The Un-mourned Death of a Tree

Trees are something special to me.  I photograph them, draw them and care for them in the form of bonsai.  I am subscribed to a number of tree blogs and to the wonderful tree photo groups on Flickr.  Today, 155 years ago, Henry David Thoreau witnessed the death of a tree to feller and saw.  It is a wonderful, poetic and poignant piece of writing and although I will share only the closing of this journal entry I encourage you to read it in it’s entirety.

Its gracefully spreading top was a perfect wreck on the hillside as if it had been made of glass, and the tender cones of one year’s growth upon its summit appealed in vain and too late to the mercy of the chopper. Already he has measured it with his axe, and marked off the mill-logs it will make. And the space it occupied in upper air is vacant for the next two centuries. It is lumber. He has laid waste the air. When the fish hawk in the spring revisits the banks of the Musketaquid, he will circle in vain to find his accustomed perch, and the hen-hawk will mourn for the pines lofty enough to protect her brood. A plant which it has taken two centuries to perfect, rising by slow stages into the heavens, has this afternoon ceased to exist. Its sapling top had expanded to this January thaw as the forerunner of summers to come. Why does not the village bell sound a knell? I hear no knell tolled. I see no procession of mourners in the streets, or the woodland aisles. The squirrel has leaped to another tree; the hawk has circled further off, and has now settled upon a new eyrie, but the woodman is preparing [to] lay his axe at the root of that also.

And so it ends.

And so it ends.

I am a little ashamed however by the reaction to the death of Saddam Hussein. I agree that he was a terrible dictator (and puppet of the west) who dealt death and suffering to many innocent people but the media circus of his trial and subsequent execution leave a lot to be desired in my book.

The site the made my bile rise was a CNN article entitled ‘Saddam executed with fear on his face‘:

Rubaie, who witnessed the execution, said the former leader was “strangely submissive” to the process. (Watch Rubaie describe Hussein’s final moments ) “He was a broken man,” he said. “He was afraid. You could see fear in his face.” (Watch what a witness said about the fear on Hussein’s face )

I am uncomfortably aware that we are becoming a generation of gratuitous reality TV – but to have little clickables where you can have described in intimate details the fear of a man (even a monster) as he faces his end and perhaps for him the repurcussions of his actions is deplorable.

It appears we have not come very far from the tomato throwing crowds that thronged the gallows in medieval times.

Harris’ Words May Fall on Deaf Ears

I have just finished reading the excellent Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. Harris, like Dennett and Dawkins is part of the trio of vocal proponents of atheism that have sounded a trumpet call against theistic intolerance and ingrained religious ideologies, The format of this short letter to Christianity is simple in it’s construction yet delivers witty and biting arguments against outdated theistic belief as well as the vacuous platforms of “reason” and pseudo-science used by believers in the so called “intelligent design” movement.

The book is succinct, eloquent and thought provoking. It is neither apologetic for it’s stance nor does it mince words when talking of the fundamentalist madness found in both Christianity and Islam. As in The End of Faith, Harris calls attention to the role of religious moderates as a breeding ground for these fundamentalists. It is yet another in the current deluge of mind-expanding, myth busting books and it is thus very sad that I feel it will only be read by the converted.

I believe very few Christians will ever read this book, fewer still once the evils of the unholy trinity of Dennett, Dawkins and Harris have been expounded from the pulpit. Few champions of intelligent design will get to hear Harris’ excellent point that many biological entities and organic systems are in fact very badly designed. Although we represent the leading edge of the wave of natural selection with those creatures that adapted poorly relegated now to the dusty antiquity of the museum, surely an omniscient and omnipotent designer would have built biological system perfectly and thus perfectly created creatures, barring the odd whimsical flood of mass extinction, would not die out or suffer embarrassing and all to frequent plumbing problems.

Creationists will never take to heart the point that the bible – the purported outpourings of a universally omniscient mind – is full of errors and by now scientifically embarrassing statements like the very poor approximation of pi that had (at the time of it’s writing) already been calculated to a number of decimal points accurately by the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians. Indeed the following statement by Harris is both humourous and revealing:

It is absolutely true to say that if the Greek mathematician Archimedes has written the relevant passages in I Kings or II Chronicles, the text would bear much greater evidence of the author’s omniscience.

Surely, Harris asks, the bible would contain some great ideas about mathematics, or the very structure of our universe – it is a big book – surely a place could have been reserved for a cure for AIDS or Cancer – perhaps a little explanation to grieving parents explaining cot death or miscarriage. Indeed modern writers of fiction could do a better job at replicating the mind and thoughts of an omniscient creator although their creative efforts would be very hard pressed in the areas of injustice, bloodiness, viciousness and intolerance.

So this excellent book will not be read by the moderates who have half donned the mantle of their own pernicious brand of religious elitism, some will go on believing the world is a mere 6000 years old – an event that happened after the brewing of beer or the domestication of the dog. The moderates will continue to harbour, through ignorance, the extremists who believe that paradise awaits with martyrdom and murder or that this beautiful world on which we live will become a battle ground of fire and pain in the coming battle between the very binary concepts of good and evil. Our religious leaders will continue to incite to violence and will continue to push us closer to Armageddon than at any time in our history.

We are the sole guardians of our genome; this, now is the foundation for all that humanity can ever achieve or aspire too. It is time we grew up and took some sane and considered responsibility for that fact.

Shambhala Sun – Killing the Buddha

“Kill the Buddha,” says the old koan. “Kill Buddhism,” says Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith, who argues that Buddhism’s philosophy, insight, and practices would benefit more people if they were not presented as a religion.

…

The ninth-century Buddhist master Lin Chi is supposed to have said, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” Like much of Zen teaching, this seems too cute by half, but it makes a valuable point: to turn the Buddha into a religious fetish is to miss the essence of what he taught. In considering what Buddhism can offer the world in the twenty-first century, I propose that we take Lin Chi’s admonishment rather seriously. As students of the Buddha, we should dispense with Buddhism.

…

The wisdom of the Buddha is currently trapped within the religion of Buddhism. Even in the West, where scientists and Buddhist contemplatives now collaborate in studying the effects of meditation on the brain, Buddhism remains an utterly parochial concern. While it may be true enough to say (as many Buddhist practitioners allege) that “Buddhism is not a religion,” most Buddhists worldwide practice it as such, in many of the naive, petitionary, and superstitious ways in which all religions are practiced. Needless to say, all non-Buddhists believe Buddhism to be a religion—and, what is more, they are quite certain that it is the wrong religion.

Article here.

10 myths—and 10 truths—about atheism

by Sam Harris
On his website.

Sam Harris refutes some previously incorrect views about atheism.

Atheists are often imagined to be intolerant, immoral, depressed, blind to the beauty of nature and dogmatically closed to evidence of the supernatural.
Even John Locke, one of the great patriarchs of the Enlightenment, believed that atheism was “not at all to be tolerated” because, he said, “promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human societies, can have no hold upon an atheist.”

Here are the myths, visit the link above for the rebuttal.

1.) Atheists believe that life is meaningless.
2.) Atheism is responsible for the greatest crimes in human history.
3.) Atheism is dogmatic.
4.) Atheists think everything in the universe arose by chance.
5.) Atheism has no connection to science.
6.) Atheists are arrogant.
7.) Atheists are closed to spiritual experience.
8.) Atheists believe that there is nothing beyond human life and human understanding.
9.) Atheists ignore the fact that religion is extremely beneficial to society.
10.) Atheism provides no basis for morality.

10 Ways to Qualify Your Atheism This Xmas

Perhaps a little over the top, however the links are good ones.

Yuletide, Christmas, Hanukkah, Oshogatsu – a world of names for a time of year about something. A time to reflect on our heritage, our faith, our existence. A time to recognise our roots. With this in mind I have collected together a series of tools for those of us inclined to non-theistic beliefs. Perhaps in reflecting on your life this festive season you might join hands with your secular brother, your atheistic sister and praise the mind of the rational thinker. Stand up atheists and be counted this Xmas!

over @ The Huge Entity

Christmas for the Non Believer

Christmas is upon us now and the culmination of frantic spending and last minute wrapping is almost at a close. The tree is up, the children eagerly await the tinkling of bells and the family is set to meet, greet and feast. If you are an atheist, or non-Christian however it can feel a little as though you have fallen down the rabbit hole. Christmas carols ring out their messages of salvation from damnation and glory to Yahweh and cherubs adorn everything from medication to microwave ovens in storefront windows. Television is full of Jesus stories and healthy latherings of guilt, the majority of channels feel showing someone being nailed to a cross is good healthy viewing for the kids – nowhere do you see the V or PG warnings. I feel though that more time could be spent on the life and or message of brotherhood that Jesus extolled but if seems that does not attract the A ratings – crucifixion is where it is at – if you are Mel Gibson you can turn a 2+ hour tirade of barbarism, anti-semitism and violence into wonderful family entertainment – I seriously doubt that crucifixion had anything to do with Christ’s passion.

So how then can we celebrate this time and share some of the enjoyment and warmth of Christmas if we don’t happen to believe the story about immaculate conception and Yahweh sending his only son [a strange concept for an immortal being] to be sacrificed in order to forgive our sins that he couldn’t [being omnipotent] just forgive in the first-place? For me it is about being with family, a time to kick back and enjoy spending time with people that I usually don’t get to see much of during the busyness of the year. It seems to be a time when family have to play nice and if you have children then the wonder, the suspense and the build up is something truly wonderful to behold.

Theists would probably call me a hypocrite, a hijacker of the holy holidays a yuletide blasphemer no doubt long due for a good stoning but that is really just sour grapes. If I don’t happen to believe in the fairy tale that some of my family do then I suppose I could cover myself in green paint, and Grinchingly retire to my cave and renounce the silliness of the myth but what good could come of it? If I become dogmatic in my viewpoint then I become a martyr for my opinion in a time of happiness and festivities. I have no desire to start a family feud over whether Jesus was a person or an instrument of political reform in ancient times, I have no desire to debate whether a sky-god actually exists and any desire to discuss tea pots should stay firmly in the realm of the kitchen.

I can however celebrate what good is to be found in friends, family, children, food, celebration and rest and this is what my Christmas celebrations are all about.

Merry Christmas all.

Hate Mail (and concerned criticism) archive at Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

 

http://www.venganza.org/category/hate-mail/

This is fantastic, hate mail is just so full of anger, resentment and for want of a better word; stupidity.  I have really enjoyed myself reading some of the hate mail received by the Church of the Flying Spaghetti monster.  The thing I love best about this is that is seems many of the mailers just haven’t figured out that this is satire, ‘designed’ [I couldn't resist] by Bobby Henderson to make a point in protest to the Kansas court ruling that ‘intelligent design’ be offered as a valid and scientific alternative to the theory of evolution:

Nautilus questions:

How can a thing made by man be god? its fucking spagetti! people EAT IT! why would you let people EAT your god? Everyone I know thinks you are retarded, so congrats there

indeed!

Michael Martin, so full of Christian cheer writes:

flimsy moral standards? Lets see here.  If I were to shoot your wife, would you have a problem with that?

It seems that Michael might be one of those ‘good ol boys’ where the distinction between guns, religion and sex with your sister is a little blurred.

One individual on the old blog site has this to say:

Yo Bobby, You are an ignorant ignoramous!!  Why can’t you and all of your atheist cohorts just keep your big, fat traps closed when it comes to even a HINT of GOD!!!  What are you afraid of????  Darwin’s rantings (sorry, not even enough scientific evidence to even CALL it a theory) have NO basis–time has proven that.  Our schoolkids are being totally cheated out of the truth—and it is people like you that turn it into a farce when a viable alternative is presented!!!  When you deny kids the knowledge of an Intelligent Designer that created them for a specific purpose—-you deny them a true purpose in life and deny them the ability to cherish this wonderful life and world God created just for us humans……….Your website makes me ill—-but I will be praying for you!  Don’t worry—God does love you even though you are vehemently pushing him away right now and we will ALL be judged when we die.   Do you feel good about taking your atheism one step further or what????

He/She is obviously in need of some basic  grammar and science lessons. ‘Not enough scientific evidence’? A word to anonymous from me – ‘Show me your evidence and I’ll show you mine  - and one question mark usually suffices as a sentence terminator’.

I would love to try and quantify just how much more ignorant an ignorant ignoramus is compared with your basic garden-variety ignoramus but alas I find it hard.

and lastly fd cuts to the intellectual chase with his excellent piece of logical deduction:

This is fucking retarded, a flying piece of fucking spaghetti can not create the universe, considering spaghetti was made by man, and monsters from man’s imagination.  SO FUCK FSM

Yip, he’s got us all there.

Technology Review: Printing Muscle and Bone

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have successfully directed adult stem cells from mice to develop into bone and muscle cells with the aid of a custom-designed ink-jet printer. They say it’s a first step toward better understanding tissue regeneration, which may one day lead to therapies for repairing damaged tissues, as occurs in osteoarthritis. For years, tissue engineers have used souped-up printers, and in some cases off-the-shelf models, to print "bio-inks." These inks consist of anything from proteins to individual cells printed in microscopic patterns. By printing layer upon layer of cell patterns, scientists may one day be able to "print" whole tissues or organs for replacement therapies.

http://www.technologyreview.com/BioTech/17913/

Short Imagined Monologues: Santa Claus

From an early point in your infancy, you people have been done a great injustice. Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas—the names may differ from country to country, but the idea always remains a constant. No doubt you’ve drawn pictures of him, watched films depicting him, sung songs about him. A benevolent jolly fellow whose sole purpose is to monitor your behavior year-round by inexplicable means only to separate children into two drastically oversimplified groups: naughty or nice. With the aid of elfin employees and flying reindeer, this Good Samaritan delivers gifts to all the nice children of the world in a single evening. You’ll know him by his long white beard and belly that jiggles like a bowl full of jelly, they say. On the contrary, you’ll know him as nonsense, because that’s precisely what he is.

an imagined conversation by Richard Dawkins to school children
written by Mike Jones

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/monologues/18richarddawkins.html

I Yearn For the Days When …

I yearn for the days when people I know – friends and work colleagues – didn’t know about my blog, in fact many of them probably thought a blog had something to do with roto-rooter especially once you hear of the even sillier term ‘blog roll’. A certain amount of anonymity affords a huge degree of freedom of expression – which as most people who keep an online journal of sorts will understand. I am not talking about the myspace like journals describing the incessant bodily eructations of some sex starved dorm teenager, but rather a place to express a passion, a mood, a feeling, a theme , a piece of who you are … or aren’t.

I have had to encrypt some of my postings which is such a cramp as I was warned that they may be perceived by some who read my blog from time to time as having some link or relevance to recent events, the problem is that this poem is really about something that happened a long time ago .. almost another life lived by a different person. The parallels in the wording could be misconstrued and misinterpreted which – due to a quirk of bad timing – would just cause trouble for me in the short term. I feel a little lost in this ability to have to censor my own work, it seems unfair in a way as self expression should not supplicate to caution.

I apologise to any who come here from time to time, it is a pain – but in order to protect myself (again in the short term) it must be done. Drop me an email and I will sent you the password if you are interested.

The Lord God Drowned Them All …

 

All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things bright and beautiful
The lord god drowned them all.
- Genesis 7:21-23

Head on over to the truly excellent skeptics annotated bible for a good look at what’s under the hood of this planet’s major sky-god religions.  See for example what the bible thinks about woman and children in Genesis, or quiver at the terrors in store for the heathens and unbelievers in Psalms.

All of this is annotated with the most humourous of summaries, some of my favourites so far include:

Abram makes his wife lie for him, by telling the Egyptians that she is his sister. But at least it was half-true, since she was his half-sister. Such incestuous marriages are condemned elsewhere in the Bible, but god makes an exception for Abram and Sarai. (See Gen.17:15-16 where God blesses their marriage.) 12:13 

Lot and his daughters camp out in a cave for a while. The daughters get their “just and righteous” father drunk, and have sexual intercourse with him, and each conceives and bears a son (wouldn’t you know it!). 19:30-38

 Dinah’s brothers, to justify the massacre of a town for the rape of their sister, say: “Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?” To the author of Genesis, rape is a crime against the honor of men rather than against a woman. 34:31

 Esau, who already had two wives (26:34), “takes” another. 28:9

enough already, here is some cruel and unusual treatment from psalms:

God will “wound the head of his enemies” so that the righteous can wash their feet “in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same.” 68:21, 23 

 ”The LORD heard this” (he had his hearing aid on) and became angry, and burned people “because they believed not in God.” 78:21-22 

God sent a plague on the Israelites for “committing whoredom with the daughters of Moab.” But “then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment [by throwing a spear through a newly married couple]: and so the plague was stayed.” But not before 24,000 (1 Cor.10:8 says 23,000) had died. (See Num.25:6-9 for all the gory details.) 106:29-30 

If you don’t trust in God, he’ll kill you and while you’re dying the “righteous” will laugh at you. 52:5-7

The list is endless, the bible I have discovered (like Churchhill’s son) is a wonderfully entertaining book, full of every vice  one could imagine.  The website http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com also has a blog to help you discover the juiciness  of the ’good’ book http://reannotated.blogspot.com/ for when you just don’t have the time.

Sajji thank you so much for this resource – it is amazing.

A New Journey

Photo by ali khurshid.

A New Journey

Wonderful picture by Ali Khurshid.

Really encompasses the ideal for me that most journeys are more about the journey than about the destination.

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The Worst Toys Ever, In Search of The Best Christmas!

Toys today suck, they are usually cheap plastic Chinese disposables that break, if you are really lucky, the day after Christmas.  In the good-old-days, toys were gritty, manly, able to maim and disfigure – they were real toys!

Radar online has a top 10 list of the worst toys ever, for the life of me I can’t see why.

• #1: Lawn Darts – Nothing like a metal spike in your head to cement friendship.
• #2: The Atomic Energy Lab – complete with Geiger-counter and Uranium bearing ore – “Dear, why is little Johnny losing weight?”
• #3: Mini Hammocks that can strangle your children to death.
• #4: The Snacktime Cabbage Patch Doll, capable of eating carrots, ponytails or fingers with gay abandon and probably inspiration for the “Chucky” horror movies.
• #5: The Skydancer Barbie Rocket – guaranteed to leap from her perch and slice your eyes out.
• #6: the Bat Masterson Derringer Belt Gun – because flaming gunpowder near your testicles is a good thing.
• #7: The Creepy Crawly Stove-top Goop – toxic and hundreds of degrees in temperature, great to throw at your sister.
• #8: The Johnny Reb, 30-inch “authentic civil war” cannon – complete with cannon balls, ramrod and civil war flag – my personal favourite due to the embedded youtube video advert from the early 60′s
• #9: The Battlestar Galactica Missile Launcher – missing eyes, torn intestines – cylon love all round.
• #10: The Fisher Price Power Wheels Motorcycle – replete with sticking accelerator pedal, guaranteed break-neck Christmas morning fun.

Diabetes Breakthrough in Sight

In a discovery that has stunned even those behind it, scientists at a Toronto hospital say they have proof the body’s nervous system helps trigger diabetes, opening the door to a potential near-cure of the disease that affects millions of Canadians. Diabetic mice became healthy virtually overnight after researchers injected a substance to counteract the effect of malfunctioning pain neurons in the pancreas. “I couldn’t believe it,” said Dr. Michael Salter, a pain expert at the Hospital for Sick Children and one of the scientists. “Mice with diabetes suddenly didn’t have diabetes any more.”

The researchers caution they have yet to confirm their findings in people, but say they expect results from human studies within a year or so. Any treatment that may emerge to help at least some patients would likely be years away from hitting the market. But the excitement of the team from Sick Kids, whose work is being published today in the journal Cell, is almost palpable. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Dr. Hans Michael Dosch, an immunologist at the hospital and a leader of the studies. “In my career, this is unique.” Their conclusions upset conventional wisdom that Type 1 diabetes, the most serious form of the illness that typically first appears in childhood, was solely caused by auto-immune responses — the body’s immune system turning on itself.

They also conclude that there are far more similarities than previously thought between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and that nerves likely play a role in other chronic inflammatory conditions, such as asthma and Crohn’s disease. The “paradigm-changing” study opens “a novel, exciting door to address one of the diseases with large societal impact,” said Dr. Christian Stohler, a leading U.S. pain specialist and dean of dentistry at the University of Maryland, who has reviewed the work.

Article…

Kasparov plays a dangerous game to keep Putin in check

As the world’s greatest chess player, Garry Kasparov employed his
formidable intellect to outwit rivals before seizing on a weakness to
crush them. The Russian grandmaster is now applying those skills to a
new game of strategy aimed at defeating his toughest opponent of all —
President Putin. At stake, he argues, is the fate of Russian democracy.
Mr Kasparov has devoted himself to politics since retiring from
professional chess last year. He regards Mr Putin as a dictator whose
authoritarian rule threatens to return Russia to a dark past.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2507556,00.html

The Blog of Henry David Thoreau: Thoreau’s Journal: 18-Dec-1841

Some men make their due impression upon their generation, because a petty occasion is enough to call forth all their energies; but are there not others who would rise to much higher levels, whom the world has never provoked to make the effort? I believe there are men now living who have never opened their mouths in a public assembly, in whom nevertheless there is such a well of eloquence that the appetite of any age could never exhaust it; who pine for an occasion worthy of them, and will pine till they are dead; who can admire, as well as the rest, at the flowing speech of the orator, but do not yet miss the thunder and lightning and visible sympathy of the elements which would garnish their own utterance.

If in any strait I see a man fluttered and his ballast gone, then I lose all hope of him, he is undone; but if he reposes still, though he do nothing else worthy of him, if he is still a man in reserve, then is there everything to hope of him. The age may well go pine itself that it cannot put to use this gift of the gods. He lives on, still unconcerned, not needing to be used. The greatest occasion will be the slowest to come.

http://blogthoreau.blogspot.com/2006/12/thoreaus-journal-18-dec-1841.html

More Bible Debauchery

More Bible Debauchery

Some of the passages found in the bible are eye-watering in their blatant disregard for the rights of woman, children and basic human dignity and contain some of the most debauched stories ever found in print – I believe they would make even the eyes of the Marquis de Sade water. As I was once told “Holy cow makes the best hamburger” and thus due to the incessant and annoying habit of the religious espousing the good book as a source of virtue and morality, one of my favourite past-times is finding passages that I am sure would make any good well bred Christian mother’s knickers bunch if she knew what her children were reading.

What a fantastic set of values to teach as well – I mean does it get more choice than some of the following:

How’s this for a good family values from Genesis 19:4-8

Some raping lunatics surround Lot’s house and ask him to release his guests so that they may be molested and raped. In the true fashion of an excellent host he instead offers his virgin daughters to be gang-raped in their place – nice guy

4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” 6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

Genesis 19: 30-36
Having moved to the styx, not finding any suitable action, Lot’s daughters get their father drunk, have sex with him and become pregnant with his child….nice! Perhaps they weren’t in the right frame of mind after being offered up for gang-rape by their father

30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father.” 33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. 34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I lay with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. 36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

Judges 19: 22-29

Another choice individual offers up his concubine and daughter for rape.  The concubine gets raped and abused the whole night and in the morning he takes a knife, rents her limb from limb

22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.” 23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this disgraceful thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don’t do such a disgraceful thing.”

25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. 27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.

28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home. 29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.

A touch of infanticide and cannibalism in 2 Kings 6: 28-29 – It surely begs the question “with or without fava beans?”

28 Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’
29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”

Let’s end tonight with a bed-time story of forced sexual slavery – women and children are really treasured in this good book. Judges 21: 7-12

7 “How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” 8 Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. 9 For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.

 10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. 11 “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin.” 12 They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.

It gives me the cold shivers to think this book is the basis for morality for three of the most prevalent religions on this planet.  There are even some who would go so far as to call for this book to be banned.

Feel free to verify the authenticity of these stories here

Enough with the ads already!

As if advertising on TV is not bad enough, having to sit through tampon, constipation and acne advertisements while I eat my supper.  Now I get forced to watch some large corporates million dollar flash crap every time I visit a website to read an article.  I have had it with two companies now, SAP and Microsoft … surprise surprise.

The SAP one has some badly drawn outline of a head which turns into some crusty bastard with a beard drolling on about how SAP revolutionised his business – yawn!  The Microsoft ad goes on about the technological wonders of the harbinger of doom that is Windows Vista, double yawn!

In both these cases I had to wait for the animations to load and play before I was offered the article. Even better than that, the articles belonged to sites with the psychotic paging at the bottom – you know the ones where you get 5 lines to read and then at the bottom you have the following ‘Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 …. ‘. Any sane person immediately hits the printer friendly button that happily does away with both the advertising and the paging.

I lump this forced viewing of advertising in the same irritation bucket as spam – my time is my own, if I am interested in the kuk you are selling then the discrete Google like text links are sufficient to make me click you.