Well, I gave this plenty of time to sink in, reserved my judgment, but have simply now succumb to the news reports regarding Chris Benoit. Chris, I fucking hate you. For those not in the know, Benoit was one of the best wrestlers to ever live; his technical skill and prowess in the ring were paralleled by no man or woman. He is a former World Heavyweight Champion, Intercontinental Champion, US Champion, and Tag Team Champion. At least he was.
Chris Benoit is now a dead, piece of shit murderer. On Saturday, he flew home to Tampa (I believe) and strangled his wife, Nancy, to death in their home office. He then so kindly waited until the next day, Sunday, to smother his son in the bedroom. Truly a loving father wouldn't you say? But oh, how upset he must have been, as on the following day, Monday, he hanged himself in the weight room. I so hope it took a long, painful time for that son of a bitch to die.
How the hell can anyone, and I mean anyone abuse a child? His son Daniel was only seven years old; now he's a corpse, barely got a start in life. I've heard a few rumors that there may have been a case of roid rage; there will be die hard fans who try to rationalize and empathize with Benoit as though he was somehow a victim in all of this. Bullshit.
I was a die hard Benoit fan; when he was drafted to ECW a couple of weeks ago, I was ecstatic. I mean, WWE failed to push him after his original title run ended and he was stuck in the stable of that loser Orton; I thought this would give credibility to ECW by making Benoit the champ. In his debut match he made Burke look like a little bitch. I thought this was going to be awesome.
But no, that fuck head had to go and kill a little boy, a boy who I'm sure looked up to him and didn't understand why daddy wouldn't let him breath. How the fuck can somebody do that to a child? It's unforgivable, and had he not been a pussy and killed himself, I would have gladly supported his execution. It's not even like he went into a rage, he took his time and killed everybody, one day at a time.
I hereby renounce myself as a fan of Chris Benoit. I will never watch another one of his matches and I will piss on his merchandise. Apparently the WWE feels the same way as they have also pulled his profile and his merchandising. It should be business as usual for them in my opinion. They've rid themselves of a child killing murderer.
Fuck you Benoit, I only wish there was a hell for you to burn in.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Proof of God's love for us
Read this little number to learn more about antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Since our bible-toting friends insist that all life exists now as it did when the earth was created, they must believe that this little bug has been around since that time since it could never have evolved. So, God was busy making sure there would be plenty of nasties out there to kill us off with lovely diseases such as flesh eating bacteria, pneumonia, etc.
Gee, thanks God, you're a pal!
Gee, thanks God, you're a pal!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
But I don't believe in evolution!
That's unfortunate, since evolution is not a belief system. Evolution is based on scientific fact with more evidence supporting it than many other theories. So just get it right and say you're not smart enough to understand evolution.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
TAPS Sucks
Yesterday it was Oprah, today it's time to nail The Atlantic Paranormal Society, aka TAPS, aka a bunch of dumbasses who can't seem to figure out how to use an infrared thermometer.
Now I admit, I own season one, and I find it hysterical to watch grown men jump when houses settle or a cat purrs. But seriously, they really believe in ghosts? I do believe in spooks! I do believe!
Well, let's hit the list of TAPS bullshit.
1. Infrared thermometers. TAPS apparently neglected a wonderful high school education on this one. According to TAPS, cold spots can indicate the presence of a ghost; well, so can a hot spot, it all depends upon what they find. I mean, no cold spots would be bad for ratings, so they just use the hot spot as well, mean, why not? The problem is that IR thermometers don't measure the air temperature; they measure surface temperature, well the temperature of the air right above the surface of something. So those cold spots and hot spots being found are actually a representation of garbage data from improper use of a device. Huh, and I thought they were experts, esp. since Brian explained so eloquently how to use a Geiger counter. Oh, this applies to the EMF detectors as well.
2. Wireless audio. Uhm, seriously, has anyone ever used a cordless phone and heard noise? Wireless audio stupid; you are just asking for interference. Even with wires we must worry about shielding them; and in some cases, such as with data cable, we CAN'T shield them or we get distorted/lost signals. That's one reason fiber optic is so great; it's not faster, it's just better quality and not subject to distortion.
3. Thermal cameras. Apparently these fellows only conditionally accept thermal reflections. The guy in the locker room door on thermal? Uh, that was you Grant, which is why the figure is LOOKING DOWN AT HIS CAMERA TOO! Just because your feeble attempts at repetition of the affect failed does not mean that it was a ghost, it means you can't figure out how to reproduce it. Besides, you're not even qualified to use a thermal camera.
4. Race rock was faked, pure and simple, and Grant, I'm looking at you partner. There are a couple of items I'd like to point out. First, TAPS has refused to provide unedited copies of this film for independent analysis. Hmm, so, they want to take a scientific approach, yet seem to not want to actually follow scientific procedures. Now, why would they do that? Anyway, the second item up is that the chair moves TWICE; there is a slight, minor movement and then the whole shebang. Third, there is an unidentified light source which flickers EXACTLY when the chair moves, BOTH TIMES! There is clearly something moving in front of the light source. My guess is that would be Grant pulling the string from the room above. And of course lastly, since when does a fold out chair make so much freakin' noise? Editing, or is Grant in the room below? If so, he could be pulling the thread and perhaps adding some additional weight to give the chair a bit more noise than usual, although this would likely not be planned.
5. Eastern State Penitentiary was clearly an individual moving to the camera, spinning, then running away; you can see the guys' shoes and pants. Also, the film speed has been altered. If the video is edited, it is now tainted and is no longer valid evidence. Oh, and they won't turn over the unedited originals for independent analysis either, go figure.
6. TAPS regularly employs Wiccans, demonologists, dowsers, and other such pseudoscientific nonsense. Sorry folks, but you can't sense energy fields, you can't dowse for anything, and there is not a single reason to have these self deluded people around. Oh, but if you can prove any of that, I know of a way you can win an easy million bucks.
All in all? TAPS represents themselves as a scientific group, yet they employ no scientific principle whatsoever. They are unable to use the equipment they have, they have very questionable "evidence", they work with people who claim some sort of supernatural power yet offer no scientific proof thereof, among other things. So while my analysis was in no way scientific and was strictly op ed, I invite any member of TAPS to discuss their methodologies and findings. Until then, I'll just consider them to be a more tame version of Most Haunted.
Now I admit, I own season one, and I find it hysterical to watch grown men jump when houses settle or a cat purrs. But seriously, they really believe in ghosts? I do believe in spooks! I do believe!
Well, let's hit the list of TAPS bullshit.
1. Infrared thermometers. TAPS apparently neglected a wonderful high school education on this one. According to TAPS, cold spots can indicate the presence of a ghost; well, so can a hot spot, it all depends upon what they find. I mean, no cold spots would be bad for ratings, so they just use the hot spot as well, mean, why not? The problem is that IR thermometers don't measure the air temperature; they measure surface temperature, well the temperature of the air right above the surface of something. So those cold spots and hot spots being found are actually a representation of garbage data from improper use of a device. Huh, and I thought they were experts, esp. since Brian explained so eloquently how to use a Geiger counter. Oh, this applies to the EMF detectors as well.
2. Wireless audio. Uhm, seriously, has anyone ever used a cordless phone and heard noise? Wireless audio stupid; you are just asking for interference. Even with wires we must worry about shielding them; and in some cases, such as with data cable, we CAN'T shield them or we get distorted/lost signals. That's one reason fiber optic is so great; it's not faster, it's just better quality and not subject to distortion.
3. Thermal cameras. Apparently these fellows only conditionally accept thermal reflections. The guy in the locker room door on thermal? Uh, that was you Grant, which is why the figure is LOOKING DOWN AT HIS CAMERA TOO! Just because your feeble attempts at repetition of the affect failed does not mean that it was a ghost, it means you can't figure out how to reproduce it. Besides, you're not even qualified to use a thermal camera.
4. Race rock was faked, pure and simple, and Grant, I'm looking at you partner. There are a couple of items I'd like to point out. First, TAPS has refused to provide unedited copies of this film for independent analysis. Hmm, so, they want to take a scientific approach, yet seem to not want to actually follow scientific procedures. Now, why would they do that? Anyway, the second item up is that the chair moves TWICE; there is a slight, minor movement and then the whole shebang. Third, there is an unidentified light source which flickers EXACTLY when the chair moves, BOTH TIMES! There is clearly something moving in front of the light source. My guess is that would be Grant pulling the string from the room above. And of course lastly, since when does a fold out chair make so much freakin' noise? Editing, or is Grant in the room below? If so, he could be pulling the thread and perhaps adding some additional weight to give the chair a bit more noise than usual, although this would likely not be planned.
5. Eastern State Penitentiary was clearly an individual moving to the camera, spinning, then running away; you can see the guys' shoes and pants. Also, the film speed has been altered. If the video is edited, it is now tainted and is no longer valid evidence. Oh, and they won't turn over the unedited originals for independent analysis either, go figure.
6. TAPS regularly employs Wiccans, demonologists, dowsers, and other such pseudoscientific nonsense. Sorry folks, but you can't sense energy fields, you can't dowse for anything, and there is not a single reason to have these self deluded people around. Oh, but if you can prove any of that, I know of a way you can win an easy million bucks.
All in all? TAPS represents themselves as a scientific group, yet they employ no scientific principle whatsoever. They are unable to use the equipment they have, they have very questionable "evidence", they work with people who claim some sort of supernatural power yet offer no scientific proof thereof, among other things. So while my analysis was in no way scientific and was strictly op ed, I invite any member of TAPS to discuss their methodologies and findings. Until then, I'll just consider them to be a more tame version of Most Haunted.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Oprah's dirty Secret
I actually read about this a while ago, but didn't have time to properly rant. Apparently, due to Oprah's endorsement of that nonsense book known as "the secret", a woman has opted to stop chemotherapy and fight her cancer with positive thinking. Do you get more stupid than this?
I'm not going to knock anyone for trying to maintain a positive attitude, but the fact is that you can't change reality with mere thought alone; it simply is completely, 100% impossible. You can't wish your cancer away, you have to take action; unfortunately, this is sometimes not enough. A very good friend of mine has terminal cancer (angiosarcoma); all of the positive thinking in the world will not save him, nor will all of known medicine.
Oprah, I despise your proliferation of nonsense and pseudo scientific ignorance. You have issued some statement I read to encourage this women to continue her treatment; now you are a hypocrite. I've read excerpts of the secret; I've read reviews, summaries, synopses, and of course op eds. It is utter nonsense, something a schoolgirl could discern as wrong and lacking in foundation (and common sense). And I would also put forth that positive thinking is not a good idea; experience dictates to me that we should plan for the worse.
Why should we just keep smiling and going on about our activities? Are we the grasshopper, simply assuming that when winter comes there will be food? Or should be we more diligent and actually store up our reserves, knowing that we will need them when times become hard? Seems to me, if we don't beef up our stockpile, we may just starve to death.
Negative thinking is exactly what keeps our country safe; why have an army when we could simply hope and think positively that no one will attack us? We can just all be positively thinking friends. The power of negativity keeps our information systems safe. I run disaster recovery plans, backup schedules, RAID systems, all because I know something can go wrong. Maybe I should just toss that all out and think positively?
Oprah, if this woman stops her chemotherapy and dies, you are to blame. But don't worry, just think positively.
I'm not going to knock anyone for trying to maintain a positive attitude, but the fact is that you can't change reality with mere thought alone; it simply is completely, 100% impossible. You can't wish your cancer away, you have to take action; unfortunately, this is sometimes not enough. A very good friend of mine has terminal cancer (angiosarcoma); all of the positive thinking in the world will not save him, nor will all of known medicine.
Oprah, I despise your proliferation of nonsense and pseudo scientific ignorance. You have issued some statement I read to encourage this women to continue her treatment; now you are a hypocrite. I've read excerpts of the secret; I've read reviews, summaries, synopses, and of course op eds. It is utter nonsense, something a schoolgirl could discern as wrong and lacking in foundation (and common sense). And I would also put forth that positive thinking is not a good idea; experience dictates to me that we should plan for the worse.
Why should we just keep smiling and going on about our activities? Are we the grasshopper, simply assuming that when winter comes there will be food? Or should be we more diligent and actually store up our reserves, knowing that we will need them when times become hard? Seems to me, if we don't beef up our stockpile, we may just starve to death.
Negative thinking is exactly what keeps our country safe; why have an army when we could simply hope and think positively that no one will attack us? We can just all be positively thinking friends. The power of negativity keeps our information systems safe. I run disaster recovery plans, backup schedules, RAID systems, all because I know something can go wrong. Maybe I should just toss that all out and think positively?
Oprah, if this woman stops her chemotherapy and dies, you are to blame. But don't worry, just think positively.
Ham and shit
Well, good ol' Ham, you know, the idiot behind Answers in Genesis and the even more ignorant creationist museum, must have had a blast on the 28th of May. A large group of scientists, academics, and students (among other concerned citizens) protested his stupid ass museum. I wanted to go (I'm a PhD student), but just couldn't get away. From what I heard, the iron gates of the museum were protected by armed guards and security dogs. True christian family values!
Just to reiterate, evolution is not a belief system; it is a theory based upon scientifically validated evidence that, more likely than not (actually, it's really beyond any reasonable doubt), that life arose out of self-replicating molecules which, over millions of years, have changed and grown into life as we know it. Saying that you do not believe in evolution is the same thing as saying you don't believe in gravity (by the way, the church also took this stance at one time). Evolution is a very well understood scientific theory which has countless amounts of evidence. Religion has a book written by a bunch of people who lived before science existed. You tell me who knows more.
Just to reiterate, evolution is not a belief system; it is a theory based upon scientifically validated evidence that, more likely than not (actually, it's really beyond any reasonable doubt), that life arose out of self-replicating molecules which, over millions of years, have changed and grown into life as we know it. Saying that you do not believe in evolution is the same thing as saying you don't believe in gravity (by the way, the church also took this stance at one time). Evolution is a very well understood scientific theory which has countless amounts of evidence. Religion has a book written by a bunch of people who lived before science existed. You tell me who knows more.
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