Idiot America: People who prefer reality instead of childish fantasies are not allowed to be a politician in 7 states. The stupidity, it burns.

The US maintains the separation of church and state, but some states have attempted to circumvent the law by requiring candidates to at least believe in God.

Texas bans religious tests as a qualification to hold office, but requires an official to "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being", according to its Constitution's Article-I Bill of Rights.

Tennessee also upholds a similar law, banning any person who denies a supreme being from holding office in the state's civil department. Other states with similar laws include South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Maryland and Arkansas.

http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37851764

Lichess.org atheist forum - See the 2 links provided by NoJoke who lives in North Carolina.

The most recent update of my Mac Mini desktop computer has Siri which I can use to ask questions. I asked Siri a question about our evolutionary relationship with chimpanzees. Siri gave me some websites including this very interesting article about how long ago the common ancestor of chimpanzee apes and human apes lived.

Ancestors Of Humans And Chimps May Have Begun Diverging 13 Million Years Ago

I learned quite a bit about evolutionary clocks from this article.

Another article I found: Why Haven't All Primates Evolved into Humans?

"To say we are more 'evolved' than our hairy cousins is just wrong. (See how long you last naked in the Congo Heartland, and then tell me who's got the evolutionary upper hand.)"

A candidate for the Nebraska school board is a god-soaked anti-science stupid asshole who wants to destroy science education. I wrote a comment about it which was censored by the Nebraska newspaper. Nebraska is equal to North Korea. They love censorship.

And Bohlke-Schulte believes, while not a priority, creationism should be taught in schools if other theories of origin of life are presented. “It should be taught in science,” Bohlke-Schulte says.

Amazing stupidity. Magical creationism is not science. It's a moronic religious fantasy and it's child abuse to teach it. Evolution is the strongest fact of science and the foundation of biology. Evolution should be part of every biology lesson. And the ridiculous magical creation fantasy should never be taught in a science classroom or any other class.

Bohlke-Schulte is an uneducated idiot.

http://www.ketv.com/politics/neb-board-of-education-district-1-candidates-differ-on-sex-ed-creationism/42245894#comments

10/24/2016 What I wrote for Apple Computer Help about my 2 problems since the last Safari update. I will copy & paste from here. Or I could copy & paste from iCliplite.

Serial number: C07PF17VG1J2

Ever since the last Safari update I noticed 2 problems.
The 1st problem: I have system preferences set to announce the time on the quarter hour and I'm not hearing that anymore even though my speaker is set to a high volume.
The 2nd problem: On the sidebar reading list I am unable to delete what I have finished reading. Before there was something I could click to delete this stuff but that thing is gone.
Will these 2 problems be fixed?

After a 7 minute wait I got apple support. Suggestions were made for both problems. Both suggestions did not work. I'm going to try again. Copy and paste this stuff:

Case Id: 100051046404
I have a Mac Mini computer with all the Apple software updates. The computer was manufactured in late 2014.
The 1st problem with announcing time on the quarter hour not working: I tried what I was told to try - "for the date and time, we would simply want to reset that-you can shut off that settings, then restart the computer, then turn it back on. That should get that working again" I did that but I'm still not getting any time anouncement on the quarter hour even though my speaker is on a loud volume and even though I shut off the time announcement setting, then restarted the computer then turned back on the announcement setting. This has always worked perfectly for more than a year, then after the last software update from Apple it stopped working. Obviously to me that software update caused the problem. In any case I should not have to fight my computer for something as simple as getting the time announced.
The 2nd problem. This was recommended: "if you Right Click, or Option click on the item you are trying to remove you will see 'remove Item'."
I did that. I pressed and held the option button and clicked the reading list item I wanted to delete. I looked hard but nowhere could I find "remove item". Before the last Apple software update there was for each item which if I remember correctly was a small x in the upper right corner of every item on the reading list. All I had to do was click that x and the item was deleted. Ever since the last software update that x has been missing. It would be nice to have that x back some day. I should not have to fight my computer for something as simple as deleting a website from my Safari reading list.
Could you please tell your software guys to fix the 2 problems I think they caused. I can live without these things but it bugs me that something that was easy and always worked no longer works at all. And by the way despite these minor problems I love Apple. I worship you people.

UPDATE: I was able to delete items from reading list but instead of using option+click I had to use control+click because I have a Logitech keyboard. I was able to get time announcement working by repairing the disk, an idea I found with a google search. So both problems have been fixed. 10/24/2016.

Something I read which I agree with. It was well done. The difference between science and religious bullshit.

Science is about the relentless and unbiased pursuit of verifiable truth. It is based on testable, observable reality. It has no sacred cows. But it has one very powerful and invincible bull - verifiable truth. Because it is truth based, Science does not fear scrutiny. It does not seek to silence and censure those asking questions, those doubting its claims. On the contrary it thrives on such scrutiny and inquiry. Such scrutiny and inquiry proves the tested quality of its truths. 

Religion is not about the pursuit of truth. Religion is about the preservation of the power of religious institutions and their leadership through the preservation of ancient traditions upon which the religions are based. Religion also serves as an intoxicating drug, dulling the fears, frustrations and anguish of the masses who have not learned to accept their mortality and cope with reality that they live in a harsh, uncontrolled reality. So religious leaders' desire to preserve their power and the believers' unwillingness to give up the intoxicating effects of religion and learn to cope with reality, mean that religions work very hard to preserve their traditions at all cost.  

Their false beliefs must be protected at all costs so they devise the concept of faith to encourage blind acceptance of their unproven, false claims and to condemn those who express doubt. They seek to protect their false teachings from being unmasked by censuring those who question them or express doubt. Any kind of scrutiny that can unmask the errors of the religion is condemned as evil. Religion is inherently dishonest and self-serving. It does not value truth. It only values blind conformity to ancient traditions.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20161010121050AAfIpZA

BOOK BY DAWKINS: The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution

My comment about someone's review of The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution by Richard Dawkins

"In his educational role, Dawkins must confront the insidious spread of Christian-inspired simplistic hype over evolution. He must take up space refuting its propaganda and invalid assumptions."

Neil Shubin's "Your Inner Fish, A Journey Into The 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body" had nothing in it about creationism stupidity. Perhaps that's a good thing. Just ignore the god-soaked idiots as if they didn't exist.

Dawkins, being who he is, of course could not resist criticizing the uneducated morons who prefer supernatural magic instead of science.

It's not just Christians who want to throw out all of biology, the Muslims have the same problem but for them the problem is worse. While there are some Christians who accept human evolution (they always stick their Magic Jeebus Man in there somewhere), virtually all Muslims are human evolution deniers. Some Muslims accept evolution for other creatures but they throw out the science that conflicts with their "Allah magically created humans" fantasy. All religions are brain damage. There is no cure.

Your review was excellent. Many thanks.

MY AMAZON REVIEWS

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—
            Only this and nothing more."

 [hide]

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
            Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
"'Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door—
Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door;—
            This it is and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"—here I opened wide the door;—
            Darkness there and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"—
            Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—
            'Tis the wind and nothing more!"

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—
            Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
            Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
            With such name as "Nevermore."

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered "Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before."
            Then the bird said "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
            Of 'Never—nevermore'."

But the Raven still beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
            Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
            She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite—respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore;
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
            Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!"
            Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
            Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting—
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
            Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
            Shall be lifted—nevermore!

—Edgar Allan Poe

A fantastic view of the Milky Way galaxy from Hawaii's Mauna Kea mountain on the Island of Hawaii.

4 minute video - YOUR INNER FISH | We Hear With The Bones That Reptiles Eat With | PBS

YOUR INNER FISH | We Hear With The Bones That Reptiles Eat With | PBS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJc008GY8vI

An interesting fact for evolution deniers: The Islamic State terrorists agree with you.

What I wrote at Ex-Christian.Net

God is just another word for magic. Magic is not real. Therefore magical beings are impossible.

http://www.ex-christian.net/topic/69176-at-age-18-i-threw-out-catholicism-many-years-later-i-threw-out-agnosticism/#.V-bqPzKZPOa

A warning for a stupid Christian asshole.

• Posted In The God Who Took Away My Wife

• PAUL DE ROSA
  Rosa, your offensive comment was reported.
  Also, you have been stalking me for a long time. Stalking is not allowed here so all future comments from you will be reported. This is your last warning.
  
  If I get another comment from the retard, report it (offensive) and write this:
  
  Rosa, despite my warning you continue to stalk me. Your comment has been reported.
  
  Good news: The abusive comment I complained about was deleted by the WSJ.
  
  http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-god-who-took-away-my-wife-1473981767

This is why the USA is called Idiot America. The Jeebus stupidity in this quote is breathtaking.

"The world can have all the freedom of religions they want. But Religions will not get anyone into heaven. All religions was placed here by Satan. It is a story in the bible that says something like a farmer went out and planted good seeds into his garden. But at night the farmer's enemy came at night and planet evil seeds into the farmer's garden. The interpretation is that God the Father planted the TRUTH on earth and how to be saved and get to heaven. But Satan came and planted lies or religions on this earth that will lead to mankind destruction who follow these religions. In the Old Testament it tells the one who will lead all the souls,if they follow Him, to heaven was coming. The true Messiah was coming. The New Testament tells us that Jesus Christ has come and He is the one that God the Father was talking about. When Jesus was getting baptized, a voice from heaven said that this is my beloved Son. The lies that are being spread that Jesus Christ is just another religion. Liars sure know how to tell lies don't they? Maybe that why God says that all Liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire. The fact is that Jesus Christ is not a religion but our Savior and the Truth that was sent from heaven to earth by God the Father. This is why God says, whosoever call upon the name of Jesus shall be saved. If people you know do not want to call upon Him, don't worry about them. You just make sure you call upon Him and get yourself saved. All those souls in man made religions? Well Jesus said that all on the broad road lead to eternal death. But the people on Christ's road, the narrow road lead to eternal life in heaven. God is the God of the LIVING and not the DEAD."

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/4317652-155/letter-freedom-of-religion-is-not

What I wrote for a fucking retard at the WSJ.

Mr. Crybaby, you got a lot of nerve calling Zurbay's polite comment "incredible rudeness". You should be ashamed of yourself and you should apologize for it. Of course you won't do that because you have no moral values at all.

Also, Rosa, if you're going to write about your ridiculous childish devil fantasy as if it's real then you better be able to provide strong scientific evidence for it. And if you can't do that then don't be surprised if people ridicule you and laugh at you.

Most Christians would agree you disgrace their religion.

Since you believe in the idiotic devil fantasy then most likely you're a know-nothing evolution denier. You probably think the entire universe was magically created 6,000 years ago. You probably think people lived with dinosaurs. You probably believe in the Noah's Ark genocide myth.

Some people grow up and face facts but you're too cowardly to grow up. Reality makes you cry.

Rosa, you're a gullible know-nothing uncivilized coward. You disgrace the human race.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-god-who-took-away-my-wife-1473981767

From Science Daily an excellent summary of what evolution is and how it works

Evolution

In biology, evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population from generation to generation.

These traits are the expression of genes that are copied and passed on to offspring during reproduction.

Mutations in these genes can produce new or altered traits, resulting in heritable differences (genetic variation) between organisms.

New traits can also come from transfer of genes between populations, as in migration, or between species, in horizontal gene transfer.

Evolution occurs when these heritable differences become more common or rare in a population, either non-randomly through natural selection or randomly through genetic drift.

Natural selection is a process that causes heritable traits that are helpful for survival and reproduction to become more common, and harmful traits to become more rare.

This occurs because organisms with advantageous traits pass on more copies of these heritable traits to the next generation.

Over many generations, adaptations occur through a combination of successive, small, random changes in traits, and natural selection of those variants best-suited for their environment.

In contrast, genetic drift produces random changes in the frequency of traits in a population.

Genetic drift arises from the role chance plays in whether a given individual will survive and reproduce.

One definition of a species is a group of organisms that can reproduce with one another and produce fertile offspring.

However, when a species is separated into populations that are prevented from interbreeding, mutations, genetic drift, and the selection of novel traits cause the accumulation of differences over generations and the emergence of new species.

The similarities between organisms suggest that all known species are descended from a common ancestor (or ancestral gene pool) through this process of gradual divergence.

The theory of evolution by natural selection was proposed roughly simultaneously by both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, and set out in detail in Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species.

In the 1930s, Darwinian natural selection was combined with Mendelian inheritance to form the modern evolutionary synthesis, in which the connection between the units of evolution (genes) and the mechanism of evolution (natural selection) was made.

This powerful explanatory and predictive theory has become the central organizing principle of modern biology, providing a unifying explanation for the diversity of life on Earth.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/evolution.htm

"The idea that species gradually change over many generations is the cornerstone of biology. This is how we know it's true."

This is for the know-nothing science deniers, a copy and paste job from BBC News:

Evolution is one of the greatest theories in all of science. It sets out to explain life: specifically, how the first simple life gave rise to all the huge diversity we see today, from bacteria to oak trees to blue whales.

For scientists, evolution is a fact. We know that life evolved with the same certainty that we know the Earth is roughly spherical, that gravity keeps us on it, and that wasps at a picnic are annoying.

Not that you would know that from the media in some countries, where evolution is ferociously argued about – put down as "just a theory" or dismissed as a flat-out lie.

Why are biologists so certain about this? What is the evidence? The short answer is that there is so much it's hard to know where to start. But here is a very cursory summary of the evidence that life has, indeed, evolved.

The rest of it is here: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150803-how-do-we-know-evolution-is-real

"Not that you would know that from the media in some countries, where evolution is ferociously argued about – put down as 'just a theory' or dismissed as a flat-out lie."

Those backwords countries include Idiot America where I live. This country is infested with dense people who are afraid of science. Reality makes them cry.

This makes sense to me: Chess skill is linked to intelligence.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160913124722.htm This also has links to other ScienceDaily articles about chess.

How did life get a foothold on Earth almost four billion years ago? Here's an idea from ScienceDaily.

Protein-like structures from the primordial soup

The scientists performed an experiment to demonstrate that it is remarkably easy for such amyloid structures to assemble spontaneously from building blocks that existed on the prebiotic Earth, and under reaction conditions that also seem plausible for the primeval era. The scientists used four simple amino acids as starting materials: glycine, alanine, aspartate and valine. In addition, they used carbonyl sulphide as a catalyst for the reaction. This volcanic gas is also likely to have existed in the atmosphere billions of years ago.

PBS NEWS February 27, 2016: Saudi court sentences man to 10 years, 2,000 lashes for atheist tweets

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/saudi-court-sentences-man-to-10-years-2000-lashes-for-atheist-tweets/

A court in Saudi Arabia has handed down a guilty verdict in the case of a professed atheist accused of posting hundreds of tweets denying God’s existence and criticizing religion.

His sentence: a decade in prison, a fine and a flogging.

According to a Saturday report in the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice — the Saudi religious police force whose duties include monitoring social media — found more than 600 tweets posted by an unnamed 28-year-old dissenter.

According to the report, the man refused to repent for the tweets and said that he had the right to assert his opinions.

In addition to the 10-year prison term, the court sentenced him to pay 20,000 riyals — about $5,330 — and receive a beating consisting of 2,000 lashes. Such floggings are generally broken up into weekly bouts of 50 lashings each and administered according to specific guidelines.

The legal basis of the court’s decision is a series of Interior Ministry regulations introduced in 2014 under the late Saudi King Abdullah.

The laws ostensibly seek to combat terrorism, but also allow authorities “to criminalize virtually any expression or association critical of the government and its understanding of Islam,” according to the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch.

These regulations contain provisions — including one that criminalizes “calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based” — that Human Rights Watch says have been used to silence activists and peaceful dissidents.

Atheism is a taboo subject in Saudi Arabia, where the government derives legitimacy from its adherence to an ultraconservative form of Islam, but a 2012 WIN/Gallup International poll found that 5 percent of Saudi respondents described themselves as atheists, and anecdotal reports suggest that unbelief may be on the rise in the kingdom.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, EXACTLY 15 YEARS AGO, MUSLIM ASSHOLES MURDERED 3,000 AMERICANS IN ONE DAY. IF YOU'RE A MUSLIM GET OFF MY PLANET YOU FUCKING RETARD.

TWO VIDEOS OF THE TWO TOWERS COLLAPSING.
https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/sunday-hili-dialogue-133/

Darwin killed God. I explained why at Yahoo Answers.

"Why are some theists very dishonest about science? Where does this idea that if the science is true then there absolutely cannot be a god? Evolution is real, it's testable, measurable, observable and very much a part of every living thing on this planet. So what. It does not disprove or prove god in anyway." 

You're right about everything you wrote. However science, especially evolutionary biology, has repeatedly removed hiding places for the god of the gaps. A god fairy who never had anything to do is a fairy that doesn't exist. 

My point is Darwin killed the moronic god fantasy. If the fairy's magical powers were not necessary for something as complex as the development of new species, then it's ridiculous to pretend it was necessary for anything else.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20160908003331AAZ3aPE&sort=R