The Root of All Evil?

Richard Dawkins recently put out a documentary entitled The Root of All Evil? He posits it to be religion. He talks to some very frightening people during the course of the show. It was an excellent program that I don't have much to say about. No complaints.

"He explores the state of the three Abrahamic religions in the world today, from the political influence of rich and powerful Christian fundamentalist institutions in America to the deadly clash of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the Middle East."

And later...

"Hellhouse movies are a new growth industry in the USA today. Graphically filmed, they demonise abortion and homosexuality with the explicit aim of scaring the viewers. Pastor Keenan Roberts explains that the aim is 'to leave an indelible impression on their lives that sin destroys … and Jesus saves'."

These are some quotes from a description of the show. I recommend watching the full program.

More reading:
-The Root of All Evil (Channel 4)
-Wikipedia Entry

Bigfoot Stable

Speaking of stabalized films, here's one of a guy in a suit.

Bigfoot (3.97 MB gif)

New Age + More Nessie

New Age

A story about the worst-case scenario of New-Age bullshit becoming main stream.
Condemned to Repeat It

"They must have done something to Sarah's appendix that night. The next morning it had burst. She was so sick. We tried everything: Homeopathy, Aromatherapy, Psychic Surgery, Acupuncture. Towards the end, I pulled our life savings, and had a Qi Gong specialist flown in from Beijing to adjust her meridian energies. But nothing anyone could do could save her. She died two weeks ago."

The witness was then awakened and dismissed. The Prosecutor walked over to the bench. "Your Honor, in addition to this testimony-evidence, I also have here sworn affidavits that crop circles appeared on the west side after the night in question."

"Excellent," the Judge said. "Hard, corroborating evidence is always helpful in cases like this." He fixed severe eyes on the accused. "Mr. Randall, Conspiring with Grays is a serious accusation. How do you plead?"

Surgeon's Photo

Just a toy.

I was asked about the history of this Loch Ness photo. This, the most famous picture of the Loch Ness Monster was supposedly taken by Dr. Robert Kenneth Wilson in 1934. The Surgeon's Photo is the first to turn the monster into a possible plesiosaur.

The photo however was not taken by the doctor, it is a confirmed fake. It was a model built by a man named Christian Spurling. Marmaduke Wetherell and his son took the photos and passed the film to the reputable, but prank-fan, Dr. Wilson.

The picture in question is cropped in close. I can't get a copy online of the un-cropped photo, but it more strikingly shows the scale of nearby waves. Nessie really does look tiny in the un-cropped photo. This doesn't address all the evidence for a Loch Ness Monster, just the Surgeon's Photo.

Ultimately though, there is no Monster in Loch Ness. A brief summary of the problems any lake monster would face include: what to eat, how to reproduce, and how to stay hidden thought the repeated sonar surveys.

Stable Zapruder Film

Recently on the net, the famous Zapruder Film appeared in stabilized form. The Zapruder Film is (the only?) footage of the Kennedy assassination at Dealey Plaza 1963. This version of the film has the car stabilized in the shot to focus on the incident.

I'm posting about this because the Kennedy assassination still seems to be a popular topic for conspiracy theorists. From the evidence I've seen and heard, it was one nut with a gun who killed Kennedy. The Conspiracy Theory episode of Penn & Teller's BULLSHIT proved it was possible for an untrained gunman to fire 3 accurate bullets at range in less time than Oswald. They also show how the head moves toward the shooter, not away. The evidence of a conspiracy or a second gunmen doesn't impress me yet. Maybe someone has something I haven't seen?

It is graphic, so if you're squeamish, maybe steer clear.



Here is a direct video link:
http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/KF/0512/zapruder_-_stable.mov (6.5 MB quicktime)

Here is a link to the Boing Boing where I first found the video:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/02/stabilized_zapruder_.html

Frank Zappa was a great man

Frank Zappa was so cool during this show. Excellent work deflecting those questions which try to steer the conversation into unrelated topics.

Nessie

Elephant?

This story posits that Nessie was just a lost circus elephant. Seems more believable than an immortal dinosaur.

NESSIE, the Loch Ness monster, is in fact an elephant, according to a Scottish palaeontologist who claims to have solved the riddle surrounding the unexplained sightings of a monster in a lake near Glasgow in Scotland.

Blondes

According to a story at The Times Online, being blonde is an evolutionary adaptation.

According to the study, north European women evolved blonde hair and blue eyes at the end of the Ice Age to make them stand out from their rivals at a time of fierce competition for scarce males.

But what's really interesting is this bit at the end.

A study by the World Health Organisation found that natural blonds are likely to be extinct within 200 years because there are too few people carrying the blond gene. According to the WHO study, the last natural blond is likely to be born in Finland during 2202.

Something must be done! Really, by then it's likely we'll have mastery of the genes for that sort of thing and won't need hair color.

Note1: Different spells checks return different results for "blonde".
Note2: Searching Google pictures for "Natural Blonde" doesn't return kid-friendly results.

Simpsons Rights

Americans know more about The Simpsons TV show than the US Constitution's First Amendment, an opinion poll says.
-BBC News

So for the record:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
-National Archives