First, read this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598
Japan’s most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami.
Category Archives: Social studies
Insulting and Libeling Unbelievers
Behold the arrogance of this Christian writer, Dr. Hugh Ross:
http://www.reasons.org/philosophyreligion/atheism/barriers-salvation
Rachel Maddow vs Politifact
Image via Wikipedia
As an Honorable Skeptic, I never assume that anyone or anything is infallible, not individuals like Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow nor websites like Politifact. So when there is an actual conflict between them, one must look at the actual facts to judge who or what is right. Facts, not ideology. FACTS, not personal preferences.
Look at this claim:
“Despite what you may have heard about Wisconsin’s finances, the state is on track to have a budget surplus this year.”
Rachel Maddow on Thursday, February 17th, 2011 in a segment on her television talk show
Here’s the bottom line:
There is fierce debate over the approach Walker took to address the short-term budget deficit. But there should be no debate on whether or not there is a shortfall. While not historically large, the shortfall in the current budget needed to be addressed in some fashion. Walker’s tax cuts will boost the size of the projected deficit in the next budget, but they’re not part of this problem and did not create it.
We rate Maddow’s take False.
The quote attributed to Maddow is indeed hers. But it was taken out of context.
My Resignation from the Baha’i Faith
In the summer and fall of 2004, I gradually came to the conviction that the Baha’i Faith was no longer worthy of my allegiance. Realizing that I had to remove myself from that community outright as a matter of honor, I wrote the following letter:
To the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States,
After years of investigation and soul-searching, I have finally come to the sad understanding that I can no longer bring myself to believe in Baha’u’llah or any of the institutions established in His name, including the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. I am totally convinced that the Baha’i Faith is doomed to fail in its mission to bring peace, unity, and a Golden Age to humanity and I therefore resign from my past membership in the Faith. Goodbye.
Regretfully,
Dale Husband
We MUST reduce American military spending!
Imagine my absolute shock when I saw this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures
The United States spends over six times more on its military than China, which is the second largest military spender.
Meanwhile:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_US
Scroll down to the chart titled Leading Foreign Holders of US Treasury Securities (November 2010). See which country holds more of our debt than any other? CHINA!
Why the hell are we spending so much on our military instead of paying down our debt??? This is a clear case of us doing something we don’t need to do, which actually puts us in greater danger. If China decides to force us to pay most of our debt immediately to it, all of our overbuilt military won’t amount to much. Our independence will be threatened anyway, due to the vast economic ties we have to China.
Which is why we should have listened to President Eisenhower, himself an army general and war hero, who warned us about the “military/industrial complex” before leaving office.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower%27s_farewell_address
Eisenhower was, in my opinion, the last honorable Republican to hold the Presidency. All the others who came after him were IDIOTS AND HYPOCRITES!!!
Egyptians should be wary of the Muslim Brotherhood
Look at this article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110131/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_protest
Egyptian reform leader calls for Mubarak to resign
CAIRO – Egypt’s most prominent democracy advocate took up a bullhorn Sunday and called for President Hosni Mubarak to resign, speaking to thousands of protesters who defied a curfew for a third night. Fighter jets streaked low overhead and police returned to the capital’s streets — high-profile displays of authority over a situation spiraling out of control.
Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei’s appearance in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square underscored the jockeying for leadership of the mass protest movement that erupted seemingly out of nowhere in the past week to shake the Arab world’s most populous nation.
<snip>
Asked if Washington supports Mubarak as Egypt’s leader, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton avoided a direct answer, telling Fox News: “We have been very clear that we want to see a transition to democracy, and we want to see the kind of steps taken that will bring that about.”
<snip>
The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which wants to establish an Islamist state in Egypt, has made some statements that it was willing to let ElBaradei act as point man for the movement. But it also appeared to be moving for a more prominent role after lying low when the protests first erupted.
On Sunday evening, the presence of overtly pious Muslims in the square was conspicuous, suggesting a significant Brotherhood representation. Hundreds performed the sunset prayers. Veiled women prayed separately.
A senior Brotherhood leader, Essam el-Erian, told The Associated Press he was heading to Tahrir Square to meet with other opposition leaders. El-Erian told an Egyptian TV station that the Brotherhood is ready to contact the army for a dialogue, calling the military “the protector of the nation.”
Clinton suggested there were U.S. concerns over the possibility of the Brotherhood seizing direction of the movement. She warned against a takeover resembling the one in Iran, with a “small group that doesn’t represent the full diversity of Egyptian society” seizing control and imposing its ideological beliefs.
Indeed, if the Muslim Brotherhood does seize control of Egypt, it could easily become just as destructive to Egypt as the Taliban was to Afghanistan before it was overthrown in 2001.
The protesters should be supporting freedom, justice and peace. Any ideology that is based on religious bigotry is the antithesis of these ideals. The people of Iran replaced one tyrant, the Shah, with another, the Ayatollah Khomeini, in 1979, and now Iran’s government is a fraud, supported by rigged and phony elections.
We must also remember that Mubarak’s predecessor, Anwar El Sadat, was assassinated by army members opposed to peace with Israel. Most likely they were similar to the Muslim Brotherhood members in their political views.
I don’t care if one chooses to follow Islam as a personal religion, but I urge Muslims to stop trying to make it the basis of a government!
You win some, you lose some….
Two articles on npr.org are quite telling in their contrast.
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/21/133127294/olbermann-leaves-msnbc-ends-countdown
Jen McCreight and organized religion
Sometimes, I see a fellow blogger make a statement so simple and so brilliant that I have to make a note of it and adopt it for myself. That’s exactly what I saw on the Blag Hag blog, made by Jen McCreight.
http://www.blaghag.com/2011/01/ladies-how-difficult-was-it-leaving.html
Damn the NRA!
As a rule, I oppose gun control; I see nothing wrong with people owning and using guns as a possible defense against home intruders, or even to hunt game animals with. The government should not interfere with that right, because if you disarm the people you make it easier to oppress them and take away more of their rights. Plus, making guns illegal only means that criminals will have them and be a threat to law-abiding citizens as well. No question, therefore, that most attempts at gun control are futile and counterproductive.
But having said all that, I will NEVER join the NRA, because they (or at least some of their leaders) are perverted extremists!
Want proof of that? Just look here:
http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/InTheNews.aspx?ID=14587
We ought to hunt gray wolves
The bubbling pot of pent up anger over wolves in Montana appears likely to spill over some day soon.
Read About It: Great Falls Tribune
Posted: 12/27/2010 8:58:23 AM
Can someone tell me what killing wolves has to do with gun control? No, we should be leaving the wolves alone and indeed introduce them back in areas where they have been exterminated in the past, so they can hunt deer and help keep their numbers in check.
Indeed, one of the stupidest arguments made for hunting deer is “If we don’t hunt them, they will multiply, outgrow their food supply, and starve.” Indeed, but that only happens because there are no wolves to hunt them. Bring the wolves back, and the need for humans to hunt the deer constantly disappears. Oh, and that means I despise Ted Nugent too. Fuck him!
Haitians are no smarter than Americans
It seems that like Americans, who were foolish enough to elect Republicans back into control of the House of Representatives last year after all the incredibly corrupt and stupid things they did from 2001 to 2008 when they were in power, Haitians have a short memory and a willingness to trade away their freedom and ethical standards for both security and prosperity that may be promised them. They have learned nothing from their own history!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110117/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_ex_dictator_returns
Eyewitness testimony shouldn’t convict anyone of rape
Read this story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110104/ap_on_re_us/us_dna_exoneration_texas
Texan declared innocent after 30 years in prison
Keith Olbermann responds to a stupid “tweet”.
aller3 christine espinosa
@KeithOlbermann Tell you idiot friend O’Donnell that we will fight socialism. Nothing in life is free. Social programs have failed dumb dumb
KeithOlbermann Keith Olbermann
@aller3 Kindly send the government the tolls you didn’t pay on all free highways. Also all of your relatives’ social security, Medicare etc
Make of that what you will.
Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and the USA
There is a depressing chain of causality regarding the events that have happened in the Middle East over the past several decades.
Another blow against atheist bigotry
A YouTube non-theist and feminist known as ScouseCaspaXS decided to investigate Islam.
A bitter rant about Ayn Rand
Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr
Ayn Rand was the 20th Century founder of Objectivism, a philosophy based on rejection of theism, extreme individualism and reliance on “reason” to find truth and ethics, which are held to be objective in nature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)
Unfortunately, it has degenerated into a cult, with disasterous consequences.
The Democrats lost, but the Republicans did not win
Yesterday, the Republicans were able to gain seats in both the House and the Senate. Next year they will control the House outright, but their power may not last. The limited patience of the American people may not allow them to do much damage.
Josh Timonen is a sexist @$$hole
When rappers grow wiser and convert
WARNING: NSFW!!!
Attacking homophobia and bullying in the Fort Worth City Council
Having lived in the Fort Worth area all my life, I was never prouder of that than I was when I saw this video on YouTube. For the people of Texas, there is hope for greater enlightenment as long as people like Joel Burns and myself are around!
Such courage may cause him to be voted out of office, but it may also lead to a revolution. Let us keep up the pressure to stop the hate, the violence and the ignorance.
I’ll add this much older voice to Mr Burns’ as well:
Because bigotry is evil no matter where it comes from, and even if religion or social standards support it.
If this video is true……
….then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, along with any sect related to that cult, is totally unworthy of anyone’s respect.
Indeed, I would only expect insane people to ever take such a religion seriously!
What if prostitution were legalized everywhere?
First, see this earlier blog entry:
https://dalehusband.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/phony-feminism-takes-a-beating-on-youtube/
It has occurred to me that if acts of prostitution were legalized for both genders and all sexual orientations, then men and women who are otherwise unemployed could offer their bodies to the sexual services of others who are employed and have plenty of money, get paid for it, and thus never need to engage in harmful and even violent activities, such as bank robbing, and they would not have to go on welfare either. Eventually, the unemployed could find jobs and not need to sell their bodies anymore, though they may still choose to do so.
And it need not involve strangers either. Male and female friends and neighbors could engage in sex with each other in exchange for money, as a means of mutual support. I know if I were out of work and a woman offered me money for sex so I could pay my monthly bills, I wouldn’t hesitate to accept the offer, provided I thought she was trustworthy.
It is exactly because prostitution is illegal in most places that so much abuse is associated with it. Legalizing it would result in a less violent and more generous and tolerant society.
A Jewish conspiracy?
Last night, I heard that CNN anchor Rick Sanchez got fired from that network. The reason: He’d made some anti-Semitic remarks at a radio show. His attacks against Jon Stewart, who happens to be Jewish, were simply outrageous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOkqrmSVEDE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ9DrWjbH6I
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/01/cnn.sanchez/index.html?hpt=T2
DO YOU REALIZE HOW STUPID THAT IS?!
If Jews control the media, the banks, or other major institutions in the world, despite being such a small minority, then that means non-Jews are extremely WEAK and INCOMPETENT. That’s why Rick Sanchez’s comments were insulting not merely to Jews, but to EVERYBODY!
I can’t believe that this was the same guy who did this a year ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGBL3VsFlLU
You can bet neither FOX News nor MSNBC will offer him a job anytime soon!
Who is the real pervert here?
There is a public menace in the state of Michigan, a bully who is engaging in tactics that bring total disgrace to his office. And his name is Andrew Shirvell. He is an Assistant Attorney General in that state, and he is harassing a college student named Chris Armstrong who is the President of his student body at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Armstong is not even a suspect in any crime; his only “crime” in Shirvill’s eyes is being openly gay. CNN has exposed the abuses of Shirvell:
Sorry, but while the First Amendment may allow individuals to express whatever views they wish, there is no prohibition against firing a homophobic extremist from any job he holds.
Indeed, not only should Shirvell be fired, he should immediatly be committed to a mental hospital and subjected to a battery of tests to determine what, if any, mental illness he actually has!
And next time Attorney General Mike Cox comes up for reelection, I call upon the people of Michigan to VOTE HIM OUT! How dare he duck his responsibilities in this case!
Oh, and Shirvill is not only a sick bigot, he is a coward too. He has hidden the blog he was using to attack Armstrong:
https://www.blogger.com/blogin.g?blogspotURL=http%3A%2F%2Fchris-armstrong-watch.blogspot.com%2F
This blog is open to invited readers only
http://chris-armstrong-watch.blogspot.com/
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In case you think I’m being hyperbolic, consider the case of San Francisco politician Dan White and his murder of two other politicians in the city, including Harvey Milk, who was openly gay. Can we risk a repeat of that in Michigan?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_White
NEVER AGAIN!!!
UUs need to stop being anti-Christian
For the record, I am very critical of the Christian religion. But my slamming it ends when I am dealing with a Christian who is open-minded enough to befriend and respect me in spite of my hostility towards his religion. Such a person, in turn, earns my respect. I only do battle with bigots among the Christians, not Christians in general. If I hated all Christians, I wouldn’t be a Unitarian Universalist (UU). UUs, even those that reject Christianity, are still Protestants. If not for the Protestant movement in Christianity, UUs as a denomination wouldn’t exist.
I spent one Sunday talking with a young member of my UU church. She told me about how she visited a Baptist church while wearing a necklace with a rainbow on it, the rainbow being a symbol of gay rights. She was then confronted by the church’s pastor who demanded why she wore such a necklace. The girl then said that she liked other girls, which caused the pastor to give her a lengthy diatribe about how she was headed for hell for being gay.
Later, the UU girl brought to her church a Christian girl who was wearing a cross around her neck. The Christian was confronted by an old UU man who was quite hostile to her and an argument erupted. The UU girl was very embarrassed.
I think that old man should have faced some sort of punishment for his rude behavior. While many people, including myself, regard UU churches as a refuge from Christian fundamentalism, that does not mean we can lable all non-UU Christians as members of the “enemy”. Such an attitude never fails to disgust me. And when a UU teenager is smart enough to recognize the hypocrisy of one of her own elders, that actually gives me hope that the next generation of UUs will be more enlightened and pull UUs in general away from any form of fanaticism, including that of atheists and other anti-Christians. That simply has no place among the UUs!
When Churches (and Their Ministers) Get Too Big for Their Own Good
Behold the latest sex scandal among Christians:
Obama bashing, Libertarian style
Take a look at this op-ed piece by Wayne Allyn Root, who ran for Vice-President in 2008 under the Libertarian ticket. It might explain the Tea Party and its anti-Obama madness that has possessed so much of the American population. I will post parts of it and respond directly to it here (the numbers refer to my answers).
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/obama-s-agenda–overwhelm-the-system-95716764.html
Zionist nonsense
While I support the right of Israel to exist and defend itself against enemies who seek to destroy it, I draw the line at efforts by Israel to prevent the Arab Palestinians from establishing their own state. How has Israel done this? By establishing Jewish settlements on the West Bank (which was supposed to be exclusively Arab territory). This after thousands of Arabs were driven out of the land that became Israel. So it is ironic that we find these claims defending the Jewish settlements on a Zionist website.
The Book of Mormon is a P.O.S.
P.O.S. = Pile Of Shit
As a rule, I try to respect different religious beliefs and their followers even while disagreeing with them, usually because most religious believers I know have good qualities I admire and want to encourage, and you don’t do that by rejecting them because of one or two issues that one may overlook on a casual basis. Most Christians, Muslims, Baha’is, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, and Atheists I can respect, as long as they respect me. But there are exceptions to my tolerance. I completely reject, deny and refuse to accept in any way the Book of Mormon and its teachings, period and feel only pity for Mormons themselves that may not yet know the truth about that book. And here is why:
If we can burn Qurans…
….why can’t we also burn Bibles?
Look at this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100907/ap_on_re_us/quran_burning
Pressure rises on pastor who wants to burn Quran
By MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer Mitch Stacy, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The government turned up the pressure Tuesday on the head of a small Florida church who plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, warning him that doing so could endanger U.S. troops and Americans everywhere.
But the Rev. Terry Jones insisted he would go ahead with his plans, despite criticism from the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, the White House and the State Department, as well as a host of religious leaders.
Jones, who is known for posting signs proclaiming that Islam is the devil’s religion, says the Constitution gives him the right to publicly set fire to the book that Muslims consider the word of God.
Gen. David Petraeus warned Tuesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press that “images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan — and around the world — to inflame public opinion and incite violence.” It was a rare example of a military commander taking a position on a domestic political matter.
Jones responded that he is also concerned but is “wondering, ‘When do we stop?'” He refused to cancel the protest set for Saturday at his Dove World Outreach Center, a church that espouses an anti-Islam philosophy.
“How much do we back down? How many times do we back down?” Jones told the AP. “Instead of us backing down, maybe it’s to time to stand up. Maybe it’s time to send a message to radical Islam that we will not tolerate their behavior.”
But atheists say that Christianity is just as corrupt, abusive, and bogus as Islam. Therefore, if this Christian pastor wants to burn the Islamic holy book, then atheists should feel just as free to burn the Bible, the holy book of the pastor’s religion. What goes around, comes around.
Of course, it would be better to burn no books at all. Not even Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Studying the books’ contents and refuting their claims is always better.
Neo-Nazis on YouTube
One of the more ironic features about the internet is that is allows people with hateful beliefs to find each other, link up, and strengthen their sense of community. To my shock I found Neo-Nazis have infiltrated YouTube!
Look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDtLN8cySY
The comments below it include:
It would be infinitely better than what we have now, that’s for sure.
TBow009
@UltimateDarkloid Im not interested in dominating the world. Im interested in making a homeland for white people in order to have a place for them to be free of jew persecution. White Nationalism….Hitler was a jackass and I wish he was assassinated in 1939 before he invaded Poland and later Russia….Then Europe would have been jew free. Jews have been using immigration and mescegination along with their banking/lending practices to destroy whites with race mixing and the Nazis stopped it…
What a strange statement. But it gets worse.
TBow009
@NextLife77 Wrong…Jews were forcing Liberalism, feminism, immigration of non whites, mescegination, they wanted to import blacks and other non whites into Europe to destroy the German people…Jews are a plague on all mankind..
AppleUploader
@smart4176 not all were bad you dumb ass, some were just normal soldiers and they fought for their country NOT for Hitler, like an example is that I would have fought for Wehrmacht but that doesn’t make me a Jew killer, that only makes me a german soldier that’s all dying under germany and the iron cross
Actually, ALL german soldiers in World War II were expected to fight for Hitler. See this:
The Neo-Nazis and their allies on YouTube include:
There are many others. We need to stand against this evil. Memories of World War II and the Holocaust have long ago faded and two new generations have grown up that only know them as historical events, and thus may be seduced by “revisionists” who want to deny the holocaust and claim that the Nazis were not so bad or that their cause was somehow justified. It wasn’t and we need to remember what the world suffered and to fight for justice and equality. Equality of Jews with Gentiles does not imply loss of power for the Gentiles. Equality is simply letting ALL people live with the same opportunities and to be at peace with each other. Let it be so.
Dale Husband's Intellectual Rants 