Onion News: Snowy Conditions Proving Hazardous For Nation's Idiots

Reminds me of this kid that was walking around with only a tee shirt on during a blizzard. Natural selection is still at work!

Sorry for the spam, I'm just making sure I that I have this goofy mobile feature figured out. :)

Test 2

Testing mobile blogging.

Leaked Memos Show Fox News Bias

Faux "News" is such a joke....

I can't stop laughing...

Video: Muslim Hatred Towards Jews vs. Nazi Hatred (plus short response to video)

As a disclaimer -- obviously not ALL Muslims hate Jews. This blog post is addressing those that do, along with those that shove this hatred down the throats of their children....brainwashing them to be forever intolerant and close-minded (and sometimes violent).

It's sad that the children are being brainwashed to hate a group of people they know nothing about. Propaganda like this can and probably will lead to a very nasty future. Children should never be taught to hate—being taught to hate (especially that young) will surely cause many psychological issues. This sort of thing should be viewed as a crime against humanity. No culture should be able to brainwash their children to hate another culture -- this is what breeds hatred and intolerance, and ultimately conflict. The suicide bombers of today were the brainwashed children of yesterday (metaphorically speaking). Instead of hatred, children should be taught empathy. There has to be some passages in the Quran that promote empathy? Right? Many Muslims claim Islam is a religion of peace, so by this logic there must be some interpretations that would promote acceptance of others. Hatred is the best way for the nonintellectual to deal with conflict.

VenomFangX: Old Testament Slavery, Stoning and Seafood

Probably one of the better arguments from a Christian regarding the Old Testament's disgusting nature. He does however seem to either ignore or not be aware that "the ends justify the means" mentality does not = morality (remember the Nazis?). If this God guy has infinite power, he would not need to do all these goofy things only so his son (which is himself?) to be born; he would have just made it happen without all the nonsense in-between. It is always interesting to see Christians do mental gymnastics to justify the disgusting nature of their holy-book.

I suppose being an atheist is easy. Atheists have no desert writings to rationalize, if we agree with an idea then so be it, if we don't then we don't—no need to distort the truth.

NASA's UFO sightings caught on film (compilation) Full Of Strange

Many strange and unexplainable things out there. All of these things have explanations, those explanations may be a let-down, but who knows? Perhaps alien species are everywhere.

Given the state of humanity, not only are humans not that impressive, but many are disgustingly violent and slightly more conscious than a rock.
--------------
From: Full Of Strange

Witnesses Of Jehovah (1986)

Not all cults are created equal, but many have the same god. Why do religious people always believe the world is going to end? I think the reason for this has to do with how pessimistic their world view tends to be. People that are depressed to not wish for things to exist forever, and the opposite is true for those that are optimistic (Buddhists, etc believe the world/universe is eternal).

Merry Christmas/Winter Solstice

CNN Investigates 'John of God' - Faith Healer Popularized by Oprah

LOL....what does 'energy healing' even mean? What a joke....

Belief can be very powerful by making people FEEL better. Perception is what is being altered, not medical condition. The placebo effect can be very powerful, and that is all this is. People that say this is real are people that WANT it to be real. A magical world is much more interesting than a cold, heartless material one. Sometimes people prefer false-ideas that feel good as opposed to true-ideas that don't.

VenomFangX: Traditional Morality (Objective) versus Modern Morality (Subjective)

I almost hesitate in saying this, but on a few points I agree with VenomFangX. People that don't strive for to better themselves tend to define/structure their actions as being moral (i.e. good and/or acceptable behavior); causing them to stagnate, act impulsively, and badly. The problem with many people in general is that they lack the sort of empathetical capacity required to act good for the sake of being good. Most people behave poorly, and while the Bible (mostly the Old Testament) is a joke in the realm of morality, people that actually follow the teachings of Jesus perhaps would behave in a more objectively moral way (the well-being of those around is probably better vs. the alternative).

In practice I believe in belief in certain circumstances. Some people are just too stupid and narcissistic to behave well on their own. Such people need Jesus, otherwise they treat themselves and others like shit. What I am trying to say is that if your IQ falls below the average you should follow Jesus! Jesus offers morality for the mentally weak (be good or be punished!), some people wont be good for the sake of being good, they need a reward and/or fear of punishment to motivate them to behave properly.

I know most atheists will aggressively disagree with me here. But do such people really believe that ALL people would behave the same and/or better if they didn't have the moral structure that Christianity provides (heaven, hell, etc.)?

VenomFangX: The Limitations of Science and "Scientism"

VenomFangX is missing the forest full of trees. Science is more than what his goofy philosophy class straw-manned it to be. Science is the method humans use to understand the objective world. While science is far from perfect (because humans are far from perfect), it is our best shot at figuring out this universe. The Bible makes many scientific/historical claims that not only cannot be confirmed, but go directly against our best knowledge of science and history. VenomFangX is looking for meaning in the world, meaning does not exist in the world objectively—meaning is purely subjective (i.e. the opinion of an individual). Science deals with facts, while people are entitled to have opinions, those opinions cannot fly in the face of facts (unless the facts are ignored).

Atheists on YouTube are going to have a field day with this one.

VenomFangX is back on the air!

OH MY! The infamous creationist is back on YouTube. Thunderf00t is going to have fun with him.

Dancing Cop Directs Traffic (video + rant against cops stealing drugs from crime scenes)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We all chuckle at the idea of a cop taking a little wacky tabackee home with them from the evidence locker, well, this is what we get when that happens..

That officer is putting all of those lives at risk, directing traffic while baked. What if he does the wrong move at the wrong time? BAM!!! Head-on collision! Say no to drugs, and if the drugs answer back, perhaps it is too late....

Atheist vs Christian Fundraising (Kiva's Competitive Lending Teams)

Of course the atheists are winning in the donations, not because atheists are more charitable (but maybe we are); but because atheists are busy using the internet while Christians are busy doing stuff like bailing hay and artificially inseminating pigs (too low of a blow? or not low enough?).

Father Morris: "It's Not Healthy to Have an Imaginary Friend" (pure irony)

This video so much amazing irony. I agree that there may be positive benefits to venting to air (like punching a pillow). Self-talk itself can be a helpful cognitive tool to vent stress (no imaginary friend needed). But, this is all well and good, but it obviously doesn't make God real. At the moment, God is an imaginary friend because, not only is there no evidence that such a being is listening, or cares, but there is no evidence for this being at all. Believers are praying to an imaginary friend that people tell them is real, so they believe it. Many toddlers have imaginary friends, perhaps this form of self-talk is a coping mechanism that is hardwired into us—perhaps this is the void that God fills. Maybe atheists don't need this cognitive tool as much as a believer does, so atheists do not need warp logic to fit God into their world-view (giving them a clearer, less warped image).

Audio: Howard Bloom Rants about Wikileaks, Left & Right Politics, Islam, Economics

I understand this video is a bit long, but it is very entertaining to listen to....well, for nerds like me that don't care who wins the Super Bowl.

71-year-old woman caves attacker's skull in with a frying pan (hilarious)

According to the police in Hutchinson Kansas, a 71 year old women was attacked by a douche-bag named Kevin Funderburk. The women, however, was able to cave the attacker's skull in with a frying pan (must have been a quality cast-iron one from a few centuries ago).

backing up..
He was able to get into the home by claiming he was homeless. This was all done of course so that he could attack her. Thinking quickly (at the wrong time, never let a "homeless" guy into your home), she grabbed a frying pan and beat him senseless (literally) with it.

This moron is in jail with a $55,000 bail; which is also stupid, why put bail on a guy like this? Huge flight risk, and should be considered dangerous (well, not THAT dangerous, being that a 71 year old women beat the shit out of him).

Karma is a bitch, and fast acting/ironic karma like this is hilarious.

Here is a link to my source:  click me!

Guy Hacks Airport Screen So That It Showed Porn (OH MY!)

Okay, so apparently at the Bangladeshi airport there is a huge television screen. Some guy hacked into the feed, and caused it to play porn for 5 minutes! Hundreds of unsuspecting people (travelers and friends of) were victims (or the opposite) of this prank. While this may sound hilarious to some, imagine if you were there, with your grandmother.... embarrassing...

Atheist Comedians at New Year's Show, LA

Religion is a comedic gold mine, shame most high profile comedians refuse to touch it with a 50 yard stick.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Banning the Burqa Misses the Point

I have to agree with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the debate should be waged on the 'why', not the 'what'. A burqa is a piece of clothing, in itself, there is nothing wrong with it, what should be looked at is the 'why'. Banning burqas does nothing but make Muslims feel more alienated, which will cause them to further refuse to integrate into western society.

The NWO Soldier On Cataloging Fecal Matter (and Full Body Scanners at Air Ports)

The purpose of government is to control the masses, the more powerful a government becomes, the more control it has over its people. That isn't to say government is a bad thing, but that a good government is a small government.

Is There An Afterlife? Atheist Christopher Hitchens vs Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Joe Rogan On Fighting vs. Other Sports (Football, Basketball, etc.)

I have to agree with Joe. Fighting is much more interesting to watch because it gets to the heart of the issue (i.e. direct competition among individual egos). Fighting has less "bullshit" attached to it, and less excuses can be made from an opponent after a defeat (which can be more damaging to the losers ego). Many people oppose fighting because of its "violent nature", but it's not like people are dying from competing in fight-sports (except for a few poorly regulated cases). I suppose it all boils down to how it is interpreted. Some may take discipline away from watching/ participating in fighting sports, others may take away violence and aggression.

Christian's Video Rant on Atheists & Christmas (plus an atheist's response)

The atheists he is referring to are real-life trolls (I should know, I am one of them). We do what we do for the tears of Christians. Drink up everyone!

....Okay, maybe not. Perhaps secularists and/or atheists do not enjoy having religion shoved down their throats. Perhaps the reason for the season should be up to the individual to decide. Regardless,  atheists are merely pushing back with their own campaigns against all the noise Christians make this time of year. We live in a country that has freedom from religion, we should be free of having the superstition of others forced down our throats.

Faith is subjective, please keep it that way, thanks :)

Now Gay People Can Kill Foreigners! (Senate Repeals 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell')

This is a great step forward for the civil rights of gay people. But I'm surprised this is a right they would be fighting for. I suppose there is a certain honor in defending your country, even though the United States has no defended itself since WW2 (all other "wars" have been policing/defending other countries). Why anyone would want to join the military is beyond me. More power to them I suppose, and it is a good thing that gay people are moving towards being treated as full citizens. The next thing they hopefully get is the ability to marry under the law.

As for those that oppose gays in the military, why does it bother you? As long as they conduct themselves properly, and are able to get through the training, what is the problem? On the battlefield I do not think anyone is thinking about sex, so I don't believe sexuality is a factor—ability to follow orders is all that matters (I'm sure gay people can follow orders just as well as straight people).

The fact that this was even up for debate shows that the United States still has a long ways to go in the realm of civil rights among its citizens. 

Bill O'Reilly & Kirk Cameron On Gay Protesters

"Marriage is defined by God"

What a bold statement. Seems to me that marriage is defined by humans, and many humans want gay-marriage to be legal. Kirk Cameron should concern himself with his marriage/family, and let others be concerned with theirs. Gay marriage does not affect the marriage of straight couples, unless they are afraid of some secret temptation. Live and let live.

Bill O'Reilly: Atheists Are Jealous Of The Holiday (Christmas)

Santa Claus and gift exchange isn't mentioned in the Bible. What people most associate with Christmas is being with family and exchanging gifts, most people could care less about 'the baby Jesus'. Jesus is not the reason for the seasonal holiday historically; most people are unaware of this because they don't care about history or "facts" in general.

Video: Fox News War on Christmas Anti-ACLU Lie of 2010? (LiberalViewer)

Fox "News" is such a joke. The only reason they are as popular as they are is because they lie to make stories more interesting. Perhaps the goal of this 'fake war on Christmas' is to get people pissed off. Pissed off people are more passionate, and will probably watch more Fox News.

Am I Crazy? (poem)

Am I crazy?
for not believing
in the sanity of others?
Are others crazy?
for thinking I am sane?
probably
but I certainty hope not
perhaps sanity is fake
and we're all faking it

New Anti-Smoking Ads Warn Teens 'It's Gay To Smoke'

Interesting strategy; as long as it saves lives, I'm for it (not that there is anything wrong with being gay).

Fox News: Have You Ever Met An Angel? (plus an atheist's take on the story)

What a joke. This has delution and hallucination written all over it. If this girl's hallucination didn't fit within a religious context it would be brushed off as easily as it should be here. People hallucinate all of time—in-fact this is one of the big reasons as to why we see so many hallucination-inspired stories in scripture (Abraham hearing voices that were telling him to kill his son for example). If this girl was "seeing" aliens, Faux "News" wouldn't have even reported on this story, let alone have taken it seriously.

Ron Paul is Bill Maher's New Hero (Ron Paul Interview)

A Ron Paul presidency would be interesting. I think he is liked so well because many people dislike the government, and he wants to get rid of a lot of it. Many liberals hate what the government does (especially with foreign policy), so they would naturally support a more isolated country (i.e. one that doesn't go around policing the world). If Ron Paul is able to win the Republican nomination in 2012, I think I would vote for him, the Democrats aren't working, and Ron Paul is an individualistic Republican. Ron Paul would probably be a Regan (as far as popularity) if he was able to get into office, I see many Republicans and Democrats that love the guy. He seems to be very grounded in principle, which is very rare in politics nowadays.

What Happens when an Alligator Bites an Electric Eel? (crazy video)

It's amazing to see that an electric eel can be that damaging to an animal like an alligator. If you read the comments on YouTube it is funny to see the PETA morons freak out over it.

Edward Current: "Christians, Deconvert For Christmas (please)"

Poor Christians, they are so persecuted :(

Pat Condell: "Your faith is a joke"

Pat Condell is an atheist YouTuber, click here for his channel. It is automatically assumed that people's beliefs should be respected, especially if those beliefs are considered to be religious. The problem is that people label others as being a belief system (I am a Christian, he is a Muslim, they are atheists etc.); people are not a belief system, like they are not a television set. A belief system (like a television) is something a person possess, not what they are. How ridiculous would it be if someone claimed to be a flat-screen TV? Anything that can be taken away is something which is possessed including beliefs (e.g. head injury, Alzheimer's disease, and death).

Intelligence² Debate: Islam is a Religion of Peace?

ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE from Intelligence Squared US on Vimeo.

Jainism is what a religion of peace looks like (any religion with violence in the scripture is not a religion of peace). The fact that this debate is even going on shows something; there is no debate on whether Mormonism is a religion of peace.

< travisandjonathan: Santa's Lap! (music video) >

I put this up here because I found it both funny and disturbing.

ForaTv: "Kids Today: How Does 10,000 Hours of Video Games Affect Development?"

Gaming is part of a person's real life, not an escape (just like any other hobby e.g. golf and fishing). It is something that people do to unwind, our biggest problem is that we as a society worry too much about our problems. Our society has too much of a "go go" mentality. Kids are overly stressed, and they are looking for escapes, video games are one of the best ways of doing this. People in general need to find fun things to do with their time. Workaholicism is a much bigger problem, firstly because it is promoted as being a good thing (at least in the United States), and secondly because it causes people to be less productive than they would ordinarily be.

Workaholicism causes excess amounts of stress hormones to be put into the blood. Certain amounts of stress hormone can make a person more productive, but too much makes them much less (old timers don't believe in the science behind this). These kids are not running away from their problems, they simply don't wish to constantly stress out about them. It doesn't matter how much a person "faces" their problems, their problems will always be there, and it is important to have a good way to unwind from them; video games are a great way of doing that.

Excessive worrying is the cause of so many problems in society; not only is it not being addressed at all, but society as a whole seems to promote it. An enjoyable life is a productive life.

Muslim Woman Whipped In Public For Wearing Trousers (Caution: Very Disturbing Video)

How disgusting. Apparently Islam is a religion of peace, could have fooled me...

This is the product of religion, pure and simple (religion is what it takes for people to justify such nasty behavior towards their fellow human). It is incredibly torturous to treat women like this—an obvious human right's violation. Apparently this sort of thing happens on a regular basis within nations dominated by Islam. Like Christianity stifled science in the past, Islam is stifling the progress of human right's. All moderate Muslims should be outraged by this for many reasons.

Humans aren't naturally this nasty, it takes perception altering belief systems to make it acceptable. I say this because in societies with religious freedom (which is really freedom from religion) treat their people much better; there is an obvious correlation here that cannot be denied. To deny that this is caused by religion is to accept human right's violations by turning the other way and ignoring it.

This site would never be seen in a secular society. Religion has no place in government, if it finds itself there, this is what you get. We in secular societies often take for granted the civil rights that we have. And oppression like this should never be tolerated, regardless if it is religion causing it or not. Also to see the men laughing at this is reflective of their lack of conscience. They are complete scumbags for doing what they are doing and thinking it is funny.   

Journey Of A Pregnant Man - Thomas Beatie (videos + rant on why it is stupid)

Journey Of A Pregnant Man - Thomas Beatie (Part 1)



Journey Of A Pregnant Man - Thomas Beatie (Part 2)


Journey Of A Pregnant Man - Thomas Beatie (Part 3)


Journey Of A Pregnant Man - Thomas Beatie (Part 4)


Journey Of A Pregnant Man - Thomas Beatie (Part 5)


I know, this is sort of old news. However, this whole thing is bullshit. This "pregnant man" is not a man, it is a women. They can use the word "he" and "him" as much as they want, but this person has and will always have two X chromosomes. Being male and female should always be determined based upon chromosomes; if you don't have a Y chromosome, you are not a dude, period. Also, I feel this "pregnant man" did all of this for the celebrity, she (yes it is a she) is doing this to be an attention whore. The public did not need to be aware of this, if they were not, the child could have had much more of a normal life. I'm sure this child will be picked on enough in school, to give kids the 'your mom has a beard' thing is going to make this child's life hell.

I could take a bunch of female hormones, stop growing facial hair and perhaps get some female-like breasts, but no matter how much I appear to be female, I would never be. I understand this women feels like a man on the inside, but she is and forever will be a female. For the media to promote this as a 'pregnant man' was done only for the ratings. They deceived the public into thinking that a man was actually pregnant. All we have here is a female that took testosterone. I do worry however that the screwed up hormone levels in this women will have negative consequences on the baby psychologically, and physiologically. This couple honestly should have chosen adoption (at least in my opinion), but I suppose more power to them, I just hope the child turns out living a relatively normal life.

Baby born with two faces, four eyes, two noses, two mouths (Video Included)

It's sad this birth couldn't have been prevented. This person/persons will be only a freak-show and nothing more. God was apparently smoking acid when he "created" this one. I suppose it is good they can put a positive spin on it, even though they are little nutty for viewing such a deformation as a "miracle". I am typically against abortion, but one should have been done here—it would have been the humane thing to do.

Video: Atheist Grinches? (TheAmazingAtheist)

Christian double-standards are everywhere!

Atheists have the right to express their views (obviously). If Christians don't like the concept of free-speech, they can git out!

Video: Parents Outraged Over School Book Portraying Jesus as a "Socialist" (Fox News)

Wow! The outrage!

Those parents are poorly hiding their shit-eating grins by having their chance to be on Faux News, what a joke. The kid leaves his school because of a single book? Poor Christians always playing the victim. I bet if this book was talking good about Jesus, the parents would have loved it. Can't have your cake and eat it to. Just because they disagree with the book, does not mean the school should conform to them, they should have to conform to it.

ZOMG Justin Bieber Releasing Perfume

Apparently Justin Bieber is a homosexual (real men don't wear perfume or nail polish). Not that there is anything wrong with that....

There is a rumor spreading around the internet that Justin Bieber was caught in bed with a 30 year old black guy by his mother. Remember, this is only a rumor at the moment—even though this would be a surprise to no one. My source wishes to remain anonymous.

WikiLeaks (Julian Assange): How Safe Are The "Sources" in the Digital Age?

It was funny hearing people comparing this guy to Osama Bin Ladin. The future needs people like this if we hope to avoid a Big Brother scenario. For example, the United States government has grown way larger and secretive/corrupt than it ever should have, it will only continue to worsen if the people don't act. The government is much less likely to do horrible acts if it knows it is being watched. The government of a democracy should not keep its people in the dark as much as the United States does.

Atheistic Rant: why believing in God is impossible.

Believing in God, as the title of this posts suggests, is impossible. This may sound like a bold claim, being that many believers (Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc.) outright say that they believe and/or know God (aka: Allah, Yahweh, Flying-Spaghetti Monster) exists. A person can claim to believe in God, but one would assume they are referring to more than just a word or idea. Atheists and believers have one thing in common, and that is that God is a word with particular perceptions and ideas attached to it (it doesn't matter if a believer doesn't agree to this, that is what God is to them).

Well, how is this different than say...cheese, for example? Well, the difference is that the senses can confirm the existence of the cheese on some level. Not only this, but humans can describe cheese using detailed descriptions to confirm with relative certainty that cheese exists objectively. While taste, color, etc. do not exist objectively, they do exist subjectively, within the human experience (and can be described in language). This is how we as humans are able to determine the difference between things that are real, and things that are not (i.e. delusion, hallucination, and so forth).

All of this should be painfully obvious, but I needed to set those points up to go on to my main argument.  God is impossible to be believed in because nobody knows what God is. This may be confusing to believers; what I am referring to is not what God is attributed for (i.e. his actions), but what the being actually is.

The problem here is that God cannot be sensed with any of the senses, this is why we cannot create any sort of description of it (the way a cognitive exercise makes a person feel is no proof of anything outside of itself). Emotions and "feelings" do believers a disservice by confusing them as to what is true and what is not. People can confuse the physical euphoric sensation that is generated when contemplating the existence of an all-powerful being (and how that being loves them and is protecting them) with some sort of "6th sense". Such a cognitive exercise can create a powerful sense of well-being; but, this well-being is not a confirmation of any sort of objective being, only a subjective being. In other words, God cannot be shown to exist because this described "feeling" is not caused by sensory input; what is actually occurring is a cognitive behavior is being used to affect emotional well-being in a "feel-good" way (if it feels good it must be true! or maybe not..).

It is impossible to believe in a being when nothing about the being itself is known. This is a very important thing that believers should really think about (and many atheists already have). This kind of thinking comes naturally to atheists, but many believers don't think much about philosophical concept of a god.

For the atheists out there reading this, whenever a believer gets into a discussion about God, first ask them: "what is God" -- not what God is responsible -- or how God makes people feel. Ask them to describe what God is. They will claim 'it is unknown', and that is the point; an unknown thing cannot be believed in BECAUSE IT IS UNKNOWN!

God = X
X = ??
?? = unknown (aka: nothing in the context of human awareness)

Believers believe in nothing, because that is exactly how much they know about their target of worship; believers worship nothing.

Video: Skeptic Michael Shermer on Atheism, Happiness, and the Free Market

I have to disagree with his view on the economy. A free-market economy is a bad system because of the greed-factor. I believe that a better system is an economy that is for the people, by the people (i.e. people vote in the business management like we do with politicians, and the profits are shared amongst the people). Imagine how much better a democratic economy would be, instead of the greed-based free market economy. The interests of the majority should outweigh the interests of the few, which is why the free-market economy is bad.

Rant: Clinton Backs Obama's "tax cut" (which he stole from Bush)

Clinton was at the White House press conference today; apparently he is backing Obama's "tax deal". It is sad what Obama is doing, trying to use Bill's celebrity for his own political gain (being most famous for that sex scandal). Who is Bill Clinton? Why is his opinion worth anything? His judgement is/has been proven to be piss-poor within the last 15 years. Anyways, raising the taxes on the wealthy is obvious for reducing the deficit. There is only so much money to go around, the rich are the best at fucking the majority out of their efforts, they should not be rewarded for this by an extended tax cut. It is disgusting how Republicans reward greed with tax-cuts, and how Democrats reward blackmail with compromise.

Fox News: Efforts to Replace Allegiance to God with Allegiance to Government

Christians love their god in government. Shame many of them are too close-minded to see how it might offend non-Christians that live in this country. For example the "in God we Trust" implies that to be considered part of the 'we' you must trust in God. Am I the only one that sees this? Atheists need to push to get God out of government, there is no place for religion in a secular government.

Video: Are Christians the New Persecuted?

I have a feeling that the couple in the beginning was pushing their religion on others, and got backlash for it. If they were to keep their faith to themselves, then I don't imagine they would have had any problems.

The problem with Christians is that they lack the ability to see outside of their own perspective. They believe that they should be able to express their religious views as openly as they wish, and if anyone opposes their message....THEY ARE BEING OPPRESSED! Everyone wants to play the victim, it is an easy role. Christians have it pretty good in the secular world, they just can't have it all their way. Atheists have it much tougher as a group than Christians in the secular world, most openly atheistic politicians can't even get elected into office in the United States.

Video: Rape charges against Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder are total bullsh*t! (SkyyJohn)

Sweden is a weird country.

Anjem Choudary: Islam Cannot Survive in a Secular Society

Islam will survive in a secular society when Muslims become truly moderate, and don't take the Koran's words as being literal. Fundamentalist Christianity has a hard time in a secular society as well, for the same reasons. A religion like Islam must evolve or die if it wishes to exist within a secular society; I imagine Islam will have no problem evolving. Sharia law and secularism go together as well as oil and water.

Rant: What happened to Obama? and Republicans = Political Terrorists

I remember back in the 2008 elections, there was a sense of optimism among Democrats. Now many former Obama supporters are pessimistic about the government's ability to govern. The Democrats and Obama can't be blamed for everything, many of them want to enact "change", but are stopped dead by Republicans. Republicans are the thorn in the side of progress. After all of that time the Democrats controlled the house, not much has gotten done given the amount of time they had. The main reason for this was the Republicans refusing to cooperate on anything.

Republicans do not care about the American people, they care about power. Since the word 'terrorists' gets thrown onto everything, I would like to throw it onto Republicans. Republicans are political terrorists (i.e. they use politics to terrorize Democrats so that they can further their own political desires); Republicans use blackmail and threats to further their own political agendas. This should be obvious to anyone that follows politics. After Republicans took the House of Representatives they blackmailed Democrats by threatening to let nothing go through unless the Bush Tax Cuts were extended (to further fatten the pockets of the rich). My point is that House Republicans are scumbags, only interested in protecting the economic interests of the rich. But, this is no surprise to me; I expect Republicans to be self-righteous, sociopathic assholes. My problem is with Obama. Obama is now trying to push what he is calling "his tax cut", which simply put is leaving the tax rate exactly the same as what Bush left it at. Now Obama is fighting for the rich. I recall him promising in his campaign that he would eliminate the Bush tax cuts, this move by him shows that he is no different than any other politician. Obama is looking out for his own interests (which is to compromise so that he can get more of "his" stuff done). I have a feeling Obama is going to be a 1-term president, and it is because he has gone against campaign promises many many times, and negociates with political terrorists (i.e. Republicans). When/if I vote next election, it will be for a third party candidate. Both Democrats and Republicans are, in my opinion, bad for this country.....and I think many Americans would agree.

Republicans did a horrible job when they had power, so the Democrats got it. But they performed just as poorly. We need "change", and that change is not found in the Democratic or Republican party. Democrats are pussies, and Republicans are terrorists.

History Channel: Ancient Aliens Series: Episode 2 Review

The problem with this documentary is the lack of evidence. Sometimes there are dots that shouldn't be connected. These people see aliens in everything, in a similar way that some see God in everything. Have aliens visited this planet before? Perhaps, but there is no hard evidence proving it. These people assume that our ancestors were stupid... "how could they do these amazing things". I think that a much better explanation for some of the unexpected levels of knowledge and technology can be attributed to human civilization getting to high points, and then collapsing several times. We see our particular run at it as being around 6,000 years to get us to this point, yet humans have been around for 200,000+ years. I would imagine within that much time, humans would do some pretty amazing things. Considering that it took an estimated 6,000 years for our society to evolve to the point it is now; that would allow for 33 separate rises and falls within the 200,000 years.....think about it (a rise could conceivably happen faster if religion was not as strong of a force to stifle science).

Perhaps it is the nuclear age we are in now; will humans last another 100 years with this much tension with nuclear weapons? The Romans said that society has risen to high states and fell many times over. Perhaps even the "aliens" could have been advanced humans visiting the primitives (like the pacific islanders worshiping bamboo planes after WW2). I suppose my main problem with this documentary is that the people, when presented with a mystery, automatically jump to the 'aliens must have done it' conclusion.

While this series is interesting, keep an open mind about it. Don't let a self-confirmation bias get the better of you.

Video: FOX News: Prayer "Under Attack" at Lancaster City Council Meetings

If our politicians are seeking guidance from a nonexistent being, it explains a lot, and shows that we are in big trouble. The government cannot back any sort of religion; what these dumb-asses are doing is unconstitutional and a slap in the face to men like Thomas Jefferson.

Atheist Bill Maher on Glenn Beck, religion, and the Tea Party movement.

It's scary to think people in positions of power have world-views that twisted—world-views that are not only comically absurd, but destructive. How can anyone with any sort of education claim that it is okay for humans to destroy the earth because an invisible man in the clouds gave it to them? People that hold such views should not be in positions of power.

Good Reasons for "Believing" in God - Atheist Dan Dennett, AAI 2007

Christians Counter Atheist Bus Ads With Moving Billboard Trucks

Why do Christians always put words in the mouth of an imaginary being? To say that God loves atheists is another way of saying that nobody loves atheists—which is why the message is an insult to atheists (God = Nobody).

Tina Brown, Andrew Sullivan, and Jeff Jarvis Talk Online Privacy and Brett Favre's Penis

I'll admit to a few childish giggles while watching this; for a few moments I thought I was watching The Onion (fake news comedy). Anyways, they make a few good points, along with a few bad ones. First of all, Facebook is (in my opinion) a good thing long term; however, for the traditional socialization experience, it is very destructive. Many old-timers see any radical change as being bad, but I don't feel it is. People put on a facade in-front of almost everyone they come in contact with anyways, it's only natural that they would do it on a social networking site; i.e. virtually everyone is faking it.

WikiLeaks: Assange Recalls Past Efforts to Block Site (ForaTv)

Sad to see him behind bars. We need people like this to keep our governments honest.

Video: Did NASA really find New Life?? (Thunderf00t)

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NASA announced 'An Astrobiological finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life'

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/ear...

An astrobiological finding? Really? not just an interesting study of some extremophile bacteria in Mono Lake?

While the results and the research are both interesting, the oversell in unjustified based on it.

Specifically speculating about arsenate based DNA based on....... well not a lot really. Some EXAFS that shows little more beyond the model sensitive stuff kicks in that its tetracoordinate. Now they claim they can tell the difference between that and the AsO4 anion and its variants, but EXAFS is really pretty model dependent stuff for anything beyond the first shell.

They also do some phenol-chloroform analysis and some other fairly standard biochemistry, all based on the assumption, which is a very shakey one, that IF they have arsenic DNA, then it will behave in a similar fashion to regular DNA.

The irony is this woman, Felisa Wolfe-Simon, claims in the press conference to have read all the seminal paper etc etc including Watsons n Cricks paper on the structure of DNA, leading to the bloody obvious Q. why not just do the fiber diffraction patter, then QED. I mean IF they have what they say, its a crystallographers wet dream with all those heavy atom substitutions!

A lot of the oversimplistic view of biochemistry really rubbed me up the wrong way. Getting overly worked up about which chemicals are present and which ones are not seems kinda trivial. The work in itself is interesting enough without this sort of claim, the more so as this facile overview of biochemistry is only much use for noobs.

I mean if this trivial stamp collecting is what NASAs into, you can substitute Se for S in many proteins, and indeed the crystallographers love this sort of heavy atom substitution.... should we call a press conference of astrobiology for this too? Similarly for various ion substitutions.

Loads of the technical detail of the paper bugged me too, the way they always refer to phosphate and arsenate explicitly as the 3- ions, even when they are incorporated into molecular structures. They classification of the phosphate and arsenate species present also represented significant biochemistry thinking. Looks like most the basisity of the solution comes from the carbonate, but some sort of estimate of the various concentrations of the various protonation states of the oxyanion in these solutions would have been nice (relatively trivial to calculate). Basically saying what you gurgled into these solutions is not as useful as what exists in the solutions you used.

Finally I have grave doubts about the premature nature of this data, and couldnt help but feel the shadow of Pons and Fleischman. Big PR announcements that turn out to be bogus just undermine the publics confidence in science, when civilization needs it as never before.

I sincerely hope Felisa is right here, for all our sakes. If I was asked what my estimate of an organism being able to absorb this sort of structural shock in a few generation going from an entirely phosphate based backbone to arsenate (given that this will mostly likely have BIG effects in both histone binding, and transcription, the factors that determine the production of proteins) I would be giving it a chance (generously) in the few percent range. Biochemistry is REALLY picky over structure.\

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Kind of sad that NASA would make such a claim without any supporting evidence. Perhaps they were just looking for some attention from the media? For NASA also to use the term 'extraterrestrial life' a lie. The life form they found both originated and lives on the same planet we do.

Creepy Hand Model Interview (CBS News: Katie Couric) MUST WATCH!!

First off, I don't think her hands are that amazing. They look like ordinary hands, just smaller and a little wrinkly. She claims that being a hand model is like being an Olympic athlete, which is a horrible comparison (for obvious reasons). Are all 'hand models' this creepy?

WikiLeaks Founder (Julian Assange) Arrested In UK

He was arrested for some Swedish sex-crime (although the charges may be a bogus excuse to get him into custody). It's a shame to see Julian Assange arrested, hopefully WikiLeaks is able to move on without him.

This whole fiasco only shows how much of a tyrannical bully the United States is. The United States gov. is pointing the finger at WikiLeaks for releasing "secret documents', yet the documents reveal some very nasty things that the United States is doing behind closed-doors (such as the secret bombing of Yemen). Shouldn't the citizens of a democratic (well, democratic-republic) country know what its diplomats are doing anyways? Why all the secrecy in the first place? If we have learned anything from our history it is that the more powerful a government, the more disgusting their behavior.

Video: Man EATS Smoke Pipe?! (OutbackZack)

This video is just the darnedest thing ever. Sarah Palin would not approve.

Alan Dershowitz to Mike Huckabee: Go Back to School

Mike Huckabee is so full of fail. He seems very good at dancing around issues and playing with words (like many Christians are).

Atheist David Silverman vs. Fox News Panel (Religion Debate)

What a close-minded panel—Faux "News" never disappoints. The 'You Know It's a Myth' campaign's message needs to get out. I know many "Christians" that are 'in the closet' from their families, and most people in general. These people should not have to hide their non-belief from everyone like there is something wrong with it.

Should Atheists Organize Politically? (Debate: Bill Maher vs Adam Carolla)

Just because people organise does not make them a religion—which is mind-numbingly obviously. Atheists are the most hated minority in the united states. Atheists often get attacked openly, with no negative consequences. I suppose it was the same situation for the gays not too long ago. Is being gay a religion? Well, gay people organize to get what they want legislatively, why can't atheists?

Is National Prayer Day Constitutional?

Poor Bill O'Reilly is too close-minded to see the purpose in having a separation of church and state. Why does it matter to him if there is a National Prayer Day? He is free to pray any day he wants, why does his government need to make a praying holiday? The National Day Of Prayer is obviously referring to Christianity—what if we were to have a National Worship Allah Day? Regardless of what anyone says, The National Day of Prayer was not thought up with Muslims in mind. It shouldn't be only atheists that want the separation of church and state, even though it seems as if that is the case. It's as if the religious do not understand what the alternative is.

Atheist Christopher Hitchens on National Day of Prayer as being unconstitutional. (CNN Debate)

'arrogance" and "ignorance"?

What a tool. Some of the founding fathers had slaves as well. It's strange how people worship the founding like they are Gods, or at least super-human. The founding fathers were people, and their opinions were no more right than the people that live today. The founding fathers can be wrong, and they were wrong about many things (which is why we have many amendments to the constitution). The one idea of theirs that was good was secularism. It doesn't matter if the founding fathers were religious or not, the government they created was not.

Jesus on Adultery and Masturbation: Matthew 5:27-30

You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'. But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell. -Matthew 5:27-30

People that "desire to possess" those that are already committed to a relationship are immoral, for obvious reasons. These verses here are not obeyed that well by Christians. Jesus isn't speaking in metaphor here, yet I see so many Christians with two eyes and hands. This seems to be a problem for those that claim to follow the word of Jesus.

When Jesus refers to the 'right hand', he is obviously referring to wanking. In my opinion, if someone wants to shoot out a few knuckle babies during their spare time, more power to them. However, for those Christians out there, that claim to follow the word of Jesus....that's a different story.

Anyways, moving on....

Committing 'adultery of the heart' should be frowned upon more in our society (it would lead to less cheating, thus less divorce). If married people would stop looking at others with lust, they would be happier with the person they are with. I think Jesus takes it a bit far with the eye gouging, but sometimes this sort of language is needed to persuade the mentally weak/stupid. Jesus (or those that wrote of him) were trying to form moral teachings with 'the ends justify the means' mentality; were they right in doing so? Depends on what your values are in life, and how you desire a society to behave.

Hallelujah Music Video (Christmas Sucks)

Good ol' Christmas is a coming! Or shall I say: "winter solstice". Even though the holidays are all about commercialism—it is what makes this time of year more special than others. The holidays are fun because of the gift-giving, not the other way around.

This video was made by Edward Current, a YouTube atheist that makes satirical videos typically about religion. Check out his channel/subscribe 

Ad On Buses: "Good Without God"

Anyone that can't be good without "God" are not truly good. Just like when a bad kid is good around Christmas because "Santa is watching" is not truly a good kid at heart either. Atheists are the only group of people that can be known to be 100% genuine in their actions. It is impossible to know whether a Christian is good because of genuinity or if because "God is watching".

CNN - Battle of Christmas Billboards (Christianity vs Atheism)

Do atheists believe everything came from nothing?

Faith in God = Sanity in Numbers + Time

The title of this blog post speaks volume for the point I'm looking to make. And it is true that the more whom believe in a superstitious idea, the more sane the idea appears to be. This point seems obvious to atheists...well, most atheists. But the religious obviously do not view faith as being insane subjectively or objectively; in fact such people view faith as an ideal. In following paragraph, I lay out a new religion called Gnomeanity, then compare it with Christianity (any similar religion works however).

Gnomeans believe that the universe was built by gnome engineers. These gnomes are tiny (only about 3 and 1/2 ft tall). These little people, while using their invisibility cloaks, and incredible technology constantly maintain their creation. Gnomes created the universe for their own entertainment. Inside of every person is a miniature camera so small that even our most powerful microscopes can't detect it.

Of course, all of this divine knowledge is available to us via the prophet Iamaschizophrenic. Iamaschizophrenic is a very unique person, he is able to see the cloaked-gnomes! He claims that it was the gnomes that gave him this special power. Iamaschizophrenic claims that the gnomes speak with him through a radio they implanted deep inside of his ear; the gnomes often talk with him with this radio. The gnomes (according to Iamaschizophrenic) talk with Iamaschizophrenic in order to spread the word about their existence. Anyone that doesn't believe Iamaschizophrenic, according to Iamaschizophrenic, will spend an eternity getting raped by silver-back gorillas in "the room with bright lights". Why? Because the gnomes think it is absolutely hilarious. Gnomes are mean little creatures that reward pain with more pain, and skepticism with an eternity in a non-consensual gorilla sex dungeon. In short, gnomes are just looking to screw with their creation for their own entertainment. But it's not all bad, the good humans that follow the word of Iamaschizophrenic will get to spend an eternity living among the gnomes. While living with the gnomes, humans will continue to be victimized...but, at least they aren't with that horny gorilla like the fools that didn't believe.  

If an individual believed in my fictitious religion ("fictitious religion", sounds redundant, I know...), they would be viewed as being completely f**king insane (as they should be). But if billions of people believed in Gnomeanity, it would not be considered insane, but the norm. The point here is, there is sanity (to a point) in numbers. If someone was raised from birth to believe in these ideas, they may not necessarily be as insane as someone who comes to such a world-view by themselves. Anyone raised as a child around such ideas would accept them as unquestionable truth, regardless of how strange the ideas appear to be to atheists. Gnomeanity only appears to be strange only because...

1). Hasn't been around for 1,000s of years
2). No one believes it (I hope)

Sadly, Christianity (for example) is even more ridiculous than gnomeanity. Despite both having equal amounts of evidence, gnomeanity has a few things going for it over Christianity. First off, there is no magic, only high intelligence and technology. Magic is not real, yet Christians believe that God created the universe with magic (technology is known to be real, magic is not). Secondly, while science cannot prove or disprove gnomeanity, it at least doesn't contradict it. While on the other hand, there are many scientific claims in the Bible that contradict modern science (disease caused by evil forces, aka: sin). Gnomeans (as told by their prophet) believe that the gnomes created bacteria to screw with people for the enjoyment of all gnome-kind.

Given enough time and people the craziest of ideas can begin to self-perpetuate—perhaps even the crazier the better. There is nothing special about religions like Christianity, if it weren't for them, other crazy ideas would have taken their place (many existed before). Religious ideas are easy to digest and crazy enough to stick in the mind for a lifetime.