All-things-scifi Web site, io9, has a wonderful article today: Great Opening Sentences From Science Fiction As a student of creative writing and hopeful one-day teacher of it, I’m acutely aware of how important a good first line or two is for capturing the attention of the reader, and especially the editor who’s sifting through the [...]
READ MORE »I posted earlier on the TSA’s thuggery, prompted by an article on BoingBoing–now another blogger I frequent discusses the power mad abuses by the TSA including his own harassment: Public abuse and x-rated searches now common. In the last 16 months I’ve flown six times, but each time was from the same small midwestern airport [...]
READ MORE »A few days ago, in the post “The right to persecute” I made a follow-up comment regarding how at a Promise Keeper’s rally nearly every speaker (and comedian even…everyone except the musicians) exclaimed to enthusiastic approval that atheists are ruining the country and must be eradicated, likewise feminists and socialists. And, being a somewhat newly [...]
READ MORE »BoingBoing tends to have a lot of pretty funny people commenting in their site. I was just reading that Unreasonable Faith site I mentioned a post ago, and got a real chuckle out of his post: Irrefutable proof that Baal exists!, but then read the first comment left on it, and would have spewed soda [...]
READ MORE »BoingBoing has posted an article on an example of how the government uses the tools of “security” as political vindictiveness: CNN reporter says bad things about the TSA, gets hassled every time he flies What? No, they don’t do that kind of thing! (Ruining CIA agent Valery Plame’s cover and her years of covert work [...]
READ MORE »Friendly Atheist today posted a link to a blog site of someone who used to be a creationist, fundamental evangelical Christian who realized the fallaciousness of it all after a long path of critical thinking and examining the evidence: Unreasonable Faith I’ve had time only to just start looking into the site, but I like [...]
READ MORE »The middle class is getting squeezed: CNN Money: Middle class: ‘On the edge’ I don’t know here the “more conservative Heritage Foundation” gets their numbers from. They’re the “think-tank” that put out the white paper immediately after Bush was elected in 2000 advising him in order to forward his conservative agendas throughout the government, to [...]
READ MORE »Just came across this fantastic list of theistic questions that a child may (and should) ask, (actually, any believer should ask), although the answers are more for adults–they’re a little crass: Kindergarten Questions for God Here’s an example: 7. Why is belief so important to God when He judges us? Children are praised or punished [...]
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Cectic has a humorous if sad commentary: I can’t help but think how true this is. How accepted and ingrained in our Christian-dominant society to be openly intolerant to non-believers. There was a recent story of a baseball player breaking a home run derby record and an announcer stating “it’s a bad day to be [...]
READ MORE »Glenn Beck is a tool. He recently wrote an op-ed printed on CNN.com: Commentary: T-shirt depicts ‘pathetic and brutal legacy’ He seems to find much humor in the idea that, supposedly, part of the reason the people who portrayed a terrorist group was able to deceive the FARC group that they were “bad guys” (and [...]
READ MORE »BoingBoing has an article today that is just filled with absurd terrifying/funniness that’s right out of the movie Brazil: Quintessential TSA stupidity: taking airline cutlery away from a pilot The entire Salon article is filled with sad and hilarious humor (really, “surreal absurdity” is just the best phrase for it), but the snippet provided is [...]
READ MORE »Quickie; not much needs be said by me: NY Times editorial on laptop seizures by Homeland Security
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I’ve recently been making a lot of posts regarding privacy and civil liberties. I’ve been putting a lot of reasons out there regarding why it’s so important and how it’s being threatened everyday. After I finish this post, I’ll be submitting one regarding developments in Homeland Security’s seizing, without warrant or court order people’s laptops [...]
READ MORE »Well, quite a few heady posts there lately–but, well, guess that’s what happens when one’s Constitution is torn up before your eyes. Lemme tell you something I found humorous today: I was getting ready for work and flipping channels I found one showing the original “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” (A new one is [...]
READ MORE »There’s a reprinted article on Visibility 9-11 from Prison Planet by Paul Joseph Watson that details the steps the Bush crime family has taken to setting up a dictatorship. It’s right on the money and deals with the facts of what King George and his lackeys have done…except the last step: “10) Amnesty & The [...]
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Usually when people talk about “the 4th Branch,” or “the 4th Estate,” they mean the press. Traditionally the press has been seen as a check and balance on the government. But what I mean, is the Corporate Branch. Looked at cnn.com, and super big main news with quarter screen photo and largest font headline, was [...]
READ MORE »io9 has an interesting article today speculating on the probable causes for the end of the United States: Five Signs the United States Is Withering Away I wholeheartedly agree with all except “2. A decadent culture.” At least the way they’re describing it. The essayist is stating that because our formerly impressive, original, massive Hollywood [...]
READ MORE »Here’s an article about a woman who has made millions by being a good guesser: Celebrities, companies bank on her intuition According to this article, Laura Day does not claim any psychic or supernatural powers…just, highly tuned perception. In fact, she claims everyone has this speial intuition–only some people use it more, like soldiers and [...]
READ MORE »Interesting post on BoingBoing: Nearly every part of US gov is “involved in monitoring or surveillance.” Commentor on the thread, DANEGELD, describes how this kind of environment has gone in the U.K.: You only have to look at England to see how this is going to turn out. Investigative powers justified as being “anti-terrorist” are [...]
READ MORE »Last week, after writing about why protecting one’s privacy and civil liberties is necessary, and to willingly hand over your privacy to the state assumes the state will act in the mosy honorable way and without error–it didn’t take long for me to find many examples of where the state is neither honorable nor perfect: [...]
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