Remembering My Father

Yesterday would have been my father's 82nd birthday. He died in his sleep in 2001, two day after his 73rd birthday. He had chronic health problems probably stemming from smoking 2 packs a day from age 18 to 60. He was really beginning to age the past year or so.

Ever since I moved out of the house at 22, I would speak to him on the phone at least once a day, OK five times a week. I was probably the last to speak to him.

The conversation was about the fact that I saw my horse racing silks were in a Nike commercial (I owned race horses at the time, cheap ones, in partnerships). I don't remember much more about the phone call. It was short though.

There was a heat wave in Toronto at the time. I called him in the morning. No answer. Called him a couple of hours later, still no answer. I was getting concerned. I knew he could have had a doctor's appointment. Going to the store only took a half hour tops.

Another two hours later, I called my sister who was in the area. She went over to his apartment. Knocked on the door. No answer. She kicked the door. Found him dead on his couch. The fan was facing him, he was only in his underwear.

Was the heat getting too uncomfortable for him to sleep in his bed? He didn't mind sleeping on couches. Fell asleep watching TV lots of times on the couch when I was a kid. The TV wasn't on.

His building did have central air, but we were told later there was a power outage temporarily that night.

Me and my wife made it across town within a half hour of finding out. I was the obvious choice to handle all the arrangements. It kept me focused and somewhat less emotional about what happened.

My father loved sports. Always talked about his glory days in high school from basketball to baseball to footfall (not hockey). He said he was even looked at by the Philadelphia Athletics as a baseball prospect, but his mother was dying at the time and he just wouldn't leave Toronto.

I grew up watching the Cleveland Browns and Boston Celtics on TV with him each week. My other brothers didn't have the same interest. His biggest passion though, was the racetrack. Always a $2 bettor, it was his number one hobby. He would go to the track and of course bring me and my siblings along in the mid to late 60's whenever he could.

He was good at it too. Had a slight edge with his system that kept him in action while being able to support a family of 6 on an average wage.

It quit smoking in a weird way. He retired at 59 or 60 and he watched a story on CNN that stated that 95% of illiterates smoke. It was enough to move him to quit. Just like that.

He hardly ever drank. I remember him coming home drunk once. His friends took him out for his 50th birthday.

Another funny thing I remember is when watching old movies with him. He had a habit of saying "He's dead" or "He's a Jew." I can't remember what he said for guys like "Al Jolson" who were both.

Huge Sinatra fan. Had all his records. Played them a lot when I was growing up. Nothing else. Just Sinatra.

As for his religious beliefs. He was a non practicing believing Jew. The only time I saw the inside of a synagogue was for Bar Mitvahs or funerals.

We never really spoke about God. I do remember him saying "there has to be something else" many times. Also, when his sister died, he kept saying that the wind that came at a certain time was a sign from her.

I also remember a conversation later on in life where it gave me the impression he thought that the whole dinosaurs living millions of years ago was some sort of hoax. But I never pursued that with him. I really don't know what he thought.

He died at a time when I was just evolving from agnostic to atheist. Years before I started up this blog. I wonder what he would think about it. Especially my posts on the Exodus being a made up story.

I don't even know if he accepted evolution.

One other thing comes to mind. I remember I was somewhere between 5 to 7, watching a black and white Western on our black and white TV. I had a revelation at the time that the people the actors were portraying were most likely all dead. I asked my father what happens when we die (I was the first born, so the question caught him off guard). I remember he was visibly uncomfortable and deferred the question to my mother. I got the heaven answer soon. But I do remember I was uncomfortable over the hesitation.

And there was the time that I was taking crash course Bar Mitvah lessons. My father who would have been in his mid 40's at the time, asked my tutor if all Jews believed in the afterlife. He received a very hesitant ambiguous answer. Made me more skeptical too.


In retrospect, I'm actually really thankful I wasn't subject to brain washing that I'm sure many grow up with. What would I believe right now if those around me were certain about God and heaven?

Back to my father. There hasn't even been a moment where I thought that he is in heaven watching me or waiting for me. Not even a split second.

I'm reminded of him a lot, and often wonder how he would have reacted to some things. He died just before 9/11. I'm sure he would have a lot to say about that.

Oh The Humanity, I Didn't Realize Things Were This Bad In Gaza

Elder of Ziyon has put together a pretty funny video about the new Gaza Mall. The reason I'm posting it here is because my main readership is from the atheist community, and to be blunt, there are quite a few far lefties who constantly buy into the one sided almost mindless anti-Israel propaganda that fills up the internet. Enjoy:


Worse than Developing Your Web Presence (weird name for an anti-Israel blog) is a site called Veterans Today, a completely deceptive name which maligns war veterans, America, and Israel aka Jews.

Gordon Duff is a nutter, a 9/11 Truther, who has claimed that Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan was part of an Israeli sleeper cell.

You can tell how this has anything to do with real veterans by looking at the comment section, and the fact that there is hardly any disagreement to the nut ball theories put out by Duff. Apparently he deletes any factual rebuttals or arguments against his lunacy.

His site actually appears that it was bought and paid for by Muslim extremists in an effort to peddle complete horse shit.

What Is It About Loving Allah That Makes One Crave Donkey Sex?

Did you know that the number one searcher for online porn is a state that was created by the United Nations in 1948?  Of course, I'm talking about Isr
Pakistan.

Pakistan has a population that is around half of the United States, however unlike the U.S. (except for many pockets in Dearborn, Michigan), 96% of the population is Muslim.

Here are some of the facts regarding Pakistan and internet porn:

Now Pakistan is a country that is completely anti-porn. There aren't even any strip joints. You'd expect that porn searches would be popular, but it is the deviant stuff they search for that I can only blame on two "people:" Mohammed and Allah.

Pakistan is top dog in searches per-person for "horse sex" since 2004, "donkey sex" since 2007, "rape pictures" between 2004 and 2009, "rape sex" since 2004, "child sex" between 2004 and 2007 and since 2009, "animal sex" since 2004 and "dog sex" since 2005, according to Google Trends and Google Insights, features of Google that generate data based on popular search terms.

The country also is tops -- or has been No. 1 -- in searches for "sex," "camel sex," "rape video," "child sex video" and some other searches that can't be printed here.

These are not normal search terms even for the most sexually oppressed husband in the West.

For example, a certain male heterosexual married atheist may do a Google image search of atheist porn star Bree Olson by typing in "Bree Olson nude." The results should be adequate enough to fulfill his needs for at least an hour or two, or maybe more. Don't forget to disable "Safe Search" first.

But what makes Muslims make the leap to such deviant lengths? Does the Koran's mention of donkeys and camels get them hot and bothered? You'd figure they would be happy just looking at pictures of strippers.

Why Evolution Is True

Jerry Coyne isn't the most fluent speaker, but he does get the point across in the following (long) video.  I've meant to order and by his book Why Evolution Is True but I've been so busy lately that I know I wouldn't get around to reading it for a while anyway.

He covers the evidence for the five aspects of evolution theory, evidence which makes evolution true.

It is a real shame that so many people deny evolution and farcical that many feel the need to show their willful ignorance on the internet with tired comments on Youtube videos or forums.  Denying evolution goes hand in hand with overall ignorance and the maintaining of religious bigots with their idiot religious based discriminatory laws.

Jerry Coyne's blog:  Why Evolution Is True

Now for a rebuttal on why evolution is not true:


Why Evolution Is True
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body (Vintage)

Obama Attempts To Spread Atheism To Muslim World

There is a big deal being made of Barack Obama's request to NASA  "...to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science and engineering -- science, math and engineering."

At first, I thought this is kind of like trying to be nice and pacify an 8 year old kid with strong temper temper tantrum tendencies so that he might like you, and pull off less tantrums at least that might involve you.  But it is much deeper (in a simple way) than that, and I give Obama lots of credit here.

Obama is actually trying to get the Muslim world to embrace science, but embracing science, I mean really embracing it, leads to the disbelief of the supernatural.  It doesn't always work to the fullest extent, but it drives people close enough, and in this case, there might be a lot less Muslims in a decade or so, and for sure, a lot less Muslims who will carry out, or condone, blowing themselves up for Allah.

I could be wrong.  I hope I'm not.

But if I am wrong, maybe Obama has something devious up his sleeve.   It isn't a secret that many Muslims are all into conquering land and cultures.  Maybe Obama is attempting to do his own knock off Twilight Zone thingy.  Remember To Serve Man?  Obama may have To Serve Muslims in mind.  That's right, eventually make it a large goal to colonize Mars.  Make a big deal about it, and maybe the Muslim world will be into conquering Mars ahead of Europe, Israel, and Dearborn, Michigan.