Month: September 2017

TEDx Providence 2017

So we went. This time it was at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence, RI. First I shall list speakers and provide my take on their speeches.

1) Michael Littman – he’s an AI and Robotics researcher at Brown University. Interesting talk about AI and it’s past, present and future – which btw is the theme for this years TEDx Providence.

2) A Performance by Case Closed – Hip Hop Dance Troupe.

3) Kiara Butler – I think she might be related to a friend of mine. She told the story of being sexually abused by her stepfather and came out as a gay woman of color. But she talked about how education is still teaching kids for jobs in manufacturing when that is a field that has been highly automated.

4) Lulu Locks – talked about transcending setbacks to be all you can be in the future.

5) Raymond Two Hawks Watson – spoke about the native experience. Quite interesting.

6) A Performance by the Eastern Medicine Singers with Raymond Two Hawks Watson. In essence a drum circle – stirred a bit of my soul – what with native ancestry myself. And someone said “I see white people in that circle they can’t be  native. I looked at him and said that both he and I have native ancestry. So who is he to say who is a Narragansett and who isn’t? Me, I’m Mohwak.

Needless to say because they got started late lunch got slid by a half hour. Now they had food trucks, but you couldn’t bring food back to the auditorium. Drinks were ok though. Not a good day to eat lunch outside.

The second block – I’ve pretty much blotted out that one. I was pissed off by that point.

It  wasn’t util the third block where Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave his environmental climate change speech but with a twist. He put up a slide with a bunch of Republican Senators and how they supported action on climate change. And then he went off on the Citizen United decision that allows anyone to contribute any amount. Where cash==free speech. This is so wrong.

Needless to say the venue for this was wrong. First if you enter/exit the auditorium you had to scan out. The scanners left something to be desired I’m talking the hardware. Took multiple scans to read a 3/9 code. So needless to say it was highly irritating.

And there was one speaker who talked about space culture – she could have dropped about 2/3’s the presentation and still gotten the point across. I cannot even be bothered to mention her name.

A new curse for those who irk me on the roadways

It comes out particularly when the car is sporting a Trump bumper sticker, or a cross, Jesus Fish, etc. When they do stupid things on the roadway I usually wish their testicles would wrap around their neck and strangle them. But for the Christian shit stains, they get stick your cross up your ass, using the short end.

Traffic makes me seethe like nothing else.

Re-use of ingredients

So after making the Quiche Lorraine I find myself with leftover leeks, thyme and Gruyere cheese. So I think tomorrow I’ll do omelets, or maybe we’ll finish the quiche.

Now I also have some bacon left – I suppose I could sweat that down for the omelet too. The combination of leeks, bacon and thyme is in so many words heavenly. The whole house smelled fantastic when I did that combo for the Quiche Lorraine. And interesting, another dish I make with leeks is Chicken with mushroom and leek fricassee. That one has tarragon too and the smell is phenomenal.

But nothing beats pork chops with sour cream and dill. I recall I made this one Halloween a few years back. One kid came to the door and he could smell the dish from my front door – he got a little extra candy, and the good stuff not the crap candy.

I’m surprised my neighbors don’t mention anything.

Disappointment – Kitchen Scale Died

So my venerable Ozeri Pro scale died today. The disappointment part is that I was all set to make Quiche Lorraine – and I’ve found that instead of volume measurement, it’s better to use weight to measure items.

Now I bought that Ozeri back in 2010 – so I’ve gotten 7 years of pretty heavy use out of it. But alas today went to use it and it won’t power up, even with fresh batteries. Now I’d obtained this from Amazon back then.

Someone suggested we go to Bed, Bath and Beyond and get a new one. I answered that I wasn’t spending $30 on a kitchen scale. So I fired up Amazon, searched for the term Ozeri and what popped was a nice flat panel scale with LED display. Does all the standard units like grams, kilograms, ounces and pounds. So I think it’ll do the trick for a few more years.

On recipe substitution

So one of the favorites in this household is chocolate souffle. It’s easy to make. First take two ounces of dark chocolate and chop it up pretty fine. Then melt 1tbsp of unsalted butter and then stir in 1tbsp All Purpose Flour. Then it’s supposed to be 1/4th cup milk plus one tbsp. Well no milk in the house. However do have Bailey’s Chocolatini coffee creamer. In a pinch you use what you have.

Have to say this was the most luxurious chocolate souffle I’ve made. It’s a double shot of chocolate essentially. And I noted they rose a bit higher – must be one of the components of the Chocolatini coffee creamer. Definitely decadent I must say.

Another dumb Christian says Rapture starts this Saturday

I think he’s channeling Harold Camping – the nitwit Christian who back in 2012 said the rapture was coming on not just one date, he then revised the claim and nothing came of it.

I suspect the same will happen with this guy. Even the Yahoo article points out he’s way off base.

You see it’s all because in the Bible they forecast the end times. But the thing is, being the Bible is entirely fictitious means that none of it is going to happen. And they’ve been expecting the rapture to happen ever since. So every year we get some ‘genius’ who says the Rapture starts this Saturday or some such.

It’s like clockwork. Look, the world will end in about 3-5 Billion years when the sun goes red giant. It’ll essentially be consumed by the sun.

Ask an Atheist: Aka Dumb Shit Question time

Got this from Journeying Atheist. 

1. If creationists can’t do science, then why do Kent Hovind and Duane T. Gish, who are creation scientists, have professional degrees in science? One has to ask, where did those degrees come from, if they came from Liberty or it’s ilk I’d say those degrees are highly suspect. 

2. If dinosaurs turned into birds, why are we not afraid of them? If you’ve ever seen a  hawk up close you’d definitely be afraid. That said, the lack of understanding of evolution is astounding. 

3. If homosexuality is right, then how come two people of the same sex not produce a child? Give it time, pretty soon they’ll be able to do it. Though who will carry the child remains a question. 

4. What purpose do we have if evolution is real? Apples to oranges comparison here. My purpose is to annoy theists. 

5. You say Jesus never existed, but have you heard of the Shroud of Turin? The shroud has been debunked several times over. 

6. Why do we not see humans being born in the zoos from monkeys if we came from monkeys? Didn’t we answer this already – evolution is a branching process. And monkeys and humans did at one point in time a very long time ago have a common ancestor. Sort of like Chimpanzees and Bonobos and Humans – we had a common ancestor a not so long time ago. 

7. Why do we go to church if God is not real? I think a more accurate question is why go to church at all, just read the source documentation. 

8. How did the Grand Canyon form?  A lot of water over a very long time carved that baby out. 

9. Do you know that Jesus loves you? No I don’t know that Jesus loves me. Unless of course he’s a cute Latino guy. 

10. If Christianity is false, then why is it popular? Constantine – that mutt.  

11. If you say Christianity is not true, then why do hundreds of people continue to become saved every day?  People will grasp when they think life is unfair etc. Which is true, life isn’t fair. 

12. Why do we not see half trees and half carrots, fronkeys, and crocoducks if evolution is real? Oh wow – this one is right out there. Here’s a hint, evolution is a BRANCHING process. It’s not linear. 

13. Why is Richard Dawkins afraid to debate Ray Comfort? Perhaps he doesn’t want to suffer a massive headache if he had to deal with the level of stupid presented by Ray Comfort? 

14. Did you know Christopher Hitchens was saved before death? Yes this one has been debunked too. 

15. Are you aware Ray Comfort disproved atheism with a banana? I saw the video and it made me laugh. I’d love to see his take on seedless grapes. 

16. Why do people laugh at evolutionists? Never seen this happen, conversely I have seen people laugh at creationists. 

17. How did the planets form when the Big Bang explosion all of a sudden happen? After all, you don’t see round objects form when something blows up. Well massive expansion and then gravity compressing huge clouds of gases like hydrogen, until such time they start fusing that hydrogen to helium and so on. And the mass around said stars, it pulls together by gravity and you get rocky planets, gas planets, etc. Perhaps you should read a book on cosmology sometime. 

18. If evolution is real, how can it explain gravity, angular momentum, human emotions, and why we worship God?  Wow the nonsensical comparison here is astounding. I mean gravity and angular momentum are related, but what the hell does it have to do with human emotion? 

19. How did pond scum make living things appear out of nowhere? Consider if you will the humans are made up of CHNSO  – Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur and Oxygen. The stuff spewed out from ancient stars. 

20. How can evolution be true if we don’t see pocket watches or airplanes form by themselves? Someone has a hard time understanding that the process of evolution selects for maximum survival, whereas pocket watches and airplanes are designed and engineered by the human mind. 

21. Did you know that dinosaurs and man lived together? If this were the case I assume quite a few humans would be dinosaur food. 

22. If evolution is real, then why do caring people like Rick Santorum argue that it must be challenged in the classroom? By challenged they mean they want to dispute it. 

23. Why are youtube atheists like AronRa and Thunderf00t afraid to debate Ray Comfort? Because the brain hurt they’d suffer at having to tolerate Ray Comfort is just too much to even contemplate. 

24. Why do we celebrate Christmas if Christianity is not real? If you consider that most of the symbology of the Christmas celebration are pagan in origin you get the idea. 

25. If creationists can’t do science, then why does the website Answersingenesis have proven science articles from creationists that do science? See answer one but as far as AIG there’s a great YouTube channel that debunks most of AIG.  I left this one because I cannot do it justice any better than the orginal. 

26. If evolution is true, then why can’t white people compete to be good in basketball like black people? After all, white people can’t jump! Whoa, this one just blows my mind. 

27. Where do you decide to fit God in your everyday life if you don’t believe in him? I don’t fit God anywhere. Don’t need to do so. 

28. Why is Christianity the fastest growing religion if it’s false? Yeah Christianity is declining in membership. Islam is gaining. But they’re both false religions. 

29. Do you feel free to commit murders, homosexuality, go to strip bars, steal, commit adultery, and do other sins since you believe there is no God?  I’m gay, been to strip bars, even did a live radio broadcast from one. So go fuck yourself with this stupid question. 

30. Why do the fossils say no to evolution? Really?? If anything they bolster evolution. 

31. Why did Darwin admit that how the eye formed is impossible? Because Darwin didn’t understand things at a microscopic level. 

32. Where did everything come from if there is no God? Well, E=mc^2 says energy comes from mass, but did you know that mass can be created by energy? Bet you didn’t see that coming. 

33. If there is no God, then why do we have laws that govern us, such as speed limits? Mainly because as a society we agreed to be governed. 

34. Do you know where you are going when you die? To a crematorium then ashes sprinkled in a little town in Italy. 

35. Why do we not act like monkeys if it is true we came from monkeys? Ever observe monkeys, or chimps and bonobos? Lots of common behaviors. 

36. Why do we display The Ten Commandments in the courtrooms if you say the Bible is not real? The display of such is a violation of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

37. Why should be it wrong to rape if God is not real? The concept of mutual consent comes into play. 

38. Why is The Passion of The Christ very high on the Box Office? It was snuff porn true and true. And it’s box office return wasn’t THAT spectacular. 

39. How can America not be a Christian nation if there are way more churches than mosques? Well you could be from my home state, where the first baptist church,  synagogue etc. were established. 

40. How is the bible not real if it’s the most popular book read by man? If you actually read your Bible you come to understand that it’s based on only so much woo  and nothing more. 

41. How did the moon form? Current theory states a rogue object crashed into earth and the rest of the work was done by gravity. 

42. Did you know that famous scientists like Newton, Sir Richard Owen, Einstein, Galileo, and Copernicus were creationists? I have a strong suspicion that this question was pulled out of someones nether regions. 

43. Why do we not see black people come from white people? Well it’s called genetics. For example, some white people could have some black ancestry they didn’t know of, or vice versa. 

44. Why are fruitflies still fruitflies in the lab experiments if they are claimed to prove evolution? We did this experiment in high school. It focused on the eye color. 

45. Did you know that the Piltdown Man was a hoax used for Darwinist propaganda? Yes indeed. 

46. Why do we not see frogs turn into birds? Let see it’s a BRANCHING process and not a linear process. 

47. Why is Fox News dishonest if it is a network run by truthful Christians? This one is rich – truthful Christians? They exist? 

48. Why did Hitler fail to make a superior race if evolution is true? Hey did you know Hitler was a Christian? 

A treatise on butter

Let me first state that in this house we use butter liberally. There is just no escaping it’s use – for greasing up a pan to melting with dark chocolate as a base for kick ass cream cheese brownies. Butter is a requisite ingredient.

Now until a few months ago any store bought butter was good to go. As a rule it usually is good but then I made a fateful decision. I took home some Kerry Gold butter  – in both its salted and unsalted varieties.

I shall never buy American mass produced butter again, well maybe never is too strong. There are uses for standard butter – creme brule for example. But for everything else Irish or European butter please.

Like all good cooks I taste ingredients to every dish. And I have to say this Kerry Gold Irish butter is in two words, fucking awesome.

There’s something to be said for high quality ingredients. It can elevate a dish or treat to a new dimension when the best ingredients are used in its preparation. You really don’t know until you try I suppose, but good butter is the bomb. It’s even better than butter I’ve made myself. I really must learn the black magic they use to make Irish or European butter.

34 things atheists hear – and my responses

My answers in bold

  1. The only reason you don’t believe is because you don’t want to be obedient.

    I don’t give a rats ass – that’s why I don’t believe. 

  2. Evolution is just a theory!

    First of all whoever says things like this don’t understand evolution. It’s not a linear process but a branching process. Sort of like how there are chimpanzees and bonobos. Look it up dipshit. 

  3. Science changes its story all the time, but the Bible never changes because it’s the truth!

    Because science updates it’s information on a constant basis as discoveries and new data are observed. You’re a dumb shit had to have said this.

  4. The watchmaker analogy.

    This one irks me – it comes down to a lack of understanding of evolution. Those asking this question focus on the eye – and Richard Dawkins does a very good explanation of how vision evolved with props and everything. 

  5. You believe deep down, but you’re not willing to admit it because God would punish you for being a sinner.

    Deep down inside I don’t believe in a sky fairy. I also look at he fact of all the gods we’ve kicked to the curb and ask the question, why is this particular god so important? 

  6. It’s dangerous to be a Christian these days because we are being persecuted in this secular society.

    If Christians really think they’re being persecuted, I can both assure them that they’re not and also provide them with the means for persecution that was perpetrated by emperors, religious leaders, etc. 

  7. If not the Bible, where do you get your morals from?

    Simple empathy gets you pretty far. You know, you wouldn’t want that done to you. So why do it to someone else? 

  8. Evolutionists took Intelligent Design out of public schools, because they’re afraid of it because it’s true.

    No they didn’t take it out of school due to fear but  because it’s bunk, junk science, whatever you’d like. Come on humans and dinosaurs co-existed? We’d be lunch if that were the case. 

  9. It takes just as much faith to be an atheist!

    Um, no it doesn’t. Faith is believe without evidence. I require evidence for extraordinary claims. That’s a big difference. 

  10. Atheism is dangerous because it claims that man is his own god.

    And what is so wrong with that? And I’m not a god, but I’m a demon. 

  11. When God does things that don’t make sense, just trust him and have faith.

    Sorry bob, can’t do that. If things don’t make sense you can do something like read a fucking book and learn. 

  12. I’ve experienced God personally, so he’s real.

    That’s nice that you’ve had a mental breakdown. 

  13. So do you think you’re smarter than everyone else?

    I’d say smarter than a large chunk of the U.S. population. But I know there are smarter. But here’s the secret  – smart as we can be we have our blind spots. 

  14. This is a Christian country.

    And you say this why? The founding fathers experience church control and they didn’t like it. And we’re not so much a Christian country as we are a country of the gun. Imaging saying “Holy Gun, deliver us from evil.” See, it works. And the founding fathers were deists – every hear of the Jefferson Bible? Yeah. 

  15. Why don’t you believe? Is it because something bad happened to you?

    I don’t believe because I was taught critical thinking skills. Of course they tried to tell me you couldn’t apply it to religion but seriously – you expect me not to do that? So contrary to your assertion, nothing bad happened to caused me to lose belief.

  16. Just wait until you’re dead!

    And you rot in the ground. Won’t you be sorry then. Because there’s not heaven or hell. 

  17. Just read the Bible.

    Oh I did read the Bible. All of it. It made me a better Atheist. Because if you just focus on a few things like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and you see that all four have completely different accounts of the resurrection. Or you look at Genesis where Cain goes east to the land of Nod. Who were those people in Nod? 

  18. I’m praying for you.

    Keep you smarmy prayers to yourself. 

  19. Hitler and Stalin were atheists.

    Hitler was a Christian and Stalin was an ally to the U.S. 

  20. There’s no proof that God doesn’t exist.

    There’s PLENTY of proof – for example discounting Josephus there is no historical mention of the Christ. None. And if there is one thing you learn about the Roman culture – they were record keepers. 

  21. Why do you hate God?

    I cannot hate something that doesn’t exist. 

  22. We all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts.

    We have lots of holes in our hearts with valves to control the flow of blood. What is this shape of god by the way? The circle, the oval what?

  23. Without religion, society would fall to chaos.

    Not true – empathy works too and it doesn’t require belief in a sky fairy or god. 

  24. Without God, there is no meaning.

    If you can’t find meaning in your life without having to believe in a sky fairy I feel really sorry for you. 

  25. Even though you don’t believe in God, he still believes in you.

    How presumptuous of you to think that a god believes in me. 

  26. You can’t look at the beautiful sky and tell me no one created that.

    Oh I know what created that – it’s called physics – look it up. 

  27. You’re going to hell!

    Here is an interesting one. You know the Old Testament or Pentateuch  – there is no definition of hell in those texts. Judaism doesn’t recognize a hell. 

  28. We don’t see wind either but we know it’s there.

    You can see the effect of wind, you cannot see the effects of a non existent deity. And extension of this argument is that you can’t see electricity  – I beg to differ. Ever see a jacobs ladder? 

  29. If evolution is real then why are there still monkeys?

    Because again, evolution is a BRANCHING process, not linear. So other species will still exist. 

  30. What if you’re wrong?

    What if I’m right – there’s no heaven, no hell. Now the quantum world – that’s a possible but not probable account. 

  31. You’re saying all this happened by chance?

    Pretty much. The big band, fusion of hydrogen, all based on gravity. 

  32. So do you even believe in anything?

    Not really. Evidence is pretty addictive. 

  33. There are no atheists in foxholes.

    Horse shit. There are a fair number of atheists in foxholes.

  34. You’re taking it out of context!

    Actually I’m taking it completely within the context provided. It isn’t pretty. 

Can you find me?

Here’s a picture from this past Thursday nights Providence Democratic Socialist meeting.

 

unnamed

I’m off to the right in the light blue shirt that says “Wanted Dead & Alive – Schrodinger’s Cat.” with an image of a live and dead cat in a cube. They caught me laughing about something.

You’ll note the group is overwhelmingly white. That one concerns me greatly. Ages ranged from very young to fairly old. All in all about 50 people showed up. Interesting shot of the back of the facilitators head too.

During one of the proposed campaigns it was mentioned they’d have lobby days at the State House. I explained that I think politics, particularly in Rhode Island is a contact sport. I see my state Representative and Senator quite often and my city councilor too. I know the Secretary of State in RI, and I’m still remembered at the Attorney General’s office too.

So I’ve offered to teach a short session on how to:
a) Find your voter record

b) Find your elected representatives

c) How to contact said representatives via email.

Should take maybe 20 minutes in total. Just need a net connection, a projector and a place to present. We’ll work it out.