Today you get a filmstrip.
Toodles!
Labels: atheism, Drek is stoopid, laziness, religion, YouTube
Or, the thoughts of several frustrated intellectuals on Sociology, Gaming, Science, Politics, Science Fiction, Religion, and whatever the hell else strikes their fancy. There is absolutely no reason why you should read this blog. None. Seriously. Go hit your back button. It's up in the upper left-hand corner of your browser... it says "Back." Don't say we didn't warn you.
Labels: atheism, Drek is stoopid, laziness, religion, YouTube
HOW TO DEAL WITH GLOBAL WARMING, CAP AND TRADE
Gary Palmer, Brooklyn Roberts Chairman: Eunie Smith
HOW TO COUNTER THE HOMOSEXUAL EXTREMIST MOVEMENT
Matt Barber, Brian Camenker Chairman: Jayne Schindler
HOW TO USE NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGY
Bloggers: Dana Loesch, Kevin Jackson, Jim Hoft Chairman: Ruth Carlson
HOW TO DEFEND AMERICA VS. MISSILE ATTACK
Football Star Riki Ellison, 7-minute video Chairman: Colleen Parro
HOW TO STOP THE ENTRY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS AND DRUGS
Kris Kobach, Esq. Chairman: Char Bredemeier
HOW TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF SUPREMACIST JUDGES
Phillip Jauregui, Esq., Virginia Armstrong Chairman: Andy Schlafly, Esq.
HOW TO STOP GOVERNMENT ATTACKS ON PARENTS’ RIGHTS
Sen. Nancy Schaefer, Sen. Pam Roach Chairman: Gayle Ruzicka
HOW TO COPE WITH FEMINIST ATTACKS ON MARRIAGE AND MOTHERHOOD: Phyllis Schlafly, Suzanne Venker Chairman: Violet Vestevich
HOW TO STOP SOCIALISM IN HEALTH CARE
Larry Huntoon M.D., Frank Rosenbloom M.D., Allen Unruh, M.D. Chairman: Andy Schlafly, Esq.
HOW TO DEFEAT ATTACKS ON SOVEREIGNTY BY U.N. TREATIES AND NORTH AMERICAN UNION
Frank Gaffney Chairman: Cathie Adams
HOW TO LOBBY FEDERAL LEGISLATION & POLICY: Frontenac
Colleen Holmes, Suzanne Bibby, Colleen Parro Chairman: Bonnie Nugent
HOW TO USE THE INTERNET AND NEW MEDIA TO WIN YOUR CAMPAIGN:
Cherilyn Eagar Chairman: Ruth Carlson
HOW TO DEAL WITH VOTE FRAUD, THE CENSUS, AND ACORN
Kris Kobach Esq., Ed Martin Chairman: Helen Blackwell
HOW TO STOP ABORTIONS: A NEW APPROACH
DVD: Maafa 21, Janet Porter, Rep. Trent Franks Chairman: Penny Pullen
HOW TO LOBBY LEGISLATORS
Janine Hansen, Bobbie Patray, Gayle Ruzicka, Sue Ella Deadwyler Chairman: Carole Griffin
HOW TO BRING YOUTH INTO THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT
Gary Bosley, Andy Schlafly, Karin Agness Chairman: Orlean Koehle
HOW TO DEFEND TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE AND DOMA
Mat Staver, Esq. Chairman: John Schlafly, Esq.
HOW TO UNDERSTAND ISLAM
Frank Gaffney, Bill Federer, Walid Shoebat Chairman: Janet Porter
HOW TO ACTIVATE YOUR CHURCH
Woody Woodrum, Pastor Paul Blair Chairman: Donna Hearne
HOW THE MEDIA CAN HELP US TAKE BACK AMERICA
Vic Eliason, Jim Schneider Chairman: Joan Langenberg
HOW CONSERVATIVES CAN WIN IN 2010
Penny Pullen, Sandy McDade, Vicky Hartzler Chairman: Bunny Chambers
HOW TO DEFEAT CON CON, NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE, ERA
Janine Hansen, Elise Bouc Chairman: Cindy Honcoop
HOW TO STOP FEMINIST AND GAY ATTACKS ON THE MILITARY
Elaine Donnelly Chairman: Pat Schneider
HOW TO RECOGNIZE LIVING UNDER NAZIS & COMMUNISTS
Kitty Werthmann Chairman: Betsy Hagan
Labels: conservapedia, conservatives, Drek is Amused, politics
Labels: Drek is Confused, humor, politics, YouTube
Labels: Drek is Amazed, politics, religion, YouTube
For crying out loud, this is only page 68? Please tell me this book is under 100 pages long. (Page 74 plus "two dozen" = The End?)
I still think that this Roman (Romulan?) dude sounds more like he might be Santa Claus than the devil, but maybe that's just me.
And, um, Buck is going to go somewhere "slowly"? More slowly than that plane ride we were treated to?
Buck Williams ducked into a stall in the Pan-Con Club men's room to double-check his inventory. Tucked in a special pouch inside his jeans, he carried thousands of dollars' worth of traveler's checks, redeemable in dollars, marks, or yen.
He [Buck] had packed for a ten-day trip to Britain when he left New York three days before the apocalyptic disappearances.
His [Buck's] practice overseas was to do his own laundry in the sink and let it dry a whole day while wearing one outfit and having one more in reserve.
"You creep," she [Lucinda] had said. "Anybody else I'd be throwing out of here on his can."
"But you love me. You can't help yourself." [Buck replied]
"That wasn't even Christian," she had said.
"Don't start with that again."
"Come on, Cameron. You know you got your mind right when you saw what God did for Israel." [Lucinda insisted]
"Granted, but don't start calling me a Christian. Deist is as much as I'll cop to."
"He's [God] already got me [Buck], Lucinda. But Jesus is another thing. The Israelis hate Jesus, but look what God did for them." [emphasis added]
You know half our time is spent on exchange rates and all that. Takes computers forever to constantly readjust every day, based on the whims of the markets. [Dirk said]
I'm [Dirk] also going to tell you [Buck] that the real power behind the power is an American.
What do you mean, the power behind the power? [Buck asked]
He's [powerful mystery man] the one who shot down sterling as one of the currencies and has dollars in mind for the one world commodity in the end.
"That's easy," Dirk had said, "There are at least ten, though more than that sometimes come to the meetings, including some heads of state."
Our guy in the group, Joshua Todd-Cothran, may just not be quite as buttoned down as the rest. [Dirk said]
"Plus, who ever heard of a Brit who was not buttoned-down?" [Buck asked]
"It happens." [Dirk replied]
"Good night, Dirk."
Call Ken Ritz, charter pilot
Call Dad and Jeff
Call Hattie Durham with news of family
Call Lucinda Washington about local hotel
Call Dirk Burton
Labels: Left Behind
Neuroscientist Craig Bennett purchased a whole Atlantic salmon, took it to a lab at Dartmouth, and put it into an fMRI machine used to study the brain. The beautiful fish was to be the lab’s test object as they worked out some new methods.
So, as the fish sat in the scanner, they showed it “a series of photographs depicting human individuals in social situations.” To maintain the rigor of the protocol (and perhaps because it was hilarious), the salmon, just like a human test subject, “was asked to determine what emotion the individual in the photo must have been experiencing.”
...
If that were all that had occurred, the salmon scanning would simply live on in Dartmouth lore as a “crowning achievement in terms of ridiculous objects to scan.” But the fish had a surprise in store. When they got around to analyzing the voxel (think: 3-D or “volumetric” pixel) data, the voxels representing the area where the salmon’s tiny brain sat showed evidence of activity. In the fMRI scan, it looked like the dead salmon was actually thinking about the pictures it had been shown.
“By complete, random chance, we found some voxels that were significant that just happened to be in the fish’s brain,” Bennett said. “And if I were a ridiculous researcher, I’d say, ‘A dead salmon perceiving humans can tell their emotional state.’”
The result is completely nuts — but that’s actually exactly the point. Bennett, who is now a post-doc at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his adviser, George Wolford, wrote up the work as a warning about the dangers of false positives in fMRI data. They wanted to call attention to ways the field could improve its statistical methods.
Tired of seeing the Religious Right claim the moral high ground through abstinence pledges that don't work? As a humanist, you know that ancient creeds are no basis for morality, and that attempts to control teens through fear, intimidation, and outdated doctrines and institutions are futile. Statistics show that teens who take abstinence pledges (such as the infamous "Silver Ring Thing") are no less likely to engage in premarital sex, and in fact are more likely to engage in irresponsible, unprotected sex.
Still, society has a hard time understanding that secular people, especially nonreligious kids, can have strong morals and values. But thanks to a group of young humanist activists from Georgia, the Silver Ring Thing has now clearly met its match. Please take a moment to view the link below, which contains the humanist community's answer to abstinence pledges - the Secular Principles Pinky Swear!
Labels: atheism, Drek is Amused, humor, news, science
Labels: blogging, Drek is Amazed, Total Drek
Interest in science fiction has grown dramatically in recent decades. While science fiction has predicted many beneficial technologies, the genre is permeated with unrealism, humanism, occultism, New Age philosophy and Eastern mysticism. Furthermore, science fiction is firmly rooted in Darwinism and presents a distorted view of reality.
Regrettably, however, too much of science fiction depicts phenomena or technologies that could never exist. Franz Rottensteiner acknowledges that ‘the “science” of science fiction is often indistinguishable from magic. For example, animals becoming half-human (or vice versa), contradicts everything scientists know about the limits of genetic variation. The creation of mass/energy from nothing, or its annihilation (e.g. by a mere laser blast), violates the First Law of Thermodynamics, one of the best proven laws of science. And the notion that dead matter can transform itself into a living organism (spontaneous generation) has never been observed and flatly contradicts the Laws of Biogenesis (that life always comes from life).
Labels: atheism, blogging, Drek is Amused, religion, science fiction
maybe he is so happy that he doesn't have to listen to that christian station anymore, that he forgets about everything else for the moment.
This man [Carpathia] is about your [Buck's] age, by the way. Blonde and blue eyed, like the original Romanians, who came from Rome, before the Mongols affected their race.
Suddenly it was Buck's turn at the counter. He gathered up his extension cord and thanked the young woman for bearing with him. "Sorry about that," he said, pausing briefly for forgiveness that was not forthcoming. "It's just that today, of all days, well, you understand."
Apparently she did not understand. She'd had a rough day, too. She looked at him tolerantly and said, "What can I not do for you?"
"Lady, I'm, like, a kryptonite member."
He flashed his card, showing that he was among the top 3 percent of air travelers in the world. If any flight had one seat in the cheapest section, it had to be given to him and upgraded to first class at no charge.
Hearing it [the rapture] on the radio or seeing it on television was one thing. Encountering it for yourself was something else again.
How grateful he [Rayford] was that Chloe was still here and that somehow he would connect with her! But what did that say about the two of them? They were lost.
He [Rayford] shook his head. What kind of a dad autographs a picture for his own son?
What a beautiful, frilly place Irene had made it [his house], decorated with needlepoint and country knickknacks. Had he ever told her he appreciated it? Had he ever appreciated it? [emphasis original]
He [Rayford] did not deserve her [Irene]. He deserved this, he knew, to be mocked by his own self-centeredness and to be stripped of the most important person in his life.
He [Rayford] put the ring in his jacket pocket and noticed the package she [Irene] had mailed. Tearing it open, he found two of his favorite homemade cookies with hearts drawn on the top in chocolate.
And Rayford cried himself to sleep.
Labels: Left Behind
Labels: academia, Drek is Amused, humor, teaching
Labels: disease, Drek is Amused, humor, overheard
Labels: atheism, Drek is busy, laziness, YouTube
When Dannie Ammons' 16-year-old son, Robert, left on a school bus bound for a neighbouring Kentucky county two weeks ago, he thought his son's high-school football team was off to hear a motivational speaker and enjoy a steak dinner.
Instead, Robert was baptized and, along with eight other members of the Fighting Tigers football team, accepted Christ as his saviour.
Mr. Ammons, who is Catholic, said his son received the religious sacrament without his knowledge or consent.
...
"I believe the faith was pushed on my son," Mr. Ammons said, adding that he and his wife, who is a Baptist, hoped his son would wait until he was older to decide his faith.
"I think the coach used his faith as a weapon, and my son followed along. We feel like he was brainwashed.... I asked my son if he even knows what it means to be baptized as a Baptist, and he has no clue."
Superintendent Janet Meeks, who is also a member of the church and who witnessed the ceremony, said she thought parents were aware the event included a church service and said participation was voluntary. "The coach requested the use of a school bus," she said in a statement released last night. "The cost of the fuel was donated, and the driver volunteered."
Although Mr. Ammons said most parents were "kept in the dark," a handful of parents knew their sons were heading to the revival service. In fact, some parents travelled the 40 kilometres to the Baptist church to attend the event.
Although Rev. Davis typically seeks parental consent for baptisms involving minors, he said the boys were "bulked up" and looked older than their 16 years.
"I didn't check their IDs," he said, adding that Mr. Mooney -- who has brought players to church services in the past -- did not pre-arrange for the boys to accept the sacrament.
Labels: Drek is Annoyed, education, news, religion
If it were that easy to initiate The Rapture, my wife would be actively pointing out potential adulterees so that we could get rid of the Raptured and have national health care.
"Just let me do this, pal. I'm going crazy here with nothing to do, and I have my bag. I'm workin' free today. Call it a Rapture Special."
A club attendant came by and asked if they [Buck and the doctor] could move the operation into one of the washrooms.
"I promise to clean up, hon," the doctor said. "Almost done here."
"Well, this can't be sanitary, and we do have other members to think about." [the attendant said]
"Why don't you just give them their drinks and nuts, all right? You'll find this just isn't going to upset them that much on a day like this." [the doctor replied]
"I don't much appreciate being spoken to that way." [she retorted]
The doctor sighed as he worked. "You're right. What's your name?"
"Suzie."
"Listen, Suzie, I've been rude and I apologize. OK? Now let me finish this, and I promise not to perform any more surgery right out here in public." Suzie left, shaking her head.
...while he [Buck] looked at the message from Steve Plank's secretary, the matronly Marge Potter.
Everybody from the senior staff is accounted for, now that we've heard from you. [Marge wrote]
Everyone we know who's gone is either a child or a very nice person.
Steve had pooh-poohed space aliens. But how could you rule out anything at this point?
"Watch the cord," he [Buck] called out occasionally as people passed. One of the women behind the counter hollered at him that he'd have to unplug.
He smiled at her. "And if I don't, are you going to have me thrown out? Arrested? Cut me some slack today, of all days!" Hardly anyone took note of the crazy man yelling at the counter woman. Such rarely happened in the Pan-Con Club, but nothing surprised anyone today.
"I'm not much for praying," Rayford admitted.
"You will be," she [random woman Rayford got a ride with] said. "I never was before either, but I am now."
The yard and the walk were spotless as usual, and the huge home, his trophy house, was sepulchral.
Irene was a fastidious housekeeper. Her morning routine included the coffeepot timer kicking on at six, percolating her special blend of decaf with an egg.
The radio was set to come on at 6:30, tuned to the local Christian station.
He [Rayford] flicked off the radio, which was piping the Christian station's network news hookup into the air, droning on about the tragedy and mayhem that had resulted from the dissapearances.
Rayford hated himself for his broken promises to spend more time with Raymie.
Labels: Left Behind
Labels: Drek is stoopid, laziness, religion
Rather than searching for decent jobs that are very hard to find, some Americans are deciding to become self-employed. Robert P. Murphy, an economist at the Mises Institute, recommends that one of the best measures to protect against a future economic depression is to develop multiple streams of income rather than risk depending on one or two income sources which may disappear in a depression. In the present economic crises, Americans are using creative ways to launch a wide variety of low cost businesses.
Many forced entrepreneurs would be happier if they could only get another job in their field after a layoff. But most of them use poor methods for finding a job so they conclude they have no choice but to start a business.
Yafa Sakkejha made a deal with her father that’s enabling her to get House of Verona, a summer health-retreat business, off the ground. He agreed to “incubate” her fledgling company by giving her rent-free use of Blue View Chalets, his winter ski-resort property in Canada’s Blue Mountains, for the first year and by fronting some of her larger initial expenses.
Ms. Sakkejha is using her savings to repay Blue View half of the expenses it incurs for her and hire health experts, a fitness trainer and caterers. If her business takes off, both parties win. She begins to build her own business, and her father gains a summertime revenue stream from the property.
Labels: conservapedia, Drek is Solemn, economics, politics
...according to the admittedly biased FITSNews, that's precisely the case with Maguire. They claim that the mother of four home-schooled children vacated her seat because of her super-secret hobby: writing erotic fiction.
Yes, apparently there are some similarities between Maguire and a virtual alter ego, Bridget Keeney. Like what? Well, like age, number of children and their background in engineering. That's not much to go on, of course, but FITS claims to have seen documents proving Maguire discussed the matter with Sanford ahead of her resignation and that his administration helped her cover her trail. This wouldn't be a big deal, of course, except for the fact that — surprise! — Maguire was thick as thieves with the "family values" set. She even donated $1,300 to failed presidential candidate and rabid bigot Mike Huckabee last year.
It would be hard for those groups to ignore Maguire's alleged prose, like a tale entitled "Continental Cuisine," which features a woman blowing a man while his pal wanks one off. (Sample line: "The rhythmic sway of the train car added to the bobbing of my head as I sucked deeply.")
Another tale goes by the name, "Lauren's Masturbatory Musings." You can only imagine what that one concerns.
Labels: Drek is Amused, education, humor, politics, Republicans, sex
Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ruled that the law violated the First Amendment’s protection against the establishment of a state religion. Homeland Security officials have been required for three years to credit “Almighty God” in their official reports and post a plaque with similar language at the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort.
“Even assuming that most of this nation’s citizens have historically depended upon God by choice for their protection, this does not give the General Assembly the right to force citizens to do so now,” Wingate wrote.
“This is the very reason the Establishment Clause was created: to protect the minority from the oppression of the majority,” he wrote. “The commonwealth’s history does not exclude God from the statutes, but it had never permitted the General Assembly to demand that its citizens depend on Almighty God.”
State Rep. Tom Riner, D-Louisville, a Southern Baptist minister, placed the “Almighty God” language into a homeland security bill without much notice.
Riner said Wednesday that he is unhappy with the judge’s ruling. The way he wrote the law, he said, it did not mandate that Kentuckians depend on God for their safety, it simply acknowledged that government without God cannot protect its citizens.
...
Attorney General Jack Conway defended the law in court, arguing that striking down such laws risked creating a secular society that is wholly separated from religion. A Conway spokeswoman said the attorney general’s office is reviewing the ruling and will decide whether to appeal.
Labels: athesim, Drek is Solemn, politics, religion
Wow. I write like I'm retarded but even I couldn't improve upon the disjointed incoherence of this sentence. Well, maybe I would use "...feet, stockingedly clad, to the ground... instead. But it isn't even clear if his torso is still attached to his face during all these acrobatics. Beautiful.
That frustrated him [Rayford] about people her [Hattie's] age. They enjoyed a volleying conversation game. He liked to get to the point.
Rayford grabbed her [Hattie's] elbow and pulled her aboard as he climbed in. "Only way she's not coming is if you can't handle the weight."
"What do you weigh, doll?" the pilot said.
"One-fifteen!" [Hattie replied]
"I can handle the weight," he told Rayford.
He [Rayford] buckled himself in and Hattie sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and clasped his wrists together. He thought how ironic it was that he had been dreaming of this for weeks, and now there was no joy, no excitement in it, nothing sensual whatever. He was miserable. Glad to help her out, but miserable.
"Don't know how reliable this is, but the rumor is he found out his boys had disappeared and his wife was killed in a wreck!" [commented the helicopter pilot]
For the first time the enormity of the situation became personal for Rayford.
And why did he [Rayford] care about her [Hattie]? She was beautiful and sexy and smart, but only for her age.
Just a note: Begin thinking about the causes. Military? Cosmic? Scientific? Spiritual?
Sometimes I think because of the position I'm in, I'm the only one who knows these things; but three different department editors have turned in story ideas on various international groups meeting in New York this month. Political editor wants to cover a Jewish Nationalist conference in Manhattan that has something to do with a new world order government.
The other religious conference in town is among leaders of all the major religions, from the standard ones to the New Agers, also talking about a one-world religious order. They ought to get together with the Jewish Nationalists, huh?
Everybody's pretty enamored with this Carpathia guy from Romania who so impressed your friend Rosenzweig.
If I had to guess, I'm anticipating some God-awful ransom demand.
Labels: Left Behind