Saturday, April 10, 2010

Atheist Barbie


This should be in the market soon!

"No pants to be ready for surprise orgies"... LOL!!!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

From Catholic to Atheist

I grew up in a Catholic household. I was raised to memorize and do the rosary every night with my grandmother. Church attendance is a must. Most of my relatives work or volunteer in church. I even won in a bible quiz when I was in elementary. (My memorization skills were very good then so I was able to put enough info from the bible into my brain). I went to retreats, camps, healings etc. I went on volunteer works with others (the trip was the catch for me).

I was told I would burn in hell, I would suffer if I don't follow the rules. We recited prayers for the souls of our loved ones. I never got that but I did my part. (Maybe the prayers for the dead are more for the living so they won't have to live with the thought that their loved ones are somewhere in hell or in-between...) I was rebelling inside but I still followed. I was questioning things already but the answers were not there for me.

The last time I was in church was 1995. I don't know why I stopped going. I just did. It was after reading The God Delusion that I finally realized and accepted I never really believed. There was always that nagging feeling that things aren't what they seem.

THE END OF FAITH: by Sam Harris made more sense to me than the Bible did. Every other thing that religion offered I found an explanation in Science books and others. When I was talking about religion with a very devout Christian, he asked me why I left the church, why I lost my faith. I said because I never got the answer to my question. His reply was that maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough. I was and I did and I found the answers. In science.

"So what's your life's purpose? What about your soul?" was the question he left me with.

My answer? To live life fully because it's the only one I've got. I like to read this one from time to time...

Evolution of Religion

I've never been more comfortable and at peace with myself ever. Isn't that what it's supposed to be about?

Pedophile Priests

Katha Pollit'st article on the Chicago Tribune
Brandan Kiley's article on The Stranger

The two links above talk about pedophilia and priesthood. I don't think the issue is gonna stop anytime soon. The more noise it generates, the more people or victims come out to talk about their horrible experience. And of course, the "victim" in all of these, the Catholic Church is being bullied. They are once again being vilified for something that also happens in other places or institutions. Well, yeah. But they get punished and brought to justice, not hidden and put in other places only to be encouraged to molest more.

Isn't it arrogant of a person or an institution if they think everyone else is just out to get them? Like, yeah, they did something wrong, but it's between them and their god? So what about the real victims? What about the real atrocities, the real sufferings of the real individuals who were put through hell just because of a doctrine those bastards can't keep?

How many times does the Church need to be told that the cover-up is worse than the crime itself? Doing nothing and protecting the perpetrators instead of the flock is insulting and disheartening.

When one priest or bishop called the rape, pedophilia and the cover-up petty gossip, it kinda makes you think how long this has been going on for them to be so immune to this kind of "gossip".

Evil in Us

I saw this link in Pharyngula, a science blog that is always included in my daily readings. A co-teacher who sat next to me noticed it so I played the video (without sound - I was at work)...

I don't know how it feels like to be a soldier in a war but this is just wrong! They said AK-47's and RPG's which I don't see. I saw cameras and tiny faces in the van. There were children! OMFG!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Lost Symbol and Dan Brown

(written 2009)

I just finished reading the new book “The Lost Symbol” and watching the movie “Angels and Demons”. Major Dan Brown overload huh? Yeah.

Let’s begin with the book; it starts off slow, like any other Brown books. It then picks up speed and excitement in the mid part and suddenly you cant put the book down. Then when you get to the ending you’ll wonder why you even bothered to read at all.

So I’ll start with the things I liked first. Brown’s style of shifting from the lead to the villain then to the-one-you-think-is-the-villain then back to the lead will keep you hooked. You’ll want to read fast but slow enough to understand what was going on. He has the gift of storytelling.

For the in-between; the part I liked and hated at the same time. I knew right away who Malak’h, the villain in the story is. You get it sooner than you wish you would. It kinda takes away the suspense in the climax. I was still moved by the confrontation scene they had, especially when he asked the same question that was bugging me throughout my reading.

Now, to the parts I did not like. Where should I start? If you have read about Freemasons and watched Nicholas Cage’s “National Treasure”, Brown’s lecturing style would be a bore. Freemasonry wasn’t a topic that aroused my interest.

The other topic in the book, Noetic sciences, caught my eye. I wasn’t aware of the term and I had to google it; only to be disappointed yet again. Quackwatch considers noetic science as pseudoscience. It’s basically all about the power of the mind and meditation etc. It isn’t considered part of mainstream science. I mean if you’re gonna use science against religion or whatever, at least make the science you’re using believable in the first place. More on that later.

Dan Brown’s running theme in his Robert Langdon series is that science and religion can be compatible. In the Da Vinci Code, you get a taste of that near the end of the book. In this book, you could read right away that that is his theme. In an interview he did with James Kaplan for Parade, he mentioned he isn’t religious and that he gravitated away from religion. He then finished off with saying that the farther he goes into science, the more he sees the spiritual side of it. Say what again?? Yeah, that’s confusing even for me, kinda like the themes in his series. He keeps saying or preaching that science and religion need not fight, that the two can be compatible. Tell that to scientists.

I never liked the endings in his Robert Langdon series. He always sounds like he’s trying to reconcile with the readers that he might have offended in the process. He always ends up in an apologetic tone. It’s like saying “Sorry I bashed your religion, I can make up with this”.

Now for the movie; It’s way better than “The Da Vinci Code” - that’s for certain. With the lessons learned in the first movie, the makers of the film found a way to incorporate history and lectures effectively into the scenes. It was chaos in TDVC. Tom Hanks looked better too, which kinda helps a lot, I guess. So many years has passed since I’ve read the book but I could still see the difference. I hate it when they change a lot. But then, maybe it was for the better since the book’s ending was really bad, in a sense.

I learned in a writing workshop that however hard you try to distance yourself from the characters you create, you’ll always have “you” in there. Dan Brown’s obvious struggle with the dogma of religion and his so called “spirituality” are spilling all over his work. The more I read, the more I can hear his inner struggles with religion.

Or maybe I’ve just had too much of him today…

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Bill Maher (3-26) New Rules

"The last time a democrat showed balls like that, John Edward's girlfriend was filming it."
'Nuff said....


link

Should've been working

I have a worksheet (for the writing class I'm supposed to start teaching this month) to finish, a lesson plan to write and a grammar worksheet to prepare and I'm here laughing my ass off watching these...


Saturday, April 3, 2010

Guilty Pleasure

so damn funny!!!!

Joel Mchale and Craig Ferguson on my fave of faves "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson"
laughin' at the sexual connotation of "mayonnaise on your lobster and how to train your dragon"


"you need a robot to find boobs for you? what happened to you man?!"

Friday, April 2, 2010

Keith and the single lady

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


I'm a big Keith Olbermann fan and I thought he was doing the awkward pause from The Late Late show with Craig Ferguson, then the video..... Hilarious!

Obama in Maine



sarcasm at its finest...