Right Idea, Wrong Way: Atheists vs. Christians

I'm going to start a series of posts about having the right idea but doing something about it the wrong way because I find it particularly ironic how many times this happens to generally smart people.

Today's installment is one that's been in the news for a about a week now. You can read some of the discussion in articles from news outlets documented by the creators of the sign: Freedom From Religion

Governer Gregoire had the right idea: Let different religions (or non-religions) each have a share of the stage at the state capitol rather than endorsing only Christmas which is, admittedly, a Christian winter celebration. The state exercised a "permitting" process to make sure that there was some control over what went into the building. They had little choice because otherwise it could have become anything from chaos to a public safety hazard.

What went wrong: Instead of letting only "postitive oriented" displays like a Menorah, Christmas Tree, Chreche, Santa Claus or Festivus they permitted a "negative oriented" display from a Wisconson Atheist group. Am I ticked because they are Atheists? No. I'm closer to that than Christianity. But the display wasn't "pro Atheist", it was "Anti-Christian" by declaring things that Christians care about as wrong, irrelevant, and "Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

That was wrong! That's not celebration. That is a negative publicity campaign and, ironically, tactics like that are part of the reason that I have not been supportive of Christians. In the USA many of them accept their beliefs and then work very hard to convince you that if you don't accept their beliefs that you are a lesser person than they. I've disliked that attitude from many Christians for three decades now.

Imagine my disappointment when I found the Atheists doing the same thing back. Shame to them. Shame to Gov. Gregoire for letting them turn a celebratory stage into a second-grade "I'm right and you are wrong" argument.

If the display can't be positive - or at least neutral in tone - then it shouldn't be there. That is where the Governor took the good idea but let the FFRF do it the wrong way.

Now fix it!

Happy Winter Holidays to everyone whatever you are!

Ikea Lamp Commercial

I really like this commercial. Mentally it takes on on a little journey - one you are very willing to take - and then pulls the rug out from under you at the end.

Caught.

Try it and see if it gets you as well:

Real Life Solar Power

If you live in California or simiar southerly locales you might find this article interesting. It's a real life installation of solar panels on a home complete with photos and results after the first month. We may not be ready for solar in every home, but this is proof that it's more feasible than ever before.

ExtremeTech on Solar Power for Your Home

Myth Busted: Twinkies Do Get Moldy

Like everyone my age, I'd heard that Twinkies had a nearly infinite shelf life. Somehow these little bites of cake-heaven got the reputation of being so preservative filled that they would last for 100 years without going bad. (I'm not sure I'd want to bite a 100 year old food product even if it didn't sprout mold, but that's another blog for another day.)

Imagine my surprise when I opened my food stash at work and found the last Twinkie - the one I'd been saving for that 'special' moment when I get promoted to CEO - had mold spots! Not just tiny ones, but significantly black nasty ones. I knew you all wouldn't believe it so I brought it home and photographed it as proof that Twinkies get moldy.

I don't know exactly how old it was when I got it because it was purchased from the 'snack cabinet' and I think it was in the storage bin for about 6 to 8 weeks, but in no way was it in there for even one year, let alone 100.

So, let the myth be busted: Twinkies Do Get Moldy

Credits to Snopes.com for busting this before I did in their exposé.

Tip-O-The-Hat to the T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project for their experiments in food science.

True Colors

Yes, I changed the color scheme. The old one was just a little too "green". It's still the same site with the same content. Calm down.

Smart and Benz

I knew the cars shared common parentage but I had to snap a shot when the two were spotted sitting side by side in a local parking lot. Both are nice in their own way.

Retired Priest + Gas Station = The Man Who Wears The Star - Reborn?

What's old is trying to be a nostalgia stop in La Grande, Oregon.

"You can trust your car to the man who wears the Star."

This was a Texaco slogan for many years. It was also many years ago when "Service Stations" dotted the highways and cities of the good old USA. Sure we had enough nuclear power for Mutually Assured Destruction, but that was just a theory. In reality we had achieved the ability to keep our automobiles running reliably for the first time.

For those too young I'll replay my memories. It started when you needed gas for the car and drove into a "Service Station". When the tires of the car hit the air hose and rang the bell one, or maybe even two or three, "attendants" would come running to fill your tank, check your tires, check the oil, fill the radiator and clean the windshield - and then they'd ask you what else they could do for you. Even better was that if your car had a problem there was a mechanic who could actually fix it - right there at the station!

Admit it, kids, that sounds a lot better than a kid behind a cash register at the corner market who watches people pump their own gas and wash their own windows and who can't even tell you where to find a mechanic. That's why I'm happy that someone is trying to play the nostalgia card and make a 1950's style Texaco station come back to life in 2008!

Hank Albrecht retired from the priesthood and is doing everything he can to bring an old Texaco station back to it's former glory. Here is an article from the local paper. The station is at 1508 Adams Avenue (the old US-30) in La Grande, Oregon, about 265 miles from Portland on I-84 on the way to Boise, Idaho. I was there just two weeks ago and I can vouch that he's spiffed up the station and has the gas pumps on the bases. There's no sign of how much more work he needs to do before he can sell gas - the EPA has lots of fuel tank rules you know.

I look forward to the day when I can go back in time and once again trust my car to the man who wears the star. You should stop in and see the station if you happen to be in the area.

Second Puberty

I ran across a humors marketing campaign today. I don't know how long they've been running it but it made me laugh out loud:

Philips Second Puberty Campaign

Heiroglyphics or Graffiti? Humans Communicating With Those Who Come This Way Later

On a recent trip to Southern Utah I caught myself grousing out loud about a person who used his black marker to put graffiti on a sign in a public bathroom. After I went through all of the reasons this was bad (ugly, costly to remove, disrespectful of property) I asked myself, "Why do people do this? When did we start making graffiti?"

That's when it hit me. The graffiti on the wall was a young sibling of the Heiroglyphics that were on the rock wall that I was visiting only two days before. The rock wall graffiti was hundreds or maybe thousands of years old but it's purpose was primarily the same: To allow the writer to leave a message for other humans to read when they come to this same place at a later time.

Humans are social creatures and social creatures need communication. We get a great deal of it by direct interaction but we have always felt a need to communicate across time; to leave a "message" for someone who would come later; someone we don't know specifically but who might want or need to know something that the message creator can share. It might be art, it might be messages about this being one group's "turf", it might be a warning about some local hazard, or it might be a friendly or curious message meant to puzzle or amuse. I'm sure that humans have felt this urge since they began spoken language.

Imagine a future where we will be able to fulfill part of this urge by writing messages on a virtual wall where anyone who wanders the virtual space and finds them will be able to read them. Maybe we'll call them "web logs".

Sun-Shiny Day

I don't know what the weather is like where you live, but in many places the sun is out in great style. Whenever that happens I flash back to the song that was playing at Blizzard Beach water park at Disney World right as I walked in ready to have a day of great vacation fun. All I need to do is put up the lyrics and you'll be singing it too. Have a great sun-shiny day!

Artist: Johnny Nash
Song: I Can See Clearly Now

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I’ve been prayin' for
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.

Look all around, there’s nothin' but blue skies
Look straight ahead, nothin' but blue skies

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.

Men in Space: Past and Future

I'm old enough to remember the excitement of sending a man to the moon. For those of you who aren't or who wish to relive some of the era there is a Discovery Channel series called When We Left Earth that covers it well.

In the future many different companies hope to get the average man into space. Certainly Richard Branson's company, Virgin Galactic, is making a good run at it. Here is a 'spy photo' that shows it: Is this SpaceShipTwo?

Some of us may not be interested in going to space. I'd love a chance to go. Will I be able to afford to go as a tourist? I doubt it, but that won't stop me from dreaming.

Five Feet Worth of Puns

Feet washing up on a beach is funny if they are plastic mannequin feet. Having them be five real human feet is still funny but it's also darn creepy. Instinctively it triggers a natural human reaction of uneasiness because our evolution has taught us that when you find a bunch of severed human parts there is a decent chance that parts from your body could be added to the collection and you'd better get the heck out of the area fast before the savage human dis-memberers come back.

But we aren't cave men fearing man eating sabre cats. We are modern men who domoinate mother nature. Modern men cope with that uneasiness differently. We use humor and make fun of the situation like any civilized person would.

Read up:
Mystery of the Feet

Time Wasting Amusement: Monster Milktruck

Life is best when you've got some time to spend on whatever amuses you the most. Sometimes you find amusements in unexpected places from simple things. When I was a kid I spent a half of a sunny day watching some ants. Tireless and hardworking, they had a column running through the flowerbed and the stone walkway. At first it was just watching, but at the end there were also experiments. (No, I did not use the magnifying glass. Shame on you for thinking it.) I tried to interrupt the column by putting sticks across it but they quickly climbed over it. I tried to to divert them with some sugar water which gathered a lot of ants but also didn't stop the column from moving along.

Like with the ants, I recently ran across something relatively simple that ended up being very amusing and taking more of my time than I expected. Google Earth now has a browser plug-in and, to test and demonstrate their new work, they made a few simple applications. One is an oversized Milk Truck that can be driven across Google Earth. Simple. Amusing.
Monster Milktruck

Be sure to spend a few minutes driving off the peak of Whistler mountain. Don't forget you have a day job. Now you know what I've been doing instead of blogging.

When $300 Million is insignificant money.

Read this article and look at the cost values:
Boeing says Air Force miscalculated tanker costs

The important numbers come from this: "The Air Force initially put the cost to operate the tanker over its lifespan at $108.01 billion for the Northrop plane, compared with over $108.04 billion for the Boeing tanker."

The difference is $300 Million. It sounds like a lot. I know I'd like to have just a 1% of it to help offset the rising cost of gas for my Hummer H2. However, if you punch it through the dollar-store calculator you find that it's just 0.027% of the total. It's tiny. It's strangely, suspiciously small.

I'd love to know the answers to these two questions:

1) Why are the cost estimates so close? Is there some huge cost to operate the planes that it overshadows all of the other factors like fuel and maintenance?

2) Does anyone really think that claiming a 0.027% cost advantage is really significant? I don't think so.

If you had two painters that estimated $5000.00 and $5,001.35 to paint your house would you consider that any significant difference? I don't think you would - and I don't think the GAO and the taxpayers should consider these two $100 Billion estimates different either. In fact, they should be suspicious that they are so close. Very suspicous.

Thought for June 11, 2008: Driving the Dog

[This is the first installment of what I hope will be a statement or idea that provokes thought in my readers. Let me know what you think.]

You've probably notice that gas is over $4/gallon in some states. Regardless of how it got that way it made me ask a friend this question:

How expensive would gas have to be before you stopped driving your dog to the park just for him/her to play?

Everyone's answer would be different, of course. Mine: I don't have a dog!

Great April Fool's Web Sites

A collection of web sites that have (or had) April Fools' gags worth mentioning. Need we say more? I don't think so:

The List of Lists for April Fools Web Sites:http://aprilfoolsdayontheweb.com/

G-mail custom time let's you time/date E-mail "back to the future":
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/customtime/index.html

More USB gadgets than you ever wanted:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/

Blogging for people with minimal effort:
http://buzz.blogger.com/2008/04/announcing-google-weblogs-beta.html

For Bird Note fans:
http://www.birdnote.org/

The Tesla Roadster hits the road.

http://www.teslamotors.com/media/press_room.php?id=841

Here is the press release from Tesla Motors that they have fired up the production line and are finally unleashing this electric beauty on the world. Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and other hybrid owners have a reason to be envious. This beautifully styled sports car outperforms almost every gas powered car on earth, gets the equivalent of 135 MPG and can catch any babe you want.

This is a recipe for anyone with money to purchase one. I hope they sell every one of the first 1,000 before they roll off the factory floor. Driving a Prius makes a statement, but it's a kind of eco-friendly-dorky statement. Driving a Tesla Roasdter says, "I'll never have to buy premium gas for this road rocket!"

Now if I could only win that lottery!