Well, all this is interesting to me, anyway, and that's what matters here. The Internet is a terrible thing for someone like me, who finds almost everything interesting.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
The war on Easter
Easter eggs are a "Judeo-Christian tradition"? Really? I didn't realize that Easter was a big holiday for Jews. And did I miss the part about the Easter Bunny in the Bible?
For Bill O'Reilly and his elderly viewers, though, "Judeo-Christian tradition" is everything they did when they were kids. OK, fine. I have nothing against tradition, assuming that it's not something like slavery. Or wife-beating. But who is waging a war on Easter, anyway?
The fact is, I'd be willing to surrender immediately in this "war on Easter" - especially since I didn't actually realize I was fighting it - if the right-wing would only agree to shut up about it! As it is, I suppose we can be thankful that Fox News "won" the war on
Christmas, huh? I assume that means they'll stop talking
about it? Heh, heh. Yeah, right.
But actually,... I take it all back. No surrender! This stuff is much too funny. It's so funny that I don't want them to shut up about it. Just the reverse, in fact. So, on with the war! Set up your chocolate bunnies and I'll mow them down. :)
PS. It's also funny that O'Reilly seems desperate to keep the right to "criticize minorities," isn't it? He's just terrified that he won't be able to do that anymore (in some mythical future America, at least). Well, he knows his audience, doesn't he? All those old white racists are pretty concerned about stereotyping minorities, and they don't want to pussyfoot around when it comes to their language, either.
But what's really, really funny is that the Republican Party is currently trying to change its "messaging" to minorities (not its actual policies, of course) as a result of the last election. And that's happening at the exact same time Fox 'News' - the propaganda arm of the Republican Party - is waging a war to be allowed to say whatever nasty thing they want!
Heh, heh. How dumb do they think minorities are? How do they think that 'outreach' is going to go, when Fox 'News' is busy scaring the party faithful about political correctness at the same time other party leaders are pretending (to minorities) to be inclusive?
Oh, well. The debacle should be fun to watch, anyway, don't you think?
For those of you who saw the original "Planet Of The Apes," it looks like Dr. Zaius must have been talking about Billo:
"I have always known about man. From the evidence, I believe his wisdom must walk hand- in-hand with his idiocy. His emotions must rule his brain. He must be a warlike creature who gives battle to everything around him, even himself."
Thanks for the link, Jeff. I especially like how Bill O'Reilly scares his audience with... Canada. Yeah, those Canadians are really scary. What a hellhole it must be up there, huh?
But please tell me what you think about DISQUS. I use it elsewhere, and it's been pretty convenient. But they say it will work for blogs, too. (In fact, they specifically mention Blogger.)
I didn't know if I'd gain anything by that (I have no need for 'real-time' discussions, certainly), but what do you think? After all, it's already very easy for me to comment on my own blog. But DISQUS might make it easier for you, and for other commenters, too.
What do you think? Have you any experience with blogs using DISQUS? (My experience has just been with local news stations.)
I can't find a DISQUS icon to click on to log in, so I'll use my Google account from now on. I had to tweak my profile a little bit; I'll use my LJS username and George Carlin avatar so you'll know for sure it's me.
I use DISQUS on sites such as Alternet, Buzzflash, and The Daily Telegraph (London), mainly because that's the only comment format they use.
On AddictingInfo and the Omaha World-Herald, I use my Hotmail account since I don't Facebook.
Yeah, I haven't set up DISQUS here, Jeff, not yet. I was just wondering if it would be better or not.
I don't think you'd have to type in those security questions each time, although I might have to start moderating comments (so they wouldn't show up immediately).
Also, I'm wondering if you'd still be able to preview your comment before sending it. I really don't know. It might be worth trying, though - assuming I could remove it again, if it caused problems. :)
I'm a skeptic. I think it makes sense to have reasons for what I believe, so I apportion my belief to the evidence. You're welcome to disagree. Please, tell me I'm wrong. I probably don't agree with anyone about everything. Why should disagreement be a problem? Check the Pages section below for series posts and links to book reviews and game posts, as well as contact info. Unfortunately, I rarely blog at all, anymore. So don't expect new posts. - Bill
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. - Robert Wilensky
It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong - Richard Feynman
The general root of superstition is that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss, and commit to memory the one, and pass over the other. - Sir Francis Bacon
When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Speculation is perfectly all right, but if you stay there you've only founded a superstition. If you test it, you've started a science. - Hal Clement
No matter how many times a theory meets its tests successfully, there can be no certainty that it will not be overthrown by the next observation. This, then, is a cornerstone of modern natural philosophy. It makes no claim of attaining ultimate truth. In fact, the phrase "ultimate truth" becomes meaningless, because there is no way in which enough observations can be made to make truth certain and, therefore, "ultimate". - Isaac Asimov
The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion. - Treaty of Tripoli, passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and signed by President John Adams (1797)
I don't doubt the sincerity of dowsers, but even after we've demonstrated that they can't produce results that are any better than chance they'll still go away believing in their abilities... It is like the mother whose son is caught shoplifting on tape. She wonders why someone would want to frame her child by producing a fake video. - James Randi
During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. The Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church ... imprisoned, tortured, hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood. Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry. - Mark Twain
Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives' mouths. - Bertrand Russell
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. - Friedrich Nietzsche
I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them. - Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.
This is not about proof. Science does not use proof. We favor evidence, and the work consists largely of the slow accumulation of evidence in support of ideas, not magically potent proofs that establish an idea as unassailable. - PZ Myers
No, people don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. - President Barack Obama
The formula was very simple: build this really flexible, really open economy, tolerate creative destruction so dead capital is quickly redeployed to better ideas and companies, pour into it the most diverse, smart and energetic immigrants from every corner of the world and then stir and repeat, stir and repeat, stir and repeat, stir and repeat. - Shekhar Gupta
We are prodding, challenging, seeking contradictions or small, persistent residual errors, proposing alternative explanations, encouraging heresy. We give our highest rewards to those who convincingly disprove established beliefs. - Carl Sagan
We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. - Richard Dawkins
120 million of us place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer. - Sam Harris
To kill a man is not to defend a doctrine, but to kill a man. - Michael Servetus, burned at the stake in 1553
Democracy is not about majority rule; it is about minority rights. If there is no culture of not simply tolerating minorities, but actually treating them with equal rights, real democracy can't take root. - Thomas L. Friedman
We cannot absolutely prove that those are in error who tell us that society has reached a turning point, that we have seen our best days. But so said all who came before us and with just as much apparent reason. - Thomas Macauley, 1830
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and remember we are not descended from fearful men. - Edward R. Murrow
The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence. Science is simply common sense at its best - that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic. - Thomas Huxley
There is no absurdity so obvious that it cannot be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to impose it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity. - Arthur Schopenhauer
Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such an important part of every person's life, freedom of religion affects every individual. ... Erecting the "wall of separation between church and state," therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society. - President Thomas Jefferson
To be elected in America, no matter from what party, the candidates have no choice but to year after year pledge to lower taxes further and further. We have become the nation of Ken and Barbie, looking good but very poor at the math. - Rack Jite
Invisible Pink Unicorns are beings of great spiritual power. We know this because they are capable of being invisible and pink at the same time. Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them. - Steve Eley
We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics. - President Franklin D. Roosevelt
I have been attacked by Rush Limbaugh on the air, an experience somewhat akin to being gummed by a newt. It doesn't actually hurt, but it leaves you with slimy stuff on your ankle. - Molly Ivins
In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican. - H. L. Mencken
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. - Winston Churchill
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4 comments:
I read about this on Alternet.
http://www.alternet.org/bill-oreilly-left-trying-destroy-easter-bunny-so-everyone-can-do-drugs-and-have-abortions
This was my comment on it in DISQUS:
For those of you who saw the original "Planet Of The Apes," it looks like Dr. Zaius must have been talking about Billo:
"I have always known about man. From the evidence, I believe his wisdom must walk hand- in-hand with his idiocy. His emotions must rule his brain. He must be a warlike creature who gives battle to everything around him, even himself."
Thanks for the link, Jeff. I especially like how Bill O'Reilly scares his audience with... Canada. Yeah, those Canadians are really scary. What a hellhole it must be up there, huh?
But please tell me what you think about DISQUS. I use it elsewhere, and it's been pretty convenient. But they say it will work for blogs, too. (In fact, they specifically mention Blogger.)
I didn't know if I'd gain anything by that (I have no need for 'real-time' discussions, certainly), but what do you think? After all, it's already very easy for me to comment on my own blog. But DISQUS might make it easier for you, and for other commenters, too.
What do you think? Have you any experience with blogs using DISQUS? (My experience has just been with local news stations.)
I can't find a DISQUS icon to click on to log in, so I'll use my Google account from now on. I had to tweak my profile a little bit; I'll use my LJS username and George Carlin avatar so you'll know for sure it's me.
I use DISQUS on sites such as Alternet, Buzzflash, and The Daily Telegraph (London), mainly because that's the only comment format they use.
On AddictingInfo and the Omaha World-Herald, I use my Hotmail account since I don't Facebook.
Yeah, I haven't set up DISQUS here, Jeff, not yet. I was just wondering if it would be better or not.
I don't think you'd have to type in those security questions each time, although I might have to start moderating comments (so they wouldn't show up immediately).
Also, I'm wondering if you'd still be able to preview your comment before sending it. I really don't know. It might be worth trying, though - assuming I could remove it again, if it caused problems. :)
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