Ooooh Haaaaroooold, you got some 'splainin' to doooooo!

Harold's response; Awwwwww, Yahweeeeeeeh!

References to 50s television aside, Armageddon has NOT happened yet!

In case you missed it, Harold Camping predicted in the mid 40s that the world would end May 21st, 2011. He claimed that there was a mathematical equation in the Bible that revealed that the world would end 7,000 years after the flood which wiped out nearly all of life on Earth, which Noah survived by building an ark and loading it with... Well, the most popular account has it that it was 2 of every animal, but it varies from passage to passage due to the fact that the Bible, even within the same book, had different authors. But you get the idea. And I REFUSE to call it the "Flood of Noah" because it wasn't Noah's flood, he just survived it. There's gotta be a better name for it out there.

Anyway, I think even the Christians themselves should have known better. Anyone who has read the Bible and payed close attention to it would know that there's a passage which clearly says no one but God will know when judgment day will come. So, trying to say you know when the end will come would also mean equating yourself to God. Assuming you believe in God, that is. And I don't.

Let's look at that argument using a logical formula. For this, let's assume that the argument "Only God knows when the world will end" is true, since it's what's written in the Bible. Now, here's what the argument would look like;

If only God knows when the world will end,
and Harold Camping knows when the world will end,
then Harold Camping is God.

Like I previously stated, the first argument is assumed to be true. Now for the second line, "Harold Camping knows when the world will end", empirical evidence shows us that this is false. It is, in fact, the 22nd of May, and the world didn't end, like Camping claimed it did. So if one part of the statement is true, and the second part is false, then the conclusion has to be false as well. So, Harold Camping is not God, because only God knows when the world will end, according to the Bible, and Harold Camping didn't know.

However, I don't believe that was what was intended. I think he was just a bad interpreter of the Bible. But it would be difficult for me to put that in the form of a logical equation. I only took one semester of college logic, and even then I sold the book, so reviewing what I learned is out of the question, unless I use Google, but having the book to read would have been easier.

... Actually I think it would look something like this.

Harold Camping claimed to know when the world will end
and only God knows when the world will end.
Therefore, Harold Camping is a lousy interpreter of the Bible.

Both are positive statements and I'm assuming both of them to be true. Harold Camping DID act like he knew when the world will end, so I think that's true. Also, "only God knows when the world will end" is assumed to be true in the last argument, and will remain so in this one. So if both of those ARE true, then I would reason that the conclusion is true. The conditional statements do seem to lead up to the conclusion, but I'll leave that up for the readers to decide. Any feedback (as long as it's constructive) is appreciated. But if you're going to be rude, don't waste your breath because I don't listen to people who are rude.

I almost forgot to mention though... A part of me was wishing he was right...

I quit!

Almost everyone on this planet is stark-raving MAD!

Osama Bin Laden has died. America rejoices at their LOSS.

Yes, that's right. I said loss. I didn't like Osama, he ordered the attack that killed tons of unarmed civilians. It was awful. But the US government responded with the same disregard for the well being of other human beings with their campaigns in the Middle East. And then, after 10 years, they did it. They killed Osama Bin Laden. Supposedly. I don't know how far I can believe what the government says, but here's what the politicos are saying; Osama was hiding in Pakistan, and when they raided the facility he was staying at, he was unarmed, but resisted arrest. He then was shot in the eye, and had part of his skull blown off. Now, the US is celebrating its "victory" over Osama Bin Laden. But this victory is a shallow one. For in the process, we have become that monster which we have been fighting. Justice had not really been served. Tyranny and spite have. In winning we have lost. In winning the battle against this one man, we, as a whole, have lost our collective cultural soul. And we are bound for damnation in the eyes of the rest of the world. We are now complete monsters.

We have lost. End of story.

UPDATE: Apparently Osama Bin Laden WASN'T behind the 9/11 attacks! So why is the news media saying he was all of a sudden? Why is the entire country being misled into thinking they have been avenged!? And at this point does it matter? Should we really be answering bloodshed with bloodshed? I think not. All I know is me and millions of people within the nation have been lied to.

That still doesn't change the fact that we lost. And Osama supposedly wrote in his will not to engage in Jihad. Awfully merciful for the man America wanted dead. What's the true story behind this war? Is it really just for oil, or is there something far more sinister in the works? All I know is I want answers.

All I know is this was personal before Osama died...

Holy Smoke.

By now this is old news, but remember that Florida priest who said he'd burn a copy of the Qur'an? Well, guess what? That shithead did it. And now the Muslims in the Middle East are in an uproar over it. If any of them are reading this, then let me say this; He does NOT represent America, and if he does try to, don't even listen to him. He's just an attention whore. That aside, you should have heard his reasons. He said that the Qur'an needs to be looked at closely and that it is a violent religion. Well, haven't you read your own holy book, Mr. Holier than thou? Your religion is pretty violent, too! But the worst part about all this is it's behavior like this that will set us back to the dark ages! In fact, I'm reminded of a song by called "Holy Smoke", which is about religious book burning. All you have to do is listen carefully to the lyrics. Honestly, though, we shouldn't even need to worry about this kind of thing anymore, book burning should have gone out with the renaissance! What's gonna happen if this kind of ignorant behavior is allowed to continue!?

The Cult of Wal*Mart.

So after adding a personalized message to a petition to keep Wal*Mart out of New York, it struck me. I think people may, whether they want to admit it or not, WORSHIP Wal*Mart! I mean, how else do you explain why people will try to defend the biggest sweatshop corporation in the world? They can get away with it because Wal*Mart has everything people are looking for, and all at a low price! People don't understand the economics behind it. They don't see the sweatshops in China, the wage slaves in the U.S., and the amount of discrimination that happens in some of their stores. All they see is they're getting what they want cheaper at Wal*Mart. And even if you told them, they either wouldn't believe you, or they wouldn't care. I should know. My family is one of those families that worship Wal*Mart. And it bugs me.

In response to this, I felt inspired to create my own, home-brewed website to hang a lampshade over how much people worship the corporation. Well, people have already made sites. Plain text and stuff, nothing fancy. But I would take it a step further. I wanted to make it the OFFICIAL site of the cult of Wal*Mart. So, the premise was something like this; You would enter the site, and you'd see a little welcome screen, talking about the Cult of Wal*Mart, and you'd see the smiley. On the bottom you'd have an about button, and it would give you the amount of members, people who worship Wal*Mart (it could even be based on actual research, you never know!) Further into the site, you'd hear about their mission, and then you'd start seeing symbols littered across the site. It's no longer the smiley, now, you'd start to see different religious icons. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, stuff like Ying Yangs, and other spiritual stuff, it's all going to be there. And then you venture further, and you start seeing much darker icons, pertaining to the Illuminatis, the Freemasons, and finally, the disembodied head of J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, for good measure. Maybe even a mural of the flying spaghetti monster at the very bottom of the page. Finally, you would arrive at the initiation video. It will consist of one of those hypnotic swirlies, complete with a flashing smiley, which would be a simple 2-frame animation of the Wal*Mart smiley, one normal, and one with the colors inverted. Also, throughout the site, you'd be hearing chanting. I chose Dies Irae, an old Gregorian chant, since I doubt anyone would have the copyrights to it (and if it IS, copyrighted, well, then, whoever you are, you're a piece of shit for privatizing CHANTING, and I wish an eternal life of pain and suffering on you!) Then, on the initiation video, I'd use "Giygas' Intimidation" from the Earthbound OST, because no one really CARES about that copyright anymore since NoA apparently can't defend its Mother games (Dali's Clock being the official key reason. Fucking copyright laws.) I would also probably throw in a demonic-sounding version of the Wal*Mart cheer, to drive home the effect of being brainwashed.

... But it looks like the site will never be made. I was hoping for my own domain name, something like thecultofwalmart.com or something to that effect. But you have to pay for those. The only way to do that for free is to set up a computer as a server, and I can't even begin to tell you how complicated the process is, let alone the risk to not 1, not 2, but 3 computers that share the same network with the would-be server computer. Say some right wing zealot decided that they love Wal*Mart with all their heart like some blind zealot, and decides it is in his best moral interest to hack my site because I offended their god. I would be putting my entire home network in danger! So, there goes my inspiration to bring a corporate Goliath down to size. I guess I'll have to find some other way to subvert the corporation. Or maybe even the "dominant paradigm" my late friend turned me on to...

Here's a reason you should never lie to your kids.

Today I was reading the Friendly Atheist's blog, looking in the section on death. I was wondering if anyone else had been through what I have been through, losing someone that you cherish deeply, and feeling that they are "lost forever". It's a horrible feeling and no one should have to go through it. But the first thing I noticed was a question, raised by someone who lost his mother. The thing is, he's an atheist, and he's trying to explain to his kids what he believes.

What happened is I was reminded of a certain event from my childhood. Now, I never used to be an atheist like I am now. I grew up in a Lutheran family. We used to go to church all the time (until they started getting greedy with tithes, or so my parents claim) but the fact that I was on that site, at that time, feeling the way I felt, made me put my life experience into perspective. I think I know why I'm a skeptic. It's because of Santa Claus.

Who knows if I'm the only one who thinks this, but I'm sure 99% of the people reading this remember at some point in their childhood, the myth that is Santa Claus. He's fat, he rides a sled pulled by 9 reindeer led by Rudolph (which was actually created by Montgomery Wards, believe it or not) and he hops down the chimneys of all the good boys and girls in the world, filling their stockings with goodies, and leaving presents under the Christmas tree, all for the measly price of a plate of milk and cookies. Not a bad deal, really, since money wouldn't really be that useful to him. And if you're one of those 99% of people, then surely you remember being told that him, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and all those other fantastical creatures you might have believed in as a kid, were just things that your parents made up. Complete BULLSHIT! I don't know how most people would feel about it, as I don't get many chances to REALLY socialize with people, but I can tell you how I felt. It was as though I was lied to, and even though I know I'll never have kids, I can say that if I ever did decide to have kids, I would never tell them a bald-faced lie like that. Ever. I still give my parents crap about leading me on about this "Santa Claus" person. They try to say it was for fun or whatever, but then my response is usually "How is LYING to me FUN!?"

More recently, though, that's how I've been feeling about religion. Too many unanswered prayers and a heartbreak later I'm completely confident that God, or whatever else you want to call it, is a lie. Just like Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy, or anything like that. But this isn't just some kind of lie that your elders will tell you doesn't exist when they think you outgrow it. Even the elderly believe it. After all, your average person probably would tell you "The Bible" is written by God or some crap. It was written by various people, over different periods of time. The Bible has several different authors, and they just happen to write about the same thing; God. But the impact that THIS lie has on entire groups of people is more widespread and perverse than Santa Claus will ever be. Groups of people get killed for lies like these! (Native Americans, anyone?)

Well, now that I've gotten that off my chest, I'm going to go detach myself from this screen for a little bit to take a breather.

Think nuclear energy is safe? Think again.

Surprisingly, this is one of the few instances where the news media actually care about something important. I saw something on PBS about the disastrous earthquake that hit Japan a little bit ago, and it looked horrible, there was all this rubble where people used to live. Plus, all their nuclear reactors are going haywire, on the verge of a meltdown! The people who constructed those plants should have known that nuclear power is more danger than it's worth. In fact I can't believe India wants a piece of the nuclear pie, either, why would they want to sink to that level. Still, America's not perfect, we have that shit in our country, too. But I HATE nuclear energy! The waste never goes away, and then you have this! The threat of a nuclear meltdown! People can say "Oh, but they have better safety standards now." Well, what happens if a tectonic plate shifts, or a tornado hits, or some other act of God/nature? As long as you have a nuclear reactor, there will always, ALWAYS be the threat of a meltdown, nuclear terrorism or otherwise. People need to realize, there are other, safer, cleaner, renewable sources of energy out there. Japan's disaster is a tragedy, and I'd like to extend my sympathy to the people that have been hurt by the recent disaster. But I think it should also be looked at as a warning to everyone that nuclear fission is NOT as safe as some people will make it out to be. In fact, the people that tell you it's safe probably work for these places and are more concerned about the money in their pocket than anything else. We have the technology to harness the energy of the earth, the wind, the sun, and the water without seriously harming ourselves, or any of the other creatures on this planet. So, LET'S USE IT ALREADY! Everyone on this planet would be all the better for it!