What is going on in Britain right now is ridiculous. If rioters were raping or murdering in the open, they would be warned and then shot at. To me, there is no difference when it comes to vandalizing and looting a business.
Warn and shoot. It might take a couple of dead youths, but the riots would stop very quickly.
I'm a major proponent of deterrents. I especially believe they work well on the "devil made me do it crowd," but I'm also sure that it keeps the odd atheist from doing stupid things too.
August 10, 2011
July 23, 2011
Muslim Prayer In Ontario Public Schools
When I first read about the Muslim prayer controversy at the Valley Park Middle School in Toronto the first thing that struck me was "wow, a public school in Toronto that has a Muslim population of at least 80%."
Of course, most probably most of these kids and their families believe that Jews coming to Israel and becoming a majority there was something that had no business happening. And of course, they don't see the hypocrisy.
Now here are my major problems with this. It is a public school, when I grew up at least 80% of the kids in the school were Christian. It would have been terrible for me or any non Christian kid to have to have gone to a school with the knowledge that there was a special time set aside for most of the school's population to go to so that they can pray to Christ. It was hard enough at Christmas to be sort of an outcast because my family didn't celebrate the mythological Christ's mythological birthday.
Secondly, again, since it is a public school, tax dollars are involved. And tax dollars should not be spent on any religion (yeah I know that Ontario has a deal with the devil: The Catholic Church, that seems very binding). The fact that this prayer is organized and also happens during class time, is at best a misuse of funding.
Third, I don't buy the excuse that kids come back late from the Mosque, if they come back to the school at all. If they can't get the lunch prayers done on time, and come back late, they should be penalized in the same way any kid who is consistently tardy or truant is. Religion is no excuse for this. If you are taking advantage of the public system, play by the rules.
Fourth, because it is held in the cafeteria, anyone who wants to be there should be allowed. Apparently they ban non Muslims from entering the cafeteria during prayer.
This is too organized. Empty classrooms should be used, and the amount of kids in a room should be reduced to what is allowable by the fire code. If you can't get enough volunteer Imams to show up....too bad.
I have no problem with Christian groups, Jewish groups, atheist groups, etc. to have their own clubs after school....yes, after school. But the meetings need to be held in class rooms that are not going to be used or needed by anyone else in the school.
Fifth, to the people upset about menstruating girls having to be at the back of the prayer room....Get over it. Islam is a misogynist religion. This complaint is meaningless in the scheme of things, and has nothing to do with the fact that this type of organized prayer should not be allowed to happen during school hours.
Finally, there are two solutions. Turn Valley Park into a private school, and let the families pay for their kids education, or, ban religious prayer during class hours. If Muslims need to pray on Fridays, keep it to themselves, find unused classrooms at lunch or after school, or forget about it.
Of course, most probably most of these kids and their families believe that Jews coming to Israel and becoming a majority there was something that had no business happening. And of course, they don't see the hypocrisy.
Now here are my major problems with this. It is a public school, when I grew up at least 80% of the kids in the school were Christian. It would have been terrible for me or any non Christian kid to have to have gone to a school with the knowledge that there was a special time set aside for most of the school's population to go to so that they can pray to Christ. It was hard enough at Christmas to be sort of an outcast because my family didn't celebrate the mythological Christ's mythological birthday.
Secondly, again, since it is a public school, tax dollars are involved. And tax dollars should not be spent on any religion (yeah I know that Ontario has a deal with the devil: The Catholic Church, that seems very binding). The fact that this prayer is organized and also happens during class time, is at best a misuse of funding.
Third, I don't buy the excuse that kids come back late from the Mosque, if they come back to the school at all. If they can't get the lunch prayers done on time, and come back late, they should be penalized in the same way any kid who is consistently tardy or truant is. Religion is no excuse for this. If you are taking advantage of the public system, play by the rules.
Fourth, because it is held in the cafeteria, anyone who wants to be there should be allowed. Apparently they ban non Muslims from entering the cafeteria during prayer.
This is too organized. Empty classrooms should be used, and the amount of kids in a room should be reduced to what is allowable by the fire code. If you can't get enough volunteer Imams to show up....too bad.
I have no problem with Christian groups, Jewish groups, atheist groups, etc. to have their own clubs after school....yes, after school. But the meetings need to be held in class rooms that are not going to be used or needed by anyone else in the school.
Fifth, to the people upset about menstruating girls having to be at the back of the prayer room....Get over it. Islam is a misogynist religion. This complaint is meaningless in the scheme of things, and has nothing to do with the fact that this type of organized prayer should not be allowed to happen during school hours.
Finally, there are two solutions. Turn Valley Park into a private school, and let the families pay for their kids education, or, ban religious prayer during class hours. If Muslims need to pray on Fridays, keep it to themselves, find unused classrooms at lunch or after school, or forget about it.
July 6, 2011
Does It Ever Dawn On High Profile Trial Jurors That They Are Morons
After watching the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial yesterday, a case of deja vu hit me. The same feeling I had after the OJ trial.
The defense selects the most dimwitted jurors in order to give themselves the best chance to win.
When watching a high profile trial, that fact is quickly forgotten.
But when the verdict comes in, it is clear that the most important job of the defense is to finding barely functioning idiots. Those who have major problems making inferences based on evidence. In other words, those who can't put two and two together. Possibly willfully ignorant individuals, the same who deny evolution because they've never seen a human come out of a monkey's vagina.
In fact, with the death penalty looming, the defense is best to look for Creationists, because they ignore science when it is convenient for them, and more importantly, they can be liberal when it comes to the evidence because if they are wrong in voting not guilty, God will ultimately right the wrong. If they sentence the wrong person to death, the juror might wind up in hell......I think I'm onto something, The Dumb Juror's Wager.
I just wonder when it finally hits the selected juror, that the main reason the person was selected, was because they just aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I guess that is like asking if Creationists realize they are reality deniers.
Maybe the answer is never.
The defense selects the most dimwitted jurors in order to give themselves the best chance to win.
When watching a high profile trial, that fact is quickly forgotten.
But when the verdict comes in, it is clear that the most important job of the defense is to finding barely functioning idiots. Those who have major problems making inferences based on evidence. In other words, those who can't put two and two together. Possibly willfully ignorant individuals, the same who deny evolution because they've never seen a human come out of a monkey's vagina.
In fact, with the death penalty looming, the defense is best to look for Creationists, because they ignore science when it is convenient for them, and more importantly, they can be liberal when it comes to the evidence because if they are wrong in voting not guilty, God will ultimately right the wrong. If they sentence the wrong person to death, the juror might wind up in hell......I think I'm onto something, The Dumb Juror's Wager.
I just wonder when it finally hits the selected juror, that the main reason the person was selected, was because they just aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I guess that is like asking if Creationists realize they are reality deniers.
Maybe the answer is never.
June 28, 2011
Atheists For Michele Bachmann 2012
An atheist is free to be a homophobe. Free to hate blacks so much that they will vote for anyone but Obama. Heck, an atheist doesn't even have to have an opinion about evolution. For instance, they can believe in intelligent design. You know, a super intelligent one celled being may have come to earth from another galaxy and created man as man less than 10,000 years ago.
Generally though, atheists support gay equality, don't care about the President's skin color (only their religious beliefs), and laugh at intelligent design.
I as a Canadian can see what is going on. There are some leading atheist blogs out there like Pharyngula who are writing pieces about Bachmann being an actual threat. Don't believe it for a second.
This is just a ploy to trick the GOP Party in making the Dingbat their Presidential Candidate.
Barack Obama would love to go head to head with Bachmann. It would be the biggest cakewalk in the history of Presidential races.
I feel kind of guilty I let the cat out of the bag now. So after this post, I won't mention what is really happening with the conspiracy in the atheist community right now. Mum's the word from now on.
But please feel free to use the Atheists For Bachmann 2012 button if you feel the desire to do so. But then again, it might help the GOP hone in on a candidate with more of a shot. Those bible literalists might back away from Bachmann if they even thought for a second that she has atheist support.
Now for something very related. Check out Ronald Reagan Jr (atheist) mock Bachmann. Great points throughout this Hardball segment:
June 20, 2011
Miss America 2011: Beauty And Brains
Those who wrote the questions for the Miss America contest are very cruel. To ask these girls from all over the USA if evolution should be taught in school was something a sadist had to come up with.
This reminds of why homosexuals invented high heel shoes for women (it is to make more women more angry more often, angry enough that they may turn a few men off women altogether to the point that these men might experiment with men)....ok just kidding.....maybe.
The following is the short version of the answers to the evolution question, it might be painful to watch, but there are a couple of bright spots:
Allysa Campanella, Miss California, born in Joisey, won the competition. She was the science Geek in the Youtube video.
I thought evolution is taught in American schools. But I guess that science isn't mandatory past grade 3??????
Another tragedy is that bright women like Miss California and Miss Virginia aren't running for office in the USA, instead we have to view mind numbing imbeciles like Bachmann and Palin (Miss Kentucky must love em both).
This reminds of why homosexuals invented high heel shoes for women (it is to make more women more angry more often, angry enough that they may turn a few men off women altogether to the point that these men might experiment with men)....ok just kidding.....maybe.
The following is the short version of the answers to the evolution question, it might be painful to watch, but there are a couple of bright spots:
Allysa Campanella, Miss California, born in Joisey, won the competition. She was the science Geek in the Youtube video.
I thought evolution is taught in American schools. But I guess that science isn't mandatory past grade 3??????
Another tragedy is that bright women like Miss California and Miss Virginia aren't running for office in the USA, instead we have to view mind numbing imbeciles like Bachmann and Palin (Miss Kentucky must love em both).
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