Click the pic to make it bigger. 'Resistance is futile.'
Friday, December 16, 2011
When Did Respecting Religion Come to This?
Okay, this might come off as a bit of a rant, but I am hoping that everyone tells me I just encountered a couple of idiots.
Recently, I attended a Christmas party with a friend. They hosts had a blessing before the meal. Okay, their party, it wasn't a government function so there is no church-state issue or anything. If they wanted a prayer it's a private function, so it's their business. The host asked everyone to bow their heads and led a prayer. Of course being an atheist I just sat their quietly while everyone else did the prayer thing.
Later in the evening, a young woman comes up to me and tells me I was rude and disrespectful. I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about. Turns out she noticed I didn't bow my head during the prayer. I told her I was an atheist. That's when she pulled out the you are disrespecting religion card. I told her I thought sitting quietly was respectful as I didn't disrupt or interfere with anyone's prayer. She again insisted bowing your head showed respect. I told her that I can't respect her beliefs by disrespecting own by pretending to pray. She left in a bit of a huff. I didn't hear anything more about it.
So, is not bowing your head when everyone else is praying showing a disrespect for religion? To me, not participating in someone else's prayers is not disrespect, but following my own conscience. If that's the new standard, I need a heads up so I can be sure I am not in the room at the time of the prayer.
So please, just tell me I encountered an idiot and this isn't the social standard now.
Recently, I attended a Christmas party with a friend. They hosts had a blessing before the meal. Okay, their party, it wasn't a government function so there is no church-state issue or anything. If they wanted a prayer it's a private function, so it's their business. The host asked everyone to bow their heads and led a prayer. Of course being an atheist I just sat their quietly while everyone else did the prayer thing.
Later in the evening, a young woman comes up to me and tells me I was rude and disrespectful. I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about. Turns out she noticed I didn't bow my head during the prayer. I told her I was an atheist. That's when she pulled out the you are disrespecting religion card. I told her I thought sitting quietly was respectful as I didn't disrupt or interfere with anyone's prayer. She again insisted bowing your head showed respect. I told her that I can't respect her beliefs by disrespecting own by pretending to pray. She left in a bit of a huff. I didn't hear anything more about it.
So, is not bowing your head when everyone else is praying showing a disrespect for religion? To me, not participating in someone else's prayers is not disrespect, but following my own conscience. If that's the new standard, I need a heads up so I can be sure I am not in the room at the time of the prayer.
So please, just tell me I encountered an idiot and this isn't the social standard now.
Four for Fridays
Hello everyone! Welcome back to Four for Fridays after a rather 'normal' week. It's getting closer to that special day in December and here are some Christmas questions...
1) Artificial or real Christmas tree?
2) Traditionally, do you open your gifts on Christmas eve or Christmas day?
3) What is your favorite Christmas song?
4) Done with your Christmas shopping yet?
Enjoy your weekend!
1) Artificial or real Christmas tree?
2) Traditionally, do you open your gifts on Christmas eve or Christmas day?
3) What is your favorite Christmas song?
4) Done with your Christmas shopping yet?
Enjoy your weekend!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Santa Stories
This is an actual conversation between my girlfriend and I had the other day as we were watching TV together..Her: Here's something to watch, "The Dog Who Saved Christmas".
Me: Let me guess-this one Santa gets kidnapped, abducted, beaten, tortured, raped, sodomized, maimed, murdered, killed and set on fire. Along comes a lovable canine, perhaps a talking puppy, rescues Santa from the perils of Hell and saves Christmas. For that, all the children in the world are happy.
Her: So you've seen that one before?
Me: No. All these new Christmas movies are the same. Something happens to Santa and he gets rescued by some kid or dog and Christmas is saved. It gets old and mundane after awhile. I'd rather watch paint dry.
Her: So you don't like Christmas movies?
Me: I like 'em, but I'd would to see something original for a change.
Her: Like what?
Me: How about a drunken Santa, despondent over the loss of Mrs. Claus, crashes into the side of a 747 with his sleigh, killing everybody aboard? Think about the legal repercussions about that one...
Her: You're crazy...
Me: You have no idea...How about Santa in the Philippine jungle gunning down terrorists? Like Rambo? That ought to be a hoot! Or an elf murdered in Santa's workshop. A CSI crew comes in a clears Santa as the prime suspect. I could go on...
Her: Please don't...
Me: Or Santa can do a romantic comedy...
Dear Madame Zoltar
Hello, Santa’s irregular helpers! How are you? Ho, ho, ho, one more week with no, no, no s-word on the ground. Isn’t it lovely? And it’s in the 40’s again after last week’s nip of winter. Don’t forget, winter doesn’t officially start until December 22. On that day, and a few after, you can think, “s-word, s-word-, s-word” all you want. It’s fitting to have a white Christmas. But after that, stop thinking about the s-word. January and February’s cold and wind and gloom are enough. We don’t need s-word, too. Hail, hail, o mighty Packers, warriors supreme! Green Bay stifled the Oakland Raiders last Sunday, and we can expect a repeat performance at noon this Sunday, Dec. 18, when the Packers meet the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. (Oh my, how do they get away with such politically incorrect names?) Knock the Chiefs back onto the reservation! (Oh dear, I can’t believe I said that.)
I thought I’d check into what some of my competition has been doing for Christmas, and, my, was I surprised. Here is what Vine, from Australia, posted last year:
Of course, they have summer weather for Christmas down under. I think that’s a pretty nice video. I’m ashamed of what other Christmas videos I found posted by psychics, so we’ll let it go at that.
I still have almost all of my shopping and decorating to do. Christmas is such a busy time of year. Busy, but joyous. I especially like the concerts and choirs at Christmas time. Good music, good people, good cheer. Goodness gracious.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy holiday season to read my blog. I appreciate it very much. My Irregular and regular readers are my favorite people, and this is my favorite time of year. Glad tidings to all. Madame Zoltar ♥ you.
Holidays have you down? Get perked up: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.
Get out your car’s brush and scraper just in case we get any s-word. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. An ounce of my medications average about 25¢. If they don’t cure you, you won’t care anyway. Be careful, my friends. Lucubrations!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Time to take attendance!!!
Forgive me Hale,
I punched 'black hole' in the search and got this.
It feels like a couple of our 'kin' have gotten sucked into
some cyber black hole and are missed.
Jed, Huck and others, we miss you!
Hope you're ok,
ya 'all, we better check in.
I sure hope Lee Ent. didn't kidnap them
hoping for a huge ransom from us to keep themselves afloat!
I punched 'black hole' in the search and got this.
It feels like a couple of our 'kin' have gotten sucked into
some cyber black hole and are missed.
Jed, Huck and others, we miss you!
Hope you're ok,
ya 'all, we better check in.
I sure hope Lee Ent. didn't kidnap them
hoping for a huge ransom from us to keep themselves afloat!
"Newspaper group Lee Enterprises files for bankruptcy"
From Reuters:
If they could just sell one edition of a newspaper for $1 billion, everything would be OK.
"(Reuters) - Lee Enterprises Inc (LEE.N), which publishes 48 daily newspapers including St. Louis Post-Dispatch, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to refinance nearly $1 billion in debt, as newspapers struggle with falling advertisement dollars and dwindling readership."
If they could just sell one edition of a newspaper for $1 billion, everything would be OK.
"Proposal to review city positions paying over $100,000 stalls"
From TheJournalTimes.com:
Haw, haw, haw. There is NO way the pork in Racine will ever be trimmed as long as the recipients of the pork are in charge of its distribution. Citizens: shut up, fix your sidewalks, and pay for lying John's lawyers. Happy Holidays, Racine!
"KIMBER SOLANA kimber.solana@journaltimes.com | Posted: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 6:28 am |
"RACINE - A proposal to review vacant high-paying city positions in hopes of finding cost-saving opportunities failed to move past the Finance and Personnel Committee on Monday.
"Under the proposal, any position vacant due to retirement or resignation that typically pays more than $100,000 in salary and benefits would be reviewed by the committee and City Council before any hire, said Alderman Eric Marcus, who proposed the idea."
Haw, haw, haw. There is NO way the pork in Racine will ever be trimmed as long as the recipients of the pork are in charge of its distribution. Citizens: shut up, fix your sidewalks, and pay for lying John's lawyers. Happy Holidays, Racine!
"NTSB recommends states ban all nonemergency driver cell phone, electronic use device use"
From JSOnline:
I agree. I cannot count the number of times I have been cut off by someone on a cellphone. It's pure selfishness from a selfish generation: My yacking is more important than your life.
"By JOAN LOWY
Associated Press
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- States should ban all driver use of cell phones and other portable electronic devices, except in emergencies, the National Transportation Board said Tuesday.
"The recommendation, unanimously agreed to by the five-member board, applies to both hands-free and hand-held phones and significantly exceeds any existing state laws restricting texting and cellphone use behind the wheel."
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DRIVERS_TEXTING?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
I agree. I cannot count the number of times I have been cut off by someone on a cellphone. It's pure selfishness from a selfish generation: My yacking is more important than your life.
Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight
Just a quick note, the Geminid Meteor Shower peaks tonight. The Geminids usually give the more famous Perseids (which occur in August) a pretty good run for the money for the best meteor shower of the year (I have seen better displays from the Geminids on a regular basis). However, across much of the U.S., people would rather be outside at night in August than December!
Simply go out, lay down and look up. Scan the sky, no telescope or binoculars required. There will be a pretty bright Moon out tonight which makes meteors more difficult to see.
One nice thing about the Perseids is that they action picks up a little earlier in the night than for the Perseids (although it is better to watch later if you can). Since Earth is tilted away from the Sun in the winter, we turn into the meteor stream a bit earlier. Gemini, the radian of the meteor shower, clears the horizon by 8pm local time here in Tucson.
Looks like it will be raining here in Tucson tonight. Fortunately, the Geminids are a fairly wide debris stream, so it might still be worth checking out the next night. Bundle up everyone!Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.
Monday, December 12, 2011
'Open Forum' Disappears from Journal Times Site
http://www.journaltimes.com/
Freedom of speech is good, as long as it agrees with your agenda, right?
Wtf?
Freedom of speech is good, as long as it agrees with your agenda, right?
Wtf?
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The Attery Squash - "Santa's Laughter Mocks The Poor"
"Santa's laughter mocks the poor, it's Christmas time again
You hear it in the songs of joy promoting fiscal gain
You see it in the credit cards that flutter down the drain, cos
Santa's laughter mocks the poor, and here it comes again
"Santa's laughter mocks the poor, it echoes in the night
A nagging sound that makes you wonder if you got it right
Everybody lies awake and thinks there's more to life, but
Santa's laughter mocks the poor, and you're to blame tonight
"Santa, we love you
Santa, don't you care?
Why do you ignore us Santa?
At this time of year
"Santa's laughter mocks the poor, a liability
That taunts you every time you turn on one of your TVs
Or choose the leather option, or a nice Moroccan tea oh
Santa's laughter mocks the poor across the seven seas
"Santa's laughter mocks the poor, the catchiest of songs
If everybody else is singing it, it can't be wrong
You hear it in the news reports of panic in Hong Kong
Santa's laughter mocks the poor, you've known it all along
"Santa's laughter mocks the poor, they just don't have the clout
To make a difference in the way society's turned out
Share out all the money in the world - we'd soon run out, oh
Santa's laughter mocks the poor, of that there is no doubt"
This song by The Attery Squash features Rev. Ian Stang, the leader of my faith, the Church of the SubGenius.
Useless Information
Did you know:
In 1909 Woodward Avenue in Detroit Michigan became the first paved street in the United States.