just me

Most of us in the guild know Divari (Craig) and/or Carlexis (Anthony) in real life. As you may have heard, their dad passed away this past weekend after a battle with stomach cancer. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through lately, but I (and all of us) are here for you when you need us. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do.

Most of us have had at least one loved one with cancer. Some of them are still with us. My father had 18″ of his colon and large intestines removed four years ago due to colon cancer. They also took a number of lymph nodes and, in a subsequent surgery, a small part of his liver. The chemo has helped, for now, but who knows for how long.

With that, I’d like to propose that we have a Bloodbeard fund drive to raise some money to donate to the American Cancer Society in Mr. Worrell’s name. I know times are tough, but every little bit helps. If you can spare a few bucks and have a PayPal account, send what you can to me via PayPal. My e-mail address is mike@benchoff.com. Mention that it’s for the ACS donation for Mr. Worrell. At the end of the month (June 30, 2010) I’ll transfer the money and make the donation to the American Cancer Society. Once that’s done I’ll let you know how we did.

If you don’t feel comfortable sending a donation via PayPal don’t worry, no hard feelings. But please do make a donation if you can.

I’m not a religious man, but for the sake of all those kind souls who’ve gone before me, I hope there is a heaven. Our hearts go out to our friends and their families.

And always remember the heartfelt words of my favorite spaceship captain, Malcolm Reynolds:

When you can’t run anymore you crawl. And when you can’t crawl anymore, well, you find someone to carry you.

Your friend,
Mike
a.k.a., Durak

Shepherd Book said, “I don’t care what you believe in, just believe in it.”

What do you believe in?

I’m not sure what I believe in anymore. And that makes me a bit sad.

I really do think that we’re killing the planet. Deny it all you want, but it’s a fact. I’m tired of your

Whether you can’t see the forest for the trees, or you think god wouldn’t let that happen, or that god is perfect and therefore we can’t ruin the Earth, or it would be unfair to the businesses to force them to stop making plastic (or some other greed-related excuse), or because it would just inconvenience your life too much, or…I don’t care. You are wrong. Something needs to be done now, at the consumer and end-user level. And while We are doing what We can We can be trying to figure out better ways to clean up Our mess.

I’m sure it won’t be easy, but, as the saying goes, “Nothing easy is ever worth it and nothing worth it is ever easy.” Anyway, enough of my ranting. Here are two articles and a Good Morning America video.

Voyage to the Pacific Ocean’s garbage patch: Eureka!: Scientific American Blog

What is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?

Here’s the original Washington Post article: The Devil Is in the Digits

And here’s a good, if terse, synopsis of the article from Cognitive Daily: Nice analysis of why the Iranian election is probably fraudulent

Leave Iran Alone!

Zakaria: ‘Fatal wound’ inflicted on Iranian regime’s ideology

Bill Bennett and others of his ilk still don’t get it. Or maybe their problem is that they can no longer sell it. Obama gets it and he’s selling it.

Give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves…

…but I’m sure you already were aware of that.

Personally, I do think there was something “not quite right” with the recent election in Iran, but like everyone else I have no proof. Furthermore, it’s none of our freaking business! The Iranian people are dealing with this at the moment, so President Obama is doing the right thing in my book. The main reason people don’t like the U.S. the world over is because we often stick our nose in other peoples’ business. Our intentions are irrelevant and religious reasons are pure bullshit. Let them work it out for themselves and we’ll all be better off.

Bennett: Obama’s reaction to Iran ‘very disappointing’

As Bob Dylan so famously sang, These Times They Are a-Changin’…

More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops

Years ago, TV newscasters presented the news in an unbiased way as possible. Their job was to present the news, not to offer opinions or to get up on their soapbox, and they knew it (and acted accordingly). This was an extension of the FCC’s “Fairness Doctrine” policy, which it abolished in 1985. In 1987 Congress attempted to make it a law, but Reagan vetoed the legislation. CommonDreams.org has a good piece from 2005 on why we need the Fairness Doctrine reinstated, but the FCC and others have said that if that were to happen it could apply to the Web as well.

Now, with that out of the way, check out this infuriatingly-great video at DailyKosTV.com that illustrates just how far we’ve fallen.

LOON WATCH: Right-wing bets against U.S. in pirate standoff

Salon.com has an excellent article titled “Jesus is just alright with him.” It’s about Bart Ehrman, a biblical scholar (actually, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) who has authored a number of books on Jesus and Christianity. The most recent, and the main topic of this interview, is titled Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them). I haven’t read any of his books yet, but I plan to after reading this article. It’s three pages, but it’s worth the read.