March 2010
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“You can’t take lessons in morality from people who disgust you.”
– India Knight on Catholicism, “Holy Father, I can stay no longer in this Church of Disgust” | (via Times Online)
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“I could hardly be described as a good, or even decent, Catholic, but I’d managed...”
– India Knight, “Holy Father, I can stay no longer in this Church of Disgust: (via Times Online)
“It’s possible we should start wondering if the church is a criminal organization...”
– Matt Taibbi, “The Catholic Church is a Criminal Enterprise” (via smart-tart)
Richard Dawkins: "The Faith Trap" (in The... →
via friendlyatheist:
stocassticity:
At a lunch party I was placed next to a well-known female rabbi, now ennobled. She asked me, somewhat belligerently, whether I said grace when it was my turn to do so at High Table dinner in my Oxford college. “Yes,” I replied, “Out of simple good manners and respect for the medieval traditions of my college.” She attacked me for hypocrisy, and was not...
Women's Natural Scent More Seductive Than Perfume →
Study has found that men detect a woman’s natural scent at an unconscious level. In the tests testosterone levels were higher in men who smelled an ovulating woman’s T-Shirt.
If you want more incentive to just let your natural odour come through you should know that showering is probably contaminating the drinking water supply.
Drinking Alcohol Could Help Women Stay Slim →
Given some of the bad news I’ve posted today I thought this might cheer up about 50% of the population.
A new survey has found that moderate alcohol consumption could prevent excessive weight gain; red wine being your best choice of beverage (Australian of course). Teetotalers were the most likely to gain weight.
Iceland bans strip clubs →
Iceland is dong the impossible: closing down its sex industry.
A new law introduced in Iceland, which passed with out anybody voting against it, will make it illegal for any business to profit from the nudity of its employees. Effectively shuting down every strip club in the country.
This carries on from a law last year which made it illegal to purchase sex.
I just wonder if you can just...
Obama order on abortion still angers pro-lifers →
President Obama has, in a low-key event, signed an executive order that roughly states that despite the new healthcare reform bill that the Hyde Amendment of 1976 still stands. That is to say no federal money is to go to providing abortions for women.
American women in nead of a safe, cheap abortion might want to take a note out of what their Polish counterparts are doing and take a trip to...
Oral sex link to head cancer →
And if that wasn’t bad enough it appears that Facebook causes syphilis.
“When I asked what the difference was between a religion and a cult, someone...”
– Catherine Deveny, “Atheism is a broad church”, via www.smh.com.au
“Isn’t atheism just another religion? No. A religion believes in...”
– Catherine Deveny, “Atheism is a broad church” (via www.smh.com.au)
Whales Dying in Record Numbers Near Argentina →
Southern right whales, frequent visitors to Oz, are dying in record numbers along Argentina’s Patagonian coast. Since 2005 a total of 308 dead whales have been recorded, 85% of which were calves less than 3 months old.
So far nobody knows why whales are dying in such numbers.
Trivia: the southern right whale is so named because when whaling was legal in Australian waters it was the...
Texting From Beyond The Grave →
In the “olden days” all that you could leave on a headstone was a few basic facts; name, date of birth, date of death, and the names a few who survived you.
Now you can get a headstone that can text your entire life history
“If the earliest Cro-Magnons had left accounts of their gripes, I’m sure they...”
– Review: Guyland @ Yes Means Yes Blog (via notemily)
“You kids don’t know how good you’ve got it! When I was your age we didn’t have home computers, xboxes, and the web wasn’t even invented.” Me to my kids last week …
Keyboard problems
I’m having problems with my wireless keyboard and my Linux system. One or the other is dropping letters as I type. And I’m not picking up on all the times this happens. So if you repost any of my postings please feel free to fix up any obvious typo’s. It’s kind of embarrassing like “pubic” instead of “public”…
“My personal feeling is that citizens of the democratic societies should...”
– Noam Chomsky (via Discovery News)
A bit of science education wouldn’t go astray either.
“The scientific basis for the greenhouse effect and the potential impact of human...”
– Taken from a 1995 report by scientists working for The Global Climate Coalition, which consists of the American Petroleum Institute, BP, Exxon-Mobil, Shell and a number of large car makers. The coalition buried the report and spent millions convincing the public that the exact opposite is true. (via...
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Australian Scientology inquiry voted down. →
The Australian Senate has voted down a call to conduct an inquiry into the Church of Scientology cult.
The fault for this probably lies with independent Senator Xenophon who originally called for the inquiry. Rather than leave it as a focused inquiry into some of the activities of CoS he broadened the terms of reference, at the suggestion of The Greens, to include the tax exemptions of all...
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“We’re not going to change the world by forming Facebook groups”
– Sathnam Sanghera, “Workers, you have nothing to lose but your petitions” (via Times Online)
Blogging about it doesn’t work either.
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“The Pope fully believes in liberation from evil because the Devil lodges in the...”
– Father Gabriele Amorth, The Vatican’s Chief Exorcist, “Four exorcisms a day. Yes, it’s a devil of a job” (via Times Online)
Well if they know where He lives you’d think they’d do something about Him .. then again if they did they’d do themselves out of a job.
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Pope turned blind eye to paedophilia →
When the Pope was just a cardinal he allowed a man he knew to be paedophile to continue to act as a priest. The priest went on to re-offend. and was convicted of child abuse.
Scientology 'putting lives at risk' →
Australian of the year, Professor Patrick McGorry, has thrown his weight behind the calls for an Australian Government inquiry into the Church of Scientology.
His cause for concern is that CoS denies the reality of mental illness (well they would have to, how else could they have Tom Cruise as a member?) and are putting people’s lives at risk.
“I’m concerned that any...
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New Zealander auctions bottled 'ghosts' →
A New Zealand woman has successful sold two vials that she clams contained ghosts. The vials fetched AUD$1,540 (USD$1,328) via a hotly contested on-line auction; proving the stupidity of humans knows no bounds and has no financial sense either.
The woman claimed that she captured the ghosts after an exorcism session, she placed the ghosts (making sure not to cross beams) into holy water.
The...
Freethought University Alliance →
Prior to the start of the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne a 100 students from 20 Universities launched the Freethought University Alliance. The FUA is a coalition of atheist, humanist, secularist and rationalist groups which will share speakers, connect student leaders and provide resources.
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Link between priest celibacy and child... →
The Archbishop of Vienna states the bleeding obvious when he recently acknowledged that priestly celibacy is one of the causes of the sex abuse scandals that continue to rock the Catholic Church.