The 666cast is late this week...

Sorry, Cinchcast crashed in the middle of recording the 666cast, so I’m trying to find another host. Luckily, I was recording on my Nano, too, so the ep wasn’t lost. However, I need to find a new host for the episodes so I don’t run into this problem again (and Cinchcast doesn’t let me upload the mp3s manually). Anyone got any suggestions for a good place to host a podcast?

Isn't Glenn Beck on Armed Forces Network *like* Government endorsing a religion?

“Glenn Beck off my AFN” itsjustsummer:

Hello Tumblr friends and followers, 

Ok I’m going to need your help.  I’m trying to get Glenn Beck from being aired on Armed Forces Network (AFN).  He is a fear monger and has said some salacious things about our military and veterans.  I hate that he has a slot on television that is sponsored by the federal government.  

What I’m asking for, is any information that you have about his anti-military sentiment.  I can’t really address his anti-government sentiment since it’s just commentary.  I need solid evidence to sight when I address the head of AFN.  

I’m in the process of researching this, but this is a big job.  I don’t want to miss anything.

I really appreciate your help, and our active duty military do as well.  This issue has been brought to my attention on several occasions by active duty members, and they just don’t know what to do to keep Mr. Beck from appearing on their televisions at work.  I want to help my friends in uniform from having to be exposed to his hate.

Thank you!

Just Summer

I wasn’t aware that Glennensie Becken had made any anti-military statements. I think he’d lose minions if he did that.  Sure, he can call the first black president a racist, but bag on our troops?  That’d make any teabagger run back to Rush.

But, that aside, doesn’t he make enough Christian comments to get knocked off AFN?  Or do they run Pat Robertson’s show on AFN, too?  Perhaps some Jack Van Impe?

Why is it AFN’s responsibility to provide even-handed programming now that the Internet is generally available to soldiers?  If you really want the latest chapter from Beck’s “Whine Kampf” you can go online for it.

I’m curious what other crappy TV AFN runs.  Now, Glen Beck on AFV—THAT I’d pay to see! :)

But hey, if you know of any anti-military statements Der Becken has made, please let me know or stop by http://itsjustsummer.tumblr.com/ and let Summer know.

This is the coolest info graphic EVER! From

This is the coolest info graphic EVER! From spacethebeyond:

15 Things You Didn’t Know About Outer Space

I didn’t know: 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, some of the specifics of 11, 12, 13 and 14.

And I *read* and stuff!!

It's scary when I Disagree with a Nobel Laureate that I Usually Agree with

underpaidgenius:

The Real Story - Paul Krugman

The actual lessons of 2009-2010, then, are that scare stories about stimulus are wrong, and that stimulus works when it is applied. But it wasn’t applied on a sufficient scale. And we need another round.

But it won’t happen. President Obama is incapable of a sustained fight against the GOP and his own conservatives, and it’s unclear where his heart is on this matter anyway.

Obama is facing exactly what any moderate faces today: the enmity of the hysterically Tea Partyish GOP and the anger of the disaffected liberals at the far left of the Democratic party.

Oh, I wish we could have a multiparty system, where at least there would be a hope of coalition politics instead of a two-party Mexican standoff.

Stowe Boyd (aka UnderpaidGenius) is right—and Krugman is oversimplifying, I think. And in a very scary, very subtle way, this is another example of the Absurd Disconnect.  Krugman, and so many others, is/are ignoring the reality of our changing world.  Not that I blame them.  Over the past 100 years we’ve see not just a dramatic change in the way our economy works, but we’ve seen a dramatic rise in the rate of that change. 

And our culture hasn’t been able to keep up.

Most of us are focused on fixing the system we already have—as though it’s not completely and utterly outmoded.  People like Krugman aren’t facing the obvious-if-you-look reality that capitalism is broken.  You can no longer define things through the basic “supply and demand” concept since the Internet changes so very much about how commerce is done.

Meanwhile, people like myself, Boyd and others, call for brand new ideas.  This is what I think is missing from what we’re hearing from everyone in the establishment—even the more outspoken people like Krugman who think the old ways are worth saving.

I’m not sure what the new system should look like, but one thing is clear—our current system is a mess and it’s not getting any better.  This isn’t about applying the stimulus—this is about building a new economy from scratch.

After all, how do we “stimulate” an economy that has had its foundation turned to sand?

Outsourcing has transformed our country into a land of consumers, not producers. The only thing we make here are ideas and, thanks to the Internet, those are cheap or free.  Thanks to this inability to create value, the value of our dollar is dropping through the floor.  The Fed is practically giving money away because we’re all subconsciously reacting to this new world and not wanting to take on any debt.

We’re at this point where the scam that was the old system is falling apart.  Finally, the disconnect between what we are told (“Don’t spend beyond your means.”) and what our economy systemically requires (lots and lots of people debt-chained into the system) is getting so wide as to not be reconcilable by the participants (us).

So, now I find myself looking at all of these talking heads telling me that we’re going to recover.  Recover what?  The system that we’ve just driven into the ground?

Time for a new car.

Maybe a hybrid—or how about one that runs on solar? :)

(And by invoking environmental concepts, I’m suggesting the new economy be based around benefiting all, not just people who want to be rich and those who already are.)

Who needs God? Not the Universe, says one of the smartest people on Earth (Stephen Hawking)

friendlyatheist:

Hawkings on the origin of the universe - MSNBC.com

“Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing,” Hawking and his co-author, Caltech physicist Leonard Mlodinow, write in “The Grand Design,” which is due to be issued next week. “Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.”

Wow!  The universe and I have a lot in common!  Neither of us need God!  It’s like we think alike, the universe and me!!  I bet we’d get along really well!  I wish the universe would come by my apartment once in a while.  We’d have a blast!!

Er, a bang!

Wait, I don’t want to have sex with the universe!

Climate Scientists Threw Out their Original Data

I stumbled across this the other day while doing some research:

Yep, that’s right—they threw away their original data.

Now, that’s not quite as bad as it sounds, but it is equivalent to burning the negatives to the photos you took.  OK, so I realize that comparison dates me, but regardless, if we ever need to see the original numbers, we won’t be able to.

See that? Science gets it wrong sometimes, too.  But at least they’re willing to admit it and learn from their mistakes (unlike another group of people we atheists know of).

Screengrab source.

Christians Calling the Kettle Black (the Muslims are Infiltrating?)

Check out the following post from itsjustsummer quoting Pat Robertson and then think of it from an atheist’s perspective:

Pat Robertson: Fueling The Mosque Arson

In an obvious attempt to stir up fear in the Murfreesboro community, Pat Robertson told his audience:

“It isn’t just religion, just isn’t. Mark my words.  If they start bringing thousands of Muslims into that relatively rural area, the next thing you know, they’re going to be taking over the City Council.   Then they’re

going to be having an ordinance that calls for public prayer 5 times a day.  Then they’re going to be having ordinances that there’ll have to be facilities for foot-washing in all the public restrooms, in all the airport facilities, etc, etc.  And, before long they’re going to demand, demand, demand, demand, and, little by little, the citizens of Murfreesboro, or whatever little town it is, are going to be cowed by these people.  Not to mention their ability to bribe folks.  I don’t know whether anybody is getting a pay-off, but it’s entirely possible.”

All this crap makes me want to hug an American Muslim and tell them I’m sorry.  I may not believe in god or religion, but I do believe in the rights for humans to have their own opinion and vision of life.  If that so happens to be you’re Muslim then so be it.  The Pat Robertsons of this nation need to back off and leave these people alone.  Just because a small group contained in a larger group is out to harm the western world, does not mean they speak for that group.  Like wise with Mr. Robertson.  Would he like his religious group defined by Timothy McVeigh?  Thinking not!

Summer makes some great points here—I want to hug “the enemies of America” too.  But what cracks me up is how the media (and pretty much anyone else) fails to call these Christians out for the hypocrites they are—Muslims are going to infiltrate our government and mandate religious practices—ORLY, Pat Robertson?

So, that’s nothing like putting the Ten Commandments in a courthouse or, say, prayer in schools, or (worst of all) teaching creationism in schools?  I believe quite a few of you Christian-types have called for that on more than a few occasions.  OH and don’t forget the mention of God in that pledge we MAKE our kids say in school (as though they’re gonna turn Commie if they don’t) and of course IT’S ON OUR MONEY. 

>_<

Yep, CHRISTIAN infiltration—Christians forcing their beliefs on everyone is FINE, but god (lower case “g”) forbid a mosque get built someplace. THAT’S just the tip of the religiously infiltrating iceberg!!

OH, NO! CHRISTMAS IS UNDER ATTACK BECAUSE OF PEOPLE SAYING HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

You stupid fricken drama queens.  Freedom of religion is fine so long as it’s YOUR RELIGION.  I’m so sick of being forced to be nice to militant Christians.  I’m done respecting beliefs—I respect your right to believe what you want, but WHAT you believe? Yeah, that’s stupid.  Muslims are NOT trying to conquer America anymore than the Mexicans were when you Christian Extremists were last afraid of something for nothing.  You can believe you’re under attack, but I’m not playing along. 

HEY, CHRISTIANS: HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

(PSST! Jesus never existed!)

Another oil-rig-related mess in the Gulf of Mexico: Completely Unsurprising

The human race is now officially the dumbest species of animal on the planet.

You don’t see monkeys spilling oil into the source of their food—MULTIPLE TIMES.

You don’t see cats selling out their friends and family for serious cash.

What’s unbelievable here is that apparently we Americans are just too lazy to do anything about it. 

Of course, what can we do?  Our government has already proven that they won’t listen to us, so…?

iTunes Ping doesn’t like my face

iTunes Ping doesn’t like my face :(

How rude! And I was just going to post about how much I love its new dock icon!

Why Americans Think Obama Is Muslim (I think it's because we're stupid and lazy)

newsweek:

New research says it might have something to do with “motivational reasoning.” “People completely ignore contrary information” and “develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information,” says one scholar. Sharon Begley reports.

HEY, I WAS RIGHT!

Seriously, our unwillingness to look at new information and adapt to it is proving to be our downfall.  Whether you think Obama is a Muslim, all Muslims are terrorists, the Democrats in power will somehow make the world a better place, that Obama isn’t doing a lot of what Bush did, or that our economy is actually turning around, if you can’t face reality and deal with it, reality will deal with you.

We can adapt, history has proven that.  The fact that we don’t says we’re willingly not educating ourselves.