value of a soul

I was driving back from Montana and saw this billboard. I actually turned around and drove back 3/4 of a mile on a frontage road just to snap the picture.



It teared me up immediately and not in the way these "pro life" bastards wish. Apparently the value of a potential soul is greater than the value of the mother's soul, the father's soul, and everyone else's who would be negatively impacted by the birth of an unexpected, unwanted, accidental pregnancy.

"Pro life" HA! Pro slavery is more like it. I will let George Carlin take it from here.



Thank you George.

The plane leaves in 18 hours. I have to be there in 16. I will be leaving home in 13.

See you in Oz!!!!!! :D

Ask Richard

It's like an open forum, but with Richard 'stead of Fiery.

Have at 'im.

;) But be gentle, it's his first time.

google search engine

As per Richard's request, I have added the google search tool to the bottom of my blog.

May it be a font of wisdom for you. :)

only 3 packing days remain

AAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

Breathe, deep, slow, calm,

NO NO Not rapid shallow frantic breaths.

SLOW....slllllloooooooooowwwwwwwllllllllyyyyyyyy breathe.

Ok.

So- Richard has shown up after several weeks' absence and has added several thoughts to some of the last few. If you like his work, go back about 5 posts and work your way forward. Also, we've got a Christian who has appeared as well, Joyce I think her name is. She has accepted Pascal's wager (see Christianity Explained) and considers this to be a sinful world full of judgmental people (see Atheism is to Homeschooling as...).

I'm quite sorry there aren't any links, it's late, I'm tired and I need to spend some quality time with my pillow.

And hopefully NOT dream of never ending lists of things that need to be done or hear a relentless clock ticking and definitely NOT the theme song to Jeapordy playing in my head.

g'night all. :) thanks for checking in!

Homeschool is to atheism as Duggar is to clown car

Michelle "Clown-Car" Duggar had her 17th baby last August. Within 30 minutes she was talking about her eagerness to have another. *gag* And bibidy-BobDidMe-boo she's preggers with number 18. *sigh*

It's interesting to me that the homeschooling issue gets brought up in nearly every single article about the Duggars. Doesn't mention if they are vegan or if they only wear 100% natural fibre clothing or any other potentially unusual practices. But the homeschooling gets a nod each time.

Why?

Because most people not only don't homeschool but don't know anyone who does.

Homeschooling is much like atheism. Knowing a person who homeschools doesn't tell you a damn thing about any other homeschooler.

"I'm an atheist." Oh. You must be like Hitler. You are a moral relativist. What stops you from slitting your neighbors throat? Nup. Being an atheist means I don't believe in god. "Atheist" doesn't tell you anything else about me.

How many of us have heard that load of bollocks tossed our way?

"I'm a homeschooler." Oh. You must be like the Duggars and have a million kids, isolate them socially, and indoctrinate them with your own beliefs. Nup. I am in charge of my child's education. "Homeschooler" doesn't tell you anything else about me.

Attaching the label "homeschooler" to somebody doesn't tell you a thing about their beliefs about education, socialization, morality, or spirituality.

It is very tempting to want to say "there ought to be a law". But that phrase should raise an immediate red flag in your mind. You don't really want the government looking after you. Please tell me that you don't! You really don't want the government being your parent and making sure that you eat healthy, that you take the right vitamins, that you exercise every day, that you read the appropriate books, that you think the appropriate thoughts.

Voltaire is attributed with having said, ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’ The phrase itself deserves a close look. Freedoms should not be eliminated on the off chance that you won't like what someone does with theirs.

Another thing to keep in mind, even if you get the laws passed that you want preventing the behavior you object to, what happens when the law turns on you and now the behavior you have chosen is outlawed to "protect" you. Will you back that law as staunchly as the one removing freedom you disapproved of from another?

Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.

~~~~~~~~~~
This is a comment I put up at Gods4Suckers.com where a post about the Duggar Quiverfulls got on a bit of a tangent about homeschooling.

open forum 13

I was at a chinese buffet restaurant the other day and we sat at what should have been table 13. But, bowing to superstition, they did not have a table 13 but skipped straight to 14.

I find it highly ironic that the 13th open forum is the one I neglected to put at the start of the month.

:)

Better late than never, here it is.

For those new to my blog, this is your chance to bring up any subject you wish, ask any question that is on your mind, chat amongst yourselves, leave notes for each other. Whatever you wish to do.

:)

You have the floor.

Christianity Explained

Saw this pop up over on Doubting Faith and before I'd scrolled to the bottom of the post I knew that Xavier Onassis had put it up.

No Christian can truly disagree with this summation of their beliefs. They may not like the terms used. They may disagree with the sentiment behind it. But as it stands, this is fully accurate and 100% *snerk*worthy.



Thanks XO!!!

when ginger cats drive

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!!

Found this over on Nightmare's blog. He's a blog buddy of XO's. Nightmare doesn't know that I lurk there and have been for almost a year now. Well maybe he knows slightly, I've commented once or twice, mostly I just read and enjoy. :)

the return of the underminer

from The Incredibles

Apparently the inlaws are back from their winter migration to Florida. Yippee. Not.

I hate my inlaws. Why? Background reading available here and here.

Cunty and PussyWhipped Can'tStandJa are the kids paternal grandparents. They specialize in emotional blackmail, lying, and keeping up appearances among the relatives. This is the email they sent about 2 minutes ago, a copy to me, the Kids' Dad, and my daughter's (!) personal email...

Hi to all!

Just wanted to let you know that Grandma Dorothy is now in a nursing home. She had a series of mini strokes & no longer felt safe to be alone.

She will be 99 on May 7th & her birthday party will be on the 10th. She would like all of you to be able to come. If the only reason you wouldn't come is the price of gas we would be willing to pay the gas so that you could see her . If you are working so that you couldn't come on Saturday you could come on Sunday as we kind of continue the party on Sunday until everyone has to go home.

If all of you can't come she would really like to have the kids come so that she could see them one more time. We will be going over on Friday the 9th & would take them with us if they want to go. Let us know what you decide as we will take the camper if the kids are going with us. You can email us or call us on the cell at 666-666 6666.

See you soon.
Love, Dad & Mom

1- don't tell me you love me you hypocritical bitch. Oh wait. You mean it in the fundy sense of the word so never mind. I'm sure you do "love" me, but not in any sense of the word that has any meaning to me.

2- "see you soon." you fucking wish!

3- You've been playing the "this is probably Grandma Dorothy's last birthday party" card for the last 8 years. Eight fucking years we've been hearing this "see you one last time" shit. And yes. One of these times it's going to be the last time. boo hoo hoo.

4- You don't ever get to take the kids anywhere on your own again. ever.

5- Paying for the gas is not going to reimburse me for the sheer boredom and drudgery I would experience at this "party".

riding the short bus

From the dawn of human consciousness humans have looked for ways to make the world make sense. Religion began as stories to explain, "Why is their rain? What moves the sun? Where do we go when we die? How did we get here?"

But as the world matured and science took over our understanding of how things work, religion has had to work mighty hard to maintain its strangle hold on the minds of the faithful. And oh how they twist and squirm and contort their minds trying to fit the world into a biblical point of view.

At Answers in Genesis they go through more bends and twists than a contortionist fitting himself through a tennis racket as they try to fit their god into the ever shrinking gaps left by science.

And this... this is the fundy's answer to a handicapped child who says "Why am I different than my friends, Mommy? Why can't I run and play like the kids I see down the street?"



You will find a barf bag conveniently placed in the pouch on the back of the seat in front of you. Please leave your seat belt fastened and your tray in the upright and locked position while you chunder. Thank you for your compulsory cooperation.

floss daily

I've been wearing my last pair of contact lenses for several months now. (Whoops!) Now that my insurance has kicked in, I finally broke down and went to the optometrist. My favorite part is answering the questions, "Which one is clearer? This one... or this one? This one... or this one? This... or this?" ad infinitum.

While waiting my turn on the cold, hard, plastic chin rest, I was flipping through a magazine with the cover story, "Make Good Sex Great" woohoo!!!!! When I say flipping, what I mean was trying frantically to locate that article before my name was called. I tried the index at the front of the magazine, but in my eagerness to locate the article I couldn't find it listed under whatever pseudonym they had given it to hide its location as the last article in the magazine, thus necessitating a careful perusal of each page as I attempted to locate this treasure trove of advice.

As I was searching, I came across this... and yes I did immediately whip out my cellphone and snap a pic of it. :P In fact, the one I took while holding the magazine didn't turn out as well as the one I took when I placed the magazine on the end table and snapped a birds eye view pic looking straight down on it.



Unfortunately, the quote was a one-offer and had no follow up tips or information. So with a little help from google I found the following advice.

To receive maximum benefits from flossing, use the following proper technique:

1- Wind the floss around your middle finger, leaving an inch or two of floss to work with.

2- Holding the floss tautly between your thumbs and index fingers, slide it gently up-and-down between your teeth.

3- Gently curve the floss around and never snap or force the floss, as this may cut or bruise delicate tissue.

4- Use clean sections of floss as you move around your mouth.

5- To remove the floss, use the same back-and-forth motion to bring the floss up and away from the teeth.

Floss can be waxed or unwaxed and comes in a variety of flavors.

Remember to floss daily, even if you don't have a partner.

...

This has been a public health advisory from your friendly neighborhood blogger- Fiery.

our new fundy

Hey everybody! Guess what?

...

Did you just think "what?" to yourself! COOL!!! Thanks for playing!!!

Anyway, I have exciting news!! We have been visited by Butt Nugget's replacement: Xzithlan! That didn't take too long, did it? I know... I was surprised as well. I wonder what kind of fundy this one will be? He might be a one shot wonder, popping up in a post from last December and then never returning. He might be the kind who posses as the gentle christian just wanting to learn about atheists. Or he might be the skidmark kind (I know you hate that particular image Richard. *hugs* I'm sorry.) who pops up, stirs up a lively discussion and disappears when he gets it from both barrels from each of my wonderful fellow bloggers. Will Xzithlan be able to handle the heat? He has sown the wind, will he be able to reap the whirlwind?

I didn't include Xzithlan's profile because he hasn't created one yet.

Now everybody, claws in until we get the fundy's measure. He popped up over on prayer = laziness and had this to say about prayer...

Prayer is not the call to laziness. When you say you will pray for someone, you are creating a conscious directive to help someone. Through prayer, one focuses on:
1. what the need really is
2. ways of helping, come to mind during or after prayer.

Blindly rushing in to help is never a good idea. If someone is drowning you throw them a lifesaver.

When someone says they will pray for you, they are thinking about you. During prayer (which is really a quiet thinking process with a single purpose), the person will receive an idea and because they are christian are called to put it into action.

I will pray that you come to learn how prayer can help you.

So what "xzithlan" is saying is that prayer is meditation with compulsion to act on the message received.

What if the message received is "God hates faggots"? Oh wait... there's a christian working on that one already.

What if the message received is "Four encounters with an infidel sully's the honor of your family, remove this stain from your life." Nope, another believer took care of that. Oh, but I got the christian part wrong, they're Muslim so that doesn't count.

You know it's weird. In Xzithlan's form of prayer, god doesn't have to do anything. He's not called upon to heal or bless or do... well... anything. It's up to the christian to do something. Hmmmmm...


...

Oh!! And Johnny! Guess what? That post, prayer = laziness, is the one where Butt Nugget put up that ridiculous scenario with the college professor and the student who "talked him down". Weren't we looking for that awhile back?