Picture An Atheist

    I met a gentleman named Daniel while at the American Atheist convention. He asked to take a picture of my shirt. I gave him permission to do so and we struck up a bit of conversation about his project. Daniel told me about the many interesting shirts people had been wearing and how he had been collecting pictures of them. i suggested he post them on-line so others could enjoy his efforts. It turns out Daniel has a real life and it keeps him pretty busy. I could relate to his situation, real life is always screwing up my internet endeavors too.
    Since Daniel didn't really have time or a place to post his work I made another suggestion. I could post them for him. He agreed and told me he didn't need to be given credit for his work.
    To give credit where it is due the following examples of expression recorded from the Reason Rally and the American Atheist convention were taken by Daniel and sent to me. If anyone is pictured here and wishes it be removed simply contact me. I doubt that will be an issue because, like I said, the photographer made a habit of asking permission to take these photographs.
  Anyone who couldn't make it to either of the above mentioned events can now get an idea of what was in style.
   If a picture is worth a thousand words this is probably the longest blog you will ever see me post....
 Thanks for your efforts Daniel and it was nice to meet you....

 

That's me

                                              

Republicans,Reflublicans

    I have often wondered why we Americans are basically limited to a two-party system. Our country is so diverse, so unique, why do we limit our choices for who will represent or lead us? I never knew what I could do to help widen our choices.  The Democrats and Republicans seem to have control over who we choose from.
 Well it looks like one of the parties also wonders why the people are forced to pick from such a narrow pool of people. This party is doing everything it can to assure our children will have more choices in the future. We should all be saying "Thank You" to the Republican party for making change happen and sacrificing itself for that change. The numbers of independent voters has skyrocketed. And we owe it to people like Rick Santorum who is about as intelligent as a blade of grass. He even likes to pretend he is one sometimes (usually during a political debate) Rick considers how the world would seem to look if he was a blade of grass and then applies it to his human life because we know there is very little difference in Rick's case. What ingenious ideas have come from Rick's imaginary travels as a blade of grass? Things like this-

  “The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is,”~ Rick Santorum Gulf Coast Energy Summit in Biloxi, Miss.

 Unfortunately there aren't a lot of lawns that have an IQ above 4, that makes science a little tough for them to understand, Rick Santorum can be included in that group since The National Academy of Sciences has  found that 97 percent to 98 percent of climate researchers “most actively publishing in the field” agree that climate change is occurring. Let's not forget plants absorb C02 for photosynthesis. People can absorb C02 but it  can cause “headaches, dizziness, restlessness, a tingling or pins or needles feeling, difficulty breathing, sweating, tiredness, increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure...and death. Even though Rick can relate better to the intellect of a nicely kept front lawn there just isn't much it has in common with most people.

*admittedly not a real study, but damn close

 Rick has done an incredible job of making sure no one on the planet would admit to ever even hearing the word republican much less being one.
 Don't let me give the impression Rick is the only one undermining the republican party in an effort to turn every living American into an independent voter. Good 'ol down to earth Mitt Romney, the man who can relate to the average guy ,cause he is one, right? Well Mitt sure sounds like he understands the average Joe. Like when he said
      "I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed." —Mitt Romney, speaking in 2011 to unemployed people in Florida. Romney's net worth is over $200 million.
or
"There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip" –Mitt Romney, attempting to identify with the problems of average folk (January 2012)
or
     "I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much." —Mitt Romney, who earned $374,000 in speaking fees in one year according to according to his personal financial disclosure (January 2012)
  In case that leaves you a little confused about Mitt and his ability to relate to the average American I'll provide another of his quotes. This should clear things up completely.
    "I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that's the America millions of Americans believe in. That's the America I love." –Mitt Romney (January 2012)

   Up next on the Reflublican clown parade?  Rush "fat mouth" Limbaugh. He calls a woman who speaks out on behalf of birth control based on it's use besides contraception a whore because she is having so much sex she can't afford it and wants Rush to pay the tab. Not only does this moron have no idea what the woman was actually talking about but he stands behind his comment until his sponsors start abandoning him. As is often the case with Republicans , money equals morality. Here's the actual quote-

''A Georgetown coed told Nancy Pelosi's hearing that the women in her law school program are having so much sex they're going broke, so you and I should have to pay for their birth control. So what would you call that? I called it what it is. So, I'm offering a compromise today: I will buy all of the women at Georgetown University as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want. ... So Miss Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here's the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.''

—Rush Limbaugh, March 1, 2012

    No one knows for sure how many times Limbaugh has ended up with all his toes in his mouth. It has been said Rush Limbaugh has some talent for doing talk radio. If talent equals the ability to trick stupid people into believing made up quotes and data or managing to stay on the air no matter what kind of racist, selfish, backwards ass shit you say then Rush has talent. I don't find myself impressed in the least. Anyone can make shit up to back up lies and intolerance.

 The republicans seem obsessed with controlling people, especially women. This indicates the level of respect they have for others. Newt Gingrich provides some evidence of this.

  “She isn’t young enough or pretty enough to be the President’s wife.”
~Newt Gingrich, talking about his first wife after divorcing her.

  How Newt ever found a woman willing to marry him is another one of those mysteries we may never solve.

  Republicans also tend to have a problem with gays. Newt gave us a good example of this last December. In Iowa a homosexual man asked Gingrich  if he’s elected, how does he plan to engage gay Americans. Gingrich replied telling the man to "Support Obama" That's nice, a man who is ready to lead the American people.
  In case you still have doubts about the Newt allow me to share his wonderful suggestion for the moon.
  “By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American." ~Newt Gingrich
Nevermind  that we can't even take care of the people who are living on earth, let's spend money making sure Americans are struggling to live on the moon too. I don't have anything against NASA or space exploration but building a moon base? Gingrich should be trying to colonize the wasteland he calls his head. There is no sign of intelligent life there thus far.
   In my opinion the fact that Gingrich is even being considered as a possible candidate shows us the Reflublicans are scraping the bottom of the barrel.

 Eliminating funding for planned parenthood, disgust for the idea of separation between church and state, ignorance of widely accepted scientific theories (evolution, global warming), disapproval of providing contraception for women, an inability to show even one of the Reflublican choices can gain a majority of support from their own party members. All these things are causing people to turn into independent voters. It seems to be the one thing Reflublicans can get done. I, for one, wish them continued success.   

God debate, who really won? The audience.

     I watched/listened to a debate last night. It was Blair Scott, Communications Director for American Atheists up against Kyle Butt of Apologetics Press. The debate proposition was "God Does Not Exist" with Blair Scott arguing for the proposition and Kyle Butt arguing against it.
       I've heard Blair Scott speak a few times but I'd never heard of Mr Butt.
  The debate starts and Mr Butt steps up to the podium. One of the first things he mentions is that he has been trolling a certain "social site" and he came upon a comment on Blair's page. Someone had made a joke about Mr Butt on Blair's wall it seemed. Mr Butt was visibly not happy about being the butt of the joke and his comment about it was presented as if it had come from Blair or somehow been encouraged by him. Blair didn't make the comment, it was put on his facebook wall by a contact. We all know how that goes, none of us ever knows what the hell people on our friends list are going to say. If you post a perfectly innocent status next thing you know someone is telling stories about their bowel moments or some other random thing. Besides if you have the last Butt what do you think is going to happen? Do you expect people who don't know you, are never going to meet you, and probably think you are never going to read any posted comment, to pass up the painfully easy opportunity to joke about your name? Yea okay...
    After watching the displeasure flash across Mr Butt's face I thought for a moment He is using a facebook comment to put down the person he is debating about god? It seemed a bit childish to me and as he continued to speak it became clear I was right.
    Mr. Butt told his audience that Blair was sure to lose because you can not prove a negative. I almost expected him to reach out and point at Blair, cackle loudly and scream "We got you my pretty!" in a voice very much like the wicked witch. He didn't but he did ramble on for several minutes presenting arguments which have all been found to be incorrect or had still been considered 'debatable' This would have been business as usual but there was a hint of personal attack in Mr Butt's animus towards Blair. It continued through the entire debate, flaring up a couple of times.
   Mr Butt told a joke his opening came to an end. Blair Scott then started his opening. I was curious how he would address the fact that he could not win a debate where he had to prove the absolute non-existence of god.
    Then something very interesting happened. Blair admitted to losing the debate as it had been presented. He would not be trying to prove god didn't exist, he would be presenting some of the conclusions Atheists had come to and some of the counter arguments to Mr Butt's absolute claims. These would all be presented so that they could be considered by the audience. The audience would have to come to it's own conclusions. There was not going to be an Atheist standing on stage insisting everything he said was factual beyond a doubt.
   This approach was perfect for a couple reasons.
 1) If Blair had started by telling the crowd he was going to change their minds about god you would have been able to hear the minds snapping shut. He had only asked them to listen.
 2) No matter what was said from that point on, no matter how many times Mr Butt took petty shots and behaved like an egotistical prick who had all the answers. Blair was standing in front of a crowd giving them things to think about which would probably never been presented to them otherwise. Things that would help them make informed choices about their beliefs.
    I'm not going to go into the issues tossed back and forth between Blair and Mr Butt except one. Mr Butt said at one point the there were absolutes when it came to what was right and wrong. Besides showing that Mr Butt is unable to even consider another person point of view,it also showed how ignorant he is to the diversity of the world.
    Some people are going to say that Blair did not do well during this debate. While I can understand how they could come to that conclusion I found his presentation to be accurate and done with class, not by taking cheap shots at Mr Butt. Blair could have also admitted defeat and proceeded to describe exactly what kind of god the other side had shown to exist by using the bible. It would have been easy to paint the picture of a needy hypocritical being who seemed very bored and not very intelligent. That would have resulted in most of the crowd dismissing Blair as hateful or angry, the poor Atheist who just needed to find the love of jesus.
     Mr Butt gave me the impression of someone who talks to to everyone but his reflection in a condescending tone. I don't think he even one time admitted that he could be wrong. There is a saying that goes something like this "The wisest man is the one who realizes how little he knows" If Mr Butt possesses any humility at all he must be hiding it where the sun doesn't shine.

Miss Idiot

   Ladies and gentlemen !!! Step right up and experience something that will leave you trembling in terror. The need to run as far and fast as you can will wash over you like a tidal wave,alas there is no escape it spans the nation.
  Get ready for the scariest thing you've seen all day....

Miss USA answers question- Should evolution be taught in schools?

I could write an hour about why almost all these women are not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier and it would only scratch the surface.
  I will limit myself to the top two things which bug me.
 1) Evolution is constantly equated to religion. Evolution IS NOT A RELIGION OR RELIGIOUS BELIEF
 2) You can't teach 'EVERYTHING' in school, and even if you could, that does not mean you should.

I'd like to thank Miss California for not making us look like a bunch of stupid twits. 

Removed by FaceBook

Since FaceBook removed my artwork because no one can handle looking at a penis, I thought I would post it here for the world to enjoy if it so chooses....

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