Why do you think I call it a death cult

post from Pharyngula on 30 October 2010 11:14:42 PM. © Pharyngula

Ray Comfort is great at demeaning the whole of Christianity by doing all the stuff you imagine that not even a Christian would stoop to doing. His latest: targeting the elderly with cards to remind them of their mortality and imminent need of salvation.

The card, published by livingwatersnewzealand.com, was addressed to her by name and asked her to fill in the date and time of her death.
"Please don't forget to call me on the date you're going to die, then we can discuss your eternity," it says. However, the cards do not have a contact name or phone number printed on them.

"Hey, lady, you're old and are going to die soon. Come to church now! Put us in your will!"

Living Waters is also the organization that sponsors these morbid booths at our county fair where kids are asked to take a test to determine whether they're going to heaven or hell. The answer is always hell…so they'd better follow Living Waters orders!

Whenever I hear apologists tell me that religion brings solace to the sick and old and despairing, I always think of Living Waters and their mission of making sure everyone is dreading their demise.

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Lost your libido Let's try a little
neuro-realism, madam

post from Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought on 30 October 2010 10:29:47 PM. © Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought

A study of women's libido raises questions about why brain imaging is used to make mental states 'real' for the public.

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How your brain handles terror scares

post from Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought on 30 October 2010 10:27:50 PM. © Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought

Today's reports of suspicious packages sent from Yemen can add a real-life fear factor to the fictional scares that folks typically experience during Halloween weekend. Whether the scares are make-believe or real, neuroscience provides some strategies for channeling our fear response in the right way.

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NASA to launch Robonaut 2 to join space station
crew

post from Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought on 30 October 2010 10:21:20 PM. © Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought

After several delays, NASA will finally launch the first human-like robot to space next Wednesday, November 3rd. Robonaut 2 will then become a permanent resident of the International Space Station.

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Shuttle Discovery launch delayed to Wednesday:
NASA

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 30 October 2010 09:17:05 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Washington (AFP) Oct 30, 2010
The final scheduled mission of space shuttle Discovery was delayed another 24 hours to Wednesday as technicians struggled to repair leaks in a pressurization system, NASA said on Saturday. Kennedy Space Center technicians worked overnight to repair quick-disconnect fittings in the system used to pressurize one of Discovery's orbital maneuvering rocket engines. The leaks were discovered F

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China Goes To Mars

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 30 October 2010 09:17:05 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Oct 31, 2010
As China's second Moon probe continues its mission, more information is being disclosed about China's ambitions for worlds beyond. China has made no secret of its plans to explore Mars, but we are getting a firmer indication of what to expect. Vague statements in the Chinese media have suggested that China could launch a mission to Mars in 2013. This is an interesting suggestion for a prog

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Cargo vessel links up with ISS after auto-docking
problem

post from Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News on 30 October 2010 09:17:05 PM. © Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Moscow (AFP) Oct 30, 2010
Cargo vessel Progress M-08M docked at the International Space Station on Saturday through a manual operation following a problem with the auto-docking system, the Russian control centre said. "The astronauts will soon open the doors and start to unload the vessel, which will take several days," control centre official Valery Lyndin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. The autom

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The Rally for Tone

post from Pharyngula on 30 October 2010 04:31:17 PM. © Pharyngula

I had the Stewart/Colbert rally on in the background most of today. There were funny bits, there were entertaining bits, I'm sure everyone there had a good time. It was a pleasant afternoon of entertainment on the mall.

But in the end, I was disappointed. It was also an afternoon of false equivalence, of civility fetishism, of nothing but a cry about the national tone, of a plea for moderation. And you can guess what I think of moderation.

A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.
Tom Paine

I don't want moderation, especially when the only people who will listen to Stewart and Colbert are the people on our shared side of the political aisle. I can understand where they're coming from; people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin and Andrew Breitbart are poison, Fox News is a propaganda organ without bounds working for the far right-wing, we've got evangelical Christians demanding the installation of a theocracy, and on and on and on. But who, exactly, do Stewart and Colbert regard as the equivalent of Beck and Limbaugh on the left? Is it Rachel Maddow? Amy Goodman? Keith Olbermann?

Once again, we have someone bravely standing up and telling the people on their own side to stop being dicks, while being vague on the names and specifics.

So I'm at a loss about what we're supposed to do in the world according to Jon Stewart. Hey, all you people working for gay and lesbian equality, all you women asking for equal pay, all you workers trying to unionize, all you peaceniks trying to end the war in Afghanistan, all you nurses and doctors and clinic workers trying to maintain reproductive freedom and keep women alive, all you teachers trying to teach science and history without censorship, all you citizens trying to build a rational health care policy, all you scientists and doctors who want our country to progress in medical research, all you damned secularists who want to keep religion out of our schools and government, hey, hey, HEY, you! Tone it down. Quit making such a fuss. You're too loud. Shush. You're as crazy as the teabaggers if you think your principles are worth fighting for.

I was left cold by the fuzziness of the event. It could have been great; instead of embracing an apolitical perspective and saying nothing at all about values, it could have been a rally for moderation that emphasized the actual values that moderates hold: we believe in tolerance for people of different ethnicities and religious views and sexual preferences, we believe in building an egalitarian social and economic infrastructure, we believe in privacy and personal freedoms, etc., etc., etc., and they could have held to the theme of the rally by advocating rational argument and unified, organized activism within the system to advance those goals…but they didn't. There was no purpose given other than a generic insistence that we all get along nicely. And to what end, I ask?

The question wasn't answered. All we need is the right tone, apparently.

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Saturday movie: Manufacturing Consent

post from Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought on 30 October 2010 02:04:37 PM. © Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought

Funny, provocative and surprisingly accessible, Manufacturing Consent explores the political life and ideas of world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist Noam Chomsky. Shown in its entirety.

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Shuttle mice to boost disease research

post from Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought on 30 October 2010 02:02:32 PM. © Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought

When the space shuttle Discovery lifts off on its final flight Nov. 2, its six astronauts will be joined by 16 rodent passengers on a historic mission of their own.

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