Another reason to not eat at Chick-Fil-A

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Michael

Chick-Fil-A seems to like to get in the news for shitty reasons. First it was their promotion of bigotry. People got wind of it and the company backed off, at least nominally. (They’re still conservative Christians, so they’re still bigots. Just less active ones.) Now they apparently want to write the plot to the next made-for-TV movie:

After applying for a federal trademark for the Eat More Kale logo, hoping to block other artists from copying his design, [the Vermont business] Eat More Kale received a letter from Chick-Fil-A threatening to block Eat More Kale’s trademark application [because Chick-Fil-A’s slogan is “Eat Mor Chiken”]. Chick-Fil-A claims that the “Eat More” combination will confuse its customers and dilute its brand. And it wants the small Vermont business to stop.

This is patently absurd. Nobody is going to confuse shitty chicken and exceptionally shitty fries for a shitty vegetable. Yeah, it all tastes awful – more so on the part of Chick-Fil-A – but they are two entirely different products. This is a case of a big corporation being a bully because it has the money to do so. I can’t wait to see the movie on ABC Family.

But that isn’t the worst part in all this. The worst part is that people actually eat at Chick-Fil-A. How dreadful. Seriously. And it isn’t that I don’t like them for their Christianity. If I refused to eat or shop at every place run by Christians, I’d have to become a very self-reliant farmer very quickly. And it isn’t that I object to the company’s contribution to obesity. I mean, I do have that objection, but that isn’t why this is awful. After all, McDonald’s is the biggest contributor in the nation, but that doesn’t mean a Big Mac isn’t frickin’ delicious. No, the basis for why I think it’s terrible that people actually eat there is just how bad it is. I mean, first of all, waffle fries are an abomination. There’s no reason for them to exist. Anywhere. Ever. What’s worse, Chick-Fil-A does an especially shitty job with theirs. Second, it’s dry. Every. Single. Thing. They. Sell. Unlike Nate’s mother, it is all dry. I’m pretty sure I suffered dehydration after buying a soda there once.

So let’s not stop supporting Chick-Fil-A because of its hatred of gays or its frivolous lawsuits. Let’s stop supporting it because it’s so god damned awful.

Filed under: News | Tagged: , | 9 Comments »

Zach Wahls makes a hell of a speech

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Michael

This video has been making the rounds amongst those who don’t hate gays. I should have thrown it up here earlier:

I would normally add a bunch of commentary, but I think he pretty much nailed it.

Filed under: Same-sex marriage | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

First Cause proponents won’t get this

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Michael

Since people who think the First Cause argument holds a lick of validity are obviously people who don’t understand really basic physics, I don’t think they will appreciate this. Everyone else, though, enjoy:

Filed under: Astronomy/Cosmology/Physics, Humor | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

Thought of the day

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Michael

I can’t believe Carlos Mencia, aka Ned Holness, aka joke stealer extraordinaire, keeps getting specials on Comedy Central. The guy isn’t funny at all.

Filed under: Misc | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

A hugely pathetic understanding of evolution

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Michael

One of the creationists favorite pieces of bullshit rhetoric is to say to anyone who accepts the facts of evolution, “You are beholden to your evolutionary past! Why would you do anything good if the point of life is to merely survive? Checkmate, atheists.” It’s an awful line that just won’t go away, but I figure if I make a post like this, at least I will have an easy stock response on hand. So here’s why it’s so awful.

First, it is a conflation of descriptive and normative claims. (I am thoroughly convinced most Christians do not understand the difference.) Evolution deals with the facts of biology as discovered via the powerful methodology of science. It’s a description of observation; it does not have a say on how one ought to act. Morality, on the other hand, is nothing but normative claims. It is the way in which we say what is right and wrong. It is the precise opposite of descriptive claims like those made by science.

Second, it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of evolution. Simply because the history of all life is marked with ruthless struggle does not mean that we must display such ruthlessness at all times. Or any times. In fact, I think we would want to do just the opposite at most times. But none of that is really pertinent. The facts of our evolution do not mean we must act in this way or that way. It would be like saying all Americans must love the French now and forever because we got so buddy-buddy with them during the Revolutionary War. Could you imagine how upset FOX Noise would be if that were true?

This line of argumentation from creationists is really just an excuse to disengage. Rather than openly debate the merits of this or that moral position, they just appeal to a red herring of an argument. And it isn’t merely creationists. The same tactic is often used by theistic evolutionists. It does a disservice to logical, philosophical debate, but perhaps worse, it undercuts the science at the heart of it all. Ultimately, it is a misunderstanding of the issues: Evolution is a descriptive fact; morality is normative. No matter what moral conclusions one draws, evolution still remains true. Even if one draws conclusions about morality (i.e., not moral positions, but ideas concerning the concept of morality) which conflict with the descriptive fact of evolution, Mr. Darwin’s great idea, with all its modern day modifications, still remains true. And should someone think that evolution leads to particular consequences such as ruthlessness and mayhem (which, incidentally, is an invalid reason to reject acceptance of evolution), even that is immaterial. In addition to those people being wrong on the facts, evolution, once again, still remains true.

So, no, logically inept creationists and friends, you haven’t added anything of value here. As usual. Evolution is descriptive and so has no say on morality. Moreover, even if it did dictate how we ought to live, we would not therefore be beholden to our past anyway. Even if you were right, you’re still wrong. Or as I really need to say more often, you’re wrong in your wrongness.

Filed under: Atheism/Humanism, Evolution, Philosophy | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Stanislaw Burzynski is a quack

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Michael

A family in the UK has a young child with an inoperable brain tumor. Naturally, they are looking to do anything and everything that may save their daughter’s life. Unfortunately, that includes getting suckered for huge sums of money by Stanislaw Burzynski and his quacking Burzynski clinic of Texas:

Unfortunately, the treatment they want to give her is antineoplaston therapy: it’s pure bunk. The clinic that is trying to suck large sums of money away from the family of a dying child is the Burzynski clinic. So in addition to being a quack, Burzynski is now a vampire, exploiting sick children for profit.

The total sum of money this quackery clinic is seeking to get from this family is around $310,000. What a waste. I find it awful when any amount of money is spent on false hope, but this is abhorrent. This constitutes a massive loss of cash which could otherwise be used on what narrow chances of survival do exist. Nothing the Burzynski clinic does with this bunk therapy is going to help. Like with all quackery, they lack evidence.

What’s more, the people from this clinic took to responding to critical articles out on the Interwebblings by threatening libel suits, proving once again how amazing it is that so many quacks don’t seem to know about the Streisand Effect. Look, quacks, the Internet does not take kindly to sham medicine. Just wait. A current Google search yields favorable results for the clinic, but give it a day. I promise Burzynski isn’t going to like what he sees. (Though I’m sure he is used to seeing plenty of negative results.)

Filed under: Pure bullshit | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

Brownback apologizes

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Michael

That dopey governor of Kansas who went after a teenager for Tweeting mean things about him has realized his error:

Gov. Sam Brownback apologized Monday for his office’s reaction to a Kansas high school senior’s disparaging tweet about the Republican during a visit to the Statehouse…

“My staff over-reacted to this tweet and for that I apologize,” Brownback said. “Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms.”

Well, it is once you get caught doing something stupid.

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The science you won’t hear

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Michael

Apparently a few global warming denialists skeptics have released some more DAMNING! emails from climate scientists. It appears that they’re actually from the same crop of hacked emails that were released awhile ago, but is anyone going to care? I make it a point to avoid FOX “News”, but I have no doubt that that station along with the other Republican propaganda machines out there will have no problem taking more things out of context whilst simultaneously presenting this stuff as brand new. Of course, what they won’t mention is this:

Climate-change skeptics have pointed to the emails as evidence that researchers were manipulating data to make global warming look more serious than it is. Multiple investigations by UEA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the British House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, several independent panels and [climate scientist Michael] Mann’s home institution, Pennsylvania State University, found no evidence that these claims were true. The House of Commons did criticize the scientists and UEA for not releasing raw data and for handling freedom-of-information requests poorly. A 2011 parliamentary report concluded that it was time to “move on” from Climategate.

I have a conservative friend who made a big deal out of all this when it was new. (You won’t believe it, but there are conservatives out there who don’t understand a lick of science. Crazy, I know.) Then an early study came out exonerating the scientists of all the nasty claims being made by the anti-science right (sorry to be redundant). He dismissed that study, saying “this if far from over”. I followed up with him as more and more investigations concluded, asking which parts were still alive and kicking. Unfortunately, my follow-ups were all online, so he used the tactic common to many people who are wrong on the Internet – he ran away like a coward. It was really quite symbolic of much of the far right on this issue. And every other scientific issue once they get shown the facts.

And speaking of those who aren’t interested in science, remember the excitement the faster than light neutrino stirred up? No, no, not the genuine scientific excitement. I mean the excitement in the creationist/Christian community. “Why”, they ignorantly said, “this just shows that science doesn’t know what it’s doing!” Yes, yes, we all realize the religious don’t like the fact that science embodies the antithesis of faith. They’re more than happy to abuse the inherent nature of science in order to attack science. If it isn’t dogmatic and sure (based upon nothing more than faith, i.e., an overt lack of evidence), then it just can’t be good, right? That’s probably why this study isn’t likely to show up on too many Christian message boards:

An international team of scientists in Italy studying the same neutrino particles colleagues say appear to have travelled faster than light rejected the startling finding this weekend, saying their tests had shown it must be wrong…

They argue, on the basis of recently published studies by two top U.S. physicists, that the neutrinos pumped down from CERN, near Geneva, should have lost most of their energy if they had travelled at even a tiny fraction faster than light.

But in fact, the ICARUS scientists say, the neutrino beam as tested in their equipment registered an energy spectrum fully corresponding with what it should be for particles traveling at the speed of light and no more.

This doesn’t mark the end of the research on this specific subject, but it does act as a superficial blow to those non-science people who got so excited over all this. I say “superficial” because whether neutrinos can or cannot travel faster than light does no harm to science; the deeper reality is that none of this – absolutely none of it – will favor the religious mindset. But so long as so many people wallow in a fundamental misunderstanding of how science works – it rests upon bodies of evidence, damn it – these new results are unlikely to be promoted by anyone outside the scientific community.

Filed under: Astronomy/Cosmology/Physics, News, Science | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Governor Sam Brownback sucks

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Michael

Emma Sullivan was on a terrible school field trip to the state capitol building in Kansas when she tweeted this:

Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot

So what did Governor Sam Brownback’s people do? They tattled, of course:

Emma Sullivan, 18, was hauled into her principal’s office and ordered to write letters of apology after one of Governor Sam Brownback’s office contacted the tour organizer to complain about the offending note on the social networking site Twitter.

I believe my letter of apology would have consisted of “And you can go fuck yourself too.”

I’m at a loss about which part of this is worse, the fact that some prick in Brownback’s office told on a high school kid or the fact that Sullivan’s school made her apologize. Maybe this quote can clear things up:

“In general,” spokeswoman Leigh Anne Neal said in an e-mail “students on school-sponsored field trips, in which they are representing the school, would be expected to conduct themselves in accordance with school district policies, including use of electronic devices.

“Students may express their personal beliefs, views, and opinions, as long as they do so appropriately and in accordance with school policies.“

What a load. In other words, feel free to express yourselves, kids, but only if what you’re saying is stamped and approved. Yeah, Brownback’s people are morons, but the school has handled this like, well, the average high school that is unconcerned with educating children well.

I realize free speech and other basic human rights get ignored in schools because, well, what are kids going to do, amirite, ‘adults’? But regardless, the girl spoke her mind to a public official in person and then Tweeted about it. Good. That’s exactly the sort of thing she ought to be doing. If anything, the school should hold her up as a positive example for the rest of the student body. Of course, if that didn’t happen immediately, it isn’t going to happen now – high school administrators don’t tend to be open to looking like the idiots they usually are. Thank goodness for the Streisand Effect, though:

Governor Sam Brownback sucks.

Filed under: News, Politics and Social | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

This is why I hate the NFL

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Michael

During the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving, a cheerleader got bowled over by a player on his way out-of-bounds. She popped up with a surprised look and a smile on her face, then enjoyed a small bit of fame from the moment. Later she took to Twitter and said these things:

Not hurtin’ today like some of y’all thought I would be! Our TE isn’t as tough as he looks… That or I’m WAY tougher than I look. ;)

…

I’m not the best at Jason Whitten trust falls. ;)

I see absolutely nothing wrong with any of this. She pretty much nailed how to ‘handle’ the situation: with humility, grace, and humor. Great. Let’s move on, right? Nope:

CNBC’s Darren Rovell reported that Kellerman was forced to delete her Twitter account after posting two messages on Friday morning about the incident.

That’s right. The Dallas Cowboys told this cheerleader to shut the hell up. If she isn’t participating on some shitty show on CMT, then she just shouldn’t be heard at all, I guess? It’s ridiculous. This shit is why I hate the NFL. It’s such a nancy-soccer league at this point that I would think they should be psyched that their players – and cheerleaders – aren’t taking dives. I’m just surprised a ref didn’t throw a flag for roughing the passer when Kellerman stopped cheering for those few seconds.

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