Death becomes you

Troy Davis. recently executed by order of the state for a murder. There have however been 36 executions, all by lethal injection in 2011 so far, 36 execution in relation to 44 murders.

Not a lot being said or mentioned about any of these people. Seems the outrage is only reserved for special occasions. I'm not belittling Troy Davis or his circumstance, I'm not saying anyone was incorrectly executed, I'm just saying that we're pretty selective about what out outrage is reserved for.

State execution is seems is the elephant in the room.

Since 1977 there have been 1270 state sanctioned executions, of which only 12 were females. 712 Whites and 441 Blacks and 16 Native Americans.

The Total Number of Death Row Inmates as of January 1, 2011: 3,251



The Total Number of people on Death Row continues to rise




State ordered executions continue to be problematical, on many levels. Eye for an eye is all well and good, but it's painfully obvious that time needed or being taken to get from a jury trial verdict, through statutory appeal, to further appeal and then carrying out the sentence isn't as big a deterrent as it's supposed to be. Incarceration of the adjudged guilty with the knowledge that they have any number of years waiting for sentence to be carried out seems a cruel and unusual punishment in and of itself. Leaving aside the fact that state sponsored execution is the sentence.

Am I a liberal on this? Is incarceration enough? Does death become the guilty? Does that help anyone? What closure is that?

What Atheists Have to Believe.

I got listening to a couple of podcasts and the subject of atheism comes up now and again.

But the answer to "What atheists HAVE to belive" can be summed up in a couple of words. Well no that's not true, the answer is not in the question which isn't worded particularly well. The thing that I, an atheist, has believe in,  and this is all, is that "There is no God".

That is it. I don't have to not belive in the Christian God, any God will do not to belive in.

I dont have to believe in  Zeus, Hermes, Hades, Hera, Aphrodite,
or Iuppiter, Mors,  Terra,
or Odin, Thor, Loki, Njordr,
or Krishna,  Vishnu, Kali, Ishvara,
or Shangdi, Mazu, Shou  Xing, Tu Di Gong,
or Izanagi-no-Mikoto,  Izanami-no-Mikoto,
or Cernunnos, Damona, Epona,
or Ra, Isis, Anubis, Osiris,
or An, Ki,  Enlil, Enki,
or Sin, Marduk, Ishtar, Nabu,
or Simurgh, Rostam, Gaokerena,
or Bunyip, Kurreah, Mutjinga etc

not a one do I have to belive in. There is no God.

Being an Atheist does not mean I have no moral standards, or moral code of right and wrong, I don't find it odd to help my fellow-man, nor do I covet my neighbour's wife or oxen most of the time.

I have one thing as an atheist to belive in. That is all.

I don't have to apologise for evolution, I don't have to explain the uncausable cause of the big bang, I don't have to belive in an eternal after-life anywhere for any reason. I don't have to belive that what I think or what I do has any repercussion other than to me and those my actions affect. I don't have to belive in a judgement book.

Mostly however I don't have to belive that I will vilify you, ridicule you or otherwise insult your belief in something. If you have personal experience of a God then good for you!, but that's you and what you saw, I can't measure it, you can't replicate or prove it, but I'm not about that you prove it to me, especially not with a Bible of doubtful origin and content, that would be circular reasoning.

Should a God come visit with me and prove they are God then I'll happily change my mind.  In the meantime I believe that you have a right to what you think, even if you have no basis for that belief, and I'll continue with mine, based on what I've reasoned to be a reasonable position. After all "God did it" is not a reasonable excuse for anything that happens to you, anyone you know or any event in the world that you are too ignorant to think through an explain. Is it?

Related articles

• Atheist vs. Atheist - What?!


• Atheists require blind faith

 

Not a good day to be a minor league tall poppy. #1 in a series.

Today we bring you  Rabon Khan  and  Rachel Smalley

(1) Raybon Khan. Who seems to set himself as Mr.People, some brainpower gifted individual who urbane toss-offs speak to and for the people.

Well he is a comedian, makes his money with humor, or a sort. The tweet is an inference, and that is all. It's implied that it's Germanic, therefore Nazi, therefore Jewish. And frankly that is indeed what it is. Doesn't make it less humorous. Gallows  humor is important.

(2) Rachel Smalley

Rachel got confused about what she is, and what her tweeting account is. You can't be both a corporate tweet and a person. You're either for your or you are you. It's no good having 999 tweets about good a talking head you are on TV if then in some kind of faux outrage pick a fight with someone, about something you know nothing of, but have formed an opinion on based on your privileged position of being "in" the media. Rachel Smalley is a talking head. She reads an autocue device for a living. That is all.

So what will happen?

Well Raybon will throw himself at the public mercy, "Don't read it" he'll cry, which makes him seem like he's 11 years old.

Rachel Smalley. Well TV3 needs a talking head, she has broad appeal which equals money, and will bring out the same "It was me talking" line that isn't really an excuse when 99.99% of everything else she tweets is for her not about her.

So two rather minor poppies who've brought a collective passing eye-roll towards them that has kept a small part of the nation occupied in the colonies. Nothing in their somewhat small and limited appeal career with change, they're not people you get favors from or rely on to do you favors. They have passing and fleeting influence as a talking head, but that glitter fades quickly.

#FauxOutrage at it's best then

Checklist - or if it worked who would use it

This made me smile when I first saw it, and makes me smile when I see it again.

via jenna b.

I have a friend who's very religious

A JW, who is convinced that he's one of the 144,000 or whatever number it is. Don't ask me how he can be, that door closed long ago. But you know that with any cult based religion you change the rules as it suits.

Anyway someone who didn't know his fervor tried to ambush him with, starting with creationism. Trouble is that it quickly got to the big bang, and according to JW guy that was completely and utterly in line with doctrine, the un-causable cause.

Just because we can't grasp the nothingness before creation, and this is his quote, "much like we can't graph infinity", then the obvious answer is a creator.

Obviously.

Not to be beaten the ambusher soldiered on, let's try evolution again;

to which we get from  JW guy creationist nonsense about "you never see a simpler thing evolve into a more complex thing" and "why don't dogs give birth to cats", but he seems to have given ground in the years I've known him to "intelligent design" by which he means that creator made things that have adapted.

Not evolution since man did not evolve from a monkey, but that creator gives them a nudge now and then

"How about" says ambusher "Contradictions in the Bible". I hung my head

"Show me one" says JW guy. It was like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Of course there are many and varied inconsistencies and contradictions, I know from reading and research that there are, but I can't quote chapter and verse. If I was really fired up about the dumbness of religion and people's faith I possibly would be, but each to their own. If you believe the bible in toto then you do, it's not a negotiation. Besides which bible thumpers tend to be very picky about which words from which verse and in which context they use scripture, it's not a whole story, it's a soundbite.

There is no winning any argument about faith and belief, neither party is going to change their mind, as if over a coffee you're going to have an epiphany or something.

But I've done my thinking and yes there was nothing and then there was something. Yes perhaps we can't grasp the nothing, and because we are material we can only construct largely what we are familiar with, that which we know. There is stuff, it came from somewhere, there can't have been no stuff, and suddenly then stuff, that would be silly, we don't have experience of that happening. But to then go "ah God did it" is even lamer than just shrugging shoulders and going "it is what it is"

Finally we finished coffee with JW guy saying "what if you are wrong, what do you think will happen when you die" I said "worm meat". I wasn't really helping either cause.

Related articles

• Faith is a Great Thing, Religion is a Dangerous Thing.


• The danger of inerrancy

 

The daughter has an job in mind

Except that she changes her mind with alarming frequency.

So far she has wanted to be;

1. CSI Investigator


2. Criminal LAwyer


3. Baby nurse


4. DJ


5. Radio DJ


6. Fitness instructor in the Army (she changed her mind on this since this now a civilian role and not a uniformed position)


7. Ski Instructor - hey she's been to SnoPlanet twice - total

She is fairly level-headed, and does claim to be not bright, even though she's doing academically well at school, she really does put a lot of extra work on to make sure she's a success.

Unlike Boychild who hated school, but  finish out with some A level qualification, and then did get a full time job in a bakery (4am to 2pm), which really didn't rock his world. Now having done a year at university he's again with itchy feet and doesn't really know what to do with himself, he does maintain however that he wants to be a games designer. I'm inclined to let him go for it, because no amount of counsel will change his mind or his habits or personality.

Daughter however is going to be a challenge, and I'm sure that she will be overseas on a work experience and well be a success at something, and will achieve a lot. I hope.

It does seem that neither of them want to achieve mediocrity, and they do seem to get that a house, two cars, two kids and a cat isn't exactly "living the dream" for the parents. I'm hoping to be a kept man in my dotage.

Build it and they will come.

Or Not.

I'm talking about "Party Central" on the wharves in  Auckland.  A structure designed to hold 12,000 people with an invited audience of the whole city. And what happens when you get it right, a confluence of good weather, fireworks, media hysteria, and the opening of a global tournament? Well you get chaos.

And when the opening hype is passed and the finger-pointing is dying down what happens next, Well in my opinion untill the closing games, the Semi-finals and finals it's going to remain pretty much under used, under visited and an embarrassment.

It so is.

Daily programme for Party Central

Sat 10 Sept -FAMILY WEEKEND – Carnival
Queens Wharf will come alive   for the first family-friendly weekend with a  programme of Carnival fun throughout the day. Expect colourful characters, great  live music and dance performances to entertain the entire family. (emphasis added)
LATE NIGHT AT THE CLOUD – P Money

Sun 11 Sept - FAMILY WEEKEND – Carnival
Mon 12 Sept - THE CLOUD & SHED 10 – Going Global Music Summit

Gosh, must leave work early for some of that.

The posturing of the Minister for RWC, the Auckland Mayor and the transport company are all for nix. They've overextended themselves but won't have to pay with anything other than a public dressing down. The transport system will still be borked, they've even said "don't take trains take buses" which is how confident they are after years of planning. seriously years.

So whilst we have a micro-focus on health and safety that prevents any more than 12,000 people in party central, we have no overall concept of what's going on outside the gates, and it's not like Auckland doesn't have large gatherings, yearly, such as Concert in the park, and the Santa Parade.

I'm ashamed that they'll put Auckland's name against the debacle, when it comes down to a handful of inept bungling self-serving form a circle and give ourselves a pat on the back cronies who will end up with civic awards and accolades because we're too stupid and lazy to bring up the unsightly mess again.

A commercial venture and the public purse

There are a couple of quotes that I'd like to call out in this

"the theatre had "not met our audience targets in a very tough economic climate and within the context of a reduced funding situation"

and

"The decision to can the shows comes two weeks after Creative New Zealand increased the Downstage's annual funding by $25,000, to $298,000 "

Which seem to be a contradiction, no?

The tough economic climate has forced Downstage Theatre to suddenly scrap the rest of its planned shows for the year, after the October 1 final performance of Te Radars Eating the Dog, which opened last night. The shows to be postponed or cancelled include Kiwi play The Intricate Art of Actually Caring – which was to run during the Rugby World Cup – and the large-scale Kiwi musical Raising the Titanics. Downstage chief executive and director Hilary Beaton, in an email sent to members of Wellingtons arts community on Tuesday, said the theatre had "not met our audience targets in a very tough economic climate and within the context of a reduced funding situation".

via Downstage Theatre Cancels Shows In Wellington | Stuff.co.nz.

I'm sceptical of tax-payer funded art where clearly there is incompetence and something very much amiss in a situation where you can have a group that consistently fails.

The changes came after earlier financial problems. In 2007 Downstage had to ask  Creative NZ for an emergency advance of $117,000 to cover wages and pay
creditors. It also used to receive more funding, including $500,000 in 2008.

At the risk of being seen as a total nay-sayer I'd like to point out that possibly " Te Radars Eating the Dog" might have been profitable, but to have an ambitious program that includes what I'm guessing as experimental plays - including the  Kiwi play The Intricate Art of Actually Caring – which was to run during the  Rugby World Cup – and the large-scale Kiwi musical Raising the Titanics.

To actually fail to deliver on a play, during the RWC, in a city with a captive audience, how forgivable is that ?  And why would you want to put all your eggs into a large-scale musical?

The Vision they have  -  would not be possible without financial assistance from our committed corporate, philanthropic and government supporters. - but I do think that calling themselves "a company that gets behind its artists and community by presenting the works of distinctive voices that speak for a nation and are heard around the world." might be stretching the point.

I don't doubt that stating a performance is time-consuming, costly and fraught with difficulty, however there are many forms of play and performance that are not expensive and can be profitable. If you've set yourself a high-bar of standard that you have failed to achieve for years in a row then why do you continue to flog a dead horse.?

Bible-bangers aren't the brightest, study shows

The more religious you are, the less likely you are to be intelligent, a new scientific study has found.

via Bible-bangers aren't the brightest, study shows - Education - NZ Herald News.

According to researchers, Christians - particularly fundamentalists who believe the Bible is God's word - have a lower IQ than those who are less religious.

A possible reason behind the finding was a tendency for more intelligent people to challenge religious claims, said one of the researchers, New Zealand psychologist Professor Tim Bates.

"If you believe in religion, you haven't really questioned things," he said. "Brighter people were less likely to feel that religion plays a dominant role in their life."

The findings of the University of Edinburgh study were "a bit hilarious", said Auckland Bishop Patrick Dunn. "The suggestion that the less intelligent you are the more religious you would be seems to be degrading and insulting," he said.

However, he did agree that less intelligent people of all faiths tended to be more fundamental in their thinking, "whether they claim to be Christians or atheists or Muslims or whatever".

Taking one for the team.

Twitter really was the wild west last night if you were an England supporter.

Sure I follow a scant 500ish tweeps, but the level of barbed comment, snide comment and plain old nastiness was quite rife.

Of course you're entitled to an opinion, but when it's based on insecurity and displays your rabid bigotry and racism then it possibly crosses the line from humorous to hurtful.

And it's just reserved for the English, whose crimes I can list as

1.  Being English


2. Not being Welsh


3. Not being Irish


4. Not being Scottish


5. Daring to win the RWC


6. Choosing a Black strip as an alternate, the same as Wales have done.

That's pretty much it I think. I've never witnessed anything quite like it, normally normal people becoming complete cocks. It's not like the English ever did anything to the New Zealand team. When it comes to rugby the New Zealand position seems to be the most English of all, arrogance in the face of facts that would indicate otherwise that the All Blacks are the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be.

Fact is that every team, everywhere, any sport, likes to beat England. That's what you get when at one point the whole world was for the Empire, and you paid your respects to an island nation miles away.

I like New Zealand I will eventually get the point where I lived half my life here, my children will benefit from being English, and their children too. I just hope that they have better grace and manners when it comes to knowing the past and how to move to the future.

RWC - Predictions

I love this bit!

Ritchie McCaw to get a serious injury in the game against Tonga that puts him out of the rest of the pool games. Comes back in the Quarter Finals, and is injured again.

Ireland to roll Australia.

England will beat France in the last minute to get to the Semi finals.

New Zealand will lose the Semi to a contentious decision to sin-bin someone.

Samoa will beat South Africa.

oh I left a bigger prediction for Australia, they're going home with a 1 win 3 loss record.

Update #1 9th Sept: Ritchie McOarsum didn't get hurt, so that's 0-1 so far. (and to get that joke click this link)  

Update #2 13th Sept: It was Dan Carter that has an injusry (back) but will be playing, this could be interesting.

Update #3 15th Sept: Ritchie is injured, it's all a smokescreen.  I don't feel good about getting this one right. 

Update #4 1st Octt: Ritchie is injured, Ireland Won and Samoa didn't beat SA. Close but no Ken Ring

 

So I get this new laptop

A work upgrade. The other one I had decided that file corruption was the easiest and lest painful way of departing my desk with some dignity. I'd had it a few years, and to be honest I didn't need an upgrade other than the fact that it up and died on me. It was working ok and I knew where everything was and everything was sort of in in't place. After  a fashion.

 Straight up out of the box the new laptop was faulty - the screen needed a replacement. Which the HP guy came and did. But I had a few days of fuzzy-o-vision to keep me going.

But the new one suffers from being rubbish. But it's not it's fault. We use a "Standard build" which essentially is a shoehorn of stuff and configuration that may not be the right thing. There are many things missing, like drivers, and enablers that have to be downloaded and installed and configured.

As well as getting the non-standard part of the standard build put back. Things that I use, stuff that is appropriate for my use. And this is the challenge.

Right now today I can load tweetdeck and see messages, I can't send a message however.

Right now today I'm having a strange "can't empty the clipboard" thing going on when I use Excel.

Right now it takes an age for the browser to load.

I have a feeling they are all related in some way, I just can't figure out why, and I shouldn't really be expected to, if I'm being honest. But the fact is that it is annoying and is taking up more cycles of my time than it should. It's been 7 working days, and I'm getting to the end of my generosity tether.

I could complain but then the IT troll may not be as disposed to fix my problem, so I have to have it done in a way that keeps the peace, or damn it and make a noise, keep me happy and that would be the ideal outcome. I don't see why a new, faster, better laptop should turn out to be worse, slower and an impediment. If it was mine and I was the owner and manager it wouldn't be.