The Other World

http://newhumanist.org.uk/2081

Pull your socks up! You are an amalgamation of those pesky anti-Popes Clement VII and Benedict XIII.

A Mad Hatter, Darth Benedict's namesake and a real live anti-Pope! It must have been the death on sex thing. ;)

Guess what started today? Hints: it begins with an S, ends with an N and in the middle there are such characters as UMMER VACATIO.

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The swan beneath was fishing alone yesterday at the campus sea shore. When I first noticed it, it was doing the same thing as in the left picture. For a second I thought it was a mini ice berg until it plummaged back above the surfice. Funny to notice, actually: everyone who went by, men and women and especially children alike, looked at it for a long time. Either swan's position as Finland's national bird is scorched in our minds so well that everyone feels enormous respect and admiration for it, or maybe it the cultural heritage from Kalevala and Tuonen Joutsen enforced by Sibelius that causes this admiration? Or maybe we just have good understanding on what is beautiful and graceful.

Pat Condell and "Children of a stupid god"; this guy really is verbally talented, I envy him for that. His main message is if we assume there is a god who indeed made us in his image, then we can safely assume that He is petty, sadistic, vile, self-righteous, incredibly stupid and megalonmaniacal. It is also extremely odd to think that this kind of god would be capable of creating anything, let alone anything as beautiful and clever as cobwebs or swans or, fact forbid, an entire world.

Also check out some of his other posts such as "Islamist dickhead", "Welcome to Saudi Britain" and its sequel "Stop sharia law in Britain". He's clearly not apologetic to Islam. Good for him; there's no point in a world where criticising one thing equals phobia and racism and intolerance and ignorance.

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The Satanic Versesish Dutch short film Fitna:
http://www.themoviefitna.com/?page_id=47

The ideology to justify this is evil if...

...a woman's genitals are cut even once.
...a religious leader says it's okay to kill people for not believing his views.
...a man is killed for having an "infidel" friend.
...anyone is killed to spread a religion.
...a freedom of speech is worth less than freedom of/from religion.
...true science is forbidden for not supporting an ideological view.
...a political group does the bidding of a religious group to get votes from them.

Can't sleep. Playing at Griddlers.net and listening to t.A.T.u. They're actually really good concerning that pop isn't really my cup of tea. But I love their voices! Plus a co-student of mine looks very much like Lena. ;)

Now I'm finally and unyieldingly chosen my candidate. Sorry, Kasvi, but I ain't gonna vote for a guy, especially since I found someone whose opinions match mine more and who has the important things as her themes.

I knew I couldn't vote for a man. My logical side tells me that I should be able to make my choice without the gender having anything to do with it but... not in this world, not yet, not when my own gender's rights are actively put down by men and some women. Just can't do it. Now I'll be able to sleep at night again.

So, my candidate below with 228. Guess who?

This video by Sia is so freaky it's actually kinda brilliant. The confidence! The guts to do something like this! Also note the alternative usage for condoms. ;)

Just finished a book called 'Litium 6' by Risti Isomäki. I found it well written, entertaining, and most of all, informative. If we ignore the anti-climax.. okay, it wasn't an anti-climax as such, it was very nice and clever, it just didn't last long enough to really count as a climax.. anyway, the "climax" aside, the first idea after finishing was that it should be obligatory reading to all that are expected to have an opinion on nuclear power. Okay, yeah, I know everyone can have an opinion and probably do have one but that doesn't mean it is *their* opinion. Is the opinion based on an actual decision which in turn is based on information for and against, or is it an "opinion" that is repeptition of everything all the authorities have said without the person actually knowing why they should think the way they think based on facts? My guess is that most people would fall under the second category, me included. Which is why reading 'Litium 6' is a very good way to begin the journey to an informative opinion on nuclear power.

I thought that this book should be included on a list of books that all elected members of the parliament should read before allowed to attend a single meeting. Then I remebered that even if there was such a list, the actual members wouldn't read them but their assistants who would then make a summary of it to them. And since most assistants are not linguists or literature students, they would do it badly. Even if the MPs would read the books, let us not forget that the majority of them are male, and males by definition are contaminated with a virus of not ever being able to admit that they don't know something or that they were wrong about something and would now want to re-evaluate that stance. So that would be the end of the enlightment era at the Parliament. Besides, they have showed to be very good at acting according to the law and asking for statements on an issue's experts and then ignoring those statements and instead do the bidding of the infamous EK.

But if you think you can handle your taken-for-granted values and stances being challenged, I suggest you take some time to read this with thought and, if school's physics lessons were a long time ago, with a copy of 'Physics for Dummies'.

A couple of bloggins ago I wrote a sequel to the harms of religion. On of the cases has now met one milestone: the case of an 11-year-old girl who died of untreated diabetes when her parents, because of their religious beliefs, did not take her to see a doctor but instead prayed for and with her for hours while their daughter was dehydrating. The jury found the mother guilty. The father will face the same charges and get his verdict in near future. Meanwhile the parents' lawyer, Linehann, files an appeal because...

"Neumann didn't realize her daughter was so ill and did all she could do to help, in line with the family's belief in faith-healing. He said Neumann is a devout Christian who prays about everything and took good care of her four children.

The district attorney described the Neumanns as "religious zealots" which provoked new definitions from Linehan to the concept of 'religious zealot':

"'Religious extremism is a Muslim terrorist,' Linehan said. 'They are saying these parents were so far off the scale that they murdered their child. The woman did everything she could to help her. That is the injustice in this case.'"

Right, only Muslims can be religious extremists... my ass.

More "interesting" comments were gotten from Mrs. Neumann's step-father:

"He said his stepdaughter did nothing wrong in trusting in God to heal her daughter. 'We should have that right in this country,' he said."

The right to kill children? What did I just say about Christian principles... hmm... can't remember... it had something to do with this but I can't quite figure it out...

Anyway, Mr. "Not-a-Zealot" continues to flash his immense wisdom:

"'We definitely are not terrorists,' he said. 'We are Bible-believing, God-believing, Holy Ghost-filled people who want to do right and be right.'"

Holy Ghost-filled aside, the operative word of the above-quoted phrase is "who want to *be right*". They want to do right but most of all, they want to be right. Oh dear... again I'm filled with the sense of dejá vù...

(via Pharyngula; the whole story at http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/45850182.html)

Christian principle: "We are the chosen people. We can do whatever we want. If you oppose us, you are evil, of the devil."

Christian love: "Do whatever thou wilt as long as you hurt someone; God would like to add that Irish Catholic Schools have excellent history of good methodology"

Christian morality: "The paradox of all paradoxes but don't tell that to anyone."

I've been listening to that over and over again for nearly an hour. It makes me so happy for them, fictional as they are. Feel sorry for Shane, though.