God of the Week: Yama

01/23/2012: Yama

In Hinduism and Buddhism, Yama is the lord of death, being assigned this role because he was the first man to die.

YAMA IS the god of death, the sovereign of the infernal regions. Sinister and fearful, he judges the dead whom his messengers drag before his throne. He is the embodiment of righteousness (dharma) and the king-of-justice (dharma-rāja). He is, however, amenable to pity.

-The Myths and Gods of India, Alain DaniélouSoma is personified as a deity and is one of the most important gods of the Vedas. All of the 114 hymns of the ninth book of theṚg Veda are in praise of Soma. There are six more hymns addressed to him in other books of the Ṛg Veda. The whole of theSāma Veda is dedicated to Soma. Soma is represented as an all-powerful god, healer of all diseases, bestower of riches, lord of all the other gods, and is sometimes identified with the Supreme Being.

-The Myths and Gods of India, Alain Daniélou

Overdramatic Rand Paul Anti-Choice E-mail

While it can be fun and more that a little educational to get the occasional conservative newsletter, just to see how far out and paranoid they can get, I don’t remember exactly what I did to deserve this nutty anti-choice email from Rand Paul. Though, it is easy to see that the acorn doesn’t fall too far from the old tree.

“In the past, many in the pro-life movement have felt limited to protecting a life here and there — passing some limited law to slightly control abortion in the more outrageous cases.

But some pro-lifers always seem to tiptoe around the Supreme Court, hoping they won’t be offended.

Now the time to grovel before the Supreme Court is over. “

Geesh, over dramatic much? Who’s grovelling? It’s called the law. And, from what I Grok from the rest of the paranoid gibberish, Paul the Lesser seems to think that a “Life Begins at Conception” petition will magically make abortion just go away by means of the equal protection of ‘persons’ language of the 14th Amendment.

“A Life at Conception Act declares unborn children “persons” as defined by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, entitled to legal protection.

This is the one thing the Supreme Court admitted in Roe v. Wade that would cause the case for legal abortion to “collapse.”  ”

Hey, isn’t that one of those pesky amendments that his dad doesn’t like? Aren’t the states supposed to regulate that?

God of the Week: Soma

01/16/2012: Soma

In the Vedic tradition, Soma is a plant, a ritual drink made from the leaves of the plant, and a god. The drink is said to have been the beverage of the gods, as well as the beverage the priests would consume to bring forth the gods.

Soma is personified as a deity and is one of the most important gods of the Vedas. All of the 114 hymns of the ninth book of theṚg Veda are in praise of Soma. There are six more hymns addressed to him in other books of the Ṛg Veda. The whole of theSāma Veda is dedicated to Soma. Soma is represented as an all-powerful god, healer of all diseases, bestower of riches, lord of all the other gods, and is sometimes identified with the Supreme Being.

-The Myths and Gods of India, Alain Daniélou

God of the Week: Loki

01/09/2011: Loki

Loki is an ancient Norse god, known for his adversarial relationship with the other gods. He is responsible the the death of the god Badlr, for which he is bound and shackled.

Loki, in punishment of his misdeeds, is put in chains, like Prometheus who brought fire to men; but he is to be released again at the end of the world. One of his children, Fewrir, himself in a second birth, pursues the moon in the shape of a wolf and threatens to swallow her.

…

The breaking loose of the wolf and the ultimate [escape] of Loki from his chains, who at the time of the Ragnarökr will war against and overcome the gods, is in striking accord with the release of the chained Prometheus, by whom Zeus is then to be overthrown.

-Teutonic Mythology, Vol 1, Jacob Grimm

Another End of the World

Well, Poe’s Law is proving itself right. It is getting harder and harder to tell if these End of Days prophets are serious, or just bad parodies.

Ronald Weinland, who considers himself a prophet of God, continues to warn that Jesus Christ is returning on May 27, 2012.

For those who do not believe him and mock his message, Weinland claims that they will die from cancer.

Gee, you would think that eternal damnation would be enough. Why the cancer death? Laying it on a little think, perhaps? Why doesn’t he just say they’ll be run over by a stray 4th of July parade float? Or bitten by an angry pony?

“The truth is ridiculed, ignored, slandered and mocked,” he warns.

Yeah, you know what else is ridiculed and mocked? Stupidity.

His doomsday prophecy is based on all the old standards: Daniel, Revelations, the little apocalypse in Mark. Same old stuff that the 5th Monarchists thought was predicting a recent end of the world in the 17th century, and it’ll be the same stuff that Christians a hundred years from now use. If only the guys that wrote those works knew how seriously people two thousand years later would take their stuff.

Drug Sniffing Dogs

We’re all aware of drug sniffing dogs. Only from the movies and TV, of course. Whenever someone foolishly tries to walk around public land with drugs on them, the dogs are there, signaling drug task forces by barking wildly.

As it turns out, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune, the dogs are correct less than half the time: 44% to be exact. And, if the occupants of the car are Hispanic, it’s even worse: 27% accuracy. While this may look bad, handlers and trainers don’t think we should pay much attention.

‘Dog-handling officers and trainers argue the canine teams’ accuracy shouldn’t be measured in the number of alerts that turn up drugs.’

Need I mention, that not alternative method of determining the dog’s accuracy is offered.

Turns out, there isn’t even any standard the dogs accuracy are held to. But, the dog’s behavior can give what the officers what they are most likely looking for: probably cause.

God of the Week: Sol Invictus

01/02/2012: Sol Invictus

Sol Invictus (the invincible Sun) was a Roman sun god, made the official god by the emperor Aurelian in the late 3rd century CE. Sol Invictus may be a continuation of the earlier solar deity Sol, or a new derivation of the Syrian god Heliogabalus, introduced earlier that century by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus . December 25th was celebrated as of the birth of Sol Invictus in the Roman Empire (Dies Natalis Solis Invicti).

Ron Paul, Evolution Denier

Ron Paul believes that asking whether or not you can accept a conclusion based on evidence is an inappropriate question.

But, apparently, he is open minded enough to pander to both Young and Old Earth’ers.

God of the Week: Nergal

12/26/2011: Nergal

Nergal is an ancient Babylonian god. He is the son of the god Enlil and lord of the underworld.

“And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal”

2 Kings 17:30

God of the Week: Azazel

12/019/2011: Azazel

Azezel is a god from Hebrew mythology. In Leviticus 16, it is stated that during the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), a goat would be sacrificed to Azezel by driving it out into the desert to die. This act would ritually cleanse the people of Israel. It is the origin of the term Escape (or ‘Scape) Goat. Then, of course, Jesus was the Scape Lamb.