Debunking The Bullshit, vol. 1

This may be a regular thing, god knows I get enough of these asinine emails.

My grandfather, I love him dearly, but he has a problem. His problem is that he will readily and willfully believe any right-wing propaganda you put in front of him. Not only will he believe it, but he will also forward it on to all his friends, and family. Sadly, I fear most of them are just as willing to accept this drivel as truth. Lately I’ve begun to become a little disillusioned with constantly debunking the bullshit. I’m almost certain my grandfather either does not even bother reading any responses to the emails he shovels out to everyone in his address book. Or if he does actually read them, he’s so rigid in his bias that he truly believes everything he sends out is absolute gospel, and any rebuttal is patently false.

Basically I spend a lot of time debunking junk email. Hoaxes, conspiracies, political rhetoric, etc. And rather than let them fade into the black nothingness of these inboxes, I’m going to post them here, followed by my rebuttal. I’ll probably revisit some past ones too (yes, I save all my sent email, and almost all of my incoming email. You never know when you’ll need that blackmail… errr, random tidbit of information. Yeah, that’s it!), but today I’m gonna take care of one I just received.

Here’s the text of an email I received today (and I apologize now for the horrendous abuse of the english language* in the author’s commentary. I feel I should also make it clear, my grandfather did not write this, just forwarded it.):

AS IF YOU NEED ANOTHER REASON TO ADMIRE ” AMERICA ‘S” TIGER WOODS. Tiger Woods is a Highly Educated Individual who was properly raised and taught to be his own man by an educated Mother and Father. You can readily see that Tiger Woods listened to his parents and remains very proud of them both. Many citizens are not aware of the following, which is the reason for me sending this e-mail to my friends and I would appreciate you sending it on to your friends.  Thanks, Frank A COPY OF HIS SPEECH AT THE 2009 INAUGURATION Tiger Woods received a special invitation to speak at the Obama inauguration. His inviters were stunned, shocked when he did not deliver the message they expected. A brief read and you will understand why the media swept Woods’ remarks under the rug with no further ado and why the liberal left of our American society was again displeased with Tiger. His speech was entitled  ”You’ll Never Walk Alone“ [text is word-for-word as posted on Tiger's web site] “I grew up in a military family – and my role models in life were my Mom and Dad, Lt. Colonel Earl Woods. My dad was a Special Forces operator and many nights friends would visit our home. They represented every branch of the service, and every rank. In my Dad, and in those guests, I saw first hand the dedication and commitment of those who serve. They come from every walk of life; from every part of our country. Time and again, across generations, they have defended our safety in the dark of night and far from home. Each day — and particularly on this historic day — we honor the men and women in uniform who serve our country and protect our freedom. They travel to the dangerous corners of the world, and we must remember that for every person who is in uniform, there are families who wait for them to come home safely. I am honored that the military is such an important part, not just of my personal life, but of my professional one as well. The golf tournament we do each year here in Washington is a testament to those unsung heroes. I am the son of a man who dedicated his life to his country, family and the military, and I am a better person for it. In the summer of 1864, Abraham Lincoln, the man at whose memorial we stand, spoke to the 164th Ohio Regiment and said, ‘I am greatly obliged to you, and to all who have come forward at the call of their country.’ Just as they have stood tall for our country – we must always stand by and support the men and women in uniform and their families. Thank you, and it is now my pleasure to introduce the US Naval Glee Club …” Tiger Woods’ 2-minute, 5-second tribute to the our nation’s military was delivered January 18th at the Inaugural Celebration in Washington , DC . He had been subjected to intense pressure to attend and offer remarks. Especially so by liberals who have demeaned and criticized him for a decade for not joining their ranks. Yet, at the Lincoln Memorial, instead of paying homage to Barack Obama, Tiger paid tribute to our soldiers. Not once did Tiger mention Obama, the inauguration or the new administration. Understanding that expressing his love for America and his appreciation for our military men and women would disappoint the national news media and the liberal left, he did what he thought was best for the people of our country. But Tiger, being is his own man, just as his father taught him to be his own man. Somewhere over that cold, gray Washington sky, Colonel Earl Woods was smiling down on his beloved son. And there will be one more crying hug waiting for Tiger when the time comes he passes through heaven’s gates into God’s arms. ****** What’s that you say? You did not previously know what Tiger said? You did not see a video clip of him speaking on any national television network? You did not see a photo of Tiger at the Lincoln Memorial offering his remarks honoring our military. You did not read a story in the NY Times? His appearance at the Inaugural Celebration had been widely hailed and promoted in advance by the Obama inaugural organizers … yet January 18 when he came and spoke … afterwards, a black out. If you are as tired of the biased, hypocritical, liberal media hoopla as I am, please send this on to your friends.  Thanks.

Hell, I shouldn’t even have to post the Snopes link, the email itself says the speech took place on January 18th.  The inauguration was on January 20th.  It was also at the White House, not the Lincoln Memorial, which this email reveals to be the place where this speech happened.

From the email:
“In the summer of 1864, Abraham Lincoln, the man at whose memorial we stand”
“Tiger Woods’ 2-minute, 5-second tribute to the our nation’s military was delivered January 18th”

He’s introducing the US Naval Glee Club, also revealed in the text of the email, of course:
“Thank you, and it is now my pleasure to introduce the US Naval Glee Club”

Now, what happened on January 18th at the Lincoln Memorial, you may wonder? A concert.  As a part of the lead-up to the inauguration ceremony, a concert entitled “We Are One” was held. Broadcast live and uncut on HBO, which they aired for free even to non-HBO subscribers. Unfortunately the video was only available for one week after the event.

But hey, here’s some liberal media covering (or is it “covering up“?) the event live:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/01/61550884/1 you may want to pay particular attention to the update posted at 3:34 pm. Because that’s when Tiger gave his speech. So much for a “liberal media blackout.”

Oh, and here’s a video of it from the live HBO feed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjFIlbF3Nn4 guess they just forgot to flip the switch to kill that feed, huh?

Just for the sake of completion, here’s the Snopes link: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/tigerwoods.asp

There is something I am tired of, though.  I’m tired of the biased, hyperbolic drivel that passes for truth in these emails. You don’t even have to dig for this stuff, it’s all readily available with a quick Google search. I find it appalling that some of you are so eager and willing to believe whatever bullshit is delivered to your inbox. As long as it fits your worldview, it must be true, right?

*I should mention the atrocious misuse of the english language seems to be a common thread in all these political propaganda emails. I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t be taking any political advice from someone so obviously uneducated. A third grader could form more coherent sentences and paragraphs.

Disgusting

Disgusting, originally uploaded by DarkWolf777.

This was taken on Thanksgiving day.  

Eighty. Fucking. Degrees.  

And this doesn’t even begin to demonstrate how muggy it was.  

Texas weather sucks.

[Updated] Biased judging at the olympics?

I’m calling foul.

There was some speculation during qualifying, but now after watching the women’s finals in gymnastics… definitely.

4 rounds of competition.

After round 1, the US team is up by .2 over China.

Round 2, the US team averaged a 15.99 score, with one girl getting the highest score recorded at the olympics this year, of 16.9

Here’s where the bias comes in. After round 2, the US is down 1.25 points.

Now, for China to jump 1.3 points, would mean they would have to have averaged 17.3 … and the first girl got a 15.975, a break to swimming (one of the most incredible 800m relays in history… shattered the world record by 5 seconds!) meant we didn’t see the other two girls’ scores. But we know neither got higher than 16.9.

So I ask, how exactly does the math work out, when they don’t even break a 17 score, that they somehow manage to come out with a 17.3 average score to jump 1.25 points ahead of the US team?

Bias.

Chinese women’s gymnastics has never received gold in the olympics. Ever. Until now, and conveniently they’re on home turf. Sound fishy? Oh most definitely.

Update 08.15.2008

I think Autumn figured it out. Apparently the average score doesn’t matter, that’s just the NBC commentators mucking things up.

So it sorta works out, but I still find it a bit fishy. Watched the all-around women’s gymnastic finals tonight, and damned if the Chinese weren’t getting favorable scores. The US girls won, but had to fight hard for it… in each event they were far better than the Chinese girls (even the commentators were saying their scores were way too low for their performances), and after 4 rounds just managed to squeak by with a .6 lead over the Chinese.

One US girl got deducted a full .5 on the uneven bars, because she supposedly didn’t do a full handstand. But when one of the Chinese girls FALLS on her landing in the vault… only a .1 deduction. Step across the line with 1 foot, is .1, both feet is .3, land outside the line is .5… but fall on your ass? meh! .1

Ridiculous.

Tipping is not a city in China

[ RANT ON ... a 5am stream of consciousness to follow ... you have been warned. ]

I subscribe to a number of forums, ranging on various topics and interests. It’s all really just a way to pass the time on occasion. Gives me a way to get things off my chest at times. But really, I don’t get so passionate about topics…. because of the nature. It’s annonymity, both on my end, and theirs.

It just doesn’t make any sense to get worked up over something someone says on the intarweb.

But there’s one topic (well, I thought only one…) that I do get passionate about, and that’s religion and/or philosophy. I get to the point where if I see a thread that even hints at it being something on theology, I actively avoid it, simply becasue … it just doesn’t seem worth the energy, to really hold a debate online.

But if I get suckered in, I’m hooked, like a junky pining for his next fix… I’ll refresh that fucking thread every 10 minutes, just waiting for someone to respond.

I’m … totally, completely, insanely retarded.

So that leads me to the topic of this blog. Really.

One one of these forums, I’m actively involved in what’s called the “Theology Corner”. I’ve been a member of this place since almost the beginning, it’s a local sports car enthusiasts website. Back then, it was just shooting the shit about cars, and racing, and hanging out, and other random stuff.

But eventually, threads started popping up occasionally, of a religious nature. And of course, you had your opposing forces eternally duking it out with each other. It slowly became apparent that there was enough interest in this subject, and so was created the Theology Corner, given it’s own section.

Way early on, it was the Christians, and me. One would think I was a lamb in the midst of a pack of wolves, but I held my ground, and though they may not agree with me, they at least respected my views. It was quite nice, to say the least. It was a private forum, so all the dickheads in the main areas couldn’t swamp the place with bullshit. Then it morphed into various levels of curiosity from new people expressing interest. Questions about various religions started coming up, and eventually more heathens were accepted in to keep me company I suppose

Anyway, time went on, as more got involved, the conversations turned into various aspects of life and philosophy, and religion, and just general engaging conversation. We became actual friends through this, and because everyone was local, we even occasionally got together for dinner or just hang out and have a few drinks, and watch the game or something.

That all changed a couple of years ago, though. The moderator, and a friend of mine, became less and less involved with the Corner. I’m not entirely sure why, and I even offered to take over as moderator for him, if he wasn’t comfortable with the responsibility. But instead, he opted to open the section to the public. Anyone and everyone could post.

The initial surge almost killed the Corner. For almost a year, not a single new topic had been brought up. The douchebags carpet bombed, and left.

Here lately though, things are starting to pick up steam again. But now we have a new wave. Gone is the comraderie we once had, and topics get pretty heated because of it. And I’m proud to say, I’ve run off a few holier than thou’s. Once their shear stupidity is exposed, they turn tail and are never heard from again. Some hang on longer than others, thinking the use of big smart sounding words will impress people, and put us heathens in our place.

But I miss the way it was.

A topic was brought up recently, this guy was recalling a recent dealing with a church. He attends college, and works as a pizza delivery driver, and on this particular occasion, he was delivering pizzas to a church, and the woman came out to him, and gave him the money, and said that she was instructed not to tip by other members of the church.

So this has sparked a flurry of comments, on the ethics of tipping. And for the most part, everyone is in agreement that tips are paid, when the tips are earned.

Except for one person.

“I don’t tip at home. Pizza Hut has a delivery charge. It makes it easy to just pay the one single price.”

Now, a few years back, I took on a pizza delivery job after the computer industry crashed and I got laid off. It was either that, or default on my bills. I like to think I was raised better than that. So I understand what tips mean, and it’s specifically because of that experience, that I tip well. I’ve always tipped, don’t get me wrong, but now I tip above and beyond the “minimum”… unless the service is just terrible.

This person, has been informed by me, and the initial topic starter, that the delivery charge does not, in fact, go to the driver. And even if it did, a $1 tip on a $20 order is hardly fair compensation.

The can of worms was opened, however, when I also informed this douche that drivers remember the people that don’t tip. And I warned him that repeated infractions could result in him getting more with his pizza than he was expecting.

He took that as a threat. As did one other, and we sniped back and forth for a few days on the subject, but have since come to a mutual understanding, and are now in agreement with each other.

But the initial douche… he’s gone way off the deep end. Daring drivers to tamper with his pizza, and he’ll sue. Naturally we all got a kick out of his baseless threats. What’s he gonna do, drive every pizza he gets delivered to some place that does DNA testing? Please.

He then moves to luminol. Now, some of you may be familiar with this stuff, and some may not. But, suffice it to say, it’s what crime scene investigators use to illuminate hidden blood stains that are invisible to the naked eye. It’s a chemical that reacts to the iron in blood, and quite literally, glows a blueish green color. It also detects other things like saliva, and vegetable enzymes.

So naturally I got a hearty laugh at his expense, and informed him that the USDA has certain allowances for blood in milk… and of course, meat being meat, is probably going to have some trace amounts of blood as well. Then of course, the vegetable enzymes. Basically, every ingredient that goes into making a pizza, is as likely to trip the luminol as any saliva that finds it’s way there.

Sure, the cooking process might destroy the blood cells, but it’s not likely to destroy the iron, which is what causes the reaction in the first place.

He didn’t respond for a few days. I thought that it seemed since his stupidity had been exposed, like the others, he’d turned tail and scampered off elsewhere. Not until yesterday (Friday, as it’s still Saturday to me).

Apparently, in his absence, he found a distributor of luminol online, and had a test kit shipped to him (even provided a picture with his computer on the forum’s website to prove it…). A $20 bottle, that’s good for 4 applications. His theory is that he wants to see if just the ingredients will cause a reaction, or if the cooking process is enough, so that only when the pizza is tampered (ie: spit on) with, will the luminol glow.

He’s willing to spend $20 on a test kit… 4 applications, 4 pizzas… $5 extra per pizza just to spray some shit on it and throw it away. But he won’t give the driver $2-$3.

And beyond that insanity, let’s say his theory is correct, and the cooked ingredients don’t cause the glow. He has a problem still with recovering dna evidence to prove who did the tampering for his, no doubt, high profile lawsuit (at least in his little psychotic world). You see, the “test” kit he bought, is for training purposes. It’s cheap, so that new investigators can be trained in how to use it, without wasting the good stuff. It does everything it’s supposed to, sure. It’ll glow just like the good stuff… but, the reason it’s only for testing/training, is because it doesn’t contain any of the inhibitors of the good stuff. It competely destroy’s any dna evidence, where as the good stuff doesn’t.

So let’s assume his theory is correct, and naturally I had to inform him that what he has will destroy any dna evidence, so he’ll need to get the good stuff if he really wants to persue this course of action. At $75 for the same 4 applications… that’s $18.75 per pizza. But he’s not willing to give the driver $2-$3.

It just baffles my mind, that someone can actually be so insane as to think this is logical… even worthwhile. Oh yeah… and he’s currently on unemployment. SHOCKER! If there’s a God, I pray to you now. Karma-bomb this jackass. No job for him, after his unemployment’s up… make him have to go through that decision… delivery job (or anything that relies on tips, really), or lose the car, the house, and whatever other toys you don’t explicitly own…

Now, the odds of a driver actually tampering with a customer’s food is miniscule. Most are adults (most places require their drivers to be at least 18), and have matured enough to understand the consequences of their actions. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Some people are just willing to take the risk.

Yes, drivers remember the non-tippers. They remember the good tippers as well. And service is delegated on that knowledge. The non-tippers will more often than not, have their deliveries well beyond the hot & fresh stage, and into the luke-warm and hardening cheese stage. Or items will be deliberately left out of their order, sure the driver has to go back to the store and grab it, and back to the customer… screwing himself out of another delivery… but to some, it’s worth it to make the non-tippers have to wait that much longer before they can enjoy their meal, which now will probably need to be nuked.

The good tippers get their orders delivered promptly, all items accounted for, and even have the little things like parmesean, or red pepper, or extra packets of sauce just incase. It’s not much, but it’s a way the drivers can show their appreciation to the good customers.

But I think what’s most baffeling about this whole thing, is that there are actually people out there that honestly don’t feel delivery drivers deserve tips. There’s the natural waiter/driver comparison to be made. You tip your waiter for good service, correct? Why is the delivery driver any different? Other than the fundamental differences… those being that the delivery drivers have to pay for their gas, and any maintenance on their vehicle which is driven 100+ miles per shift… (unless it’s a company vehicle, which most aren’t… the sign on the top is just held on by magnets, and plugged into the cigarette lighter for power. If the vehicle isn’t plastered with the company logo, it’s a personal vehicle and the drivers pay all their expenses), there’s really no difference between your pizza delivery dude, and your waiter at a restaurant.

Drivers take orders from customers, they help prepare the pizzas, they prepare sides, stock the refigerator, stock the drinks, prepare the dough, sweep and mop the floors, wash dishes… basically everything but the manager’s duties. And on top of that, they also bring your food to your door.

Keep that in mind the next time you order a pizza. Don’t be a dick. You might just find yourself in the unenviable position one day, of relying on tips.

[ RANT OFF ]

Silly Christians… your holidays are for pagans

I’m hearing a lot lately about this so-called “War on Christmas”… generally by the very vocal, and very annoying, Religious Right (shouldn’t that be Christian Right, or more specifically Whacked Out Psycho Conservative Christians (WOPCC)…).

All because a few retail outlets choose to be as politically correct as possible, and say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”. There’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 – 12 holidays observed during the “Christmas Season”… at least 3 of them are tied with religion. And somehow … wait, I forgot the whole Christian Superiority Syndrome (CSS)… of course Christmas is the only holiday everyone celebrates at this time of year. No one celebrates Hannakuh,
or Yule (I need my rolling eyes smilie…).

Quick to blame non-Christians for waging a “war” on Christmas, and ultimately on Christianity as a whole. But then with their rampant CSS, the WOPCCs would view any minority religion’s efforts to gain some recognition as a direct assault to the Christian way of life.

Of course, they’re quick to forget the deep rooted pagan symbolism so pervasive in Christmas. I wonder if they’ve ever stopped to consider what decorating a tree, giving presents, Santa, elves, reindeer, yule logs, wreathes, candy canes, etc … has to do with the birth of Christ? They’re also quick to forget the fact that even scriptures in the bible indicate Christ was born most likely sometime in late September, and not December 25th.

So why do they celebrate December 25th as his birthday? Quite simply, because the early church in the 3rd or 4th century, decided on December 25th among 8 or 9 other potential dates (all guesses of course), so that it would coincide with the Roman celebration of the birth of their sun god, Sol (it also happens to fall on or very near to the Winter Solstice, which is when the Celts celebrate Yule … which is where all the symbols above are actually from). The reasoning behind this, was to make it easier for pagans to convert to Christianity (Pagan simply means “country dweller”, a pagan is a person, not a religion. Pagan’s had many religions… and due to the literal meaning of the word Pagan, one could even deduce that Judaism and likewise Christianity, are also pagan religions) .

Let’s not fail to mention they also quickly forget that celebrating the birth of someone (be it yourself or another), is a decidedly pagan tradition, as in the earliest days of the church the birth was irrelevant, it was the death that was revered. It was once said “only sinners celebrate their birth”. But, you know… let’s go ahead and celebrate Christ’s birth, never mind the fact we used to condemn this very practice.

Of course, Christmas isn’t the only pagan cum Christian holiday. Easter’s another big one. You know, I used to always wonder why Easter fell on a different day every year. I mean since death was so revered among Christians… why didn’t someone record what day Jesus died on? Instead, again in the 3rd or 4th century (and subsequently updated in the 16th century to be applied to the Gregorian calendar), a formula was agreed upon by the church… the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 20th… meaning it could be anywhere from March 20th to April 15th.

Not surprisingly the Celtic festival of Ostara falls on the Autumnal Equinox, sometime between March 19th and 22nd. And let’s get to symbolism… bunnies, eggs, coloring the eggs, baskets, etc. Certainly don’t see any connection between those symbols, and the resurrection of Christ do we? No surprise since the rabbit was the symbol of the goddess of fertility, eggs are a symbol of fertility, coloring eggs is a tradition that spans many cultures, baskets used for gathering all the eggs during the egg hunt that started with people handing each other eggs, but later turned into hiding the eggs in order to continue their traditions without the church being aware. Interestingly enough, Ostara is a festival of fertility, and ultimately rebirth… convenient the church would choose a very similar date for when to celebrate Christs resurrection, no?

Let’s clear up a few things now, about Samhain… or now more commonly known as Halloween, All Hallows Eve, All Holy Night, etc. It is traditionally celebrated as the new year, the end of summer and beginning of winter. It was believed that the barrier separating the world of the living, from the world of the dead, was thinnest at this time of the year. Rituals were practiced to both strengthen the barriers in order to keep evil spirits at bay, and the use of various foods as an offering to the good spirits so that they may continue to watch over the community in the coming year. If you didn’t leave an offering, it was believed you would be plagued by bad luck through the year. Thus the origins of “Trick or Treat”. This was also a time when the spirits of loved ones that passed away during the year were guided by candles into the otherworld… thus the origins of the term “follow the light” or “go into the light”

Even the Christianization of it was a holy night (as it preceded All Saint’s Day)… but lately, somehow, it’s been bastardized and perceived as an evil night. The Devil’s Night, and other such nonsense. Is it evil to celebrate your loved ones? Is it evil to help guide them to the otherworld (or Heaven if you want to apply Christian words to it)? Is it evil to perform rituals to keep evil spirits at bay (hey now, guess that makes exorcism’s inherently evil then, yah?) Is it evil to make offerings to the good spirits to watch over the community (does that make praying evil? What about when early Christians and Jews made offerings to God?) Or maybe it’s just being bastardized because the pagan symbolism isn’t as “cute and happy” as Easter and Christmas, and the WOPCC’s thus deem it must be an evil night (because it’s obviously not Christian. To wit I ask “and Christmas and Easter are?!”)

It’s ok to have the pagan symbols of rabbits and eggs, and trees, wreaths, Santa, etc… but when it comes to ghosts and spirits, witches, black cats and skeletons… that’s where the line is drawn? Actively practicing the old pagan traditions of Ostara and Yule are also ok, but practicing Halloween isn’t? Honestly I thought it was a no-no for Christians to practice pagan rituals… something about heresy, and excommunication, and even death (at least at one time included physical death, but now more in the realm of spiritual death and being condemned to hell). But hey, if you the devout Christian are ok with this, then by all means… knock yourself out. If you’re going to ignore the commandment that speaks against worshiping idols, why should it come as any surprise that you’d also ignore the commandment that says to not worship any god other than God? Or did I miss the decree that practicing another religion’s rituals does not constitute giving praise (ie: worship) to a god that is not God?