Dunno if this has been posted before, but it is fucking hilarious.

http://www.seanet.com/~billr/xbs/DontdisElisha.htm

Pastor Jeff Harlow broke his wrist Sunday, when he lost control of a motorcycle he was using during an object lesson, and rode it off the dias into an empty first row of seats. He gave the sermon, One - May We Be One - Honor One Another, twice Sunday. The first sermon went off without a hitch, but Darwin caught up with him during the second one.

Harlow had never ridden a motorcycle before and practiced in the parking lot the day before. In his first sermon, he said, "I was trying to feel my way around the parking lot yesterday, hit second gear, and popped a wheelie, and didn't intend to. Didn't know how to get it back down after I had got it up."

I think the story was posted already, but I just found a Youtube video of the incident:

I just came across this entry that I'd bookmarked a few years ago, and since people have recently been posting about roughly the same topic, I thought it deserves a repost (thanks saber_rider, if you're still here).

The essence of it:

[With God,] all the beauty and miracles are meaningless. They are created as such, and exist as they do because they were meant to be so. Every bit of ugly or beautiful is that way because it is defined that way. There's no fitting things together to make them beautiful. Miracles happen because they are supposed to happen; they are planned and executed to achieve some goal. The world becomes how it is because it must be this way. There is no freedom, no oppertunity for change.

Instead, remove god, remove miragles and creation and planning and design. Humanity, by its mere existance, is an accomplishment. Not one any one person can make claim to, and even the species as a whole still rests upon the countless species that came before it. But from a mere chemical reaction, an event hardly any different than ones that occur every day and all the time, springs life. And after just life, all creatures great and small. And finally, a species capable of pondering its own existance. From nothing more than a cocktail of chemicals springs every last human accomplishment, triumph, and emotion, not to mention the vast biodiversity of not just our planet today, but a billion years of life and death. From something so simple, something so complex. Tell me that's not majestic.

Full post here: http://community.livejournal.com/atheist/1135531.html

This seriously inspired me when it was originally posted, and I've even taken on the first comment as my life's philosophy: The fact that life has no meaning is a reason to live. Moreover, the only one. (thanks vodgut, if you're still here)

Following some high level debates,

The London Fur Meet has moved!

The next meet will be at The Apostle on Ludgate Hill.

That is all.

In the late 1990s, inbetween freelance web jobs, I spent a day as an extra, being a Singaporean stock trader in the film Rogue Trader, a film about how stocktrader Nick Leeson managed to bring down the United Kingdom's oldest investment bank. The film starred Ewan McGregor and Anna Friel.

Alas, any glamorous notions I had about finally being part of the film industry were somewhat thwarted by the sheer tedium of waiting around on film sets waiting for filming to start, with nothing to do except talk to equally disillusioned Chinese extras, who were mostly Filipino actors/actresses who'd come to London with dreams of treading the stage or doing some good acting, as opposed to ending up with a bunch of extras. Although I did manage to walk around the Pinewood Studios shop and buy a jacket.

After one day of work, being on/off set for about 10 hours and wasting three hours being shuttled between central London and Pinewood for £80 (and they were very keen to get people back for more extras shooting, but I'd rather sit in front of a computer pumping out webcode!), the net result is the picture you see. If you watch the film itself, I'm about 40 minutes into the film, just after Nick Leeson is celebrating Christmas with his girlfriend (Friel).

The only other time I saw it was when slightly drunk and waiting in eager anticipation to see The Matrix. One of the trailers that featured before it was for Rogue Trader, and I yelped in surprise when I saw a strangely familiar moon-shaped face staring at me on the screen before I realised it was me.

I kept meaning to track down the DVD but then to my surprise, when I stumbled in after a hard day at a works do summer party (football, softball, Pimms, quizzes and the odd bit of chat) to find the film showing on ITV4. And finally, I manage to capture my moment of fame alongside Ewan McGregor.

To come ... how I had dinner with Frank Skinner and was in Stephen Fry's bedroom...

That guy is definitely a joke though.

summary:

-If someone created video games then someone must have also created us.
-We can say for certain that the sun will rise tomorrow.
-Christians have always believed in gravity?

It's obviously a contest which cannot be won, because it's judged by the wrong people.. But, it's certainly funny to watch.. The entire website is a joke. GodTube?

EDIT: Sorry, the embedded video didn't work! here's the link:
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8eac64eb46ea47490279

It doesn't seem this has been posted before, I know a good lot of you aren't the biggest fans of fox news, neither am I, but I found this article funny

Residents Upset Over Group's Distribution of Qurans
[www.myfoxhouston.com]


Last Edited: Tuesday, 01 Jul 2008, 9:27 PM CDT
Created: Tuesday, 01 Jul 2008, 8:31 PM CDT
Quran
FOX 26 News

HOUSTON -- The distribution of Qurans in a southwest Houston neighborhood has some residents worried about the motives of the group who dispersed the Islamic book.

An English translation of the Quran began appearing two weeks ago on the doorsteps of hundred of homes in the BraesTimbers neighborhood. The books came in plastic bags with a note attached from the ‘Book of Signs Foundation’ asking recipients to accept the Quran as a gift from the Muslim community.

But some residents, like Greg and Sue Ann Pieri, said they feared the group is imposing its beliefs on non-Muslims and found the gesture offensive.

“If we went into a Muslim country and left a bible, we would be in prison and then decapitated a few years later,” said Sue Ann Pieri, who chose not to destroy the book like other neighbors did.

However, Houston's Council on American-Islamic Relations President Tarick Hussein said although his organization did not partake in distributing the books, he believes that the Muslims behind the distribution only wanted to educate non-Muslims about the religion.

The Book of Signs Foundation claims to have distributed 30,000 Qurans in Houston, targeting neighborhoods believed to be most receptive of the Quran or in need of a better understanding of Islam.


(For those who don't want to read all that, it basically says, Christians get a taste of their own medicine, and don't like it.)

I got this e-mail just a few minutes ago. Read it... then weep for humanity.


x-posted

Found this post titled Anti-atheist Backlash on R&R on craigslist. Thought people here might like it.

The “Should Trap” and How we Ought to Behave

I've frequently mentioned the trap hidden in the word, “should.” It's time now for us to look at exactly what the word means, what it doesn't mean, and how a good understanding of these things will allow us to understand how humans form concepts of morality. We'll soon see that everything from what we should eat for dinner to who we should vote for in the upcoming election to whether or not we should have children or adopt – all of these questions become much easier to answer when we realize exactly what we're asking.
( Read more... )

Had a great vacation, went on a great date over the weekend, have another one planned for Friday, and have tomorrow off from work.

I have a few old pieces of business to wrap up, but otherwise, I'm very happy right now.

When you have all three segments of Dr Horrible downloaded to your computer, you can basically set the chore list.

"Yes, we will watch the next one, after you do those dishes, take out the trash, and beat that rug."

Singing "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do..." Or in this case, a mom.

Every time I find out a girl I met (and liked) is a hardcore Christian, I die a little inside.

What's everyone's opinion on religiosity in the context of forming relationships?

I've been wrestling with this personal demon for some time. While I hate to cut myself off from the vast majority of the population (at least here in the US), past experience has taught me that it just doesn't work. As nice as these people can be, most do still judge you and assume that without God you can have no moral compass. One even admitted to me a fear that I would poison the minds of any potential (emphasis mine) future children against her raising them to be good (brainwashed) Christians. In my experience, we both say it doesn't matter in the beginning, but we're both lying. It complicates things later on, and it's just a ticking time bomb waiting to end a relationship with a single ill-timed/-worded remark.

I've also noticed that, though we are a fairly diverse lot, we all do share a number of core personality traits. I've noticed that those people I get along best with and are most compatible with often turn out to be freethinkers, atheists, and agnostics when it's more appropriate to ask about that taboo topic without fear of giving offense. Coincidence? I think not.

But that's my opinion, and my experiences, for what they're worth. I'm wondering if anyone else has similar experiences or has a different opinion of this issue.

x-posted in atheism

 Icons, but only two of 'em. :)

 

Hope you enjoy!

http://www.digitalpraise.com/

Since its introduction in October 2005, Dance Praise has been widely acclaimed by users and reviewers. It's been praised by The 700 Club, The New York Times, ABC News, Children's Technology Review, and more.

Now, a new version - Dance Praise2 - the ReMix - takes Dance Praise to a whole new level. With 52 new songs, many new features, and compelling 3-D graphics, this new version is sure to get the entire family off the couch and dancin' in no time!

Found on WTF_inc


http://community.livejournal.com/wtf_inc/6163819.html

Here's the full story straight from PZ:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/the_cost_of_delusional_derange.php