Muslims ask for illustrations of Muhammad to be taken down from Wikipedia. Quote from the petition text follows:
In Islam picture of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and other Humans are not allowed. But Wikipedia editors are showing illustrations with face illustrated and face is veiled or white washed. But still they are offensive to Muslims. I request all brothers and sisters to sign this petitions so we can tell Wikipedia to respect the religion and remove the illustrations.
What the heck? It’s all nice if Muslims or any other religious groups have sensibilities due to their faith, but why oh why do these sensibilities always have to affect other people which do not share this faith? This time it’s not about the caricatures of Muhammad, but about illustrations from the fifteenth century, by the way. So it’s not per-se something offending from a Muslim point of view. In fact the Shi’a and the Sunna are not of the same opinion concerning this question either.
By the way, while we’re at it. In the stricted sense there has been a clear prohibition of images of god (not of the prophets, though) in the Christian and Jewish world. This particular prohibition can even be interpreted as being valid for anything that has a face (which includes many animals, of course). Now what would we say if Christian fundamentalists told us to stop broadcast TV? Well, not that I really mind - I do not even have a TV set - but occasionally I watch reports on the internet.
// Oliver
PS: When will religious zealots start to respect my sensibilities as an atheist? 
Lately there has been a huge discussion in Germany about privacy issues connected with those social network websites of the web 2.0. In Germany there is one called StudiVZ which is more or less modeled after FaceBook, as I am told (I don’t use either, btw).
In the center of the dicussion was the fact that young people enter their private data voluntarily and freely available for others on those websites. One of the things that was mentioned was the question whether those people will have a chance in their future to get a job. Some “human resource” manager mentioned that photographs of parties might be nice for a future event manager, but could be damaging for someone applying for a job at a bank. He also mentioned that he makes extensive use of web search in order to find details about applicants. He also mentioned that comments in forums and elsewhere would be considered in the course of such a web search as well.
Continue reading ‘Can people change?’
Follow this link!
I don’t share all thoughts, but some are certainly interesting and seem to have a foundation. And since this is in English, I thought why not share it with the readers of my blog 
// Oliver
A colleague sent me this link today, after a short discussion during lunch. It shows again how ridiculous the self-proclaimed universal church is. Never mind the criticism of Harry Potter or having it called “satanism” or so. I just don’t care whether someone is Christian or Satanist or both
What really freaked me out, though, was the following:
The exorcist, with his decades of experience in directly combating evil, explained that J.K. Rowling’s books contain innumerable positive references to magic, “the satanic art”. He noted that the books attempt to make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in fact, the distinction “does not exist, because magic is always a turn to the devil.” (above link)
Continue reading ‘Catholic church being ridiculous again’
Some people have asked me why I can’t let it rest and have the whole story with my former employer forgotten and buried once and for all. Well, what would you do in case your employer (or former employer) isn’t paying you as stated in the employment agreement and causes a lot of trouble because of problems with health insurance and other things? What, if your former employer wouldn’t even reply to you ever, even to registered letters? What, if your former employer would tell you that the overtime, the flextime and the vacation that you had collected were suddenly void? What, if your former employer would have invalidated your key to the company premises and told the receptionists to not let you into the premises of the company by any means (talking about a so-called “business-hotel”)? What, if after such an incident the former employer told you that you left your work without being allowed a leave, while earlier having you given the oral and written permission? Does that sound like a professional relationship between employer and employee?
Continue reading ‘Why I can’t move on …’
Read it here
Commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce commerce.
// Oliver 
I am so sick of this world. Japan has become the second country on our planet to require visitors to give their fingerprints and have a photo taken.
Sucks, doesn’t it??? 
// Oliver
… religious zealots are one of the biggest threats to children. Four children are being held hostage by the “true orthodox” (”truely right faith”) sectarians.
But to me, the churches, mosques and synagogues are no better than the earth hole in which the children are now being held hostage.
// Oliver
… the “terror defense” measures being implemented and/or proposed everywhere, remind me of the principles of a life insurance. Despite its name, the life insurance doesn’t protect from dying. But afterwards one could …
Brilliant! Says,
// Oliver
Paul Tibbets, you ask? Yes, Paul Tibbets was the commander of the Enola Gay which dropped the first nuclear bomb in recorded human history over an inhabited area. The man became 92 years old before he died 2 days back in his home, but despite his age - it seems - he grew no wiser:
If you give me the same circumstances, hell yeah, I’d do it again. (quote from 2005)
He only took orders, you say?! True, but after seeing the misery he created for Japanese at this moment in history as well as until now through the abnormities created by the lasting radiation he could have expressed regret. Too late for him now.
// Oliver
As Hitzi writes in his blog - thanks for the pointer, by the way - it is formally possible for authorities in Great Britain to force someone to provide his data in decrypted form or at least provide the passphrase for decryption by the authorities. When I read it for the first time, I thought of TrueCrypt immediately.
This example of Great Britain gives a bitter taste of what’s on the agenda of Western governments after passing all these anti-terror laws already. It hasn’t reached Germany so far, but the fact that there is a precedent, allows others, such as our beloved secretary for propaganda, interior and sports - Dr. Schäuble - to quote the precedent and therefore “justify” their own demands for similar measures 
// Oliver
Yeah, now that I have your attention, let me make my point. First of all, I hate generalization, thus of course not all Americans are stupid. Secondly, I hate if someone says “Americans”, but actually means “US-Americans”. Check it out in an encyclopedia or even just on Wikipedia, “America” is made up of two continents and there is more than one country on both of them. So actually no one has the monopoly on the term “America” or “Americans” - sorry, fellows.
Anyway. Why do I actually write this? Well, some people have asked me occasionally whether I hate “Americans” (coming from US-Americans I take it for granted that they refer to their nation ), which I said I do not. However, apparently some of my blog entries make people suspicious of me. For example if I criticize evangelicals. This has nothing to do with the fact that I hate “Americans”, but rather that I hate religious zealots. Or comments on certain things going on world-wide and/or in the US or with references to the US. All this doesn’t mean I hate “Americans”, nor does it mean that I can’t distinguish between individuals. In fact I know some fairly nice and intelligent people from the US - and why not?! 
… I mean if you were to criticize the fact that in Germany more and more civil liberties and rights are taken away from the citizens, I’d probably be interested in a discussion and show that not all of “us” support it. In fact I didn’t vote for any of the parties that are currently in the parliament - but unfortunately it doesn’t help either. Intentionally casting an invalid vote - even if 50% of the population did it - wouldn’t have any effect whatsoever! Why? Because those are not counted in the overall final results and thus even though only 50% or less of the population voted, the parliament is filled to the last seat. “Unfortunately” I didn’t feel compelled to vote for the lesser evil anymore, because the lesser evil is still too evil for my taste
Anyway, I hope I could set this straight,
// Oliver
Luciano Pavarotti died yesterday at an age of 71 years. Since I enjoy(ed) his music, I just want to pay tribute to his work with this blog entry. Most of all I liked the way he reached out to other musicians and interpreted both modern and classical music together with them. To me the masterpiece in this respect remains “Pavarotti and Friends” #2 from 1995.
// Oliver
The terms and conditions of the air carrier where I just booked a flight states:
The taxes and charges the air carrier currently has to pay to governments, authorities, airports and others, are:
- Overflight charges
- Passenger taxes
- Navigation levy
- Landing fees
- Environmental charges
- Security charges
- Extra war premium after September 11, 2001
What’s that last point supposed to be again? “war premium”? Excuse me? I do neither approve of nor support any war!
// Oliver
Although I read through the book already a few weeks ago, some of the theses of Dawkins still keep me thinking. Despite being very witty and despite the good metaphors used in his book, the purpose is clear - consciousness-raising, as Dawkins puts it. While the consciousness-raising example he gives - history vs. herstory - is limited to the English language, other examples are not.
Admittedly I’ve been an atheist since I can think and I never made a fuss out of it. In fact I even had discussions (already years back in school, for example) with pastors and religious fellow students, mormons, Jehovas witnesses, and muslims. I also had the chance to be part of an “experimental school subject” in the German federal state of Brandenburg called “Lebensgestaltung, Ethik, Religion” (in short “LER”, for “Organization of life, ethics, religion”). This subject wasn’t tied to one particular religion as is normal in the oh-so-christian occident, instead we had the chance to learn and teach each other the views of different religions and much more. This subject was the favorite of many fellow students for a simple reason - no grades. While this is an advantage for a subject that deals with such sensitive(?) topics and where teacher and student not necessarily share their point of view, I liked more the debating in this subject. In fact you could well have called it “philosophy”. The subject, by the way, was meant to become a common substitute for “religious instruction”, which (of course) should rather be called “Christian instruction” in old Europe
Continue reading ‘Dawkins’ “God Delusion”’
Does this sound familiar to anyone who had history lessons in school?
(b) “Catastrophic Emergency” means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;
Prophecy or promise?
// Oliver
It’s the pope’s birthday. Politicians from around the globe were bowing before him and worshipping him yesterday during a birthday mass. Which made me wonder …
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:2-17
Just a thought …
// Oliver
A two-part video at Youtube ([1], [2]) - and more can be found under the search term “Jesus Camp” - gives a frightening insight into the insanity of evangelicals or Christian fundamentalists as a whole. I wonder whether any one of these preachers or their “sheep herd” actually read the bible or larger parts of it.
The interesting part of it is, that one of the methods employed to bring these children (!) to “faith” is known as mass-hypnosis. This is clearly visible for anyone who has actually had a look into books dealing with the matter. While children can be easily manipulated even without hypnosis, things are a whole lot easier for the manipulators once they are in trance. There are many ways to convey subliminal messages (messages to the subconcious part of our minds) and this is one of the more effective ones, especially for children. Once I get a crowd into hypnosis and they are willing or being made “willing” by other means before (i.e. scaring them for hell awaits thee if you don’t believe) I could even convince them of the existence of Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Cui bono? …
Continue reading ‘Yay, indeed a nation down the drain …’
Today I had a good laugh when I visited this page and the accompanying list of rules (or “commandments” :mrgreen:).
Despite the bias in this so-called “encyclopedia” whose only purpose is to replace the oh-so-biased Wikipedia there are some really funny things to be found. Given the “commandments” they make complete sense … excerpt:
4. When referencing dates based on the approximate birth of Jesus, give appropriate credit for the basis of the date (B.C. or A.D.). “BCE” and “CE” are unacceptable substitutes because they deny the historical basis. See CE.
That one is particularly funny given the word in bold. So it means I was born approximately 1979 A.D., plus/minus 5 years or so … quite useful for females in the age between 30 and 40
Continue reading ‘American spelling only, please!’