Fanatical Atheists ... Fanatical Religious Zealots ... I'll Take Agnosticism for $800 Trebec!

Great Article by Brad Hirschfield (Washington Post) - - 

Fanatical atheism, although no worse, is no better than fanatical religion, though it may be more bitterly ironic. There is something pretty odd, dare I say hypocritical, about a bunch of people who call themselves “freethinkers” and “humanists” not only verbally abusing people of faith, but actually tearing up verses from the Bible as an act of protest, as they did on a pier in Huntington Beach, California Saturday morning. It doesn’t sound terribly humane to me, and I am quite sure that destroying texts, however much one may object to them, is the opposite of free thought.

Adam and Eve Did Not Literally Exist. Period. [Great article by Andrew Sullivan]

Studying the human genome has disproven the possibility that we sprang from two people.

Debt Ceiling Compromise Will Be A Disaster - Great Article by Paul Krugman

A deal to raise the federal debt ceiling is in the works. If it goes through, many commentators will declare that disaster was avoided. But they will be wrong.

The Terrifying Christian Right - an article by Marc Adler

The gap between fundamentalist and fascist is narrowing.

The Christian Right’s assault on America is frightening, and, as someone who grew up in a world of religious fanaticism, my personal experience gives me a sharp sense of where this is heading. In his 2007 book, American Fascists, the Christian Right and the War on America, Chris Hedges describes what America would look like if evangelicals, or dominionists, complete their takeover of the American political system.

Great Article by Frank Schaeffer, "How Fundamentalist Religion Is Destroying Our World"

The deluded religious belief that any people or nation or church is a "chosen" people is the root of almost all our troubles.

Article by Michael McCann on the impacts for the NFL of Judge Nelson's denial of a stay on her ruling

Great Article by Lester Munson on the Viability and Impact of Judge Nelson's Injunction

In Cohen We Trust

When President Obama nominated George H. Cohen as the 17th director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on July 6, 2009, neither man likely had any notion that a year and a half later, Cohen would perhaps save the country's most popular sport from destroying itself. The nomination, later unanimously confirmed by the Senate, was buried by a squall of significant news. There was rioting in China, a terrible airline crash and a public memorial for Michael Jackson. Cohen was a blip, a buried paragraph, a sentence in a roundup. Now, the sports world revolves around him.

George Cohen's greatest accomplishment in these talks so far? Keeping both sides at the table. (AP)

Great Primer on the NFL Labor Dispute and the likelihood of a 2011 NFL season (written by Lester Munson, Esq.)

The expiration of the collective bargaining agreement that governs the NFL arrives at 11:59 p.m. ET tonight, and the players' union is about to decertify. The NFLPA's decision to end its existence as a labor organization could come at any moment. The union's decision and its timing raise significant questions about the relationship between the players and the owners, as well as the status of the NFL's 2011 season. Below are some of the questions and their answers:

NFL Dispute: Key Points and What's At Stake

What’s Being Negotiated:

NFL owners argue that the league revenues are growing at a rate of 5.5% while player’s salaries are growing at over 11%.

Because the NFL is organized as a non profit, they are not obligated to share information on  costs. They only publicize revenues and have consistently denied the players' union (hereinafter, "NFLPA") requests for information about net profits. The owners are now asking for an additional billion dollars on top of the billion they already receive from gross revenues before anything is shared with the players. 

The owners also want a rookie pay scale, which is something many veteran and former players want as well, to reduce paying millions of guaranteed money to unproven players. 

One of the most hotly contested items is the owners' request for an 18 game schedule, something the players ARE NOT willing to give especially if they have to hand over more money. Less money for more work and added risk of injury does not sit well with any player. 

The Union, though fine with the current CBA, (which had an additional 2 years left on the deal had the owners not opted out) want the following: 

• extended health benefits that last well over the current 5 years 
  
• An independent appeals process for discipline on conduct and drugs
• more revenue sharing

How This Affects Players

Many of the owners can survive without football in 2011, but for the players its not realistic. While some players are millionaires, most make an average of $800,000 a year. That’s not chump change by any means but when the average playing career is only 3.5 seasons, planning for 75 years of your life with a $10 million signing bonus is not something a fresh faced 25 year old kid, fresh out of college, is thinking of. 

In fact, 78% of NFL players are broke 2 years after leaving the game. 

But its not just money that the players will lose. Its also health insurance as well. If there is a lockout, many of those same millionaire players will be forced to rely on COBRA for insurance. 

Out of all players, rookies and free agents would probably see the worst affects as they would not be able to practice with NFL teams or participate in OTA’s, something essential to the development of a player. 

Important Notes:

• Judge Doty, who has ruled on every major CBA since 1993 ruled on Tuesday that the NFL acted without good faith when TV contracts were structured. Language was specifically added to all TV agreements to allow for over $4 billion in profits to be made in 2011, even if there is not a single game of football played. The judge’s ruling essentially places the owners on equal footing with the players in that they will not receive a paycheck if there is no football played.
• The NFL made over $9billion in revenue last year. The owners currently get $1billion of that automatically. And the rest, about 60% is shared between player salaries and benefits.

• 8 of the 10 top rated shows on TV last year were NFL games

• The highest rated TV programming ever was this year’s SuperBowl with the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers

• More people watched the NFL Draft than other sport’s playoff games

• According to the Sports Biz Journal, the NFL has a reserve fund of about $900M that will be accessible to team owners in the event of a work stoppage.

• Mark Murphy, President/CEO of the GB Packers and also former player and union member makes a rather interesting statement that perhaps we do too much for current players and that former players were forced to work in the offseason and get a job after their playing days were over. They also never got health insurance, severance pay or 401K as current players do.

• Current Vegas odds have the NFL locking out for the 2011 season

NFL Players: 14 Owners: 0

In Labor Clash, N.F.L. Union Calls an Old Play

NFL Players: 7 Owners: 0

Judge Rules N.F.L. Acted Against Players in TV Deals

Freedom and Anonymity: Keeping the Internet Open

Freedom and Anonymity: Keeping the Internet Open

Google's Plans for Solar System-Wide WiFi

Google's Plans for Solar System-Wide WiFi

Great Article From Roger Ebert Publishing a Letter from Walter Murch Regarding the Fad of 3D Cinematography

Why 3D doesn't work and never will. Case closed. - Roger Ebert's Journal

CERN Physicists Create and Trap Antimatter

The news from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva keeps getting better: researchers have now created genuine antimatter for the first time, the organization said in a statement.

Space-Time Cloak Could Hide Actual Events

That space-time cloak or Star Trek transporter—you always wanted may be within reach. Researchers first proposed an "invisibility cloak" a few years ago. But now, optical physicists have now drawn up blueprints for a cloak that creates a separate reality pocket in which any event can be concealed, Nature reports. The design exists entirely in the space of an optical fiber for now. Donning one the next time you enter the DMV to shorten the wait is still a ways off. But even in this tiny space (the optical fiber, not the DMV), the report said a space-time cloak could assist in applications like quantum computing.

Let's Ban Political Ads and Exile the Religious Right to Texas

It's that time of year again when you can't turn on a TV without being assaulted by the latest political advertisements. And your phone rings off the wall with the latest recorded political messages. With this post, I'm definitely venting - I'll put that out there right now (or maybe I just want to clean out my FB friends list the easy way ... hehehe).  But it seems to me this country needs a renewed enthusiasm for the exclusion of religion from politics.
Those who know me, and know my views, know that I'm very much opposed to organized religion and the impact it has had. This post is not a call for agnosticism though. Neither is it a Dawkins-esque rebuke of Christianity or religion in general. I'm all for individuals seeking out and defining their own spirituality (contrast this with the approach of the clones congregating at the nearest mega church or worse yet, Focus On The Family adherents).
Organized religion has simply become far too enmeshed within the political fabric of our nation. Every time there's an election, regardless of the issue being debated, Christian propaganda is used by right wing politicians to polarize the unknowing masses by making sensational statements appealing to people's innate desires for comfort (of course this is precisely how any religion exploits the uneducated but alas, that's a subject for another post). In this way, otherwise innocuous political issues take on religious overtones and inevitably one (or more) groups assert the absolute infallibility and moral superiority of their position and political problems become religious and moral conflicts.
As if that's not enough though, in addition to fostering unnecessary political upheaval, the religious right actively impedes scientific and technological progress. Take stem cell research for example. It could revolutionize medicine. The potential is enormous; countless diseases could be cured, numerous disorders corrected, millions of people helped. But because Christians view the use of stem cells as offensive to their religious sensibilities, all those millions that could be helped are left out in the cold as the pious religious right selfishly (and ignorantly) does everything in their power to block and impede such progress (and many self described Christians drive around with bumper stickers blithely asking "What would Jesus do?" ... LOL).
As justification for why it's okay for them to overtly insert their religious beliefs into the national dialog, they parrot the mantra that this country was founded on Christian values. (Maybe we should give out Blinded By The Light awards.)  Even some secular, top 40 country music hits in recent years (I love country by the way) go so far as to regale Christian values as part of our national patriotism and prosperity. The catchy melodies and sentimental lyrics work people into ethno and theocentric frenzies that have no basis in historical fact. Those who don't agree are labeled as Socialists and un-American.
The fact is that the First Amendment states expressly that, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The irony is that most of the religious right constitutes the truly un-American contingent of our society by ignorantly pushing their views and rhetoric on everyone else.
I have an idea for a ballot issue this November, let's ban political ads and exile the religious right to Texas.

Take this Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and rest of Ridiculous Religious Right:

OUR NEW QUARTERBACK - PART JOHN ELWAY, PART STEVE YOUNG