Animals as Atheists

Animals presumably lack God-belief. Are they atheists?

To so define atheism as the mere lack of God-belief is absurd.

Would it then therefore, be more reasonable to presume that “agnostic” would be more accurate? Or perhaps, would anti-theist be more accurate?

There are things outside ourselves which we do not know, and cannot now know, and perhaps may never know. Yet, at some time in the future, some things now not known may be known, an example of which is the existence of the atomic particles.

From such an one’s perspective (as from those whom so describe themselves as “atheist”), the existence or nonexistence of God can neither be proven, nor denied.

Science, for example, has failed to prove that God does NOT exist. And while there are individual claimants whom so assert, no scientific body of evidence has arisen to assert – or dissuade through proof – otherwise.

Atheism can be and is defined as “the doctrine or belief that there is no God,” which also claims “a lack of belief in the existence of God.” And it so narrowly defined, that though it is variously worded, the bottom line is that there is a belief.

Belief, however, is accurately defined and understood as an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists, and perhaps secondarily, as trust, faith or confidence in something or someone.

Atheism is defined as the belief that God does not exist; then is it not inherently antithetical to assert that God does NOT exist?

There is no proof that God does NOT exist.

According to select individuals (not necessarily active upon this forum) whom self-identify as “atheist,” and organizational dogma (principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true) a “belief” is what they possess, yet simultaneously argue against their possession of a belief, or existence of the same.

The American Atheist website says that “…atheists certainly do not “deny” that gods exist. Denial is the “refusal to believe.” ” However, they further conclude that “There is no proof or evidence for the existince (sic) of gods.”

Yet the site also states that “We are atheists because in our view…” Other suitable words for “view” are “perspective” and “opinion.” And an “opinion” is synonymous with “belief.” Thus, their site could also accurately state, “We are atheists because we believe…” How inherently contradictory!

Such a remark is antithetical to that which is previously espoused, that “The common thread that ties all atheists together is a lack of belief…”

Yet setting all that aside, even Richard Dawkins remains open-minded about the claim that Intelligent Design is a scientific hypothesis writing in his 2006 tome “The God Delusion,” that “the existence of God is a scientific hypothesis like any other.”

There is logical conclusion to which those such as Dawkins arrive, whom assert in The Great Ape Project that chimpanzees, gorillas or baboons have moral rights, or warn of allegedly dire consequences of the “overpopulation” of Earth. Truly, they must be Enemies of Reason. For if apes have the same rights as you… then they are your peers.

Go ask the residents or visitors to Kyoto’s district of Arashiyama, with Japan’s “Monkey Mountain” if they think those viciously dangerous apes ought to have the same rights as humans.

Yeah… don’t keep that chimp in jail! Imprisoning him just because he flung a turd at you because you wouldn’t give him your banana and peanuts!? So he stole your purse, and infected you with SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) when he scratched open your face with his claws… so what?! Why, he has the same rights as you!

Who would be the judge? What law school would they attend?

Planet of the Apes, anyone? “Get your stinkin’ paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”

Now… what’s that about being a “monkey’s uncle”?

We need each other.

Recently I was watching a rerun episode of “3d Rock From The Sun,” a serial science fiction situation comedy which originally aired on NBC from 1996-2001. It starred John Lithgow as (High Commander) Dr. Dick Solomon, Kristen Johnston as (Security Officer, Lt.) Sally Solomon, French Stewart as (Communications Officer) Harry Solomon, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as (Information Officer) Tommy Solomon. The characters they portray have come from another more advanced planet and the hilarity with which they encounter the nuances of behavior on Earth though blunted, is frequently hilarious, and serves as the basis for the zany show.

In this 2d season episode #22, entitled “Will Work For Dick” which originally aired May 4, 1997, Dick’s secretary Nina quits, and Dick hires Harry, whose poor skills become Dick’s source of frustration, while Nina tells Harry to fight back. Meanwhile, to advance her understanding of the human experience, Sally decides to attend a children’s ballet school to re-live the childhood she never had.

As usual, in the summary closing scene, they all are seated upon the roof to reflect upon the day’s events. In this episode Tommy, Harry and Sally are seated on the roof, while Dick joins them shortly.

Sally: Gyp – all I wanted was a normal childhood but Dick just couldn’t let me have one! I felt so humiliated.

Tommy: Hmm… I bet when you looked out into that audience and you didn’t see Dick there that you just felt like your heart was torn out.

Sally: Yeah.

Tommy: Yeah… and you felt betrayed and alone.

S: Uh huh.

T: …and you’ll never trust anyone ever again.

S: Exactly!

T: Yeah. Well, congratulations Sally! You’ve just taken your first step into childhood.

S: I have?

T: Yeah… and now you take all this emotional damage and let it feed your adult neuroses.

Harry: And the best part is that if you ever kill a guy or balloon up to 400 pounds, you get to blame Dick.

Dick: (off screen, and climbing onto the roof) Sally!! Sally… Sally! I am so sorry I missed your recital!

S: Yeah, you did. Umm, thanks, Dick.

Dick: What for?

S: Well, you’ve given the most precious gift of all…. emotional baggage. Thanks.

D: You’re welcome.

S: Now I gotta’ go eat.

D: I’m sorry Harry… I thought I didn’t need anyone. I thought I could do everything by myself. It turns out I was wrong. I do need someone… just not you.

H: Well, it takes a big man to admit that. And I guess it just goes to show you that you can’t work with your family.

T: But technically, we’re not a family. We’re more like coworkers.

D: Well… it goes to show you can’t work with your coworkers.

T: Isn’t that the motto of the Postal Service?

How ironic is it that within this humorous exchange we see the fallacy of blaming others and not accepting responsibility?

Birthed from pain, blame avoids responsibility. The fallacy that we are self-sufficient feeds failure. Yet  our natural tendency to avoid pain curiously drives us toward pain through avoidance of responsibility, which in turn feeds failure and absence.

It’s a vicious cycle. It’s a destructive cycle. But, it’s part and parcel of our shared human experience.

Calling honesty… come in honesty.

Is there anybody out there?

“…for the gravel in your guts and the spit in your eye…”

“And I know you hate me and you’ve got the right
To kill me now I wouldn’t blame you if you do
But you oughta thank me before I die
For the gravel in your guts and the spit in your eye
For I’m the son of a bitch that named you Sue”

Take notice of the songwriter’s name.

It’s none other than Shel Silverstein, the late, renown children’s author and playwright. Apparently, Silverstein was quite an accomplished songwriter as well.

While I’m no “fan” of Wikipedia, there is an interesting, if not enlightening article on him there. Sorry… no link. You can look it up. That’s my form of protest.

BUT! As a service to you, kind reader, I will provide a link to ShelSilverstein.com – his his official site.

Lyric excerpt from:
“Boy Named Sue“
(legal title)
Songwriter/Composer – Shel Silverstein
Affilitation – BMI
CAE/IPI # – 28738853
Publishers – Evil Eye Music, Inc.
Affiliation – BMI
CAE/IPI # – 53070412

Phone: (212) 594-9795
Fax: (212) 594-9782
Contact:
Evil Eye Music, Inc.
c/o The Richmond Organization
266 West 37th Street
17th Floor
New York, NY 10018
DLEITNER@GOLENBOCK.COM

The Banking Industry + Internet Social Networking

 

"Um, no... the other cabal of social retards."

 

“Um, no… the other cabal of social retards.”

Another reason to buy a Ford

Aside from General Motors “going out of business” taxpayer bail-out fire sales and their deceptive “you can return this care if you don’t absolutely love it” teevee commercials… yeah, that’s enough to make anyone’s stomach turn.

Andyway, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a private, insurance-company-funded organization (don’t get me started on those bastards, the insurance ones, that is), has released their “Top Safety Pick” for 19 sedans and 8 SUVs fro the 2010 model year. Their ratings are, in order, from the top: Good (G), Acceptable (A), Marginal (M), and Poor (P).

Ford and Volvo (a Ford-owned subsidiary), each earned 6, while Subaru, Volkswagen and their Audi division each received 5.

Chrysler earned 4, while Honda and GM each had 2, with Toyota, BMW, Mazda and Mitsubishi receiving none.

Hey!

What about Mercedes-Benz?

Oh yeah… their C class automobile (which the IIHS classifies as “midsize” – what’s their S class, then? Super? The C class is Coupe/Compact, you idiots!) is a “Top Safety Pick” for 2010.

And, Mercedes models have ranked Good from 200-2009 and Acceptable from 1997-2000.

At that rate, you’ll be through in…

The Associated Press is reporting that China’s health minister stated recently that 1.5 million Chinese citizens are being inoculated daily with H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine. They hope to have vaccinated nearly 7% of that nation’s population by this year’s end. Thus far, more than 50 Million Chinese people have been immunized, according to Chen Zhu, whom spoke from the Global Forum for Health Research being held in Havana, Cuba.

China is the world’s most populous nation, which CIA estimates in July 2008 placed at 1,330,044,544.

To give you an idea of the enormity of that task, if Chinese officials continue at that present rate – 1.5 million daily – it’d take 2.4293051 years (or, 2 years, 5ive months,  4 days, 13 hours) to completely inoculate the entire Chinese population.

And you wonder why they can get things done? (They ARE, after all, building the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. And we Americans have trouble figuring out if everybody in this nation needs healthcare, and how to get it done?)

Please!

A Recipe for Disaster… naw, not really. A Recipe for Apple Cobbler/Pie! Yummy!

Okay, for those of you reading this whom don’t already know, I post  photographs on Flickr. As I’ve said, there are only two photographic subjects: 1.) people; and, 2.) things. Food is included in the latter category.

If your tastebuds are brain is working, you’ll need to make this recipe.

Here, from my Flickr page – in all it’s glory – is my recipe.

Okay, folks! Do you know what time it is?

Nope, it’s not”Howdy Doody time,” it’s RECIPE time! Yaaaay!

Yup, I made another’n!

I like cooking (I wrote that again, just for you folks that’re seeing my photostream – and foodshots – for the first time.) So, I take pictures of the food I cook… and eat. Yup. Wowser, eh?

Anyway… this is a total delight – to prepare and consume! (At least that’s what the consumers said, ’cause I didn’t get to eat much of it! The leftovers were eaten by my neighbors. *LOL*)

I prepared it as part of a “beerbecue” with some friends I’d made through Flickr! Yaay, Flickr! House of Sims – Great folks, great family, great photographer!

Anyway… back to the recipe thingy.

When I’d gone up to Sewanee, TN a few days back, I’d bought some fresh fruit & veggies from a roadside vendor while on the way back home. (I’d purposed to do that, having seen him on the way up there.) Among those items was a huge basket of Rome apples, from (of all places, and appropriately enough) Rome, Georgia. They were tasty!

Again, purposing to do something different with a recipe, I securely applied my “Fly-By-The-Seat-Of-Your-Pants” device and proceeded to adventure in the kitchen.

Having absolutely no recipe from which to work, I set out and made my own! (The Army has patches for “Big Red 1,” the Special Forces vertical sword with lightning bolts across, “Pathfinder,” “Air Assault” and the “Expert/Combat Infantryman Badge.” (Maybe they should make one with a fork, French chef’s knife and spoon/ladle criss-crossed over a skillet and stock pot with a flame at the bottom. I’d wear it!)

Here’s what I did:

Peel & core apples. Reserve peel (this is an important step – do NOT omit it!). Chop apples coarsely. Make a strong NaClH2O mixture (Use little H2O & boil it, folks! It’ll hold more NaCl. Then dilute w H2O.). Add honey – lots of it – to NaClH2O. Rationale: Honey is hygroscopic, so is NaCl. NaCl will not affect apples, but allow the marinade/bath to absorb the flavors. Add: cinnamon, mace, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, ground clove, vanilla, in copious quantity. Big healthy squirt of lemon juice – don’t be stingy! – (sing the opening stanza of the Oscar Mayer song, “My baloney has a first name…” while squirting) Brown Sugar – lots and lots of it. Cranberries – about two handfuls. Marinate apples overnight (minimum 12 hours) in refrigerator – the longer, the better. (Oh yeah… make sure the cranberries are in there, too!) And the peel? You should’ve chopped it up finely and added it to the boiling mixture.

Dough:

Flour, whole wheat/white mixture – just dump it in. Lots’a extra risin’ (that’s “Baking Powder” for the uninitiated). One egg – don’t use those panty-waste, freakin’ micro-eggs – use the honkin’ JUMBO mamas! The bigger, the better. (If anyone asks, act like you know what you’re doing.) Lard (that would be PIG FAT – avoid the hydrogenated stuff – you can make your own by melting it – about two ladles/scoops). Butter – that would be COW MILK FAT (Teats are good – Mooof!) one stick – that’s 1/4 pound. Vanilla – you should have some from when you made the other stuff – and for goodness sake, DON’T be stingy! Cream – aka “Heavy Whipping Cream” (avoiding freaky innuendo here… but, she’s a very kinky girl, the kind you don’t take home to mother – unless you’re bold as love {Have you heard Ricky Skaggs bluegrass version of Rick James’ trademark song? No kidding!}). Vodka (cheap stuff is okay), brandy (your preference), Brown Sugar (how come you taste so good? Did you know that Rolling Stones tune was recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL?), white sugar (yep, but not as much as the good, brown stuff), Almonds – blenderize ‘em to a powdery consistency – about 2-3 cups finished product. The astute cook will recognize… it’s a cookie dough! Yaay!

How to:

Combine dry ingredients. Melt fat/butter together, add vanilla & liquor (that’d be the vodka & brandy),  cream – again, don’t be stingy! – in separate container. Get your hands in it and mix it all up – but first you gotta’ add the liquid to it! Grease interior of deep-dish baking pan (keeps it from sticking during cooking – and don’t avoid this step by justifying that you use some #$^&! “non-stik” pan – DO IT ANYWAY!) Tear off chunks of the dough and mash it out evenly throughout the pan, lining the bottom and walls. Use a slotted spoon to place marinated apple mixture into pan. Add some liquid, but not all – it should be just below the ingredients’ surface. Roll out remaining dough and apply to surface. Bake @ 350°F for about 30-45 minutes. If you’re a halfway decent cook, you’ll know when it’s done… by smell. Oh yeah… you should’ve put some coarsely chopped pecans under the crust before you cooked it. And just so you’ll know, put a shallow cookie sheet under the pan – it may (translate: most likely will) spill over during cooking.

Now, while that’s cooking you gotta’ do something with that remaining liquid.

Here’s a big giant hint: BOIL IT DOWN! Yep, make a syrup to pour over the top of the cobbler/pie! Hello!? Cooking is all about creativity, ingenuity and efficient use of resources. You know the adage: Waste not, want not.

When it’s done liberally apply butter to the top (while it’s hot, you silly thing, you!), and then pour the syrup all over the top.

Then, take some kind of serving device – preferably a big spoon – and insert it into the pan, gently moving up and under, with a slight twist of the wrist, remove a portion or section of the cooked contents. Place them in a bowl. Apply a heaping portion of vanilla ice cream (chocolate or neapolitan just won’t do in this example) to the top. Using a separate spoon, eat it all up.

Bone-head appetite, y’all!

“Do you have limited income and resources?”

So began the paragraph on a document sent to a retiree friend of mine.

The next paragraph read in part, “You may qualify for extra help paying your Medicare prescription costs.”

As I pondered the question it was suddenly obvious that everyone has “limited income and resources,” including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

…unless, of course, you’re God.

 

I plead “Guilty,” your honor!

The Associated Press is reporting that the Fort Collins, Colorado couple of Richard and Mayumi Hene have plead guilty to felony and serious misdemeanor charges leveled against them by state and local authorities.

Mr. Hene appeared before a Larimer County District Judge and plead guilty to the felony charge of falsely influencing the sheriff. Mrs. Hene plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of knowingly filing a false report with emergency services.

Sentencing is set for December 23, and the couple’s attorney said they would have no public comment until after that date.

I predict this malicious escapade will yield for them beaucoup bucks in book deals, exclusive magazine stories, made-for-teevee shows, and motion pictures.

In other words, Mr. Hene’s warped plan will have worked… unless, of course, the judge exercises judicial wisdom and disallows any profiteering by the warped couple.

Lazy, mediocre, “psychotic” Islamofascist

Dr. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Islamofascist psychiatric Army physician accused of murdering 13, and wounding 29 other soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood, TX recently, was described by former colleagues and professors at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center as lazy, mediocre and “psychotic.”

The Associated Press is reporting that the source spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the incident, and wrote that Dr. Hasan “had a reputation for being a mediocre student and lazy worker.” The AP is also reporting that Dr. Hasan “as a psychiatrist in training was belligerent, defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith.”

NPR is reporting that because of a “cumbersome and lengthy process for expelling doctors, involving hearings and potential legal battles,” Walter Reed Army officials and others “decided it would be too difficult, if not unfeasible, to put Hasan on probation and possibly expel him from the program.”

Published reports from the AP, NPR and others indicated that Army officials and others were:

• concerned of potential fratricide

• concerned of treason potential if deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan

• from Spring 2008 to Spring 2009 fellow physicians questioned whether Hasan was “psychotic” and mentally fit to be an Army psychiatrist;

and reported that Dr. Hasan was:

• described as disconnected, aloof, paranoid, belligerent and “schizoid”

• “as a psychiatrist in training was belligerent, defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith”

• repeatedly given poor evaluations and warned about substandard work

• “behavior…  perceived as intense and combative”

Because Dr. Hasan’s actions are not presently linked to external terrorist networks, he will be tried in a Courts Martial, rather than a civilian court.

Doubtless, there will be changes to Army, governmental and civil procedures as a result of this man’s actions – as well they should.

* UPDATE * 11/15/09

At this juncture, I predict that Dr. Hasan’s defense will use the Insanity Defense – his colleagues attest to witnessing his behavior over a period of time that points to serious mental derangement – and am concerned of the possibility that he could very well be found “not guilty.” Concerning the mass murders, I think such actions were once called “Criminal Insanity.” Regardless of any trial or outcome, I sincerely doubt he’ll walk the streets as a free man again.