Stormbringer's Thunder

I've been pondering this for quite some time, and some recent observations prompted me to write about it. Remember about a year ago when I wrote about The Arrogant Atheist? Yes, then I did some other stuff that was similar. I've noticed that atheism (and its kid brother, agnosticism) and liberalism go hand-in-hand. It appears that there is an elitist approach to atheism. Why would someone claim to be an atheist? I can think of several reasons, including: Upbringing and bad educational experiences Bad experiences in life Cultural influences Political and social environment Peer pressure, or the desire to please other people Disappointment based on bad experiences in life (i.e., expecting God to be a grand Santa Claus in the sky, giving you whatever you want, whenever you want it) Elitism Moral choices It's the last two parts that I want to touch on today. Please pay attention, 007! I am not going to say that all atheists are the same, and that my definitions ...

You know I'm frequently trying to provide a public service. Here's another one. This puppy just dropped into my personal Inbox. If you get this, don't click on anything, just delete it. It claims to give me an update to Windows XP and to Vista. If it was from Microsoft, well, my computer is registered, I get automatic updates, and they know full well what system I have. Why delete it? After a brief search, I found out it's a phishing scam (click for definition) , and I took out the active link: Free Update Windows XP,Vista About this mailing: You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MSN Featured Offers. Microsoft respects your privacy. If you do not wish to receive this MSN Featured Offers e-mail, please click the "Unsubscribe" link below. This will not unsubscribe you from e-mail communications from third-party advertisers that may appear in MSN Feature Offers. This shall not constitute a...

A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Why the long face?" Jokes are over. OK, Gang, Uncle Bob is feeling a bit philosophical. Not the "meaning of life" kind of stuff. These questions are more immediate and, dare I say, relevant. This post is mainly for men. I'm sure women will read it and chime in with the comments button, too, and that's fine. Over at The Art of Manliness , questions have been raised about, "Is (activity) manly?" The problem is, the term "manly" means different things to different people. Does an activity make you a better man? Maybe, and maybe not. I'm hoping that the guys at TAOM read this and give some input. An assumption that can be made is that, if something is not "manly", it is somehow "un-manly". What does that mean, then? That it diminishes your manhood? Careful with that six-gun, Tex, you can shoot yourself in the foot with that assumption. Worse yet, there's the assumption...

Buona sera. I've been busy. Not only was Lela out and my crew had to do extra work (yes, including yours truly), I've had to spend a lot of time talking to my old friend Neil (and I still wish he was in my crew). In our talks, I've mentioned the control freak and the way she makes Neil's life a living hell. First and foremost, she's a selfish, whiny control freak (see this post ). Also, she had a go at Neil, who showed amazing restraint in not ripping her head off (discussed in that post ). Neil's drawback is that he's been trying to be a nice guy instead of heading for the hills when he realized that the control freak's mother is an enabler and wants this lazy welfare slob ruining and running her life, and ruining his life, too. This cazzo is physically an adult, for crying out loud! Time to grow the rest of the way up and get a life! After interrogating Neil for hours (I didn't think I was interrogating him, but he felt that way), I'm going ...

What can I say? If you get something like this, don't fall for it! And this is hilarious: Two of the links show that Kim Woo Choong is going to jail for fraud! These losers can't even scam right! And they want me to invest funds in China? Yeah, I'll invest in the Tibetan people! It'll be a helluva birthday gift for the Dalai Lama! Now, I also hope you don't break the cardinal rule, and I'll say it again: NEVER give personal or confidential information away to strangers. "If it's too good to be true, it probably is" still holds true, so don't trust this stuff. Some of these stronzos are stupid enough to keep circulating their names all over the Internet for a while. But later on, they'll change their names. The basic approach that I've posted in scams in this Weblog will still remain, however. So don't be fooled. Dear Friend, This is a Management Placement on behalf of Mr. Kim Woo Choong. Mr. Kim Woo Choong is looking for an expe...

Wowie! No more sneaking at night, no more shaking down late payments for cheese deliveries, no more government work...Yeah, sure. One of the first rules in Not Being Scammed is that you don't fall for "winning" a lottery that you never entered. In a foreign country. Where they don't know your name. Don't be a cafone . I have fun showing these scammers up, so here's today's lesson. From the keyboard of the lovely and talented Stephanie Wilson: UK GAMING BOARD ALERT. Compliments of the day to You and Your Family. We wish to inform you of the result of the National Lottery Sweepstakes program The entire staff of the Uk National Lottery wishes to inform you that your Email address has won the total Cash Prize of £850,000.00 The draw was done electronically with several email addresses provided to this office by microsoft to enhance the utilization of the internet. Your email address attached to Serial no: 5368/02, was Picked as One Of the Five Winning email Ad...

Ernie the Gambler, Neil and I were having an interesting talk about control freaks the other day. We were trying to figure out what their problem is in the first place, and how to disarm them. Remember when I did that piece about manipulation and being manipulated ? Well, the control freak is worse. Everyone wants to have some control of their lives, their destiny, their workplace, their front porch, whatever. And mentally healthy people don't want to be controlled, they want at least some say in their relationships. These people are so weak minded that they are in so much fear and anxiety in their own lives, they want to control your life as well. You don't have much say when you're in a relationship with a control freak: Do what you're told. The problem is, when a control freak is a raving psychotic, there is no pleasing them; the rules constantly change. When you do what you're told or forced to do, this worst of controllers is still not pleased. Control freaks ...