RKNet Blog... Thing

http://www.drawball.com/6qe4vz

check it out.
Their captcha is ridiculous, but once you’ve beaten the “draw a house” puzzle, you get to draw on this massive graffiti ball.
There’s a LOT of anime and video game influenced artwork on here, which sort of makes sense, given the popularity of oekaki among anime fans, etc.

Have fun! report interesting findings!

shitty german translation of us news…
Former Iraqi leader SADDAM HUSSEIN is being forced to watch his appearance as the Devil’s gay lover in SOUTH PARK: BIGGER LONGER AND UNCUT “repeatedly”, according to the cult cartoon’s creator MATT STONE. Hussein is currently being held in prison by US Marines while he stands trial on genocide charges. South Park: Bigger Longer And Uncut was banned in Iraq on its release in 1999 for portraying the leader as a homosexual. Stone says, “I have it on pretty good information from the Marines on detail in Iraq that they showed him the movie last year. That’s really adding insult to injury. I bet that made him really happy,” Stone said.

~from #ed

At some point Hal Turner’s website resurfaced to gasp for air after having been held under water by many Anonymous for quite a while.
After crawling from his hole it appears he went on a posting spree. He had this to say about the hanging.

SADDAM HUSSEIN EXECUTED
TOO BAD THE SAME THING CAN’T HAPPEN TO PRESIDENT BUSH!!

I suspect the dirty bastard in the White House is probably responsible for the deaths of far more innocent Iraqis than Saddam!

What’s most interesting about that, is a lot of the same people (or one really loud person, hard to tell with Anon) who were all for attacking Hal Turner were also spouting this very opinion last night.
~~editorial~~
However, the thing to remember is that Anonymous did not attack Hal Turner to gain some higher moral ground, they rallied and attacked for the lulz. Anyone who will continue to be loud, ignorant, and a liar in public, and is then also highly defensive, is generally deemed to be a good source of lulz. Admit it, there was always that one kid in school who wasn’t quite right in the head, you didn’t like it when people picked on him from a moral standpoint, but you couldn’t help but snicker a little when he flipped out and threatened to call in a squad of Navy SEALs with alien technology to take out his/her assailants. People like Hal Turner give this reaction in a much more extended fashion, and are therefore much more amusing. I suppose he has the right to express his opinions, no matter how stupid anyone might find them, but in situations like this I don’t really have much sympathy for him. He threatens people directly and claims to be directly invovled in the injury or death of other people. While Turner may be full of shit on that count, in my book it opens him up to take fire back.
~~end editorial~~

Iraq: Shortly after the execution of the dictator Saddam Hussein, his dog Blondi followed the same fate to the gallows. Contrary to Saddam, Blondi’s execution was broadcast live in full length. Some minor complications arose, which dragged out the death struggle to unbearable lengths. Animal activist group PETA has filed a formal complaint to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. Image of dog being hanged

~ another bit culled from #ed

Not all that glitters is gold, not every girl who says she’s 18 really is of age, and not everything that’s interesting involves someone who’s been in a popular movie (band, etc) doing something stupid.

There are dozens of things that happen each year that no one ever hears about. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re bad, and sometimes they’re just mind-meltingly bizzare.

I found a great roundup of interesting facts and discoveries that surfaced during this year over at Tampa Bay Online. (On a personal sidenote, finding out this is from Tampa Bay doubles the interesting factor for me. These days, I tend to associate that area with unfinished projects of gargantuan magnitude.) Read the rest of this entry »

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061223/ap_on_fe_st/justo_s_cathedral

This might be the saddest thing I ever read. Here’s this guy, 81 years old. Building this cathedral all by himself. No one who could help in any major way wants anything to do with it. A bunch of people want to tear it down. All he’s got is faith, scattered minor support, and notariety. It’s remarkable, the photo of this place. It looks pretty beautiful to me. Moreso because it’s made from scrap and love. If I could help, I’d want to help by hauling bricks and forming concrete and bolting supports. Since I can’t do that, I’ll just hope that he’s able to reach his goal of completing this pretty impressive structure, and that SOMEONE vouches for it. I consider it a marvel strictly based on the circumstances. The offhand dismissal that this endeavor is being shown is both disheartening and shocking.
Hang in there Justo. I’m rooting for you.

atheist christmas trees
That’s right, you heard me.
These are the kinds of things that make me laugh out loud. If nothing else it’s proof-positive that no one is above an excuse for presents!
Originally spotted over at ToM’s daily (or at least semi-daily) Wired blog roundup.

Right o then!

http://folk.ntnu.no/wiborg/tableofgods/index.php

There are a lot of issues with this site, but the concept is neat. I went to update the ereshkigal info, but it looks like all the comments go under the god “A” for right now.

http://www.aracnet.com/~kbuxton/discordia/discordianquotes.html

Courtesy of meccaneer in #ormgas. Neat list of “dischordian” type quotes. Lot of lyrics and unattributed movie quotes. Lot of interesting gems, and it’s a lot of fun trying to place the quotes you’re familiar with to their film or song.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/specklet/sets/72157594204828139/

Last but not least… Tiny Animals on Fingers! What more can I say?

I just got done reading one of today’s Table of Malcontents blog entries in regards to a YouTube-related challenge in which people can obtain a free copy of the DVD called The God Who Wasn’t There, which is naturally about atheism. The goal of the challenge is to submit a recording of you “damning yourself to Hell”, primarily by including somewhere in your recording a distinct denial of the Holy Spirit.

This meatspace trolling crusade reminded me that I was recently asked as to whether or not I believed in the supernatural. A quick Wiki search pulled up a brief definition of “supernatural” as:

The supernatural (Latin: super- “above” + nature) refers to forces and phenomena which are not observable in nature, and therefore beyond verifiable measurement. Though supernatural refers chiefly to the cause of phenomena (an interpretation), if a phenomenon can be demonstrated, it is typically no longer considered to be supernatural.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural
I was told that there was only a binary way in which I could answer this: yes or no. The lack of admitting to a grey area has gotten me in trouble on a lot of subjects, and I dislike dealing with subjects as important as belief lightly. However, in binary I must answer no. If it cannot be proven then how can I really “believe” that such a thing exists? There isn’t enough time in the day to invest too much thought in something like that.

I suppose my more general answer is: I believe that things which are considered “supernatural”, which have not yet to date been verified, are subject to two possibilities:

• 1 - further investigation resulting in a way to move supernatural, unverified ideas into the realm of the natural

[or]

• 2 - further investigation resulting in a better understanding as to why this force or phenomena is a part of human culture.

Realistically there are many things which up until recent history fall into the realm of the supernatural which at this point are scientifically verifiable. Also, using the definition above, what becomes of theory? Especially in the areas of things like Quantum Physics and Mathematics. (Am I applying the definition incorrectly here?)

Best as I can figure, germs were supernatural until we figured out what they really were. We knew people got sick. There were any number of theoretical reasons why. For a long time we had no way to observe the actual force at work, the way it really works, just the body’s reaction. Eventually we got to the bottom of that particular mystery. It is now understood and is officially natural instead of supernatural. (And people definitely gave any number of highly superstitious reasons why people got sick, and still do.) Note the article on The Germ Theory of Disease. It took quite a lot of testing and hanging onto what were at the time unverifiable beliefs to get this idea to finally take hold until anything could be proven.

There are a number of things that are classified as supernatural in this day and age, and I do especially like the quote from that same Wiki page: “Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.” –Galileo

There is always a way to justify what we encounter in this world. Sometimes it is only on a purely psychological level. Speaking of psychology, I’m pretty sure we still don’t understand emotions all that well. That would make feelings an unmeasurable, unverifiable force or phenomena. Does that mean happiness is also supernatural?

I am definitely not one to counter the power of human belief, faith, and/or conviction in general. It is the source of our greatest power and our greatest weakness. While there are many things I do not believe because I cannot justify expending my faith on such things, I will never doubt the power a particular belief holds over another person, or how that belief ultimately effects me and my life. And while a thing may not actually exist in a measurable fashion, man is very attached to his symbols, and I think understanding humankind’s memes is a great way to help one’s self understand humankind itself.

There is no reason to scoff or discount what is not understood, there is only understanding or the lack there of and nothing more.

If you all are still stumped for what to get that “certain someone” for the holidays, might want to peek over here: http://pixelgirlshop.com/index.php
There are a lot of really cute, funky items to be had. I’m sort of inspired, actually.
I’m going to see if I can create some tape and crossbones gear here in the near future. I’ll let you know how it turns out if I’m successful!