One of those odd bits of news from one of my favorite parts of the world:

Councillor: ‘I watched six UFOs over North Wales’

A SHOTTON man is baffled after witnessing SIX UFOs in one night.

Town councillor William Barton saw the strange spectacle in the town’s skies last Friday evening at about 7.44pm.

He rushed to grab his binoculars and called on neighbours to show them the phenomenon.

Coun Barton, of Mill View, said: “They seemed to come from the Ewloe area and float towards Shotton. There were about six of them and they appeared and then vanished for a while.

But here's the fun part:

Coun Barton says the objects appeared to be flying higher than 1,500ft, which means they would have been breaking air traffic regulations.

Well, we can't have *that*. And I love this:

Just a follow-up to this post, because this nice little news item is making the rounds on teh intarwebs:

Gotcha!

Like Mark Draughn, I've been somewhat skeptical of Barry Cooper, the former drug cop turned pitchman for how-to-beat-the-cops videos. He comes off as more of a huckster than a principled whistle-blower, which I think does the good ideas he stands for (police reform) more harm than good.

But damn. I have to hand it to him. This might be one of the ballsiest moves I've ever seen.

Here's a little bit of fun to get myself started again. Some classic stained glass:

From My Pictures

tip o' the hat to KW

Hola folks!

You may or may not have noticed that I've been an absentee blogee recently. I've been extremely busy since we got back from our trip. In between work, the holidays, other family obligations and working on getting our house renovated I haven't had a lot of time to blog. I am hoping to jump back in, starting with this post.

In the meantime, if you're interested, most of our trip photos are available online at the picasa website.

You can find the 2 albums here:

Ulrey's on the road 1
Ulrey's on the road 2

Manitowoc County, Wisconsin County Board supervisor in charge of approving or disapproving requests for displays on county land, has settled the hoary old "separation of church and state" issue for good.

Apparently, us atheists don't exist, so we don't get equal time in Manitowoc County.

Screw the Constitution - County Board Supervisor Norbet Vogt has SPOKEN!

Norbert Vogt is a County Board supervisor on the Public Works Committee, which reviews requests to place items on county land. A sketch of the proposed display must accompany the written request.

He said he wouldn't have a problem with other faith communities — such as Jewish, Muslim, Buddhism — seeking to have a religious display at the courthouse. "It's a free country," Vogt said.

However, he would have a problem with atheists putting up a sign declaring, "There is no god."

Vogt said everybody realizes there is a Supreme Being, and it would be unacceptable to have a sign denying that reality.

Ziegelbauer said he thinks the Nativity scene "looks wonderful," though he is not involved in the approval process.

He said non-Christians, including atheists, could request display space, but said, after checking with Public Works Director Jeff Beyer, that none have.

Frackin' know-nothing, petty tinpot dictators. Local government seems to attract the type. Here's his contact page at the Manitowoc County website - you know, in case you'd like to express your opinion about his bigotry towards atheists.

From my local paper, on the front page Saturday:

Chip from bag gives man a sign

Earlier this week, Brent Decker was at a low point. He says couldn’t find work and was doubting himself.

* * *

In that dark mood, he said a prayer.

" ‘God, I know you’re still a part of my life,’ " he recalls praying. " ‘But sometimes I get frustrated and wonder why things happen the way they do.’ I told him, ‘Show me a sign and give me a reason to believe you’re still a significant part of my life.’ "

Two days later, he believes he got his answer. Picking through a bag of "Always Save" plain ripple potato chips, Decker pulled a chip with what appeared to be a cross burned through its center. He believes it was a sign from above.

"I believe God shows himself in different ways. It may seem insignificant or not, but he manifests himself in different ways," said Decker. "It was a big eye-opener for me."

*sigh*

Yeah, I guess people do believe this kind of crap:

Police detain 49 for "satanic" clothes

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Police have arrested 49 people this week in a northern Iranian city during a crackdown on "satanic" clothes, IRNA news agency reported Thursday.

The measures are the latest in a country-wide campaign against Western cultural influence in the Islamic Republic, where strict dress codes are enforced.

"Police confronted rascals and thugs who appeared in public wearing satanic fashions and unsuitable clothing," Qaemshahr city police commander Mahmoud Rahmani told IRNA.

*sigh*

Someone stop the planet, please - I'd like to get off.

Jim Downey

A good friend sent me a link to this meditation/sermon on whether one can be a good Jew while still being agnostic/atheist. An excerpt:

Crazy Morning Radio DJ™ Ichabod Caine - the radio guy who received the stolen atheist sign in Washington state - attempts to defend against it's statement that religion "...hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

However, all he manages to do is demonstrate his own hardened heart, and enslaved mind.

[link] "What struck me ... (about the sign) is that Christianity somehow 'hardens hearts and enslaves minds.' Really? I don't remember, 25 years ago, when I accepted the Lord, that it hardened my heart and it didn't enslave me," Caine said. "And so I thought, how could negative speech like that be allowed?"

Wow. In that one short paragraph, he actually managed to shoot himself in foot, while it was in his mouth. Impressive.

It's funny, Ichabod my main man, but I don't remember the part in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution that says, "Congress shall make no law [...] abridging the freedom of speech - except if it's negative speech as defined by a Crazy Morning Radio DJ™."

I am profoundly depressed today. I know that we hear stories like this every day, it seems like, but this one really hit me hard. I keep imagining that poor little girl, beaten to death by the only two people she ever knew, ever loved.

And for what? Because their religion drove them literally insane. "Drive the demons out"?!? With a hammer?!

I hope they fry - and since this happened in Texas, that's a pretty good possibility, I think.

[link] HENDERSON, Texas — A young East Texas couple was arraigned Wednesday on capital murder charges accusing them of beating the woman's 1-year-old daughter to get rid of "the demons."

(Full story after the fold)

The radio said 13 degrees. It's cold enough that the cats have left taking turns curling up on my lap, and have parked themselves on radiators. We're fortunate that we can afford to heat this 125 year old house, at least enough to keep us warm if we wear layers.

And the news is as cold as the weather: 533,000 jobs cut last month, over one and a quarter million in just the last three months. Take a look on how Yahoo! news titled that link - it's very telling. As I have written previously, I think we're in for a long haul, something akin to a true depression rather than just a bad recession. All the elements are in place, many are already playing out just as they did during the Great Depression. And, as bad as it is, I think this is also a time of potential - potential to make some changes which would normally be resisted by entrenched interests: reregulation (intelligent reregulation) of the financial sector; revamping transportation to create an infrastructure supporting mass transit; introduction of single-payer health insurance; elimination of our insane War on (Some) Drugs.

[Gov. Chris Gregoire] "In the state of Washington, we really fundamentally respect the rights of people to express their free speech. I happen to be a Christian, and I don't agree with the display that is up there. But that doesn't mean that as governor, I have the right to deny their ability to express their free speech."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Put a sock in it Bill O'Reilly, you wannabee theocrat.

. . . why the only picture of any president in my entire house is of Jefferson:

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much
liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
-- Thomas Jefferson, to Archibald Stuart, 1791

Jim Downey

HT to ML for the QOTD.

I am stunned. Not only by the batshit-crazy lunatic who hit this poor woman and ran her off the road, but by the Bexar County Sheriff's comments about God being "with them".

W.T.F. Lt. Coleman? Are you endorsing the assailant's claim that the woman was not "driving like a Christian" and deserved to be rammed and forced off the road? If "God was with them", then are you saying that the lunatic actually did hear Jesus telling him to commit vehicular assault?

Jebus Christ on a frackin' cracker. Can we have our planet back please?

[link] A speeding pickup rear-ended a woman's sedan on the South Side on Friday morning and sheriff's officials say the driver said it was Jesus' will because the other motorist was not “driving like a Christian.”

The bizarre incident that shut down southbound U.S. 281 above the Medina River happened about 7:25 a.m.

“He just said God said she wasn't driving right, and she needed to be taken off the road,” said Lt. Kyle Coleman of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.

The driver of the pickup was identified in a Sheriff's Office news release as Michael E. Schwab, 52, of Blooming Grove.

Schwab told first responders at the scene that “the other vehicle was not driving like a Christian and it was Jesus' will for him to punish the car,” according to the release.

The 35-year-old woman was driving her sedan north when the pickup struck her vehicle. Schwab told deputies he was driving faster than 100 mph at the time, Coleman said.

The impact caused both vehicles to spin across a median before they came to a stop along a barrier in the southbound lanes. No other vehicles were involved.

Though both vehicles were badly damaged, the drivers suffered minor injuries.

“God must have been with them, 'cause any other time, the severity of this crash, it would have been a fatal,” Coleman said.

The woman was taken to a hospital as a precaution. Schwab was later charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, motor vehicle. His bond was set at $50,000, according to the news release.

The pickup driver did not specify for authorities how the woman was driving poorly. Investigators determined the female driver “had done nothing wrong,” according to the release.

I've been a bit busy with something else, so I was a few days behind on some of my usual reading. So, via PZ, I bring you this miraculous tale:

Vicar went to hospital with potato stuck in bottom :

The clergyman, in his 50s, told nurses he had been hanging curtains when he fell backwards on to his kitchen table.

He happened to be nude at the time of the mishap, said the vicar, who insisted he had not been playing a sex game.

Would a churchman lie? Of course not.

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Jim Downey

Well, since I don't tweet (though some say I'm a twit), I'll just respond to Brent's most recent item noted there on the right that perhaps keeping down the alcohol in the eggnog isn't the best solution:

What effect does drinking have on your waistline?

It's in BFUs (British Food Units), but I think you'll be able to convert the information OK . . .

Jim Downey

Richard Dawkins has stepped down from the Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science chair at the University of Oxford. As we all know, Dr. Dawkins, using his position, has done a huge amount for the public understanding of science. He has also served as a very visible and vital proponent of atheism and secularism. Dr. Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist - but Oxford decided to go with a mathematician to fill the chair this time.

I wonder how that'll work out for them? Certainly less controversy, I suppose.

[link] How to you feel about having to fill Richard Dawkins's shoes?

I'm not particularly daunted by it. I would almost say that I'm at the opposite end of the scientific spectrum from him. But I think mathematics is a fantastic choice for this chair because it underlies so many of the other sciences.

Well, at least he's an atheist, but other than that, absolutely forgettable. I'll wager that no one hears from the new Simony chair holder, ever again after this.

Too bad.

The First Church of Starbucks:

OK, what was your thought when you watched that? I thought it was hilarious, and a good ironic indictment of the absurdity of religious marketing - and religion itself.

Now, what if I told you that it was indeed meant to be an indictment of the absurdity of religious marketing, but as a prod to get churches to do a better job of marketing themselves.

No kidding: it's from a guy who runs a marketing blog aimed at churches. Hey, he's got a book to sell, and that's a market niche, so more power to him. But this is from the post accompanying that vid:

I'm kinda responding to my own comment in a previous post, A Pig in Poke, where I talk about conservative Christian bloggers who want to live in an echo chamber, and who delete all commments they don't like.

I compared them to progressive bloggers, PZ Myers, for instance, who lets every comment stand (except those made by an actual troll who attacks and harasses the other commenters), so that literally anybody can come and express literally any opinion, at virtually any length.

The point is that too many conservatives, like the sweet nitwit LadySheepdog who has commented here, simply can't stand opposing voices. The vision of Bill O'Reilly cutting off the microphone of guests he himself invited onto his show is the perfect example, but LadySheepdog apparently feels free to censor blog commenters simply because she disagrees with them.

Who lives more in keeping with real American values? Easy answer here.

Man, I loves me some Ladyhawke. How can you not? It's got Rutger Hauer. He's got a big damn sword. And a Friesian. There's Michelle Pfeiffer. The fighting is way above average for 1980s movies. The armour, clothing, and even music (no, not the Alan Parsons score, though that ain't bad) is fairly authentic for the roughly 13th-century time period. And real medieval armour from that time period make just that exact same creaking sound as does his - a nice and subtle touch that most people wouldn't think of getting right.

And it's got the perfect mystical, religious mindset for the Middle Ages.

Seriously, watch it. All the talk of "God's Will" and curses, all the prayers, all excuses for and to God, all the mystical mumbo-jumbo, is perfect.

And, sadly, all of it sounds entirely too much like the insanity that we constantly hear from the faithful these days.