn’t stop until they had cured diseases or invented airplanes or designed telescopes.

It’s human nature to ask questions and it seems to to be the nature of church to only answer certain questions and skirt around other ones with answers that can’t be proven with anything other than the faith they’ve been pushing. A lot of people now see an answer like, “God works in mysterious ways,” as a very lame cop-out and want real facts about nature and space and biology. Real answers and proof that can be measured and duplicated, not just prayer and platitudes and a “God Bless.”

Billy’s reaction to this question is as follows:

Yes, atheism has been in the public eye more in recent years, largely because of a few atheists who’ve captured the public’s attention through their books. They aren’t large in number, but they do tend to be aggressive in promoting their ideas.

I’m not parading the streets shouting that god lovers should go to the hell they love to threaten us with. I’m not torching churches or attacking people because I don’t like how they think. I’m not aggressively promoting my ideas. I could, I suppose, but I’m not out to alienate people who do want to put their faith in some ineffible, supernatural being. They can if they want. I just want the space and freedom to make the point that life can be just as worthwhile and joyful without all of that.

Why have they drawn so much attention? One reason, I believe, is because they know how to use the media very effectively. They also appeal to people who want to be free from God or any moral restraints. Like the philosophers of Paul’s day who were constantly looking for new ideas to debate, many people today eagerly latch on to the latest fad (see Acts 17:21). Atheism attracts their attention, at least for a while.

Yeah, okay. Some “backsliders” walk the penitent path and return to the fold, ashamed of doubting and then reaffirm their faith as if they never had the idea to leave at all. Others de-convert for good, and I think that alarms church leaders more than anything. They’ve had control and power for so long, they’re used to dominating every level of the mind and body. Now people have stood up and said, screw that, and more and more people are coming to the same conclusion. Then, the religious right has to find something to blame so they blame something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer for it. It has nothing to do with the way the church itself operates, no never ever.

This idea that no god equals no morality is a thorn in the atheist’s side, though. That’s a fallacious assumption. Sure, there probably are atheists committing atrocities but we aren’t all immoral anymore than every Christian agrees with Fred Phelps.

Atheism attracts attention because vocal atheists are making good on their promises, that life can still be worth living without a deity involved. Frankly, I think it’s more than a little disturbing how a group can say in one breath, “Jesus is love” and in the next be joyfully wishing all those who don’t agree with them an eternity tortured by hellfire. How do they justify the illogic of that? Encouraging obedience via threats and fear hardly seems like love.

In reality, however, modern atheists have very little new to say. In fact, atheism has been around for thousands of years; even the Psalmist, writing hundreds of years before Christ, referred to them: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’ ” (Psalm 14:1).

Don’t be misled by those who claim God doesn’t exist, because he does. And the ultimate reason we know it is because he came down from heaven and walked on this earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ was God in human flesh, and he proved it by rising from the dead.

But the only proof we have of that is one book, put together by people who had a political agenda they were pushing at the time. There’s no corroborating evidence of any of that, although people keep looking and hoping and praying for it.

I’d say don’t continue to be misled by all the people who claim God does exist, because he probably doesn’t. The reason we know it is because we’re learning more about the world with every passing day. We’ve looked at the history of other cultures who had gods too and why they died out. We’ve seen what’s going on in space and we know how many years it took the light from a supernova to get here. We know what’s going on inside an atom and we know we might not be seeing all that as it happens either because some particles are moving pretty damned fast. We know the earth is a lot older than 6000 years because we know there were dinosaurs and we know humans didn’t ride them like ponies.

What we don’t know, we’ll keep trying to find out until we do. The attempt to find an answer is just as important as the answers we’ll find, maybe moreso.

There’s probably more I could add, but I think I’ll stop there. Read Hemant’s response if you haven’t already. He’s said it all better than I ever could.

The One Minion Search Party, volume 21

I’m selecting this odd numbered entry to highlight a few of the one-offs, the strange searches that inexplicably led to me; a nod to those daring people who hunt for the most elusive answers of all. I can’t guarantee they’ll find any here, but keep trying and good hunting, all of you.

—-

Who’s on first? Whoever searched for “funny old roman comics”

Emperor Nero could have been a stand up comedian. “Oh, what a great night, ladies and gentlemen, I’m on fire! No, wait.. you are!!! bhwwhwhwhahahahahha!!!”

“You say I played the fiddle, the night Rome burned. Lyre.”

—-

What’s on second? “wardrobe theft” apparently.

I gotta Google that myself now.

Interesting.

A wardrobe is an accessible room in a safehouse in both Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV that allows the player to change the protagonist’s clothing.

I presume it’s to elude the police, right? Not just because players of the game want to see CG dudes with their kit off?

And someone made off with some of Victoria Beckham’s wardrobe back in 2007. Judging by the photo provided on site, it’s clear the perpetrator must’ve been nuts.

—-

I dunno’s on third, somebody desperate for information on a “satanic eyeball parasite”

I don’t know if they’re looking to buy one, or sell one. Was there a specific parasite in mind here? The Loa loa seems like the one most fun to contemplate.

Humans are the only known host of adult Loa loa. They typically live in subcutaneous tissue. But they also breed like bunnies, pumping out thousands of tiny threadlike larvae that ride through the bloodstream on a daily basis. At night, they collect inside lung tissue. During the day, they move out to the veins under the skin and wait on the off chance that they’ll get sucked out by their second host – a biting fly.

Once the larvae are inside the fly, they bore through its gut tissue, migrate to its muscles, molt a couple of times, then finally move into the fly’s proboscis. They wait for the fly to bite someone else, and crawl into the wound. New host!

It takes the larvae about 6 months to become adults. But they can live inside human tissues for 15 to 17 years.

Awesome.

—-

Someone’s trying to justify their dark desires with a little music – “lyrics ‘you can stone your wife’ ”

Oh, that might be related to Prop 8, the Musical, which “starred” Jack Black as Jesus. I didn’t bother checking that out. I don’t really like Jack Black and I pretty much said the same thing when I wrote about this before. The only show I liked him in was High Fidelity because he was less obnoxious but still funny and likable.

—-

“can a man make a cow pregant?” “can a man make a cow pregnant?”

Worried?

Must have been. He asked twice.

—-

Okay, that wraps up this round. I’ll save up a few more and do this again sometime.

Quotable Buffylove

Felt like sharing a Buffy quote:

Anya: Well, at first it was confusing. Just the idea of computers was like…whoa. I’m eleven hundred years old; I had trouble adjusting to the idea of Lutherans.

Tara: I go online sometimes, but everyone’s spelling is really bad, and it’s depressing.

heh.

From “I Was Made to Love You”

Love that one.

Bulwer-Lytton results are in

Next year I should enter that. Not like I’d win, but hell, it’d be a fun creative experiment just the same.

Go giggle now at this year’s strangest, longest, funniest sentences that never graced the first page of a best seller.

—
Edit: Just gotta add my favourite –

In a flurry of flame and fur, fangs and wicker, thus ended the world’s first and only hot air baboon ride.
Tony Alfieri
Los Angeles, CA

Awesome!