Disqus - Latest Comments for seejake

Re: 400 Years of World-Changing Scientific Data Visualization

seejake — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 17:02:34 -0000

the new image viewer is TOTAL CRAP!!!

Re: 400 Years of World-Changing Scientific Data Visualization

seejake — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 17:02:15 -0000

a thousand time THIS!

Re: Supes Narrowly Reject EIR Appeal Against Car-Free Condos at 1050 Valencia

seejake — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 20:33:14 -0000

why are you harassing BellaDancer?

Re: Handguns and Tricycles: Museum of Craft and Design Reopens with a Bang

seejake — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 01:50:05 -0000

impressive body of work! unlike many works of subjective art, it's not too hard to glean the more overt messages on display. but the more sublime elements open to interpretation are there as well. above all is a strong display of craftsmanship, which can be difficult to find these days.

Re: Scientific racism, militarism, and the new atheists

seejake — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:34:16 -0000

This kind of garbage masquerading as journalism is a good enough reason to avoid Al Jazeera.

Re: http://shitweseewhilerunning.tumblr.com/post/8806839599

seejake — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:18:18 -0000

damn, I missed that! (and it's totally a dude in there).

Re: Lego Super Star Destroyer Announced

seejake — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:26:33 -0000

came here to post that. glad I'm not alone in knowing that!

Re: Brainz

seejake — Sat, 14 May 2011 02:55:17 -0000

what about Puddin' Don't?

Re: Holy Bile - Terry Eagleton's stupid book

seejake — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:22:51 -0000

actually, never mind. I don't care what you're talking about. go troll someone else's blog, you Christianist retard.

Re: Holy Bile - Terry Eagleton's stupid book

seejake — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:19:58 -0000

What the fuck are you talking about?
What claims have I made that aren't backed up?

Re: Holy Bile - Christians prefer torture

seejake — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:36:40 -0000

Ernesto, unless you are paraphrasing, you have Ghandi wrong, and in a way that I think is shameful. Here's what Ghandi said:

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. The materialism of affluent Christian countries appears to contradict the claims of Jesus Christ that says it's not possible to worship both Mammon and God at the same time."

Ghandi never said he would become a Christian.

Also, I highly recommend that you read
"Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why" by Bart D. Ehrman. It might also help you to understand that many, if not most, atheists know more about Christianity than most, if not nearly all, Christians. I do not intend to sound smug with that remark, but merely to point out that most Christians - as you have alluded to in your comment - do not understand Christianity.

Re: Are the CDS Contracts of AIG Really Valid?

seejake — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:21:01 -0000

I wasn't expecting to get into a philosophical discussion over corporate financial malfeasance, but I'm never one to miss an opportunity to tackle Western theology.

Evil sucks, yes. But what is "evil"? You must first ask yourself what does "good" mean and what does "evil" mean. You have to be able to clearly define and articulate these terms before you can use them in any meaningful way. Both are worthy of pages of reflection, but I won't get into that here, other than to say that good and evil are constructs of men. We humans have created good and evil in the same way we created god. The god of Abraham (Jew, Christian, Muslim) is believed to be all things, so that god is inherently good and inherently evil. "He" must be, otherwise "He" could not exist according to those belief systems.

But as I said, this god was created by men. Not created in the sense that this god would not exist were it not for men, but this god was created by men insofar as he has been imagined and described by men. To me, given what I have learned - and continue to learn - about the Universe and the world, I know that there are more questions than can ever be comprehended by our small brains. Comparatively, the bible (all versions) is such a small book, full of nonsensical, often trivial, contradictory lessons stories written by men living in caves at a time when they still believed the world to be flat and that the Earth was at the center of the Universe. These people were unable to imagine a god magnificent enough to account for what we know of the Universe now, just as people today would not be able to imagine a god magnificent enough for our descendants 2,000 years from now.

Ask yourself, these questions: Is it evil when a bear attacks and eats a human? Is it evil when a human kills and eats a bear? Is it evil when humans kill and eat bears to the point of extinction? Is it evil when a bear kills another bear? Is it evil when a man kills another man? Or are certain exceptions that allow for a man killing another man? Are any creatures other than humans capable of evil?

I choose to believe that the bible is a terrible book, full of evil. The bible says it is okay to commit genocide, and wipe out a tribe to near extinction. The bible condones slavery, animal cruelty, wife beating, and child abuse. Any book that allows for this, and teaches this, to me is an awful book.

If you're so inclined, you can certainly comprehend what believing in god is. A great place to start is to study god from the perspective of other religions. Branch out and learn about the Brahman from Hinduism, or look at the world from the perspective of Buddhists, where there is no deified god per se, but just that all things are god. Be more philosophically engaged in the question of "what is god?" but not so much in trying to find the answer, but see what is revealed to you by just living in the question. My guess is that you would find the world and the Universe so much more magnificent and wonderful than the bible accounts for.

Re: A shred of decency from Madoff?

seejake — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:49:59 -0000

I hear where you're coming from, which is why I said I hoped the Feds would go after the rest. All they need is to nab one or two more of the bigger fish, and they might be able to haul them all in.

Rachel Maddow called them out last night (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id..., as have others. I don't think this thing is over by far! I read this over at Crooks & Liars (http://crooksandliars.com/d...

[I]sn’t the more important aspect of the Madoff case the number of people involved in the conspiracy? This wasn’t just one guy. There were all the people in his office, all the people he did business with, all the bankers who held the funds and got their cut for every transaction, the accountants who didn’t notice anything. When does that get discussed and investigated.

Or do we send Madoff off to jail, pay out the victims though the government insurance fund (my bad, SIPC is not government), and just pretend it was one guy who did all this?

Re: Raisin of Reason: Percentage of Americans with no religion on the rise

seejake — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:29:21 -0000

I think your argument is a bit of a straw man for several reasons. First, it's not about people "losing" religion, at least not in the poll that was referenced. They don't have any religion in the first place. But the real issue is saying that lack of religion is the reason for the selfish, non-caring, "me first" attitudes you've been encountering. I don't agree with that at all, because you find much of that same kind of attitude among just as many religious people.

More importantly though, and I must say I do take offense to this, the notion that "values" is the provenance of religion is fallacious. Humans and societies had values and morals long before they had religion. But that's something I'll address another time.

I think those negative attitudes and character traits exist for a variety of reasons, and perhaps to a small degree, religion - or lack thereof - can play a part. But, from my perspective, I think these bad attitudes are symptomatic of American "consumer" culture overall, especially since Reagan, the father of the "me first/winner-take-all" capitalist movement.

I see it as a sickness infecting this country, a sickness that has been in our society since it's earliest days, but a sickness that has been tempered by checks and balances, with occasionally lapses. In my lifetime, a massive outbreak occurred with Nixon, after he made it his mission to turn healthcare into a for-profit system. Fast-forward to Reagan when this disease began to really spread with his unrelenting assault against Big Government (when his administration grew the government to its largest size in history), reaching past the tipping point where capitalist greed can no longer be reigned in, and culminating with George W Bush telling Americans after 9/11 to "go out and shop" instead of saying "buckle down and make sacrifices, and focus on helping each other."

So now, today, most Americans think they are entitled to own a $200,000 house when they make $20,000 per year. They think they are entitled to own 56" flat-screen HD TVs, and drive giant over-sized SUVs, and drink $5 cups of coffee, and pay less money for gasoline than they pay for coffee, when the rest of the world pays far more.

Before Barack Obama, no one, anywhere, outside of small community organizations and a few smaller churches, was saying that we need to change our ways of life and stop the self-destructive cycle of "buy buy buy" and "me me me" and focus instead of helping each other, and re-building our crumbling roads and bridges and power transmission lines.

It's good to see that we are at least having that discussion on the national stage now. It's been a long time coming. But you can't give religion the credit for people having values, especially when those "values" give them the sense of purpose to tell other people what they can and cannot do in their private lives. Or when religious "values" by word and deed demand that everyone else in the world be converted to one specific belief system, or face an eternity of damnation. Or when religious values teaches people to stop thinking and just read the Bible for all the answers they need. (Of course, they don't say which version or edition or interpretation of the Bible they should read).

I am fearful of true believers of the Bible. I would love to talk about some of the "values" the Bible teaches, but entire books have been written over the glaring inconsistencies, and much evil that comes from the all the various versions of the Bible. I am more than happy to have a discussion about the Bible and the "values" that come from it, and why I want nothing to do with it. For the record, I have read the Bible cover to cover, and have studied it from the perspective of a believer, which has much to do with why I am not a believer anymore.

Re: Derivatives v. Insurance

seejake — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:28:15 -0000

The whole point of this financial mess is the folks providing the insurance (derivatives) were slicing them up and combining them with a mix of low risk and high risk slices of other derivatives and re-selling those while buying insurance on those sales, and this went on down the food chain quite far. The biggest problem being that because anything could be considered a derivative, this was possible. It was made more possible by the derivatives keeping a high rating score because the bad slices in the package were supposedly offset by those with higher ratings. But the rating system itself was deeply flawed, and high scores were given that weren't deserved.

So the larger answer is that - at the end of the road - a lot of the people left holding the bag were a lot of financial institutions. The reason taxpayers have to bail them out is that if we don't, 401ks, pensions, and state governments with investments in these institutions will all suffer. We'll pay for it one way or the other.

Re: Media Lynches Obama with Wright's Words

seejake — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:56:43 -0000

thank you for demonstrating your stupidity. if you weren't a fucktard idiot, you would know that this drawing was an attack on the racist media, in defense of Obama. go back to school and learn to spell.

Re: Goodybe Shelfari, Hello Good Reads!

seejake — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:11:14 -0000

That is funny, indeed.

Re: Clean Nukes?

seejake — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:02:19 -0000

So only 1/3rd of the Plutonium is left as waste? I like the idea of being able to use recovered Plutonium. I'll look into this more. Thanks!

Re: Animal Farm Tuesday - Cuz Friday Can't Wait

seejake — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:48:16 -0000

heh

Re: Media Lynches Obama with Wright's Words

seejake — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:18:34 -0000

Your lack of understanding of this image is astonishing. Most intelligent viewers see this for what it is, that the corporate-run media were trying their best to lynch Obama with Rev. Wright's words, which was borne out of racism and nothing else. Furthermore, I recommend you read more of my posts before you start attacking me. If you had read any of my other posts, you'd know I am not racist, that I am an Obama supporter, and that I loathe Palin. Not that Palin has a god damned thing to do with this illustration.

Seriously, some people out there make me sick with their ignorance, their anger, and their inability to control themselves from writing spiteful comments without knowing what the hell they're even talking about.

Re: Who said [this]?

seejake — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:14:00 -0000

Dukakis said that.

Re: Foreclosure Alley

seejake — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:46:27 -0000

if I had a truck and some start-up capital.

Re: Why I'm a founding owner of Prather Ranch Meat Co.

seejake — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:24:20 -0000

Hi Jim,

I am indeed a founding investor in Prather Ranch Meat Company, and I am a little disappointed that you say you don't know who I am. I have met you and Mary before, and I was planning on visiting the ranch in October with some of the other store employees. As to investing, I was one of the original people suckered by Travis Potter, and with a quick phone call to anyone at the store - or Doug S.- you would find that I most certainly am a shareholder.

I have to wonder if whether or not you even read my post entirely, or if you are lashing out at me without having done so. I direct your attention to the next to the last sentence in my post:

"Fortunately for meat lovers, there's Prather Ranch Meat Company, and great ranches like Prather Ranch."

As for you being repulsed, there would be something wrong if you weren't. The type of factory farming and abusive treatment of animals is what I am fighting against, and it is why I helped to start Prather Ranch Meat Co. (originally Potter Family Farms).

I regret that you have misunderstood my posting and that video. The reason I am proud to be a founding investor in such a great company is because everything we stand for is a fight against the very cruel practices that are shown in that video. It is because of people like you and Prather Ranch, as well as our other meat suppliers, that an opportunity exists to show the world that the barbaric practices indulged with massive industrial farming is inhumane, cruel, and completely unnecessary.

I've been an advocate for animal welfare for over 25 years, which is why I was proud to accept the offer presented to me by Doug Stonebreaker to help start a business that specialized in selling meats from animals who were humanely raised and rendered. Additionally, one of the biggest challenges facing any group advocating for animal welfare is the constant struggle to combat ignorance. Most people do not know, and therefore do not care, about the shameful and immoral practices that most industrial farms and ranches undertake in getting meat to market. All that most people see are shiny pink and red cuts off meat wrapped in plastic, unaware of the suffering these animals have to endure, and the awful environmental damage caused by factory farming. So it is important to show people the horror hidden from view from these massive factory farms, and then let them know there are excellent alternatives, such as Prather Ranch.

I hope this clears matters up a little, and perhaps I can ammend the post to call out the greatness of Prather Ranch, to make it exceptionally clear that Prather Ranch is an ideal alternative to brutal factory farming. Because I believe in educating peope about the terror of industrial farming, I intend to leave this post up. My site has a fair amount of traffic, and has been quoted in national publications several times. If the video in this post shocks even one person and makes them change their meat buying habits to something more humane and sustainable, then I've done a good job. Indeed, I know for a fact that this has happened with at least one person, so I stand vindicated.

Kindly,
Jake Barlow

Re: Sunday Funny - Palin and the Bush Doctrine, and like, such as...

seejake — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:03:04 -0000

I love when people put their ignorance on display for everyone to see. So thank you for doing just that, my friend, because you just made it painfully clear that you have no idea what the Bush "Doctrine" (not Doctrines) is. But please, for us all, clarify by example exactly what Sarah Palin said to indicate that she was "on the money" as you say. What broad net did Gibson use to try to trick Palin? More importantly, why would you infer that Palin's competence is questionable because she was able to be "tricked" by a friendly reporter?

I know what the Bush Doctrine is. Charlie Gibson knows what the Bush Doctrine is (since he had to explain it to Palin). Any person with the credibility to step into a leadership role in the US knows what the Bush Doctrine is. Sarah Palin is waaaaaaaay out of her depth. She's trying to jump from the kiddie pool of Alaskan politics into in an ocean of sharks, and still wearing her inflatable swimmies. She'll fail because of her strong support from people like you - who like her - don't know when they're getting in over their heads.

Re: McLiar is in big trouble!

seejake — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:47:26 -0000

Actually, as a Photoshop expert, I do indeed know that pictures often lie. But in this particular example, I can say with impunity that the pictures of this Jacksonville rally are not manipulated, and they do indeed tell the truth. McCain is losing this campaign horribly, and the media and pollsters are doing everything they can to keep this race looking tight, otherwise who wold keep tuning in and keeping their ad revenue flowing?