Category Archives: Uncategorized

10.26.13
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Weirdness on the Internet

I am used to internet ads on the sites I visit often being related to a Google search or a website I was at, or a topic discussed somewhere. You know, if you say… look at a telescope on a vendor site, you are hounded by telescope ads everywhere you go. I get that. I have come to terms with it.

Yesterday I was replying to a post on a blog about of all things, scents. A word I was going to use, and was unsure of how it is spelled, prompted me to type in “po pourri” in a Google search, knowing that my guesstimate of a word I seldom use let alone have need of typing, would be self corrected by Google and a link would probably pop up with the correct spelling. Here is the kind of links that popped up. Ads for:

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Now every page I visit, has these stupid Poo Pourri ads on them. Next time I will use: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ 

Live and learn.

10.26.13
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Many New Species Discovered In The Amazon (Purring Monkey?)

I stumbled across this story here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131025085909.htm 

The Science Daily piece was about a purring monkey, which got my attention. Then I decided to investigate the source (which I will often do if I am compelled to write about something I see on a website) Which led me to this story:  http://worldwildlife.org/stories/brightly-colored-lizard-among-441-new-amazon-species-discovered-since-2010

The second link has a slideshow of several of these new species and well worth looking into. It is amazing how much we learn about our surroundings on a daily basis. We are talking about over 400 new species uncovered in the last few years. I cannot imagine how many days of slogging through what must be very difficult terrain and miserable conditions, it must have taken to find all of these species. I envy those who have the tenacity to do these things.

If you like seeing new creatures only recently discovered, I strongly suggest reading the Science Daily piece first, then go to the Worldwildlife.org site for the pics. Which…by the way, is yet another site I will be addicted to. 

The bad news is, many of these new species are already considered endangered, deforestation the main cause, and there are concerns about potential dam sites as well. The constant pursuit of profit will be the undoing of our planet, and probably life as we know it. Just give it time. 

 

 

10.24.13
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Still Learning This Word Press Thing

I only just now discovered the little “thought box” button. It magically displays all of the comments and replies to comments!There were comments I made months ago, and forgotten. Replies to my comments I did not know existed. I feel like I just hit the scratch off lotto ticket for 50 bucks! Hell I didn’t even know I had any followers…yay! 

I try to be a presence here at W.P. and participate in the thoughts and comments of blogs here that interest me. There are a lot of good blogs here, I have I think 24 blogs I follow here as well as elsewhere and a few not shown, for odd reasons. For instance I could not get the Bad Astronomy blog to show up, except as a generalized Slate blog thing that included other blogs besides B.A. So that one isn’t showing up till I figure that out…also I havent figured how to list the blogs in the “Blogs I Follow” widget in any sensible order, I can list them alphabetically in my reader, but not in the widget. Oh well…

Still learning the ins and outs of this thing and enjoying the ride. Glad to know a few are along for the trip. Thanks.

10.22.13
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More Evidence Of Catholic Coverups

This time in Minnesota. I took the liberty of paring this article down considerably to point out what I felt relevant, edited a lot of fluff, took some liberties with the presentation, and interjected my thoughts along the way. Link to full article forthcoming at the end of this post:

Jennifer Haselberger went public with claims of sexual abuse on children by priests in the clergy. Haselberger took on the church after she felt that: “her warnings about troubled priests were being ignored.” She resigned in April after she says Archbishop John Nienstedt and others did not respond appropriately when she found pornography, including images of possible child pornography, on computer disks that once belonged to a priest who was still in ministry. This came after she says church leaders ignored her repeated warnings dating back to 2008 about another priest who went on to molest two boys in his camper in 2010. Her reason for resigning was: “because church leaders weren’t listening, and she went to authorities and to the media because they wouldn’t change”

After she went public Nienstedt’s top deputy has stepped down, and the church set up an independent task force to review its policies. (isn’t that a bit like appointing the fox to watch the henhouse?)

Haselberger has gone to law enforcement about two priests, and she says she had brought concerns about others to church leaders. She declined to elaborate, but said she expects more details will emerge. Now…get this: Jim Accurso, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said he could not comment on Haselberger or her resignation because it is a personnel matter. Accurso has said the information portrayed in the media is incomplete because it has been presented without context. (What? A whistleblower came forward about child raping priests, what context does one need to set this straight?)

After a lot of useless fluff and insights to our whistleblower, that lead me to believe that even though she is a church loving, god soaked, anti abortion activist type, she was capable of combating her CD long enough to do the right thing when confronted with sweeping this under the rug, or coming forward.

They end the story with this: Archdiocese attorney Tom Wieser said in a recent court hearing that Haselberger was a “disgruntled former employee” who was unauthorized to investigate allegations of child pornography but did so anyway, something he called “unsophisticated and imprudent.” According to a court transcript, Wieser said Haselberger decided for herself that the images were illegal, and went to authorities, who found no evidence of child pornography. St. Paul Police have since reopened their investigation.

All I can say about our Archdiocese attorney is, shut up you fucking douchebag! Let’s shift the blame here, yeah, make it the whistleblowers fault, and then partake of some character assassination. Oh, and then make it sound like she is a vigilante attacking their esteemed institution for some personal vendetta. Lawyers make me want to puke. Classic denial and coverup strategy. When…when will people stop assuming that they can trust their children with priests? How many children must be raped? What is that number? I want to know. Is it 100? 200? 1000? 10,000? Tell me. With all of the cases coming to light, and they are legion, when will people begin to take thier children’s personal safety seriously? 

Here are some things I have learned througout my life. Some wisdoms if you will. First, do not trust your friend with your girlfriend. Even the best of intentions often lead to places you do not want to go. Second, do not trust family members with money, odds are good you will never see it again. Third, there is no such thing as too much rope or extra tarp. And lastly, granted I do not know this one from personal experience, but the evidence is in folks… Do not trust your kids with the priest down the road. I think at this point they are all suspect, and sooner or later I am going to have to start holding the parents responsible for ignoring this one.

As promised the link with the full story and useless fluff: http://home.myhughesnet.com/news/read/category/Top%20News/article/ap-church_whistleblower_says_she_didnt_do_e-ap

10.21.13
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Blissful Ignorance

I remember being blissfully ignorant on many issues. Such as the fact that creationists are trying desperately to dumb down children by eliminating proper science from school texts, and attempting to inject their pseudo scientific pet “theory” of ID into classrooms. I remember being blissfully ignorant of over fishing, anti vaxxers, modern day extinction events, endangered species close to extinction events, global warming, shark finning, the crusades, the holocaust, holocaust deniers, tsunamis, dumb ass rednecks, hell I was even blissfully ignorant of sex when I was quite young. Though I have to admit that one gets a thumbs up.

If you, like me, remember these things that which you were blissfully unaware. Do not click this link:

http://www.newsdaily.com/article/83a868f54fcc4aac5c6485b4217a0bb9/argentines-link-health-problems-to-agrochemicals

Up until this morning I was blissfully unaware of the health crisis in Argentina, probably due to malicious misuse of agricultural chemicals. The amount of face palming/head desk moments in that article surprised me. The fact that the system is corrupt from the top down (I’d guess too much $ to be made to be concerned over a “few” sick people) does not surprise me at all. There is a large representation of the population world wide that believe that the companies they have stock in, should be allowed to trample all over the eco system, and if a few people die or get severely ill, that is of no consequence as long as there is money to be made.

I would so like to be blissfully unaware of those people…you know there are days I am ashamed to be a man, when I have read about the blatant mistreatment of women, then there are days like today I am ashamed to be human, to know that all of these things that which I was blisfully unaware, are allowed to continue, and prosper. They are selling out their own species all for a few pieces of gold. The fallout…acceptable losses.

10.12.13
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Quote of The Month

I let October sneak up on me, it is the 12th already? Let’s see what we can find…

How about Thomas Paine? Paine wasn’t actually one of the founding fathers, which this Quote of the Month series is based upon, but he was an influential writer at the time and was at least on good terms with our founding fathers. Paine’s writings helped to stir the fire in preparation for the revolution to come, and he was inspirational to many of the day. I believe his position still stands upon solid ground. Without further ado:

“Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half of the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God.  It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.”

Indeed, anyone who has ever read the bible would be hard pressed not to see what Paine is referencing here. Brutal killings, genocides, the trampling upon women’s rights, the dashing of thine enemies childrens heads upon the rocks, the flud that never happened but claimed to murder the entire population of the earth save but a few. (never mind that at the estimated time of the flud, the many advanced cultures all over the globe never appeared to notice) The bible is filled to the brim with these incidents that would be rightfully labeled atrocities today. Atrocities at the order of this supposed loving god.

I can do without that kind of love…thanks.

The site where I get these quotes: http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html

EDIT: I woke up this morning, and over a cup of coffee decided Paine was worth a little more investigation, as usual Wiki was helpful. It turns out while Paine was a very influential thinker of the day, later in life he wound up being ostracized from society because of his views of religion, and a tirade against G. Washington, after his imprisonment in France that he suspected Washington of being complicit. He died a lonely man apparently, but you have to give him credit for staying with his ideals, right to the end. The Wiki page is very enlightening. I posit the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine  It is always nice to learn something you did not know yesterday, and I find it odd this guy was never really mentioned in my youth at school. This guy should be right up there with Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin, indeed without Paine the colonists may never had risen to the challenge of the revolution, food for thought. I found another quote there by Paine well worth reading, I leave it as a tribute to Paine, an unknown American hero.

“I do not believe in the creed professed by the, Jewish church by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church. All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”

10.10.13
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Free Floating Planet

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http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/LonelyPlanet/

A planet has been discovered floating free in space, not attatched to a star. This is the first discovered with this distinction.

Over the last few years, quite close to 1000 planets have been found orbiting other stars besides our sun. Which is really cool. That was to be expected, stars form in nebulous clouds of gas and dust, just as our sun did. It also stands to reason that most stars, would have planetary systems as we do. The investigation in the matter proves conclusively that this is so. Science for the win!

It has also been suggested that during the planet forming stage, or just after, when the orbits are being worked out, that the possibility exists that a fledgling planet could be flung out into space. Again scientific investigation, lends credence to the idea. This looks like a smoking gun to me.

Moral of the story, science is working diligently every day to test new ideas. When these ideas are confirmed, it is cause for a moment of celebration. Then when that moment passes, new questions arise, which need looking into, and that is why science is awesome! There is no end to inquiry, there are standards to be met, there is no room for bias or preconceptions, there is a never ending investigation into the why and the how, it is this desire to learn that makes an (yep, I’m gonna do it) Evidence Based Reality the king of the school of thought.

On a personal note, I was out last night with the big gun (12.5″ telescope) observing Uranus and Neptune. There is nothing quite like looking at a planet that is very close to 2 billion miles away (Uranus) and close to 3 billion miles away (Neptune) and seeing them with your own eyes. I also took time to look at a few deep sky objects one of which being the Andromeda Galaxy and it’s companion galaxies, The Ring Nebula was spectacular at nearly 300x, then I just dropped in a low power wide field eyepiece and just cruised the Milky Way for a while. It was fun, you should have been there 🙂

 

10.08.13
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American Adults Do Poorly On A World Wide Test

Which lends credence to my theory that many of the people I encounter are dumb asses.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/us-adults-score-average-worldwide-test-20502036

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Now look at this chart:

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Now please note the correlation between the two. In the first chart Japan, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, and Norway are the highest rankings in the test.(Australia is strangely absent from chart two)

The second chart indicates a ranking of countries that accept the facts of evolution. Please note that all of the countries in the first chart appear in the top 12 of the second chart. Except for Australia which has been noted.

The United States, is at least…consistent.  Now let me extrapolate a conclusion. The reason people would reject the facts on evolution would be perhaps based on religious values? Ok, no more beating around the bush. Religion makes you stupid. Oh, look, another chart!

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Again, please note the correlation between the first two charts and this one. Nuff said, I am done here.

10.04.13
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Things That Really Tick Me OFF (Episode One)

In no particular order:

Breaking a shoestring on the way out the door.

Coming home from a really long day at work, dragging ass, damn near exhausted, looking forward to a shower, and for whatever reason the family has drained a 50 gallon hot water heater dry.

Locking the keys in the car. Added bonus, needing to call a locksmith.

Realizing you missed your exit on the interstate, and the next exit is like 20 damn miles.

Chiggers.

Drivers that hold me hostage by not using turn signals to indicate they are turning in, where I am pulling out from.

Creepers, drivers that never really stop at a stop sign, as I am heading in their direction at 60 mph. Causing me to react by slowing down, because I don’t know what their intentions are. It would help us both if they would just stop.

People who are incapable of admitting they could be wrong about anything.

Getting good and lathered up in the shower, and the power goes out. (wells run on electricity)

Stubbing my toe.

Reality TV.

Drama Queens.

Realizing that I did not create a backup disk, when my laptop malfunctioned, had to format. This after many many times of the computer reminding me to make a backup disk.

AT&T Been paying 40 dollars a month for a phone that can call about 10 miles. Finally gave the finger to At&T, and said bye bye.

Riding mower broke down. Fixed it, flung a rock through the storm door window. No way to replace window, new door 250 bucks. Also same day, flung a rock and busted the drivers side mirror on my truck. Murphy is a S.O.B.

Thinking I can get away with a quick spot weld without the hood, and blind my eyes with an accidental arc.

Seeing people use the word accident. 9 times out of 10, an accident is the result of someone doing something stupid…see above.

Light bulbs that get stuck in the fixtures and break when you try to remove them.

Moles. Little bastards have been terrible this year.

How every time an Arab sneezes, the price of gas goes up, instantly.

How when the cost of oil goes down, the price of gas lags way behind and is slow to drop.

Tobacco. I smoked for many years. Not till I had quit did I realize what a nasty habit tobacco is, in all of its forms.

That will do for now, how about you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

09.27.13
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More Creationist Nonsense in Kansas

This article from the NCSE http://ncse.com/news/2013/09/anti-ngss-lawsuit-filed-kansas-0015078   describes a creationist organization known as COPE (Citizens for Obviously Perverted Education) oops (Citizens for Objective Public Education) have sued the Kansas State Board of Education because the Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) apparently are riddled with facts and evidence, which make them highly undesirable for creationists, because facts and evidence is  Kryptonite to Superman. Or in other words, science and all of its damnable facts teach children things that contradict their book of fables. (well duh it was written over 2000 years ago, we have learned a few things since, well some people have) Now they are all up in arms about children learning good science because well, jebus or something. The NCSE article is kinda long but worth the read.

There is a little bit of silver lining in this situation, in that these wacky creationists have completely dropped the stealth plan of sneaking their so called theory of ID into schools. They have instead gone whole hog batshit bible insane. About the NGSS I quote:  “will have the effect of causing Kansas public schools to establish and endorse a non-theistic religious worldview … in violation of the Establishment, Free Exercise, and Speech Clauses of the First Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment”  The first part of that quote is the clincher, they don’t want children learning science because it doesn’t jive with their religion.

Another great quote in the article from COPE: “The complaint alleges that the NGSS and the Framework “seek to cause students to embrace a non-theistic Worldview … by leading very young children to ask ultimate questions about the cause and nature of life and the universe … and then using a variety of deceptive devices and methods that will lead them to answer the questions with only materialistic/atheistic explanations. … The effect … is to cause the students to ultimately ‘know’ and ‘understand’ that the student is not a design or a creation made for a purpose, but rather is just a ‘natural object’ that has emerged from the random interactions of matter, energy and the physical forces via unguided evolutionary processes which are the core tenets of Religious (‘secular’) Humanism” (p. 15). Both the Big Bang and evolution are emphasized as problematic.”  Yeah…I am afraid science has a lot of evidence to support it, which is what they mean with “deceptive devices and methods” …and then the rest is basically saying that students will learn about naturalistic causes (for which we have evidence) that might lead them to believe that they were not “specially created” as is taught by creationuts (for which there is no evidence.)

Well boo freaking hoo. It is high time we base our understanding of reality on what we know, not what we think we know, or what we believe. Beliefs are not facts. Personal beliefs do not belong in schools, they sure as hell do not need to be taught as facts. Schools should teach the science we know. Period. No Religion allowed. I think that is why there are all of those eyesores known as churches that litter the landscape. Please brainwash your children there, and leave the rest of us be. There are many things for science to yet discover, I want my kids on the learning curve, not the dead end street.

Fortunately this looks like a frivolous lawsuit that won’t go anywhere. Although it does serve as a beacon for reason.