Couldn't have happened to nicer people...

Church ordered to pay $10.9 million for funeral protest

A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals in the belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

You know these scumbags... they're the "God Hates Fags" morons. Can't say I'm at all sad or surprised.

Watching House. Learning About Life.

Although I'm not a huge fan of network TV, I've been watching House, M.D. lately. For those who haven't, you should consider giving it a chance. I'm also not a huge fan of medical shows, but I've loved Hugh Laurie (the actor/comedian who plays the main character) ever since his early BBC days with Stephen Fry.

House is an avowed atheist and a curmudgeon. In the intense episode I watched last night (One Day, One Room), he interacts with a rape victim (intriguingly named Eve) who challenges his notions of God. There are two quotes from the show I would like to share with you:

Quote #1 - House and Eve are discussing abortion (I told you it was an intense show). Eve's contention is that everyone's life is sacred. House doesn't agree:

House: If we were to care about every person suffering on the planet, life would shut down.

Certainly life as we know it would. Sounds like a perfect plan. :D

Quote #2 - House and Eve finally get down to discussing the nature of existence and why she chose him to discuss all of this. She confesses that she doesn't really know why... simply because he was there in the room with her. He doesn't understand the irrationality of her choice:

House: Are you going to base your whole life on who you're stuck in a room with?

Eve: I'm gonna base this moment on who I am stuck in a room with! It's what life is, it's a series of rooms, and who we get stuck in those rooms with, adds up to what our lives are.

Yes it does.

Neuroscience and God

Neuroscientists have been able to track down sections of the brain that light up when nuns recall epiphanous moments. So what does this mean about God and our relationship with God? Not being a neuroscientist, it doesn't mean a whole lot to me, but be certain that people will use it an excuse to argue about the existence of God.

Just because the brain lights up in reproducible ways when a person is thinking about God doesn't mean God is a figment of their imagination. It's like saying that litmus paper changes colors when I drop lemon juice on it because the paper really likes acids.

I'll stop now... it's early and I need coffee. What do you think about all of this?

Cephalopod Awareness Day - Dang, I Missed It!

How did we miss this one. Man, I seem to be good at finding out about these things the day after they happen. Oh well... better late than never.

Cephalopod Awareness Day

Radiohead Rules, I think...

Being a musician of (very) little note, I love it when artists take control of their work and make it available to fans in unique ways. It's one of the things that attracted me to Jonathan Coulton whose Thing A Week series is awesome!

Now Radiohead, a very popular band who've sold millions of copies of previous albums, has decided (now that they are no longer under contract to EMI) to let the fans decide how much to charge for access to download their new album. How cool is that?

There's something very Jesus about this to me.

Having said that, I'm not sure what I think about the band Radiohead. I like some of the songs I've heard and am not as eager to re-listen to other tracks. I've been told they are very melancholy. I can respect that and I do respect the work they've put out so far. None of it sucks. I need to learn more about them. Anyone in here a Radiohead fan?