Meeting Sarah Palin

I was really glad that JT posted about Sarah Palin, because I, like most Americans in the 48 continental states (and likely Hawai'i) had never heard of her.

I did do a little research of my own, however, and wanted to share a few things I found about Mrs. Palin. So below are some photos and some facts that I found interesting. Please note that most of this is going to be just for fun. If you want serious info on her, read JT's post and then do your own research.


Anchorage Daily News/MCT—Landov


1. She hunts, fishes and shoots grizzlies like the one pictured above (this one though was actually shot by her father).
2. She delivered her fifth child during her first term as governor.
3. Palin is pronounced "PAY-lin".
4. She is a lifelong member of the NRA.



5. As she is attractive herself, she also has attractive children (2 boys, 3 girls, daughters pictured above).
6. The kids' ages are 18, 17, 13, 7, 4 months.
7. They have strange new-age-y names: Bristol, Track, Willow, Piper & Trig. (Maybe I just think new age because I know of two prime time WB witches named Willow & Piper.)
8. She's going to be on the cover of Vogue. Are you kidding me?
9. She went from small-town mayor to governor in 2006.



10. In 1984, she won the Miss Wasilla beauty contest, and finished 2nd in the Miss Alaska pageant. In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and won 'Miss Congeniality'.
11. She holds a BS in Comm/Journalism with a Poli Sci minor.
12. Her husband Todd works for the oil company BP.

And for fun, here is an introduction to Sarah Palin as told by one of my favorite nerdfighters John of the Vlogbrothers. This really tells you all you need to know. :)

Thanks, McCain

So McCain has taken Sarah Palin as his VP, and I think I could only be happier if he had chosen George Bush. "But JT, why is that?" the NSA is probably recording you saying.

For a lot of reasons. First, McCain's economic policy is embarrassing, and his voting record on taxing the middle class is...troubling. I was worried that to correct this he would have taken Mitt Romney, himself a brilliant economist (and one of few Republicans I wouldn't mind seeing in office). Instead, he chose somebody with virtually no economic expertise from one of the weakest states economically. w00t!

He likely chose her for her appeal to the religious right, given her history of overtly religious rhetoric and her bawding to creationist idiocy - the very things that got her elected governor, and also to appeal to the moderate Republicans who have shunned McCain, since she admittedly has done a couple progressive things (and she's a girl *gasp*). More power to him - he already had the religious right, and Palin will only alienate McCain from the moderate Christians. While it may be an attempt to pander to progressives by choosing a female, I really doubt that Palin will net him many new voters (maybe some upset Hillary fans, who still think it was a matter of sexism). I do wonder how this will sit with all the conservatives who said they'd never vote for a female president. Do you go with the godless liberals or the female you professed you couldn't vote for? Being a bigot can be pretty hard work sometimes...

There are a few cons to her being selected though (for those of us who think Obama is far and away the better choice).

On energy, she has done some good things like raising taxes on oil companies in Alaska, showing a very unMcCain-like ability to depart from her party. However, she departs from the experts (both economically and environmentally) on offshore drilling. She's not as gung-ho as McCain to do it, but she has taken a very "drill-in-the-margins" approach. However, she has also praised portions of Obama's energy plan. Ok, so she can be skeptical about energy. Go her. Sadly, she has shown an aversion to seeking new sources of energy, and has worked to get the oil companies new leases in her home state of Alaska, even when she said she would not do so during her ascent to governor.

Perhaps the biggest con, in our shallow society, is the fact that she's kind of a MILF.

I mean...just look at her.
<------------------------/

Let's face it, a lot of times how much we want to boink something overrides our judgment here in America (*cough* Brittany Spears *cough*).

Hopefully, the female thing and her omg hawtness won't be too problematic in comparison to her affinity for the oil companies, creationist stupidity, and lack of any real economic ability/credentials. However, as my father always said, nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people. Hopefully our integrity, both intellectual and ethical, will remain intact.

PS Gov. Palin - I will happily sell my vote to you and Sen. McCain in exchange for one erotic night in the governor's mansion (you cover my air fair and meals). Oh, and you have to call me "Richard Carrier's Rotweiller"...it's how I get off.

Guitar Hero for Christians

Yeah, that's right, you read the title correctly. Digital Praise, a media company that creates and develops software to "spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ through entertaining, enlightening, and encouraging faith" has created a guitar hero knockoff for praisin' Jebus called Guitar Praise.

Oh, and don't forget their DDR knockoff called Dance Praise2-The Remix!

...I don't think I could make this stuff up if I wanted to.

Do You Believe in God? Website

Found this the other day on neatorama:

A website, YesNoGod.com, is entirely dedicated to being an informal poll as to whether or not you believe in god. It's pretty nifty, as it covers most the world and breaks down the votes country by country...but one has to wonder how accurate this bad boy is.

By the by, 55% of the Americans who voted in the poll don't believe in god.

Prolife Across America

Often known as "The Billboard People", Prolife Across America is the organization responsible for all the best baby-heavy Pro-Life billboards across the country. I'm sure you remember many of their classic billboards, such as "18 Days From Conception My Heart Was Beating", "We All Start Small - Life Begins at Conception" and my favorite, "Embryos Are Babies".

But in all seriousness, if those billboards bother you at all, you're gonna love this FAIL.



see more pwn and owned pictures

Oh, Craigslist....you make me smile.

I wish I could buy this poster a beer:

Your Pets Will Not Be Flagged For Removal By Jesus During the Rapture

FLAGGERS: Over half the United States population has legitimate concerns about what will happen to their pets after the rapture occurs. Please respect their faith and allow this service to remain posted, just as the waste removal and grooming posts remain posted. Again, over half of the US population feels that this is a concern to them. If there is a specific problem with the ad, please email me. Thank you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No one knows when that day or hour will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son don't know. Only the Father knows."
(Matthew 24:36)

"For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."
(1 Thessalonians 4:15–17)

Have you ever thought about what will happen to your pets after Jesus comes back to claim the souls of the saved during the Rapture and deliver them to heaven to enjoy ever lasting life? The bible clearly teaches that only those that have accepted Jesus as their savior will enter heaven (John 14:6, Romans 3:23), and we all know that pets do not have the cognitive ability to do this, so what will happen to your beloved pets? Surely without you there, they would be stuck inside your empty house, starving to death with no one to feed them, let them out to potty, or clean their litter box. This is probably not what you envision for your pets after you are gone. This is where I come in.

I am here to offer you pet care service for after the rapture. As an atheist, I will surely still be here on this earth post rapture and would love to look after your pets for a small fee and make sure they are still well taken care of after you and your family have been raptured. You will be able to look down on them from heaven and see them being well cared for by me and living happy, healthy lives. Do not let my atheism scare you! I am a moral and loving pet owner and would never do harm to any animal.

For a small deposit of only $50, you can be assured that your pets will be well cared for from the time that you are raptured until the end of their natural life. They will get adequate amounts of food, water, and shelter as well as plenty of exercise and socialization as I would imagine there will be a lot of pets that will be abandoned by Jesus the pet hater that will need to be cared for.

If interested, please email me for my PayPal address (you can also send me a check if you prefer) so you can assure that your pets will be taken care of after Jesus comes to take your soul to heaven. $50 is only a small price to pay to know that while you are enjoying everlasting bliss, your pets will be cared for until their end days. Thanks and have a great day!

Please do not flag this ad. It is very serious.

School is starting soon-you know what that means!

Pirates!











Moving couches!

























Rocking!






















Noodly goodness!


























Fighting the man!

























Free hugs!


















Rallies!

So much for the moral highroad.

Interesting article about McCain's cute anecdotes about his religious roots.

You know... the one where he talks about the strength that seeing the cross gave him?

It was Christmas Day, we were allowed to stand outside of our cell for a few minutes, and those days we were not allowed to see or communicate with each other although we certainly did. And I was standing outside for a few minutes, outside my cell. He came walking up. He stood there for a minute and with his handle [sic] on the dirt in the courtyard he drew a cross and he stood there and a minute later, he rubbed it out and walked away. For a minute there, there was just two Christians worshiping together. I'll never forget that moment.

Turns out that it was plagiarized. As in... it is almost exactly as described in a book he is on the record as having read.

Wow. Good job McCain.

Funny... I though plagiarism was unethical.

I cannot be tolerant of intolerance.

Juggernaut Amber here.

Most of you know that I am attending University of Arkansas this fall.

I moved down to Fayetteville on Saturday, and found myself with a full free day on Sunday.

The campus was mostly barren. (Classes don't start for undergraduates until the 25th). My internet isn't hooked up yet, and I have to have a school ID for them to allow me to pick up wireless on campus, so I am only able to post when I become ambitious enough to leech near the downtown area five blocks away. Heck, even my roommate has only swung by long enough to pay me the rent and drop off boxes.

So, half out of boredom, half out of curiosity, I swung by the local Unitarian Universalist Church for their morning service.

I grew up within the Unitarian Church in Springfield, at least sporadically. They are trying. They are moving the right direction. I see the Unitarian Church as a group of people who still want the benefits of a fellowship (community, support, social networking, and a place to celebrate life milestones) without the mandatory adoption of the morals of organized religion ("morals" is used very loosely here). Most Unitarians seem to label themselves as "Humanist", "Agnostic", or "Atheist", if pressed further on what they believe. I like all those groups!

Still, their focus on tolerance has always seemed to swing a bit too far for me. I guess it takes a while for the liberal response to find the perfect medium. Organized religion was intolerant, so the Unitarians were super-tolerant.

The problem is that we cannot be tolerant. Not in every case. We have to take a stand when we see others committing atrocities. Labeling an action as religiously motivated should not make it free of criticism.

This church, at least on this first visit, seemed to come closer to an appropriate medium then the other Unitarians I have had experience with. The co-minister today was discussing the blind acceptance of dogmatic morality.

To butcher and paraphrase her statements, she said that we should never accept moral certainty from a religion without constantly questioning and constantly rethinking. She used the example of religious statements about sexuality. She then stated that there is nothing different about an evangelical Christian religion dictating that you must stay a virgin until marriage and a Mormon offshoot requiring that young girls marry older men. Both are requiring followers to allow their sexuality, their bodies, to follow strict rules with no reason, no rationality, behind the orders.

For a Unitarian minister, I was astounded. All my memories of Unitarians discussing other religions have been based on a message of understanding and acceptance.

Hell, even this church says that they "believe personal experience, conscience and reason are the final authorities in religion". Umm... personal experience is a fine marker of a belief system if it only applies to yourself. But my research in cognitive psychology tells me that your mind can be tricked. And you want me to allow you to effect your children, your community and your ballot box based on personal experiences?

Ok... maybe it isn't perfect.

I know (Hell... I better know... I don't have a useless degree in psychology for nothing...) that people need to have a sense of community. They need to share time with others who they feel support them. They need to feel as if they are part of a tribe who is concerned about their well-being. The problem is that, for millennia now, that support has come from the walls of churches and temples. And I think that many individuals who self-identify as Unitarian are still too eager to label themselves. To find a "church"... which might mean that they are the same ones who still hold some underlying respect for religion. Respect it has yet to prove it deserves.

I'm just not convinced that a group can identify themselves as a religion, as a church, and stand strong against the religious dogma that is attacking the bare fibers of human morality.

But I am interested in seeing exactly what is going on there.

Worst case scenario, I read a few books, attend a few sermons, and have more ammo when debating with those idiots that preach unbridled tolerance.

Do You Know Who We Are?

Car Analogy

I found this here, and thought it was spot on. ~ JT

A car analogy for the science vs church "debate"

While I was driving to work today, I came up with an interesting metaphor that I think explains why rational scientific types get so frustrated with religious fundamentalists:

Imagine you and I are trying to fix a car. It won't start. You think that it might be a faulty fuel pump. I say, "Okay, let's test the fuel pump."

So I test the fuel pump, and it works fine. No problems whatsoever. Whatever is keeping the car from starting, it is most definitely NOT the fuel pump.

But you either weren't looking, or weren't paying attention, when I checked the fuel pump, and so you refuse to accept that it's not the problem. You steadfastly cling to your belief that the fault lies with the fuel pump, and you refuse to acknowledge that anything else might be wrong. You write a book documenting a "history" of how the fuel pump came to be faulty, and why the only way to get the car to run is to pay close attention to the fuel pump.

While you're busy doing this, I'm checking out the rest of the car. I check the fuses, test the battery, test the ignition system. One by one I rule out possible causes for the car not starting. When I get to the ignition system, I find something that might be a problem, but it will take me a while longer to find the actual problem. But given enough time, I'll get the car going.

I tell you, "Hey, stop mucking around with the fuel pump. I already checked it. It's fine. Come here; there's something in the ignition system I want to show you."

"No," you tell me. "The problem is the fuel pump. It has always been the fuel pump. I have faith."

Now I'm annoyed. "Leave the damn fuel pump alone! I tested it; it's not the problem. I don't know what the problem is yet, but I have a pretty good idea it's somewhere in the ignition sytstem."

"No," you insist. "I have every right to believe that the fuel pump is faulty." And you DO have that right. But that line of thinking isn't going to get the car fixed.

Time passes, and my followers keep poking around the ignition system, get a tiny spark, get the car to almost start, but not quite... and your followers, still clinging to the notion that the fuel pump is to blame, kill some of my followers for even looking at the ignition system. But I persist, and we chip away at the problem, little by little, making improvements to the rest of the car as we go along.

Then, all of a sudden, you challenge me for the title to the car. You're going to service it, you tell me, based solely on the one book you wrote all those years ago, which discusses nothing but the fuel pump. In doing this, you are willing to throw out volumes of text that I have written, explaining in exacting detail every part of the car from the differential to the hood ornament. Not all of it is 100% correct, but we're still working on it, and with every revision, it gets a little better.

And we've almost got the damn car running, and you want to throw out all that work and make us go back to poking around the fuel pump? And you expect us to respect you for it?

Not bloody likely. Get out of my way and let me fix the fucking car.
I have places to go.

What has been up in the world of Teh Juggernauts??

Hey there, boys and girls...

If anyone is interested in what Teh Juggernauts have been up to the last few days, you can check out the personal blogs.

From the world of JT:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

My Brief Post

Link to The PhotoBucket

Yep... Teh Juggernauts are in California. WoOtS!!!