The Religion of Bears

black bear standing

One of my pet peeves has to do with bears. You know — covered with hair, four big paws, occasionally shows up around human habitation and causes people to freak out? It's not the bears themselves, it's the general reaction to them, the body of beliefs associated with them, that bugs me so much. I lived in a little mountain town in California for 22 years, and there were usually a good dozen or so resident ursids cruising around, usually at night but sometimes in broad daylight. I had … [Read more...]

Am I The Only One Who’s Noticed?

Pryce Pope

Why do you never see Pope Francis and actor Jonathan Pryce in the same room together? I swear, it's like the Catholic Church isn't even trying anymore. (Well, they look a bit alike to ME.) … [Read more...]

The First Patheos Atheist Blog Carnival

Camels with Hammers' Daniel Fincke took on the task of doing a roundup of recent great posts here on the ungodly part of Patheos. I'm proud to be included with two pieces, but there are some truly good posts from my fellow unbelievers. But go there and see for yourself, hmm? The Inaugural Patheos Atheists Blog Carnival! … [Read more...]

To Hell With It — I’m Declaring a Holiday!

Skeletor Day

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Congratulations! You May Already Be A Wiener!

Powerball Jackpot Winning Ticket Purchased In Florida Here’s the truth: One person is going to win the Powerball Lottery. The other hundred million ticket purchasers (or however many there were) have already gotten screwed. I make no secret of the fact that I despise lotteries. For so many reasons, but this main one: Government sponsored “games of chance” engineered to sucker hapless victims out of their money? Really? Really?? The lottery is one of those things – like smoking, or … [Read more...]

Fanboy Says ‘Oh Hell Yes!’ to Star Trek: Into Darkness

Star Trek

Warning: Profound spoilers below. If you don’t want to know major plot surprises, stop reading now. If you’re one of those who just CAN’T enjoy a movie if you know what’s going to happen before it happens (I’m not), I guarantee my poor telling can’t match what you’ll see in the extended journey of adventure the movie provides. Reading any further will cheat you out of the serious delights in store. For the visual effects alone – the starships, the battles, hell, just the new … [Read more...]

The First Music Video in Space … Rocks.

Chris_Hadfield_2011

I know you've probably seen this already. But it's special enough that *I* wanted to put it somewhere permanent. This is so cool it brought tears to my eyes. Thanks to ISS Commander Chris Hadfield. (Hurrah for Canadian intelligence, talent and bone-deep class!) Video below:     … [Read more...]

Religion vs. Reality? I Vote Reality

apes

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Beta Culture: Never Doubt the Power of Religion

The basic rationale for establishing Beta Culture is to provide a balancing force against three "social entities" that are the only current avenues into any sort of future. As I say it: "There's the future we might WANT, and the future we're going to GET." The future we're going to get is the one government, business and religion will get us to. You and I might want a cure for Alzheimer's in ten years, but if government won't help fund the research, if universities, hospitals, pharma … [Read more...]

Beta Culture: Big Funny Hats

Big Funny Hat

If we're going to be a real culture with a readily-identifiable visual identity (and a culturally innate sense of humor), we simply have to have our own Big Funny Hat. My east Texas cowboy culture has them. The Catholics have them (for their leaders, anyway). The Amish have them, and so do Hasidic Jews. Even Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble have them. I've been thinking there should be meetings every two months, where we gather in our respective home cities and display our efforts at … [Read more...]