The latest from The Axel Vault

This weekend is my wedding

22 June 2009 | 11:16 am by kristeraxel

And I will be marrying the greatest lady in the world. And then we will be on our honeymoon through most of July. Needless to say, I won't be doing much blogging, but I will post some pictures once I get back. So bear with me, and in the meantime check out the newly created AxelHeadlines rss feed, which has everything I have blogged about in the last 2 years or so.

Cheers!

facebook political saga one

19 June 2009 | 11:50 am by kristeraxel

This is becoming quite the regular feature. On the heels of showing you the ugly face of mindless dogma-driven religious psycho-babble, we have a great example of mindless dogma-driven political psycho-babble. It all started when a friend posted a short message about the "only sure thing in life is change".

My favorite points:

1 - friend1 who is the right winger vitriol machine by post 5 is already trying to calm herself down. :)

2 - although friend1 never actually links to any source, or even mentions one, by post 8 the original poster has already 'hosted' a debate in the past tense. I guess a debate for FOX people is basically one person screaming and it lasts about 30 seconds.

3 - friend1 has pretty bad spelling and grammar, which is such a pattern for right wing hate spewers (see any comment thread, anywhere) that it bears mention. Thanks for being typical!

4 - 'Let's not confuse "complaining" with the facts' is a non-sequitur. You can still complain about facts, and by the same token, you are by no means forced to complain about untruthful propaganda. But that is probably confusing for our friend1 who seems to think these 'facts' that no one can verify entitle her to turn a little status update into a political dog fight.

5 - Notice how people on the right are always the first to lower the bar. Ok, so I started with a question: "why are you complaining?", which to me is an invitation to discourse, although possibly tainted with a little antagonism. But that's a far cry from 'quit believing what the left-winged media spoons [sic] feeds you and start using the brain that God gave you', which to me is more than a little insulting, pre-supposes a Christian heritage, and is of course a directive (a diplomatic no-no).

6 - friend1 has no more to say at all, if she actually responds I will post again.

7 - Finally, to my mind the real tragedy is that we have plenty of things to be angry at Obama about, and this is not one of them. Just another case of some Texas girl (friend1 is from the Bush state) parroting right-wing propaganda because she likes to be a bitch, just a little bit, with no respect for the Academic tradition of actually 'sourcing' your data. Sheesh.

Anyway, without further ado, here it is:

---

status update by (OP): .......The only sure thing in life is change......

friend1: ...and death and taxes. When Obama is done with us we will even be taxed for dying. Good times...

me: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/28418678/the_death_tax_scam

Estates worth up to $7 million per couple, and $3.5 million for individuals, are already exempt from taxes — meaning that 99.75 percent of all Americans die without paying a dime to Uncle Sam.

Are you really worth over $7 million?...

If not, why are you complaining?
If so, why are you complaining?

friend2: um, i do believe bush pretty much took care of that.

friend1: Ah, yes. What RS and the other liberal media venues fail to mention is that under your president's plan, by 2011, the exemption will be back down to $1,000,000 at a 55% rate. What this means is that when our loved ones die and pass on money, property, businesses, etc., we will have a short time to come up with the tax. If the capital is not readily available, we must start selling off assets to cover said tax. Look at the economy now. The value of land and improvements has severly declined, even though tax records may have the property valued at a much greater rate per previous years. Have you ever heard of "house poor"? This could potentially be far more severe to you and me, meaning we could lose our own personal property in the deal. Uncle Sam waits for no man.
Your boy Obama and his pals Reed and Palosi have an agenda. Quit believing what the left-winged media spoons feeds you and start using the brain that God gave you.
Let's not confuse "complaining" with the facts.

friend1: Oh, and , you said bush...

Here's an idea...Let's all do some yoga and CHILL!

OP: Exactly!! You have 4 years before you can change that choice!

friend2: LOL I just got it . , not much up to snuff here on the economic aspects, although I am trying to learn. But I can assure you that even with my current disappointment with this admin I can safely say it is FAR better than what the alternative being offered. Not going to get into it here but if you want, we can have a drink sometime...would loveto hear differing POV's. Academic debate if you will. Love ya...Peace out

OP: Death & Taxes were far from my mind.......I was just thinking about your everyday no big deal or maybe some big changes..........

friend2: lol. see what a simple thought can produce...you instigator..

friend1: I am always up for cocktails and friendly banter. What are you doing these days? OP, thanks for hosting the debate! ; ))

friend2: yes OP, thanks for hosting. I have most nights free. just let me know.

friend3: funny stuff above. I think friend1 needs some yoga!

me: Got any 'sources' on that?

we need to be talking about Iran

15 June 2009 | 9:04 pm by kristeraxel

This is very serious.

It's not like this didn't just happen to us about 9 years ago; or basically every 2 years since.

Of course, the alleged fraud is on a scale even bigger than we we are subjected to in the US - so far - but the premise is the same:

Subvert the will of the people, ostensibly 'for their own good' and don't take no for an answer. Shoot if necessary. And make the lie really big.

Fascism has grown up for the 21st century and it is a bitch.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/06/15/iran-twitter-election-protest.h...

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1122-Proud-To-Be-American-Yo...

more discussion of faith

15 June 2009 | 1:30 am by kristeraxel

Last week, I had a post about a conversation between Facebook acquaintances that I think is just priceless. Last time, I commented but this time there is literally no need. This stuff is fascinating and relevant in its raw state.

There are some real doozies in here - everything below this line was not written by me.

---

Your Status: A question for my religious friends(all of you, pretty much); Isn't "faith" just a word for "I believe it because I want to"?

My Response:

interesting question... I enjoy this type of question when it is sincerely asked because it isn't one I thought of and sometimes the non-religious see things through shades of a different tint then I do... and therefore ask questions that leave me thinking: how do I explain it?

I wouldn't say that belief is only "because I want to" because, at least for me, belief includes a lot of things I wouldn't mind not believing in so it isn't a matter of want. I don't want to believe that hell or the devil exists but I do... there is good stuff I believe too... but with it there is some not so fun stuff. And being Catholic there are sure a lot of sins to avoid (like dodging land mines)

I think the best way to explain it (and it doesn't really explain it at all) is: For those who believe no explanation is necessary and for those who do not no explanation will ever be enough. I believe because I sense a lot of magic in the world and feel that nature/science is so intricate that there is a design... anyway sorry that this was so long... but you asked ;) a good movie to rent (but it could be a snore fest because it is black and white and there aren't any car chases or explosives) is: The Song of Bernadette - it won an Academy Award for best picture the year it was out so I think even the non-religious enjoyed this movie - but it is very Catholic. that is where I got that quote I mentioned earlier from. I bet Lisa would like it if she hasn't seen it already. :)

>>> Your Response to that:

I agree, there is probably intelligent design of some kind. Any objective view of life makes it hard to believe otherwise. But why Christ over Vishnu, or Allah over Yahweh? Why the need to stack magic and antiquated dogma on to it? To say it more simply: Isn't the miracle of birth magical enough? Do we need virgin birth? Especially given the amount of other Iron Age mythology that includes things like saviors being born from virgins or great floods ect. The closer I look at organized religion the more obvious it becomes that it is a construct of humans, not gods. But, again, what is so obvious to me is not to the great majority of people and I'm not so arrogant as to think them all stupid so I don't know. I don't know anything for sure, but I just find the idea of a "personal god" , watching over everyone improbable to say the least.

>>> My Response:

Okay... these are broad questions you ask so I'm trying to think of a way to be concise and thoughtful which I already know cannot pull that off so I apologize in advance. Also I'm speaking for myself here (I'm not an authority of the Catholic church, but I am going to speak as a Catholic... take what I say with a grain of salt).

To answer your questions:

Your Question: Why Chirst over Vishnu, or Allah over Yahweh?

For me: I think we all start with what we know and that is what I did. I was born Catholic and hated going to stuff as a kid but then in high school there were some dynamic speakers who got my attention: which was great because that is around the time I really started to have questions (like this one). So it started for me with my mother (forcing me to go to church) and it started with what my culture is. However then learning the history of the world and of the church kept me going. From Judeaism to Christianity and the liniage [sic] of popes and stories of the saints... all of that made me feel like the Catholic Church wasn't found [sic] just yesterday and there is a lot to back it up... most questions that came to my head there was an explanation. There is a trail that goes back to the start and then to today. Does it all make perfect sense: NO! But it is there.

Organized Religion is a disapline [sic]. Like playing music or a sport: if you really care about it then you are involved and practice. If I believe that there is a design to the world then I believe there is a designer... and if I believe there is a designer then that sure keeps me curious about this designer. And if I feel every joy I have ever experienced and any joy I will experience in the future is at the hands of this designer then I want to express my gratitude and how thankful I am. Not just that but how can I help but love someone who loves me enough to do this for me?

Your Question: Isn't the miracle of birth magical enough? Do we need virgin birth?

For me: Knowing that there is a God is supernatural and that is all the magic in the world. Why should out-of-the-ordinary-magic (i.e.: virgin birth, and/or miracles that don't happen daily) be surprising when there is every-day-magic (i.e.: miracles that happen every day: child birth, flowers growing, power of nature...) when "The Designer" has the ability to create anything at all. For a person of faith the virgin birth is then a non-sequitur as far as being extra magical. So why then even have a virgin birth, you are probably wondering??? --- because of the nature of God. As a Catholic I believe that Mary gave birth to God. Also as a Catholic I believe that Jesus is both totally human (flawed with the limits of humanity and subject to temptations) and totally divine (perfection and without any error and without any sin). I believe in paradoxes. Believing in magic paradoxes are [sic] not a stretch for my imagination. Another answer to "why virgin birth?" is that we get used to the daily miracles. We lack the wonder we had as children Scripture says we need to be as a child to enter Heaven (Mark 10:14-15). Sometimes, at least I believe, God gives us out of the ordinary miracles to wake us up. OR to tell us: pay attention to this: this is important! So that to me is why there is the virgin birth.

Your statement: Especially given the amount of other Iron Age mythology that includes things like saviors being born from virgins or great floods ect. The closer I look at organized religion the more obvious it becomes that it is a construct of humans, not gods.

I found it interesting that you mention the amount of mythology that have flood stories... especially how you see it as evidence that religion is man-made. I feel the total opposite. I find it fascinating that different religions and bodies of people have similar stories in their beliefs even though they are from different parts of the world. I have a hard time believing that is coincidense [sic]. The fact that the details around these events are so different: to me: that is what is human. But that there was a flood? I think that was God. I also find it fascinating that the Greek god Zeus is often depicted with thunderbolts and the Jewish God of the Torah was often depicted as a cloud throwing thunder down. Zeus phenetically [sic] is close to Jesus as well... then there is the Norse god: Thor... also somewhat similar with the thunder. Anyway, I don't believe in the [sic] these mythologies (fun to read up on though) however I do feel there are some underlying truthes [sic] in all these old religions and I find the fact that the stories of such different cultures are so similar to be more of a confirmation of a god then to disprove that it is all made up by people.

Your Statement: I just find the idea of a "personal god" , watching over everyone improbable to say the least.

Non-religious folks tend knock organized religion... however I have experienced for myself great joy and small miracles because I'm a semi-religious person. The community and friendship and love make me feel this is the right place for me to be and it has been incredibly personal. Now, of course, every thing that I feel is God working in my life could possibly be explained by science or something else (which takes me back to the quote I mentioned earlier: "for those who believe no explanation is necessary, and for those who do not believe no explanation is enough") However I feel that it IS God working. One of the largest examples I have is that I have been in two major car accidents, both where the car was completely totaled, and I not only didn't have any broken bones, I also didn't have a scratch on me. Strictly statistically and scientifically speaking: I should not be alive today or for the last 5 (or more) years. But here I am, relatively healthy. Now - I have had miserable things happen to me too. And tragedies happen to wonderful people every day. I don't have an answer for that (if there is anything that I struggle with in my faith then it is the suffering in the world). I don't know why that happens, but I don't believe it is a lack of a personal God. As a Catholic I believe in many saints who were martyers [sic] and I believe in Jesus who died on a cross... and the the only consolation I can find to that... is that the story isn't over at death. :)

thermite found in 911 dust

12 June 2009 | 4:17 pm by kristeraxel

As measured using DSC, the material ignites and reacts vigorously at a temperature of approximately 430 °C, with a rather narrow exotherm, matching fairly closely an independent observation on a known super-thermite sample.

continued:

The low temperature of ignition and the presence of iron oxide grains less than 120 nm show that the material is not conventional thermite (which ignites at temperatures above 900 °C) but very likely a form of super-thermite. quoted from:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13049

It is commonly known that the fires in the towers never burned hot enough or long enough to melt the steel frames within them, much less 'pulverize' the steel and allow the towers to fall at a speed within 10% of a 'free-fall'. The simplest explanation, which also fits very well with what the public saw in the news videos, is that the towers were brought down by demolition. This fits with numerous testimonies to the effect of hearing either 'numerous explosions' or 'a crackling sound' just prior the fall.

Now, finally, a study of dust from the site has shown the undeniable and significant presence of 'super-thermite' in all of the samples taken. So, the movement for 911 Truth can now also say that it has stronger data to support the 'controlled demolition' theory than there is to support the 'magically hot and infinitely burning jet fuel' theory. You know, seeing as we had all that evidence just sitting right there, one wonders why Rudy Giuliani recycled the 'crime-scene' steel immediately.

Occam's Razor, anyone?

molten steel at ground zero: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3731/is_200112/ai_n9015802/#cont...

Giuliani recycles steel lickety split: http://saveourwetlands.org/strangercollapse.htm

also worthy of note:

The Martha Mitchell Effect

The Martha Mitchell effect is a process by which a belief is mistakenly diagnosed as a delusion by a psychiatrist. This is named after Martha Beall Mitchell (the wife of John Mitchell, the Attorney-General in the Nixon administration) who alleged that illegal activity was taking place in the White House. At the time her claims were thought to be signs of mental illness, and only after the Watergate scandal broke was she proved right (and hence sane).

aspartame is toxic

12 June 2009 | 11:38 am by kristeraxel

But the FDA won't tell you that.
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/recent.html#1

It just got banned in Venezuela, for that reason:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0906/S00149.htm

So don't drink Coke Zero, or anything else with aspartame - that is, not unless you love formaldehyde buildup at the cellular level. Which you never get rid of.

It is concluded that aspartame consumption may constitute a hazard because of its contribution to the formation of formaldehyde adducts... The fact that it accumulates with each dose, indicates grave consequences among those who consume diet drinks and foodstuffs on a daily basis.

The kicker? Our Buddy Donny 'There Are Unknown Unknowns' 'The Duck' Rumsfeld was prez of SEARLE from 1977 through the approval of aspartame. He's such a go-getter! He ignored all of the brain tumor studies, just to get it approved. We should all be very grateful. They were about to be run into the ground, and he swept in there with his politicos and cleaned it all up. More brain tumors for everyone, and mo money for Donny!

http://www.booserver.com/projects.php?ProjectID=3037

The timeline:

March 24, 1976-- Turner and Olney's petition triggers an FDA investigation of the laboratory practices of aspartame's manufacturer, G.D. Searle. The investigation finds Searle's testing procedures shoddy, full of inaccuracies and "manipulated" test data. The investigators report they "had never seen anything as bad as Searle's testing."

January 10, 1977-- The FDA formally requests the U.S. Attorney's office to begin grand jury proceedings to investigate whether indictments should be filed against Searle for knowingly misrepresenting findings and "concealing material facts and making false statements" in aspartame safety tests. This is the first time in the FDA's history that they request a criminal investigation of a manufacturer.

January 26, 1977-- While the grand jury probe is underway, Sidley & Austin, the law firm representing Searle, begins job negotiations with the U.S. Attorney in charge of the investigation, Samuel Skinner.

March 8, 1977-- G. D. Searle hires prominent Washington insider Donald Rumsfeld as the new CEO to try to turn the beleaguered company around. A former Member of Congress and Secretary of Defense in the Ford Administration, Rumsfeld brings in several of his Washington cronies as top management.

July 1, 1977-- Samuel Skinner leaves the U.S. Attorney's office and takes a job with Searle's law firm. (see Jan. 26th)

August 1, 1977-- The Bressler Report, compiled by FDA investigators and headed by Jerome Bressler, is released. The report finds that 98 of the 196 animals died during one of Searle's studies and weren't autopsied until later dates, in some cases over one year after death. Many other errors and inconsistencies are noted. For example, a rat was reported alive, then dead, then alive, then dead again; a mass, a uterine polyp, and ovarian neoplasms were found in animals but not reported or diagnosed in Searle's reports.

December 8, 1977-- U.S. Attorney Skinner's withdrawal and resignation stalls the Searle grand jury investigation for so long that the statue of limitations on the aspartame charges runs out. The grand jury investigation is dropped.

June 1, 1979-- The FDA established a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) to rule on safety issues surrounding NutraSweet.

September 30, 1980-- The Public Board of Inquiry concludes NutraSweet should not be approved pending further investigations of brain tumors in animals. The board states it "has not been presented with proof of reasonable certainty that aspartame is safe for use as a food additive."

January 1981-- Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of Searle, states in a sales meeting that he is going to make a big push to get aspartame approved within the year. Rumsfeld says he will use his political pull in Washington, rather than scientific means, to make sure it gets approved.

And the rest is (tragic) history.

http://www.rense.com/general33/legal.htm

skeptics bible

12 June 2009 | 10:49 am by kristeraxel

Very cool stuff. I love technology! This is one of my favorites:

God is rightly filled with remorse for having killed his creatures. He makes a deal with the animals, promising never to drown them all again. He even puts the rainbow in the sky so that whenever he sees it, it will remind him of his promise so that he won't be tempted to do it again. (Every time God sees the rainbow he says to himself: "Oh, yeah.... That's right. I promised not to drown the animals again. I guess I'll have to find something else to do.")

from Genesis 9: http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/gen/9.html#9

The mind of God is a terrifying thing - warmonger indeed.

or this:

Lot and his daughters camp out in a cave for a while. The daughters get their "just and righteous" father drunk, and have sexual intercourse with him, and each conceives and bears a son (wouldn't you know it!). Just another wholesome family values Bible story.

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/gen/19.html#30

So why does the right take it's cues on sexual morality from a book that extols incest? Someone please answer that for me.

greys law

11 June 2009 | 6:07 pm by kristeraxel

Grey's Law posits

"Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

which probably imitates Clarke's Third Law. Arthur C. Clarke formulated the following three "laws" of prediction:

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

regarding Lord Chesterfield

11 June 2009 | 11:48 am by kristeraxel

I found this awesome essay by Virginia Woolf about my man LC:

download here: http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91c2/w91c2.zip