24 Marḥeshwan 5768: Guy Fawkes Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “The Two Palestines”
  
• “New York parley to discuss plight of Jewish refugees”
  
• “'PM to free prisoners ahead of parley'” (What part of “never did any good” does ’Olmert not understand?)
  
• “No email privacy rights under Constitution, US gov claims” (How shamelessly evil can the Bush administration be?)
  
• “Vacation photos create 3D models of world landmarks”
  
• “Homeland Security Retreats From Facets of 'Real ID'”
  
• “Are American Jews Too Powerful? Not Even Close.”

Today’s weird thing is “The Muppet Matrix”. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and beware of Gonzo.

Aaron

23 Marḥeshwan 5768: Waiting for the Barbarians Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day, suggested by Barry: “Let's Say Thanks”.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Time to Digest” (Jewish-specific joke.)
  
• “3 Bots in the Winner's Circle in Robo-Race” (Sports news.)
  
• “Fab at Home, Open-Source 3D Printer, Lets Users Make Anything”
  
• “Gas may be to blame for extinction”
  
• “Bush vetoes $23-billion water bill”
  
• “14 Firms Compete on Building a Fence between Saudi Arabia and Iraq” (It has been asked why this fence is OK, while that in Israel is not OK.)
  
• “Lab creates 'long-distance mouse'”
  

Today’s weird thing is Chris Fenton’s DIY Laptop Page, which will make you thankful for the most primitive computer you have ever owned.. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

21 Marḥeshwan 5768: Plan Your Epitaph Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “A Sick Situation”
  
• “Harry had it right; we still haven't learned”
  
• “Senate approves children's health bill”
  
• “Many Americans Dissatisfied With Their Medical Care”
  
• “The War on the Unexpected”
  
• “The Cutting Edge: Bicycle Lawnmowing”
  
• “Superfast Laser Turns Virus Into Rubble”

Today’s weird things are the Steampunk Keyboard Mod and the Steampunk Flat-Panel LCD Mod. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

20 Marḥeshwan 5768: National Author’s Day/All Saints’ Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “The U.S. Embassy (1977)”
  
• “Endangered Species - The Chemistry Set”
  
• “Guardian's One-Sided Analysis”
  
• “Why Not Ask About Pakistan's "Right to Exist"?”
  
• “U.K. "peace activists" caught destroying crops”

Would you believe there was a silent version of Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope made in 1926? Me neither, but today’s weird thing is a script purporting to be just that. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

19 Marḥeshwan 5768: Halloween

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “No free ride for polluters”.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Annapolis Game Plan”
  
• “Jurassic Park was right about 'raptors'”
  
• “Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin”
  
• “Guess who Europe's subsidizing?”
  
• “CBC Whitewashes Palestinian Prisoners”

Today’s weird thing is “The Atlas Mech Case Mod ”, which puts a new spin on the immortal words of Karl, “My computer can beat up your computer.” Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

18 Marḥeshwan 5768: National Tell A Story Day/Buy-A-Doughnut Day/World Solidarity Day For Missing Israeli Soldiers

Greetings.

Relevant to one of today’s quasi-holidays: “World Solidarity Day for the Kidnapped Soldiers”.

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “The First Shuldig (1973)”
  
• “Call for a Presidential Debate on Science”
  
• “iPhone Fans Snag Displays, Create Life-Sized Costumes”
  
• “Saudi king raps UK anti-terror efforts” (Great example of the pot calling the kettle black.)
  
• “Former FEMA spokesman loses spy job”
  
• “Researchers sell butterfly naming rights”
  
• “Longest-Lived Animal Found -- Clam, 405”

Today’s weird thing is Apostrophe Abuse. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

17 Marḥeshwan 5768: Internet Day

Greetings.

Fake news: Medical researchers have warned of a new influenza strain. Those suffering from this virus are prone to perform martial arts moves in the style of Bruce Lee. As such, it is known as the kung flu.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “It Just Keeps Getting Worse”
  
• “Anti-cancer group holds concert on Everest slopes”
  
• “Disney's "Ratatouille" boosts demand for pet rats” (Submitted by Barry, who thinks rats make great pets.)

Today’s weird thing is the Real Wood iPod. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

16 Marḥeshwan 5768: Make a Difference Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation”
  
• “Seminars teach journalists how to behave as hostages”
  
• “Israel cuts fuel supplies to Gaza Strip” (Took long enough.)
  
• “'Iranians study nuclear physics in UK'”
  
• “Rookie nabs U.S. fugitive in Canada”
  
• “Persona non grata in Gaza”
  
• “Army sent after minks on the run”
  
• “Urban Legends Reference Pages: 'Marxist' Quotes from Hillary Clinton” (Even if one utterly hates Hillary Clinton, it only makes sense to hate her for her actually deeds and views, not views she does not subscribe to.)
  
• “The Science Education Myth” (This goes a long way to explain why it is taking so long for me to get a job.)
  
• “OLPC experiments with cow-powered laptops ... seriously” (I cannot make this up.)

Today’s weird thing is Evil Overlord, Inc. Enjoy and share the weirdness, even if you do not succeed in taking over the World.

Aaron

14 Marḥeshwan 5768: Mother-in-Law’s Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Trick or Treat?”
  
• “That's the spirit: Belief in ghosts high” (Not good.)
  
• “Study says some Neanderthals may have been redheads”
  
• “’55 ‘Origin of Life’ Paper Is Retracted” (Have to admire the man’s integrity.)
  
• “20 years on, world in dire straits, U.N. says”
  
• “UConn Health Debating Ban on Gifts ”
  
• “Recycling in Israel, Not Just Trash, but the Whole Dump”

Today’s weird thing is The Etch-A-Sketchist. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Worthy cause of the day: Crucial Time for Peace in Darfur”

Greetings.

Please sign “Crucial Time for Peace in Darfur” and tell President Bush and Secretary-General Ban to do something substantial to bring the genocide in Darfur to a halt. Politicians are not completely immune to popular opinion, no matter how obtuse and egocentric they are, so this is worth a shot. Thanks in advance.

Aaron

13 Marḥeshwan 5768: Punk For A Day Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Vote Solar”. Note: this is for Florida residents only.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Spain Repeals Expulsion (1991)”
  
• “A One-State Solution: Advocating Israel's Destruction”
  
• “Barak okays plan to cut power in Gaza for every rocket fired”
  
• “Urban Legends Reference Pages: Playground Bears”
  
• “States Set to Sue the U.S. Over Greenhouse Gases”
  
• “Texas Judge Draws Outcry for Allowing an Execution”
  
• “Humans not evolved for IT security”
  
• “Mass Extinctions Tied to Past Climate Changes”
  
• “Heavy Editing Is Alleged In Climate Testimony”
  
• “A Bid to Overhaul a Farm Bill Yields Subtle Changes”

Today’s weird thing is Wood Contour - Solid Wood and Stone Peripherals. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

12 Marḥeshwan 5768: United Nations Day/Take back your time day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Changing Times”
  
• “Parrot imitates fire alarm, saves family” (Submitted by Barry.)

Today’s weird thing is “How I Feed My Cats with Linux”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Worthy cause of the day: “Hold Lawbreakers Accountable”

Greetings.

Today’s worthy cause is the petition “Hold Lawbreakers Accountable”. Please sign and tell your Congresspeople that giving retroactive immunity to those who have committed illegal wiretapping is unacceptable. Thank you.

Aaron

11 Marḥeshwan 5768: National Mole Day

Greetings.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “The Rabin Assassination (1995)”
  
• “Jesus was Jewish”
  
• “FACTBOX: Bush wants more war funds” (Considering that Bush has done a lousy job on the war and is unlikely to do anything to bring the violence to a halt—such as splitting Iraq into Kurdish, Sunni Arab, and Shiite Arab states—he should pay for the war out of his own pocket if he wants American involvement in it to continue.)
  
• “High prices draw criminals to copper wire”
  
• “Simple test can catch smokers who fib”
  
• “A tale of two decisions (or, how the FBI gets you to confess)”
  
• “Police capture escaped crayfish on street”
  
• “If it's any consolation, fish get insomnia too”
  
• “Home-made helicopters hit northern Nigeria” (I am impressed. Few people anywhere could do this.)
  
• “Fearing Crime, Japanese Wear the Hiding Place”
  
• “How to build your own Sputnik”
  
• “Angling for iron ore in streams”
  
• “After fight, airport embraces SUX code” (Submitted by Barry. Good thing they have a sense of humor.)

Today’s weird thing is The Devil’s Dictionary X™, a successor to The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. Enjoy and share the weirdness with the mole digging up your backyard.

Aaron

Worthy cause of the day: “Tell Congress To Pass A Clean Energy Bill”

Greetings.

Please sign the petition “Take Action: Tell Congress To Pass A Clean Energy Bill” and tell Congress to stop dillydallying and to something to improve the energy situation in the US. Thank you.

Aaron

10 MARḤESHWAN 5768: AARON AND BARRY’S BIRTHDAY ON THE JEWISH CALENDAR/INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY

GREETINGS.

IN CELEBRATION OF MY BIRTHDAY, I HEREBY BANISH ALL UNPOPULAR GOVERNMENTAL LEADERS THAT OUGHT TO HAVE THE SENSE TO STEP DOWN BUT FAIL TO DO SO TO THE ARABIAN DESERT, THUS BRINGING US ONE STEP CLOSER TO WORLD PEACE. (YES, I KNOW THAT NONE OF THEM WILL PAY ANY ATTENTION TO MY PRONOUNCEMENT, BUT THIS IS MY BLOG AND MY BIRTHDAY, AND I WILL DO AS I PLEASE.)

IT IS PRETTY OBVIOUS WHAT I AM DOING IN CELEBRATION OF TODAY’S OTHER QUASI-HOLIDAY.

TODAY’S NEWS AND COMMENTARY:

• “OPTIMISTS AND PESSIMISTS”
  
• “SCIENTISTS A STEP CLOSER TO STEERING HURRICANES”
  
• “FOOTBALL ROBOTS DON'T QUITE HAVE BECKS APPEAL”

TODAY’S WEIRD THING, SUBMITTED BY BARRY, IS “SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST”. ENJOY AND SHARE THE WEIRDNESS.

AARON

9 Marḥeshwan 5768: Babbling Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “Protect Free Speech -- On Phones, the Internet, Everywhere!” and “Tell Members of the House who oppose CHIP: Our children are more important than the President's relevancy.”

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “Weizmann’s Answer”
  
• “Argentines 'auction' votes online”
  
• “Does fundamentalist religion cause the rejection of evolution? Or is it the other way around?”
  
• “When Is It Time To Get a New PC?”

Today’s weird thing, which Barry is totally responsible for, is “Trehernes On the Wings of a Dove”. Yes, that thing is actually a horse. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

7 Marḥeshwan 5768: Electricity Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “Urge Senators To Support Key Divestment Bill”, “Tell Congress to Stop Big Media”, and “NO on Hans von Spakovsky”.

Today’s news and commentary, some of which Barry is responsible for:

• “Terror in Pakistan”
  
• “Bad News From the Netherlands”
  
• “On the catwalk with Chabad” and the program mentioned therein, Chabad Tube
  
• “China Mulls Communist Branch for Space ”
  
• “Chimps More Evolved Than Humans”
  
• “Tiny Creatures Rediscover the Joy of Sex”
  
• “Feminists (and their men) have more fun”
  
• “Chatty cavemen? Me Neanderthal, talk good”
  
• “Successful Malaria Vaccine Also Proves Effective in Infants”
  
• “Can Lucas be trusted with ‘Star Wars’ universe?”
  
• “Britain to recruit spies from video game”
  
• “ASU team detects earliest modern humans”
  
• “Scientist debunks nomadic Aborigine 'myth'”
  
• “Couple's dancing cockatoo becomes a star” with the video mentioned therein, “Snowball - Our Dancing Cockatoo”
  

Today’s weird thing, sent to me by a fellow PhD, is “Dalek's plans for world domination are thwarted”. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

6 Marḥeshwan 5768: Jews for Jesus ask “Did Jesus even exist?”

Greetings.

Actually, today is a quasi-holiday, No Beard Day, not to mention my and Barry’s birthday on the Gregorian calendar. The title of today’s post is in commemoration of a new milestone on the Divine Misconceptions project. On Tuesday, I criticized the deceptively named “Jews for Jesus” over its deceptive advertising. Well, yesterday, a “Jew for Jesus” by the name of Moshe posted a comment criticizing my criticism. (Not particularly well, but criticize he did. I had no trouble driving him into the pavement.) I welcome all people and groups I criticize in my “divine misconception of the day” feature to criticize my criticism of them and even encourage their friends and associate to criticize my criticism, too. The goal of having a “divine misconception of the day” feature is to get text written which can be later incorporated into my book in progress, Divine Misconceptions: An Orange Catholic Necronomicon of Religious Fallacies and Misinformation, and criticism has the potential to uncover errors in my arguments so that they can be fixed or abandoned earlier rather than later. So, please, if you believe I am wrong on anything, leave a comment saying so and why.

And if you are wondering about the title of today’s post, it is of the same sort Jews for Jesus uses that I complained about on Tuesday. It is a deceptive truth, designed to sound like Jews for Jesus have turned traitor to Jewish-rite Christianity. Jews for Jesus really do ask “Did Jesus even exist?”—in their Questions & Answers section, where they proceed to give evidence (of whatever quality) that Jesus really did exist.

I would also like to honor the addition of a link to Jews for Judaism, the sworn nemesis of Jews for Jesus, to my sidebars.

Divine misconception of the day: “Parents use religion to avoid vaccines”. This article is not about poor-quality religious belief, but rather its equally bad mirror image, poor-quality nonreligious belief. Atheism and agnosticism, as ideologies, are supposed to be rational. Vaccination paranoia, in contrast, is a purely irrational fear. I have read many papers on the alleged connection between MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism, and all had the same conclusion: there is no association, period. One never, ever hears of any serious research finding vaccines causing anything bad other than allergic reactions. Considering the dangers of the diseases people are at very serious risk of getting if they are not vaccinated, the only valid reason to not vaccinate children is if they are allergic to eggs. That parents with no religious belief would not vaccinate their children is a betrayal of everything atheism and agnosticism are about. Worse yet is the fact that they lie, claiming to believe when they most certainly do not, in order to sidestep vaccination; atheism and agnosticism are supposed to be honest ideologies. Shame on these parents!

Today’s news and commentary:

• “The Big Chill (1978)”
  
• “HRC Behind The Scenes”
  
• “Bill would let ID theft victims seek restitution”
  
• “Giant pillow fight mocks regional rivalry”
  
• “Spam reaches all-time high of 95% of all email”
  
• “Last year there were two trillion stalks of corn in Iowa, and most of it went to corn syrup”
  
• “Martian Volcanoes May Not be Extinct”

Today’s weird thing is “Water Cooling Computers With A Swimming Pool”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

5 Marḥeshwan 5768: Gaudy Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day #1: “Call on UN Security Council presidents to get UNAMID on the Ground in Darfur”. Yes, I know expecting the UN Security Council to do their job is like expecting elephants to tap-dance spontaneously, but if no one yells at them to do something about Darfur, they most certainly will do nothing.

Worthy cause of the day #2: “Support the Jubilee Act”. (At least the US Congress is somewhat responsive to public opinion.)

Divine misconception of the day: “Suit OK'd against anti-gay church group”. I was appalled that anyone would picket the funeral of a US soldier killed in Iraq with signs to the tune of “Thank God for dead soldiers", accusing US soldiers of immorality and their parents for raising them to be immoral. No matter how immoral soldiers may be in general and how immoral their parents raised them to be, unless the Westboro Baptist Church is committing violations of privacy, they cannot possibly know that this solider whose funeral they picketed was immoral and that his parents taught him to be immoral. On the contrary, this was a Roman Catholic funeral, which by default makes it improbable that the soldier was raised “for the devil” or that he was taught “defy his Creator, to divorce and to commit adultery”. Given the lack of any evidence of any immorality, the Wesboro Baptist Church is committing slander, making a moral judgement not founded in objective reality, and causing undeserved emotional trauma to the soldier’s family. This is blatantly against the New Testament (Matthew 7:12) and thus un-Christian. Jesus would be disgusted. Also, the idea that “the military's combat losses is a direct result of immoral behavior, including homosexuality, among its ranks” is not determinable. While the Hebrew Bible is filled with prophetic warnings that transgressions will have tragic consequences, the Book of Job makes it clear that the righteous can also suffer; thus tragedy cannot be assumed to be deserved.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Who Do You Trust?”
  
• “Some Palestinians prefer life in Israel”
  
• “In Lebanon, a comeback for cannabis”
  
• “Infection Killed 19,000 in 2005, Study Says”
  
• “Phone Companies Refuse to Provide Data on Spy Program”

Today’s weird thing, provided by Barry, is “Art of the Dinosauroids (Nemo Ramjet)”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron