Blogging and reading other blogs (Symptoms of Religious Addiction)

I read a lot of other blogs. No duh! Generally the blogs are ones of interest to me, but quite often, I try to read blogs that talk about things I am not familiar with. Actually BEING a theist is one thing that I am not familiar with. I attempted to trick myself into believing the bullshit when I was around 14, but it really was an exercise in futility. Being rational, and then attempting to be non-rational is like someone having eyesight wanting to gouge out their own eyes. As such, I really don't have a lot of experience with what people call "deconversion". I read Daniel Florien's blog on this because he's pretty funny. I read John Loftus's blog because he pulls no punches. Of course I read many non-theistic blogs too (about astronomy, science, art, computer games, etc.), but this particular entry is about one in particular.

The Redheaded Skeptic stopped by here one time and left me a comment. So I went and checked out her blog, and I was pleased to have another person's perspective on deconversion (my wife has her perspective too, but her version didn't seem to resonate with other's and she thinks more in pictures anyway so it's hard to articulate it). So while I can't offer anything on this, maybe she can. One of her entries particularly resonated with me though... Let's just say that in reality, strong theism is like a mental disorder, and this post sums it up quite well:

Josh posted a list of signs that one is addicted to religion, along with how he fit the criteria. I read it and definitely saw myself and my family.

The list can be found here and seems to describe fundamentalism at its core. It is as follows:

1. Inability to think, doubt, or question religious information and/or authority
2. Black-and-white, good/bad, either/or simplistic thinking: one way or the other
3. Shame-based belief that you aren’t good enough or you aren’t doing it right
4. Magical thinking that God will fix you/ do it all, without serious work on your part
5. Scrupulosity: rigid obsessive adherence to rules, codes of ethics, or guidelines
6. Uncompromising judgmental attitudes: readiness to find fault or evil out there
7. Compulsive or obsessive praying, going to church or crusades, quoting scripture
8. Unrealistic financial contributions
9. Believing that sex is dirty; believing our bodies or physical pleasures are evil
10. Compulsive overeating and/or excessive fasting
11. Conflict and argumentation with science, medicine, and education
12. Progressive detachment from the real work, isolation and breakdown of relationships
13. Psychosomatic illness: back pains, sleeplessness, headaches, hypertension
14. Manipulating scripture or texts, feeling specially chosen, claiming to receive special messages from God
15. Maintaining a religious “high”, trance-like state, keeping a happy face (or the belief that one should…)
16. Attitude of righteousness or superiority: “we versus the world,” including the denial of one’s human-ness.
17. Confusion, great doubts, mental, physical or emotional breakdown, cries for help

Verrrry interesting. I definitely fit almost every single criteria. Though I do wonder if it is based on anything scientific or the author’s own observations. This may not be a list of addiction symptoms, but rather fundamentalism. Is there a difference? That is for science to know and for us to find out! What do you think?

Now, I do want to mention, I also read blogs by the deluded. I have only commented on one (by invitation even). I don't repost what they have to say, because, well, it's the same lame shit over and over again. It's the same with any delusions that fly in the face of reality, like the birthers or people who deny evolution. All too often, people who attempt to debate theists/birthers/creationists end up having to sit through endless bad arguments and just plain silly assertions. And they get tiresome. Incredibly tiresome. So tiresome in fact that anyone caught in the endless web of theist/birther/creationist lies and deceptions usually just gets frustrated and leaves, handing the theist/birther/creationists a victory in their mind (a la pigeon playing chess analogy).

Pole Dancing - The Next Olympic Sport

Today, I just had a good time on Facebook (despite all the errors it kept generating) looking at awesome videos of scantily clad women performing acts of incredibly athleticism, artistry, and good ol' sex appeal. So, today, I give you some different Pole Dancing videos.






Now, never let it be said that this isn't a dangerous competition!



Or even hilariously dangerous!



Sit back, grab a pile of dollar bills, and be prepared to laugh and be amazed.

RELIEF!

I was just told that a company that I interviewed for is putting together an offer. I should have it at the end of the week. This is one of the top paying folks I have interviewed with, and it's not contingent on them winning a contract and all that, so I am feeling a lot better about this. And with my drive and personality, I think I can do a lot of good at this company, and not be restricted and stymied by being in a government system. I am feeling a lot better now, and things are happy, happy for me!

So, now I get to goof off on the computer a little bit, and tonight I am going to pop that bottle of Dom I got in France back in 1996. Nom nom nom nom!

I did learn a lot during this whole process though! Some things that I never really considered before the whole process, as well as some things that really can't be taught in things like a TAP class. If anyone wants some additional help from someone who has gone through the process (and trust me, I met with some great success), feel free to drop me a line.

Okay, just keeping it short for today. Will still have to do a little typing (much later) over at Facts, not Fantasy anyway.

Blog name in Urban Dictionary

Just for fun, I decided to check out a Google ranking of this blog using the name. Well, the first hit was an Urban Dictionary page, then the second hit was for a guy that's been blogging for quite a while longer than me, and then the third hit was for some sort of web hosting. Finally the fourth hit was this page.

I didn't expect much really, so as far as I am concerned, that's a pretty good Google ranking. The thing that cracked me up the most? Another word associated with blogiverse is blogistan. Okay, so I'm strange. I have already admitted that.

And, since I have been getting more traffic to this site, I figured I'd just post something else I found that was amusing. Not at all related to the original purpose of the blog, just some kerosene near a match. And this is someone else's writing, not mine. Just throwing this out.

Is Faith Good for Us?
Phil Zuckerman

Phil Zuckerman is an associate professor of sociology at Pitzer College in California. He is the author of Invitation to the Sociology of Religion (Routledge, 2003) and is currently writing a book on secularization in Scandinavia.

Whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Sikh, there is one common belief that all religious fundamentalists share: worship of God and obedience to his laws are essential for a peaceful, healthy society. From Orthodox rabbis in the occupied West Bank to Wahhabi sheiks in Saudi Arabia, from the pope in Vatican City to Mormons in Salt Lake City, the lament is the same: God and his will must be at the center of everyone's lives in order to ensure a moral, prosperous, safe, collective existence.

Furthermore, fundamentalists agree that, when large numbers of people in a society reject God or fail to make him the center of their lives, societal disintegration is sure to follow. Every societal ill-whether crime, poverty, poor public education, or AIDS-is thus blamed on a lack of piety. A most disconcerting example of this worldview was expressed in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, when Jerry Falwell blamed the terrorists attacks on America's "throwing God out of the public square," further adding that "when a nation deserts God and expels God from the culture . . . the result is not good."

If this often-touted religious theory were correct-that a turning away from God is at the root of all societal ills-then we would expect to find the least religious nations on earth to be bastions of crime, poverty, and disease and the most religious nations to be models of societal health. A comparison of highly irreligious countries with highly religious countries, however, reveals a very different state of affairs. In reality, the most secular countries-those with the highest proportion of atheists and agnostics-are among the most stable, peaceful, free, wealthy, and healthy societies. And the most religious nations-wherein worship of God is in abundance-are among the most unstable, violent, oppressive, poor, and destitute.

One must always be careful, of course, to distinguish between totalitarian nations where atheism is forced upon an unwilling population (such as in North Korea, China, Vietnam, and the former Soviet states) and open, democratic nations where atheism is freely chosen by a well-educated population (as in Sweden, the Netherlands, or Japan). The former nations' nonreligion, which can be described as "coercive atheism," is plagued by all that comes with totalitarianism: corruption, economic stagnation, censorship, depression, and the like. However, nearly every nation with high levels of "organic atheism" is a veritable model of societal health.

The twenty-five nations characterized by organic atheism with the highest proportion of nonbelievers are listed in Table 1. When looking at standard measures of societal health, we find that they fare remarkably well; highly religious nations fare rather poorly. The 2004 United Nations' Human Development Report, which ranks 177 countries on a "Human Development Index," measures such indicators of societal health as life expectancy, adult literacy, per-capita income, educational attainment, and so on. According to this report, the five top nations were Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands. All had notably high degrees of organic atheism. Furthermore, of the top twenty-five nations, all but Ireland and the United States were top-ranking nonbelieving nations with some of the highest percentages of organic atheism on earth. Conversely, the bottom fifty countries of the "Human Development Index" lacked statistically significant levels of organic atheism.

Irreligious countries had the lowest infant-mortality rate (number of deaths per 1,000 live births), and religious countries had the highest rates. According to the 2004 CIA World Factbook (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook), out of 225 nations, the twenty-five with the lowest infant-mortality rates had significantly high levels of organic atheism. Conversely, the seventy-five nations with the highest infant-mortality rates were all very religious and without statistically significant levels of organic atheism.

Concerning international poverty rates, the United Nations Report on the World Social Situation (2003) found that, of the forty poorest nations on earth (measured by the percentage of population that lives on less than one dollar a day), all but Vietnam were highly religious nations with statistically minimal or insignificant levels of atheism.

Regarding homicide rates, Oablo Fajnzylber et al., in a study reported in the Journal of Law and Economics (2002), looked at thirty-eight non-African nations and found that the ten with the highest homicide rates were highly religious, with minimal or statistically insignificant levels of organic atheism. Conversely, of the ten nations with the lowest homicide rates, all but Ireland were secular nations with high levels of atheism. James Fox and Jack Levin, in The Will to Kill, looked at thirty-seven non-African nations and found that, of the ten nations with the highest homicide rates, all but Estonia and Taiwan were highly religious, with statistically insignificant levels of organic atheism. Conversely, of the ten nations with the lowest homicide rates, all but Ireland and Kuwait were relatively secular nations, with high levels of organic atheism.

Concerning literacy rates, according to the United Nations Report on the World Social Situation (2003), of the thirty-five nations with the highest levels of youth-illiteracy rates (percentage of population ages fifteen to twenty-four who cannot read or write), all were highly religious, with statistically insignificant levels of organic atheism.

In regard to rates of AIDS and HIV infection, the most religious nations on earth-particularly those in Africa-fared the worst. (Botswana suffers from the highest rate of HIV infection in the world; see http://www.avert.org/aroundworld. htm.) Conversely, the highly irreligious nations of Western Europe, such as those of Scandinavia-where public sex education is supported and birth control is widely accessible-fared the best, experiencing among the lowest rates of AIDS and HIV infection in the world.

Concerning gender equality, nations marked by high degrees of organic atheism are among the most egalitarian in the world, while highly religious nations are among the most oppressive. According to the 2004 Human Development Report's "Gender Empowerment Measure," the ten nations with the highest degrees of gender equality were all strongly organic-atheistic nations with significantly high percentages of nonbelief. Conversely, the bottom ten were all highly religious nations without any statistically significant percentages of atheists. According to Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris's (2003) "Gender Equality Scale," of the ten nations most accepting of gender equality, all but the United States and Colombia were marked by high levels of organic atheism; of the ten least-accepting of gender equality, all were highly religious and had statistically insignificant levels of organic atheism. According to Inglehart et al. in Human Values and Social Change (2003), countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands, with the most female members of parliament, tended to be characterized by high degrees of organic atheism, and countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria, and Iran, with the fewest female members in parliament, tended to be highly religious.

The acceptance of gender equality among irreligious nations may be linked to the relative acceptance of homosexuality. Inglehart et al., in Human Beliefs and Values: A Cross-Cultural Sourcebook Based on the 1999-2002 Value Surveys (2004), found that, of the eighteen nations least likely to condemn homosexuality, all were highly ranked organic-atheistic nations. Conversely, of the eighteen nations most likely to condemn homosexuality, all but Hungary were highly religious, with statistically insignificant levels of organic atheism.

A country's suicide rate stands out as the one indicator of societal health in which religious nations fare much better than secular nations. According to the 2003 World Health Organization's report on international male suicide rates (http://www.who.int/en/), the nations with the lowest rates of suicide were all highly religious, characterized by extremely high levels of theism (usually of the Muslim and Catholic varieties). Of the ten nations with the highest male suicide rates, five were distinctly irreligious nations ranked among the top twenty-five nations listed earlier. These five are Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Russia, and Slovenia. It is interesting to note that of the nations currently experiencing the highest rates of suicide-including the five just mentioned-nearly all are former Soviet/communist-dominated societies. (The nations of Scandinavia, where organic atheism is strongest, do not have the highest suicide rates in the world, as is widely thought to be the case.)

In sum, countries with high rates of organic atheism are among the most societally healthy on earth, while societies with nonexistent rates of organic atheism are among the most destitute. The former nations have among the lowest homicide rates, infant mortality rates, poverty rates, and illiteracy rates and among the highest levels of wealth, life expectancy, educational attainment, and gender equality in the world. The sole indicator of societal health in which religious countries scored higher than irreligious countries is suicide.

Where does the United States fit in all this? Americans are very religious. Many studies have found that only between 3-7 percent of Americans do not believe in God. Rates of prayer, belief in the divinity of Jesus, belief in the divine origins of the Bible, and rates of church attendance are remarkably robust in the United States, making it the most religious of all Western industrialized nations, with the possible exception of Ireland. When it comes to societal health, the United States certainly fares far better than much of the rest of the world. According to the United Nations' 2004 "Human Development Index" discussed earlier, the United States ranked eighth. However, when we compare the United States to its peer nations-i.e., developed, industrialized, democratic nations such as Canada, Japan, and the nations of Europe-its standing in terms of societal health plummets. The United States has far higher homicide, poverty, obesity, and homelessness rates than any of its more secular peer nations. It is also the only Western industrialized democracy that is unwilling to provide universal health coverage to its citizens. The fact is that extremely secular nations such as Japan and Sweden are much safer, cleaner, healthier, better educated, and more humane when compared to the United States, despite the latter's exceptionally strong levels of theism.

The information presented in this discussion in no way proves that high levels of organic atheism cause societal health or that low levels of organic atheism cause societal ills such as poverty or illiteracy. The wealth, poverty, well-being, and suffering in various nations are caused by numerous political, historical, economic, and sociological factors that are far more determinant than people's personal belief systems. Rather, the conclusion to be drawn from the data provided above is simply that high levels of irreligion do not automatically result in a breakdown of civilization, a rise in immoral behavior, or in "sick societies." Quite the opposite seems to be the case. Furthermore, religion is clearly not the simple and single path to righteous societies that religious fundamentalists seem to think it is. This fact must be vigorously asserted in response to the proclamations of politically active theists. From small-town school boards to the floor of the Senate, conservative Christians are championing religion as the solution to America's societal problems. However, their pious "solution" is highly dubious and clearly not supported by the best available research of social science.

Belief in God may provide comfort to the individual believer, but, at the societal level, its results do not compare at all favorably with that of the more secular societies. When seeking a more civil, just, safe, humane, and healthy society, one is more likely to find it among those nations ranking low in religious faith-contrary to the preaching of religious folks.

Further Reading
Reginald Bibby, Restless Gods: The Renaissance of Religion in Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Stoddart Publishing Company, 2002).
Grace Davie, "Europe: The Exception That Proves the Rule?" in The Desecularization of the World, edited by Peter Berger (Grand Rapids, Mich.:William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999).
Kim Eungi, "Religion in Contemporary Korea: Change and Continuity," Korea Focus, July-August 2003.
Oablo Fajnzylber, Daniel Lederman, and Norman Loatza, "Inequality and Violent Crime," The Journal of Law and Economics, April 2002.
James Fox and Jack Levin, The Will to Kill (Boston, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon, 2000).
Timothy Gall, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Culture and Daily Life, Vol.4: Europe (Cleveland, Ohio: Eastword Publications. 1998).
George Gallup and Michael Lindsay, Surveying the Religious Landscape (Harrisburg, Pa.: Morehouse Publishing, 1999).
Andrew Greeley, Religion in Europe at the End of the Second Millennium (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2003).
Goran Gustafsson and Thorleif Pettersson, Folkkyrk och religios pluraism-den nordiska religiosa modellen (Stockholm: Verbum Forlag, 2000).
Michael Hout and Claude Fischer, "Why More Americans Have No Religious Preference: Politics and Generations," American Sociological Review 67, no. 2 (2002).
Ronald Inglehart, Miguel Basanez, Jaime Diez-Medrano, Loek Halman, and Ruud Luijkx, Human Beliefs and Values: A Cross-Cultural Sourcebook Based on the 1999-2002 Value Surveys, (Beunos Aires, Argentina: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 2004).
Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
Ronald Inglehart, Pippa Norris, and Christian Welzel, "Gender Equality and Democracy," in Human Values and Social Change, edited by Ronald Inglehart (Boston, Mass.: Brill, 2003).
Peri Kedem, "Dimensions of Jewish Religiosity," in Israeli Judaism, edited by Shlomo Deshen, Charles Liebman, and Mishe Shokeid (London: Transaction Publishers, 1995).
Gerald Marwell and N.J. Demerath, "'Secularization' by Any Other Name," American Sociological Review 68, no. 2 (2003).
Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
Gregory Paul, "The Secular Revolution of the West: It's Passed America By-So Far," Free Inquiry 22, no. 3 (Summer 2002).
--, "Cross National Correllations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies," Journal of Religion and Society, vol. 7 (2005).
Detlef Pollack, "The Change in Religion and Church in Eastern Germany after 1989: A Research Note," Sociology of Religion 63, no. 3 (2002).
United Nations, Human Development Report (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
United Nations, Report on the World Social Situation (New York: United Nations Publications, 2003).

Guest Blogger INC?

Just a quick heads up, I am going to experiment with a guest blogger. Feel free to say hello to Britney Wilkins of http://www.onlinecourses.org/. Let's see what she has to say, and how I feel about it. Hey, it is a free country after all. Hopefully it will be worthwhile for an addition, although how many people actually come by here versus going to her site? Maybe she's fishing for some rational thinkers?

Retirement (Surreal)

Well, had the retirement ceremony, so that chapter is all over with. It still seems totally surreal though. As I had said before, I didn't really WANT a ceremony, but I was pretty much ordered to have one. It was nice but in the end, maybe a little more stress than I wanted to deal with, and especially more stress than my wife wanted to deal with.

Had a couple of nice surprises though. My daughter did this very cool slide-show, and then my wife got a lady by the name of Phyllis Hasty to sing the National Anthem (she used to perform on Broadway). And my shadow box totally kicked ass! All I can say is that I am glad it's all over with.

Now to worry about finding a job in this economy... Wish me luck. Oh, I had promised to post my retirement speech. This is what I had written up before I went in to the ceremony. I didn't go too far off script, and obviously I didn't just read this, so the words may have come out a little bit different, but the gist is there:

Retirement Speech:
Thank you very much for your words Col Dantzler, and for dusting off your uniform once again to perform a retirement ceremony.

I would first like to start off by giving my most sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of you for showing up here to celebrate this transition in my life. I know this is high season for such events, and the demands on your time are many. I would especially like to thank my co-workers for putting in the time and effort to make this a memorable event. We all do important work up there in XR, and this was probably the last thing you wanted add to your plate. I’d like to thank the folks from around the base and community who are here as well. It means a lot to me to see you here. Especially those of you who traveled from far away, and had to deal with getting on the base.

I do want to make a special thank you to my wife and daughter. To my lovely wife of 17 years (although I was only home for 12 of those), Brooke. You are my best friend, and the reason I even managed to get to where I did. Words actually fail me in describing all you have done as the foundation of our family. Your service has been much more difficult than mine, since I was the one who volunteered for this life, and I dragged you along. It is for you that I am so excited about this next phase of our life.

Megan, like for mom, I just haven’t been around as much as I wanted to. I was doing what needed to be done; but now I hope we’ll be able to share more times like we did that weekend at Disney. You are smart, pretty, and just a lot of fun to hang out with, and I look forward to time that we’ll be able to spend together.

I know that we have kept you here for quite a while with all the letters, medals, Col Dantzler revealing my deep dark secrets, and the like, so I’ll try to be brief. As is normal at an occasion like this, I have reflected back on my career and am proud and humbled by this chapter in my life. Those who know me, are aware that I have aired frustrations with the Air Force’s ability to manage their rated officers, but I’d rather focus on how I served. If I had to sum it up in one phrase, I guess it would be, “Doing what needed to be done.”

Not for glory, or because it was the most strategic thing for my career, but because I felt that with my enthusiasm, skills, and personality I could have an effect on the direction of this world. Very few people want to be Protocol Officers, but it needs doing. I can’t think of a lot of people who actually wanted to be Tanker Toads, but it absolutely needs doing. Even flying C-21s, while probably a little more for me, let me do things that needed to be done, such as training younger pilots in the skills and techniques I managed to pick up in my career, allowing them to then pass those things on to others.

The last few years I’ve been involved in acquisitions. If there is any field that is far removed from war stories and glory, I would have to say this is it, but it is also the foundation of everything that the warfighter is ABLE to do. Sure, a lot of people are out there doing what needs to be done, but without this aspect, they would just be people with no tools. While the guys getting the medals and the heroes get the press coverage, and they humbly say, “I was just doing what needed to be done.” Remember that it is all of you who really make that possible. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many people from many countries and services, and while we pride ourselves in the training and education of our people, we must realize we’re all humans with the same basic skills and abilities, but the tools you all provide to the United States Armed Forces is truly and honestly what sets us apart.

And with that, I want to say that it has been my distinct honor, privilege, and most heartfelt duty to work with all of you. So, in closing, I just want to say thank you, and I hope that our paths will keep crossing so that I can keep working with all the folks who really are doing what needed to be done.

Can't see, can't type...

Ugh, just had an eye appointment and they had to dilate my pupils, so right now I can't see. Um, so I won't actually be blogging. Just wanted to say that it's cool how we can do all these really cool things on such an "irreducibly complex" thing. Well, either that, or we may actually have an idea about the evolution of the eye, and all that. ;)

Quick Drive By Blogging

So, what are the chances that I would have a job if a company is flying me out for a face to face interview on a job that hasn't been filled since Nov 08? That is assuming that I don't blow the interview or anything like that (I am reminded of the Episode of Cheers where Norm goes for the interview at the brewery!). I am feeling good about this, but I don't want to be too confident, since I really do need to keep my focus.

I am still surprised and disappointed that the Eglin folks thought they could low ball me like this... I always felt that I was underutilized there, so it's probably a good thing that I am just getting away from this provincial and bureaucratic regime and out into the so called "real world". I am not so naive to thing that everything will be different, but it will be a change of pace, and I am looking forward to new challenges.

While looking for a job, and being about as busy as one human can be, I am also running that Facts, not Fantasy website. I am finding myself disappointed with the lack of news that is really relevant and interesting in the arena of evolution, autism, or vaccines. The H1N1 thing has pretty much googlespammed the net on anything to do with vaccines, the Age of Autism fucktards are prolific in their missinfomration campaign, and the creationist nuts are out in force as well. Sometimes I feel like I am fighting a losing battle with ignorance and idiocy. I suppose that geting into any debate with these mental midgets ends up with them dragging me down to their level (i.e. no discernible brain activity) and then behaving like innanimate matter in defiance of the mountains of evidence stacked against them... Hopefully I can get the word out more about that website. At least there I don't call them the fucking idiots that they are...

Okay, I'm off. See you all later.

News on the Job Front

Okay, so I have a firm job offer. I guess that's good in this economy, but I think I am going to have to turn it down... The salary, combined with my retirement pay, was a 30% pay cut! Really, WTF is with that? Just because the economy is in the shitter, they can lowball people? Thankfully I have skills and qualifications, and am able to pursue numerous options. I guess the worst part about it all though is that it may involve relocation, and that means taking a big hit on property. But considering how severe the pay cut was, combined with the snail paced opportunity to improve that, a short term loss is much better than a long term stagnation.

So, if you have any leads, I'd appreciate that though. Especially in the local area.

My Joke for the Day

I really don't have a lot to say today. Just had a nice day relaxing with my daughter. We saw the movie UP which was cute. Then did some shopping and stuff. Best stop tonight was Barnes and Noble. I have a couple book recommendations for you: A Long Way Gone and The Pleasure of My Company. Both worth the read.

Okay, now on to my joke. It's disgusting, childish, and even racist... But it made me chuckle!

I like my sex Korean Style!

Korean Style?

Yeah, I eat a lot of pussy!

See, I told you it was juvenile!

Braindroppings

Sorry, just a busy few days trying to run out-processing checklists and the like. Although, if I have NEVER used base housing, why do I have to go to their office (clear on the other side of base) to get them to sign off on my checklist? Oops, sorry, started thinking logically there...

I found this article in Scientific American particularly humerous. Not to mention this article on dog breeds. Although the last sentence is quite insulting to all Chihuahua. Can you imagine being compared to a creationist!? How vile!

I also have to give props to my virtual friend IVAN3Man for reposting this particular write up. It really has to be some sort of mental disorder! At least in the way any type of actual thought has broken down. It's like some of the more loony conspiracy theorists.

I know my blogging is getting a bit sparse as of late. I am just so busy with the Facts, not fantasy site blogging, and then family obligations, I start to run out of things to type about. Although I am also trying to write my retirement speech. That's not going too well at the moment. I have a lot of nebulous ideas, but nothing is coming together. And I also need to be prepared to speak at my dinner. That will be difficult, mostly because the actual day of my dinner is actually my daughter's birthday, and I hate to take away from her turning into a teenager with all these activities. I will post both speeches on the appropriate day though, so you can track that here.

Also got my official photo taken today. It's for the program that will be printed on my retirement, but I also plan to update a lot of my profile pictures with it. Especially the atheist one! ;)

The Job Front

Well, I bitched and moaned a great deal about the challenge of trying to find a job while deployed. Okay, now that I am home I have started in on the search seriously. And I almost feel a little ashamed at all the bitching I did... As I was coming out of an interview that went quite well, I got a call from one of my old supervisors, and found out that I basically already have a job in the bag. I am also evaluating a job offer from Booz Allen and General Dynamics.

Now I having to tell someone no! I honestly didn't think I was going to be in this position in this economy. I know that I have worked damn hard at developing my skills, and have taken on challenges that others would view as too hard or too risky, and it may seem that my resume is padded, every single bullet on there is the truth, not to mention truncated and pared down even! I guess I have a lot to be proud of in that regard. Of course, cultivating that resume took 20 years! I know that this economy has hit a lot of people pretty hard, and I can only say that I was in the right place, at the right time, with the right skills. I still need to look over the benefit packages and such, but I think I know what job I am going to go with.

That is a huge load off my mind. I may just have to start thinking about celebrating this too!

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!

Not much of a blog entry today. I'm just happy to be home and to see my family again. I have a lot of "stuff" to do though now that I am home and actually able to do all the things I should have been doing over the past four months. One of the first things I did was drop $1000 at Jos. A. Bank. OUCH! Although the suits are pretty damn nice! Now I am set for interviews and even to do some actual work outfits. Thankfully my wife has a wonderful sense of style and great tastes, so I will at least look good.

I am missing all my friends back at Al Udeid, but such is the life of us military folks! We make many friends throughout the world, only to leave them. As a matter of fact, since today is Memorial Day, here is a link to a writeup by a friend of mine who served as a Nurse in Iraq back in 2006. A very moving sotry, and a great picture.

Without the Intertoobes

Okay, so I am finally about to depart for home. I am bouncing off the frikkin' walls! I just want to be home. Of course, while I am on the road (actually in the airplane), I will not have any internet connectivity. So I am going to be silent for a few days. I hope you don't mind, and will allow me the excitement of returning to my family.

I'll just leave you all with a few braindroppings: Should the anti-vax pro-disease nutters be held legally responsible if someone dies from a perfectly preventable disease? Hint, I think so!

More cool evolution news. Yes, I know, now there are two gaps where before there was only one... Seriously, someone will say that!

I am also still blogging daily for Facts, not Fantasy. Of course, with this trip, I'm going to have to take a pause. Although, I am having a hard time beating through all the swine flu non-sense to find relevant news about vaccines. As for the page itself, I need to probably do some maintenance on it so it actually looks the way I want it to...

See you guys in a few days!

Add Authors?

Just an idle though... Does anyoe else want to have fun with this blog? Heck, I don't even know if there are people who read this, or if I am just typing to an empty room. Sure, my website tracker says this page gets lots of hits, but I have no idea as to the real substance of those hits. And I did notice that with this blogging software, you can collaborate. So, anyone want to join in on my ramblings? Just drop me a line or leave a comment. Let's see if this generates any interest.

Oh, sorry about not getting any pictures in lately. My web host changed the way they do FTP, and I am unable to upload photos to my host. And it's kind of rude to piggyback on other people's bandwidth, so I am just not going to put up pictures until I get back home and am able to access my FTP again.

Yet another Retirement Ceremony Update

Had to change the time for the dinner for my retirement. Apparently the restaurant doesn't accept reservations on a Friday night, so we're having it on a Thursday night. Oh well, I'll end up making it more about my daughter's birthday then as opposed to my retirement.

I was also just told that AFCENT doesn't think that it's a good idea for the guy that is coming in to be the chief of this shop to actually swap out with the guy who is the current chief. Instead he's going to swap out with me. And the guy that is coming in to replace me, will actually replace the current chief. So this means I get to leave later. Apparently the Air Farce could fuck up a free lunch. I swear, if it makes sense, and could possibly benefit me in the slightest, just on principle I think the AF is going to do the exact opposite. Fucktards, every single one of the pencil necked geeks!

What Movies are you Looking Forward to?

I am just dying to get home just so I can be with my family. I also have a lot on my plate like retirement from the Air Force, and trying to find a job, and all that stuff... Let's just say that it is causing a lot of stress in my life, so I decided to make a blog entry on a lighter vein. So what movies are you looking forward to this summer? Here is my list of movies:

Wolverine - Yes, I'm a geek and I love the X-men franchise. Hugh Jackman does a great volverine as well. Now, I got to see a "pirated" copy of this while sitting here at Al Udeid. Sure, got to see the plot (pretty good) without all the special effects added in. Not sure it's enough to go see just for that added bonus. While I enjoyed the movie, I don't think it was outstanding. It passed the time, and I enjoyed getting more background on Wolverine himself.

Star Trek - I really want to see it. I must be a sucker for that particular franchise as well. Maybe it's the humanism that drew me to the universe of Gene Roddenberry, and sort of kept me there?

Harry Potter - Laugh at me if you will, but I love these movies. Even though they are supposedly kid's books, J. K. Rowling has done a great job with a fantasy setting that really draws you in. Besides, this is the one where Dumbledore dies. I hear that Snape kills him...

Angels & Demons - Just because it pisses off hard core theists, I may go see it. I actually found the previous film to be okay, just as a mystery for finding the final clues. Otherwise I may wait for video on this one.

Terminator Salvation - Another franchise that has had its ups and downs. Let's hope this is the salvation they are looking for. I like the intensity Bayle brings to his characters, and the setting is just plain cool.

UP - Pixar has a way of surprising you! Whie I have to admit that the previews don't really look all that good, who knows. I may end up taking my daughter on a date to this if she wants. Besides, the short at the start may be worth the price of admission.

Land of the Lost - Huh? Okay, when did this get made, and why did they pick Will Ferrell? Okay, Ferrell did a great job in "Stranger than Fiction" so that has to count fr something. I wonder if it will be as campy as the old TV show? Not sure which I would prefer.

Transformers - They did a great job on the first one, so let's see if they can keep it up. It's not Shakespear, but it's fun!

Well, that's all the movies I am saw on a first search. Not having gone to an actual theatre in 5 months means that I haven't seen a single preview. I have no idea what's really going to be released! Notice any trends in my choices? So, are there any particular movies you are looking forward to?

Bland...

Yesterday my wife sent me an email, and she was talking about her shopping trip to the lawn and garden shop. Now that I am within 2 weeks of going home, I am really starting to miss more than just my family. I am missing simple things like seeing the colour green! While I am sure there are some areas of Qatar that are beutiful to look at, I must say that the area they put Al Udeid is the most desolate and just plain ugly are of the entire country. It's almost as if they had a deliberate search for the worst possible place to put this base. And the farm to the north with the open pits of crap doesn't help!

The picture above shows about as much colour as I see here. Pretty bleak. I winder if that has anything to do with some of the ease with which extreemists are able to recruit people from this part of the world. Nothing to do with ideology, but rather that they have been driven stark raving mad by the lack of scenery and how incredibly bland this area is. Even to have green or anything vibrant takes an incredible expenditure or resources. I guess if it wasn't for the oil and natural gas, I just can't see any reason for living in this area.

My 2 cents for today.

Retirement Ceremony Updated

Just wanted to let you know that I updated some of the info on my retirement ceremony. We actually have some details nailed down for now. Still not totally thrilled with being told I have to do this with the approved script as opposed to just doing what I want. And it looks like I will end up paying for my own shadow box and just about anything else assoiciated with getting a retirement done (cake, punch, programs, etc.). How nice of them... especially considering that I STILL don't have a job lined up. Of course, I could have a job; but I'm still sitting in the Middle East on a deployment instead of taking care of things at home. I know that this deployment has cost me at least 8 job offers because I'm here instead of at home and able to take terminal leave...

Retirement Ceremony....

Okay, so the AF is insisting that I have a retirement ceremony... Even though I'd prefer just to have a kegger and a roast. I suppose I really ought to take it seriously, but with as FUBAR as some Air Farce policies are, I just can't get into that frame of mind. So, while I don't want a ceremony, they are insisting that I have one. So here are the details as I have them. I'll edit and post more as I become aware of it. This is open for anyone who wants to come.

Ceremony:
Date: 26 Jun 09
Location: 9th SOS Auditorium
Time: 1300 (1:00 PM)

Clicky for image of route to 9th SOS Auditorium on base. Basically come in the Eglin East Gate (circled in red top center on the image). This will have you on Eglin Blvd. Follow that through three lights. After the third light (which is on 7th street), you go under a pedestrian bridge. Then the road sort of bears to the right, splits, and goes up a hill. Right after you pass a big building on the right, you should be able to see the 9th SOS building (also circled in red lower left on the image). There are parking lots scattered around that area. The entrance closest to the auditorium is on the east end of the building as I recall. Park and come on in.

The big thing wil be getting singed in to the base should you want to come to this part.


Dinner:
Date: 25 Jun 09
Location: Louisiana Lagniappe
Time: 1830 (6:30 PM)

The link for Louisiana Lagniappe has directions and everything.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If you plan to attend, or wish to attend, please send an email to Jason.Moran@eglin.af.mil with your address. I can recomend places to stay if you are coming into town (there are several Clarion Family hotels in Niceville that are close to that east gate).

Anyway, just blogging because I need to one day figure out what the hell I am going to actually do. I have 60 days to figure it out. That and set up invitations and whatnot. Sounds like a job that I can assign to a random Lieutenant. I guess the only reason I am even agreeing to all this is that I can get some good loot out of it. Of course, knowing the AF, I'll probably have to pay for my own Shadow Box...

Apathy...

I am suffering from Apathy right now... I guess the version I am suffering from today is the "general fatigue" version... Not getting a good night's sleep probably has a lot to do with it (air conditioning was loud, and there was some manner of construction that was just outside my trailer). [As an aside, Al Udeid is the only place I can think of that has a gated community protected by armed guards, where you still live in a trailer...] However, one of the contributors to my fatigue is fighting morons...

I suppose the throwing feces school of discourse is their only recourse. In the pro-disease nutter arguments I have seen, they keep saying things authouritatively with nothing to back them up. No citatations, no evidence, nothing. And when they do have a link, it's one that has already been soundly and wholly refuted to the point that the only appropriate reaction is to outright mock it. Yet they keep throwing out the same stuff in just an effort to wear down the rational people. Their method of argument is to overwhelm with bullshit...

Sadly, there is no way that anyone can reasonably be expected to counter every single one of their ridiculous assertions... They keep crapping out their nonsense until they have stunned their opponent with their stupidity. It's like playing chess with a pigeon. They fly in, knock over all the pieces, crap all over the board, then fly back to their flock and claim victory. Sadly, these birdbrains don't even understand the basics of what they are arguing, let alone something as significant as evidence and science.

Heck, these idiots are found in numerous camps. I suppose, the biggest camps are creationists, pro-disease anti-vaxers, homeopaths, alien abductees, ... aw man, now I'm apathetic and depressed at how many idiots there are...

Well, here's something to at least peruse in order to recognize these idiots:

The Operative Laws of Pseudo-Science by Fnord

1) The Law of Bipolar Order: (1) Given any set of data or line of reasoning, there can be only two conclusions to choose from -- only one of which is true. (2) Given any chain of events, there can be only two outcomes -- only one of which is desirable.
2) The Law of Burdensome Disproof: An unproven assertion must be sufficiently disproven to be false. (Alexander’s Corollary: “The burden of disproof lies with the dissenting party”). For example, this applies to cases where everybody knows that the defendant is guilty, and therefore the defendant must prove his innocence beyond any doubt.
3) The Law of Cardinal Perspective: Only the asserting party possesses enough of the right kind of mental capability to fully understand every aspect of the assertion.
4) The Law of Cascading Events: Any given activity, no matter how benign, will eventually lead to undesirable or disastrous results. This is also called The Avalanche Law.
5) The Law of Circumstance: Any assertion believed to be true by circumstance alone can not be refuted by a contrary assertion that is supported by mere facts.
6) The Law of Diction: Any assertion that is made with perfect diction, grammar, punctuation, and spelling bears greater validity than an assertion that is made from perfect data and reasoning alone.
7) The Law of Flawed Scruples: Any assertion may be disbelieved if the asserting party is found to have ever had a breach of ethics, morality, or fashion sense.
8) The Law of Hidden Analogies: Any two (or more) events or ideas that are related by at least one similarity – no matter how superficial the similarity – are analogous to each other. For instance, “comparing apples and oranges” makes sense in light of the fact that both are fruit, both grow on trees, both contain seeds, both have skins, et cetera.
9) The Law of Hidden Authority: (1) Expertise in one field automatically grants expertise in another unrelated field. For example, a Journeyman Electrician is automatically an expert in the Psychology of Child Development. (2) Experience in one field automatically grants expertise in related fields. For example, a Masseuse is automatically an expert in Chiropractic.
10) The Law of Hidden Causes: A conclusion may be made before the facts are all in and any reasoning is applied. This is also called The Law of Common Sense.
11) The Law of Hidden Connections: Everything is connected to everything else. Thus, any conjecture may be used to reach a valid conclusion provided that a connection can be drawn between the facts and the conclusion. This is similar to the Law of Hidden Analogies, except that the hidden connections may be obvious only to the asserting party (See also The Law of Cardinal Perspective.)
12) The Law of Image Aversion: Any assertion is to be disbelieved if the asserting party (or the assertion itself) is associated with an unpopular image, regardless of the validity of the data or reasoning behind the assertion. For example, the report published by independent experts is to be disbelieved by ordinary, working-class people because the experts are all wealthy, ivy-league graduates.
13) The Law of Implied Approval: Any assertion is to be believed if the asserting party applies enough flattery to the opposition.
14) The Law of Implied Threat: Any assertion is to be believed if the assertion implies or expresses dire consequences for disbelieving the assertion.
15) The Law of Irrelevant Meaning: Nothing is irrelevant; everything has meaning. While a piece of information may appear, at first, to be irrelevant, later information and the interpretations thereof may reveal the true relevance of the initial information.
16) The Law of Mutual Validation: Cause and effect are interchangeable. For instance, the statement “I am always right because I’m the boss; and I’m the boss because I’m always right” uses mutual validation.
17) The Law of Ordinal Perspective: Any question for clarification or validation of even one aspect of the original assertion is de facto evidence that the questioner does not possess enough of the right kind of mental capability to fully understand any aspect of the original assertion.
18) The Law of Overwhelming Disproof: Any data cited to disprove an assertion must be kept to a higher standard than the data cited in the original assertion.
19) The Law of Popular Support: Any assertion believed by a majority need not be proven. For instance, since “Everybody Knows” that a middle-eastern man can’t learn to fly an airliner in a few short months, those planes must have been flown by remote control.
20) The Law of Revealed Mysteries: An unpopular assertion may be disbelieved if it can be connected with an unknown threat to civil liberties. Cabals, conspiracies, and unregistered governmental entities are often cited.
21) The Law of Volumetric Repetition: (1) If an assertion is spoken loudly and repeatedly, then it must be true. (2) If an assertion is repeatedly published in capital letters and in several publications, then it must be true. (Hitler’s Corollary: “If you say something loud enough and often enough people will believe it.”)

A well-constructed pseudo-science assertion meets four criteria:
1) Believability: Its assertions are acceptable to those making the assertions, whether or not others involved in the discussion believe them.
2) Deniability: It directly opposes the strongest counterarguments, whether or not it actually addresses and refutes them.
3) Self-Sufficiency: Each of its assertions supports at least one other assertion, whether or not they directly or indirectly support the stated conclusion.
4) Volume: It contains a great number of assertions, whether or not those assertions are provable or relevant to the subject under discussion or the eventual conclusion.

Follow the link for even more hillarity on woo.

Should I just write non-sense?

So I was wondering, should I write more on my blog? Sure, I have a blog, but in the past year, I have written a few times each month. Now, generally I only try to write when I have something to say, or I have found something that I really want to pass on. Of course, that means my blog tends to be rather static, and really not much of a reason for folks to come here. Not that people really come here for my blog that often as it is... So, in a sort of chicken or egg type of thing, I suppose that I ought to blog a bit more often. Hopefully that will eventually lead to more folks coming here.

One thing that I will always try to do is find some sort of funny picture to go with the blog entry. Hopefully it will be somewhat applicable to the entry. Also, I will always make sure to tag my entries. I realize that I tend to write about science, logic, and atheism, so I will try to expand my horizons a little just to find more material. Although, science is one of the things that I really, really enjoy, so that will be a focus for me. As for the atheism focus, well, that's a battle that I am embroiled in because I care about the future. Hopefully those two things won't drive you away, since there are many tings to talk about aside from just those two items.

Well, so over the past two days, I guess I am keeping up on the resolution... Although, I do tend to travel A LOT and sometimes I just don't have internet access... So I amnot making a resolution to write every day, but you should hear a lot more often from me. Now to try to think of topics to write about... They say personal experience is one thing to draw on. First, who the hell are they? And how about writing about resume writing, job searching, networking, job interviews, etc.? That's probably quite topical as well!

Sorry so Quiet

Well, I am happy to report that the Active Denial System has managed to go through its Capabilities and Limitations Assessment in quite an outstanding fashion. Of course, the work leading up to this has been rather intensive, and involved a lot of traveling. I feel like one of those professional "Road Warrior" that are flying all over the world every week to some location or another. Sadly, I never get to go to any exotic locales. Instead I go to Twentynine Palms and China Lake. Have I mentioned that I hate the desert? The climate and terrain just do not suit me!

Now that the ADS has managed to pass this milestone, I can only hope that it will get deployed somewhere. I also hope that it will get me some better TDYs! It has been humerous to be on this program though, and see some of the far out blogs from people who have no idea what they are talking about! While the system was out at Twentynine Palms, it was also apparently protecting the Pope, and doing all sorts of strange operations in and around Washington DC. Not only that, but with as many times as I have been shot by this system, I should be decomposing to a pile of goo or something. Of course, I would make derisive comments about the moonbat blogs since this system is also tied into government mind control... You know, stupid people would actually be funny if there weren't so many of them...

Oh well, just my entry for today. Have a good one.

Save Net Neutrality

Been doing a lot of stuff on Craigslist and ran across this link and though it would be worthy of posting.

I'm on 60 Minutes!

(Click on the title to see the 60 Minutes segment.) I'm in the last few seconds, but I'm there! Basically it's the shot where there are three people in a row, and I'm the one in the middle that runs away and raises my hands. I suppose I could go into the whole politics and program management of the system, but I think that would violate a few policies. Suffice it to say that everyone that I talk to is excited by this thing, and we really want to get it out to the troops. I couldn't agree more!

If you are interested in learning more about the ADS, check out the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate web page about ADS. And the applications for this are way beyond military. I know I mentioned this system in my blog on Illegal Aliens if that is any indication.

Do you have any opinions on this system? Thoughts to share?

Need a new name....

Blogalicious sucks... I just typed it in because the registration required it. I am very unhappy with it though. Please help me come up with a better name than that. Something that reflects me a bit better at least!

I Hate the 96th Comm Squadron

Okay, nothing personal, but it seems these guys take away anything that is worthwhile on the net, and block it. Normally I suppose in a corporate/military structure, this is a good thing. However, sometimes it goes just way too far! I am in the business of procuring weapons that the Air Force uses to kill people and blow stuff up with, right? So, why would a bage be blocked by the 96th Comm Squadron because it contains material about "weapons and violence"? I kid you know, that's the "Access Denied" message I got when looking up some counter-IED technology!

Further confirms my theory that people as a mass are stupid!

IE SUCKS

Okay, so pretty much everyone knows that Internet Explorer sucks... So why do 80% of the planet insist on using it? I have this really cool background image for the main body of the text on my web page. In FireFox it's nice and transparent, and you can see the KC-135 and all the fighters around it. It looks cool. On Internet Explorer, the box where all the text is located goes pure white and blocks out the image. I tried using the "filter:alpha(opacity=60)" command, but that actually made the BODY image transparent instead of that white background. Looks like I need to keep working on that.

I do have sounds that DO load on IE, but not in FireFox. Although I consider that a minor thing though since they only appear on two pages. I know there is a easy fox for that, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Woot!

Okay, I managed to do it! I got it all working. Mostly by dumb luck. Well, okay, I have been learning a bit about the sort of styles this template uses, so it wasn't totally random trial and error.

Now it's time for me to finally get to writing things here. Just a fair warning, I can be sarcastic, snarky, and sometimes a bit condescending. But don't take me too seriously, it's not like I am out to hurt or offend you. That's YOUR reaction to what I write, not the reaction I am going after. I am just sharing my views and opinions with the world. Take them for what it's worth (i.e. probably not much).

If you want those surface things about me, just pop by my Facebook or MySpace pages. And feel free to add me as a friend.

Okay, now what?

Well, seems that I managed to get it to work! No small miracle since I didn't resort to asking my brother-in-law or even tech support for my host. I still need to figure out how to customize exactly what I want. I hate the bit where it is too wide for my little iFrame. See, just a little too wide.

I guess I'll keep messing with it until I get it right. Hopefully the template options give me some idea, or perhaps I can just go through trial and error. It seems to have worked for me in the past. Anyone willing to take bets on how long this will take?

Guess Not

Well, I guess Google isn't idiot proof! I am trying to get stuff posted to my page, but all I see is the old stuff I already put there yesterday, with no change to what I have added with this site. I suppose I am fortunate that my brother-in-law is a computer genius, and he's here to help me!

I also must say that I love FireFox's spell checking add-on! Wow, I can imagine trying to read this without that!

Is Google really that good?

Okay, so I am going to try to use Google's blog software to create my blog. The big question: Will it work?

I am always nervous when I try something new. Heck, it took me a DECADE to update my web page from simple HTML to something that actually looks like I put some effort into it. The reason I am always so hesitant is because I am totally self taught on HTML. HTML hadn't been invented by the time I went to university, so I really don't have that deep an understanding of all the things you can do with it. And invariably, there will be some small thing that will totally dork up everything I have done previously!

So, is Google good enough to handle my amateur attempts at making this blog software actually integrate with the way I wrote my web page? Did I enter all the information correctly to have it import? Will the format stay the same as I originally had it? Will my previous post stay? All serious questions for me to consider!

I suppose once I get all that answered, I will start in on serious blogging. By the way, I am open to inputs and suggestions on what to blog about as well as the rest of my web page.