Mr. Deity & the Advocate

via Mr. Deity 


I already have that superpower. 

The Left Hemispheres Podcast Ep.14: Gone In A Flash Of Math

As always please direct questions, comments, suggestions, or discussion via email at lefthemispheres@gmail.com. Of course you can also find us on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter @lefthemispheres.

Please subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and consider rating us or check us out on Libsyn.

Friday Link Dump 2/22/2013

LH

• Djesus Unchained
• LH podcast Ep.14 on Monday!

Religion and Non

• The Disastrous Influence Of Pope Benedict XVI On a personal level, I hope he gets the same farewell given to the Skeksis Chamberlain in The Dark Crystal
• Buster Wilson Claims Obama Wants to Declare Christians to be Mentally Ill and Lock Them Up He doesn't.  Did I really need to say that?
• How Many Fallacies Does It Take to Make A Muslim? A nice, simple take-down.
• 104. MALALA YOUSAFZAI: I have the right Zen Pencils covers another champion.
• Krishna, the Kryptonian
• Russian Cleric Calls Meteor "Message From God"  Yes, I just linked to Alex Jones.  It's wacky.
• The Mexican Super Priest  But who does he have on his Underoos?
• The Huffington Post, Atheism, and Quentin Tarantino
• Rick Warren Goes Nuts On Twitter, Attacks ‘Liberal Theology’ Out Of The Blue
• Teacher who said gays have ‘no purpose in life’ placed on administrative leave

Society and Culture, the In-Between

• Israeli soldier posts Instagram image of Palestinian child in crosshairs of rifle  Not that the Palestinians are innocents, but children, all children, are.
• MTV: Still Lame As Hell
• Senate Minority Leader Fooled by Report in Military Version of The Onion Idiot.  Idiotidiotidiot.
• What's It Like to Wake Up From a Tea Party Binge? Just Ask Florida!  Oh Florida, you're like Ohio, but sticky.
• I'm Not Your Enemy: An Open Letter To My Feminist Critics
• Police: Richland man says 'archangel' told him to stab grandmother to death  This guy is obviously disturbed, this is really about our poor mental health system, and religion can't really be blamed....however, no one ever says, "Carl Sagan told me to kill the astrologer."  The delusional gravitate to the delusions.
• The Civil War in a Larger International Context: Darwinian Edition
• Psychic center robbed You'd think they would have seen this coming.
• Why Was Jose Canseco Fighting With Bill Nye The Science Guy Over Gravity?
• The 5 Most Frequently Misused Proverbs  No, not those Proverbs.  Those Proverbs are stupid.
• Pirate Bay calls cops on Finnish copyright enforcement thugs that ripped off its website

Science

• This Week on Science Friday Listen to it all, you've got time.  Also, I'm going to wait right here till you do.  There will be a test.
• Through the Wormhole: Did We Invent God? Does a priest sin in the Rectory?
• See The Scientific Accident That May Change The World (Or At Least Your Battery Life)
• The Weird Youth of the Animal Kingdom The kids have all gone wild!
• Third Molars Illustrate Differential Reproduction
• Scientists Debunk the IQ Myth: Notion of Measuring One's Intelligence Quotient by Singular, Standardized Test Is Highly Misleading
• Mosh pit madness ... it's a gas  A punk pit behaves more like sodium submerged in water.  Add a dash of Francium to taste.
• How Vaccines Have Changed Our World In One Graphic  One of my favorite topics.  Didn't know that?  Well, apparently someone hasn't been listening to the podcast!
• 7 Reasons Coffee Is Good For You  Coffee makes science happen.  It's a fact.
• Bigfoot genome paper “conclusively proves” that Sasquatch is real  ...Psyche!

Videos

Djesus Unchained

Watch it before it gets pulled!

Friday Link Dump ~ 2/15/13

The Left Hemispheres Podcast Ep 13: Don't fly too close to the water
As always please direct questions, comments, suggestions, or discussion via email at lefthemispheres@gmail.com. Of course you can also find us on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter @lefthemispheres.

Please subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and consider rating us. We know you are listening...

So the big news this week is the resignation of Pope Joseph Ratzinger.  The internet, run by an intricate web of soulless non-believers was ablaze with pope memes.  I couldn't come up with any side-splitting child rape jokes better than the ones you’ve already heard and I didn’t want to perseverate on the pontiff wordplay.  There were so many banner pics to choose from this week.  I couldn’t decide.

• A Pope Retires for First Time in 6 Centuries, Internet Has Field Day
• Pope Succession Candidates This has led to talk about a possible black pope.  I don’t want to be called a racist every time I criticize the next pope by someone who wants to use race as a shield.  It’s about as distasteful to me as announcing that I am a black man before each critique I make with my keyboard.  
• The Great Catholic Cover-Up The pope's entire career has the stench of evil about it. Somehow Christopher Hitchens still gets the last word on this.

LH

• "Critical Thinking Crash Course" by Dr. Peter Boghossian
• Faith Fighter Video Game I love this more than words can say.
• Ash Wednesday
• Old, White Preacher Raps: "Jesus Is My Nigga" Poe?  We don’t know for sure.

Media/Culture

• After Floating Idea of Lifting Ban on Gays, Scouts Delay Decision  “...almost 70 percent of local scout units are backed by a religion-based group”  This does not implicitly mean that all of those religious groups are anti-gay.  But I think we all know what the anti-gay crowd claim is the basis for their views on the subject.
• America’s White Male Republican Evangelica​l Magical “Thinking” Racist Problem Is ALL of Our Problem Great.  So now I have white people’s problems too?
• Atheism in the Media
• Trust me I’m lying
• Non-Belief Research in the United States A little less sexy, unless actual research gets you going.  I don’t judge.
• 15 Questions Atheists Are Sick Of Answering For the 100th time YES.  I am smarter than you.
• This Is Why Women's Hygiene Companies Shouldn't Let Teen Boys Run Their Marketing Teams
• DC Comics Hires Anti-Gay Writer Orson Scott Card to Write Superman Comic
• Report: SEAL who killed Bin Laden is struggling in civilian life
• Improving Science News in the Black Media: Lessons learned from my Ebony Magazine Twitter encounter
• Fox News Runs Photo Of Lesbian Couple In Story About Traditional Marriage Poor judgement is also “traditional.”     
• Ice Age Lion Man is world’s earliest figurative sculpture

Science

• Watch Live as Asteroid 2012 DA14 Whizzes Past Earth live feed for the asteroid today.  Starting at 2pm.
• How to Watch Tomorrow’s Record-Breaking Asteroid Flyby of Earth
• Asteroid Impacts:10 Biggest Known Hits
• No, An Asteroid Is NOT Going to Hit Earth in 2106 I’m sure that there will be more than a few “rapture people” waving their hands in the sky waiting for the end of the world in 2106.
• Eye-Popping Interactive Panorama from the Curiosity Rover Watch this first on a large screen.  Then again on a smart phone.
• Is Congress Finally Moving on Climate Change? They have four years before conservatives start pretending it doesn’t exist again.
• Robo-Eye to Enter US Market | The Scientist Magazine No price listed.  I wonder if it hovers around 6 million.
• Missouri lawmaker wants to redefine science to include "faith-based philosophy," force creationism into science class Sounds like something for philosophy class.

Battle Pope

Faith Fighter Video Game

I don't know how I never knew of this before. I jokingly asked an acquaintance to create a video game called "Immortal Kombat" based on a meme I recently saw (after the jump). He let me know it has been done and I am elated that I can embed it here. 

Now we just have to get The Flying Spaghetti Monster (peace be upon him) added to the game. 

10 daily games at gamesforwork.com

Controls after the jump

Ash Wednesday

"Critical Thinking Crash Course" by Dr. Peter Boghossian

If you prefer to listen to the lecture via mp3 (it's just an audio track anyway), you can download it from my public Dropbox.

Old, White Preacher Raps: "Jesus Is My Nigga"

So...this happened.

I'm going to go walk out into traffic now.

No, I have no idea if this is Poe or not. It...kind of doesn't matter...

UPDATE: This is likely a hoax. The website for the church says the church closed in 2004 but the website was created in January 2013. I feel like an ass...

The Left Hemispheres Podcast Ep 13: Don't fly too close to the water

As always please direct questions, comments, suggestions, or discussion via email at lefthemispheres@gmail.com. Of course you can also find us on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter @lefthemispheres.

Please subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and consider rating us. C’mon...it's easier than tithing.

Thursday February 7 2013

Penn & Teller's Bullshit: Creationism

Hitchens Answers Stupid Question

The Fabrication of Jesus Christ by Christopher Hitchens

Friday Link Dump 2/8/13

LH

• Stardust
• Religious Iceberg

Religion and Non

• The Taliban Just Got Owned By A 15-Year-Old Girl She's amazing.  Courageous.  I just don't have the words to convey my admiration for her.
• Obama laments divisiveness in Washington at National Prayer Breakfast "'This morning I want to summon the resolve that comes from our common faith,' Obama said, speaking of the country at large."  Fuck you, Mr. President.  Fuck you right in the ear.
• Head Full of Doubt / Road Full of Promise by Megan Phelps-Roper.  Yes, that Megan Phelps-Roper.  I hope she and her sister can meet up with others who've left WBC, and do some good.
• What Would You Put in the Bible?
• 666 on tax form causes Christian worker to quit his job  I'll take his "tainted" refund if he doesn't want it.
• Chris Stedman Asks For Civility in Theist-Atheist Debate wank wank wank
• Catholic Church must stop dehumanizing atheists by saying we are not fully human Yeah, fuckers.
• Gay Father Paul Rusconi Falsely Accused Of Raping Twin Daughters So much for religious morals.
• Power of prayer flunks an unusual test  Typical religious pandering by the media to mitigate backlash, while increasing readership with a controversial article.
• Should Atheism and Libertarianism Go Hand-in-Hand? Part 1 My answer is no, but not because I'm not a "Libertarian".
• Catholic laundries enslaved women and girls in Ireland as recently as 1996  No! Not that paragon of virtue the Catholic Church!
• Duff Goldman, 'Ace Of Cakes' Chef, Offers To Bake Rejected Lesbian Couple's Wedding Cake For Free  Cake and human rights, a delicious combination.

Science

• WTF, Evolution? “Okay. Okay, yeah. You’re right, evolution, I’m sorry. Should I feed it, maybe? What does it eat?”  “Baby crocodiles.”  “Oh Jesus Christ.”
• NASA Probe Snaps Photos of Potential 'Comet of the Century' Ooo, shiny!
• Researchers Point to the Demise of the Dinosaurs
• Stars On the Brink of Death and Precipice of Life
• Why quantum mechanics is the biggest embarrassment in all of modern physics

Miscellania

• A Rumor, This Is: Disney’s first ‘Star Wars’ spin-off film will center on Yoda
• Vinyl Vault lights fuse on copyright time bomb—but is it armed? When I lived in California, I would spend hours in this place.

God Made A Factory Farmer - watch more funny videos

Religious Iceberg

Stardust

"The film's story centers on the idea that in the grand scheme of the universe, nothing is ever wasted and it finds comfort in us all essentially being Stardust ourselves."

"I wanted to show the universe as a beautiful but also destructive place. It's somewhere we all have to find our place within..." 

This is absolutely beautiful. Make sure you embiggen. 

Stardust from PostPanic on Vimeo.

Friday Link Dump 2/1/13

Aww.  Look at how happy the gays are.
Gayroller courtesy of The Oatmeal.
Hateful ignorance provided by religion. 

• LH
• The Left Hemispheres Podcast Ep.12: All Dogs Have Hands
• As always please direct questions, comments, suggestions, or discussion via email at lefthemispheres@gmail.com. Of course you can also find us on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter @lefthemispheres.

• GODLESSNESS
• Breaking news: Richard Dawkins doesn't like religion. Well, he kept that one quiet
• “I’ll Pray For You”—Powerful or Pointless? I appreciate the gesture.  Even if it really means: Maybe an endorsement from a virtuous person like myself will change Yahweh's mind about torturing this guy for all eternity in the lake of fire.
• San Diego Billboard Reads: ‘Atheism: A Personal Relationsh​ip with Reality’ I like this American Atheist billboard a lot more than the last few.
• Lawrence Krauss: Stop Validating Ignorance "...the notion that the earth is 6,000 years old to be promulgated in schools is like teaching kids that the distance across the United States is 17 feet. That’s how big an error it is."
• Saint Augustine's Blunder
• The Mormon Tabernacle Enquirer: Church Introduces New "Win the Fight" Ring for Teens OK this is a poe article but its really funny.
• Deconstructing the evidence-based discourse in health sciences: truth, power and fascism Steve says “Now this is special. Post-modernist thought at its finest.”
• New Animated Series Teaches Evolution to Small Children - Just in Time for Darwin Day Share it with your kids!

• NEWS
• Gabby Giffords Speaks on Gun Control: 'The Time Is Now'
• Tony Perkins Links Military Suicide Rate to the Repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. This is truly a disturbing claim. Good thing there is not a shred of evidence to support it.
• REPORT: Prominent Conservati​ve Leader Once Ran White Supremacis​t Group Is this really news?  How about “Prominent Conservative Leader found cheering for the villain at the Django Unchained screening.”
• Poll shows a double standard on religious liberty
• The Next Seven States To Legalize Pot You know that if marijuana becomes legal, it becomes much more difficult for children to get.  Last time I checked, drug dealers didn’t ask for ID.
• 'Andy Griffith' actor Jim Nabors, who played Gomer Pyle, marries his partner
• Ayn Rand Dating How do I feel about this? *shrugs*
• Catholic League's Bill Donohue says story on abandoned "gay dog" proves homosexuality is a "bonus"
• Boy Scouts close to ending ban on gay members, leaders   I don’t know.  I don’t think it “counts” if you allow gay members and leaders in response to prolonged intense media scrutiny and public pressure.  You still can’t join if you’re an atheist.

• SCIENCE
• Mesmerizin​g Videos of Northern and Southern Lights Seen From Space
• More Evidence That Mars Once Had Flowing Water Curiosity found the remains of a lemonade stand!  I knew it.
• Brain Pacemakers Used To Treat Alzheimer’s Disease
• Faecal transplant​s succeed in clinical trial : Nature News & Comment Holy SHIT!!
• Controlled Evolution In A Test Tube Produces Artificial Enzymes
• Autonomous Healthcare Robot, RP-Vita, Gains FDA Approval I’m certain that this robot is much more personable than the lady behind the desk at my doctor’s office.  
• Coffee Boosts Recognitio​n of Positive Words As far as I am concerned, coffee is the best argument that theists have for a benevolent Personal God.

OK So I usually would not even consider this premise but Morgan Freeman is hosting so there must be some credibility here...