I better get ready for the stocks

Hay, this thing still works?! Are people still blogging in 2015?

I just saw that this Arizona State Senator, Sylvia Allen, was suggesting that church attendance should be mandatory.

This is a clear case of conservative-fundamentalist Christian Americans, who are so want to wrap themselves in the flag and treating the constitution like sacred scripture without knowing the history of this country.

We had mandatory church attendance. In 1610 the colony of Virginia had a law that mandated church attendance on Sundays for morning and afternoon services; a first-time offender lost his "provision and allowance for the whole week."  Those who committed a second offense, in addition to losing his "allowance," would be whipped. A third violation was, supposedly, punished by death. Other colonies had similar laws. In the Mid-1600's Massachusetts hanged Quakers, for the crime of being Quakers in Massachusetts. Baptists were run out of many towns for not practicing infant baptism. Witches were hanged at Salam on the order of religious authorities.

We didn't like those kind of laws...so we had a revolution, as in 'The Revolution'. Senator Sylvia Allen is the type of person who likes to think that the 'good old days' were the ones before the revolution, when the puritans liked religious freedom so much they wanted to keep it all to themselves.

Scalar Quantum blog post

Whenever I need a good laugh I watch this kind of thing...

The WooBabble® is strong with this one. It's good for a few good belly laughs. 

Bionerd23 has picked apart this things claims here and here...she has all the cool toys.

Obligatory video of why people think there's any effect from this kind of thing, thanks to Richard Saunders in Australia.

The whole 'earthing' thing, on the other hand, is making me slap my forehead so hard it's starting to hurt.  They aren't even trying to be entertaining, it's just stupid...unless it's a Poe and I'm not getting it.

Western Digital

I have had good luck with Western Digital hard drives...that is, the hard drive itself.

I have had bad luck with Western Digital external drives like the WD My Book, or My Studio or My Passport...










Even though it's a more expensive way to go for external drives, I've had good luck with Otherworld Computing.  They have other choices at their website.

Who 'da Guru...

In these times, everyone needs a good Guru…might as well be the best Guru...

Black Friday Sale at the Chopra Center! First 15 acolytes thru the door get 52% off Premium Quantum PLUS an Elizabeth Arden gift bag - FREE!

— DBag Chopra (@DBagChopra) November 23, 2012

More like "the new science of stealing"...

How much dangerous BS can you pile on top of stupid BS…

Why is it dangerous?

Magical thinking, when it comes to health care, can lead to tragedy.  Just take Penelope Dingle, for example.  She was seeing homeopath Francine Scrayen for her cancer.  If Penelope had gone to a medical doctor (note, they have an MD behind their name, not ND, DC, or DH), she might be alive today.  Now all we have is her diary, the coroners report (PDF), the documentary, and the cease and desist letter from the homeopath trying to cover things up…silly homeopathy, haven't you heard of the Streisand Effect?

Christopher Hitchens 1949-2011

Some of my favorite Christopher Hitchens clips...

The Munk Debate between Hitchens and Tony Blair is free for the weekend.  After that you'll have to find it on YouTube.

Prefectly safe...

This looks perfectly safe...the link is to Paypal...right...

(look at the bottom ^^^ )

Almost cheaper then rent...

I was bored, so I came up with a schedule for the Amtrak USA Rail Pass.  45 days or 18 segments (whichever comes first) for $829. A segment ends when you get off a train or Amtrak bus.  Unfortunately it involves some overnight stays.  That would drive the cost up.  Someday I'll try to come up with another scenario that involves less or no overnight stays. I can picture how I would figure it out.  I would need a large white board, a video projector, a variety of Post-it Notes, and a machine that goes "bing".

Seg	Route	From	To	Time	Time		Start/End Day
1	Empire Builder	MSP	Portland	Fri 23:15	Sun 01:40	Stay overnight	0	3
2	Coast Starlight	PDX	LA	Sun 14:25	Mon 21:00	2 night stay	3	4
3	Sunset Ltd	LAX	New Orleans	Wed 15:00	Fri 14:55	Stay overnight	6	8
4	Crescent	NOL	NY Penn Sta.	Sat 07:00	Sun 13:48		9	10
5	Silver Meteor	NYP	Miami	Sun 15:15	Mon 16:15	Stay overnight	10	11
6	Silver Star	MIA	Wash. DC	Tue 11:50	Wed 15:14		12	13
7	Capitol Ltd	WAS	Chicago	Wed 16:05	Thu 08:45		13	14
8	California Zephyr	CHI	Emeryville, CA	Thu 14:00	Sat 16:10		14	16
9	San Joaquin	EMY	Bakersfield	Sat 18:00	Sat 23:56	Stay overnight	16	16
10	Bus 3612	BFD	Barstow	Sun 13:50	Sun 15:55		17	17
11	SW Chief	BAR	Chicago	Sun 21:56	Tue 15:15		17	19
12	City of New Orleans	CHI	New Orleans	Tue 20:00	Wed 15:32	2 night stay	19	20
13	Sunset Ltd	NOL	San Antonio	Fri 11:55	Sat 03:00		22	23
14	Texas Eagle	SAS	Chicago	Sat 07:00	Sun 13:52		23	24
15	Lake Shore Ltd-BOS	CHI	Boston	Sun 21:30	Mon 21:10	Stay overnight	24	25
16	Crescent	BOS	Charlottesville VA	Tue 08:15	Tue 19:23	Stay overnight	26	26
17	Cardinal	CVS	Chicago	Wed 13:55	Thu 10:05		27	28
18	Empire Builder	CHI	Minneapolis	Thu 14:15	Thu 22:31		28	28