News From Around The Blogosphere 9.30.09

Happy Blasphemy Day, everybody!!

1. “Psychic” arrested for lying – Self-proclaimed “psychic” Janet Lee claimed she was attacked by a herd of wild psychics. No, I’m serious:

However, the self-proclaimed “foremost psychic in New England” was arrested by Greenwich police over the weekend after detectives said she lied about being attacked in town by rival psychics over the summer.

I think the lesson here is that having the ability to see the future would manage to keep you out of danger by always keeping you one step ahead of your enemies. But magical powers in the world can prevent imaginary attacks.

2. Cheerleaders banned from promoting religion to audiences –

Community members are rallying around Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School cheerleaders after they were banned from displaying signs with Bible verses urging fans and players to “commit to the Lord” and “take courage and do it.”

. . .

“The cheerleaders are not trying to push a religious cause, to shove religion down someone’s throat,” said local youth minister Brad Scott, who was LFO High’s class president in 2004. “The cheerleaders are just using Scripture to show motivation and inspiration to the players and the fans.”

Yeah, I’m sure next week they were planning on using passages in the Koran to show motivation and inspiration to the players and the fans. The week after than, they had a whole section of the Bhagavad Gita lined up. Ugh!

3. Chicago Tribune Columnist Julia Keller attacked for supporting Banned Book Week – And what kind of fascist monsters would be against Banned Book Week? None other than our old friends at bigoted Illinois Family Institute. I wrote about them before, particularly the head of their coven, Laurie Higgins as part of my “Laurie Higgins is a crazy bitch” series here, here, and here. I guess I can dub this “Laurie Higgins is a crazy bitch 4.” The details of this particular case can be found in the link above.

4. Massimo Pigliucci takes on Libertarianism – Last week, I linked to Massimo’s balanced criticisms of Penn & Teller. Part of that touched on their Libertarianism. Now Massimo has done a superb job of explaining the problems of Libertarianism. Definitely worth the read.

5. Atheist billboard hitting Morgantown, West Virginia – It’s the traditional “Don’t Believe In God? You Are Not Alone” slogan. Still among my favorites.

Glenn Beck exploits tragedy to attack atheism

I don’t think it’s a secret that I don’t care much for Glenn Beck. In fact, he’s high up on my list of people who, despite my being a non-violent person, I will punch in the face if ever in my presence. The man just sells fear. And though for a while I wasn’t entirely sure whether he was certifiably insane or just a charlatan performing a schtick, I more recently have come down more on the latter, which is infinitely worse.

Well after already accusing Barack Obama of being a racist, now Beck has sunk to a new low, arbitrarily blaming atheism for a gang killing:

Some atheists are responding on YouTube:

Others like myself have written the show with our complaints and contacted the show’s sponsors threatening to boycott their products. Which companies are sponsoring Beck’s show, you ask?

www.oreck.com
www.smartforlife.com
www.jewelryexchange.com
www.speedtv.com
www.FreeScore.com (Yes, that FreeScore.com that I’ve blogged about before)
www…ExtenZeForLife…com
www.inogen.net
www…jupiterjack.com
www…rosettastone…com
www…akinmears.com
Egg Genie (203) 567-1139

Don’t let people like Beck get away with such slander. Fight back. Hit them where it hurts. . .their sponsors.

News From Around The Blogosphere 9.29.09

1. Egypt out to stop fake virgins –

A leading Egyptian scholar has demanded that people caught importing a female virginity-faking device into the country should face the death penalty.

That just says it all, doesn’t it?

2. R. Crumb’s Bible to be released soon – A while back, I blogged about subversive Cartoonist R. Crumb’s plans to release his own take on the Bible. Well now it’s about to be released:

“I grew to hate the Bible,” he told a press conference for the international launch of “Robert Crumb’s Book of Genesis”, which he called a “gruelling” four year project.

. . .

“The idea of millions of people taking this so seriously is totally nuts,” he added. “The Bible doesn’t need to be satirised. It’s already so crazy.”

3. SGU makes you smarter – My favorite podcast, the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe, has been named among the 15 podcasts that will make you smarter, according to College Crunch website. Congrats guys!

4. Atheist bus ad goes up in Saskatchewan, Canada – It uses the “Don’t Believe In God? You Are Not Alone” slogan but looks a bit different from the one we’ve all gotten used to.

Coral Ridge Ministries vs. Ben & Jerry’s

We all know that the Religious Right no likey the same sex marriage or even the gay sex (or at least not publicly. I’m looking at you Ted Haggard!). But now they’re extending their disdain for same-sex ice cream.

Ben & Jerry’s, liberal hippies that they are, had not long ago announced their re-release of their Chubby Hubby ice cream flavor under the name, Hubby Hubby in honor of gay marriage.

Well, apparently Coral Ridge Ministries objects to ice cream on ice cream action:

I always find it hilarious that these nuts make such a big deal about gay marriage but find divorce so acceptable despite the fact that according to the Bible, their god hates divorce infinitely more than two dudes doin’ it.

Then they quote clearly biased sources like “Americans for Truth about Homosexuality” and make up flat-out lies to justify their hypocrisy such as “the health risks of homosexual behavior.” Like what, John Rabe? AIDS? What decade are you living in?

Ya gotta love this line though:

“The next time you’re tempted to surcome to the temptations of Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia, know that part of your money will go to some patently unholy causes.”

Mmm, unholy causes.

I think I’ll make an extra special trip to Ben & Jerry’s tomorrow to get a taste of those delicious, unholy causes. And please take a moment to tell them how much you support Ben & Jerry’s evil gay agenda here.

Also, on a related note, these guys also hate Pepsi for also supporting the evil gay agenda, so show them some love too. After all, be honest. The product tastes so much better knowing how much it pisses off bigoted assholes like this.

This Week In God 9.28.09

1. Charlotte music festival gives proceeds to Richard Dawkins Foundation –

This year Charlotte Pop Fest will celebrate the life of Charles Darwin and all proceeds from the event will benefit the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science. The year 2009 is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book The Origin of Species.

According to the organizer, the reason was to raise awareness for science education, which he said was, “really important.” But of course there are some who don’t think science education is important, such as one of the event’s sponsors, who pulled out. The result was that some of the bands had to be canceled.

2. Crusty old Bill Donohue thinks everything’s about him – Donohue, everyone’s favorite defender of child rapists, has learned of the Center For Inquiry’s coming Blasphemy Day (Sept. 30), a yearly event started in 2005 on the anniversary of the publication of the infamous Danish cartoons. And if you’re Bill Donohue, this information can only point to one possibly conclusion: this is all about discriminating against Christians. No, clearly nothing about this celebration has anything to do with any other religions, least of all Islam. Nope. Just Christians. That’s why we named it Anti-Christian Day. Oh, wait. No we didn’t.

3. God vs. Madonna. . .no, the other Madonna – A Bulgarian pastor has blamed a boating tragedy that killed 15 people on a Madonna concert because “God” was apparently pissed off at people for attending the concert. Pfft, everyone knows God always preferred Cindy Lauper.

Nikolay stressed that the day of the Madonna concert, August 29, had coincided with a holy day commemorating the beheading of John the Baptist, and therefore was not a day for enjoyment.

Well, that’s all the evidence I need. Can’t argue with that bulletproof logic. Though I’d be incredibly immused if Madonna fired back by saying that those 15 people would have been spared if they’d only worn their Kabbalah bracelets and didn’t follow that false prophet, Jesus.

Anti-vaccinationists quote-mine the NY Times

One of my reality-deprived Myspace friends just sent out a bulletin they’d reposted that already had several degrees of separation from the original poster. That bulletin was concerning the most recent news concerning flu shots:

—————– Bulletin Message —————–

From: byronsabird (94750170)

Date: 9/28/2009 10:30:45 PM

Subject: NY Times Says Some People Who Take The Vax WILL DROP DEAD!

-..-..-..————– Bulletin Message -..-..-..————–
From: Margaret (294247991)
To: (94750170)
Date: 9/28/2009 9:00:02 PM
Subject: NY Times Says Some People Who Take The Vax WILL DROP DEAD!

-……..-……..-……..————– Bulletin Message -……..-……..—————

From: Guy (160998170)

To: (294247991)

Date: 9/28/2009 7:45:16 PM

Subject: NY Times Says Some People Who Take The Vax WILL DROP DEAD!

THE VAX! OH THE HOLY VAX! THE VAX IT FREAKIN POISON THAT MAKES SOME BIG MONEY MEN BIGGER MONEY!! THAT IS THE FACT JACK!! WHY ARE THEY SAYING WE SHOULD NOT BLAME THE VAX WHEN IT IS UNTESTED AND MADE WITH KNOWN CARCINOGENS??

Oh no! That sounds scary!!

Cue the dramatic prairie dog:

Apparently though, none of the posters of this bulletin or the originator of it bothered to actually read the article. . .or you know, the very next sentence:

As soon as swine flu vaccinations start next month, some people getting them will drop dead of heart attacks or strokes, some children will have seizures and some pregnant women will miscarry.

But those events will not necessarily have anything to do with the vaccine. (NY Times – “Don’t Blame Flu Shots for All Ills, Officials Say”)

EPIC FAIL!

This Is What An Atheist Looks Like 9.27.09

1. While promoting his new film, The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais discussed religion and his atheism. In the film, Gervais’ character invents religion soon after inventing lying in the alternate world of the film:

“We decided that in this world, that’s how religion started. It’s an alternative world. It’s in no way atheist propaganda. I love films about angels and things like that and I wouldn’t go, ‘Oh, they’re coming down on one side here.’ Like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ I don’t leave the cinema with my faith or lack of it challenged. I don’t think people should take this as anything other than an artistic choice.”

Jennifer Garner also chimed in about the film’s “controversial” take on religion:

The ever-earnest [Jennifer] Garner embraces the prospect of controversy. “Isn’t it great if [the film] does start a conversation? Religion is something worth examining and your faith is something worth questioning. So I think if this movie asks that of people, that’s not a bad thing.”

Gervais prods Garner for her own belief system. “Yes, I do believe in God,” she confirms. “Thank you for making that clear.”

There’s more in the link above and Gervais’ past appearance on Inside the Actors Studio where he also discusses his atheism can be seen here (with transcript).

2. Jazz Bassist Ben Allison outs himself in his new album, Think Free. And I freakin’ love his explanation:

This is my “coming out” album. I’ve been living with a secret for quite a while. It’s something that most of my friends know about me but I’ve never divulged it in public. Although at least 10 percent of the U.S. population openly admits to being part of this group, there is tremendous pressure not to be vocal about it. And it’s a political third rail. You will almost never hear a politician admit to being one. But I’m tired of dodging the issue and feel I do a disservice to all of those who are not afraid to be outspoken about who they are. It’s time to stand and be counted. The truth is that I’m an … atheist. There, I said it. I guess I’ve known that I was one since I was a little kid. I experimented with theism in high school. Who didn’t? But I’d have to get drunk and kind of force myself. And I’d always feel “wrong” afterwards. And then I’d feel guilty for feeling “wrong.” It was a dysfunctional way to live. Then I moved to Greenwich Village. And all around me were these other atheists. Just doing their thing. It all felt very natural. And I’ve never looked back. Wait, what was the question again?

Mark Edward & THE TRUTH! Movie

Crusades in Washington

About 3,000 Muslims descended upon Washington D.C. on Friday to pray in front of the Capitol.

Earlier, Malik said, “This is not a protest, it is a day of prayer, of devotion, hoping that we can work … for the betterment of the world community.”

He added, “We can come together and work together for the common good.”

This is a few weeks after the Christian “9/12” gathering in Washington. Both groups have a constitutional right to peacefully assemble, and each were just getting together for, at least in their minds, the betterment of mankind. And they were weeks apart, so what could go wrong?

Well, the Christians can’t learn to share. So they showed up on the same day as the Muslims to protest Islam. Hey, I’m all for protesting Islam. It’s a hideous and repulsive ideology. But I don’t like it when large bodies of Christians and large bodies of Muslims are all together in one place while at least one of them is being particularly hostile to the other. That usually doesn’t end well. Fortunately, no violence broke out. But it is interesting to hear the Christians justify their protest:

“It is important for Christians to understand that Friday’s Muslim prayer initiative is part of a well-defined strategy to Islamize American society and replace the Bible with the Koran, the cross with the Islamic crescent and the church bells with the Athan [the Muslim call to prayer],” the Rev. Canon Julian Dobbs, leader of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America’s Church and Islam Project, said in a written statement.

There’s a really simple solution there. Just keep all religious out of government affairs and you won’t have to worry about whether or not Islam becomes the dominent religion in the country. Then everybody wins!

But noooo! We’ve got assclowns like Newt Gingrich who have to cling to the notion that America is a “Christian Nation.”

Dr. Bill Maher’s tweeted medical advice

Dr. Maher knows what he’s talking about. He’s an awesome proctologist. He just has a special way of pulling things out of the rectum.

This info. comes courtesy of my old friends at Age of Autism. Though what this has to do with autism, I’m not quite sure, since Age of Autism constantly talks about how not anti-vaccine they are.