October 31, 2009
October 30, 2009
Tom Waits - Gun Street Girl
From what many consider to be his finest album, Rain Dogs, here is Tom to usher in another weekend with Gun Street Girl.
October 29, 2009
October 28, 2009
October 27, 2009
October 26, 2009
Humble thanks!
A humble thank and tip of the fedora to Raine at the blog True Confessions of a Single Mother for mentioning yours truly in her latest post and tossing me a blog award thingy!
Very nice indeed!
There were no given instructions.....so I shall just take the award and revel in it.
Very nice indeed!
There were no given instructions.....so I shall just take the award and revel in it.
Paul Haggis wakes up....
After 35 years as a Scientologist, Oscar winning writer/direct Paul Haggis has quit the church over their apparant stance on gay marriage. This is his letter to the church announcing his resignation. This is a facinating must read as Paul admits to feeling stupid after years of defending accusations against the church that he never really looked into himself.
Nothing like a great story of someone leaving their religion to start off the week....
Good job Paul.
Paul Haggis' Letter to Miscavige Mouthpiece, Tommy Davis
Tommy,
As you know, for ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology of San Diego. Their public sponsorship of Proposition 8, a hate-filled legislation that succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of California – rights that were granted them by the Supreme Court of our state – shames us.
I called and wrote and implored you, as the official spokesman of the church, to condemn their actions. I told you I could not, in good conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was tolerated.
In that first conversation, back at the end of October of last year, you told me you were horrified, that you would get to the bottom of it and “heads would roll.” You promised action. Ten months passed. No action was forthcoming. The best you offered was a weak and carefully worded press release, which praised the church’s human rights record and took no responsibility. Even that, you decided not to publish.
Full letter here....
Nothing like a great story of someone leaving their religion to start off the week....
Good job Paul.
Paul Haggis' Letter to Miscavige Mouthpiece, Tommy Davis
Tommy,
As you know, for ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology of San Diego. Their public sponsorship of Proposition 8, a hate-filled legislation that succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of California – rights that were granted them by the Supreme Court of our state – shames us.
I called and wrote and implored you, as the official spokesman of the church, to condemn their actions. I told you I could not, in good conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was tolerated.
In that first conversation, back at the end of October of last year, you told me you were horrified, that you would get to the bottom of it and “heads would roll.” You promised action. Ten months passed. No action was forthcoming. The best you offered was a weak and carefully worded press release, which praised the church’s human rights record and took no responsibility. Even that, you decided not to publish.
Full letter here....
October 24, 2009
Calvin stirs them up....
Calvin of Calvin's Canadian Cave of Coolness blog stirred up the Christians in a couple of recent posts. Believers and some non-believers came out swinging and bitching about the picture.
Check out the posts HERE and HERE.
Ahhhh.....the power of blasphemy. Always gets the tempers flared and the voices shouting.
Check out the posts HERE and HERE.
Ahhhh.....the power of blasphemy. Always gets the tempers flared and the voices shouting.
Time to convert!!
Christians, Hindus, Pagans, and Scientologists.....it's time to line up and start converting to Islam. The question of which invisible best friend in the sky is in control has been answered. Allah is apparently using a newborn BABY to prove he is The One.
Sure, the crosses, wine, saints, incense, and stale crackers have been fun. But it's time to brush up on your Islam, find out which direction Mecca is in, and fall down on the prayer rug.
All jokes aside......this story is actually completely and totally repulsive. It is CLEARLY a story about the evidence of some TRULY sick abuse of an infant. The parents should immediately be arrested and charged. Sickening.
MUSLIMS FLOCK TO SEE MIRACLE BABY
Sure, the crosses, wine, saints, incense, and stale crackers have been fun. But it's time to brush up on your Islam, find out which direction Mecca is in, and fall down on the prayer rug.
All jokes aside......this story is actually completely and totally repulsive. It is CLEARLY a story about the evidence of some TRULY sick abuse of an infant. The parents should immediately be arrested and charged. Sickening.
MUSLIMS FLOCK TO SEE MIRACLE BABY
KIZLYAR, Russia – A “miracle” baby has brought a kind of mystical hope to people in Russia’s mostly Muslim southern fringe who are increasingly desperate in the face of Islamist violence.
From hunchbacked grandmas to schoolboys, hundreds of pilgrims lined up this week in blazing sunshine to get a glimpse of 9-month-old baby Ali Yakubov, on whose body they say verses from the Koran appear and fade every few days.
Pinkish in color and several centimeters high, the Koranic verse “Be thankful or grateful to Allah” was printed on the infant’s right leg in clearly legible Arabic script this week, religious leaders said. Visiting foreign journalists later saw a single letter after the rest had vanished.
October 23, 2009
Tom Waits - Misery is the River of the World
Tom for your Friday.
Hope your weekend is a good one.
If not, then this will serve as a fine soundtrack.
"Everybody row...."
October 22, 2009
Sam Harris
"In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs." — Sam Harris
October 21, 2009
October 20, 2009
Jackass quote of the week....
"There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves. By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation’s pennies and trying to preserve our country’s wealth and our economy’s viability to give all an opportunity to succeed." - − Edwin O. Merwin Jr., Chairman, Bamberg County Republican Party, Denmark and James S. Ulmer Jr., Chairman, Orangeburg County Republican Party, North 10/18/09
This following countless "tea bagging" rallys and angry Republican parades and speeches that prominantly feature swastikas and references to Hitler.
You stay classy G.O.P.
This following countless "tea bagging" rallys and angry Republican parades and speeches that prominantly feature swastikas and references to Hitler.
You stay classy G.O.P.
October 19, 2009
October 18, 2009
Dumbass of the month....
Wow.
This genius was interviewed about a violent attack on an openly gay man. He goes on to show off his tattoo of a passage from the Bible....
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. - Leviticus 18:22
Of course....if you KEEP READING the bible and don't just pick your quotes when they suit your insanity, you stumble across this in the very next chapter....
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. - Leviticus 19:28
The sad thing is that this is, in my observations, a typical display of biblical awareness from a Christian.
h/t to The Friendly Atheist
This genius was interviewed about a violent attack on an openly gay man. He goes on to show off his tattoo of a passage from the Bible....
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. - Leviticus 18:22
Of course....if you KEEP READING the bible and don't just pick your quotes when they suit your insanity, you stumble across this in the very next chapter....
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. - Leviticus 19:28
The sad thing is that this is, in my observations, a typical display of biblical awareness from a Christian.
h/t to The Friendly Atheist
_2264130.jpg)
October 16, 2009
Tom Waits - Step Right Up
Friday. Step Right Up. Clearance. Act Now.
Comes in all colors, one size fits all.
Comes in all colors, one size fits all.
October 15, 2009
Interracial couple denied marriage license in LA.
What year is this again?
What country am I living in?Ugly stuff indeed. Funny how the same religious backwards folks who fought interracial marriage for YEARS are the same folks fighting gay marriage now. Using the same book, the same hatred, and the same superstitious thinking.
Fuck em.
Interracial couple denied marriage license in La.
"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."
Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.
Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.
"There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."
If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.
"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.
Bible Burning !
Nothing more entertaining than Christians burning Bibles.....Do these people even know that King James ordered that his translation of the Bible would be purposely skewed to the ecclesiology and structure of the Church of England ?
October 14, 2009
Bible passage of the week......let there be blood.
If only priests still conducted the blood atonement ordered by god.....would make for some interesting Sunday mornings to say the least. Interesting how god considers childbirth to make the mother so immediately unclean that animal sacrafice is required. Ugh.
Leviticus 12:1-8
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.
And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.
But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.
And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:
Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.
And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
October 12, 2009
October 09, 2009
God kills another kid...
God was probably too busy helping Republicans make sure that gays don't have equal rights. Or maybe he was on the phone with the pope giving him advice on how to cover up raping kids. Or it could just be that he doesn't have much of a problem with watching an innocent child die. Why would he have a problem with it.....he certainly murdered enough of them his own self (Exodus 12:12)
Prosecutors believe 2-year-old Kent Schaible succumbed because his parents chose prayer over modern medicine.
But defense lawyers — perhaps mindful of Pennsylvania's strict parental-duty laws — deny the case hinges on religious freedom. They say Herbert and Catherine Schaible did not know their son was dying.
"We're talking about symptoms that mirrored the flu and the common cold," said public defender Francis Carmen, who represents the mother. "The Commonwealth is dragging this (issue) into the courtroom, to persecute them for their minority religious beliefs."
Police later asked why they didn't call a doctor. "They both pretty much said, 'We believe in God for healing. We don't take it ourselves, either,'" Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said Thursday. She believes the child suffered.
PHILADELPHIA – A fundamentalist couple who prayed over their sick toddler rather than get medical help before his pneumonia death have been ordered to stand trial on manslaughter charges.
Prosecutors believe 2-year-old Kent Schaible succumbed because his parents chose prayer over modern medicine.
But defense lawyers — perhaps mindful of Pennsylvania's strict parental-duty laws — deny the case hinges on religious freedom. They say Herbert and Catherine Schaible did not know their son was dying.
"We're talking about symptoms that mirrored the flu and the common cold," said public defender Francis Carmen, who represents the mother. "The Commonwealth is dragging this (issue) into the courtroom, to persecute them for their minority religious beliefs."
....A day or two before he died, they thought he was improving, as he slept better and ate and drank some. But when his condition worsened, they called their pastor and then a funeral home.
Police later asked why they didn't call a doctor. "They both pretty much said, 'We believe in God for healing. We don't take it ourselves, either,'" Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said Thursday. She believes the child suffered.
Tom Waits - Downtown Train (Live 1986)
Tom for your Friday......taking a ride on the downtown train. Yes, this is Tom's song. Made popular on top 40 radio a few years later by Rod Stewart...
October 08, 2009
Einstein
The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. ... For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstition. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong ... have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything “chosen” about them. - Albert Einstein (from a letter recently sold at auction for £170,000).
Jackass story of the week....
The story here isn't really saying much.....just that there are atheists in high schools. Wow. It's the running commentary from Cardinal Francis George that really makes the head spin. What a complete and utter boob.
The cardinal, who is President of the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference, says that unbelief among young people is more than a question of stopping going to church: it is part of a fashionable “new atheism” which is every bit as intolerant as Christian fundamentalism.
The Cardinal agreed with Allen’s suggestion that that the atheism of Dawkins and Harris was “highly evangelical”:
“Yes it is, sure. Everybody has said that, and it’s true. It’s the mirror image of a kind of fundamentalism, because it’s very restrictive in its use of reason. It’s also very triumphalistic and self-righteous.”
The Cardinal’s comments will be hard to dismiss as scaremongering. YouTube is crawling with videos by articulate, friendly American teenagers and university students proclaiming their uncompromising atheism; indeed, atheism is one of the fastest-growing movements in the 18-25 age group, casting doubt on old assumptions that the religious impulse is somehow hard-wired into the American psyche.
Yet, as Cardinal George says, there is something strongly akin to religious fundamentalism in the evangelical commitment it arouses in its adherents. He, and the whole of the American Church, must be praying that the certainty of unbelief wears off as the “new atheists” have children and face the prospect of mortality. But, as statistics from Europe indicate, this not a foregone conclusion: atheism, like any other belief system, can be passed from one generation to the next.
Atheist clubs are springing up in American high schools, warns head of US Catholic bishops by Damian Thompson
A “triumphalistic, self-righteous atheism” inspired by the work of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris is winning a following among American young people, leading to “atheist clubs” in high schools, according to Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.
The cardinal, who is President of the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference, says that unbelief among young people is more than a question of stopping going to church: it is part of a fashionable “new atheism” which is every bit as intolerant as Christian fundamentalism.
He told John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter:
“In Chicago, we now have atheist clubs in high schools. We didn’t have those five years ago. Kids I would have confirmed in the eighth grade, by the time they’re sophomores in high school say they’re atheists. They don’t just stop going to church, they make a statement. I think that’s new. That’s perhaps a bit more like Europe.”
“In Chicago, we now have atheist clubs in high schools. We didn’t have those five years ago. Kids I would have confirmed in the eighth grade, by the time they’re sophomores in high school say they’re atheists. They don’t just stop going to church, they make a statement. I think that’s new. That’s perhaps a bit more like Europe.”
The Cardinal agreed with Allen’s suggestion that that the atheism of Dawkins and Harris was “highly evangelical”:
“Yes it is, sure. Everybody has said that, and it’s true. It’s the mirror image of a kind of fundamentalism, because it’s very restrictive in its use of reason. It’s also very triumphalistic and self-righteous.”
The Cardinal’s comments will be hard to dismiss as scaremongering. YouTube is crawling with videos by articulate, friendly American teenagers and university students proclaiming their uncompromising atheism; indeed, atheism is one of the fastest-growing movements in the 18-25 age group, casting doubt on old assumptions that the religious impulse is somehow hard-wired into the American psyche.
Yet, as Cardinal George says, there is something strongly akin to religious fundamentalism in the evangelical commitment it arouses in its adherents. He, and the whole of the American Church, must be praying that the certainty of unbelief wears off as the “new atheists” have children and face the prospect of mortality. But, as statistics from Europe indicate, this not a foregone conclusion: atheism, like any other belief system, can be passed from one generation to the next.
~
A few points here...
The Cardinal is either being intellectually dishonest, or he's just stupid. Calling atheism "restrictive in it's use of reason" would be like called the ocean "extremely dry". Atheism, the scientific method, and reason are as intertwined as that dopey trinity he is so enthralled with.
Calling atheism as intolerant as fundamental Christianity is about as dopey as it gets as well. Last I checked it wasn't atheists who were against gay rights, think that women are inferior to men, were against birth control, and on and on and on. Atheism is not a set of beliefs. There is no dogma to follow.
He also comes up with this knee slapper "It’s (atheism) also very triumphalistic and self-righteous.” Excuse me? Did a Cardinal just say that atheists are self righteous? Excuse me while I take some time to pick my jaw up from my lap. WTF?
October 06, 2009
October 05, 2009
Death of a tissue box....
Frances, at Alphaville headquarters, makes swift work of perfectly good box of tissues.....
October 03, 2009
October 02, 2009
West-by-god-Virginia
This billboard recently went up in Morgantown, West Virginia (of all places).....
With all the troubles some secular groups have been having getting these billboards up in other states, I was surprised to find that they succeeded (so far) in West Virginia.....which is not exactly a bastion of free thought.
Morgantown is only about 90 minuets or so from Alphaville headquarters, so I wanted to give a big tip of the fedora to the folks at the Morgantown Coalition of Reason! Good show!
With all the troubles some secular groups have been having getting these billboards up in other states, I was surprised to find that they succeeded (so far) in West Virginia.....which is not exactly a bastion of free thought.
Morgantown is only about 90 minuets or so from Alphaville headquarters, so I wanted to give a big tip of the fedora to the folks at the Morgantown Coalition of Reason! Good show!
October 01, 2009
Friday Waits
Friday is finally putting the stake in the heart of this long winded week.
Tom Waits welcomes in Friday once again with a tune from his 1973 debut album Closing Time.
Tom Waits welcomes in Friday once again with a tune from his 1973 debut album Closing Time.
Rotten
Roman Catholic Bishop Raymond Lahey, best known for brokering a $15 million dollar settlement between his diocese and victims of rape at the hands of priests, is a wanted man.
Wanted for what exactly?
Hold on for a huge shock......
BISHOP WANTED ON CHILD PORN CHARGES
Ottawa police have issued an arrest warrant for a Roman Catholic bishop from Nova Scotia facing child pornography charges.
Raymond Lahey, a native of Newfoundland who was with the Antigonish diocese until his sudden resignation on Saturday, currently can't be found, Ottawa police Const. Jean-Paul Vincelette said Wednesday.
Lahey was re-entering Canada at the Ottawa International Airport on Sept. 15 when members of the Canada Border Services Agency pulled him aside for a secondary examination, according to a release from Ottawa police. Officers found images on Lahey's laptop computer "that were of concern."
He was released at the time. The computer was seized and police said a subsequent forensic examination of the computer revealed child pornography.
Full story here...
The amount of extremely troubling behavior by those in authority in the Catholic Church is insanely troubling. There is something very rotten at the core of this organization.
Wanted for what exactly?
Hold on for a huge shock......
BISHOP WANTED ON CHILD PORN CHARGES
Ottawa police have issued an arrest warrant for a Roman Catholic bishop from Nova Scotia facing child pornography charges.
Raymond Lahey, a native of Newfoundland who was with the Antigonish diocese until his sudden resignation on Saturday, currently can't be found, Ottawa police Const. Jean-Paul Vincelette said Wednesday.
Lahey was re-entering Canada at the Ottawa International Airport on Sept. 15 when members of the Canada Border Services Agency pulled him aside for a secondary examination, according to a release from Ottawa police. Officers found images on Lahey's laptop computer "that were of concern."
He was released at the time. The computer was seized and police said a subsequent forensic examination of the computer revealed child pornography.
Full story here...
The amount of extremely troubling behavior by those in authority in the Catholic Church is insanely troubling. There is something very rotten at the core of this organization.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)