MUST. HAVE. IT!

Simcity for the Nintendo DS!
Simcity for the Nintendo DS!
Simcity for the Nintendo DS!

"Atheists Need To Shut Up"

Since I started blogging I've had a chance to read a number of blogs written by other atheists which has been illuminating about the differences between the types of non-believers. One thing we all share though is that in America, we are the least trusted minority and most people think its OK to discriminate against us and then tell us to shut up. Here are a few stories from the past few months that I've followed.

1) Atheists are the least trusted minority.

When asked which groups did not share their vision of American society, 39.5 percent of those interviewed mentioned atheists. Asked the same question about Muslims and homosexuals, the figures dropped to a slightly less depressing 26.3 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively. For Hispanics, Jews, Asian-Americans and African-Americans, they fell further to 7.6 percent, 7.4 percent, 7.0 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.

The study contains other results, but these are sufficient to underline its gist: Atheists are seen by many Americans (especially conservative Christians) as alien and are, in the words of sociologist Penny Edgell, the study's lead researcher, "a glaring exception to the rule of increasing tolerance over the last 30 years."

Edgell also maintains that atheists seem to be outside the limits of American morality, which has largely been defined by religion.

Many of those interviewed saw atheists as cultural elitists, amoral materialists, or given to criminal behavior or drugs. She states, "Our findings seem to rest on a view of atheists as self-interested individuals who are not concerned with the common good."

Of course, it should go without saying, but won't, that belief in God isn't at all necessary to have a keen ethical concern for others.

I like that line "given to criminal behavior or drugs". Considering atheists make up about 10% of the American population but only 1% of the prison population, we must be really sneaky.

2) CNN Panel Concludes Atheists Need to Shut Up

Here's the scoop: CNN ran a story about how a family of atheists were discriminated against when they tried to stand up for their rights in a situation about prayer in school. Leaving that topic aside right now, CNN then followed the story up with a panel of people to talk about atheism that included no atheists. As the blog I linked to noted:

In summary, what a ridiculous panel. Our great mainstream media can get a panel of people in a room to discuss atheism (none of which are atheists by the way) and agree that we need to shut up.

Rights are important.. unless your an atheist. In that case, just fall in with the majority and shut up. Nice.

EDIT: Its worth noting that after many people complained CNN redid the panel and included an atheist (or two?). But not before the original one aired.

3) Professor: An Atheist Should Not Be President

The blog post by Brent Rasmussen is a bit filled with anger, but considering he's been told that no matter how qualified he is for the job his lack of religious belief should bar him from being president you could perhaps forgive him a little. Here is the op-ed piece that inspired his post:

Still, Steve believes - correctly in my view - that in general the differences between religious believers are less important than the differences between believers and nonbelievers, and that this distinction is and ought to be relevant to political life.

That belief helps explain why, for example, Americans say they are far less likely to vote for an atheist for president than for members of various groups (women, Jews, ethnic minorities) who have been excluded historically from presidential consideration.

Now among liberals, the knee-jerk reaction to such poll data is to condemn the intolerance it represents. Yet I think there are good reasons for refusing to vote for an atheist for president - subject to the caveat that I also believe genuine atheism, like genuinely orthodox religious belief, is actually quite rare.

[...]

Conversely, when one presses a purported atheist, one almost always finds that the person believes in various propositions that simply don't make sense without a belief in some source of an ultimate moral order, i.e., what most people would call "God." For instance, almost everyone who claims to be an atheist still makes lots of "ought" statements, as in "we ought to preserve biological diversity," or what have you.

The latter view is that of the famed biologist Edward O. Wilson, in his new book The Creation. Written in the form of a letter to a pastor of the Southern Baptist faith in which Wilson was brought up, Wilson argues that atheists like him and religious believers ought to agree that preserving biological diversity, and therefore in the long run humanity, is a profound moral imperative.

Wilson is a brilliant man, but this kind of thing has always seemed to me nonsensical on its face. After all, the human race has existed for an eye-blink of cosmological time and will certainly cease to exist in another eye-blink or two.

The only response a genuine atheist would have to that fact is, so what? Which helps explain why there are almost no genuine atheists.

[Emphasis Mine]
You see that? Its OK to refuse to vote for an atheist for president because true atheists don't exist, or if they do, they wouldn't really care about the world around them or anyone in it. That is what we call a strawman argument: define your opponent's views in such a way that its obvious your argument is correct against them. By redefining all (or almost all) atheists as closet theists, he gets around the obvious intolerance of saying he wouldn't vote for an atheist for president.

Of course we are left with the question of what would he do if someone claiming to be an atheist who makes these "ought" statements was running for president (like the current political climate would ever let that happen! HA!).

* * * * *

Why does this climate exist? Simple: many people of faith cannot comprehend of a person without faith having a similar moral compass and ethics as they do. This creates two possibilities: either the atheist is basing their morals on a religious upbringing and are secretly theists, or they are truly amoral people that care for no one but themselves.

The only way to combat this distorted view is to make people aware of the atheists around them and how they are often good caring people with families they love. We are not amoral and are just as likely to have principles and stick to them (or not) as would a theist.

Sigh. We are not evil.

Weekend Wrapup

Kim and I had our annual Hockey Game Night with Andrew and Jenny and were fortunate enough to be treated to a barn-burner of a game. We left happy after the Sens won 6-5 in a game that went back and forth all night. The first period was a little slow as the teams tried to figure out what to do after their brawl last Thursday night when they last faced off, but the second and third periods were end to end with lots of action; fights, goals, and passes. Four out of five stars.

On Sunday Kim and I took in a movie by going to see The Number 23. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect except that the previews made it look like a mind thriller. We weren't disappointed.

The movie was intense with lots of thinking and guesswork that really made me enjoy it. I never knew what was going to happen next and for me that is a rare occurrence as I have a gift for sniffing out plot lines and twists before they happen. This time I was on the edge of my seat the whole movie. Both Kim and I gave it full marks and we'll probably add it to our collection.

I will warn you: this movie is not filled with car chases, fight scenes, cool CGI, or naked college freshmen. It is filled with thought-provoking concepts, great acting, and an enthralling story. Highly recommend it.

Belt Test Booked

My green belt exam is scheduled for next Friday afternoon so I'm booking the half day off work so I don't feel rushed. I also lined up my uke Patrick who is the perfect size: not to big, not too small.

Now I just got to work on my comealongs.

Overheard in the Living Room...

*TV news report about Justin Trudeau joining federal politics followed by commercial with Ben Mulroney going about some abhorrent entertainment "news" show*

Me: "You know what I would like to see?"

Kim: "What?"

Me: "An ultimate fighting cage death match between Justin Trudeau and Ben Mulroney."

Kim: "A real one or a political one?"

Me: "A real one."

Kim: "Hmmm yeah, I'd watch that."

Meta-Blogging : Bill's Shared Items

Part of the benefit of using Google Reader as my blog roll reader is the option to "share" posts I find on other blogs and add them to my side bar with the click of a button. See, over there below the Jiu Jitsu progress graphic? It has the post title and a link to it and all I have to do it one click to get it there instead of making a whole posts to say something like "read this!".

Of course, very interesting things that require commentary will continue to appear in this space so don't expect me to get too lazy.

Update: Red Tip Done

It was a long haul (1.5 hrs) but I finished the second half of my red tip review. Technically I could hit the belt test tonight but without an uke it would be hit or miss if I actually tested or not, and time it tight with me having to make up some time, so I'm going to relax and take it easy tonight with Kim.

Red Tip Half Done

My Red Tip review for preparing to take the green belt exam is half done as of last night. There is so much material to cover in the higher belt levels you need multiple sessions, in this case two for green belt.

Last night I reviewed hold escapes (about 20 of them) and throws (four different ones). Today at lunch I'm going over everything else which includes grappling, takedowns, comealongs, and classical sparring techniques. What the heck are those things you ask? Let me educate:

1. Hold Escapes: attacker grabs you in order to immobilize or hurt you and you must get free and gain control.
2. Throws / Takedowns: in both cases they are techniques that put your attacker on the ground, but in throws one or both their feet leave the ground as you pull their centre of gravity over yours while in the takedown their feet never leave the ground and their centre of gravity does not go over yours.
3. Grappling: basically techniques for getting submission from your opponent when fighting on the ground.
4. Comealongs: just like it sounds, controlling techniques that immobilize a person and allow you to direct them in a direction. Quite painful when done correctly and the hardest to get right for me.
5. Classical Sparring: what many people think of when they consider martial arts. Kicks, punches, blocks, etc.

Now you know. Assuming I get through all the rest of the review today there is the possibility of actually going for my belt test tonight although I'm would feel a little rushed and would need to find a willing uke. We shall see, I'm playing it by ear.

Christian Doctor Refuses Treatment

This is interesting: Christian pediatrician denies child service because parents are tattooed

BAKERSFIELD - A family is turned away by a local pediatrician, they say because of the way they look.
The doctor said he is just following his beliefs, creating a Christian atmosphere for his patients.
Tasha Childress said it’s discrimination. She said Dr. Gary Merrill wouldn’t treat her daughter for an ear infection because Tasha, the mother, has tattoos. The writing is on the wall—literally: “This is a private office. Appearance and behavior standards apply.” For Dr. Gary Merrill of Christian Medical Services, that means no tattoos, body piercings, and a host of other requirements—all standards Merrill has set based upon his Christian faith.

At first I was like "the slime! how dare he?!" in my outraged tone of voice. Then I considered that as his place of business (Doctor's office, not a hospital) he does have the right to deny service to anyone that walks in off the street. I don't agree with his opinions but he has a right to them.

Childress’ insurance company, Health Net of California, who referred her to Merrill, said in a statement: “We provide our customers with a wide breadth of doctors that meet certain medical quality standards … If a customer doesn’t feel comfortable with a particular physician, it is our responsibility to provide that customer with access to another doctor who does meet their needs.”

I have to blame the insurance company somewhat for having a doctor on their list that would deny service to a patient for something as trivial as tattoos. Hopefully they fix their list and send no more customers his way.

Ultimately I have to say that while I think he is a dirtbag and an idiot for not treating a child because the mother had tattoos, he was in the right to operate his business in this case as he wanted.

If I Stay There Will Be Trouble...

I've been working at my current job for over four and a half years, longer than I have worked anywhere else. It will be five years this June. Over that time I have had some good times and bad times but overall never really considered leaving as I felt I had a good thing going.

However lately things have not been as good. I wouldn't say bad, and boring is not the right word. More like the work has gotten into a rut. Or maybe I have, I'm not sure. The main thing is I'm not as happy as I once was and a part of me is seriously considering searching for a new job, a new challenge.

The downside of looking for new work is dealing with uncertainty that a new company and position bring. After all, things are not so bad here when you consider the company is stable, I'm respected by my co-workers, and the yearly bonus is a significant amount of scratch. The bonus thing especially makes me want to stay because they pay it out after the fiscal year in two installments; you leave before they pay out the first installment, you don't get any of your bonus for the last year. You leave before the second installment, you don't get that one. You wait until both installments are paid and its almost the end of the new fiscal year and you are back to where you started. Quite sneaky really.

So leaving this job means giving up earned respect, job security, and whatever is left of my bonus for basically the unknown. Last time I did that leaving MicroAge in Toronto for Formark in Ottawa I worked for seven months and then got laid off for a 5 month period. Not exactly the most stellar time of my life let me assure you.

So I'm left to consider alternatives, weigh options, and hope that things improve here soon so it all becomes a moot point.

Jiu Jitsu Update

I mentioned last post how I had my stripe review last Tuesday evening. Well its true, I'm now a Orange Belt 3rd Stripe student and booking my red tip review for next Tuesday evening and Wednesday at lunch. Why the rush for the red tip? Next Wednesday night is Adult Belt Test night and if I can get my red tip in time I'll be allowed to go for my green belt then.

I'm ambivalent. It will be difficult to complete my red tip in two sessions as I have to review with an instructor everything from white to orange and I know I need some work on the orange belt stuff, especially the straight armbar from mount position. That pop and twist just does not freaking compute I tell you! It gets lost between my head and legs. Sigh.

If I don't go to the belt test night I'm sure I can wait until next month as I'm not on any schedule here. My one year anniversary for when I started training is not until next month anyways.

Worn Down

The last seven days has been such an up and down experience that I'm feeling pretty worn down. Sick Thursday night, recovering Friday, company Saturday, Birthday on Sunday with Kim feeling crappy, meeting the Adoption Professional Monday and getting kicked in the gut by how expensive it can be, Stripe test Tuesday evening for Jiu Jitsu as well as serious talks with Kim about Adoption costs versus IVF costs, and yesterday was driving through a snow storm to take Kim to ultrasound appointment in Ottawa before going back to work for the afternoon. Not to mention I only scored 50% on the Valentine's Day scorecard. (Still better than the 0% I got a few years back)

By bedtime last night I was mentally and physically bushed and with more company coming this weekend (Kim's parents on Friday to help again with the work on the bathroom drywall in the basement and Kim's sister and roommate coming on Saturday to see Winterlude) it looks like only tonight it my night to relax.

Henceforth I declare February 15th to be Bill's Day Of Relaxation forever more.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Another year I managed to not make Kim cry. Excellent, I'm on a roll.

Good Bye Old Friend

When I started blogging way back in the day I needed a blog reader to keep track of new posts on blogs I read. I found Sauce Reader and thoroughly enjoyed it despite some minor quirks and bugs.

However, due to business reasons and such the makers of Sauce Reader ceased development and supporting it a couple years ago and technology marches on. The new version of Blogger that uses the Google account is not compatible with Sauce Reader for making posts so I could no longer post from within it (annoying) and recent blogs I've tried to subscribe to have feeds that seemed to not work. Frustrated, I figured it was time to move on.

I tried the original version of Google Reader way back and found it quite annoying to use. I'm giving the latest version a new try and so far seems nice. If I don't like it and move on to something else I'll let you know.

Well That Was Interesting…

With all the sick kids Kim was looking after last week it was not very surprising that I came down with the flu Thursday evening and Friday morning. Its been a long time since I was sick enough to throw up but that’s what happened. Not pleasant.

Friday I stayed home and slept, relaxed, and generally did nothing all day. I felt recovered on Saturday and Kim and I prepared to have company in the form of Andrew and Jenny who came over for playing some Gamecube (Kim continued her Tetris dominance) and a board game. It was good fun.

Sunday was my 33^rd birthday (yay me) and Kim and I planned to have a fun little day together. Note: planned being the operative word. Kim woke up feeling like crap, and worse, grumpy because she felt like crap and thought she was ruining my birthday. She cowboy’d up and took me to the movies to see Children of Men (Quick Review: interesting concept, but more a renter if you’re into dystopian visions rather than shelling out for the theatre) but although she insisted we go to dinner afterwards I could tell she was not doing well. Kim’s eyes get a certain kind of tightness and tiredness when the real headaches hit, and she had it in spades.

We went home and spent the rest of the evening resting quietly and renting a movie that I wanted to see called Flyboys (Quick Review: very good, highly recommended).

Quite the up and down weekend!

So, The Adoption Road Begins

After our failed fertility trial last fall Kim and I just basically left the wound in the air and kind of distracted ourselves with the holidays. Once the new year had begun, it came to decision time.

Do we do it again? By it I mean IVF and by again I mean almost starting from scratch. We had no frozen embryos to try first, only experience and a significant debt.

Or do we give up on getting pregnant and look into the adoption route.

What it came down to in the end, as do most of life's major decisions, was money. Money money money. It may not buy happiness but it sure as hell doesn't hurt!

Basically the math is simple:
- If we try IVF again and it works, the cost is about $10,000.
- If we try adoption, it costs about $30,000.
- But if we try IVF and it fails, then go to adoption we are looking at a $40,000 price tag.

Without any guarantees about IVF we just can't justify putting ourselves in that kind of hole any further.

So we closed the book on IVF for the time being and booked an appointment with an adoption professional this Monday morning for an initial consultation.

Book Review: Right Side Up by Paul Wells

I don't usually read non-fiction literature. But I admit some measure of excitement when I heard Paul Wells was releasing a book about the Canadian Politics during the last ten years and how the Liberals went from the top of the world to the Loyal Opposition while the Conservatives came out of the wilderness to actually compete for rule of the country.

Paul Well writes a blog that I follow and I enjoy his writing style and insight. The book is no exception to this rule and I found myself reading with rapt attention as he described events I remember happening at the time but with details and inside stories that spice the story up so much. The author's insight into events is quite engrossing and how the political landscaped changed over two elections is a lesson to all parties that view themselves as the natural governing party.

If you are interested in Canadian Politics then I cannot recommend this book enough. My only hope is that its followed by a sequel.

Damn, Its Cold!

Frostbite warning, windchill warning, and I swear my feet still have not warmed up since I left the house this morning.

It was chilly on Saturday too, but not as cold as this. Hence we (Kim and myself and the Kids) traveled to Gatineau to partake in Winterlude and enjoy Snowflake Kingdom. Kids had a blast (mostly) and we went home tired and happy. In the evening we went to the movies to watch the latest from Ben Stiller called Night at the Museum in which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. For a family movie I give it 4.5/5 stars.

I Love Cats

OMG! Cats!

(Hat Tip: Stupid Evil Bastard)