Still here

I have had no motivation to write lately. Still don't. Don't know why. And I am way behind on my Summer Reading, doesn't look like I'll complete my list. Would be great if I can finish just half of it.

But anyway, I wanted to share this article from Huffington Post:
Science Denial on the Rise

Please read, whether you are in to science or not.

Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Some, perhaps most, of you would have seen the Youtube video of the cheerleader who was paralysed after receiving the Swine Flu vaccine. The caption even stated, "experts claim serious side effects of flu shots amount to about one in a million - well this is what that one in a million looks like."

If that sucked you in, you seriously need to consider doing more critical thinking. Here's why. From April to August, 593 deaths and 9079 hospitalisations from H1N1 swine flu were reported in the US. That puts the death rate at 2 per million Americans, and serious cases at 3 per 100,000. Furthermore, this is based on the entire American population, where many live in rural areas where contact with the virus is much lower. If you are in a city, chances are those numbers are lower than a conservative estimate would be. Plus, that's only up to August. If you don't live under a rock, you would have noticed that lately the situation has escalated. Hence, comparatively, one in a million chance of developing severe side effects to the vaccine doesn't sound too bad to me.

If you were brainwashed by one of those anti-vaccine groups. Here's an article for you to read. It dispels most of their claims. Just because Jenny McCarthy has big boobs doesn't mean you should always listen to her. (Megan Fox would be harder to resist.) There are no adjuvants or thimerosal in the H1N1 vaccine. Do the research for yourself and decide.

Then again, these anti-vaccine people aren't necessarily a bad thing. Although I believe everyone has equal rights to life, less stupid people in the world never hurts. And when an epidemic strikes, it will be those unvaccinated who dies. Win-win. Your choice.

Won't Get to Heaven

So, you have probably heard about the Texas Military base shooting by now, or at least I hope so. And guess what is the latest development? That's right! Right-wing media respond to attack by demonizing Muslim.

What's better, you ask? Less than 24 hours later, Orlando office shooting occurred. Wait for it, oh, man is not Muslim. Theory debunked. The man is probably Catholic too.

These religious conservatives should really stop blinding themselves. They choose to see what they want, and close out the rest, even if it means not seeing the truth. It's ironic they'd claim atheists "can't see the light." (You know the joke? "How many atheist does it take to change a light bulb? None, because they can't see the light." Though they fail to realise, without science, there would be no light bulb for you to change, idiot!) They like to believe what they believe is true, even with overwhelming evidence against it. When your 14-year old gets pregnant, why blame her for being a slut? Blame parthenogenesis (virgin birth) or blame the Pope for stigmatising condoms. Makes more sense to me.


Jesus is cool. The Bible is cool. The Qur'an is cool. But if you need to take them all literally, you might as well believe my shit smells like roses. They do.


Your friendly atheist,
TY

Playing God

(Yes. Title from latest Paramore. Don't get why all the hype though. It's good but not great to me. Maybe it's a Twilight type thing. Speaking of which, a forty plus year old lady was reading Breaking Dawn on the train. Oh My! It is the end of literature!)

This is an embarrassing attempt by a believer to defend religion.

A plague of atheists has descended, and Catholics are the target

Seriously. How can something like that match up to the likes of Dawkins, Hitchens or Singer?
The article is written by Greg Cravens, Vice Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University.
I honestly feel sorry for Catholics and students of that university. His credibility is gone. I doubt any believers themselves would think that the article would do them justice.

Since you are unlikely to read the article, I'll show you some of the comedy.
He started off with:
"Attacking Christians is not really clever, witty or funny."

but apparently attacking atheists is.
Why would anyone start an essay with that but go out of your way to try to be funny in their essay? Oh, hypocrisy!

Now for my favourite part:
"This is not to say that believers - and perhaps especially Catholics - do not get seriously irritated by atheists. They do, but not because atheists are fearfully clever or Wildely funny."

So he thinks Wilde is funny. Oh my, wait, Oscar Wilde? The atheist? HAHAHA!
Hypocrisy or misinformed?
Not to mention that in itself is a lame attempt at trying to be funny.

Next, for the most disgusting part:
"In an average week of atheistic bigotry in the Melbourne media, we can expect to learn that Catholics endorse child molestation, hate all other religions, would re-introduce the crusades and the auto de fe at the slightest opportunity, despise women, wish to persecute homosexuals, greedily divert public moneys for their own religious purposes, subvert public health care, brainwash children, and are masterminding the spread of the cane toad across northern Australia."

He brushed those claims aside just like that. He rather devote his essay to unsuccessful attempt at wit, which he says isn't cool.
Let's see, Catholic sex abuse cases. Oh, not much, just an entire Wikipedia article about it. Let's not count the ones for each country. He offered no solution, no apology, nothing. As though it was not an important matter. Maybe he's part of it. Like wise for all the other "sins" he mentioned. No solution, just as though they weren't true. Only an idiot will think atheists made those facts up. Who's against Gay Rights? Who's against Feminist Rights?

Let me remind you, the upcoming atheists convention in Melbourne in 2010 (largest ever in Australia, which is what sparked the increased number of debate between atheists and believers lately) is funded entirely privately. World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney cost the government $185 million.

What's fair? You tell me.

If believers want to be taken seriously, they ought to come up with better arguments. So far, I have yet to witness a believer defeating a non-believer in one of these debates on religion. Either it's ignorance, or just not as intelligent. I think the former, they aren't stupid.

Believers, if you got this far, don't get me wrong. Most atheists don't hate you. We simply do not like you imposing your believes on to us. Public money in a secular country should be spent without the interference of religion. Islamic country can spend it on Islamic activity, it makes sense, but not secular country. If you want to practice your religion, do so, but don't impose it on others. You don't see atheists attacking Buddhism.


Your friendly atheist,
TY

21st Century Breakdown

Cyber attacks smite atheist websites

I bet you these same people hate Stalin and champion for the freedom of speech.
We all love hypocrisies.

I think, that these religious idiots just feel way too insecure about their own religion. And they say religion is based on faith. Oh the irony!

If your god is so powerful why are you afraid about some atheist undermining his authority?

So many unanswered questions. Religious idiots, please shed some light on these questions. Or else, I have no choice but to accept the theory that common sense is dead. Or soon to be. Sooner than punk.

Punk's not dead. Common sense is.


TY

A Day in the Life

Charles Darwin film 'too controversial for religious America'

A movie about Charles Darwin!!! I just discovered it today! Oh, what a joy! I doubt it'll be historically accurate but I'm sure I'll enjoy it nonetheless. Plus it stars Jennifer Connelly. How can I not love it?

Poor Americans, ignorant enough as it is, will now have to suffer more! Ignorance brings ignorance, I guess. Just like how the rich get richer. This is my favourite part of that news article.
"The film has sparked fierce debate on US Christian websites, with a typical comment dismissing evolution as "a silly theory with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over a century of trying"."

I love it when creationists argue that natural selection lacks evidence. I suppose there are millions alive today that saw God created the world in 6 days? Surely there must be! They can't all be hypocrites, can they?

Oh, I'm too lazy to find a Youtube trailer for you, but there's one in that article.

I'm looking forward to it!


Your dearest evolutionist,
TY

Kyoto Song

I loathe ignorance, but not ignorance in those who realise their ignorance. After all, in the words of Louis L'Armour "Only one who has learned much can fully appreciate his ignorance."

It is those who think they are "well-read" when in fact they aren't that gets on my nerves. Shoot them.

In similar veins, my "to-read list" now features over 350 books, and I don't even list more than 1 book by the same author. I finish one first and upon finishing, if I decide to further pursue books by the same author, only will I replaced the read book with the "next book I'd like to read by this author."

At my current reading rate of 1 book a week, the list grows faster than it shrinks.

On the issue of reading, learning and ignorance, here's a quote by one of my favourite author, Douglas Adams.
"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."


TY

America

Do you think Americans are stupid? Or the smart Americans just don't give a rat's ass about polls?

I am of the idea that it is one or the other.

Here, have a look at this.

A healthcare system such as the American's cannot even be close to good, if you ask me. They spend the most money per capita on healthcare but their system has been ranked in the 30s by various studies. If that is good, my fart smells like roses. Not to mention the 50million who don't even have healthcare coverage.

Then again, Americans also have this remarkable belief.

"God created man in present form" - A whopping 44%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

44% of Americans still think we descended from Adam and Eve!!!
You tell me!!

The debate isn't even between Creationism and Evolution anymore. Most creationists have taken the side of Intelligent design since overwhelming evidence have shown WE ARE FROM APES!!!

Would you Americans please accept the fact that we are all once upon a time from Africa, and very probably had dark skin colour. Not some guy and girl with English names. Are you trying to believe in the contrary to show that your brain has not evolved, hence evolution does not exist?

Oh and your health system is fucked. Stop saying it's "excellent" just because you don't want higher tax. Don't kid yourself.


TY

Only God Knows Why

I can't hold my silence anymore. Inter religion war MUST STOP.

Religious fundamentalist thinks their religion is "morally superior" to every other religion. They kill and brutally bomb everyone of a different religion. Where is the morality in that?

Fascism must go. There are no difference between Bush, Osama and Hitler. Fascists.

If you can't tolerate other religious beliefs, I suggest atheism.

This is what religious fundamentalists has done.Iraq WarSeptember 11

I need not add various others.

Here is what atheist do.
Richard Dawkins

http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/news/file002.html

Leading researchers


So clearly, religious fundamentalist bomb and kill, while atheists have been debating in a civilised fashion, with formal attire and words, rather than guns and bombs, and doing research for the progress of human knowledge.

Inter-religion war has killed millions and counting. Science vs religion war has barely killed any since the days of Aristotle.

This is what sparked this blog post.
Noordin claims Jakarta bombings

Whether or not it is from the man himself, I find it funny.
This is the best part.
"previously conducting serious surveys and thorough observation."

And your bomb didn't explode? HAHAHAHAHA! Maybe Allah didn't want it to go off? Ever thought of that? Ay, Top? No? When it's for your cause it's Allah, when it's not it isn't Allah? What fuckin' hypocrite.

Well, my religious friends, may I ask that instead of trying to convert non-believers to your religion, try preaching tolerance and acceptance among your fellow believers. If the image your religion is portraying to the public is violence and stupidity, no one will ever believe your religion is "morally superior" to anyone else. (No atheist will believe that anyway but, you don't want to be seen as morally inferior do you?) No one will belief your religion will be good for the progress of humanity. Atheists are not undermining your religion. People from your own side of the fence are.

Peace. That's all I ask for. Is it so much to ask for?

Apparently so.


TY

Someone's Looking At You

My English isn't flawless. Far from it. But I try my best and I'm still learning. However, terrible English hurts my head. When I come across a badly written news article, or a badly written article of any sort, it is highly likely I'll give up, however interesting the article would have seem. One or two mistakes are fine, we're only human, but needing to re-read every second sentence just to understand what it means severely hurts my head. Would it kill to re-read what you wrote before submitting/publishing it?

On the other hand, I detest those who tell others to "learn the language" when they themselves do not seem to know the difference between "it's" and "its". Please "learn the language" yourself first before telling others to do so. Or else, you'll be entertainment to many. Me especially.


TY

Far Gone And Out

I suspect this will be a long post. Haven't written in a while after all. The main theme for this post would be my view of humanity and my new approach to life.

You remember the scandal about that Singaporean MP's daughter's blogpost? Nevermind if you don't, here's a blog post about it, to fill you in on the details.

Anyway, that clearly shows the stupidity of the higher classes. Firstly, It's amazing how she criticises the poor dude on his English, yet aptly enough, she has no idea how to use capital letters. Not for names, not for the first letter of sentences. Smart kid. Secondly, I wonder if the girl knows that her dad is a member of PAP, a socialist party. She advocated for Darwinism so openly I wonder if she even knows anything about politics. Yet, happily enough, she dares touch on the topic of politics. Kids from Raffles Junior College aren't exactly very bright after all are they? The only thing she seems to be an elite at is making a fool of herself.

Well now for the best part, her dad defended her and her far right capitalist view. It's forgivable if the kid doesn't know PAP is a socialist party, but the dad? The person in the party himself? Genius. Absolute genius. And guess what? Wikipedia tells me her dad is from Raffle Institution, the top school in Singapore. Oh and Imperial College too. Top school, top univeristy. Not very smart though. Not bright at all. To top it all off, he wasn't fired or forced to resign, which allows me to conclude that Singaporeans have very different definition to "smart" than I do. Apparently everybody shared his views. The Socialist International should really revoke PAP's membership.

Fuck hypocrites.

I don't even know why there were so much debate about elitism after that incident. They don't look or sound very "elite" to me. Not the slightest bit. My dumbfuck mind can point out their stupidity in 2 seconds. If that's elite, I must be Einstein's reincarnation. Dumbfuckism would have been more appropriate. Since dumbfucks think they're superior.

Comes to show how society these days, are defined by the rich and powerful(not smart). They define what is "normal" and what is "elite". To paraphrase Gregory House "You see, skinny, socially privilege people, gets to draw this neat little circle, where everyone inside is normal. Everyone outside the circle should broken, beaten and reset, so that they can be brought into the circle. Failing that, they should be institutionalised. Or worse, pitied."

If you don't get where I'm coming from, read The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger and Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. The latter is also a major motion picture now. Watch it if you don't want to read it.

All this has made me give up on humanity. Humanity is dominated by selfish, ignorant, power hungry, STUPID and egotistic people. And I see no way back for it. It is going downhill, and it is irreversible. I am now officially a misanthrope. But no, I am not going to commit suicide, instead, I am going to embrace HEDONISM.

So to all my hedonistic friends out there, I'm sure there are plenty, this is to you(and now me, too).
“My doctor says that I have a malformed public duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fibre, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes.”
-Douglas Adams

Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll, don't care about anything else you think you know.


TY

That's The Way

This post is about

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature, and more particularly, his Nobel lecture.

Click for Lecture

That's his lecture in text form. There is also a video version on there, but I read the text instead. I don't know why, maybe because I'm crazy.

He truly amazes me with the amount of knowledge he has and the amount of reading he has done. 90% of the references he made was never seen before by me, further substantiating my ignorance. (But of cause I shrieked like one of those teenage girls catching sight of Zac Efron when he made a reference to Catcher In The Rye.)

But most importantly, the message he sent out in his lecture rang loud and clear in my head. Seeing that it is likely none of you would read the lecture, and the lack of writing capability on my part, I will paste his conclusion here.

"For all his pessimism, Stig Dagerman's phrase about the fundamental paradox of the writer, unsatisfied because he cannot communicate with those who are hungry—whether for nourishment or for knowledge—touches on the greatest truth. Literacy and the struggle against hunger are connected, closely interdependent. One cannot succeed without the other. Both of them require, indeed urge, us to act. So that in this third millennium, which has only just begun, no child on our shared planet, regardless of gender or language or religion, shall be abandoned to hunger or ignorance, or turned away from the feast. This child carries within him the future of our human race. In the words of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, a very long time ago, the kingdom belongs to a child."

Perhaps the only thing I do not agree with him on is that he believes poverty and illiteracy should be eliminated by the end of the millennium, whereas I believe it should be achieved much, much sooner. Perhaps in my lifetime.

But nevertheless, the message is clear. "No child on our shared planet, regardless of gender or language or religion, shall be abandoned to hunger or ignorance."

Similarly, I too, feel a sense of un-satisfaction, knowing that the people that this message should get across to, will never read this. Time and again, I have wrote about ignorance and how it shouldn't exist, knowing damn well that what I wrote would make no difference, as the truly ignorant have long ago ceased visiting my blog. Despite my ignorance, I am very aware of that fact.


Perhaps my next post should be about Paris Hilton or Jay Chou. Or I should write stories using pop culture or materialistic things as metaphors to get my point across. I'll think about it.


TY

Cocaine

I had an epiphany(or enlightenment or thought or whatever you want to call it) earlier today about entitlements.

It seems that we Generation Y have moved on from merely taking things for granted to thinking we are entitled to many things. I'm not saying that this does not happen among other generations but it seems far more prevalent in Generation Y, and I'm not the only one that thinks so.

It goes from simple things like thinking we are entitled to the right of way while driving just because it's green to thinking that we are entitled to our parents paying for our higher education. And I'm sure, when the time comes, we'd all think that we are entitled to our parents' possessions as well.

I think we Generation Y are not ready to shoulder the responsibilities of the world yet but it seems that we should be(you can tell that the baby boomers can't even count money anymore). So perhaps we should start by taking on more responsibilities and not take it that we are entitled to anything.

Some day to day events that I think you would find useful. I did.

• Do not think that you are entitled to the road just because it's green for you. Have a look left and right before you go. Baby boomers' eyesight aren't exactly getting better anymore. Also, give way to emergency services that are on an emergency mission, move aside, slow down, stop.
• Regardless of whether your parents have the money or not, do not expect them to pay for your education. Look for a loan, scholarship, job etc.
• Stop thinking that you are entitled to allowance. Don't ask for it, get your own money.
• Stop believing that the previous generation will pass down the world to you in one piece, learn about how they are destroying it so that you could fix it when you need to.
• Stop thinking that just because there is a shortage in your profession you are entitled to a job.

That's all I can think off for now.

Oh and this is a prelude to an essay I'm currently writing, on "Generation Y". I might or might not post it here. I'll see.

In other news,
Sienna Miller is now my latest favourite girl. So hot. Love her Edie Sedgwick accent on Factory Girl and her British accent on Layer cake. Sorry Scarlett.

Note: Apologies for the terrible sentence structure and broken grammar. Not exactly in a grammar-ry mood.

TY

City of The Dead

You shouldn't be surprised by the ignorance level of many city folks. It really isn't hard to believe many aren't aware of current happenings around the world, or important histories, or rather, common and important histories that are actually making a huge impact on them and society at large.

Don't believe me? Go around and find someone that doesn't know there is a Global Financial Crisis going on. Or someone who doesn't know that the man who killed thousands in the Middle-east and tortured hundreds in Guantanamo Bay will finally be replaced.

What worries me isn't the ignorance of society, but rather the ignorance of people in my generation, the generation that the future depends on. They seem to be so caught up in the material culture that they care more about what is Paris Hilton going to do next than the billions(not a typo) starving around the world.

True, they might be selfish and couldn't be bothered more by these people starving. But, shouldn't they at least find out who their Prime Minister/President is, or the Finance Minister, or if they're in the healthcare profession, the Health Minister(you should care even if you're not in the profession, after all, you need healthcare too right)? Sure, they know the names of these people, but do they know anything more than just the name? Their background? What do they have planned? Credentials?

Enough wordy stuff, feeling adventurous, I'm going to spontaneously come up with a quiz for you to self-test your ignorance. Let's see. (For best result, complete without consulting google/wikipedia)

1. Name the current British Prime Minister.

2. What is the current population of China? 2 significant figures will do.

3. In what year did the Berlin Wall fall?

4. What is the most significant global event of 1929?

5. What is the name of the device that scientist claim can create small black holes? Hint: 3 words

6. How does a nation gain automatic qualification for the Football World Cup?

7. Name the current United Nations Secretary General.

8. Name the African country that has been on the news lately due to internal war.

9. How many planets are there in the Sun's(our) Solar System?

10. What religion is the Vatican City significant for?

11. Name the current President of Zimbabwe.


I'm too lazy to provide answers, it's all over google anyway. Maybe I'll put it in the comment tommorow. Just a tip, number 11 was purely for entertainment purposes. The bastards are still fighting for that post over there while the rest of the country experience starvation, economic crisis, never-seen-before inflation, Cholera epidemic and billionaires who can't afford bread.

So, how many did you get out of ten?


TY

In A Hole

Let's see if you are smarter than a chimpanzee.

Here's a video.
Video

I am sorry but I don't know how to embed that, but it's well worth the watch. Rather long though, 20mintues.

It is about the publicly available data which are underutilised and it shows how ignorant we all are and how much people speak without getting their facts right.

Oh and there's a test to see if you're smarter than a chimpanzee. Apparently nobel prize winners are only on par with them. So much for evolution, or is it spelled ignorance?

TY