Gun, Germs and Steel

I always forget stuff so I'm embedding this here so I dont have to look around.







Link

Atheist Blogroll

It's been so long since my last post. I've been busy with lesson plans since the head of the academy wanted me to change the methods of the previous instructor. It was when I received an email saying I'm in the Atheist Blogroll. Yey!!!..

So sorry I was late in posting this. I'll soon be posting from work so hopefully I could update often.

Off for now...

this should have been started a long time ago

World Youth Day condom protest against Pope

Condoms will be handed out to pilgrims en route to a papal Mass at Randwick Racecourse on World Youth Day as part of a protest against the Catholic Church's attitude to homosexuality, contraception and abortion.
A coalition of religious, atheist, gay and lesbian groups will stage the rally in Taylor Square from midday on Saturday July 19 before marching to the main event of the week-long World Youth Day celebrations.
Protest organisers are expecting thousands to gather on Oxford Street and Anzac Parade to rally against the church's attitude.

Full article here

I thought I've heard it all

Saudi Marriage Officiant : 'It Is Allowed To Marry A Girl At The Age Of One': by Live Leak

This is just sick!! I'm amazed (not in a good way) at how much crap people can believe in.

Here's the transcript:

Aired on LBC TV (Lebanon) - June 19, 2008 - 00:03:08 :
Dr. Ahmad Al-Mub'i, a Saudi Marriage Officiant: It Is Allowed to Marry a Girl at the Age of One, If Sex Is postponed. The Prophet Muhammad, Whose Model We Follow, Married 'Aisha When She Was Six and Had Sex with Her When She Was Nine :
Following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Ahmad Al-Mu'bi, a Saudi marriage officiant, which aired on LBC TV on June 19, 2008:

Dr. Ahmad Al-Mu'bi: Marriage is actually two things: First we are talking about the marriage contract itself. This is one thing, while consummating the marriage – having sex with the wife for the first time – is another thing. There is no minimal age for entering marriage. You can have a marriage contract even with a one-year-old girl, not to mention a girl of nine, seven, or eight. This is merely a contract [indicating] consent. The guardian in such a case must be the father, because the father's opinion is obligatory. Thus, the girl becomes a wife... But is the girl ready for sex or not? What is the appropriate age for having sex for the first time? This varies according to environment and traditions. In Yemen, girls are married off at nine, ten, eleven, eight, or thirteen, while in other countries, they are married off at 16. Some countries have legislated laws forbidding having sex before the girl is eighteen.

[...]

The Prophet Muhammad is the model we follow. He took 'Aisha to be his wife when she was six, but he had sex with her only when she was nine.

Interviewer: When she was six...

Dr. Ahmad Al-Mu'bi: He married her at the age of six, and he consummated the marriage, by having sex with her for the first time, when she was nine. We consider the Prophet Muhammad to be our model.

Interviewer: My question to you is whether the marriage of a 12-year-old boy with an 11-year-old girl is a logical marriage, which is permitted by Islamic law.

Dr. Ahmad Al-Mu'bi: If the guardian is the father... There are two different types of guardianship. If the guardian is the father, and he marries his daughter off to a man of appropriate standing, the marriage is obviously valid.

[...]

People find themselves in all kinds of circumstances. Take, for example, a man who has two, three, or four daughters. He does not have any wives, but he needs to go on a trip. Isn't it better to marry his daughter to a man, who will protect and sustain her, and when she reaches the proper age, he will have sex with her? Who says all men are ferocious wolves?

The Rise of Atheism

Now, ain't that a good news!
(Sorry, I know the video is a bit old, added March 29, but I was busy with other stuff then..)

Hitchens : Why Women Aren't Funny

This article came out a year and a half ago (January 2007) and unfortunately for me, I was able to read just today. I suggest you read the entirety of the article. It may sound sexist, but actually, no. Well, at least I don't find it that way. Basic idea is women do not need to be funny whilst men need to have that ability in order to be in the evolutionary contest.

Hitchens : Why Women Aren't Funny

April 2008, Alessandra Stanley had a counter article. In this article, what Stanley basically says is that women are and can be funny.

Who Says Women Aren’t Funny?

So what does Hitchens do? Make a rebuttal video!

Ayaan Hirsi Ali interview

Ayaan Hirsi Ali interview - Washington post.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali speaks out about being circumcised, Islam being anti-freedom, becoming an atheist, and the "satan" within her.(RD.net)

Obama on Religion

I never liked American Politics. I think all politicians are dull, until Obama came along. I even bought a copy of his book (The Audacity of Hope), skimmed through it but never had the time to read it decently.
No one can deny his charismatic appeal. This video deserves more views.

Richard Dawkins' Public Lecture - Liverpool

University of Liverpool "The God Delusion"
If you haven't read it, buy or download audio book (recorded by Dawkins himself) then judge for yourself.

savage love

It was an accident that I found Savage Love (see the link on the left). **I'm writing it now so I wont forget as I always do**
I happen to be watching Real Time with Bill Maher (Hitchens as guest) on youtube. Dan Savage was also a guest. I think he's cute, so what did I do? Googled him. And there it is! Savage Love at the Stranger.
I just began reading through it and I'm enjoying it.
Here's the video, just for kicks. ;)

few more reasons to love bill maher

This one needs no introduction: Bill Maher is unapologetic in his views about any religion.



and this: Richard Dawkins / Bill Maher

slap in the face

"Two gay clergymen marry in UK"- that's the caption that caught my attention. I saw it yesterday and now I can't remember where. I searched for the video, I know it wasn't on Youtube but still I tried my luck. And what do you know, it was there!!.. The really stupid fact, you ask?.. It was on my account. I apparently uploaded it.. Crazy cuz I forgot I did..I really should worry about Alzheimer's in the years to come..



The Christian community is so not happy with this..

governor of sulu, really??

Just now, ABS-CBN's TV Patrol featured an interview of the Sulu Governor (I never got his name, didn't seem worth remembering). The funny cuz it's stupid remark made concerned the kidnapping of Ces Drilon (ABS reporter). He questions why journalists need to go to Sulu and interview criminals (terrorists). If they weren't there in the first place, there would be no kidnapping incident, according to him. He said they're ruining the good image of the province by mentioning terrorism there. What??? Really???

Later in the interview it appeared that he's just sour graping cuz he wasn't part of the negotiating team.

I cringe every time people who's supposed to govern say the most stupid things.

craig overload

I must be depressed (needing a fix) or I'm just crazy (crazier than before) about Craig Ferguson right now. I blame it on the absence of downloadable (oops) and watchable shows around.

I even found this Newsweek article entitled " Late Bloomer". It's great actually, especially if you're a Craig fan yourself.

Who can resist Craig and Dr. House :-)




I wonder why nobody uploads the Late Late Show (torrent) or is it just that I can't find it?

What can we do?

When I read the news article with the title: Rape a way of life for Darfur's women it sickens me to think that this is happening to anyone out there.

Children as young as four - four! damn it!..who does that? The most irritating fact in this article is the denial of the Sudanese government and their insistence that it isn't happening in the country.

Another sad part in the women's saga are the abandonment of babies conceived through rape. With the stigma and everything else, how can those women and babies survive?

What can be done to help these women and children? What is being done by the international community? What can we do?

TESL (Teaching English as Second Language)

I got my certification last May 30. After that, I uploaded my resume at jobteach where most schools and hagwons (cram school) find teachers. I tried another site at first, the ones for foreigners, since technically I am still considered one although I have a Korean Citizenship. Anyways, I didn't get any response from that site. They basically told me that under immigration laws they cant issue a teaching visa to a Filipino national. I had to tell them repeatedly that I live here and I am now a Korean Citizen. It was futile to say the least. So I went to the Korean job teaching site and a few hours after posting, I got calls from prospective employers. I went to three interviews, kept my options open and finally made my choice.

The reason I was hired was so they can present me as a native speaker without the hassles of visa sponsorships. There is a discrepancy (discrimination?) between Korean English teachers and native English teachers. No matter how good the Korean teachers are, preference is still given to native speakers. I can understand that but I don't agree. English is English. Trying to sound like an American doesn't appeal to me. It's like trying to lose your identity. Korean English shouldn't sound like a forced trying-to-sound-like-American accent. It's in contrast with the trait Koreans are best known for (homogeneous society)... Which English is the correct English btw? With American, British, and Australian (etc) which English should students follow?

English is really a big deal here. Parents spend tons of money so their children can learn or speak fluently. Some start really,really young. (According to studies, children learn language better that way because their brain has the ability to absorb and retain information cuz it (brain) is still developing). My problem with that is, all the studying (school and after-school) make the children very tired. I hear complaints all the time about how tired they are. Parents send them to hagwons for their own peace of mind. Studying rather than staying at the house playing gives them comfort. Plus with most women opting to work to support the family, nobody is left to watch after the kids. So beginning July I'd be one of those who will have to convince parents that their children can learn English fast and easily (now, wont that be a lie??).

With all the crap I just said, now I have to go teach in an American or whatever accent that comes out but better not be Asian, that's what my boss said.. Korea still has a long way to go.

As for me, I will do what I'm told. For now....

late night comedy

I've been watching The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and I'm sorry to say I'm enjoying every minute of it. I've discovered that every time I'm in a kind of a down mood or depressed about something, he's the one I look up online to fix me up.. Meaning I get a bit crazy so I look for the crazier person to make me laugh.. ;-)

I like his accent and the way he laughs at himself esp during his monologue. It's his connection with his audience and viewers that makes him stand out, I would say.

Anyways, few clips are worth checking:

Here's Craig at the White House Corr. Dinner:



and here's his late show episode after that gig:

random thoughts 4-28-08

I emailed (dunno who else did) PZ the Cebu scandal story. He wrote a fine piece on that one. ERV's down, deleted by Blogger. Apparently cuz she pissed people off. Probably Behe or Dembski, or those dimwits at Expelled. That prompted me to find out how I can back up my blog. As if someone's reading huh...anyweis...

I'm on my 4th week at my TESOL class at Times Media. Another 4 more to go. I have been procrastinating.. Delaying the inevitable that I have to make another essay for this week. Darn, I have to keep movin'...
My instructor at TESOL gives hand-outs (reading materials) from time to time. The first time he did, I complained the next day cuz I found the same material online. I found his recent hand-outs again online (2 articles, I don't want to bother checking the rest of it). Darn, I'm good!..He'll be pissed (or laugh about it again) when I tell him I found the materials he said he wrote on the world wide web...

I was at the sauna again last week. I've written about how Koreans are at saunas. This time, an old lady who had her back at me suddenly bent down and started to exercise or massage her feet or whatever..Remember this is Korea so saunas meant naked, no clothes or towels whatsoever. OMFG! C'mon, flashing your behind and every other part visible is NOT cool!!.. I don't think I'll recover from the sight of that.

cebu scandal on ScienceBlogs

The world now knows about the Cebu scandal. They now know what incompetent twats those medical personnels were. And most importantly, the world now knows how stupid it is for the priest who blamed the victim for being gay.
It isn't a great day for the Philippines but if we do not make a stand on this issue, there is no hope for all of us.

mainstream expelled review

An Expelled Review on MSNBC
Here is a part of that review:

What the heck is Intelligent Design anyway?
What is especially startling and monumentally deceptive is that the movie never bothers to tell us what Intelligent Design actually is. We hear cries of persecution but we don’t know why.
What is it that devotees of intelligent design believe that gets their colleagues in such a rage? Do they just want to invoke god as the starting point of the universe? Do they see god's hand in the design of every creature? Are they asking us to see the gods of every faith and tradition — those posited in Catholicism, Hinduism, Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Rastafarianism, etc. — in our DNA? Do they believe that competitive accounts of creation based on the Bible need to be in every American classroom? Do they see empirical proof of god in every molecule, plant, animal, rock, vegetable and fungus? "Expelled" never really tells us.