Evil and stupid?

OK, Republicans suck, have wicked intentions, and are wrecking the country. Their one saving grace, the one thing that gives me hope, is that they’re idiots.

Now that they’ve taken over legislatures all over the place, they’ve decided that the proper use of their power is to pass laws against imaginary things they don’t like. Like chemtrails.

Known to less conspiratorially minded as aircraft contrails, or the white vaporous lines streaming out of an airplane’s engines at altitude, chemtrails are a longstanding conspiracy theory.

Believers in chemtrails hold that the aircraft vapor trails that criss-cross skies across the globe every day are deliberately laden with toxins that are using commercial aircraft to spray them on people below, perhaps to enslave them to big pharma, or exert mind control, or sterilize people or even control the weather for nefarious motives.

Despite the outlandishness of the belief and the complete absence of evidence, a 2016 study showed that the idea is held to be “completely true” by 10% of Americans and “somewhat true” by a further 20%-30% of Americans.

At least eight states, including Florida and Tennessee, have now introduced chemtrail-coded legislation to prohibit “geo-engineering” or “weather modification”. Louisiana’s bill, which must pass through the senate before reaching Governor Jeff Landry’s desk, orders the department of environmental quality to record reported chemtrail sightings and pass complaints on to the Louisiana air national guard.

I heartily endorse that they waste their time and energy on laws against non-existent phenomena — it’s much better than their usual hateful nonsense. I’m not sure how they’re going to enforce it, though. Notify the air national guard? To do what? Fly up and make a few contrails of their own?

Of course they have the King and Queen of Stupid backing their futile flailings.

“We are going to stop this crime,” the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, posted on X in August. Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said in a post before Hurricane Milton struck in October: “Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.” Even Donald Trump has spread the conspiracy theory that Joe Biden is dead and has been replaced by a robotic clone.

To be fair, though, I have to admit that they have recruited a few allies. Would you believe there are Canadian anti-vaxxers? Six kids have been born in Ontario with congenital measles.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health says six infants have been born with congenital measles since an outbreak began last fall, adding they were infected in the womb through mothers who were not vaccinated.

Dr. Kieran Moore says these infants recovered, but their infections could have been prevented if their mothers had been vaccinated and protected from contracting measles.

Congenital measles can result in severe complications, including inflammation of the brain and death.

Perhaps more benignly, counties in Washington state are passing laws to protect Bigfoot.

Clark County is the latest among a growing list of counties taking steps to protect Washington’s favorite cryptid, Bigfoot. On Tuesday, the county council passed a resolution designating all of Clark County as a refuge for the large, hairy, humanlike creatures.

According to the resolution, read by council Chair Sue Marshall, “legends, sightings and investigations suggest that a bipedal apelike creature known as Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch, may exist in the remote portions of Clark County” and should be protected, if it exists, as “the rareness of sightings indicates an extreme endangered creature.”

Even if Bigfoot isn’t real, the resolution acknowledges the folklore surrounding Bigfoot highlights the need for stewardship of the county’s wild places and natural landscape.

I like the recognition of the importance of the environment, so I can’t be too irate at the waste of time — you know Bigfoot doesn’t exist, right?

Also, this was legislation prompted by elementary school kids, so I’d want to encourage that kind of civic participation.

What’s your excuse, Bobby and Marjorie?

I’d rather embrace the tooth fairy

As you may have heard, Joni Ernst, the Iowa pig-farmer who has somehow found herself in congress, had a town hall the other day in which she tried to justify the massive cuts to medicaid and medicare her party is endorsing. Someone in the audience shouted out that people were going to die. Ernst dismissed that with the comment, Well, we all are going to die. They weren’t making an existential comment, they were pointing out that these cuts were going to directly cause the death of thousands or even millions of people in the near future.

Ernst has now posted a truly epic apology video, one that will live on in the annals of disgraceful, clueless apology videos. She could only have made it worse by bringing out a ukulele, but she does win extra points for recording it in a graveyard.

I would like to take this apology to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall. I was in the process of answering a question that had been asked by an audience member when a woman who was extremely distraught screamed out from the back corner of the auditorium, ‘People are going to die,’ and I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes we are all going to perish from this earth. So, I apologize and I’m really, really glad I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well. But for those that would like to see eternal and everlasting life, I encourage you to embrace my lord and savior Jesus Christ.

I’m sure everyone in the audience already knew that they were mortal. The concern wasn’t that they were going to die someday in the future, but that they’d rather not die right now, you fucking clueless kook.

And they call atheists “arrogant.”

I do appreciate that she’s the one who juxtaposed belief in Jesus with belief in the tooth fairy.

Ken Ham is having a snit

Ken Ham is spittin’ mad. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear made a statement in support of LGBTQ+ people and the importance of inclusion…but he didn’t plug Ken Ham’s little roadside attraction! How dare he? He’s supposed to advertise the stupid wooden “boat” with every breath!

Can someone help me here? I want to know what Kentucky Gov Beshear means by “more equal and inclusive.” The reason I as is that the Ark Encounter @ArkEncounter is the biggest themed attraction in Kentucky and the biggest Christian themed attraction in the world.

Also the Ark Encounter and @CreationMuseum are the two leading Christian themed attractions in world and they have had billions of dollars of positive impact on the state of Kentucky.

I’ve been to both of Ham’s sideshows, and if those are the leading Christian themed attractions in the world, then Christianity has a problem. Those are boxes full of lies and nonsense, distortions of scientific facts that promote foolish myths that they can’t support with evidence. You could say that of every religious center for every religion, but most of them, unlike Answers in Genesis, try to promote myths that support their beliefs — AiG is dedicated to lying about science and the nature of the universe outright. That is their sole purpose, to tear down the reality that exposes their folly.

Even if we ignore their lack of a dignified intent, they are a bad attraction. There is nothing inviting about the Ark Park, unless you’re desperate for displays that prop up your ignorance. They’re fucking weird. You’ve got a few animatronic displays of Adam & Eve, or Noah speaking with a heavy Yiddish accent, and unanimated baby dinosaurs in crates, and lots and lots of hectoring signs explaining why the Bible is true and you’re going to hell if you don’t believe it. It’s boring.

If I were to compare it to anything, it’s the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, which trust me, is not appealing to non-Mormons. Lots of empty space, paintings and sculptures and dioramas promoting LDS history, and hugely grandiose buildings. It’s much more elaborate than the Ark Park. The Ark Park is an embarrassingly gauche red-neck version of what some particularly ignorant set of anti-science gomers think a temple should look like, and they failed to even build an impressive facade for the whole thing.

And yet when Gov Beshear is giving talks on Tourism and listing tourist facilities he never mentions the Ark (or Creation Museum). And the Ark is not mentioned in most State promotional materials.

Also Gov Beshear calls his administration “Team Kentucky.” AI sums up “Team Kentucky” as “”Team Kentucky” refers to a broad concept encompassing different initiatives and programs under the leadership of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. It’s used to promote unity, economic, development, and various state-wide efforts.”

Beshear is probably trying to promote Kentucky as a beautiful state with great economic potential, and the citadel of stupidity Ken Ham has built is an embarrassment. Ken Ham had to go to ChatGPT to interpret Beshear’s slogan, and it came back with an accurate explanation that Ham just ignores. Unity is not promoted by a narrow religious sect. Economic development is not going to be built on the back of an egregiously idiotic theme park.

So Gov Beshear uses terms like “inclusive,” “equal,’ and “Team Kentucky” to promote unity, but the Ark and Creation Museum are basically excluded.

Now I understand an LGBTQ group would never employ me as a bible believing Christian who builds his thinking on God’s Word and thus adamantly believes that there’s only one marriage, that of a man and woman (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-7) and only two genders of humans (Genesis 1:27). Now that is not hate speech. It just means we have different worldviews. I wouldn’t expect an LGBTQ group to hire a Christian who believes as I do based on the bible. But they have the freedom to exist as a group. And the Governor has the freedom to promote them if he wants. But how about promoting the Ark and Creation Museum as well to be truly inclusive and a team working for unity?

Impressive. He somehow brags about his regressive views on homosexuality and trans issues (it’s only his “belief”), and then requests that he get more free advertising for his theme park under the banner of inclusivity. If you were truly inclusive, you’d be promoting his exclusionary views. It’s the paradox of intolerance, but there’s no point in explaining it to him because Ken Ham is to narrow and bigoted to comprehend it.

Now the Ark and Creation Museum employ Christians who adhere to our statement of faith. A Federal judge in Kentucky ruled we have a right to do this according to the law and freedom of religion. But everyone is welcome to come to the Ark and Creation Museum and we’ve seen people from all sorts of backgrounds visit, including LGBTQ people. We publicly promote the attractions to everyone as all are welcome.

Now Christians are persecuted around the world and in some places much worse than others. In some countries Christians can’t meet publicly or distribute bibles. How about a Christian month to promote unity and thus be inclusive of Christians to send a message to the world?

It is true that everyone is welcome to visit his grossly overpriced dreary carnival sideshow, and I think a few LGBTQ+ people (also some atheists!) have actually visited it, but they have not been there because they found it inviting. It’s more to witness the freak show. Or to protest it.

And of course he concludes with his martyr myth, that somehow endorsing the existence of LGBTQ+ people is equivalent to persecuting Christians, and Ken Ham in particular. He says this in a country that has allowed him to con hundreds of million dollars to propagandize Christian lies, with a government that is dominated by the Christian right, in a state that gave him millions of dollars in tax breaks to subsidize his Christian cult, and goes further to ask that a month be dedicated to honoring his weird version of Christianity.

There is going to be a protest at the Ark Park next month. That is not hate speech. They just have different worldviews. But the AiG worldview is founded on hatred, ignorance, bigotry, and superstition, and must be opposed. Governor Beshear is being political and avoiding talking about the shameful disgrace located in his state, and Ken Ham ought to shut up and appreciate that that is the best he’s going to get.

Dualism

When I encounter a substance dualist, this is how I mock their position.

Consciousness arises from physically undetectable, yet also indestructible, mind-stuff, which wasn’t present until humanity reached its current evolutionary phenotype, and which, despite not interacting with the body, both determines and is affected by its actions and is also perpetually localized to each individual person until they die at which point it goes to a non-localized location that also can’t be detected.

Also, like in the comic that comes from, my interlocutor can’t tell that I’m making fun of their position.

Why are Xian apologists so inane?

I don’t know the answer. This Christian dork kept popping up in my YouTube feed, making this claim that we shouldn’t take atheists seriously because there are so many great arguments for the existence of his god. I had to offer my short sweet response.

Not only are his arguments bad, but arguments are not evidence. I just had to get that off my chest.

I can’t take accusations of blasphemy seriously

I wouldn’t normally quote the odious Matt Walsh, but I was amused that he was taking umbrage at a new version of the Bible. Then I read these excerpts, and actually sympathized with Walsh — a truly horrible sensation — because, yes, this was an embarrassing translation, something assembled by one of those old people who think they can be “cool” by naively aping slang they don’t understand.

It’s real. It’s something called The Word According to Gen Z: A 30-Day Devo Challenge, a month-long exercise in introducing young people to the Bible.

Over the next 30 days, the guys at Sunday Cool will guide you through unique daily devos written specifically for Gen Z. You’ll learn about the reverence, ministry, and application of God’s Word. You’ll also see how Scripture isn’t just about reading, but deep study and enjoyment of the very God who created you.

From the creators of the popular YouTube series with Cool Carll—the youth intern who grew up but never left.

If you have to call yourself “cool,” you aren’t.

I dug a bit deeper, and at least this video from Cool Carll suggests that there’s a little tongue-in-cheek action going on here.

They’re trying too hard. Most of my students would qualify as Gen Z, and I’ve never heard this kind of slang…but fine, I can believe some people talk like that, just as some people of my generation could talk like stoned hippies, man. But it’s all about context, we all know how to speak appropriately in different situations, and Gen Z kids don’t talk like that in the classroom, or in Bible study, unless they’re trying to get a laugh.

And then I found this interesting insight from a Christian blog.

Lifeway, the media and publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, has long been known for its proclivity toward placing its bottom line ahead of biblical integrity when it comes to the materials they’re willing to peddle to Evangelicals and Southern Baptists for cash. Headed by Thom Rainer — and formerly, along with Ed Stetzer who now holds the Billy Graham Chair at Wheaton College — Lifeway has been criticized for its continued lack of concern over the heresy they publish and sell.

Lifeway is particularly dangerous because, being a part of a perceived conservative denomination, it is blindly expected that the store only produce, promote, and sell theologically sound materials. In reality, however, LifeWay’s model requires it to promote heretical garbage to maintain a steady income and it is part of the reason so much heresy has influenced the denomination over the years.

From its in-house Cash-Cow of Bashan, Beth Moore, who regularly fancies herself with silly stories of talking to God face to face who tells her to do silly things which sounds more like schizophrenia than anything biblical, to serial plagiarist, Christine Caine, Hillsong Australia’s rebellious version of Beth Moore, and others, such as Priscilla Shirer, Ann Voskamp, and practically any heretical lady-preacher you can think of, along with rank heretic and anti-Trinitarian, T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Steven Furtick, and even at one time, “gay pastor,” Matthew Vines, the list is practicalkly endless — Lifeway has made millions over the years peddling this garbage.

But now, Lifeway is taking it a step further by selling what is being dubbed a translation of the Bible — the Gen Z translation which is part of a new pragmatic approach to millennials called “Sunday Cool” — which practically turns every verse of the Scripture into a mockery of God by downplaying and stripping the majesty and deity of God by using meaningless words and artificial language that even millennials can’t understand.

I don’t follow Christian media at all, but I do know that “Christian culture” doesn’t exist — there’s a wide range of beliefs from innocuous “faith” with little commitment to insane fanaticism, and in between there are a lot of grifters, like the ones listed above, who get wealthy by seizing the power of capitalism and making a buck by telling gullible people what they want to hear.

One thing is for certain: you can always find a Christian who will call some other Christian a “heretic” or “blasphemer,” because it’s all of it, every word of it, made up. There is no foundation to any of it, not even the Bible they hold sacred, because they’re always happy to mangle the words to get any interpretation they want, and will go to war with anyone who mangles it a different way.

I found the next Patient Zero!

This doesn’t sound like my childhood swimmin’ hole.

“Swimming and wading are not allowed due to high bacteria levels,” the National Park Service states on its website. “Stay out of the water to protect streambanks, plants, and animals and keep you and your family (including pets!) safe from illness.”

In addition to the high levels of bacteria, the waterway also has “other infectious pathogens,” making swimming, wading, and any other water contact a “hazard” for humans and pets alike.

I wouldn’t go anywhere near it, and I’m a guy who went swimming in a cow pond when I was 14, wondering what the squishy stuff I was wading through was. I’ve encountered places like that before, I would never do that again! One thing worse would be wading into human waste.

“Getting into Rock Creek anywhere inside the Beltway is sort of weird and kooky, getting into Rock Creek downstream from the National Zoo is bugnuts. Basically begging for a zoonotic parasite. Forget Chinese wet markets, this guy is cooking up COVID-25 inside his grandkids.”

Yeah, don’t bring children into such a place. Who would do such a thing? Would you believe the head of Health and Human Services?

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went swimming with his grandchildren in Rock Creek in Washington, D.C., even amid warnings that the waterway isn’t safe for swimming because of high bacterial levels.

Kennedy wrote on X that he went on a “Mother’s Day hike in Dumbarton Oaks Park with Amaryllis, Bobby, Kick, and Jackson” and took “a swim with my grandchildren, Bobcat and Cassius in Rock Creek.”

The 71-year-old posted a number of photos, showing him shirtless, jeans on, in the water in the Potomac River tributary.

The man is an absolute legend. He’s bathing in effluent and eating rotting road kill; of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, he’d be Pestilence. And he’s in charge of American health!

Useful insight to begin the day

A plea for moderation in the face of fanaticism:

You don’t have to be that gung-ho on trans rights to realize that a world where girls’ genitals need to be inspected before they can play any sport is worse for girls than a world where once in a while there’s a trans girl on a girls’ team.

Being aware of the consequences is a good perspective to have for any goal.

There are an awful lot of extremists running the game right now who need to be sat down and told to grow up and shut up. They’re making the whole damn world worse for everyone.