Showing posts with label Azerbaijan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Azerbaijan. Show all posts

Friday, July 31, 2009

Beware of the wrong hat

Greetings.

Jewish date: 10 ’Av 5769.

Relevant to yesterday’s holiday:  “Temple Altar Construction Begins on Day of Destruction”.  I had no idea the Temple Institute had started work on the main altar for the next Temple, and I am curious as to how they plan to move it.

Today’s holidays:  Feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Forefeast of the Holy Cross.

Today’s quasi-holiday:  Sysadmin Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Stop Walmart's War on Free Speech”, “Stop the race baiting:  Call on advertisers to drop sponsorship of Glenn Beck” and “Find a Lasting Solution to Medicare Doctor Payments: No More Cuts!”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. More religious intolerance (by people who do not wish to give me a day off!): “Azerbaijani Police Detain Followers Of Unregistered Sect”, “Death threats against believers in Dong Hoi, as the police arrest a Catholic”, “Vandals deface synagogue, slash vehicle tires”, “Hanoi denies attacks on priests. The diocese of Vinh publishes photos”, “Attack on a Vietnam monastery”, “Cover heads, hide the mannequins; Hamas rulers launch campaign to make Gaza more Islamic”, “Gaza judge tells female lawyers to wear headscarf”, and “Turkey: Christian Murdered On Busy Street in Istanbul”.
  2. Governmental thoughtlessness on religion:  “Selective Service Is Sued by Quaker”, “Row over religious poster rules”.
  3. Introspection of one’s own religious community—the sort of exercise every religion should engage in, lest they fail to recognize their own mistakes and correct them:  “When Rabbis Fail their Communities”.
Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is “Moshiach’s Hat (A Poem To Ponder)” by Anonymous ben Kolonymous. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Thursday, July 23, 2009

2 ’Av

Greetings.

Jewish date:  2 ’Av 5769.

Today’s holidays:  The Nine Days, Nisfu Sha’ban.

Today’s quasi-holiday:  National Vanilla Ice Cream Day.

Worthy cause of the day:  “Spur environmentally-safe solar energy in the U.S.”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. More religious oppression:  “Chinese official: Beijing has won the battle against Falun Gong”, “AZERBAIJAN: 'The government doesn't want to give up control over religion”, “Fiji police hold church leaders”, and “Vietnam police detain 18 Catholics after clashes”.
  2. Bizarre paranoia:  “Fiji freemasons held for sorcery”.  While Freemasons may be secretive, my periodic objections that no one should suffer based on allegations of black magic without solid proof that actual magic of a harmful nature was performed.  Otherwise innocent people are bound to needlessly suffer.
  3. “Online journalist wins victory over 'legal jihad':  Court rebuffs defamation suit from swarm of Muslim organizations”:  Major rule:  suppressing contrary evidence never works to make anything so.  Whenever anyone tries to do so, it is a good sign he/she is wrong.
Today’s news and commentary:
As noted yesterday, there will be no weird things until after the Nine Days.  Peace.

Aaron

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Beware of the Dark Side

Greetings.

Jewish date: 9 Tammuz 5769.

Today’s quasi-holidays: Build A Scarecrow Day, Canada Day, Second Half of the New Year Day.

Worthy cause of the day: “Declare Your Energy Independence” and “Help Release Laura Ling and Euna Lee”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. “Al Qaida warns of revenge on France for burka warning” and “Sweden won't push debate over burqa ban in European Union”: I am not keen on the notion of a ban on the burqa—despite considering it overkill—due to opposition to unnecessary restrictions on freedom of religion. However, threatening revenge—which coming from a terrorist group must be given weight as credible—is not a good way to argue that the forces of Islam should not be fought.
  2. More religious oppression: “AZERBAIJAN: Parliament approves latest Religion Law changes”, “For Bahais, a Crackdown Is Old News”, and “Bible college students killed in Yemen”.
Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry, is a T-shirt. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Monday, June 29, 2009

Beware of mind-bogglingly stupid aliens

Greetings.

Jewish date:  7 Tammuz 5769.

Today’s holiday:  Feast of Simon Magus.

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Camera Day, Please Take My Children to Work Day.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. More people dying needlessly due to bad religious thinking:  “Horror of Kenya's 'witch' lynchings” and “Trial in death of infant raises questions of parental rights, religious freedom”, and “Man sees subtle victory in fight against Jehovah's Witnesses”.
  2. It is unsurprising that Buddhists would find this offensive:  “Footwear store in Geneva uses Buddha statue to hang shoes”.
  3. More oppression:  “AZERBAIJAN: 'Why shouldn't we bring order to this?'”.
  4. Political irony:  “Atheist China promotes Buddhism”.
  5. “Video of church's 'casting out' gay 'demon' in teen sparks anger”:  While demons are probably the least likely cause for homosexuality (as no one seems to have demonstrated yet why anyone specifically ends up with the sexual orientation they have), they are at least the most original suspected cause.  Some solid data supporting the existence of demons and an actual test of whether casting out gay demons actually works would be nice.
Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry, is “40 Things I Learned From ID4 That I Never Knew Before”.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron
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Monday, June 22, 2009

Beware of Optimus Prime

Greetings.

Jewish date: 30 Siwan 5769.

Today’s holiday: Ro’sh Ḥodhesh.

Today’s quasi-holiday: Stupid Guy Thing Day.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. More countries not getting freedom of religion:  “BELARUS: Religious freedom survey, June 2009”, “TAJIKISTAN: Muslims and Protestants are the latest official targets”, “TAJIKISTAN: Religion Law's worst impact is on Muslims”, “AZERBAIJAN: Further repressive Religion Law changes target Muslims”, “French move to ban the wearing of the burqa”, “MOLDOVA: Government repeatedly acts against ECHR judgements”, “Vietnam: Police Attack House Church, Jail Leaders”.
  2. “US girl 'burnt in voodoo ritual”:  Major rule:  whatever gods exist do not stand in the way of human stupidity.
  3. “Witch anger at Catholic club ban”:  This complaint makes no sense.  Wicca is not something Catholicism approves of.  Why should Wiccans expect any accommodation whatsoever?
Today’s news and commentary:
Previously on this blog I have posted material written by Transformers, including an exposé by the Decepticon Communicator Soundwave, a public apology by an immature robot named Microtron, and an open letter by the Autobrat Commander Arcee.   (These may all be found on the Cave of Spleen page.)  With Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen about to hit the theaters, our extraterrestrial robot guests are again getting noisy.  Today’s weird thing of the day is the text of the recent statement given by Autobot Commander Optimus Prime, included below.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron



To the people of the United States, and to all the people of Earth:
As has been reported in your media, I have been freed from the tyranny of the evil Decepticons, who have held me captive for the past two years. My freedom is due to the bravery and valor of my Autobot warriors, who also set free many other fine Autobots who have been also been imprisoned and tortured. We have most to thank Ultra Magnus, who, while acting as Autobot commander in my absence, organized and executed a rescue operation. While the majority of Decepticon forces were engaged elsewhere, the Aerialbots, Powerglide, and Swoop were able to were able to penetrate the defenses of the Decepticon warship and free the captives. Our warriors, who have so long defended human freedom and liberty, have done an admirable job. We are all pleased to be back on friendly soil among our human friends, whom we are pledged to protect just as they have sheltered us.
Our captivity among the Decepticons has been difficult, and we we have suffered greatly at their hands. Many of us have not made it back. In particular Mirage, in an act of exceptional bravery, charged ahead to fight off Astrotrain and two Seekers when they unexpectedly returned. He personally wrestled with Thundercracker, wrenching away one of his plasma canons, which he used to defend himself against the Decepticon commander Megatron. Mirage paid with his life, destroyed by a barrage of enemy fire that reduced him to scrap metal, but not without seriously wounding Megatron and allowing us to escape in the process. We owe him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.
We have faced many challenges recently. The Decepticons have sought to poison everything within their grasp, not only the well-being of the human community on Earth, but also the Autobots ourselves. Too many have been swayed to their evil cause through ignorance and propaganda, or have let themselves think they have some spark of decency which can be appealed to. I have seen firsthand what they do and have been tortured by them, pains unlike any human can imagine. We cannot be so foolish as to give the Decepticons such a chance to manipulate us. Such a path can only lead to death and destruction.
Soon you will be able to see a new film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, in your theaters. Many of the elements of this movie, of course, are fiction. Nevertheless, it accurately portrays the kinds of fiends the Decepticons are and the type of evils they associate with and draw upon. We have strived for an accurate portrayal, and we have worked diligently with producer Michael Bay and the writers to provide them with an deep understanding of our history and culture. We have long warned the Decepticons have plotted with such evil-doers as Unicron and the Fallen and have worked long to impose their evil dominion on the universe. Every human should take this opportunity to educate themselves about threat the Decepticons pose to their planet.
Stay strong, humans! The Decepticon menace is a serious one, and it will not be easily defeated. But together, humans and Autobots, we will continue to work together to stop this threat, and in the end, we will make Earth a safer and better planet.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Beware of John Wilkins

Greetings.

Jewish date:  17 Siwan 5769.

Worthy cause of the day:  “Strengthen the clean energy bill”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. Strange, but historically precedented, form of religious oppression:  “Pakistan: Muslim Forces 12-Year-Old Girl To Convert, Marry Him”.  Please note the persistent lying and excuse-making on the part of the Muslims in this drama, including the demand that the Christian mother work for a year for the kidnapper in order to get her daughter back.
  2. More countries acting shamefully with regard to freedom of religion:  “AZERBAIJAN: Repressive new Religion Law and new punishments enter into force”, “Catholic convent demolished in Vietnam”, “RUSSIA: Widespread protests at new 'Inquisition'”
  3. “Vatican visits CERN's Big Bang machine”:  Despite some worrisome behavior on the part of the current pope, Roman Catholic Church still seems to adhere to Pope John Paul II’s pro-science belief that “truth cannot contradict truth”.  Such an attitude is very sensible.  If there is a creator god, then that god is responsible directly for the laws of physics and indirectly for everything that is a consequence of those laws.  As such, the results of quality scientific research may thus be said to emanate from the Divine Will and thus not to be lightly dismissed.
Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is “The Analytical Language of John Wilkins” by celebrated weird author Jorge Luis Borges.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Beware of floppy disk drives

Greetings.

Jewish date: 29 Nisan 5769.

Today’s holidays: Day 14 of the ‘Omer.

Today’s quasi-holidays: Laboratory Day, Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, World Book and Copyright Day.

Worthy causes of the day: “Accountability for Torture”, “Fix the economy and the planet now!”, “Let Scientists Speak Out”, and “Support the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. My review of The God Delusion is taking longer than I thought it would. I blame Richard Dawkins since he wrote the crummy book in the first place. The problem is not simply listing what is wrong with the book, but rather showing that everything wrong with the book fits together in a coherent pattern.
  2. More countries failing freedom of religion: “‘Break-through’ for Christianity in China a Mirage”, “China: Detained Uyghur Christian Taken to Hospital”, “AZERBAIJAN: What is the 'Plan to Prevent the Spread of Religious Extremism'?”, “Christians killed in Egypt feud”, “UZBEKISTAN: 15-day jail term for teaching Baptist beliefs”, and “TURKMENISTAN: Conscientious objector convicted as criminal”.
  3. A small victory for freedom of religion: “Egyptians win the right to drop religion from ID cards”.
  4. “Kings Moved to Summer”: That show is now endangered. And, yes, I still owe you a review of the latest episode, “Judgement Day”. I plan on getting to it after I finish my review of The God Delusion, YHWH willing.
  5. “Pope Pursues Heavenly Power With Plant Harnessing Sun”: This is a good way for the Catholic Church to set a good example.
Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is “Star Wars Floppy Disk”:

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Sunday, April 5, 2009

A new use for computers

Greetings.

Jewish date: 11 Nisan 5769.

Today’s quasi-holidays: Go For Broke Day, National Workplace Napping Day, Stop the Clocks Day, Palm Sunday.

For all of you who celebrate Pesaḥ (Passover): Young Israel has published a flier asking us to consciously observes the commandments against improper speech during the Sedher towards the merit of freeing Jewish captives, such as Gil‘adh Shaliṭ and Jonathan Pollard.

Worthy cause of the day: “Urge the TX SBOE to Teach Real Science”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. Continued religious intolerance: “Religious police arrest famous actors, because men and women were performing together”, “Court hears Texas case over animal sacrifices”, “UZBEKISTAN: 'We just need to make sure what they teach in their homes'”, “Bahai homes attacked in Egypt after media commentary”, “AZERBAIJAN: 'We have long been after you and now we've caught you!'”, “TAJIKISTAN: Latest religious property eviction, Religion Law enters force”
  2. “Israel's fight against Christian missionaries”: 1) “Messianic Jews” have no business demanding recognition as Jews from Jews. Who is and who is not Jewish is a matter of Jewish law. (Jews by definition have Jewish mothers or are valid converts.) People who do not qualify as Jewish under Jewish law are not Jewish, period, and no amount of complaining is going to change all Jewish legal precedence. 2) The same sort of logic applies to why “Messianic Judaism” is not Judaism. Slapping a superficial layer of Jewish rites on top of Christianity results in Jewish-rite Christianity, not anything which qualifies as Judaism in the historical sense of the term. 3) Everyone should get a good religious education, even if they are unbelievers and unobservant, so they do not fall into such easy confusion between religions as “Messianic Jews” promote.
  3. “Minister tries to block S. Ind. church demolition”: Thus is it written:
    A minister has refused to leave his church in a city-owned building so it can be demolished for a street to be widened.

    The Rev. Charles T. Goodin says God wants him to stay.

    "I won't disobey God," Goodin told The Republic. "Whatever it comes to, I guess that's what I'll need to do."
    Certainly if God told Goodwin to stay and block the demolition, he is entirely justified in his behavior. However, why he believes God wants him to stay is never explained in the article; this sort of omission is very frustrating.
Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is Information Age Prayer. This site promises you that if you are too busy to pray, you can pay them to have a computer pray for you. I am taking the liberty of assuming this is a joke. Frankly, if one really wanted to do this, it would not be too hard to rig up a combination of AppleScript and iCal to do this for free. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

1 ’Adhar 5769: Ro’sh Ḥodhesh/Ash Wednesday

Greetings.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. Things keep looking down for Richard Williamson: “Nazi row bishop leaves Argentina”. Argentina threw him out. Now maybe the Pope will get around to excommunicating him again...
  2. Another country decides to violate freedom of religion using pathetic legal excuses: “AZERBAIJAN: Literature censorship for export also?”
Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is The Gallery of Exploding Servers. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and happy new month.

Aaron

Thursday, January 29, 2009

4 Shevaṭ 5769: Thomas Paine Day/National Puzzle Day

Greetings.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. More on the Richard Williamson scandal: Groups other than the Vatican have been taking action. (See “Holocaust-denying bishop banned in German city's churches”, “Rehabilitated bishop is silenced by sect”, and “Israel's chief rabbinate severs Vatican ties”.) The Vatican has done nothing but condemn Williamson’s Holocaust-denial, without taking the obvious step of excommunicating him again. (See “Pope Voices Support for Jews, Rejects Holocaust Denial” and “Pope tries to heal rift with Jews over Holocaust denier”.)
  2. “State religion”: Oklahoma’s legislature is considering a bill to erect a Ten Commandments monument on the state Capitol grounds. This dubious and pointless mixture of church and state is done in a highly transparent manner, as it is written:
    Ritze's bill contains a disclaimer that "placement of this monument shall not be construed to mean that the State of Oklahoma favors any particular religion or denomination thereof over others."

    That won't fool anyone, advocate or opponent of the bill. It clearly is intended to recognize tenets of the Christian Bible as being pre-eminent. And it is a slap in the face to citizens of religions other than Christian or Jewish who, while clearly in the minority, deserve the protection, not the tyranny, of the majority.
    I have no clue how this move is supposed to benefit anyone. It fails to improve the functioning of government in any way, it is unconstitutional, and it makes its opponents more hostile. Someone please tell the Oklahoma Supreme Court to squelch this nonsense before it wastes any more time and effort...
  3. And yet more attempts to suppress freedom of religion, now with extra lameness: “AZERBAIJAN: Unregistered worship 'illegal' - but under what law?” and “Kazakhstan launches attack on religion”.
  4. Even more self-promotion: 2009 Darwin Week in Charleston | February 08-15. See me on the 10th and find out why Ben Stein’s Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is bad propaganda.
Today’s news and commentary:Today’s weird thing is Little Richard and the Goosebumps’ “Gilligan’s Island/Stairway”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Thursday, January 22, 2009

26 Ṭeveth 5769: National Blonde Brownie Day/Answer Your Cat’s Question Day

Greetings.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. Even more countries fail at freedom of religion: “Jehovah's Witnesses members detained in western Azerbaijan” and “RUSSIA: Banned "extremist" religious literature – who's next?”
  2. “Busy people grab a dose of God on the go”: This The One-Minute Bible concept worries me. While I am all for fitting religious study into one’s schedule, even at odd times, being able to fit in only a single minute a day is a sign of an overloaded schedule and bad prioritizing. Would it be too difficult to fit in 15 minutes?
  3. I am pleased to announce that I will be participating in Darwin Week at the College of Charleston.  On February 10, I will be part of a panel discussing Ben Stein’s alleged documentary Expelled:  No Intelligence Allowed.  Expelled is pure propaganda for the “intelligent design” movement, and we will be dissecting its claims.  My role is to focus on the religious aspects of the film.  People who want some idea in advance what is wrong with Expelled are advised to visit Expelled Exposed: Why Expelled Flunks, which covers the bases.  I am planning on taking my religious commentary in directions not covered on this site or in any review I have read.  Everyone is invited to attend, including anyone wishing to give me critical commentary on my commentary on Expelled.
Today’s news and commentary:Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry, is “Kitteh of teh Opera”.
funny pictures
Enjoy and share the weirdness with the cat you love.

Aaron

Thursday, August 28, 2008

27 ’Av 5768: Dream Day Quest and Jubilee

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “Tell Dr. Lark to Stop Selling Squalane!” and “Support the PAW Act -- End Alaska's Aerial Hunting Program!”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
  1. “Leviticus traps”: David Benkof correctly notes that it pays to know what one is talking about when attacking someone else’s beliefs or practices. The particular case in question is that some object to the Orthodox Jewish views on homosexuality (prohibited according to Leviticus 18:22), and to attack they ask why Orthodox Jews do not practice various other things in the Torah. The attackers in the process display ignorance of 1) what the Torah actually says, missing context and getting details wrong, and 2) what Orthodox Jews actually believe and practice. An attack based on a false premise is, of course, invalid. Kudos to Benkof for his clear thinking.
  2. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer slaying church attendance among women, study claims”: The title is much funnier than the situation. To quote:
    The report claims more than 50,000 women a year have deserted their congregations over the past two decades because they feel the church is not relevant to their lives.

    It says that instead young women are becoming attracted to the pagan religion Wicca, where females play a central role, which has grown in popularity after being featured positively in films, TV shows and books.
    This is frankly illogical. When choosing a religion, whether deciding to stay with one’s own or to convert to another, the only relevant question is “is it true?” Now, we all live in the same objectively true reality, so whatever is true for one person is true for everyone. (Or if this belief is wrong and we each live in a different reality, my personal reality behaves like this, so I am still right.) Since we all inhabit the same reality, one’s sex is completely irrelevant to what is true. Choosing a religion based on what one gets to do in it is just plain childish, and I hope those abandoning Anglicanism for Wicca are doing it for much better reasons.
  3. “AZERBAIJAN: Threats and deportation 'to stop us talking about God'”: Yes, lots of people find Jehovah’s Witnesses annoying and irrational. That is not an excuse for how the government of Azerbaijan is treating them. Major rule: there is a huge difference between claiming to have freedom of religion and actually practicing it.
  4. “Dead Sea Scrolls go from parchment to the Internet”: Nothing wrong here. Making scholarly useful information easily available is always good.
Today’s news and commentary:Today’s weird thing is “The Great Office War”.

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron