Preacher's Sons

You can check out the website for the movie website here.

Greg Stuart is a Unitarian Universalist minister, and a remarkable man. I enjoy listening to his sermons on my iPod.

Preposterous Notion

A Great Heinlein Quote.

Chicken Ice Cream?

Here are 101 revolting ice-cream flavors, from... wait for it... JAPAN.

Intelligent Racoon

Racoon Steals Carpet - The funniest movie is here. Find it

15 Green Religious Leaders

Here's a great article featuring 15 "green" religious leaders. This is really good news. It seems to me that the fundamentalist christians seem obsessed with trashing the planet since the "Rapture" will be teleporting them to heaven any minute anyway.

My particular faith, Unitarian Universalism, observes what's called "The Seventh Principle" which states "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part", which is sweet news to tree huggers like me, but its SO GOOD to hear that other religions are starting to express a love for our wonderful earth.

A Christian Might Say...

..."America was founded on Christian Values" or "The founding fathers were all Christians".

Our Founding Fathers actually said:

Benjamin Franklin:

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies."

"Lighthouses are more helpful then churches."

James Madison:

"What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy."

"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution."

John Adams:

"Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in these days?"

"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity."

"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."

Thomas Jefferson:

"History I believe furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purpose. "

My favorite -> "The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites."

"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity."

"And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerve in the brain of Jupiter. But may we hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated reformer of human errors."

"Religions are all alike – founded upon fables and mythologies."

"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."

"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man."

Fantastic Rock Version of Pachelbel's Canon

I'm not normally a fan of rock versions of classic pieces, but this one is a joyful exception.

Great Video Demonstrating The Lies that Lead Us to War

The video.

Vote Match Quiz - For my US friends

This website is great. You fill out a 20 question quiz, and the site will tell you which candidates best represent your beliefs!

I enjoyed it. The results surprised me.

22 Profound Minutes of Audio

I have become a great fan of the sermons of Rev Bill Darlison of the Dublin Unitarian Church. Here for you is one of my favorite sermons, a sermon that truly summarizes where I am going with my spiritual path.

From Sunday 10th June 2007 – How Can We Try To Reach the Awakened State

New Sam Harris Video

A fantastic 1 hour Sam Harris video.

Einstein Believed In God!

I often hear religious fundamentalists say "Even Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists and human minds in history, believed in God". This is quite false.

Here are Mr. Einstein's own words:

It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religion than it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."

"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism."

"I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."

"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."

- Albert Einstein

Robo-Calls MUST END!

Do you get phone calls where you pick up the line and there's a pre-recorded message trying to sell you some ridiculous product you don't need or want? I get these all the time.

Did you know they're illegal? At least they are in California. Here's the law that covers them:

Automatic dialing-announcing devices (ADAD) are specifically covered by CPUC sections 2871-2876. The definition includes “any automatic equipment which incorporates a storage capability of telephone numbers to be called . . . to disseminate a prerecorded message to the telephone number called.”
“(c) No person shall operate an automatic dialing-announcing device in this state to place a call that is received by a telephone in
this state during the hours between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. California time.”
Section 2873 states that an ADAD system can only be used to call Californians when “pursuant to a prior agreement between
the persons involved.” Section 2874 demands that “the device may be operated only after an unrecorded, natural voice announcement has been made to the person called by the person calling. The announcement shall do all of the following:
(1) State the nature of the call and the name, address, andtelephone number of the business or organization being represented, if any.
(2) Inquire as to whether the person called consents to hear the prerecorded message of the person calling.”
Section 2875 requires that the company seeking to use an ADAD first gets approval from the California PUC. The application must among other things describe “the time of day such telephone calls are proposed to be placed using such device, the anticipated number of calls proposed to be placed during the specified calling period, the average length of a completed call”
Finally section 2876 allows for the PUC to levy a $500 fine for each violation and for disconnection of service for a time mandated by the commission.

I did some research and I found the telephone number you can call and complain about companies that do this. Now this part is hard to believe, an actual human being answered, and she actually contacted ATT and instructed them to take action against the robocaller right there while I was on the phone! I couldn't believe it!

The number to call is: Toll-free, Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at 1-800-649-7570

California, I'm proud of you!

The $300 Linux-Powered 'iPhone Killer' Arrives

After seemingly endless delays, the OpenMoko phone is here. The first version of the NEO 1973 mobile phone, which carries the Linux kernel inside and is not locked to a specific network, is available for purchase from OpenMoko.com. It's not as jaw-droppingly pretty as the iPhone, but it shares a design philosophy -- no buttons, just a screen -- and it's ready to be loaded with any number of open-source software applications.... (read the article here).

And here is a comparison between it and the iPhone.

Sam -- Backed up by Science -- Again!

Whach'a know? Remember my post about Hourglass Figures?

According to FirstScience, a respected scientific resource...


"To shed some light on the "visual stimuli" that fire-up a man's brain-cells, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin conducted a classic psychology experiment. They showed a group of men line drawings of female bodies. The size of the waist and the size of the hips were marginally different in every picture, sex researchers refer to this relationship as the 'waist-to-hip' ratio. A clear majority of the men preferred female C: a woman whose waist is precisely seven-tenths the size of her hips. It turns out that women with this waist-to-hip ratio get pregnant more easily, have fewer miscarriages and are more likely to give birth successfully. Hip and waist size, full lips, defined cheeks, and sizable breasts are all controlled by sex hormones."

Click here to read the entire article.

And here's another much more thorough article from a different source that also speaks to face shape.