701. 'Irrational Atheist' trounces God-deniers

Comment #118022 by annabanana on January 30, 2008 at 8:40 am

nordicthunder, I see that grasping the contents of my delicate analysis of the cover of the book is beyond you. Either that or you just didn't read a word of what I said. I would encourage you to get a brain before you come here.

702. 'Irrational Atheist' trounces God-deniers

Comment #118010 by annabanana on January 30, 2008 at 8:13 am

nordicthunder, it would be much easier for people here to be "open minded" and take this book seriously had the author/publisher not completely ripped off the cover from Sam Harris' End of Faith. If the title, book jacket, etc. are unoriginal and poorly thought out, what would lead anyone to think that the contents of the book are original and well-thought out? If they guy can't sell books without stealing the publicity of a well-known book, I'd be doubtful that he has anything of importance to say and if indeed he does, then he needs to fire his publicist.

703. Belief in Belief

Comment #118001 by annabanana on January 30, 2008 at 7:41 am

october mermaid,

I think a good way to think about death (as I've had to deal with this dilemma as well since becoming an atheist) is to think about leaving your mark by being a good person and doing something productive with your life, whatever that may be. You could also donate your body to science so that you could help save lives after yours is done. Then you're sort of living on forever. :)

704. New atheists or new anti-dogmatists?

Comment #117168 by annabanana on January 28, 2008 at 11:14 am

It seems to me that O'Donnell plays around with a number of different meanings for the words dogma, faith and religion without ever specifying precisely how he is using each word each time.

705. New atheists or new anti-dogmatists?

Comment #117090 by annabanana on January 28, 2008 at 8:36 am

I wonder why we've gravitated to the using the word "religion" when we mean "dogma"? Is it simply because we learnt that word first in life? The media's use of the word? Or because it is the opposite of atheist, which we've all been dubbed, or dub ourselves?
Perhaps this question doesn't matter in the long run. Just an interesting thought.

706. Stop revisionist Christian nation House Resolution 888

Comment #115999 by annabanana on January 25, 2008 at 8:36 am

William Kaiser,

I am very much encouraged by the letter that you received from your congressman. I am afraid I will get no such reply from mine. I also did not use the letter from the Secular Coalition. I posted the letter I wrote here earlier before all the other nonsense got started. Another friend of mine liked it and used it to write his own letter. So far, I have yet to hear anything. I will post any response as soon as I get it.

707. Heath Ledger Death: Baptist Group To Protest At Memorial

Comment #115596 by annabanana on January 24, 2008 at 11:33 am

OMG! Prankster, me too! Sucks to work for the gov. doesn't it?

Edit: Occasionally, when I get to do the right thing, I like my job. It's just that blasted red tape that keeps getting in the way!

708. Heath Ledger Death: Baptist Group To Protest At Memorial

Comment #115545 by annabanana on January 24, 2008 at 10:03 am

So the whole "Thou shalt not lay with mankind,as with womankind" thing...wouldn't that mean that women are only to lay with womankind as well? It doesn't specify that it's talking about men only...All women should be lesbians, the Bible says so...

709. The real danger in Darwin is not evolution, but racism

Comment #115208 by annabanana on January 23, 2008 at 6:47 pm

First and foremost, even if Darwin did have those ideas, he still was one of the first to recognize the process of evolution (as others have said) and that's what we learn about, not his personal opinions. This guy is such an asshole. He thinks he can win everyone over by simply saying "well Darwin was a racist so we musn't teach his works".

Secondly, saying that Darwin's discovery of evolution caused the Holocaust is like saying that Newton's discovery of gravity caused people to drop bombs on one another.

710. Life-Forming Chemicals Found in Distant Galaxy

Comment #114781 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 7:34 pm

I don't like either. Fishing and hunting are both parts of our less evolved past which we have overcome by domesticating our food. I hate hunting. I'll go ahead and be the girl and say "don't kill bambi!"

711. Darwin Day (Feb 12th) E-Cards

Comment #114640 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 1:48 pm

Paula, I like your idea, but you're forgetting everything between bacteria and vertebrates! You can't leave out the molluscs and cnidaria! What about the sea squirts and fish?

I do like it, though. If I had a Mac I'd make a graphic. Stupid PCs.

712. Top 10 Reasons to Believe Logic Over Religion

Comment #114553 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Robotaholic,

I don't think RP supporters behave like cult members. Everyone here is tired of politics like they are and it's nice to THINK you have someone who isn't like all the rest. Ron Paul is different and radical and people have latched onto that quality.

But I'll say, Ron Paul isn't like the rest, that's for sure, but that doesn't automatically make him a good candidate either.

713. Life-Forming Chemicals Found in Distant Galaxy

Comment #114540 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 11:35 am

*laughing and crying at the same time*

714. Life-Forming Chemicals Found in Distant Galaxy

Comment #114533 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 11:27 am

Norman, it would essentially be the same thing they're doing in the article, it will just be more precisely targeted. Different chemicals express different types of movement due to the nature of their chemical bonds. We have essentially catalogued these movements so that they are fairly easily identifiable.

On a side note, if you've ever been through organic chemistry and used the older technology, mass spectroscopy is NOT that easy, but fortunately newer technology than my lab was equipped with is available.

715. Top 10 Reasons to Believe Logic Over Religion

Comment #114529 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 11:22 am

BicycleRepairMan, have you seen this article yet?

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul148.html

Ron Paul IS scary. He wants the states to have all the power. I'm sure you could see the eminent doom certain states would have if they were allowed to legislate their all too socially conservative views.

716. Stop revisionist Christian nation House Resolution 888

Comment #114514 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 10:50 am

Yes indeed. Why couldn't they just gossip about each other like women do? [/sexist, sweeping generalization]

717. Stop revisionist Christian nation House Resolution 888

Comment #114474 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 9:16 am

al-rawandi, that sounds ridiculous. Bombing people just to "one up" another country can't seriously be a legitimate reason.

718. Stop revisionist Christian nation House Resolution 888

Comment #114469 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 9:05 am

Tyler Durden, You gave me a good laugh buddy! I don't think that'll fly. I think a non-Bible Belter will have to propose that one, but if and when it happens, I'll be sure to write to my representative to vote for it!

719. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #114468 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 9:01 am

Yeah sorry...I need to remember to do [/sarcasm]

720. Stop revisionist Christian nation House Resolution 888

Comment #114459 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 8:37 am

Thanks, I'll let everyone know if he responds and what kind of response it is.

Hopefully it will make a difference. I e-mailed it to everyone I know who I thought would care and told them to feel free to use it or parts of it and encouraged them to write their own letters. We'll see. Does anyone know when they are supposed to vote on it?

721. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #114457 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 8:34 am

I was mostly joking. I'm quite short so I was jokingly being defensive and then being ironic since being defensive is the key symptom for the Napoleon complex. ;)

722. Stop revisionist Christian nation House Resolution 888

Comment #114454 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 8:26 am

Here is the letter I just sent. Not that it matters since my representative is one of the co-sponsors. :(

I appreciate the work you have done for South Carolina while serving us in the United States House of Representatives. However, as an active citizen, I must report that I am concerned about some of your latest efforts such as your co-sponsorship of House Resolutions 847 and 888.
As I am sure that you are well versed in the Constitution of the United States of America, I think that you must be misinterpreting some of the First Amendment which states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." House Resolutions 847 and 888 are in direct violation of this clause which grants us separation of church and state and requires our government not to comment on religion. I am aware that House Resolution 847 has already passed (as well as some other resolutions regarding the various religions observed in our great nation), but House Resolution 888 which seeks to re-write the nation's history with Christian underpinnings, has not passed and I would like to urge you to vote against it.
This resolution makes certain assumptions that need not be made. It asserts that our great founding fathers were all Christian. While I am certain that some of them were, there is much evidence that many of them were Deists and that their intent was not to include the assumption of any one religion into our history and founding documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. I will remind you that our nation was founded partly to escape religious persecution. If we are to prevent the persecution of Christians of different sects, then certainly we are to prevent the persecution of people of non-Christian religions and people of no particular faith at all. If this resolution is passed, it will certainly establish Christianity as the religion of choice in our nation which is an affront to what was intended for our country and those who are not of the Christian religion.
I would also like to remind you that 30% of the nation is self-reported as being non-religious (deist, agnostic, atheist, etc.). While this is a minority, it is no small minority. Millions of people do not ascribe to the Christian religion and this resolution is an affront to them. Diversity is one of the most wonderful parts of our nation and to pass a resolution which undermines this diversity reveals that we still have work to do in educating our peers as to the importance of different perspectives.
I am also concerned that not only does this resolution disregard those who are not of the Christian faith, but it also wastes precious time when we have so many pressing issues at hand. We have a war to deal with; an energy crisis, a healthcare crisis, and today we are entering into a recession. To spend time on ceremonial resolutions such as this when there are so many people suffering at home and abroad appears quite selfish.
It is my sincere hope that you will take my thoughts and concerns as an active citizen and voter into consideration when you vote on this resolution. Please do not vote for this resolution. Again, I want to thank you for your service to the state of South Carolina and to the United States of America.

723. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #114386 by annabanana on January 22, 2008 at 6:14 am

You people are still going on about....something?

Sheesh, I left the discussion 3 days ago. I thought it would have been dead by now.

al-rawandi...there isn't anything wrong with being short!!! Damn, there I go proving your point...

724. Questions Delay Creationist Master's Degrees

Comment #113030 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 1:28 pm

"god-squad", haha. Does that make us the A-Team?

725. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #113029 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 1:23 pm

Wow, walk. I wish that my now-ex and I could have been like that. In stead of kidding, I think we both took it too seriously. C'est la vie...

726. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #113026 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 1:20 pm

I said hug OR alcohol, not hug AND alcohol...I know better than that...I think...

Thanks for the hug, Diacanu. My day just got worse. Some guy from some facility got mad because we're smart and wrote an angry e-mail about us being stupid to the head of the whole bureau. WTF?!? I've been so nice to this guy and he not only went over my head, he went like way way over my head AND called me stupid.

Sorry, that was a completely off topic rant!

727. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112998 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 12:09 pm

I need something...don't know whether it's a hug or just a whole lot of alcohol...

728. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112993 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 11:23 am

We're in the business of saving money. We don't have any color printers. I use colors in excel on my computer, though. We have to input a lot of information so I color-code which is a formula and which is input...

729. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112990 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 11:14 am

must self-medicate...I've had a rough week!

730. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112987 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 11:05 am

*cries and throws a tantrum*

I want to laugh too! I'm so out of the loop! Stupid job, has to get in the way of entertainment.

731. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112983 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 11:04 am

lol, yes excel and word. live on them. I'm really good at making them look pretty. When you work for the government, you always have to make it look pretty and put it on official letterheads and all. I do a lot of formatting for my section, too, b/c no one else wants to figure out how to do it.

732. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112979 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 10:58 am

Well, I work mostly on the computer...so I post in between formatting excel to death...it gets rather tedious, so I have to break it up with something.

733. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112948 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 10:19 am

al-rawandi, graphic and obscene are the only real ways that you can respond to a person like Coulter. I'll check it out later when I'm off work. Probably would be prudent to avoid that while at work...

EDIT: If I weren't at work, I'd be using the language that I usually use to describe her which normally consists of the c-word and the b-word...I try to reserve comments like that, but when it comes to that wh---, I just can't help it.

734. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112940 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 9:59 am

Ann Coulter is definitely a liberal democrat whose goal in life is to make the neo-cons look ridiculous. I'm convinced of it.

735. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112938 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 9:57 am

al-rawandi, hm...that's definitely a good possibility!

736. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112921 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 9:30 am

al-rawandi, similarly, I am convinced that Ann Coulter is actually a liberal democrat who was sent to make the neo-cons look ridiculous. I think she's done a good job, don't you?

737. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112915 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 9:19 am

Steve, I like it. We should stop evolution, too, while we're at it. Everyone's genes must not be allowed to mutate and such. Complete Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. What was it RD said? "genes are probably nasty fascist things anyway"

738. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112907 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 9:13 am

rotfl Cartomancer!

739. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #112905 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 9:12 am

gr8hands, do you really think they mean it? Or are they just pandering? To me, it seems that both Clinton and Obama are very squeamish when it comes to talking about faith and religion.

740. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112898 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 8:55 am

Scooter, I think you are wrong to contend that the people here don't expect people to take responsibility for their actions. It's like Paula said, we (or I at least) expect people to take responsibility for the actions that we can.

I have often hypothesized that those in our western society who are least empathetic are those who have never been through very many (or no) hard times in their lives. They have no way to relate, so they tend to blame people rather than empathize. I realize this is a broad generalization and that it certainly isn't true in all cases.

741. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112885 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 8:23 am

Yes, I read about it a few weeks back on Wikipedia, I believe, but it seems that the article has been curtailed, or either I was reading about it more in depth elsewhere and I just can't remember. At any rate, I remember reading significant criticism of it.

742. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112879 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 8:02 am

the "Aquatic Ape Hypothesis"

743. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112875 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 7:58 am

Scooter, I wasn't trying to put you on the defensive or really even trying to offend you. I was only trying to point out the error of your ways so that maybe this could turn into a rational discussion.

744. Gigantic fossil rodent discovered

Comment #112864 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 7:44 am

Lol! It's the new pony! "Daddy, I want a Josephoartigasia monesi for my birthday! Please!!!!!"

745. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112862 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 7:39 am

Scooter, I think it is also a very defining characteristic that you refuse to try and accept any argument that anyone has made here that doesn't align with what you've decided is right. If you can't look at yourself critically, you're just as bad as the next creationist.

746. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112859 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 7:37 am

Diacanu, thanks, I'm feeling particularly volatile at the moment...I'm not normally that feisty.

747. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112855 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 7:35 am

To take the drug is STILL A CHOICE. It doesn't matter how the recidivism rate goes.

748. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #112831 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 6:42 am

*cries*

I've shed a lot of tears over this election...

749. Gigantic fossil rodent discovered

Comment #112823 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 6:28 am

*hits forehead on desk*

Now the creationists have something else to depict alongside the humans in the new Creationism museum...they thought it was complete...[/sarcasm]

750. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112813 by annabanana on January 18, 2008 at 6:05 am

I'm not feeling very serious today, so I'd just like to say that if they want to promote the Bible and creationism in school, I'd be ok with it as long as it's the LOLBible...

For all of you who are not familiar with Ben Stein, he was the teacher on the tv show "The Wonder Years", he's in those "clear eyes" commercials, he was the host of the show "win Ben Stein's Money" (which was why I liked him before all of this crap), and the most recent thing "America's Most Smartest Model" (on VH1, and no it wasn't a very serious show)...