Tautology of the Skeptical Sinner

The Political Inquirer sat down an Atheist and a Theist and asked them to debate this question:

“Is Atheism beneficial or dangerous to society?” and similarly, “Is Theism beneficial or dangerous to society?”

You can read the full article here http://politicalinquirer.com/2008/06/26/god-in-society-an-atheism-theism-debate/

Having read the preliminaries, I’m still a greater fan of Kyle Williams debating with a book. (Warning Long ass post). But both personalities involved in the debate seem measured and not too vitriolic. http://www.atheismisdead.blogspot.com/ represents the theist position and Leo Pardus of DE-CONVERSION the atheist. Personally, I’d have hoped someone from exchristian.net would have been invited, but it still promises to be an interesting discussion.

What, as always, has me amused is the comments.

Looking at GE (NYSE:GE) today… down over 5% from an already savaged low.

What’s going on with the US’s oldest stock?

Well… for one, the sale of its $30 bn private label credit cards is currently under scrutiny, with JP Morgan Chase apparently dropping out.

That and the … strategic decision… to part ways with its appliance division are hammering this traditional bellweather stock.

Does CEO Jeff Immelt really know what he’s doing. Given that he recently bought $3 million worth of shares, you’d think he has an insider edge, but Wall Street don’t echo that confidence.

2.5 million shares were dumped as the stock hit $26.24.

Despite the rally yesterday, it appears that shareholders don’t feel that GE is a bargain at this price, so where’s the next resistance point? $25? $20???

I imagine the board at this point are putting tons of pressure on the erstwhile CEO. After all 14.5 BILLION dollars were written off the company’s market cap today from yesterdays close. (That’s what you get for having almost 10 billion shares outstanding)

GE’s units still continue to make profits, and their sales teams continue to secure long term deals.

Does the CEO know what he’s doing? Wall Street says no. But don’t worry about our Jeff, I’m sure his Golden Parachute will save him.

Soon to be followed by .duh

According to CNN http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/25/domain.names/index.html

Apparently the most sought after domain name in this new land grab is going to be “dot.sex”
The least popular? I’m not sure, but my prediction: “ionlyhave.sex”

First I thought I was ambivalent about this decision, but then I was in two minds about that initial thought as well. It may help the adult industry find more available domain names, but more than likely all of the speculators looking to turn a buck will be camping the Registrars like only an ex-everquest player could do and buy chunks of domains that relate to the major players in the adult world.

If they’re smart, instead of doing a first come first served virtual land grab, they should auction the domains themselves a la ebay (ooo ebay.sex! - lawsuit waiting to happen!), themselves.

Since the government cracked down on online gambling, there’s been a huge market that is untapped. As we all know, as soon as you ban something, it doesn’t go away, it just goes underground.

Efforts are being made to fight the legislation, but in the meantime, a creative mind has come up with a different approach.

Enter Centsports.

Now, the government define online gambling as anything that offers prize, chance and consideration. Which is why Centsports is just going to give you money to gamble with. That’s right. They’re going to let you gamble with their money. That way, you’re not risking anything, therefore… not gambling.

Now, they’re only giving you 10 cents at a time, but you can wager that on any line currently offered in Vegas. Once you’ve accumulated $20 you can cash out. Of course, there are lots of restrictions, but even so, if you want to have a little flutter, while it’s not going to let you retire, this is a painless way to get some excitement.

The site of course has advertisers, they have to pay for it somehow, but… if you’ll give it a shot, I think you’ll find the site to be a lot of fun. Stop by and check it out!

In my last post on Hell’s Kitchen, I struggled to find out what it was about this show that was so damn appealing.

In last night’s competition (free over at hulu.com), I think I found out what it was.

The three finalists were: Christina, Corey and Petrozza. It’s obvious, from watching them, that they’re all competent chefs who know how to cook, but can they lead the kitchen? In this episode you’ll find out. If you ask someone to describe Chef Ramsay - they’ll probably mention “shouting”, “rude”, “mean” or “English” in their description of the charismatic owner of Hell’s Kitchen - and if you have only seen previews of the show, then you’d probably be inclined to agree.

But in this episode, as each of the aspiring chef’s take a turn at running Hell’s Kitchen, showcasing their leadership skills for a shot at the prize of being Gordon Ramsay’s next executive chef, you’ll see the teacher and mentor in Gordon Ramsay. I believe that is what makes this show so worthwhile for me. You’ll see that all of the lessons, the demands for perfection and communication, the frustration he demonstrates when a chef gives him less than he knows they are capable of, all come together when each of the final three take a shot at running the hotplate. Also known as The Pass, the hotplate is where the executive chef takes the orders from the dining room, relays them to the kitchen and provides quality control on those dishes that get sent out.

The best part is when Gordon gives each of the three some “assertiveness” training. Priceless.

I’d recommend watching this one, even if you’ve never seen a single episode before. If you like it, then go back and watch how Hell’s Kitchen got whittled down to the final 3. Then tune in next Tuesday (July 1st 2008) for the Final on Fox, or next Wednesday on Hulu.

This was an awesome final three, and you are left hanging right until the end. I won’t spoil it. But I think the best two are left.

Next week’s finale looks like an amazing 2 hours of TV, with the 2 finalists each creating their own restaurant, menu, look and feel… oh, and staffing their kitchen from the contestants previously eliminated from this season.

Keep an eye out for a preview of the finale, coming soon!

An advanced, unauthorized review of their new thriller: Alone in the Dark, has apparently created a wonderful PR experience for Atari. One site broke the pre-release review publication with a “negative review” (5 out of 10 - that’s not negative, thats “meh”) in dutch.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53249

How DARE journalists warn the public in advance that a much hyped product that has a zero return policy is in fact a steaming pile of fecal matter and thereby interfere with a corporations bottom line. God forbid the game publisher should actually wait and release a game that’s original and worth playing.

Pre launch, this game was generating a lot of excitement:
http://buttonbasher.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/alone-in-the-dark/

The good news is that with all of this publicity, gamers will hopefully be put off purchasing the title and rightly so. The hilarity is that this one little Dutch site, that’s IN dutch, would probably not have impacted sales nearly as much if Atari had just quietly black-balled them. That’s right, boys and girls, classic Corporate strategy at work: Greedy AND Dumb.

 A while back, I was writing freelance for a gaming magazine. I panned a game called Master of Orion 3 in a review I wrote, mainly because out of the box it was a pile of steaming fecal matter. I awarded it a magnanimous 18%, which the editor upgraded to a 30 something, because he didn’t want to upset the publishers. But to his credit, he published the review intact.

So… Dutch Computer Games Reviewing Website no one had heard of before all this. Crack open a bud light, we salute you. You may have a funny accent, but when it comes to fighting the good fight against corporate sell outs, you tell it like it is.

Oh, and an advisory to any Game Publisher who plans on sending me an advance review copy, if it sucks, I’ll break your embargo to tell the 3 people who visit my site regularly world… and sue you for wasting my time.

And it will be in English, mother-f^@#*rs, not dutch. How’d you like THEM apples?

Skep

I think George would be glad to have died. At least now we’ll see less of Tim Russert.

But seriously, there’s a whole generation out there who barely knew him, and hopefully in death he’ll be able to get more of his important message across to those who desperately need to hear it.

Plus, he’ll get to offend people from beyond the grave… I never knew him personally, only through his comedy, but somehow… I think he’ll get a real kick out of that.

Check out his wikiquote entry (and while you’re at it… check out Mark Twain too. They died almost a hundred years apart, although the language of Mr Clemens is cleaner, the message is the same)

Some of the worthwhile links in the Blogosphere:

Some great Clips:
http://furzdurzelette.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/im-fine-but-im-not-dandy-george-carlin-rip/trackback/

A nice tribute:
http://legionofnameless.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/rip-george-carlin/trackback/

Seven Words sketch:
http://forestdragon.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/george-carlin-may-12-1937-june-22-2008/trackback/

and a Xtian writer who is saddened by the news, but happy that George is an aetheist no more: http://davidtjordan.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/newsflash-george-carlin-atheist-no-more/trackback/

The agnostic in me hopes that the enlightened are wrong, that there is indeed a heaven, I can imagine god welcoming George at the pearly gates with a “Hah!”. and a “Thanks for thinking”, then watch him go get introduced to Sam L Clemens, those two I imagine could talk for a while.

My list of (probably pulled by the copyright owner shortly) Memorable Carlin clips:

Religion is bullshit

Pro Life is Anti-Woman

George Carlin on Education & the Hidden Rulers of America

Saving the Planet

A nicely put together tribute

and most appropriately: George Carlin on Death

I know George would love it if he offended a few more of the narrow minded, and liberated a few more seekers.

George, if you’re yelling from down there… see ya soon

Skep

As an Aetheist, there won’t be an afterlife for you to share your unique views.

Fortunately, with the internet, you’ll live on and continue to make us laugh at ourselves for a long while to come.

You’ll still be missed.

Skep

What a very well thought out and written article at the 15 minute Genius

His/Her question: “But then you have to ask them the question, ‘Why is murder wrong?’ At this the most common answer is because of humanity being of importance. Aetheists would say humans shouldn’t kill humans because humans don’t have the right to. But where would they get or not get this right?”

The ten commandments essentially boil down to one. “Thou Shalt not steal”. Taking something that is not yours without the permission of the owner is wrong. Unless we have that rule, human society would be brutalized by the strong taking away from the weak. We are a society, for a society to function, there has to be some order. But who gets to establish that order?

Early religious leaders realized this, and controlled the masses by letting them know that there was an all powerful being who would punish them for eternity if they broke society’s rules (This was before CSI).

The majority of the moral code in all religions is essentially the rules for a society where the weak are protected from the strong.

Great minds came up with the Bill of Rights. But even then, some still practiced slavery, most mysogyny, but their hearts were in the right place, and the path they illuminated sets us off in the right direction.

Why aetheists are so keen in pointing out the flaws in religion is not (necessarily) to feel superior to those of faith. But to get across the message, you can’t rely on faith to solve this world’s problems.

As an agnostic, I struggle occasionally. I respect people of faith for following sound moral guidelines, but despair because some of these guidelines are so out of date, and taken only as it suits.

Xtians, for the most part, are homophobic, because Leviticus states it’s an abomination. So why don’t we see protests of Red Lobster? Because it no longer suits them to follow those rules.

As we as humans move forward, we will see more and more that the crux of religion is man controlling man through “you must have faith”, “trust in the lord”, “judgement will come” are all ways of saying “Forget about what is wrong in your life right now, just be good, and it will all work out”

I cannot truly say that I don’t believe in the supreme maker. But I do believe in mankind’s ability, and propensity to avert its’ eyes from things that need changing.

Skep

Probably not safe for work. Depending on your work that is.

Being the perv I am, I don’t normal miss any references to things spawned by the great god Eros. But I swear if it’s always been there, I need to get new glasses.

Craigslist has always had some dubious posts on, but trolling through all of these new posts of women selling themselves, is proving very entertaining - this girl knows how to dirty talk!

Interesting statistics from Jun 20th: Las Vegas has too many to count, New York has an equally impressive number(I didn’t say “good” statistics). Kansas City - 87 (I guess the Midwest really does heat up in summer), Salt Lake City, Utard Utah, 3. So very sad, if anyone needs quality professional “service” providers, it’s the denizens of SLC.

I wonder if while the economy continues to be a suck fest, we’ll see more people working the oldest profession, pun… not… intentional.