drl2Blog

It's Christmas in July!

Jul 122009

One wingnut far-right radio personality/blogger has suggested that Sarah Palin may plan to form an independent conservative political party to “take this nation back from the liberals which now control both parties” (no, I’m not making that up), and the article has been linked to by Palin’s Facebook page and the web site of her political action committee.

If true, this is the first action Palin has taken on the public stage of which I wholeheartedly approve. Go for it, Sarah! The best thing you could possibly do for this country is to split off the batshit insane portion of the Republican party from the (considerably smaller) straitjacket-optional faction and let the BIP and the GOP bludgeon each other into political oblivion to give the rest of us more time to try to elect leaders with both brains and spines (a rare combination).

Right ways and wrong ways

Atheism and Religion, Politics No Responses »

Jul 102009

Right way to express disapproval of a culture, tradtion, religion, etc:
Orally or in writing in an appropriate venue, inviting discussion and criticism, and using the interplay as means to refine or revise your argument.

Wrong way:
Murder practitioners of the offending creed. Human beings can sink to some very low depths in the name of glorified tribalism, and the deliberate murder of a pregnant woman and her husband simply because you don’t like the implications of her clothing is a few fathoms down on that scale. (Not so bad as, for instance, killing and/or displacing millions through a misguided invasion of an entire country, just to pick a theoretical example, but a horrible crime nonetheless.)

Muslims are justified in their outrage, in this case, both over the crime itself and the tepid media response to it. They are correct in saying that had a Muslim attacked a member of some other ethnic or religious group, news tickers on every TV news network would have reported the killing over and over at the bottom of the screen during the 24 hour Michael Jackson coverage.

Based on recent history, though, it should be pointed out to the more radical among the Muslim community: justifiable outrage is not an excuse to riot in the streets. Do that and you’re just lending credence to the lunatic fringe that might be inclined to support this man’s actions. Do that and you continue to perpetuate a justifiable-outrage circle-jerk that will keep on begetting violence and distrust on both sides long after you’ve gone off to meet your version of the invisible sky wizard. (Besides, it’s not as if the guy drew a picture of Mohammed or something…)

I should also point out that this man’s vile actions and the seeming lack of western interest in said actions are in no way a repudiation or validation of your repressive, misogynistic traditions. Your head scarves and burqas are the symptoms of a belief system in which women are little more than property, subject to beatings and execution if they, willingly or not, step outside the narrow, puritanical set of behaviors you have defined for them.

Do as I say, not who I do

Atheism and Religion, Politics No Responses »

Jun 262009

Ensign and Sanford are the latest in the GOP (your) Family (not mine) Values crowd to be embroiled in sex scandals. (Who will be next? These things always happen in threes, you know!) These latest are particularly interesting – in Ensign’s case, because it appears he may have used his position to arrange for financial reward and punishment for his mistress, and in Sanford’s case, because he apparently spontaneously abdicated his duties in pursuit of his South American love interest.

Maybe Sanford is smarter than we think – he left the country to have his affair, so he probably can’t be charged under South Carolina’s archaic anti-adultery law. However, that alleged higher law he brought up during his speech reserves a harsher punishment for him than the fine and/or prison time prescribed by state legislation:

The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. (Leviticus 10:20)

Governor, are you sure it’s a good idea to be bringing up “God’s Law” right now, in a state that’s part of the literalist-leaning Bible Belt?

The Terrible Threes

Uncategorized No Responses »

Jun 262009

I’ve lost track of the number of times in the last 24 hours I’ve heard or seen some variation of the phrase “these things always happen in threes” in relation to the recent spate of celebrity deaths, usually referring to Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson.

NO, people, these things do not happen in threes. They only seem to happen in threes because you keep resetting the counter when it reaches three! If the saying was “these things always happen in sevens”, everyone would be counting a few deaths further back and wondering who number 7 would be, and then when someone famous passes away, you’d shout, “Aha! Seven again!” and reset the counter.

Now there is, perhaps, something interesting in the common choice of three as the number in which groups of related “things” happen. Two is just coincidence, but three makes a pattern, which might just fire off a few extra neurons in the pattern-matching hardware we call our minds…

The celebrities, they're a-droppin' like flies

Uncategorized No Responses »

Jun 252009

First Farrah Fawcett, then Michael Jackson – apparently today was a bad day to be a famous white female. While MJ will get the most attention, of course, it seems to me that Farrah’s fight against cancer makes for a much more compelling story than Michael’s fight to become a species unto himself. I’m sure negotiations are already underway over the rights to turn both stories into TV movies.

No, I’m not what you’d call a fan of his – I’ve been largely indifferent to his music, and found his later behavior (alleged and otherwise) to be creepy and sad at best. Fifty’s not a half bad run, but still, there’s a little pang of sadness for him in my cold, cold godless heathen heart. My condolences go out to his friends and loved ones, and to Farrah’s as well; those are the people who will have a missing place in their lives that will be remembered long after the rest of us have moved on to the next news cycle.

We lost Ed McMahon a few days ago, too, something I wouldn’t have mentioned except that I was reminded today of a story about him:

The navy sent my father to training outside Chicago in the year when the first Superbowl took place. He and a friend went into the city on leave on the night of the game and the first bar they found was a little more upscale than they might otherwise visit, but they settled on it because it had several TVs and wasn’t too crowded, so they could hear and see the game. Ed McMahon walked in just as things got started and sat down right next to them; they ended up watching Superbowl 1 with him, and he bought them drinks and sat and talked to them late into the night.

Upgrades done – for now

Programming No Responses »

Jun 252009

My server has been upgraded to support .Net 3.5 and PHP 5, database moved to MySQL 5, and WordPress bumped up to the latest 2.8 version. A few of my old plug-ins went away and the theme I was using isn’t available in an up-to-date version, so I’m experimenting with others. Now to actually start posting again…

Remodeling

Uncategorized No Responses »

Jun 242009

The site will be flaky and/or down on and off for the next few days – I’m performing overdue upgrades to a number of items after recovering from some glitch that was making me unable to log into wordpress for a while.

Blog Against Theocracy

Atheism and Religion No Responses »

Apr 122009

Well, it’s that time of year again: the annual Easter weekend Blog Against Theocracy, to which I’ve intended to contribute for the past two years, but for which my record of actual participation has been… limited.

I had grandiose ideas this year about doing some actual research on current or past theocratic societies – pointing out some of the abuses of power that came with, say, the Church’s domination of European life through the middle ages, or perhaps a cautionary tale of what life is like under the theo-tyranny of Kim Jong Il today.

But time passed, other business took precedence, and it became clear there wasn’t going to be time for research. So, I thought to myself, why don’t I do something a little more light-hearted? I could find one of those fear-mongering “what if atheists ruled the world” type screeds that are not uncommon on theistic web sites, and write a parody of it (as if those things aren’t self-parodies by their very nature).

But now, as I sit here during the brief lull after the morning egg hunt and traditional devouring of candy and before the afternoon dash to visit a bunch of relatives, I’m guessing even that intention will have to be put aside.

I felt obligated to post something, though, however short and pointless it might be. I felt this way because I think the Blog Against Theo is a great idea that deserves that extra little bit of linkage I can give it. More importantly, though: I had to get that naked picture of Christopher Hitchens scrolled down off the screen.

A Quick Addendum from Kerschplat

Atheism and Religion, Uncategorized 1 Response »

Mar 272009

Science man Myers try say science people more handsomer than orcish not-people? Kerschplat begging difference. In spirit of reason argument, he present contrariness evidence, exhibit A: Christopher Hitchens.

‘Nuff being said.

I have a COMMENT!!

Uncategorized No Responses »

Mar 272009

While performing a much-needed pruning of the comment ads that my spam filter didn’t quite catch, I came across an actual comment – and I only approved the poster a month and a half too late! Thanks, George! Uh, sorry about the delay…