To Michigan Atheists, PZ Myers, Greta Christina, Hemant Mehta, Jen McReight, JT Eberhard, Adam Lee, The Chaplain, Digital Cuttlefish, Matt Dillahunty, C.L. Hanson, Sikivu Hutchinson, Phil Ferguson, Jeff Duncan, Unknown (to me) Benefactor, and to all who have donated to Camp Quest:
THANK YOU.
Thank you for, your generosity, the giving freely of yourselves for those you do not know, perhaps will never know.
My wife, Miranda and I have been discussing sending our oldest child to Camp Quest for the past 2 years, since she was 8. Each year financial difficulties have prevented us from doing so. I had the paperwork for a campership for Camp Quest Ohio nearly completed, but we found it difficult to scrape together even the $100 deposit required. Prices increase, and wages stay the same. I don't share this for pity, but to inform of where we are right now.
A link was shared with me about 3 weeks ago. This link was a contest, for a campership to Camp Quest Michigan. The topic was "What can I do to improve the image of freethinkers/atheists in the world?". I passed this on to Charlotte, and here is what she wrote:
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Were you Raptured as well?
The Rapture I guess passed us by
It's not hard to figure out why:
The christianist dopes
are selling false hope
and offering pie in the sky.
Posted here on Pharyngula
It's not hard to figure out why:
The christianist dopes
are selling false hope
and offering pie in the sky.
Posted here on Pharyngula
Monday, May 23, 2011
Birthday Limerick
Time speeds inexorably on
You blinked? Twenty years are long gone.
But the option is worse
so I'm thankful, in verse,
to wake to each morning's new dawn.
The prologue of past is complete.
New paths open up at my feet.
The road, as is said
goes ever on up ahead
with loves to hold and friends to meet.
But the option is worse
so I'm thankful, in verse,
to wake to each morning's new dawn.
The prologue of past is complete.
New paths open up at my feet.
The road, as is said
goes ever on up ahead
with loves to hold and friends to meet.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Existential Meanderings.
I just got back from visiting my great-grandfather's grave at the Masonic Cemetery in Springfield. He died in 1989 and, although I was named after him (him - Richard Wilson, me - Richard Wilson Stage), that was the first time I had been there. I have good memories of him. There was a picture, taken when I was 8 or so, of the two of us, me in pajamas, both of us grinning like idiots.
Apart from the memories of childhood, good and otherwise, I started thinking. I remember him, but I can't say I really knew him. Grampa Wilson was born in 1899. He would have been 18 when the US joined WW 1. Did he serve? How did he get through the Great Depression? Who was he?
Then I followed that question to it's logical conclusion.
Who am I?
I am a husband to the most wonderful woman I have met. I am father to two amazing kids. But is that who I am? Do those moments in my life (marriage, births) define me? People have said that who we are is the sum of our experiences, but what if the math doesn't add up? What if I forgot to carry the one? Perhaps I should subtract π. Maybe I should subtract π a couple times.
I know almost everyone has had an existential quandary at some point in their lives, and mine isn't really any different. But if we are all indeed the sum of our experiences, how can we be sure the math adds up?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
I fucking hate Tim Tebow
If you do not know who Tim Tebow is, get out from under your rock and turn on ESPN. He is the Heisman winning QB from Florida, who, if he wins the SEC championship game, will play in yet another national championship game. Huzzah for him.
Why do I fucking hate Tim Tebow?
He was recently on a missionary trip to the Philippines. That trip is bad enough in and of itself. People went for medical and dental care, yet had to sit through a religious spiel before getting treated. I consider that cruel and unusual punishment, but those people need the treatment, so any is good. But that wasn't enough for Mr. Tebow.
Deciding that he wanted to get more "hands on", he assisted doctors with circumcisions.
Think about that.
Tim Tebow, majoring in "family, youth and community sciences" (Whatever the hell that is. Science? Really?) took up a needle and thread (okay, sutures are subtly different) and sewed up freshly mutilated penises. I know that medical standards in the Philippines are more lax than here, but really?
The important point to me is the genital mutilation. If anyone tries to tell you that circumcision (male genital mutilation) is for any reason other than religious, you can feel free to safely ignore anything else they have to say.
If anyone tells you that circumcision (male genital mutilation) is different or better than the slicing off of the labia or clitoris of little girls, feel free to punch them in their throat, because it is the same thing. It is mutilating the genitals of a young child, an innocent who knows nothing but the pain.
Fuck you, Tim Tebow. I fucking hate you.
References
Why do I fucking hate Tim Tebow?
He was recently on a missionary trip to the Philippines. That trip is bad enough in and of itself. People went for medical and dental care, yet had to sit through a religious spiel before getting treated. I consider that cruel and unusual punishment, but those people need the treatment, so any is good. But that wasn't enough for Mr. Tebow.
Deciding that he wanted to get more "hands on", he assisted doctors with circumcisions.
Think about that.
Tim Tebow, majoring in "family, youth and community sciences" (Whatever the hell that is. Science? Really?) took up a needle and thread (okay, sutures are subtly different) and sewed up freshly mutilated penises. I know that medical standards in the Philippines are more lax than here, but really?
The important point to me is the genital mutilation. If anyone tries to tell you that circumcision (male genital mutilation) is for any reason other than religious, you can feel free to safely ignore anything else they have to say.
If anyone tells you that circumcision (male genital mutilation) is different or better than the slicing off of the labia or clitoris of little girls, feel free to punch them in their throat, because it is the same thing. It is mutilating the genitals of a young child, an innocent who knows nothing but the pain.
Fuck you, Tim Tebow. I fucking hate you.
References
Thursday, November 5, 2009
I'll just leave this here...
Well a Scotsman clad in kilt left a bar one evening fair
And one could tell by how he walked that he'd drunk more than his share
He fumbled round until he could no longer keep his feet
Then he stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
He stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street
About that time two young and lovely girls just happend by
And one says to the other with a twinkle in her eye
See young sleeping Scotsman so strong and handsome built
I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath the kilt
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath the kilt
They crept up on that sleeping Scotsman quiet as could be
Lifted up his kilt about an inch so they could see
And there behold, for them to view, beneath his Scottish skirt
Was nothing more than God had graced him with upon his birth
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
Was nothing more than God had graced him with upon his birth
They marveled for a moment, then one said we must be gone
Let's leave a present for our friend, before we move along
As a gift they left a blue silk ribbon, tied into a bow
Around the bonnie star, the Scots kilt did lift and show
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
Around the bonnie star, the Scots kilt did lift and show
Now the Scotsman woke to nature's call and stumbled towards a tree
Behind a bush, he lift his kilt and gawks at what he sees
And in a startled voice he says to what's before his eyes.
O lad I don't know where you been but I see you won first prize
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
O lad I don't know where you been but I see you won first prize
And one could tell by how he walked that he'd drunk more than his share
He fumbled round until he could no longer keep his feet
Then he stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
He stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street
About that time two young and lovely girls just happend by
And one says to the other with a twinkle in her eye
See young sleeping Scotsman so strong and handsome built
I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath the kilt
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath the kilt
They crept up on that sleeping Scotsman quiet as could be
Lifted up his kilt about an inch so they could see
And there behold, for them to view, beneath his Scottish skirt
Was nothing more than God had graced him with upon his birth
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
Was nothing more than God had graced him with upon his birth
They marveled for a moment, then one said we must be gone
Let's leave a present for our friend, before we move along
As a gift they left a blue silk ribbon, tied into a bow
Around the bonnie star, the Scots kilt did lift and show
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
Around the bonnie star, the Scots kilt did lift and show
Now the Scotsman woke to nature's call and stumbled towards a tree
Behind a bush, he lift his kilt and gawks at what he sees
And in a startled voice he says to what's before his eyes.
O lad I don't know where you been but I see you won first prize
Ring ding diddle diddle I de oh ring di diddly I oh
O lad I don't know where you been but I see you won first prize
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Don't fuck with P&T
Posted here.
Donohue can't learn to say when.
His head's up his ass yet again!
He thinks they're a prize,
but he picked the wrong guys -
Teller and his partner Penn
Old Bill's gonna learn the hard way
his religion's becoming passe.
But he'll still be a pawn
when he finds his god gone.
He'll be on his knees everyday
Donohue can't learn to say when.
His head's up his ass yet again!
He thinks they're a prize,
but he picked the wrong guys -
Teller and his partner Penn
Old Bill's gonna learn the hard way
his religion's becoming passe.
But he'll still be a pawn
when he finds his god gone.
He'll be on his knees everyday
Yeah, I'm on Twitter...
I'm following #obamacare
They can't tell here from there
they think that it's wise
to spread all their lies
and pull "facts" out of thin air
They can't tell here from there
they think that it's wise
to spread all their lies
and pull "facts" out of thin air
Friday, August 14, 2009
Best pro-government health care post. EVAR.
From Ozone on Fark:
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
And then I log on to the internet -- which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration -- and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
And then I log on to the internet -- which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration -- and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.
Monday, August 10, 2009
A Visit From PZ
There was a Professor from Morris
who gathered the cast and the chorus.
And we all headed down
to visit the clowns
and the bibleists that all abhor us.
As day broke, sunny and grand,
the heathens from all o'er the land
north, east, west and south
all by different routes,
for reason we'd take a firm stand.
To Kentucky we all did flock.
Racing so we'd beat the clock
so if we were inclined
we might head up the line
so we could be the first to mock.
With ticket and button in hand
we followed through with our plan:
for ourselves to see
the insanity
of Ken Ham's folly first hand.
As soon as we walked in the door:
Behold! A large pterasaur!
Graceful and free -
or not. It could be
it evolved to stay off the floor.
The next thing we saw was bizarre -
a grazing and growling brontosaur!
Then we saw what they did
with the raptors and kids.
The Flintstones can't be too far!
The Grand Canyon was, so they say,
carved by the flood in mere days.
If you ignored all the facts,
or hit your head with an axe
or replaced your brain with mayonnaise.
They said if we came we'd believe,
but not after Adam and Eve!
We laughed, not from spite -
we could tell from first sight
that this place was built to deceive
Next was Noah and his Ark.
The departure from fact was stark!
While the rain quickly poured
God put the dinos on board
but didn't have room for the shark.
Heaven forbid if you doubt them
cause no one's more honest than Ken Ham!
He said “You can trust us!”
“We're just lying for jebus!”
and the creo-zombies echo “Amen!”
If there was one part of that twaddle
that kept me from coming unraveled
was the sight of PZ
gloriously
on the dino that was wearing a saddle.
While there we laughed and we learned.
We left wondering how facts could be spurned.
The day went as we thought.
The science was naught.
So we vowed we would never return.
Here is the moral of my tale:
stay away from this shrine to fail!
But if visit you must,
to hide your disgust
go filled up with whiskey and ale.
Edited to fix the spacing.
who gathered the cast and the chorus.
And we all headed down
to visit the clowns
and the bibleists that all abhor us.
As day broke, sunny and grand,
the heathens from all o'er the land
north, east, west and south
all by different routes,
for reason we'd take a firm stand.
To Kentucky we all did flock.
Racing so we'd beat the clock
so if we were inclined
we might head up the line
so we could be the first to mock.
With ticket and button in hand
we followed through with our plan:
for ourselves to see
the insanity
of Ken Ham's folly first hand.
As soon as we walked in the door:
Behold! A large pterasaur!
Graceful and free -
or not. It could be
it evolved to stay off the floor.
The next thing we saw was bizarre -
a grazing and growling brontosaur!
Then we saw what they did
with the raptors and kids.
The Flintstones can't be too far!
The Grand Canyon was, so they say,
carved by the flood in mere days.
If you ignored all the facts,
or hit your head with an axe
or replaced your brain with mayonnaise.
They said if we came we'd believe,
but not after Adam and Eve!
We laughed, not from spite -
we could tell from first sight
that this place was built to deceive
Next was Noah and his Ark.
The departure from fact was stark!
While the rain quickly poured
God put the dinos on board
but didn't have room for the shark.
Heaven forbid if you doubt them
cause no one's more honest than Ken Ham!
He said “You can trust us!”
“We're just lying for jebus!”
and the creo-zombies echo “Amen!”
If there was one part of that twaddle
that kept me from coming unraveled
was the sight of PZ
gloriously
on the dino that was wearing a saddle.
While there we laughed and we learned.
We left wondering how facts could be spurned.
The day went as we thought.
The science was naught.
So we vowed we would never return.
Here is the moral of my tale:
stay away from this shrine to fail!
But if visit you must,
to hide your disgust
go filled up with whiskey and ale.
Edited to fix the spacing.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Freshwater's on Trial
Someone on Dispatches defended John Freshwater's burning of students.
Freshwater's really an ass,
who has balls made out of brass.
He thinks the kids learn
more when they burn.
We'll soon see that he's got no class.
Freshwater's really an ass,
who has balls made out of brass.
He thinks the kids learn
more when they burn.
We'll soon see that he's got no class.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Don't Vote on Election Day!
I want to make a challenge to those fundagelicals who believe so fervently that their jeebus will carry McCain into the presidency:
Don't vote.
Seriously, don't vote. Gawsh will make those eeevil Dems lose, as long as you have faith enough. By voting, you are showing gawd that you do not, in fact, have faith in him, and that will make baby jeebus cry.
So, just stay at church on November 4th, and leave it in the hand of your particular magic sky zombie.
Don't vote.
Seriously, don't vote. Gawsh will make those eeevil Dems lose, as long as you have faith enough. By voting, you are showing gawd that you do not, in fact, have faith in him, and that will make baby jeebus cry.
So, just stay at church on November 4th, and leave it in the hand of your particular magic sky zombie.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Female Genital Mutilation
CNN is reporting that Attorney General Michale Mukasey has refused to allow the deportation of a 28 year old woman who had her genitalia removed by her tribe in Mali.
At long, long last, a member of the Bush administration has been hit in the head by the clue-by-four, and has become infected by common sense.
My question, though, is how can you be so vehemently against FGM, but look the other way when thousands of little boys have their genitals mutilated everyday?
At long, long last, a member of the Bush administration has been hit in the head by the clue-by-four, and has become infected by common sense.
My question, though, is how can you be so vehemently against FGM, but look the other way when thousands of little boys have their genitals mutilated everyday?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Cracker Attackers!
There's been a big kerfluffle over a cracker. For references, check most any science blog in the past month or so.
Donahue and Catholic attackers
have clearly gone totally crackers!
The taste can't be beat
when god's what you eat.
Try the new Messiah Snackers™!*
The comedy's really first class,
but I almost gave this a pass.
Then I thought "would a priest
say the god that you eat
is still god when he comes out your ass?"
*For when Scooby Snacks™ aren't holy enough. Messiah Snacks™! Now with less flavor!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Letter to the editor
A letter I wrote to the editors of The Columbus Dispatch
Editors,
Amidst all of the letters concerning the editorial written about John Freshwater, some seem to have missed the point completely. Yes, it was wrong of him to proselytize in the classroom, especially a science class that students are mandated to attend. Not one non-theist that I know would advocate leaving religion out of school, but it should be taught in an elective course, such as comparative mythology. They can spend a day on each of the creation myths from around the world, and hope that they can cover them all in one school year.
The biggest problem here is the branding. I can’t fathom the mindset of a person who would do such a thing. This is a person who took the teachings of his supposedly loving god, and twisted them to the point where it was okay, in his mind, to harm a child who believed in something different than him. That is not a free speech issue, it is a n issue of child abuse.I am left to wonder why he is not in prison, and the school board brought up on child endangerment charges for having let this go on for so long.
Richard Stage
Editors,
Amidst all of the letters concerning the editorial written about John Freshwater, some seem to have missed the point completely. Yes, it was wrong of him to proselytize in the classroom, especially a science class that students are mandated to attend. Not one non-theist that I know would advocate leaving religion out of school, but it should be taught in an elective course, such as comparative mythology. They can spend a day on each of the creation myths from around the world, and hope that they can cover them all in one school year.
The biggest problem here is the branding. I can’t fathom the mindset of a person who would do such a thing. This is a person who took the teachings of his supposedly loving god, and twisted them to the point where it was okay, in his mind, to harm a child who believed in something different than him. That is not a free speech issue, it is a n issue of child abuse.I am left to wonder why he is not in prison, and the school board brought up on child endangerment charges for having let this go on for so long.
Richard Stage
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Ken Ham is an Idiot!
Apparently, Ken Ham doesn't like being insulted. Well, Ken, don't be such a fucking idiot, and you won't get insulted nearly as often.
Ken Ham is an obnoxious twit
who's brain don't work even a bit.
My hypothesis is
that religion has
replaced all of his gray matter with shit.
I could say that you can see how he's
proof that we're descended from monkeys,
but that's not how it works
and that mind-addled jerk
is too stupid to come down from the trees.
If there is a god who controls weather,
and knows every bird and their feathers,
you'd think there had been
a better use for Ken's skin
than to hold his sorry ass together.
Ken Ham is an obnoxious twit
who's brain don't work even a bit.
My hypothesis is
that religion has
replaced all of his gray matter with shit.
I could say that you can see how he's
proof that we're descended from monkeys,
but that's not how it works
and that mind-addled jerk
is too stupid to come down from the trees.
If there is a god who controls weather,
and knows every bird and their feathers,
you'd think there had been
a better use for Ken's skin
than to hold his sorry ass together.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Skepical limericks? What a neat idea!
The Skeptic's Circle is hosting a limerick edition on Action Skeptics. Why didn't I think of that?
Since when have limericks been news
for espousing skeptical views?
For quite a while
(with a complete lack of style)
I've had rhyming and idiocy suffused.
Perhaps I don't write enough
on current events, and stuff.
It has been some time
since I've posted a rhyme
about the credulous fluff.
Check it out and see what you think.
What? I swear it's a harmless link!
Limericks are still dandy
even when they aren't randy,
and Action Skeptics' are like a cool drink.
Since when have limericks been news
for espousing skeptical views?
For quite a while
(with a complete lack of style)
I've had rhyming and idiocy suffused.
Perhaps I don't write enough
on current events, and stuff.
It has been some time
since I've posted a rhyme
about the credulous fluff.
Check it out and see what you think.
What? I swear it's a harmless link!
Limericks are still dandy
even when they aren't randy,
and Action Skeptics' are like a cool drink.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Expelled!
From Pharyngula
The creobots hope that Expelled
will not be viciously derailed.
They hope you won't see
the truth of the movie:
in the marketplace of ideas they have failed.
But one truth I hope lingers on:
After all is at last said and done
because of this flick
and the creationists schtick
Ben Stein's credibility is gone.
I can't help but to be amused
at how often these morons confuse
scientists questioning "why"
and a zombie Jew in the sky.
Their IDiocy leaves me bemused.
Perhaps if they pray hard enough
(Hey! It could work! Don't you laugh!)
Their magic Dad in the air
will come down from his lair
and heroically save this dumb stuff.
But I won't try holding my breath.
It'd make more sense freebasing meth.
I wonder if I
make them laugh or cry
as I am mocking their cult of death.
The creobots hope that Expelled
will not be viciously derailed.
They hope you won't see
the truth of the movie:
in the marketplace of ideas they have failed.
But one truth I hope lingers on:
After all is at last said and done
because of this flick
and the creationists schtick
Ben Stein's credibility is gone.
I can't help but to be amused
at how often these morons confuse
scientists questioning "why"
and a zombie Jew in the sky.
Their IDiocy leaves me bemused.
Perhaps if they pray hard enough
(Hey! It could work! Don't you laugh!)
Their magic Dad in the air
will come down from his lair
and heroically save this dumb stuff.
But I won't try holding my breath.
It'd make more sense freebasing meth.
I wonder if I
make them laugh or cry
as I am mocking their cult of death.
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