Some stills I have been using for YT videos

All of these pictures were created by me, and only me and as I have posted them here they fall under the Creative Commons License, like all things here.

In short, use the shit out of them simply add a link back to this blog.

Or, and to be honest I don't really care one way or another, you can also link to my youtube channel.

Here it goes: http://www.youtube.com/user/Keippernicus


Yes, yes it is.
I will comfort thee with my rod and staff. Giggity.
This one is actually something of a wuzzle, the irony is overwhelming.
And yo mama to!
A logo I was playing with for the now defunct Brute Finesse site
One of my first attempts, pretty ugly but so shiny...
You remember this from the Pdunn Pwnage vids right?
Nintendo style, what what!

Now the final logo makes me giggle and I am in the process of turning it into a tshirt/hoodie. I'll throw up a link when I get to a point where it's ready.

The problem over at cafepress.com is that uploaded logos are really finicky when it comes to edges and gradients so its hard to find the right balance of size and clarity. Fingers crossed though, my people.

Some beef with JaguarJ0nes on youtube.

Ok not really beef per se but just an objection.  Here's a link to JJ's channel he's got some really funny videos about pwning YEC's and their arguments.  Something about his video voice/expressions really sunk in and I laughed my ass off at some of his references.

But he insists that pangolins are totally gay.  Which is crazy, pangolins are totally awesome!

I mean it's a freakin' mammal with scales, freakishly overdeveloped claws, near immunity to ant bites *food source* and it can curl into a spiky ball when threatened.  Its kind of like an armadillo but so much cooler. 

Link to Original.

So anyway I made a little video, slammed it together from clips and nearly pulled my hair out because camtasia kept crashing and the audio splice was absurdly counter intuitive.  At any rate, I got her done and present, in full glory, for your viewing pleasure.

Jaguarj0nes LOVES Pangolins

Mo' video!

Granted this does meet the excellent standards of my fiction writing but I dropped another video on Pdunn's apologetic rectum recently. It's worth checking out on youtube but views here still count so whatev. It's just funny what people will believe.

Pdunn Pwnage

So, I'll just come right out and say it. I made a response video.

But listen, it had to be done. You remember this post from a while back? Homeboy's comments could NOT stand and I can't work within the constraints of 500 character answers to some pretty subtle and nuanced questions.

So I made this video, posted it as a response, and consider it a mediocre debut onto the youtube scene (at best.)

Anyway, enjoy the slaughter and sorry about the audio quality (Marshall Brain is super loud, Pdunn is super quiet and I ping pong back and forth somewhere in the middle.)

Enjoy!

Some silliness for the god-whallopers

It's short and cheesy but I made a video today after some hilarity with igod. Someone, somewhere might find it amusing.

A quick word about living in the Southern USA

Friends there's no escaping the bigotry and the hatred, nor the scornful glares of those people who think their purported moral superiority transcends basic human decency.  Even a mild dose of this bullshit is enough to ratchet my mood from slightly anxious to seething cynicism.

An anecdote to highlight my frustration:

Yesterday at a gathering of friends my wife and I shared a conversation with a youngish grandmother, aged around 50 or so.

The event was to commemorate the recovery of a neighbor's daughter whose foot had been crushed in a car accident.  The injured girl was projected to be off her feet completely for 20 weeks and at just over 10 was able to hobble around with a brace on.

Sunshine and the cool sweat-covered drinks made the affair pleasant and calm.  Though most of those in attendance were strangers I felt like I was in the company of friends.  Now the young grandmother was interested in sharing stories of travel and adventure.

She talked about a 6 week journey across 30 states with her grandparents.  We spoke of the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas on the honey moon.  We shared with this woman the taste of noodle soup in Bangkok, the mangrove swamps of Costa Rica, our various trips to Europe and a certain midnight stroll across the dark continent.

As we shared I made an off hand remark that our honeymoon was last year.  Our two and a half year old daughter ran around on the grass making people smile and soaking up attention like a sponge, as usual.  The wheels began to turn in the head of our fellow story teller and rather than have her struggle with the implications I explained.

"We were only married last year, and Alex was born before that."

Straight, simple and perfectly mundane.

"But is she your daughter or?" The woman asked.

"As far as I know," I joked.  Her expression turned sour and she did not laugh.

From that moment the lady who had spoken with us, who had been delighted to hear about our lives turned utterly indifferent and quickly shifted her attentions to every other party guest EXCEPT for my self, my wife and our daughter.

This is why atheists get angry at christians.

How the World Works...You poor bastard

Much to my amusement I tuned into not one but TWO of my favorite youtube personalities. Thunderf00t and TheAmazingAtheist have been staples of my online entertainment regimen for some time but this...oh this is fresh and beautiful all on its own.

They have both turned their ire onto a glassy eyed talking head who goes by Howtheworldworks. This is the intellectual equivalent of dipping your ballsack into a tank full of hungry pirannha. Hence the 'you poor bastard' line.

Hilarity ensues? Oh yes. Here's the chronological progression as it unfolds.

TJ's opening Salvo

The 'rebuttal'

Strike one: TJ

Strike two: Thunderf00t

Second 'rebuttal'

Strike three: TJ

Elizabeth Dole: Ol' shrivel lips is up to some nasty tricks.

I thought I would weigh in on one last issue before the election rolls around on Tuesday.

I have heard about a certain negative ad from Elizabeth Dole for some time now but finally got to see it myself last night. Here's a link to the ad in question.

Now both the Charlotte Observer and Huffington post have weighed in on the events, as well as a good number of bloggers.

Here's a snippet from the Charlotte Observer's Fact Check about the ad.

IS THE AD ACCURATE?

It is true that Hagan attended the fundraiser in question, but the ad is misleading in several ways. The fundraiser was not a secret. The people shown in the news clips were not involved with the fundraiser. And some viewers might be led to believe that the unidentified female voice at the end of the ad is Hagan's.

Now I like primary sources so I figured I'd check out Mrs. Dole's site herself and see if she had made any apologies about the imagined association or the (more egregious) implication that atheists are bad people and not to be trusted. No such luck there. Here's an excerpt:

"Godless Americans PAC?"

Email Story
Print Story

Hagan Heads to Boston for Fundraiser in the Home of Leading Anti-Religion Activists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 26, 2008

[this excerpt contains three terminal paragraphs from the aforementioned article, emphasis mine]

"Kay Hagan is trying to run a campaign in North Carolina that casts her as a moderate but the money that's paying for it is coming from the left-wing fringe of political thought," said Dole Campaign Communications Director Dan McLagan. "You can tell a lot about a person by their friends and these are friends most North Carolinians would not be comfortable having over for dinner."

Hagan's campaign is being largely funded by labor unions intent on ending North Carolina's status as a right to work state, liberal trial lawyers and ultra left wing groups like MoveOn.org which is a deeply anti-military organization. Now Hagan has added anti-religion activists from Boston Massachusetts to the list.

"Kay Hagan does not represent the values of this state; she is a Trojan Horse for a long list of wacky left-wing outside groups bent on policies that would horrify most North Carolinians if they knew about it," McLagan said. "This latest revelation of support from anti-religion activists will not sit well with the 90% of state residents who identify with a specific religious faith."
[End excerpt]

Hmmn, so if 10% of North Carolinians like myself, are atheists and 90% are not...then clearly the 90% will be just as bigoted and inflammatory as the cranky old witch trying to keep her spot in the senate. And we all thought that Jesse Helms was a dirty old rag stuffed into the bottleneck of hatred and petty racism. I would argue that for stooping to such a level Senator Dole cannot claim any moral highground over the late Helms.

I have already voted early against Mrs. Elizabeth Dole but perhaps there is one last thing I can accomplish before election day. And if you know me I think you will know what that means...

Heaven the Game

So in the course of my day I came across this unfortunate video game title

The video is good and well, very lavish and colorful scenery abounds but I find myself wondering about some of the mechanics. Atheistic inclinations aside, what is there to do in heaven really?



It's supposed to be the reward for accepting Jesus (hopefully a playable character) as one's lord and savior. This is of course a 'representation' of the christian version of heaven. I am not sure they'd let a scantily clad aryan gal run around with clothes on in the islamic version.

But while the lavish visuals certainly paint an impressive landscape the question remains: what the hell are you supposed to do in heaven?

From my understanding the christian heaven is a new creation free from the corruption and conflict that riddles earth, stemming from the unfortunate dietary choices of the first two humans at the behest of a fallen angel in the form of a snake. It is also, at least in theory, a kind of place that once you got there would forbid travel outside, or in the very least back to little ol' earth.

Without conflict, or horrible monsters to fight, disasters to avert or at minimum a horde of angry demons to fight off what could you possibly do in heaven for fun? This applies equally to the game itself and the traditional conception of heaven.

I checked out the designer's website which is as spartan as it is seizure-inducing (at least in firefox) for some answers. I found very little insight besides the obvious mission statement:

Mission: to create interactive games that stimulate Christian spiritual growth.

There are only 4 sections, about, games, mission and contacts.

The GAMES section is blank which would seem to indicate that they've only been working on 'Heaven' for 4 odd years. Curious. I decided to browse over to the contacts section and send out an email to see if they will tell me more about the game itself.

Another curiosity, via some handy google work turned up a page saying that Heaven the game would be released in mid 2005 so the mystery deepens. Update if I ever get a response.

In the meantime CHECK OUT the 'Pearl Gate' it's like a globular Stargate.


I also found the choice of outfit for this "The Saint" character rather intriguing. Check out the Belt Buckle inscribed with the Alpha and Omega symbols. Apparently they like the greek alphabet in heaven.

Bonus for the muslims, technically everything but her hands and face (ignore the cleavage) are covered up. The way she backflips I have a hard time believing that she's a virgin though.

Creation as Science - Part I, Preclass

Perhaps this will be a mistake I can only look back on some day and fret. Perhaps not. Before we begin a little back story to smooth out the worry lines of my dear readership.

I have been invited to a bible study, 12 weeks long, one of which was already passed. The first class was an intro to the author, Hugo Ross and his role as an author, astronomer and allegedly valid source of information. I have decided to attend in part to see just what kind of stuff is being handed around, but also because it will be an interesting experience and provide some conversational fodder for me and the inlaws.

Note that Natalie's parents will be in attendance as well.

The book that outlines the framework for the series is listed in the post title with the byline "A testable model approach to end the creation/evolution wars"

Already my skeptic senses are tingling. Mixing and mashing science and religion together is a bit like flavoring mashed potatoes with light sweet crude. I know the hydrocarbons are similar to those in butter but the taste...well it leaves much to be desired.

The dorsal jacket proclaims that the author's intent is to show that any claim for creation/formation must be verifiable/falsifiable to be considered. Already the alarm bells are growing deafening as the jacket further asserts striking harmony between bleeding edge scientific research and biblical accounts of creation. Hmmm. The conclusion is that creation (the same 'creation' part of creationism) is a testable scientific theory that can advance human knowledge as well spark a resurgence in the scientific enterprise.

Funny, I wonder what has kept science thriving and humming along for the past few hundred years.

At any rate I am sure to encounter some face palm phrases and diabolical doublethink but I am going to try and keep an open mind about the ideas put forward. After all I would love to see the reconciliation of believers and atheists, if I wasn't curious I would not be reading the book nor attending the classes. Let's begin with the introduction.

************************
Introduction - Sifting fact from fiction
We start off admirably neutral with some examples of hysteria from the War of the World's broadcast and how people flew off the handle because they thought it was real. I get it. We establish that although the event was fictional people had very strong reactions because they thought it was real.

Segment - The Two Hundred Year's War - begins by saying that the 'war' of science and faith has raged for 200 years now and that opposing sides hold contradictory beliefs. I would argue that intelligent humanists have existed since the days of the greeks and probably existed long before that (as long as religion I will wager) However I mention this because it's not a war just because ideas are clashing. Science marches forth like a juggernaut and people try to slow it down and trip it up whenever it raises a foot to their faith.

Next segment 'about the book' makes something of a faux pas in the scientific world. Quoting Aristotle is always dangerous but in this case especially so. The quoted segment is "everything must be affirmed or denied, and that a thing cannot be and not be." Well, tell that to Schroedinger's cat. This is a worrisome quote because right of the bat we see indifference or ignorance of quantum mechanics.

The next few paragraphs state an intention of promoting dialog and discussion rather than screeds from opposing sides. I am happy to hear that at least. The author then touches on how we can seperate factual information from farcical nonsense. Basically you gather data, analyze it using various tests and from the observations we should be able to predict future outcomes based on what we infer. It's the scientific method in a nutshell but the author goes on to plug the Reason To Believe or RTB creation model.

I am at present unfamiliar with the RTB creation model but again I cannot ignore the skepticism tingle crawling down my spine. Presupposition is the enemy of good science and since the model conforms not to an independently verifiable source but to a preexisting bit of scripture I can only express concern. However, mind open, lights on and fingers at the ready.

The segment ends with a summary of the rest of the book which I'll not relist here. I decided to forego jumping into the chapters and instead want to look a bit deeper at the author himself.

So I did some google work.

Wikipedia
Bio at RTB
Other books

Now those three links represent a huge quantum of information so I will condense a few key points to remark on.

Mr. Ross is an old-earth creationist. This label speaks volumes but in the interest of not pigeon- holing anyone. He seems to believe (and brace yourself for cognitive dissonance, crank yer mental inertial dampeners up) that beliefs should hold up to evidence in a falsifiable and verifiable. That's good. However one can only wonder how sincere this wish is given the conclusions he draws.

Just flipping through the booklist we begin to see a lot of apologetics and a lot of science-confirms-the-words-of-biblical-scripture type of stuff. This is worrisome though at this point I have no delved into the meat of the book in question.

I would like to point out some positives however. The man seems to have a decent understanding of some scientific principles and a flexible yet firm disregard when it comes to marrying them to scripture. There are few deal breakers that I will consider for premature withdrawl or outright antagonism but the following points cannot be dismissed by any reasonable person.

1) The universe is about 14 billion years old
2) The earth is about 4.5 billion years old.
3) Life arose on this planet or was carried here from the immediate solar vicinity.
4) Since it began life has evolved through natural selection and mutation.
5) The dominant theories governing physics, biology and chemistry cannot be suspended, reversed or altered to suit any biblical assertion whatsoever.

6) This is a restatement of point 5, miracles can never supplant naturalistic observations for the explanation of key events throughout history regardless of source, date or popularity.

The next post will cover Chapters 1-3 and the first meeting I attend will relate to those chapters.

In regards to Kirk Cameron...

I open with an excerpt from my last telegraph to Kirk. It reads:

Kirk Cameron. Stop.

That's it. Last night at a wholesomely interesting dinner at the Lynnwood Estate Lucas mentioned a certain video featuring a certain former star of growing pains and a prime example of Musa sikkimensis

I literally could not believe what I was hearing and seeing as Kirk's sidekick opened with "Behold the Atheist's nightmare!" My heart fluttered for several thousand nanoseconds before I realized this nitwit was holding a piece of fruit.

There is no shame in admitting wrongness right away Mr. Cameron and your reverend dinglehop. Atheists are not shy when it comes to eating fruit, nor vegetables nor any sort of carbohydrate whether simple or complex. If there is anything unique about an Atheist's diet it is that he or she can't seem to choke down on bullshit.

Now over the span of one full minute Ray Comfort goes onto explain how a 'well made' banana is ergonomic, convenient and delicious. Indeed its remarkable that it comes with a 'pop top' and a biodegradable wrapper.

Miracle!!!

Only its not. Before I could even finish the video I noticed a nearby response that summed up nearly everything I had planned to say. I would like to it but its not working now. More on that later.

Then I made the mistake of watching some more stuff with Ray Completelyfuckingsanefort. What idiocy. The additional material in question was from the rational response debate in which the amazing duo prove 'scientifically' that god exists without mentioning faith at all...except that he does pull out the usual nonsensical 'this coke can didn't create itself' spiel and then ties in to the ten commandments.

What got me is how he insisted all you need to understand are 'eyes that can see and a brain that works.'

Well, dear sir, my eyes need a little correction for true visual acuity by my brain is mono fucking filament and your argument, well its not a ceramic spindle so I just can't stick with it. If you don't get the reference well our book lists just differ like that.

Why don't people get it? Really I can't believe sometimes how people fall for the same old swindlers and bullshit reassurances so blissfully. I remember 7 years ago or more sitting in a big room at NCSU with a cadre of wide-eyed students laughing about how a modern building would never occur in nature.

I laughed because the speaker, in the course of the metaphor revealed that his knowledge of electricity is less than sterling. Granted I am no expert but I do know that you need more than one wire and a switch to make the lights come on (the current needs to come from somewhere, he just sort of left that detail out)

Similar strains of arrogance and presumption haunt my everyday life. The more I think about it the more I realize how often the nutcases are 'informing' the level-headed types. It's like hearing a chiropractor lecture a brain surgeon on treating something severe.

Anyway this is fine and dandy, the church in all its form and grace, has been making a mockery of reason and intelligence since long long ago. Do I fear for Atheism as a cause or choice in life? No. Do I despair that people will stub out rational thinking in the world? No I do not.

This is why. Geeks, nerds and whatever archetypal thinking people reign in the land of tomorrow will be more and more necessary to maintain and expand our infrastructure until the end of time. I've never met a christian coder, i'm sure they do exist but by and large whatever faith, color or background if you give a nerd the chance for some booty I guarantee they'll take it 1100011 times out of 1100100. Think about it.

Society does not depend on religion anymore. The morals and values flung from 'the mountain' are supposedly essential to an orderly society but have no place in a technical one. Life is different. The closet light is on and guess what, world, no monsters! Huzzah!

No sexy mermaids or forest nymphs either, drat!

Now as a young lad and quite literally a child of science fiction I always harbored a healthy respect for the prevalent notions of mid twencen science fiction. Notably that people would, in more or less current form, take to the stars with great ships of war and exploration and that society was being ordered into ever neater tiers of understanding. Great sentiment but that notion doesn't even carry past the atmosphere.

What now seems obvious is that as a technical society we will be forced at some point to deal with all the debris in the fishing net. By net I mean technology and by debris I mean nut jobs and con-people without scruples or sense enough to do something useful in the world. After all as the world becomes ever more tame and quantified it becomes less threatening.

Long has it crossed the gray matter that we really don't think beyond the tip of the iceberg unless we really have to. I am speaking of humans in general now. True most people know that meat comes from animals which have to be grown, slaughtered and processed *butchered if you're up for it* and then packaged so that we can eat them safely. Logically people know that this happens to pigs, chickens and cows but seeing the 'early stages' still makes people queasy.

It is very easy for things to seem possible or rational without understanding their origin or root cause. At Computer Stupidities the constant vexing almost unbelievable stories are the ones where people file, drill, bolt or chop up some component 'to make it fit.' Granted people are becoming more PC literate *I say nothing for the Macs and their goddamn tyrannical hardware!!!* but it took time for that shift to occur. Absorbing the new norms and functions associated with personal computers took some time. I imagine if early auto mechanics were taking notes they had some HUMDINGERS about people's abuse to their cars.

Strange as it may seem as our technology takes away the rigors of physical life (replacing one tedium with another as capitalism sees fit) we do not aspire to better understand our world we just soak up the goodies it has to offer. Sure people produce and construct but most of us just regurgitate and filter feed to get along. There's a really good quote from Firefly where Mal says something like "most people are the middleman and they don't take kindly to being cut out of a deal" It's truer and truer everyday.

Being a lamb is much cozier than being a lion. Lions get to travel more.

I don't lay blame heavily since I crossed the line back and forth around the same time as ol' Kirky did. Granted we started and ended on opposite sides but I like to think my transition was a little purer. Kirk relates a story of hanging out in his sports car, at age 17, and wondering if his transient popularity isn't a little fleeting and lame. It was fear, you see, that lead him down a sad path. Reason is a far greater compass.

Granted there are tripwires and land mines all along the way between any two wildly different belief systems but if your faith is smote to ruin or your logic spins out of control one day you are always free to try again. It took years of consideration, hours and days of studying, thinking, introspection and inspiration to settle it for me finally.

Thomas Paine rightly said "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly." People often say I seem angry or defensive about my beliefs and I am quick to agree *with a caveat or two*

I was raised in a more or less religion neutral environment. Say what you will or will not about those you disagree with but I gave faith every chance and benefit of the doubt that I could muster. I felt my brain bend and stretch under the weight of self-contradiction and ideas that I couldn't quite get behind but couldn't oppose outright either. The words and ideas just weren't there yet. Most of my high school swimming periods, and these were EPIC were spent in such contemplations. From Junior year in HS to freshman year at NCSU I struggled and raked at what really deserves to be listened to.

When I made up my mind it wasn't some awesome cacophony of ethereal music and epiphany. It was just the cold breeze of the men's locker room and the slap of my wet feet on the little tiles. The exact day or month I cannot tell you because I was there for weeks before I realized it.

So what caused me great effort and heartache to achieve is dismissed in mere seconds as cocky or shallow does not offend me it enrages me. How dare some pissant former child actor with convert zeal dripping out of his smug shaved head say "I used to think just like you did" No you didn't, Kirk.

If you had you would have realized what a twisted nest of recursive bullshit arguments upholds your faith. You probably think that I, as a neutral type meandered to faith and recoiled after a careful exploration am wrong for opposing reasons. Well guess what, dick you're wrong about that too.

Also Ray Comfort is a fucking idiot riding on your coat tails to glory.