What Is Atheism?

Posted: 10/31/2015  Updated: 7/20/2018, 7/18/2018, 4/22/2017

Update Of 7/18/2018

Atheism is not only the least plausible of all religions, it is probably also a very irrational one.

Just ask an atheist to explain:

1. Ex nihilo nihil (from nothing nothing)
2. Why is there such a beauty among the living (all forms of life), the universe, and mathematics? Could it be that a creator has been involved?  
3. Why most people would agree that on balance the good wins over the evil in our lives and over time. Is this just make belief or wishful thinking or is this perhaps a deeper principle. If latter, then an atheist would have some difficulty to explain why the balance is not neutral or why evil does not win
4. The value of life and human life in particular? I am afraid that too many self proclaimed atheists probably turn out to be misanthropes

Update Of 4/22/2017

Saw a quote today on Facebook attributed to commentator Charles Krauthammer: “Atheism is the least plausible of all theologies”

I could not have said it any better!

Original Post

The short answer is: Atheism is itself a faith or a religion!

Signs Of Rampant Socialist Government

Posted: 10/25/2015

These signs are not listed in any particular order (this list is not exhaustive):

1. Highly, extensively, and comprehensively regulated and controlled industries or business sectors such as banking/insurance/finance, communications, healthcare, energy, transportation, housing etc.
2. Managed or mercantilist foreign trade instead of free trade
3. Labor unions are given legal privileges or are exempted like no other institutions and have outsized influence on politics
4. One or more sin taxes like on alcohol, tobacco, fuel, sugar, fat and much more
5. Extensive control over interest rates and lending conditions
6. An all powerful central government in control of most everything happening in the country despite federalism
7. Government runs and controls education and schools to a large extent whereas in a country founded on individual liberty education should be largely privatized
8. Government is running and in control of health care for a majority of its citizens
9. Narcotics are prohibited and medical drugs are not freely available to citizens
10. Government prohibitions and mandates are frequent and most often unjustifiable like light bulbs; smoking in private businesses (e.g. bars, restaurants); bike helmets; seat belts and much more
11. Government is running and in control of retirement finances of most of its citizens
12. Permanent obsession with gun control against citizens
13. Highly, extensively, and comprehensively regulated and controlled labor markets infringing on property rights and freedom of contract
14. Professional licensing is mandated for too many jobs. Government allowed and promoted that the medical and the legal profession set up high hurdles like a cartel

Where do you think the United States stands compared to the above list? I am afraid, the U.S. has come way too far down the socialist Road To Serfdom since at least the beginning of the 20th century!

It is high time to reverse this horrible trend!

Hot Recent Science & Technology Articles (18)

Posted: 10/24/2015

1. Astronomers peer inside stars, finding giant magnets (“Astronomers have for the first time probed the magnetic fields in the ... inner regions of stars, finding they are strongly magnetized. Using a technique called asteroseismology, the scientists were able to calculate the magnetic field strengths in the fusion-powered hearts of dozens of red giants, stars that are evolved versions of our sun.”)
2. Crystals allow peek at picosecond DNA damage (“But a team led by University College Dublin’s Susan Quinn has now tracked the precise dynamics behind the very first electron transfer in a key DNA damage process.”)
3. http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/10/stuttering-mice-shed-light-human-speech-impediment (Good news for stutterers! “In humans, stuttering has long been linked to a mutation in the “housekeeping” gene Gnptab, which maintains basic levels of cellular function. To cement this curious genetic link, researchers decided to induce the Gnptab “stutter mutation” in mice. They suspected the change would trigger a mouse version of stammering. ... so researchers set up a computerized model to register stutters through a statistical analysis of vocalizations. ... boiled the verbal impediment down to two basic characteristics—fewer vocalizations in a given period of time and longer gaps in between each vocalization. ... Using these parameters to evaluate mouse vocalizations, researchers were able to identify stuttering mice over a 3.5-minute period. ... The findings not only supply evidence for Gnptab’s role in stuttering, but they also show that its function remains relatively consistent across multiple species.”)
4. New mathematical method reveals structure in neural activity in the brain (“The researchers measured the activity of place cells in the brains of rats during three different experimental conditions. They then analyzed the pairwise correlations of this activity—how the firing of each neuron was related to the firing of every other neuron.
   In the first condition, the rats were allowed to roam freely in their environment—a behavior where the activity of place cells is directly related to the location of the animal in its environment. They searched the data to find groups of neurons, or "cliques," in which the activity of all members of the clique was related to the activity of every other member. Their analysis of these cliques, using methods from algebraic topology, revealed an organized geometric structure. Surprisingly, the researchers found similar structure in the activities among place cells in the other two conditions they tested, wheel-running and sleep, where place cells are not expected to have geometric organization.”)
5. To infinity and beyond LIGHT GOES INFINITELY FAST WITH NEW ON-CHIP MATERIAL (“Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have done just that, designing the first on-chip metamaterial with a refractive index of zero, meaning that the phase of light can travel infinitely fast.”)
6. Scientists build heat engine from a single atom
7. Can Female Mice Improve Autism Research? Researchers angling for government funds must now include both sexes in their animal studies—or explain why they don’t (This article goes well beyond autism. It explains why it is so important to study both sexes not only males in animal studies)
8. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/teeth-from-china-reveal-an-early-human-trek-out-of-africa1/
9. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-brain-effects-behind-runner-s-high/
10. Homosexuality may be caused by chemical modifications to DNA
11. Notoriously Durable Styrofoam Could Be Munched by Mealworms  Microbes in the beetle larvae's guts help break down polystyrene
12. And the time of death was? (“Scientists in Portugal have developed a tool to calculate the post-mortem interval (PMI) or ‘time of death’ of a cadaver from a blood sample.”)
13. (a) First Ancient African Genome Reveals Vast Eurasian Migration DNA from Ethiopian man predates the movement of Eurasian farmers "back to Africa"
    (b) http://news.sciencemag.org/evolution/2015/10/first-dna-extracted-ancient-african-skeleton-shows-widespread-mixing-eurasians
    (Human migration never has been a one way street.
14. http://phys.org/news/2015-10-topolariton-half-matter-half-light-particle.html
15. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-might-be-one-step-closer-male-birth-control-pill-180956851/
16. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/notoriously-durable-styrofoam-could-be-munched-mealworms-180956817/
17. New polymer creates safer fuels (Megasupramolecules were already invented over 30 years ago and could have prevented 9/11 to become such an inferno. This new additive was created by a female scientist. “"In the late 1970s and early 1980s, polymer scientists were very enthusiastic about adding ultralong polymers to fuel in order to make post-impact explosions of aircrafts less intense." The concept was tested in a full-scale crash test of an airplane in 1984. The plane was briefly engulfed in a fireball, generating negative headlines and causing ultralong polymers to quickly fall out of favor, ...)

English For Trippers: Discreetly discrete

Posted: 10/16/2015

Can an individual be discreet and discrete at the same time?

Insects Can Eat Styrofoam

Posted: 10/14/2015

Trigger

Just read Notoriously Durable Styrofoam Could Be Munched by Mealworms  Microbes in the beetle larvae's guts help break down polystyrene

Here is a salient excerpt:

“Mealworms are the larvae form of the darkling beetle. In their little guts, they carry microbes that can biodegrade plastic, according to two new studies co-authored by Stanford University research engineer, Wei-Min Wu. Each worm, just a centimeter or two in length, can chow down on a few dozen milligrams of styrofoam a day, with no problems.

The worms can also handle other forms of polystyrene. ...

The worms pooped out the plastics in small biodegraded fragments in about 24 hours.”

Absolutely Stunning

For several decades we were told by scientists and environmentalists that modern plastic etc. would survive hundreds of years or that it would not decay at all.

This also puts e.g. a big question mark on such controversial activities as recycling or separation of trash or burning of trash to gain energy and reduce volume.

President Of Sierra Club Is An Incredible Moron

Posted: 10/14/2015

Trigger

Just read Sierra Club President’s Testimony Reveals It’s Worse Than We Thought. Climate Change? No. Group Think About Climate Change. This article is about the exchange between Senator Cruz and the President of the Sierra Club Aaron Mair during a subcommittee hearing.

Here is a video showing the exchange.

Mr. Mair should be very happy he was not questioned by me instead of Senator Cruz. Mr. Mair possibly would have left the hearing crying, because Senator Ted Cruz did not try too hard expose this man as incompetent and idiotic.

An Unreal Testimony By Mr. Mair

1. First, the President of this club probably is remunerated for his work estimated in the range of $200,000 to $300,000 per year (the website of Sierra Club does not appear make this information easily available)
2. Mr. Mair kept repeating again and again the long debunked “97%” consensus of scientists like he was insane
3. Mr. Mair was totally incapable or unwilling of answering a fairly simple, but very pertinent question by Senator Cruz. This is so embarrassing

All The President's Women

Posted: 10/6/2015 Updated: 10/31/2015

Update Of 10/31/2015

How could I forget to mention current National Security Advisor and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice who famously remarked about the talking points of a CIA memo in the immediate  after the Benghazi attack on the U.S. ambassador in 2012. Was there anything remarkable that this lady did while serving the Obama Administration?

All The Women

I have notice and hopefully not me alone that U.S. President Obama has had a lot of women around him in high positions or as close advisors during his two terms. Most of these women, in my opinion, have been more than disappointing for their incompetence or lack of qualification.

Does President Obama perhaps prefer women over men, because he cannot handle smart, ambitious men very well?

Most outstanding of all Hillary Clinton! What has she accomplished as secretary of state other than accumulating frequent flyer miles?

I have blogged here before about Samantha Power and Valerie Jarrett.

The two female administrators of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lisa P. Jackson and now Gina McCarthy, were toxic to businesses and the first one was also involved in scandals.

Then there was Ms. Kathleen Sebelius, former secretary of Human Health and Human Services who actively helped or at least condoned to make the many unlawful changes to the ObamaCare Act (a.k.a. Affordable Care Act).

Wendy Sherman was apparently involved in and instrumental to the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. From what little I read about her, she is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Perhaps, her appealing qualification for the community organizer was that she was a social worker.

I may also observe that several of these women’s faces look kind of similar, e.g. Kathleen Sebelius, Wendy Sherman, and Gina McCarthy.

A Petition To The White House Regarding Cures For The Mentally Ill

Published: 10/4/2015

As of today, I intend to use the White House website every day to post following petition to President Barack Obama for the remainder of his 2nd term in office:

“Dear Mr. President Barack Obama,

You know yourself that you are an ideological moron who has not much to show for 7 years in office but for increasing the divisiveness in the nation, for expanding big federal government, for unnecessarily prolonging the Great Recession, for a disastrous deal with our enemy and fanatic dictatorship in Iran and much more ...

Here is your chance to build a true and lasting legacy for yourself in the remaining time of your 2nd term:

Remember when JFK announced sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade!

Why are you not the president to announce finding a cure for mental disorders within 10-20 years and to finally lift the stigma and ostracisation of mentally ill Americans in our society!

This would be another instance of American Exceptionalism at its best! A new beacon of hope to the rest of the world! Mental disorders are a major last frontier in human medical progress!

You will remain a fool if you continue to insist on more gun control or background checks!

Lighting the White House in the rainbow colors of the LGBT movement was cheap and inappropriate for a president of all Americans! Perhaps, you have what it takes to be a great president. I doubt it, but please prove the American people wrong! :-)

Cordially,

Thomas Bingel”

Aristotle Quotes & Commentary

Posted:

Introduction

I do not claim to be an expert of Aristotle and his philosophy or writings. Please pardon if I do Aristotle injustice here. Any comments or thoughts are welcome!  :-)

Even so this man is long dead, I believe his influence on our time is manifold and pervasive. This is a work in progress.

Aristotle lived between 384-322 BC

Sources: S1,

Quotes & Comments

Emphasis added:

1. Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms. (Politics, Book V; S1)
   [One reason why the right to bear arms in the U.S. Constitution and various state constitutions is so important and was established by the founders for this reason.]
2. Let us then enunciate the functions of a state and we shall easily elicit what we want: First there must be food; secondly, arts, for life requires many instruments; thirdly, there must be arms, for the members of a community have need of them, and in their own hands, too, in order to maintain authority both against disobedient subjects and against external assailants....
   (Politics, Book VII; S1)
   [The 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution defended. To prevent enslavement domestic or external!]
3. The law is reason unaffected by desire.
   (Politics, Book III, S1)
   [This is one example where Aristotle was dead wrong even if he formulated this only as an aspirational ideal. In a real democracy laws are made by politicians with plenty of conflicting desires. Thus, the rule of law is seriously flawed the more laws are passed and the more they deviate from e.g. the enduring essence of the Ten Commandments (homicide, theft, dishonesty, envy).]
4. If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.
   (Politics, Book V; S1)
   [This is a great argument for requesting term limits for everyone in public service whether as legislators, executives, judges, police officers, or administration employees. Any serious future reform of democracy ought to implement strict term limits for anyone involved in government. Most democracies in history have decayed over time, because e.g. career politicians or administrators etc. take over.]