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:

• “A scanner to detect terrorists”
  

As noted yesterday, there will be no weird things until after the Nine Days.  Peace.

Aaron

Beware of obscure punctuation

Greetings.

Jewish date:  29 Tammuz 5769.

Today’s holidays:  The Three Weeks, Last Day to Do Laundry Before the Nine Days.

Today’s quasi-holiday:  National Tug-Of-War Tournament Day.

Worthy cause of the day:  “A.G. Holder: Appoint a Prosecutor”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. A bad case of jumping to a conclusion:  “Riots flare in Blantyre over suspected satanic practices”. General rule about attacking anyone:  MAKE SURE THEY ARE GUILTY FIRST!!!  While dumping dead chickens in a river might conceivably be part of a satanic ceremony (I suppose), it is not necessarily so, and there is a big gap between water pollution and fatal traffic accidents which needs verification that a causative relationship actually exists and (preferably also) how it works.
2. More oppression:  “European Court rules against the Sikh turban in French schools” and “Oregon's Fashion Police” (denial of freedom of religion to public school teachers).  France I can believe, given that the government there has no regard for freedom of religion; this is the same government which thinks that banning all religious clothing of any kind in schools is a good way to fight against terrorism.  (How something like that is supposed to work, I have no idea.)  But Oregon, here in the United States, now has decided that public school teachers having the freedom to follow the clothing dictates of their religion is wrong.  Why?  How is this not unconstitutional?  And what is this teaching students about freedom of religion?  Are we trying to give the impression that they should not get used to the fact that there are people of different religions around and learn to be OK with it?  Are we trying to give the impression that everyone must hide what he/she believes on the off-chance that someone might be somehow offended?  Are we trying to give the impression that freedom of expression is bad?
3. “Hizb Ut-Tahrir: Shariah Takes Precedence over U.S. Constitution / Imam Promises to Fight "Until Islam Becomes Victorious or We Die in the Attempt"”:  I cannot make up the level of paranoia or poor-quality lying depicted in this article.
   
4. Emes Ve-Emunah: A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and sociological issues of our time:  This is a blog written by an extremely courageous man, certainly braver than I am.  It is very easy to criticize people other than one’s own and find fault with them.  (I know.  I do it often.)  But it is very different to criticize one’s own people, to complain about their problems.  It risks the ire of one’s own community, and it may be personally painful to do so.  Unfortunately, problems which go unrecognized are much less likely to be fixed.  And so I must applaud Rav Harry Maryles for addressing uncomfortable issues with in the Orthodox Jewish community, and I pray to YHWH that he be successful in helping us overcome some of our faults.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Arctic Mystery: Identifying the Great Blob of Alaska”
  

Today’s weird thing is irony mark (؟).  Enjoy (or be puzzled by why it would even be necessary) and share the weirdness.

Aaron

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:

• “Escape Attempt”
  
• “If It Bleeds, It Leads: An Exception to the Rule”
  
• “Lost Apollo 11 video tapes found?”
  

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

Beware of clouds

Greetings.

Jewish date: 28 ’Iyyar 5769.

Today’s holidays:  Day 43 of the ‘Omer, Jerusalem Day. Relevant to Jerusalem Day are “This year in Jerusalem”, “Once upon an Independence Eve”,“Jerusalem (1973)”, and “The Struggle for Jerusalem”.

Today’s quasi-holidays: International Day for Biological Diversity, Buy-A-Musical Instrument Day, The Anniversary of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Worthy causes of the day: “Education is the Pathway Out of Global Poverty” and “Help Support Tougher Sanctions on Iran”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Oh, Texas, this guy runs your school board?”: Creationist attacks on academic integrity in our public schools have not ceased. This article is about one creationist on a school board in Texas who has trouble with the idea of experts, i.e., people who know more about him on, say, evolution, and who believe he is wrong. Claiming to know better on a subject than people who actually, demonstrably know more is a bad idea. Not to mention this guy has no clue that punctuated equilibrium (“stasis”) is not a disproof of (or even vaguely resemble a disproof of) evolution, which does nothing to help his case.
   
2. “Holocaust remembrance group silenced in Ukraine”: As if covering up something horrible that happened ever made the world a better place to live in.
   
3. More persecution: “ADL voices concern over recent anti-Semitic incidents in Argentina”.
4. More paranoia: “Children in Congo forced into exorcisms”.
5. It is very easy to point at something wrong and announce its wrongness to the world. Harder is to explain why someone reached a wrong belief or decision. “Don't judge the chemo kid” is an article which attempts to explain why Daniel Hauser, the 13-year-old boy with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and his mother have gone on the run to keep him from having to undergo chemotherapy.  Chemotherapy is an extremely difficult treatment with horrific side effects.  The correct decision is still to undergo chemotherapy, but it is understandable that Daniel and his mother would want to find another way to cure him.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “The State of "Palestine" Quiz”
  
• “Hostility Towards Scientists And Jenny McCarthy’s Latest Video”: Another case of someone ignorant believing she knows better than actual, demonstrable experts. This is the sort of poor thinking which kills children.
  
• “Perfect Pitch Related to Language”
  
• “The Urban Phantom: Why bears are like drug addicts”
  
• “Game Boy Oddities - The PediSedate”
  

Today’s weird thing is The Cloud Appreciation Society. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Beware of expanding planets

Greetings.

Jewish date:  23 ’Iyyar 5769.

Today’s holidays:  Day 38 of the ‘Omer, Sixth Sunday of Easter.

Today’s quasi-holidays:  World Telecommunication Day, Rural Life Sunday/Soil Stewardship Sunday.

Those of you who are getting this through the mail, please ignore the incomplete version of this post previously sent. Blogger does stupid things sometimes.

Worthy causes of the day: “Demand Governor Rendell Speak Out About Luis Ramirez’s Death”, “Appoint A Special Prosecutor For Torture Now”, “Ensure Health Coverage for All Children in America”, and “TELL THE SENATE: KEEP OBAMA'S MILITARY BUDGET CLEAN!”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. A step in the direction of sanity:  “Child Witch: Bishop, 4 Others Arraigned”.  “Bishop” Sunday Okon Williams, who claims to have killed 110 child witches in Nigeria in the name of exorcism, has been arrested.
2. “COGIC car plates hit a snag”: Just great. State congresspeople have been trying for religious license plates in Tennessee.  This is despite the state attorney general rightly claiming that the idea is “probably unconstitutional”, an obvious violation of separation of church and state.  Why, why, why does anyone care to advertise their religion on a license plate, something meant to be a boring evidence of registration?
   
3. “Kings to Come to DVD”:  Better title:  “Kings has been canceled”.  At least this saves me from further reviews, despite the fact that early cancellation means a lot of loose threads have been left behind which will never be tied up except maybe in fan-fiction.  But that means I may have to pick up the slack and write more about Reaper and Cupid.  Well, maybe just Cupid.  Last I heard, Reaper is endangered.
   
4. “Rabbi Shmuley Rejects Pope’s Condemnation of Israel’s Fence”:  He is right.  Pope Benedict XVI forgot the context.
   
5. “Judge rules family can't refuse chemo for boy”:  In summary:  The courts rule that a 13-year-old with Hodgkin’s lymphoma is not legally empowered to commit stupidity in the name of his religion.
   
6. Notable weird addition to my personal library lately:  Religions of Star Trek by Ross S. Kraemer, Wiliam Cassidy, and Susan L. Schwartz.  Yes, people do write about such things.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Cycle of Violence 101”
  

Today’s weird thing is a bizarre pseudoscientific idea which I encountered recently, the expanding Earth hypothesis, which suffers from such problems as it requires the Earth to gain mass or the gravitational constant of the Universe to change.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Beware of virtual bonfires

Greetings.

Jewish date: 18 ’Iyyar 5769.

Today’s holiday: Day 33 of the ‘Omer (Lagh ba‘Omer).

Today’s quasi-holiday: International Nurses Day.

Worthy causes of the day: “Put Single Payer Health Care On The Table Now” and “The Human Face of Climate Change”. I would also like to encourage everyone out there who can to give blood. (I did a week ago.) Remember: it is a very safe and easy way to save a life and be a hero.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “EU criticizes Jewish boycott of religion meeting”: Let’s see... We have some Muslim delegates being anti-Semitic. This is not conducive to dialog with Jews. Why should anyone expect Jews to bother participating?
2. “Saudi judge: It's OK to slap spendthrift wives”: Here we have an instance of “blame the victim”.
3. “Woman accused of witchcraft shot dead”: Yet another instance of witchcraft paranoia. I am getting sick of reporting these.
   
4. More intolerance, this time very cowardly: “Bomb attack targets Cairo church, no one injured”.
5. Interesting Jewish legend: “Was there a Jewish pope?”.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Bibi Meets Mubarak”
• “Our Planet's Leaky Atmosphere”
• “Cat scans PET scan”
• “Islands of species richness”
• “HIV co-discovers Gallo and Montagnier unite to push for renewed focus on HIV/AIDS”
• “Drug company schwag sways med students”
• “Math: The Eyes Have It”

There is a custom of lighting bonfires on Lagh ba‘Omer. Therefore, today’s weird things are the Ethereal.Org Screensavers. One of them, Inferno, displays a blazing fire. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Yes, Virginia, there are superheroes

Greetings.

Jewish date:  17 ’Iyyar 5769.

Today’s holidays:  Day 32 of the ‘Omer, Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter.

Today’s quasi-holiday:  Eat What You Want Day.

Worthy cause of the day:  “Put Single Payer Health Care On The Table Now”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Minnesota boy taken to court for refusng cancer treatment”:  A 13-year-old a member of the Native American Church organization Nemenhah is refusing actual treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma on religious grounds.  Seeing that whatever god may exist does not favor people who refuse treatments that have been rigorously demonstrated to work, this is reckless self-endangerment.
2. More reckless self-endangerment:  “50 people looking for solar image of Mary lose sight”.
3. Witchcraft paranoia does not stop:  “Couple ordered to leave Bihar village for ‘witchcraft’”.  Do note that more than expulsion occurred; the husband was beaten.  There is also no mention of evidence of the practice of witchcraft or its efficacy.
4. Evil spirit paranoia is not dead either, even in the United States:  “Activist calls for protection against evil spirits in election”.
5. “Televangelist Pat Robertson compares same-sex marriage to child molestation, pedophilia”:  Strangely enough, I can understand comparing homosexuality to child molestation and pedophilia; homosexuality has a bad reputation in the Hebrew Bible, so it is easy to compare it with other sexual perversions.  However, he also compares it with polygamy, which he seems to hold is Biblically prohibited.  Where he got this idea, I have no clue.  The Torah lists no prohibition on polygamy, and it was practiced by a number of prominent figures in the Hebrew Bible (’Avraham, Ya‘aqov, Dawidh, Shelomoh...) without Divine disapproval.  Shouldn’t a preacher know this?

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Robots Take To The Stairs - This Is Just The Beginning (videos)”
• “H1N1 hullabaloo: overreaction or prudent caution?”

Today’s weird thing is Real Life Superheroes.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

WE’RE OFF TO ZAP THE WIZARD

Greetings.

Jewish date:  16 ’Iyyar 5769.

Today’s holidays:  Day 31 of the ‘Omer, Fifth Sunday of Easter.

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Mother’s Day, Golden Spike Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Support the EPA's Stand Against Big Oil and Coal” and The Big Read.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Witch hunts, murder and evil in Papua New Guinea”:  This is indecent:  people being killed with neither trial nor even a solid basis for believing they are an imminent danger to anyone else.  And the government is not putting the resources into stopping this travesty of justice.
   
2. More governmental religious intolerance:  “Devout Hindu loses cremation bid” and “Somalia: Kenyan Pastor Beaten At Somaliland Border”.
3. This looks like an attempt to defuse free publicity for Angels and Demons before it happens:  “Demons 'harmless', says Vatican”.
4. “Archbishop says Obama advancing anti-life agenda”:  With all respect due to Archbishop Raymond Burke, never has there been a truly “anti-life” or “anti-family” politician.  When was the last time anyone saw a politician give a speech praising abortion or condemning families?  We are all entitled to our own opinions, but not to dictate the opinions of other people.
5. “Commandments bill passes”:  The Capitol of Oklahoma is getting a Ten Commandments monument.  Critics are right in condemning this as a violation of separation of church and state.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Montreal Metro Issues Photo Gaffe Clarification”
  
• “Why don't trees lean toward the equator?”
• “Giant spiders invade Australian Outback town”

Today’s weird thing is “Dalek Invasion Of Oz 1939”. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and EXTERMINATE!

Aaron

Beware of eBay

Greetings.

Jewish date: 9 ’Iyyar 5769.

Today’s holidays: Day 24 of the ‘Omer, Fourth Sunday of Easter.

Today’s quasi-holidays: World Press Freedom Day, National Two Different Colored Shoes Day.

Worthy cause of the day: “Tell Congress to stop coal companies from using mountain streams as waste dumps.”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. Very sensible:  “Worship sites seek to keep the faithful flu-free”.
   
2. Very disturbing: “Commission Names 13 Countries as Religious Freedom Violators”, “Taliban demolishes 11 homes of Sikh community”
   
3. Very incoherent and paranoid: “Swine Flu: God's Mercy Running Raw”: It should go without saying that saying known lies about someone, such as claiming that Barack Obama is a Muslim, and making serious accusations without the least shred of evidence is itself a dialectic faux pas. A good argument cannot be built on false premises. However, claiming that Obama is “Marxist Muslim”, a combination which is inherently contradictory, is an insult to both Obama’s intelligence and the reader’s.
   
4. Yet another incidence of extralegal witchcraft paranoia: “Couple killed over witchcraft claims”. Remember: never kill anyone extralegally in a non-emergency situation! You may kill someone innocent. When was a trial where anyone was proved to have committed magic? When was it proved that the magic actually could hurt anyone? When was it proved that any magic actually hurt anyone?
5. Very embarrassing to the wrong people: “Inside the cult, scientology”:
   
   
6. Very paranoid and foolish: “Religious sect slams brakes on anti-polio drive”.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Pa. township has all it street signs stolen”
  
• “Will Egypt's plans to kill pigs protect it from swine flu -- sorry, H1N1 flu?”
  
• “5 Ways to Protect Yourself (and Others) from Swine Flu”
  

Today’s weird thing is “Packages”.

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Beware of babies

Greetings.

Jewish date:  3 ’Iyyar 5769.

Today’s holiday:  Day 18 of the ‘Omer.

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Write an Old Friend Today Day, Babe Ruth Day.

Worthy cause of the day: “Urge the Obama Administration to Protect Polar Bears and Other Vulnerable Wildlife”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. Bad idea:  “Religious Revolt: New Christian Sect Battles Demons, Raises the Dead, Campaigns for Sarah Palin”.  People ought to know by now that the evidence for the existence of demons and witchcraft is nil and that faith-healing is a fraud.  On the bright side, at least some Christian pastors are fighting back against the darkness:  “Nigerian Withcraft: Pastor fights deceitful counterparts”.
   
2. Religious intolerance:  “Hindu radicals attack old church”.
   
3. Time for a few comments on the latest episode of Kings, “Judgement Day”.  There does not seem to be much of anything in this episode directly traceable to Samuel.  King Silas sitting in judgement over his people is more reminiscent of Shelomoh (Solomon) than Sha’ul (Saul).  Jack continues to play politics in a very un-Yonathan (Jonathan)-like manner with little regard for the lives of other people, making a big mess for Michelle/Mikhal and David/Dawidh to deal with.  This episode reflects largely on the themes of God, justice, and the rule of law, with Silas, Michelle, and David all put in dilemmas about whether it is more moral to play by the rules or whether it is sometimes necessary to subvert them.  Silas considers himself God’s representative while judging, and in the end, satisfied with Silas’s judgement, declares that God works through the king.  Michelle also reveals to David that she is promised to someone else, a major roadblock to progress on their relationship.  We will have to wait until June 14 to find out what happens next.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Swine Flu?” and “What is swine flu? US declares public health emergency”:  Paradoxically, there is very little to worry about from swine flu, avian flu, or other new infectious diseases for the very reason that governments are so worried about them.  The response of governments is to quarantine every new case, because there is no way in Hell they are going to let swine flu or any such disease spread.  The easiest way to kill an epidemic disease is to keep it from ever becoming an epidemic—and the last thing any nation or humanity as a whole needs, on top of everything else going wrong on this planet, is another epidemic.  Because humanity’s governments have gone crazy clamping down on new infectious diseases, humanity in general has very little to worry about them.
  
• “New Statesman: Israel = Racist”
  
• “Jewish legacy inscribed on genes?”:  Submitted by Dad.  Interesting notion.  Time and research will tell whether the hypothesis is correct.
  
• “Found: Missing link ancestor of modern sea lions, seals and walrus”
  
• “Bionic penguins take to the water – and the skies”
  

Today’s weird thing is “BWAINZ!!!”.


Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

24 ’Adhar 5769: Vernal Equinox/Sweater Day/National Quilting Day/National Agriculture Day/Great American Meat Out Day/International Day of the Francophonie

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Join the Fight to End Mountaintop Removal”, “New Networks Must Be Neutral”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Gambian state kidnaps 1,000 villagers in mass purge of 'witchcraft'”: When are they going to get over this shameful witchcraft paranoia which only hurts innocent people?
   
2. “Pope tells Muslims that religion rejects violence”: The Pope is trying to redefine religion, as it is written:
   
   

   "Genuine religion ... stands at the base of any authentically human culture," he said. "It rejects all forms of violence and totalitarianism: not only on principles of faith but also of right reason."

   The Pope thus commits the fallacy of redefinition.  “Religion” has no one accepted definition.  It is such a loosely defined term that any belief system which has anything to say on theology or morality is likely to be termed a “religion” by someone.  This includes atheism, communism, and Nazism.  Some even claim that science, which is more of a methodology than an ideology, is a religion; while this is usually a politically charged claim, the same sort of dedication, devotion, and feelings of awe usually associated with religion can also be found in the writings of some scientists on science, e.g., those of Carl Sagan.  Trying to indirectly change Islam, which has a documented history of violence and totalitarianism, in this fashion is likely to convince no one sensible.
   
3. “Woman accused of church theft blames Satan”: Uh, yeah... I hope she did not mean it literally...
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Vengance!”
  
• “California town to spray-paint lawn bald spots”: Gee, wouldn’t planting actual grass be a better idea?
  
• “It’s the eggquinox!”
  
• “Diebold Admits Audit Logs in ALL Versions of Their Software Fail to Record Ballot Deletions” and “KY Election Officials Arrested, Charged With 'Changing Votes at E-Voting Machines'”: Oops. Is anyone out there really surprised at these?
  
• “Rocket Scientists Shoot Down Mosquitoes With Lasers”
  
• “An Alarming video every Westerner should see”
  
• “Police bring Tardis-style boxes back into use”: Good news for Doctor Who fans.
  
• “Genesis for Exploding Stars Confirmed”
  

Today’s weird thing is “Building my own Solar Panel”. Somebody please send me one of these. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

18 Shevaṭ 5769: Darwin Day/Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Support a Truth & Reconciliation Commission”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. More violations of freedom of religion: “UZBEKISTAN: Unregistered Hare Krishna devotees and Protestants raided”, “BELARUS: Danes deported for praying in church”, “British Ban Dutch Lawmaker Over Anti-Islam Film”, “ARMENIA: Two years' imprisonment for organising sharing of faith?”
   
2. “Tenn. church shooter pleads guilty, gets life”: The logic the shooter used to rationalize attacking people at a Unitarian church is rather bizarre, as it is written:

   "This was a hate crime," Adkisson wrote in the four-page suicide letter obtained by The Knoxville News Sentinel. "This was a symbolic killing. Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the House and Senate ... (and) everyone in the mainstream media. But these people were inaccessible to me.
   
   "I couldn't get to the generals and high-ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chicken (expletive) liberals that vote in these traitorous people."

   The premise that Democrats and the mainstream media are all Marxists and traitors is obviously delusional or at least based on very bad data. Notice that nowhere in the article is any real justification for killing anyone. The shooter was angry and decided to take out his frustrations on people he blamed for his troubles. Ironically, the shooter labeled his victims “un-American”, but what he did was disrespectful of freedom of belief, illegal, and immoral, i.e., very much against American ideals.
   
3. “Arrests for Ugandan ritual murder”: Another example of why one always needs to be sure in advance that one’s premises are correct before doing anything irreversible and the danger of belief in witchcraft.
   
4. “Holocaust denial is the least of it”: This is another take on the William Robinson scandal.
   
5. “With political discrimination in the wake of pogroms, Orissa Christians cannot vote”: India has its own problems of religious intolerance.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Election Results (1981)”
  
• “Are Volcanoes or Humans Harder on the Atmosphere?”
  
• “What will it take to get you to stop smoking? How about cold hard cash?”
  
• “Man runs out of gas after robbing gas station”
  
• “A Skeptic's Take on the Public Misunderstanding of Darwin”
  
• “U.S. Satellite Destroyed in Space Collision”: This was bound to happen sooner or later.
  
• “Dishonest Reporting 'Award' 2008”
  
“Appreciating evolution on Darwin's 200th birthday”

Today’s weird thing is “Steampunk Cake!” Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

2 Shevaṭ 5769: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “RUSH TO JUDGMENT”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. The Richard Williamson scandal continues.  Both the Italian bishops’ conference and the Vatican have denounced the Holocaust-denying views of Williamson (see “Italy bishops denounce Holocaust denier” and “Vatican: Comments by Holocaust denier unacceptable”).  No word on Pope Benedict XVI re-excommunicating Williamson yet.  Meanwhile, Williamson himself seems to be increasingly nutty, as evidenced by this bizarre review of The Sound of Music, which is not only pro-Nazi, but also makes some interesting leaps of logic.  (Credit is due to J. L. Bell, who read about this in The Daily Dish.)
   
2. “Tanzania witchdoctors flout ban”: The ban is on using organs from human albinos, procured by murdering people they were part of. Considering that magic only works in the form of psychological effects, this is an extremely high moral price to pay for a placebo. Shame on the witchdoctors, the murderers, and the clients of the witchdoctors!
   
3. More self-promotion: 2009 Darwin Week in Charleston | February 08-15. I am on the panel on the 10th discussing Expelled. Bring your own rotten vegetables.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Doomsday Defense (1994)”
  
• “Digging For the Truth”
  
• “Octuplets stun doctors at U.S. hospital”
  
• This Modern World 2009-01-26
  
• “Astronaut Carving on Ancient Spanish Cathedral”
  
• “Dismantling NCCAM: A How-To Primer”
  
• “IDF: Only 250 of Gaza fatalities were civilians”
  
• “How Gaza was spun”
  
• Relevant to today’s quasi-holiday: “The Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers - it began with words”
  
• “Vaccines and autism: yet another dead link”
  

Today’s weird thing is Toy-A-Day. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

22 Ṭeveth 5769: Jazz Day/Pooh Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “ Protect the Arctic from Industrial Fishing”, “Keep Loaded Guns Out of Our National Parks”, and “Support the Unplanned Pregnancy Prevention Bill”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “"No God" bus ads banned in Italian city”: As it is written:

   Italian atheists have lost a bid to run "no God" advertisements on city buses after strong opposition from conservative political parties, a member of the group said on Saturday.

   The ads reading "The bad news is that God doesn't exist. The good news is that you don't need him" were to have been put on buses in the northern city of Genoa, home to the Catholic cardinal who is head of the Italian Bishops Conference.

   My (sarcastic) comment on the ad text: No God? ARGH! All life is totally meaningless! There’s no afterlife, and all life is going to end in dismal oblivion! What a horrible, horrible situation! How the gezornenblat are we going to handle something so terrible?  How can we possibly not need a god to get us out of such a situation?
   
   Major rule: One person’s good news is another person’s bad news.  Also:  Bus ads are too short to make convincing arguments.
   
2. A very different sort of bad idea: “Lithuanian firm hires witch to hunt debt dodgers”: You know, I would be willing to do nothing useful to collect debts for half of what the witch is charging...

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Can a simple checklist prevent surgical errors?”
  
• “Historic NYC diner will get hauled to Alabama”
  
• “New study: Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are genetically linked”
  
• “Combating the Rising Cost of Heating Your Home”
  
• “Bailed-Out Firms Have Offshore Tax Havens, GAO Report Finds”
  
• “How to save $225 million dollars”
  
• “Bush: Gray wolves aren't endangered any more”: Shame on Bush!
  
• “Shoplifter gets run over twice by her getaway car”: Interesting variant on poetic justice.
  
• “What Your Supermarket Won't Tell You”
  

Today’s weird thing is “Abby Normal? Nope: Psychiatrist knits anatomically correct brain”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

13 Ṭeveth 5769: National Static Electricity Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Help put global warming at the top of the agenda for the Obama Administration”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Nepal's Maoist rulers rile Hindus”: I have to side with the Hindus on this one: it makes no sense for atheists to meddle in the running of a Hindu temple.
   
2. “Woman suspected of witchcraft burned alive”: General rule: Before you kill anyone, make sure they are actually guilty of something worthy of death!/ The consequences of not being sure can be catastrophic.
   
3. “US Says Kyrgyz Law Would Restrict Religious Freedom”: Apparently arbitrary government restrictions on religion is epidemic in the former Soviet Union. Kyrgyzstan is getting into the act.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Israel Breaks the Rules”
  
• “More salmonella: U.S. searching for origin of latest, widespread outbreak”
  
• “A perk for coffee lovers: Java may lower oral cancer risk”
  
• “Obama and Spider-Man appear in comic together”: Submitted by Barry.
  

Today’s weird thing is the Random Recipe Generator, which may be useful for anyone insufficiently creative to create an original disaster in the kitchen. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

27 Kislew 5769: Ḥanukkah, day 3/National Eggnog Day/Christmas Eve

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: Free Pollard Now (a truly pro-Israel president would pardon Jonathan Pollard).

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Police probe assault on 50 "witches"”: Major rule: First, collect evidence. If there is evidence, then hold a fair trial. Only if the verdict is guilty does punishment make sense. Anything else in a situation which is not an emergency (e.g., a psychopathic killer chasing someone down the street with a sharp knife) is stands a good chance of hurting someone innocent.
   
2. “US Postal Service won't send "any matter containing religious materials contrary to Islamic faith" to overseas military post offices”: Trust the Bush administration to have a regulation in violation of freedom of religion.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Distorted Body Images: A Quick and Easy Way to Reduce Pain”
  
• “One World, Many Minds: Intelligence in the Animal Kingdom”
  
• “Indoctrinating Palestinian Children to Genocidal Hate
  
• “Incest may not be best, but marriage bans should be rolled back, scientists say
  
• “BBC's Christmas Odyssey”
  
• “Nothing Personal, You're Just Not My Type”
  
• “Six Legged Cinema”

These days, around this time of year some people panic at the multiplicity of holidays, fearing that Christmas will be toned down or lost in the shuffle. (Which is pretty strange, considering that at any time of year there are bound to be multiple holidays, both religious and what pass for “secular holidays”, yet there is much less multiple holiday panic. I would also like to note that “holiday” in any compound, such as “holiday season” or “holiday tree” comes off as a way of referring to Christmas without actually saying “Christmas”, and judging from the paucity of non-Christmas holiday specials on TV compared to the abundance of Christmas specials, I doubt anyone has any rational reason to fear about Christmas being lost in the shuffle.) Today’s weird thing is a classic parody roaming the Internet of the consequences of trying to treat this time of year as a “holiday season”, “Holiday Party”. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and happy Ḥanukkah or whatever other holiday you celebrate around this time of year.

Aaron

7 Kislew 5769: Wear Brown Shoes Day/Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “Tell Barack Obama, Put Children's Health First!” and “Don't Let Another Bear Cub Die in Russia's Hibernating Bear Hunt”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Nigeria "witchdoctor" held over child killing claim”: Thus is it written:

   Police have arrested a man in southeastern Nigeria who said in a television documentary he had killed 110 children he believed to be possessed by evil spirits, officials said on Wednesday.

   This person ought to be very disturbing. Possession by evil spirits has never been demonstrated to occur, so he has probably killed in vain. Furthermore, his rationalization for killing is flimsy:

   "I am not denying that I am a witchdoctor, but what I killed are witches in my patients with herbs, not children," Ulup-Aya said while in detention.

   Even if the children really were possessed, he killed innocent children in order to kill the witches. Unless those possessed children were highly dangerous, this witchdoctor has to have a rather unusual moral system in order to justify killing the children along with the possessing spirits/witches. Assuming the witchdoctor is merely lying to cover up human trafficking only makes him slightly less odious.
   
2. “Anti-Semitism is not the same as Islamophobia”: This article is correct: not all prejudices are equivalent.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Gasoline Prices (1973)”
  
• “Chemical romance”
  
• “FBI: Copper thieves jeopardize US infrastructure”
  
• “Cleveland Clinic to reveal docs with lucrative drug company ties”
  
• “Terrorism database sheds light on the history of attacks in India”
  
• “RI man bags mutant, 4-clawed lady lobster”
  
• “Man uses candy cane to subdue attacker with knife”
  
• “Ancient dragonfly-like insect imprint found”
  
• Tom the Dancing Bug 2008-12-04
  
• “Surgeon saves boy's life by text”
  

Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry, is “Top 11 Lamest Blogs”. This blog is not on that list, thank YHWH, even though at times it feels like only three people actually bother to read it. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and please consider leaving a comment occasionally.

Aaron

18 Tishri 5769: Ḥol hamMo‘edh Sukkoth/National Mammography Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Tell the Bahamas to Stop Killing Sea Turtles”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Some hear doll's burbling as a clear endorsement of Islam”: No, I am not making this up. It is probably a fluke and unintentional.
   
2. “Conservative Christians lead push for Prop. 8”: Proposition 8 would eliminate any legal right to homosexual marriage in California. Unlike most articles on subject of homosexuality in Christianity, this one actual takes the trouble to list a few relevant verses, so let us go through them one by one:
   1. Genesis 19:4-6: An incident of attempted homosexual rape in Sedhom (Sodom). This is not legal material, plus the incident happened before the giving of the Torah, so it is not a good basis for deriving law. Clearly the attitude towards homosexual rape is negative, though the context does not make clear whether the homosexuality part or the rape part or both are what is abominated. Note that nowhere in the Hebrew Bible is there any positive depiction of homosexuality of any kind.
      
   2. Leviticus 20:13 (“And a man that will lie with a male like having sexual intercourse with a woman, the two of them did an abomination; they shall die; their blood is upon them.”: This is an unambiguous prohibition of male homosexuality. The justification given for why this does not apply today is nonsense: “Times have changed, and the verses applied to those times only. The chapter also mandates death for adulterers.” One of the major problems Christianity has is justifying gerrymandering what parts of the Law still hold and which do not. There is no mention of an expiration date or any condition for expiration of any commandment, which is why Orthodox Judaism holds they all still apply, even ones Christians tend to look on as downright weird. Even Jesus never claimed any end to Torah prohibitions. Therefore the prohibition of homosexuality still holds.
      
   3. Romans 1:27: This is a very negative depiction of homosexuality. The justification “St. Paul criticizes a range of behaviors.” is nonsense since everything else depicted negatively in this section is something traditionally considered bad.
      
   4. 1 Corinthians 6:9: I am not competent enough in Koine Greek yet to judge whether or not homosexuality is being discussed among other vices. Sorry. This, of course, does not cancel out the verse in Romans.
   Let us face it: there is no ground to stand upon to claim that homosexuality (or male homosexuality, at any rate) is an acceptable practice in Christianity. And I would like to emphasize practice. None of these verses say anything about having homosexual feelings, which is quite a different matter.
   
3. “Baltimore archbishop tells Virgin Mary 'visionary' to stop activities”: Kudos to the Catholic Church for their skepticism of questionable visions.
   
4. “Good Taste”: Yes, people are weird like that. Palin still sucks as a vice-presidential candidate.
   
5. “Earliest Reference Describes Christ as 'Magician'”: Or maybe it is something else. Let us let the archaeologists work this out.
   
6. “Peaceful Demostrator Punched by Scientologist at Los Angeles Event”: This is a new tactic. Usually Scientologists file lawsuits. Maybe the fact that Anonymous protesters tend to be masked and therefore unidentifiable, hence difficult to sue, has something to do with it.
   
7. “World Dignitaries Open International Conference On Religion”: The fact that no religious leaders are mentioned as attending this conference does not bode well, though holding it in Tehran is an interesting tactic.
   
8. “Palestinian man in Jordan kills daughter to cleanse family honor”: And the real shame is that “Forensic doctors said an autopsy showed the girl was still a virgin.” Obviously the father failed to find out if his daughter had actually done anything dishonorable before killing her. It should therefore also be obvious why moral judgement in the absence of evidence is a very, very bad idea.
   
9. “False claims exposed of Kenyan pastor who protected Sarah Palin from witches”: Apparently Thomas Muthee lied about his struggle against “witchcraft”. Mama Jane, the alleged witch he claims to have run out of Kiambu, Kenya, never left town.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Hottest Planet Ever Discovered”
  
• “Obama buys first video game campaign ads”
  
• “Secret London wartime tunnel complex for sale”
  
• “"Walking fish" reveals fresh evolutionary insights”
  
• “Mysterious Mars Moon a Pile of Rubble ”
  
• “Quantum Cryptography: As Awesome As It Is Pointless”
  
• “Angry about economy? Smash some plates and move on”
  
• “What are vestibular migraines?”
  
• “Disco tune "Stayin' Alive" could save your life” (No, I am not making this up.)
  
• “CIA Tactics Endorsed In Secret Memos” (Oops.)
  

Today’s weird thing is the International Earth-Destruction Advisory Board. Enjoy, share the weirdness, Shabbath shalom, and ḥagh sameaḥ.

Aaron

17 Tishri 5769: Ḥol hamMo‘edh Sukkoth/Dictionary Day/World Food Day/Reptile Awareness Day/Bosses’ Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “Tell John McCain and Sarah Palin to Reject the Politics of Division” and “Keep Our Commitments”.

It is Sukkoth, and I am sitting outside in my sukkah putting this posting together.  (Thank YHWH for wireless networking!)

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Shift the focus from synagogue to home”: Rav Boteach is correct that the true focus of Judaism is not the synagogue. Serious religions (not just Judaism) tend to cover every aspect of human life. As such, they are not limited to a one-time-per-week activity.
   
2. “3,000 Christians flee Mosul 'killing campaign'”: Just in case any of you thought Islam was merely anti-Jewish. Non-Muslims living under Muslim tend to bear the brunt of Muslim anger, whether they have done anything to deserve it or not.
   
3. “Man accused of assaulting 'witch' at Taft”: Please do not ask me what this student was thinking. I have no idea.
   
4. “Suit Against God Thrown Out Over Lack Of Address”: Thus is it written:

   A judge has thrown out a Nebraska legislator's lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty wasn't properly served due to his unlisted home address. State Sen. Ernie Chambers filed the lawsuit last year seeking a permanent injunction against God.
   
   He said God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."
   
   Chambers has said he filed the lawsuit to make the point that everyone should have access to the courts regardless of whether they are rich or poor.
   
   On Tuesday, however, Douglas County District Court Judge Marlon Polk ruled that under state law a plaintiff must have access to the defendant for a lawsuit to move forward.

   This lawsuit involves some serious problems.  First, the alleged reason for the lawsuit, access to the courts, does not seem to have much to do with suing God.  Second, it is difficult to imagine holding deities who are not part of our universe subject to our laws; enforcement is probably impossible.  Turning around the matter of jurisdiction, (assuming an Abrahamic worldview) God created this universe and it is therefore His.  Being His creatures living in His universe, we are subject to live by His rules, including matters of reward and punishment, whether or not we think they are fair.  Thirdly, Mr. Chambers forgets that humans bear much responsibility for human suffering, with politics, stupidity, greed, blame-shifting, ignorance, and senseless hatred doing so much to kill and injure people as well as simply make their lives miserable that even an outright human-hating deity would probably just sit back and watch rather than try to improve on our work.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Sukkot (1998)” and “American Gothic”
  
• “What Google Engineers do for Fun: Computerized LEGO Art Project”
  
• “New Homes on the Range: Species Shift Across Yosemite”
  
• “Giant Cyclones Seen on Saturn”
  
• “Smuggling by tunnel goes legit in Gaza”
  
• “Palin family values” and This Modern World 2008-10-15 (Whose idea was it to allow Sarah Palin on the ticket again?)
  
• “Browse the Artifacts of Geek History in Jay Walker's Library” (Submitted by Barry.)
  
• “One-Organism Ecosystem Discovered in African Gold Mine”
  
• “Elephants now texting rangers”
  
• “Rabbit invasion shuts Mandela museum”
  

Today’s weird thing is “The Top 20 Satirical Candidates Of All Time”. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and vote for Nobody.

Aaron