Harry Dresden

I went and picked up Dresden Files #2 a couple of weeks ago even though I was less than thrilled with number one. This one is Fool Moon, all about werewolves, liked this one much better. Harry still got beaten, battered and shot throughout the book but it made more sense this time and didn't come off making him look pathetic, like he was lucky to be alive, let alone come out the victor. In this one he was facing some really difficult situations that anyone would have trouble with, but if he doesn't get better at not getting hurt he isn't going to be alive much longer. Like a quarterback who shortens his career because he runs more than he passes and gets tackled a lot. Of course, with Michael Vicki it really didn't matter in the long run, career is over anyway.

I was at the bookstore yesterday and was surprised that I made a bee line straight to the B's for Jim Butcher to see if I could find book three. I did, Grave Peril, and bought it right then and there. Usually I wait to order online because it's cheaper but I didn't want to wait, I wanted to start reading it last night. Guess I liked #2 more than I thought. I really wasn't thinking about Dresden at all and was at the bookstore purely by accident. It surprised me how quickly I scooped up the book and how much was I'm looking forward to reading it last night.

Also picked up a copy of Skeptic only to find they have a book review of Dawkins “The God Delusion” by, amazingly, Deepak Chopra. I tried to talk myself into this being a good thing, you know, the hearing both sides argument, but I couldn't buy it and am much annoyed that they would put in Skeptic.

Journler

Just found a great application called Journler, click on the picture for a larger view. I recently heard it had undergone some changes so I downloaded it and started playing around. It's good for a daily journal or diary but even more than that is it can sort things into various Smart Folders as well as preserve links to files, images and web sites. You can really organize ideas with this thing. I'm writing this in it and in the resources panel to the right I put both images and the web site link, and it will also take audio and video files. This would be great it you are doing research.

My needs are simple, I just want to keep track of things. Like when I first use a new contact lens. They're supposed to last 30 days but after a week (I think) I completely lose track and have no idea when to expect it to go bad or if I'm getting more or less wear out of it. Same for flea stuff on the cats. Darcy just told me it has been over a month since I put it on, supposed to be once a month but I'm sure I only do it every three months. But I can write it in Journler when I do something then do a search for it and have an exact and reliable record.

It actually is much more powerful than that but since it's free I can use it anyway. Maybe I'll think of new ways to use it later. For notes I already have Yojimbo, which is great, so I don't need that. Writing blogs? Supposed to be able to publish a blog right from the app but I haven't found a program yet that can do that as well as Blogger itself. Hard to believe it's free, it's almost as powerful and feature filled as Yojimbo and I paid $40 for that one.

One serious limitation is it doesn't sync through .mac like Yojimbo does to keep work and home computers the same, but it does have an alternative. I copied its data folder out of Library/Application Support to my external hard drive, which is portable and I take back and forth to work every day. I then opened Journler and it asked me to locate the database and I selected it on the external. So I just arrived at work and copied the app over to the Applications Folder and the preference to Preferences Folder, started up Journler and everything I did over the weekend was right there. Which is very cool, maybe even better than .mac syncing. I just have to make sure I never forget the external.

Resign Gonzales

John Edwards is looking to send a petition to Gonzales demanding he resign:

Dear friend,

Today, we need your help to send a message to insiders like George Bush's Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who have no respect for the rule of law, our rights and freedoms, or the Constitution.

Gonzales, the man who helped enable torture at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and illegal spying on Americans, is now facing a possible perjury investigation for lying to Congress.

President Bush may be incapable of admitting when he makes a mistake (yes, too many to count)—but you and I and the American people still have the power to tell Gonzales that it is time to go!
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We may not be going for impeachment of Bush and Cheney but this is a good fight as well.
Go here:

http://johnedwards.com/action/sign-petitions/gonzales

Tidbits #2

If I was a joiner I'd join up with the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) because I've read Dan Barker's book and because of the commercials for it on Air America with Janeane Garofalo. I love how she ends the commercial: "Proud to be an atheist - Janeane Garofalo." I like how she makes extra effort to make her atheism clear and known to all. Way to go, girl!
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Macenstein is an interesting web site I just found that is all about Macs.

Well, not ALL about Macs, they do have Mac Chick of the Month:
"This month we present you with the lovely Andrea Grant, a fashion model and Camel Cigarette girl who also happens to be a comic book author, in addition to being an Apple fan." A model who smokes and likes Mac's and comic books - fantastic!
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Ally stories: She's 6.5 now and a definite - and odd - personality is beginning to emerge. But if there is anyone who appreciates odd it's me. Both grandkids were staying over last weekend. At night we sent them into the bedroom to watch TV while Darcy and I watched the good TV in the living room. When we were ready for bed we would move them back to the couch for the night. Ally, holding her pillow, blanket and stuffed rabbit, walks up to Darcy and says: "GrandDarcy, if I'm asleep when you move me I need my head on the pillow, my rabbit in my arms and my blanket over me." She was very intense and somber when she said it, showing the degree of importance she put on these detailed instructions. Later in the week she is driving around with her mom, who is SuperMom and always has them doing something, when she suddenly says: "Mom, why don't we go home and be lazy? We never get to be lazy."
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What an amazing week for news. I'm so glad for Keith Olbermann and DVR. I've got the timer to record Countdown and watch him when I get home an hour or two later. He's the only one on TV actually doing real news. This week we had Alberto Gonzales blatantly lie to the Senate and they are talking about perjury charges against him, then they issued a subpoena for Karl Rove, as well as contempt of congress charges against Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten, the current Chief of Staff to Bush. But Bush has ordered the Justice department to do nothing about these things. I would see this as a showdown but we know congress will cave and it will all be for nothing because they are so spineless.
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I've talked about Transmit before but I just learned something new about it - droplets. I knew they could be done but didn't really appreciate what it was. But now that I have my own domain with lots of disk space I'm using a folder just for my blog pictures so I don't link to someone's site and cause problems and so I'm not filling up my limited Blogger disk space. So I made a droplet for it, I just drag and drop each picture to the droplet and Transmit immediately connects to the right folder on my site and drops off the image then quits. Just takes seconds.

Kansas Classroom

Here is a great cartoon on the state of our education these days thanks to the fundie, science and knowledge haters. Click once on the image to get a larger view that is more readable:

The YouTube Debates

I really hadn't been paying much attention to the debates, the first two told me what I needed to know and merely confirmed what I already thought; that I like Edwards best, followed by Obama then Hillary, but I would be perfectly happy voting for anyone on the stage. The one surprise was Mike Gravel, I didn't know he would be there and he came off as the court jester, the guy who would say all the things everyone wouldn't say. The court jester has always served a very important function as the teller of truths.

I knew this was the YouTube Debates but didn't think too much about it, then I just happened to turn it on by accident. Surprisingly, it's been really good. Instead of the canned questions that everyone is expecting and the canned answers prepared in advance it was much more lively and everyone was at the top of their game. Some revisions of my opinions, too. Edwards lost some ground with me by saying he did not agree with gay marriage because of his faith, the absolute worst thing he could have said, in my opinion. But then he said it's a question he does feel deeply torn about, and it seemed a very sincere statement. I don't expect people to be perfect, but I do feel better about it when their imperfections trouble them. Still, he lost ground, but then the subject went to health care and he spoke with real passion. Let's face it, that's a far more important issue, and I'm still struck by one glaring fact; only Edwards answered all the questions put to him as honestly as he could without spinning or dodging. This was also true in the earlier debates and I'm surprised no one ever comments on that.

Probably the one who rose highest to me was Hillary. She was asked how, as a woman, she could be taken seriously by the Arab countries. She talked about all the travels around the world she made as First Lady, then as Senator, then she said there isn't anyone who doesn't take her seriously. She scared me for a moment and I had no trouble believing her. I have to say of them all she is probably the most qualified to be president, but that means she is also beholden to corporate interests. This is why I like Edwards the best, he seems very independent, he's speaking hard truths even when they don't make him look good or might hurt him in the election. Obama is new enough that he hasn't been totally bought by the corporations, but he's too slick in playing the game, I'm afraid he might be bought by the time of the general election, but at the moment I see him as being in between Edwards and Clinton on this, which is why they get my support in the order they do. That hasn't changed even though it was a fun debate.

Atheism On The Rise

From a Toronto newspaper:
(Quotes are blue, my comments in black)

A City University of New York survey found the number of non-religious adults grew from 8% to 14.3% between 1990 and 2001, to more than 29 million Americans. The current issue of The Atlantic magazine cites a study that showed 14% of Americans "were distancing themselves from organized religion as a symbolic gesture against the religious right." A 2006 Pew study found that 20% of today's 18-to 25-year-olds have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic, up from 11% in the late 1980s.

Ah, there's hope for the next generation.

In Canada, the number of people who categorize themselves as atheists, agnostics, humanists or no-religion rose to 16.2% in the 2001 census, up from 12.3% in 1991, and 7.4% a decade earlier.

That "no religion" designation is a tricky one. I've known some hardcore Christians who say they have no religion because they don't belong to a specific sect or congregation. So we can't necessarily say that category means they are atheist or agnostic (I consider both of those the same thing).

There are now dozens of atheist groups in the United States and Canada, under such banners as the Atheist Alliance International, the Secular Coalition for America and the Humanist Association of Canada. Membership in these groups is still relatively small, usually in the several thousands. Most report a leap in interest since the books came out.

It began in 2004, with The End of Faith by Sam Harris, followed two years later by Letter to a Christian Nation, which intended "to demolish the intellectual and moral pretenses of Christianity in its most committed form." Then came The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, who espoused an aim "to raise consciousness to the fact that to be an atheist is a realistic aspiration, and a brave and splendid one."

And the only one of all the books that I've read. I usually find atheist literature boring, I read to learn something and often I can write the same thing in the books only better. In fact here (10 myths—and 10 truths—about atheism) is another blog of mine where I did that very thing with something Sam Harris wrote. But Dawkins is always a good read, I'm usually in total agreement with him in these matters and he is one guy who writes better than I do. And he managed to say a few things I didn't know, too. Very good book, I even wrote a review on this blog: The God Delusion.

The most recent addition was Why God Is Not Great, by Christopher Hitchens, which paints religion as a collective form of idiocy. The New Yorker calls them "atheists with attitude;" the publisher behind a new collection to be called The Portable Atheist (edited by Mr. Hitchens), said we are living in "atheism's moment."

I have so many books piled up to read I will probably never get to all of them, so I'm going to pass on Hitchens' book because I hate the guy. As vigorously as he attacks religion, he just as vigorously supported Bush's disastrous invasion of Iraq, and still does. Then he turns on his new neocon buddies and blasts their religion. I do kind of have to admire a guy willing to piss off everyone . . . but that doesn't mean I want to give him my money.

I don't think these books are converting people to atheism, although there must be a few. What it is mostly doing is taking the stigma out of being atheist. I think there are a lot of people in the closet, people who think they don't know any atheists, that it's weird, that their family will disown them - they stay hidden for all kinds of reasons. But when Hitchens, Harris and Dawkins go on TV looking intelligent and confident, and they read the books which give them a basis for being atheists, something they can argue with, they become more confident and more willing to come out.

I also think there are a lot of people who don't really call themselves atheists but deep down really are, or they follow their faith entirely out of habit and lost all belief years ago. Sometimes they are lying to themselves, sometimes they are just scared of being different, or perhaps haven't even thought about it much. When these people read the books it also gives them confidence to accept what they already know is true.

Dawkins says something similar in the article:
In describing the collective impact of the new atheists, Mr. Dawkins recently told CBC Radio, "I'm not that optimistic that I am shaking people's faith ... What I think I, and Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens are doing is making it easier for those who are already skeptical to come out and admit the fact."

Non Sequitur

I saw this cartoon on Pharyngula and had to post it here. And here is the link to the Non Sequitur web site:

The Departed

I finally got to see it. I've been annoyed for years that Scorsese didn't win the Oscar for best director for "Gangs of New York", my favorite movie of his. I was glad to see him finally win for this movie but I was certain it couldn't be as good as Gangs. Now that I've seen it I'm not sure, I still like Gangs better but Departed might be the better movie. Everyone in it was brilliant, especially DiCaprio. He is really coming into his own as an actor as he ages, this one and Blood Diamond have been his best work by far at the grand old age of 33. Matt Damon was also good but not as good as his Bourne character, a role he seems to have been born for (pun intended).

And of course Jack Nicholson was Jack, need we say more? Mark Wahlberg & Martin Sheen weren't spectacular but certainly not bad either. They really didn't have enough screen time to shine too much, especially Wahlberg who got his role severely cut even though he was a key character.

It was long, I'm not sure how long but it kept my attention every minute, the movie never seemed to slow down at all and went through many plot twists, especially at the end. I really can't say anything about the plot without giving too much away and it's the kind of movie you have to see without knowing what it's all about. All I will say is that DiCaprio & Damon were the stars and their characters were the opposite sides of the same coin but in a very unusual way. Scorsese clearly liked this strange connection between them, the similarities and differences, because he would constantly switch back and forth, showing both their lives in parallel.

A very interesting concept and done well, would anyone expect less from Scorsese? I would definitely say this was worthy of the Oscar.

Tidbits

I've been way too busy with work to post here and now there are so many interesting things to write about I thought I would just do some short snippets.
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Dick Cheney is president today. Kind of gives you chills to read that doesn't it? It's like Darth Vader being president, even though Darth is a pussycat compared to Cheney. He's acting president while Bush is sedated for a colonoscopy (I will refrain from the obvious jokes here). At first I thought it was horrible to think of Cheney in charge but after thinking about it I realized it's not really any different than its been for the last 6 years, which also includes Bush's condition.
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Keith Olbermann has a new commentary where he tells Bush to go fight his own war, it's another really good one. Aren't they all? I won't post it this time but will just post a link to the video on YouTube. And a link to Keith's website where you can get transcripts.
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Here is a great Alternet article entitled Neocons on a Cruise: What Conservatives Say When They Think We Aren't Listening. They are crazier and more disgusting than we think they are.
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The last Harry Potter book is now out amidst great excitement and fanfare. Doesn't mean much to me since I haven't read the books. I read the first one and thought it quite good and I could understand why kids love it so much. But it was very obviously written for kids so I found it too boring to continue to read the series. Darcy loves it though and has all the books and put in a pre-order for it at Barnes & Noble months ago, so we should be getting it this week sometime.
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Michael Vick: What an uproar the news of him being involved in dog fighting caused. Once again I'm reminded why I really don't want to know any personal info on famous people, I just want to see them work. Usually if I do find out something it's not good and that cuts down on my enjoyment of their work. I'll never be able to watch Vick in a game again without thinking about dog fighting, which is completely disgusting and cannot be defended in any way. It's amazing how much this has pissed people off, yet everyone doesn't get nearly as upset when they hear that 10 of our troops were killed today and 100 Iraqis. What we need to do is create some dog-soldiers, send them to Iraq and get them blown up. People will be so outraged the war would end soon.
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Robert Byrd: He was one of those guys who was outraged by Michael Vick and gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the Senate. I haven't seen him on TV in quite a while and all I can say is the guy is WAY past time to retire. The term doddering old fool comes to mind. I've never liked Byrd, he is one of those old-time southern democrats - from 2 or 3 generations ago - who are really just Republicans in disguise. Most of the rest have become Republicans by now. Byrd is a racist southern boy but I have to give him props, back in 2002 (2003?) when Bush was looking for the authority to attack Iraq, Byrd was one of only about 3 or 4 Senators who voted against it. He mentioned the Gulf of Tonkins back in the 60's that got us into Vietnam big time. He voted for it then and deeply regrets it today and he didn't want to make that same mistake again. Too bad no one listened to him, any more than Byrd listened to the few voices of dissent back in the 60's.

BURN NOTICE

Summer TV is a great wasteland, especially since game shows and reality TV have become popular. At least we have the Closer on TNT and Dr. Who on Sci Fi. Now there is a new one that seemed to spring out of nowhere - Burn Notice.

This is quite a clever show, about a spy named Michael Westen who gets notified of his burn notice on his cell phone while trying to make a deal with some Middle Eastern looking characters. What is a burn notice? It means a spy is done, he is out of work, they drop him in a city and freeze his bank accounts as well as all ID's. He's got nothing and can't even leave the town they dump him in.

Westen is very well played by Jeffrey Donovan. Much of the show is done with him narrating which really adds quite a bit of interest as he explains how and why a spy operates. He has some good supporting people but Donovan pretty much IS the show and he is definitely up to the task. I first remember him in a remake of a British police show called Touching Evil. Donovan's character was supposed to be a little crazy due to a gunshot wound to his head, and he really does have a crazy look about him.

But in Burn notice he goes it one better and adds in humor. He's brilliant at the low key humor and that crazy gleam in his eyes makes him believable as a deadly spy. But the best part is his narration, he gives us a blow by blow of what spy's do and why, how they manipulate situations to their advantage. Often with an idea like this the execution isn't nearly as good as the idea but in Burn Notice it's actually better than the idea. He does stuff you really think a spy would do, like instead of facing the bad guys directly he changes the situation to surprise the other guys and give himself a major advantage. A real spy would know that no matter how good he is he just might encounter someone better or that mistakes can happen and would take steps to make sure the odds are always in his favor, and that is exactly what Donovan does in this show. He is trying to find out who put out the burn notice on him so he can do something about it, in the meantime he has to hang out in Miami, where they dumped him and his home town. He takes on small jobs to earn some money and usually ends up helping people, and the FBI are watching him constantly.

Concept, writing and acting are all just right in this one, and that was right off the bat. Often a new show has potential but needs some time to find their rhythm, but Burn Notice hit it exactly on from the very beginning and has maintained that same level through 3 shows so far. So it has become my new must see show for the summer.

It can be seen on USA channel on Thursday nights, plays at 9 pm in Southern California.

Olbermann Special Comment

Keith gave his best, and angriest, commentary so far yesterday:

The new iMac

Rumors have been flying about a new iMac coming out at the end of July, beginning of August. Of course, they were saying it would debut a month ago, too. People are speculating what it would look like and I found this picture, some one thought it would match the new iPhone. Looks very cool.

I need new computers now and was just looking to buy when I saw this rumor, now I'm waiting. It seems reasonable that a new one should come out, last revision was Sept. 2006, they just upgraded the MacBooks and the Mac Pro about a month ago so they should be doing iMacs soon. Some are saying they want it now for the back to school crowd, others are saying Sept. when Leopard comes out. I think sooner, in fact, they are behind schedule as far as upgrades, almost a year for the iMac when they usually do it every 6 months. I think it was supposed to come out a month ago but got pushed back because of the iPhone the same way Leopard got pushed back because they took their top people off of other projects and put them on the iPhone to get it out in time.

SICKO

Michael Moore's new movie opened yesterday, I hope everyone goes to see it, health care is the worst crisis we face in America today.

Here's his site:
An Awesome First Night for "Sicko"

And here my friend Long Live the Village Green does a review:
Long Live the Village Green

Because Darcy's been sick for the past 14 years I've had a lot of experience with health care. She gets Medicare and Medi-cal, do I have horror stories? You bet, but none are as bad as the people she's emailed with who have had the same lung disease. All those people had private insurance and not one of them got approved for a lung transplant. Some fought hard and finally got one, some just gave up and died, when you have a fatal lung disease it can be hard to get yourself into the fray. One did OK because she was rich, she signed a guarantee of payment with the hospital then hired her lawyer to sue the insurance company, after which they were happy to insure her.

I haven't seen the movie, Darcy's been sick all day, we never get out to the movies any more. We'll see it on DVD.

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip

Saw the last show this week. Once again Aaron Sorkin proves he is too smart for network TV. The show apparently bombed almost from the beginning and Darcy and I loved it from the beginning. A smart and grown-up show on TV! Amazing, this can't last, and it didn't. Ever since the first show of Sports Night came out years ago I knew this guy Sorkin was great. By the end of the first season of The West Wing I knew he was the best writer TV had ever seen, which means I knew he was doomed for failure. I'm still amazed that West Wing was such a hit, most of the dialog had to go right over the heads of most of his watchers, yet it lasted for years. Sorkin leaving the show was immediately evident and it took a dive, but we still kept watching just because the characters were so good, but they never again achieved what Sorkin had, but then again, who could.

So, Aaron, my hat's off to you. Though I feel you are doomed to failure I salute your efforts and promise I will be a faithful watcher of anything you do. I do, however, have one thing to say to you - HBO. Or maybe Showtime, they are more desperate because HBO has kicked their ass for years on weekly shows, with the exception of Dexter.

I think the ones I feel most sorry for in this are Matthew Perry and Sara Paulson, great chemistry and great characters and they put in fantastic performances. Everyone was excellent on the show but those two really stood out.

Al Gore for President

On Alternet is an article about why Al Gore should run for president.

The majority of my Democratic friends have devoted most of their attentions to the three avowed front-runners -- Clinton, Obama, and John Edwards. Yet during the last six months or so, whenever I've asked them whom they would choose if they were choosing between four candidates -- Clinton, Obama, Edwards, and Al Gore -- probably 90 percent have told me, in a heartbeat, that they'd go for Gore.

If that is true that's very encouraging. So I want to write an open letter to Al Gore.

Dear Al:

How are you? You've looked good on the last few TV appearances I've seen, and I've heard you are on a diet and working out. Of course I'm here to talk about why you should run for president. Seems like a bad idea on the surface, life is good for you right now, you are more popular than you have ever been and have managed, practically single-handedly, to completely change the political discourse on global warming. So why should you run?

Because both you and the country need the world's greatest do-over. I doubt if there is anyone outside of the fanatical right wingers who doesn't feel that you should have been president, and that we'd be in so much better shape right now if you had been. How often does an entire country get a chance to correct a horrible mistake? The reason the presidential race has moved up so dramatically to be started far earlier than ever before is that the entire nation just wants Bush out of there and would rather focus on his successor than deal with what he is doing right now.

Then there is the fact of the terrible damage Bush and his people have done to America as a whole. You are the best man to undo much of that damage, you are the one who could rally most of America behind you and get things done. And I also think that your running would energize the Democratic party and assure their full control of both branches of Congress.

And it isn't just the fact that you can heal the American psyche, you are also the best man to be president of all the other candidates - by far. And take Obama as your VP. The country needs President Al Gore.

Touch Screens

There is a short little article in Time Magazine on the idea that iPhone is going to create a revolution by turning computers into touch screens, making the mouse obsolete.

Odd article since it starts out looking like it's going to be all about the iPhone then suddenly ends up being mostly about Microsoft's Milan. Which I really didn't mind since I'd never heard of it, looks very interesting. Think of basically a coffee table with a computer in it that you can operate with your fingers. One example was to place your cell phone with a digital camera in it on the table and all the pictures you've taken suddenly show up on the screen and can be passed around to people sitting around the table, that would be cool. Makes me think of Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

But I wonder how great an idea this really is, after all, touch screens have been around for 30 years and haven't caught on at all, except maybe in bars. Seems far more appropriate for the iPhone, excellent for something small and hand held but imagine having to move your arm across a coffee table to use your computer, you'd get tired fast. And you'd have to be really paranoid about anything messing up the screen, which I would think is a problem for the iPhone as well. I'm a big Palm fan but you can't use one without putting a screen guard on it or the screen gets worn out really fast.

But I'm always a contrarian, I don't use a mouse I use a Wacom tablet like any good artist should. What I want is an iPhone but with a 21" screen and only a little thicker, that has a color Wacom tablet across the front and a complete Mac inside and you have to use a pen, not your finger. Wacom does make a 21" tablet with a color LCD screen but it costs $1,800 and you still have a buy a Mac to plug it into, too expensive and not mobile enough. Someday they will have it, but not yet.

One Great Blog

The name probably looks intimidating but don't let it bother you. This is what it means: "Ballard (1981) coined the term "pharyngula" to refer to the embryo that has developed to the phyolotypic stage, when it posesses the classic vertebrate bauplan." The tag line under the log, in case it's too small to see is: "Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal."

See? Very simple. This is a science blog run by a biology professor but is really much more of a social commentary about the state of America today.

Take this interesting article which is about why you have to register with the government to buy a chemistry beaker in some states but any idiot can buy a gun without registering it at all.

Or this one: An almost biblical curse about a very tragic case of inbreeding in a small Mormon community that believes in polygamy.

This one is about Paul Hill, who murdered an abortion doctor outside his clinic:

" Behold, Paul Hill Days.

A couple of deranged Christian organizations are planning to send their members to Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the end of July to thump about like a gang of gumbies, bellowing about what a good man Paul Hill was. God's man. A hero. A martyr.

And to crown this exercise in lunacy and poor taste, they're planning a reenactment of the murders."

It's truly amazing that there are people who think it's a good idea to celebrate a murderer, and that reenacting the murders is a fun day.

The whole blog is filled with these gems and is really worth a look. Back in the day the hippies used to say that our society was sick, they were right but we were downright sane back then compared to America in the 21st century.

I'm sure glad the iPhone will be out soon to cheer me up, though I probably won't be getting one for a couple of years, since I just signed up for 2 more years at Verizon with 2 new free phones. Hopefully in 2 years the iPhone will be even better, more affordable, and - wishful thinking - Cingular will have become a provider worth having. Or maybe a competitor will come up with a phone almost as good that sells only for Verizon. Sounds like a great idea for Palm or LG, because right now Cingular would have to pay me to use their service, and if it wasn't a whole lot of money I'd still turn them down. Which means I can be bought but I'm not cheap.

How Did This Happen?

I'm sitting here listening to Cat Stevens songs and thinking about my youth, we had such ideals back then, we wanted so much and dreamed so far. World peace, love, brothers and sisters to all. It's with tears in my eyes that I look at what we've become as America totters on the brink of fascism and we are responsible for the death of close to 1,000,000 people in Iraq. We railed and protested against our parents and their generation for being hypocrites, but looking back now they were practically saints compared to what this generation has become. The worst our parents did was fail to live up to the ideals of what America should be, what the boomer generation has done is throw those ideals to the ground and stomp on them as if they were evil.

I'm now old and tired, as old as my mom was when Cat recorded these songs, 3 years older than my dad ever made it to. Oddly enough there is still fire in my belly, rage against the machine. Too bad it's accompanied by nausea. My whole body hurts and I'm tired down to my bones and my beloved Darcy is about to die soon. And Cat Stevens is now a devote Muslim who did not condemn the Ayatolah's death sentence of Salman Rushdie, so much for peace and love.

And on top of that we stand at the brink of world disaster with global warming. It won't lead to the end of mankind but it will lead to world-wide problems like nothing we've ever seen, millions of refugees across the globe, hunger, misery and death for multiple millions of humanity. I fear the future will look at the baby boomer generation and see us as either monsters or insane, maybe both. We all claim Hitler and the Nazis as the worst evil that men can sink to but future generations will put that label on us.

How did this happen? Christians and rich people, the fundamentalists who have tried to ram theocracy down our throats and the neocons who have gladly used them as the means to power. If any good can come from all this it will be if both such groups are reviled and hated for as long as humanity lasts.

Stressed

Darcy here with the grandkids, click on the photo and you'll get a good enlargement, same as with yesterday's installment of me and Darcy.

I'm stressed, I've held up well for the last 14 years but one reason was I always thought we'd get through every problem, now I don't think that, time is running out. When Darcy went into the hospital last Tuesday night I started to freak a bit, she was just going in for tests but it still got to me like it never did before, as if all the 14 years of stress that I'd been ignoring just fell right on top of me. We've always known it was a matter of time, that we were only fighting a delaying action, but delays were good. I didn't look beyond that because I didn't want to see the future. And let me tell you that living completely in the now sucks big time, don't listen to those fool Buddhists who would tell you otherwise.

I'm very depressed and having lots of trouble concentrating. I used to be able to write with no problem at all, and write well, but now it feels jumbled, as if I can't quite find the right words for a pithy one liner. At work I'm really running slow because of the lack of concentration, I used to be able to focus so completely I was incredibly fast and accurate in everything I did, Darcy used to call it art mode, and knew not to talk to me because it wouldn't get through. Now I'm distracted by everything, I'll go look at a web site at work and the next thing I know I've wasted 2 hours and no longer remember what I was working on. And fatigue is grabbing me harder than ever, but I'm having trouble sleeping.

And I don't see it getting any better in the near future. The only release will be when Darcy dies, and I don't see that as an improvement.

Do You Really Want The Truth About God?

This is not from me but is too good to not post. I especially like the part that the secret of the universe just happens to exist in the church down the street from you, what a coincidence! I've had this for a long time and don't know where I got it but fortunately the author's URl is down at the bottom. I checked it out and his site is still there with lots of good stuff on it. I even wrote to him to get permission to publish this:

Do You Really Want The Truth About God?
By Wayne Adkins Apr. 24, 2005

"I'll have ten plausible explanations and uh... hold the truth." That seems to be good enough for most Christians nowadays, fundamentalists in particular. Where are the seekers of truth today? Gone the way of the home cooked meal I guess. It's just too much work.

Why do you suppose it is that a child born in Iraq will likely become a Muslim while a child born in Utah will likely become Mormon and a child born in Central America is likely to become a Catholic while a child born in Alabama is likely to become a Protestant? Do you think the argument for Islam is any more compelling in Iraq than it is where you live? Do you think the argument for fundamentalist Christianity is any more compelling in Alabama than in Utah? No. We are products of our environments.

So you attend your hometown church and, lucky you, it happens to be of the one true religion! But there were a few things you don't quite understand, so you ask your local clergy or you read the latest and greatest apologists and "presto," it all makes sense. But if people of all different religions were asking these tough questions and getting straightforward answers, wouldn't people eventually figure out the truth and gravitate toward it? Wouldn't the religion closest to the truth become the obvious choice as truth seekers everywhere found the truth?

Enter the plausible explanation. It seems that most people are comfortable with any plausible explanation for a problem as long as it lets them hang on to their current beliefs, true or otherwise. For instance, when scientific evidence flies in the face of long held religious beliefs, Christians will accept any explanation that lets them hang on to their existing notions of truth. Ask a fundamentalist how old the earth is and they will tell you with a straight face that it is only 10,000 years old, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

So, you say, that is just how faith works. Faith is what saves us and it wouldn't be faith if we had all the answers, right? The problem is that the truth has been lost in all of this. Mahatma Ghandi once said that "There is no god higher than truth." What good is faith if it has you believing in something that is not true? Suppose your spouse has been coming home late from work every day for a month. Suppose each day you are given a plausible explanation for where they have been. "I had a flat tire" or "I had to work late" or "I ran out of gas". The truth is that they have been having an affair. Do you want the truth, even if you don't like it, or do you want to go on accepting plausible explanations? Most would say they want the truth.

So why wouldn't you seek the truth when it comes to religion, a decision that shapes the rest of your life? You wouldn't buy a car without test driving it first. You wouldn't buy a house without having it inspected. But people walk into the church that is closest to their home, or the one like their parents took them to, and accept that they have found the truth. When they see a problem with it, if they ask about the problem they accept whatever they are told without verifying it at all. Great apologists are made, not because they are particularly adept at finding answers to those tough questions, but because people don't look past the first explanation they are given.

I was once a bible college student studying to become a preacher. I am now an atheist. Why? Because I looked for the truth, even when I didn't like what I found. As I began to face difficult questions like contradictions in the Bible, the abhorrent morality propogated in the Bible, and the fact that it all just didn't make sense, I had plenty of mentors to turn to. But I soon saw a pattern of them giving me an answer that "could be" a plausible explanation for each particular problem. But often these proposed explanations were ridiculous and if they were challenged I was blasted for not just having faith.

Suppose that you were buying a building and you were told that the roof didn't leak. You walk in and find a puddle on the floor. "That came up through a crack in floor" you are told and assured that the roof doesn't leak. You find another puddle and are told that the water blew in through an open window. Upon finding another puddle you are told that the water fountain leaks, but the roof is impervious to leaks. The next puddle is explained as a spill and yet another is explained as recent mopping. Then drops sart falling on your head. "Condensation from the air-conditioning ducts," you are told. But as you look up you see water running down the rafters above the ducts. "Oh, that could be from my kids playing with their super soaker water canons in here, it didn't come through the roof." Plausible explanations are made for each little puddle of water you find, but as you survey the building, the floor is covered with water and the seller is standing there telling you the roof doesn't leak. How can you buy that?

So, what is the point of this article? I would encourage you to examine WHY you believe what you believe. Ask the hard questions and fearlessly pursue truth. Educate yourself about both sides of the argument. Sure it will take some work, but if you were wrong about God, wouldn't you want to know? Christians are trying to legislate their brand of morality, put God into government and "creation science" into our schools. So ask yourself what you belive. Is it that every species of animal once survived for a year on a single wooden boat? That the earth is only 10,000 years old? That God divided people by race and language because people were "too united"? That Samson killed thousands of men with a jawbone because he didn't cut his hair? That unicorns once existed? That Jonah lived in a whale for three days? That after 2,000 years of waiting, Jesus is going to return? Why do you believe these things? It's time to grow up and put the God fairy-tale where it belongs, in your past alongside Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the monster under your bed.
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About the author: Wayne Adkins is a former fundamentalist christian who became an atheist after two years of bible college. He is now a military officer recently returned from a year in Iraq...a real live atheist in a foxhole. He has written a manuscript debunking biblical inerrancy and the existence of God which can be found at his website at www.nakedemperor.netfirms.com.

Darcy

I love this picture, me and Darcy sitting out by our pool having a barbecue. Looks like the perfect Southern California day, doesn't it? Darcy is frowning at Bennet for taking the picture, she thinks she looks so bad she doesn't want any pictures taken of her. I just want food. Even here the fact she is now skin and bones is obvious, the drugs have been hard on her.

She just spent 3 days in the hospital for testing of all kinds, her doctor wanted to get to the bottom of what was wrong. She was miserable, couldn't sleep and was so weak at one point she fell and hurt her thigh and is using a walker now to get around, but that should be only temporary. They found out two new things, she has cirrhosis and thrombocytopenia, that second one is a low platelet count which causes easy bruising and at it's worst can be quite dangerous, causing internal bleeding. She is bruised all over, especially on her arms, she has one bruise on her chin just from leaning on her hand while reading.

We don't really know how bad each disease is, just found out about them as she was leaving the hospital at 7 PM last night, we'll find out about treatment next week. But that gives me some hope, I thought she was just breaking down and they wouldn't be able to find anything specific but this gives us something we can deal with. I've been reading up on Milk Thistle, which is the long time herbal standard for liver problems but the web, as usual, has conflicting reports. There have been several studies showing it's benefits but I found one recent article that showed it did nothing, I don't have a lot of confidence in that one though.

For 14 years we've just been buying time, we knew it was a battle we would lose eventually, but hopefully we can buy some more time still. We haven't done badly so far.

Granddaughter Ally

Since I was a step-grandfather I didn't think too much of the idea, there was a reason I never had kids of my own. But Ally was such a neat kid from the very beginning she quickly won me over and I've been trying to impart my many years of wisdom to her. Since she is only 6 and half that has met with limited success, I've told myself to be patient, but that isn't one of my strong suits. The main thing I wanted to do was teach her a love of learning and hopefully, a love of science. I've had help from her mother on that, she enrolled her in 2 weeks of science camp last year and is doing it again this summer. Ally is also in a small private school so I'm hoping she is having more fun that I did when I was her age. But when that new Planet Earth Discovery series came out she didn't want to see it. I recorded all the shows for her, thinking they were great and she'd be interested, but she was bored and wanted to change the channel. Sigh. I did get her to watch about 10 minutes on an older such series to show her the weird alien animals living at the bottom of the ocean.

Yesterday we were babysitting and Ally asked me if I had that alien fish show, unfortunately I hadn't saved it. We only have DVR with limited space and I can't record anything off the cable box. But as luck would have it there was a show just starting on the science channel about the Great Coral Reef in Australia so I put it on. She sat and watched the entire hour, totally absorbed, even during the commercials, I was amazed. And delighted. Of course, I had to add my own comments, like when this woman put on a diving suit and went down to study the reef I said: "She's a marine biologist, isn't that a cool job where you can go out and dive in the ocean for your work day? No stuffy office every day for her!"

I don't know if it will take but I'm very please with her interest. Marine biologist would be a great career for her, her mom got her swimming very early and she's really good already and this year Summer wants to teach her how to surf. I told her to get her mom to teach her how to scuba dive.

Ally,the marine biologist - very cool!

Political Compass

Another quiz, this time a political one. I like this one because it doesn't just put people at the right or left, thats too simple. Instead it goes left to right and up and down, up being socially authoritarian and down being liberal. I'm further left and down than Gandhi or the Dalai Lama.

Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: -7.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.05

What Kind of Atheist Are You?

At Quiz Farm they have an atheist quiz. Here are the results of my test:

You scored as Scientific Atheist, These guys rule. I'm not one of them myself, although I play one online. They know the rules of debate, the Laws of Thermodynamics, and can explain evolution in fifty words or less. More concerned with how things ARE than how they should be, these are the people who will bring us into the future. Scientific Atheist 92% Spiritual Atheist 50% Angry Atheist 42% Militant Atheist 42% Agnostic 25% Apathetic Atheist 17% Theist 17% What kind of atheist are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Bear Byte Graphics

My official Bear Byte Graphics site is now all set up with my own domain name. This is very cool, I've had this site up before but under my dot Mac account or under my Roadrunner account, this is the first one under bear-byte.net - click here for the link:

Comic Coloring

And I've linked that page back to this blog as well. This is also the first time I've tried linking a file to elsewhere on the net (this is one of my comic coloring pages) instead of uploading them to Google. I figure that if I keep doing that I'm going to use up Google's disk space eventually, they only allow 1 GB for images while I have 40 GB for my domain.

Now I just have to remember to change the URL on my links over on the right side. My cats and grandkids sites have been changed to bear-byte.net as well but I will leave everything under Roadrunner for a little while yet, doesn't hurt to have both up.

CATS

GRANDKIDS

Econo Lube N Tune

Why do I have a post on an Econo Lube N Tune? Because it's owned by my stepson, Bennet, Ally's dad. There was a time when I didn't think he was going to live until age 30, and if he did I'd probably be supporting him forever. Then he suddenly got ambitious and he now is the number 2 guy at STS Graphics and went and bought himself an Econo Lube, not to mention buying a house and raising a family. Few are more stunned - and pleased - by these developments than me, but that still isn't the reason I'm writing this. The reason is that I created a web site for the business, it's the first one I've done that isn't for myself and I plunged into web hosting, too, in order get him his own domain name.

So, of course, I used this opportunity to get my own domain name as well. So bear-byte.net now lives!

Here's the web site: Econo Lube N Tune

Cowardly Democrats

I have been a lifelong liberal democrat and it's hard to describe the tremendous disappointment I feel about the dems in congress. There has been plenty of disappointment for the last few years but this one is the worst, they have given in to Bush completely when they should be fighting him every step of the way. Nancy Pelosi praises the new "compromise" while saying at the same time that she will not vote for it. While I hate the Republicans and everything they have done to destroy this country at least they aren't timid. Did they hesitate to impeach Clinton when they had far less reason and far less support from the public than an impeachment of Bush would have? No, and they curbed Clinton's ability to do anything pretty effectively during that time. But the dems not only don't impeach a man who is clearly the most law breaking president in American history but they have rolled over and played dead over the Iraq war. They play politics while American soldiers continue to die because of Bush's lies. I love this picture of Reid raising his hands in surrender because that's exactly what he's done. He's a joke, how the hell did he get to be leader in the Senate?

At least Keith Olbermann didn't disappoint. He gave one of his Special Comments that really socked it to the dems, and to Bush who is the villian of the piece.

"The entire government has failed us on Iraq
For the president, and the majority leaders and candidates and rank-and-file Congressmen and Senators of either party—there is only blame for this shameful, and bi-partisan, betrayal"

See the video or read the transcript here.

Stanley Tucci

I've been a big fan of Stanley Tucci for a long time, he's one of the best actors around today (maybe I should start a 10 best actors list). So why do I look forward to him starring on ER with trepidation? Because with ER none of the people on it are big stars, the real star is the show itself. This is why, like Law & Order, the show can continue for years while all the people who star on it keep changing. I don't believe a single member of the original cast is still on the show.

The problem is that Tucci IS a big star and a big personality, the kind who needs his own show. ER can't become the Stanly Tucci Show, that just isn't what it is. So I feel bad that someone I like so much is doomed to failure, after another doctor show of his just went down the tubes not too long ago. And after John Leguizamo did his stint, which wasn't terrible, guys like Tucci and Leguizamo are never terrible, but it didn't really improve either his career or the show.

I haven't seen this week's show yet, it's safely recorded on DVR (one of the great inventions of modern times) so I will reserve judgment until I see it. Maybe he will mesh with the cast and be a great addition to the show and everyone involved will thrive. Last week's show didn't seem like that, though, it seemed like just what I was afraid of, he's just too strong a character. But maybe his presence will make everyone else step up their game a bit so he doesn't make them look bad and chew up every scene.

Bumperstickers & Buttons

OK, I admit it, I'm a sucker for a pithy bumper sticker, button or T-shirt and this place is a good one, of course they also have many varieties of Darwinfish. Everybody go get some:

Evolvefish