Why did New Scientist title one of the paragraphs in this article "Obesity Epidemic"? Was this necessary? I mean, putting that in there ruined an otherwise neat article re: big planets that are no more denser than a beachball.
Crap, why did I have to see those two overused-and-abused words in a freaking astronomy article?
I just can't get away....
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Onward, Christian Soldiers!
Now will everyone believe me when I say that the wingnuts intend to wage war on anyone who isn't one of them?
The Purpose Driven Life Takers (Updated) By Jonathan Hutson Mon May 29, 2006 at 07:58:55 PM EST Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life. The game, slated for release by October 2006 in advance of the Christmas shopping rush, has been previewed at video game exhibitions, and reviewed by major newspapers and magazines. But until now, no fan or critic has pointed out the controversial game's connection to Mr. Warren or his dominionist agenda. Time magazine has described Mr. Warren as one of the nation's most influential Evangelical Christian leaders. He describes himself as a "stealth evangelist" and describes his training programs as "a stealth movement, that's flying beneath the radar, that's changing literally hundreds, even thousands of churches around the world." He claims that he has sold tens of millions of copies of The Purpose Driven Life by developing a worldwide network of pastors. The international director of Mr. Warren's Purpose Driven Church, Mark Carver, is a former investment banker who serves on the Advisory Board of the corporation created in October 2001 to develop and market this game. The creators plan to market their game using the same network marketing techniques that Mr. Warren used to turn The Purpose Driven Life into a commercial success. For example, they plan to distribute their merchandise through pastoral networks, especially mega-churches.
I mean, get a load of the description of this game! It sounds like those games the military uses to train soldiers:
This game immerses children in present-day New York City -- 500 square blocks, stretching from Wall Street to Chinatown, Greenwich Village, the United Nations headquarters, and Harlem. The game rewards children for how effectively they role play the killing of those who resist becoming a born again Christian. The game also offers players the opportunity to switch sides and fight for the army of the AntiChrist, releasing cloven-hoofed demons who feast on conservative Christians and their panicked proselytes (who taste a lot like Christian).
The Purpose Driven Life Takers (Updated) By Jonathan Hutson Mon May 29, 2006 at 07:58:55 PM EST Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life. The game, slated for release by October 2006 in advance of the Christmas shopping rush, has been previewed at video game exhibitions, and reviewed by major newspapers and magazines. But until now, no fan or critic has pointed out the controversial game's connection to Mr. Warren or his dominionist agenda. Time magazine has described Mr. Warren as one of the nation's most influential Evangelical Christian leaders. He describes himself as a "stealth evangelist" and describes his training programs as "a stealth movement, that's flying beneath the radar, that's changing literally hundreds, even thousands of churches around the world." He claims that he has sold tens of millions of copies of The Purpose Driven Life by developing a worldwide network of pastors. The international director of Mr. Warren's Purpose Driven Church, Mark Carver, is a former investment banker who serves on the Advisory Board of the corporation created in October 2001 to develop and market this game. The creators plan to market their game using the same network marketing techniques that Mr. Warren used to turn The Purpose Driven Life into a commercial success. For example, they plan to distribute their merchandise through pastoral networks, especially mega-churches.
I mean, get a load of the description of this game! It sounds like those games the military uses to train soldiers:
This game immerses children in present-day New York City -- 500 square blocks, stretching from Wall Street to Chinatown, Greenwich Village, the United Nations headquarters, and Harlem. The game rewards children for how effectively they role play the killing of those who resist becoming a born again Christian. The game also offers players the opportunity to switch sides and fight for the army of the AntiChrist, releasing cloven-hoofed demons who feast on conservative Christians and their panicked proselytes (who taste a lot like Christian).
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Help Out The Oglala Sioux Tribe
From ginmar's livejournal, re: President Fire Thunder's decision to open a Planned Parenthood clinic on tribe lands in South Dakota:
Great news!
From kathrynt who called President Fire Thunder of the Oglala Sioux herself here is the contact info.
She says......
I called the Office of the President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of Pine Ridge, and spoke with Ms. Fire Thunder herself. (In case you haven't seen it, this is in reference to (this news article*)
If you want to mail donations to the reservation, you may do so at:
Oglala Sioux Tribe
ATTN: President Fire Thunder
P. O. Box 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770
OR: and this may be preferred, due to mail volume:
ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER
PO BOX 990
Martin, SD 57751
Enclose a letter voicing your support and explaining the purpose of the donation. Bear in mind, the Pine Ridge Res is not exactly dripping with disposeable income, so do consider donating funds directly to the tribe as well as specifically for this effort.
For email contact, you can contact the president at:
firethunder_president AT NOSPAM yahoo DOT com
cc:vbush AT NOSPAM oglala DOT org
That is Ms. Fire Thunder's personal email address; I have received permission to post it here. For the sake of record keeping, do cc: the listed address on all correspondence; that's her official secretary.
She was frankly kind of surprised that a white girl from Seattle was calling to express support, and even more surprised that the news had spread so far so fast. She's likely to get deluged with screaming hate mail soon, so get your support in fast. Send email with good thoughts if you can't send money.
ETA: Yes, please, dear God, link it anywhere and everywhere!
*I added this part myself to create the link to the news item
Great news!
From kathrynt who called President Fire Thunder of the Oglala Sioux herself here is the contact info.
She says......
I called the Office of the President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of Pine Ridge, and spoke with Ms. Fire Thunder herself. (In case you haven't seen it, this is in reference to (this news article*)
If you want to mail donations to the reservation, you may do so at:
Oglala Sioux Tribe
ATTN: President Fire Thunder
P. O. Box 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770
OR: and this may be preferred, due to mail volume:
ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER
PO BOX 990
Martin, SD 57751
Enclose a letter voicing your support and explaining the purpose of the donation. Bear in mind, the Pine Ridge Res is not exactly dripping with disposeable income, so do consider donating funds directly to the tribe as well as specifically for this effort.
For email contact, you can contact the president at:
firethunder_president AT NOSPAM yahoo DOT com
cc:vbush AT NOSPAM oglala DOT org
That is Ms. Fire Thunder's personal email address; I have received permission to post it here. For the sake of record keeping, do cc: the listed address on all correspondence; that's her official secretary.
She was frankly kind of surprised that a white girl from Seattle was calling to express support, and even more surprised that the news had spread so far so fast. She's likely to get deluged with screaming hate mail soon, so get your support in fast. Send email with good thoughts if you can't send money.
ETA: Yes, please, dear God, link it anywhere and everywhere!
*I added this part myself to create the link to the news item
Monday, March 20, 2006
Quickies
Since I'm, once again, pressed for time here:
"Silent Struggle: A New Theory of Pregnancy" - Carl Zimmer - My biggest problem w/this article is that, within the article, pregnancy's referred to as a "two-person operation". No, pregnancy is the ongoing work (until birth/miscarriage/abortion) of one person - the mother. Can you tell that I really really don't like assigning the term "person" to a fetus?
"House GOP Bans County Health Clinics From Providing Birth Control" - Fired Up Missouri - Let's quit pretending that the fundamentalists will pack up and go home after they ban abortion; they're aiming for birth control, too. Like many feminists and pro-choice activists have said for years: these people are concerned about something...but it ain't wee lil' baybeez.
"Red state women speak: How abortion restrictions affect them, their daughters" - Melissa McEwan - Especially read this if you're one of those "oh, let'em ban abortions! The red staters'll flock to the Democratic Party then!" people.
"Silent Struggle: A New Theory of Pregnancy" - Carl Zimmer - My biggest problem w/this article is that, within the article, pregnancy's referred to as a "two-person operation". No, pregnancy is the ongoing work (until birth/miscarriage/abortion) of one person - the mother. Can you tell that I really really don't like assigning the term "person" to a fetus?
"House GOP Bans County Health Clinics From Providing Birth Control" - Fired Up Missouri - Let's quit pretending that the fundamentalists will pack up and go home after they ban abortion; they're aiming for birth control, too. Like many feminists and pro-choice activists have said for years: these people are concerned about something...but it ain't wee lil' baybeez.
"Red state women speak: How abortion restrictions affect them, their daughters" - Melissa McEwan - Especially read this if you're one of those "oh, let'em ban abortions! The red staters'll flock to the Democratic Party then!" people.
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