ectoblog.com

Simply the oddest thing I’ve ever seen on the internets.

Coalition: Taliban have Iran arms - CNN.com

Weapons crossing the border from Iran to Afghanistan may be winding up in the hands of the Taliban, the hard-line Islamic militia that is battling U.S.- and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, U.S. and British officials said.

It’ll take Regime Change before I believe anything the US or British administrations say again. And the Taliban might very well have Iranian arms.

It’s a pretty sad state of affairs.

Darwin takes back seat at new Creation Museum

An Australian evangelist named Ken Ham came to Kentucky to spread the Word. The Word is you should believe every single piece of the bible, no matter how silly or made-up it sounds. It’s all true, friends; believe it all. Because if you start backsliding on this or that, on apes or carbon dating or sense or what-not, you’re on the highway to hell:

“You’re then telling the next generation they can reinterpret the Bible. Then what we’ve lost is Christian morality. If there is no absolute authority and we’re just animals, why not do what you want to do?” asked Ham, whose books include Why Won’t They Listen? The Powers of Creation Evangelism.

It creeps me out every time I realize the Jesus-heads think that morality can only derive from fear of divine power. It creeps me out. And I’m glad they believe, because what kind of super freaks would they be if they didn’t think some gigantic be-lightning-bolted gorilla was just waiting for them to slip up?

“When we first started to research property in 1996, they caused all sorts of problems, and they stirred up trouble, and there were all sorts of things that went on.

“Anyway, as a result of all that, we lost that piece of property – it was 20 minutes off the freeway, and we were going to build a 30,000-square-foot building,” Ham said.

“The Lord directed us to this piece of property, right on a major freeway at a major interchange. And we decided to build a far bigger building (nearly 60,000 square feet), and a far bigger vision and a far bigger impact around the world – and I just want to thank, sincerely, the local secular humanist group.”

You churlish swine.

In related news, Roswell considers a UFO-themed amusement park.

Cindy Wainscott* Annette Hatfield writes in to the “Readers Comment” section of The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati is the largest nearby town):

I think it is wonderful that the Creation Museum is finally being completed and will open in our area. One question for those against its opening: What are you so afraid of? Our nation is one of free speech, enterprise and thought. Are you so afraid that your beliefs will not be able to stand when faced with competition? I know the Creation viewpoint can and will stand up against all opposition.

You’re goddamned right I’m afraid, Cindy Annette. You, and half of the country, and 3 of the 10 Republicans running for President, believe in magic. And when you believe in magic, you’re liable to do any damn thing that pops into your head, if you think it popped in there divinely. And you believe this stuff in the most benign of times. Can you imagine what will happen if and when the environment and our quality of life start to really crumble around the edges? Common sense is not these people’s strong suit. Anything could happen. I hope I don’t become too jaded to say “I told you so” when I’m lined up against the wall.

The Scientific American weighs in on what the new museum means for the Queen City:

Pro: Now Cincinnati will be known for something other than race riots.

Con: Now Young Earth Creationism, which one would hope would be recognized as both bad theology and bad science, has its Mecca. (Can a Hajj be far behind?)

But surely this is only American bufoonery. Surely we are the only ones with the dollars and without the sense to put something like this together. “Whither Canada?” you ask. Well, Canada whithers here, too.

CALGARY — The country’s first permanent creation museum — set to open June 5 — will use fossil displays to support the Bible’s explanation of creation.

Owner Harry Nibourg said the museum provides compelling evidence for creation and refutes any unguided, “natural” processes such as evolution.

Here’s Ken Ham in action, speaking to children (LA Times):

“Boys and girls, if a teacher so much as mentions evolution, or the Big Bang, or an era when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, “you put your hand up and you say, ‘Excuse me, were you there?’ Can you remember that?”

The children roared their assent.

“Sometimes people will answer, ‘No, but you weren’t there either,’ ” Ham told them. “Then you say, ‘No, I wasn’t, but I know someone who was, and I have his book about the history of the world.’ ” He waved his Bible in the air.

“Who’s the only one who’s always been there?” Ham asked.

“God!” the boys and girls shouted.

“Who’s the only one who knows everything?”

“God!”

“So who should you always trust, God or the scientists?”

The children answered with a thundering: “God!”

I don’t know about God. But I do know that creepy swine like Ken Ham know less about Him than I do.

*my apologies to Cindy Wainscott, whose only mistake** was to write in of her concerns about the museum just before Ms Hatfield.

**which was actually my mistake.

Team working up new strategy for Iraq war - CNN.com

…the announcement apparently is an acknowledgment that the traditional war-fighting stance of trying to capture or kill all insurgents is failing, that the country may have devolved into a civil war, and that the only way to proceed is to use military force sparingly and attempt to bring many insurgents into the fold.

NEW: Strategy could involve negotiating with amenable Shiite extremists.

Amenable Shiite extremists! Amenable Shiite extremists! Amenable Shiite extremists!

Calling all amenable Shiite extremists! Do you have what it takes to join our joint campaign plan redesign team? Do you? Well, do you, punks?

Note: Unamenable Shiite extremists & ‘determined’ suicide bombers need not apply.*

* Until we’re even more desperate to leave than we are now. Say 2009 or so.

This is what happens when people who are used to winning realize they’ve lost but don’t realize everyone else already knows that. So they continue to make noises and move their arms about and cobble together insane plans–insane plans.

Amenable Shiite extremists!

Bush taps general to coordinate war efforts - CNN.com

It was a difficult job to fill, given the unpopularity of the war, now in its fifth year, and uncertainty about the clout the war coordinator would have. The search was complicated by demands from Congress to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq and scant public support for the war. The White House tried for weeks to fill the position and approached numerous candidates before settling on Lute.

When your military isn’t that thrilled about fighting your war, you might want to rethink your war.

Celestron SkyScout

Simply point the SkyScout at any star in the sky and click the “target” button.
The SkyScout will tell you what object you are looking at.

A lot like what I wanted in this post, only without having a village elder to feed. I could get this for free, for all intensive porpoises. The only reason I know about it is that my AmEx ‘rewards’ program lists it as a reward. I have just enough points to get it.

I probably should, shouldn’t I? It’s an expert village elder, very reasonably priced.

It is a dark day when one of the best names in major league baseball gets sent down to the minors: Felix Pie. I don’t know what position he plays, but sending Pie to the minors is a violation of every sensibility I hold dear, or at least the fond-of-pie sensibility, and the pie-makes-play headline possibility sensibility.

On the other hand, the Cubs called up Angel Pagan to take the place of Pie. I am torn.

Cubs Recall Pagan; Send Down Pie | CubsNet.com

FOXNews.com - Arkansas Mom Prepares for Birth of 17th Child

Our daily routine begins with personal hygiene (get dressed, brush teeth, comb hair, etc…). Each older child has a younger buddy or two that they help. We eat breakfast & read Proverbs at 8:00a.m., then we “quick clean” the house (older child & their buddy work together to clean their jurisdictions)

Our Heavenly Father, when I grow up, I pray that you send me 14 to 27 children. I know this will adversely affect the people around me in the long run if not the short, but I am a selfish, selfish prick. Amen.

Coulter: Obama Poll Lead Helps al-Qaida | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited

A recent Newsweek poll showing Democrat Barack Obama leading top Republican presidential hopefuls could have been made up and might help al-Qaida, conservative commentator Ann Coulter said in her latest verbal broadside.

Can she make it any more clear she’s a spectacular ass?

Coulter’s remark drew a response from Evans Witt, chief executive officer of Princeton Survey Research Associates International, which conducted the Newsweek survey.

“As the 2008 election campaign continues to heat up, I am sure that there will be informed and incisive criticisms of polls from many observers,” he said. Coulter’s comments “do not fit into this category,” he added.

Found on this photo blog.

President Bush Discusses War on Terror, Economy with Associated General Contractors of America

Q: … second is a personal question. What do you pray about, and how we can we pray for you?
A: … The fact that you would ask the question, how can I pray for you, speaks volumes about the United States of America. I have been amazed by the fact that millions of Americans of all faith, all political backgrounds, pray for me and Laura. And it is unbelievably sustaining. It is comforting. It is humbling to be prayed for. Wisdom and strength, and my family, is what I’d like for you to pray for.

My prayer is that you become a goddamn footnote in history.

Shorpy | The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog

I’d never seen this photoblog before recently, but now I see references for it everywhere. By “everywhere,” I mean in 3 different places.

Sign in the window says “Register here… Hop pickers… Picking starts Aug 29… Lakeside Hop Yards… Free tents, stoves, tables, wood, lights, camp.”

Here it is, in case your references aren’t my references.