The New Me -- (No I am not "born again")

I am not sure how to open this particular post, as I have not said much about my current personal life. I would hope that most of you out there are familiar enough with me to know that I am a nuclear engineer with a masters in health physics. Science is my life and my lifeblood. But as I live in Las Vegas, and just cannot bring myself to move anywhere else (with the sole exception of Albuquerque, NM), and there is virtually no need for science in LV. It is virtually impossible to get into the Nevada Test Site.

So, I have caved in. I am learning to be a craps dealer. That is the take. The give? Well, what can I say, I will be losing the long hair and comfortable clothes. But the math and the money works for me and my family.

I guess it will soon be time to update my picture to better represent the short-hair, clean-cut adult I am metamorphing into...

But do not fear. I will remain the pro-science nuclear geek who fights the absurdity that is Christianity you have grown to know and love. I just will now be hob-nobbing with showgirls instead of hazmat cowboys. (Hey maybe this won't be so bad after all...)

As The New Year Dawns

As you might already suspect, I do receive a lot of email from conservative Christian organizations. Mainly due to the fact that in order to be kept up on what they're up to, it is necessary to be on their contacts list. And this time of year is the worst, as they are all vying for every last dollar they can raise to fund their new year attacks on reality.

Here is one from the Family Research Council and Tony Perkins.

Stand Together for the Family!
December 26, 2006 Refer a Friend [Link Removed]

Dear Friend:

Before we ring in the New Year with family and friends, I wanted to write you one last time about what lies ahead.

As you've read throughout 2006, your support helped Family Research Council have a tremendous impact on the national policy debates of our time. By responding to alerts, contacting friends, voting on Election Day, and offering prayers, you've kept our political leaders aware of the convictions of pro-family Americans.

Now we're in the "calm before the storm." In just a few days the new Congress will meet. When they do, Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, and their allies will begin their fresh assault on everything from abstinence programs, to the child tax credit, to the Pledge of Allegiance. The drive to fund the killing of human embryos will gain steam. Advocates of thought-control hate-crimes laws will press their case, and liberal leaders like Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton will be listening - and anxious to please them.

FRC must be ready to fight back with new ideas and new strategies. By making a year-end gift, you can help us create a war chest to defend marriage and protect the unborn. If you can afford to make a tax-deductible year-end gift, you can rest assured we will put your donation to good use for the ideals we've always championed.

Our action alerts will be frequent in the new Congress, so let's brace ourselves and resolve to stay strong in the fight for the family. As always, it's an honor to stand with you in a cause that belongs to the God who blesses us with every good thing.

Contribute [Link Removed]

Sincerely,
Tony Perkins
President

Funny. But isn't it a bit strange how fighting against same-sex marriage, and gay adoption is "pro-family"? And that now that Democrats are now in power, that the failed abstinance-only program is in jeopardy? It would seem that since teen pregnancy and abortion are up, this pro-family, pro-life group would be glad that Democrats are back in power and are going to make the changes necessary to bring those statistics down. I guess from their perspective, its better to have high teen pregnancy and abortion rates under the "abstinance-only, no contraception or sex-ed" program of Republicans, than low pregnancy and abortion rates under Democrats.

It is too bad that they define "pro-family" in such a way that all that matters is the sexual proclivities of all Americans and preventing gays from loving and raising families, as opposed to actually helping families in ways that matters, such as social aide, health care, higher minimum wages, and strengthening families via care that actually matters to real families.

Pat Robertson Prophecy 2007 Edition

[Final Update: Jan 2008] THIS JUST IN!!1!!1!! Pat's new and improved 2008 Predictions are in!

Pat Robertson, that huggable prognosticator of God, has made his annual predictions (broken CNN link) for this year. Last year it was tsunamis and hurricanes, this year it is massive terrorism in our largest cities. [Update: Alternative link found at Fox news for a nearly identical story]

Quick, someone alert Bush that his Iraq fight-them-there-so-we-don't-have-to-fight-them-here strategy has failed according to God (via Pat).

See also Americablog, Crooks&Liars, and Pharygula.

Besides Pat (and God) telling Bush that his terrorism plan will utterly fail this year -- even God is anti-Bush -- Pat's God-connection will once again be up for scrutiny in a short 12 months. ..And shown to be failed once again.

What amazes me is that a man, Robertson, whose predictions have been completely wrong 100% of the time can claim to have been right some of the time, and that this offers proof that God really does speak to him.

Very quickly let us pin down the predictions for posterity's sake.

Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson said Tuesday that God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would cause a "mass killing" late in 2007

"The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."

So according to God, via Pat, there will be an attack on American soil that is similar in magnitude to, but not necessarily, a nuclear attack. Be on the lookout!

And when is this going to happen?

[S]hould take place sometime after September.

So look for it in the months of September through December 2007. I know I will be.

What I found interesting though, was Pat's recounting of his record for previous predictions.

"I have a relatively good track record," he said. "Sometimes I miss."

So who knew that if God, the all-knowing, had a "relatively good" record at prediction, that this shows the supposed "perfection" of God? (Well, either that, or it shows how lousy PAt's listening skills really are.)

But if you look at his actual track record, the only thing he got right was the re-election of Bush in 2004. Putting him on the level of absolutely every single Republican who said the same thing. Everything else he has predicted has been completely wrong. This makes Pat, the official repositor of the Predictions of God, one for ?? Certainly not promising. Especially, since even the secular, "evil leftist" media predicted a Bush win as well.

So, I am left waiting, who will win the prediction wars this year, Bush or God (via Pat)?

Any thoughts in comments, please.

[Update: Sept 2007] We are entering the red zone of mayhem.