Penn & Teller on creationism, and why the Bible is “Bullshit!”

Here’s a funny little excerpts from Penn & Teller’s episode on creationism from Bullshit! series.

These episodes run 30 minutes each, and counting 69 through 6 seasons. A mixed-and-cut, 10 minute version of the episode on the Bible is available on YouTube:

I can’t say that I really loved the series. I found them a little bit boring – I rented two DVDs from Netflix and by the end of the first one I’d had enough. There’s too much comedy in it for me, and too little facts.

But there’s something about magicians (which is what Penn & Teller started as, at least partially) becoming debunkers. The one that stands out of them all is, of course, the great James Randi, the man who I passionately admire, who used to put up his own money against paranormal claims. Randi deserves a separate post (and not one!), but amongst other famous magician debunkers I can list Harri Houdini and Joe Nickell.

I think the reason is simple. Magicians deceive the public while the public is aware it’s being deceived, and that’s what makes the experience so astounding. Psychics, fortune tellers and other charlatans use pretty much the same tricks and techniques, but mislead the public into believing they’re genuine. That outrages fair magicians as they often do the job much better but yet never claim paranormal abilities.
(to be objective, I must add that not all psychics are charlatans – a good chunk are delusional, true believers in their own “powers”, even after it’s been demonstrated in controlled experiments they don’t possess any)

MC Hawking on Entropy

Wow, this is just hilarious. MC Hawking does gangster rap parodies on Stephen Hawking. And yes – his lyrics is also synthesized! Here’s his take on entropy:

Some of the best lyrics quotes from Wikipedia:

“I explode like a bomb. No one is spared. / My power is my mass times the speed of light squared.” — from “E=MC Hawking”
“In the beginning there was nothing, not even time / No planets, no stars, no hip-hop, no rhyme. / But then there was a bang like the sound of my gat; / The universe began and the shit was phat.” — from “The Big Bizang”
“You ever drop an egg, and on the floor you see it break? / You go and get a mop so you can clean up your mistake. / But did you ever stop to ponder why we know it’s true? / If you drop a broken egg you will not get an egg that’s new?” — from “Entropy”
“I’ll stuff you in the box like Schrödinger’s cat / You’ll be dead and alive until such a time as that / I check and make the wave function collapse /And if you ain’t dead I’ll cap your ass…” – from “Rock Out With Your Hawk Out”

Here’s a comics video which, according to the YouTube comment, is the official video for the song “What We Need More Of Is Science”:

BTW, you can buy MC Hawking’s greatest hits CD on Amazon.

freedomOf5peech counts Kent Hovind lies

freedomOf5Speech, another YouTube activist whose channel I highly recommend, decided to count Kent Hovind’s lies. Here’s from the video description:

I watched 30 minutes of Kent Hovind, and found 82 lies or false statements.

Many videos debunking Kent Hovind exist on YouTube. I felt that it’s pointless to make YET ANOTHER commentary video with details about Kent’s lies… it’s been done, and if you still believe Kent’s bullshit, search YouTube and you’ll have hours and hours of debunking to watch.

Instead, I wanted to make a quick video (without commentary) that moves quickly, and shows just how often Kent lies… and it’s fucking hilarious!!! I hope you laugh as much as I did making it!

Yes, he repeats his lies, and I counted them. Yes, some of the lies are not obvious, but they are lies, and if you have a question about a specific lie just ask and I’ll answer it for you. Some of the lies are just humor, but technically still lies (like when he claims his Creation Museum is the best place on earth).

Very funny. And disturbing.

But wait, there’s more! This little contest got a very recent development, as VenomFangXD (not to be confused with VenomFangX!) posted a reply video on November 8th counting 102 lies in under 42 minutes. I like this one even better, though they’re both funny:

Microsoft Re-Designs the iPod packaging

On the topic of simple interfaces, here’s a neat parody on Microsoft vs. Apple I came across. Actually, I learned of its existence from the latest book by Andy Hunt which I’m reading now – Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware. I’m just one chapter into it, but it seems to be a great book. And if you like this video, make sure you watch the Simplicity Sells techtalk by David Pogue – it’s just as funny.

And here’s another short Microsoft vs. Apple parody, now the iPhone:

BOFH video – “The Website Is Down”

This is just a gorgeous BOFH video. BOFH stands for The Bastard Operator from Hell, the main character of stories by Simon Travaglia that first appeared in 1992 on Usenet. I was already doing computers in 1992, and I remember Russian translation of these stories appearing on local BBS and FidoNet. The stories are about a rogue system administrator taking out on the users. These stories grew into a saga, which was later published as a book, and then another, and then another. There’s also an WWW edition of the stories, and here’s a little taste of it:

“What can I do for you?” I ask pleasantly – (one of the key warning signs)
“Um, I want to know if we have a particular software package..”
“Which package is that?”
“Uh, B-A-S-I-C it’s called.”
>clickety clickety d-e-l b-a-s-i-c.e-x-e<
“Um no, we don’t have that. We used to though..”

Now this video takes it all to a whole new level:

Since the video contains Russian subtitles, I’m bound to provide a Russian translation of this post:

[Russian translation]

Офигенное видео в стилистике BOFH. BOFH = Bastard Operator From Hell (в переводе “Ублюдок-оператор из ада”, а иногда ЧМО – Чертов Мерзавец-Оператор) – главный персонаж кототких рассказов Саймона Траваглия, впервые опубликованных в 1992 году в сети Usenet. В 1992 году я уже был компьютерным маньяком, и помню русские переводы этих рассказов на Питерских BBS и в Фидошных эхах. Рассказы эти – о злобном сисадмине, отрывающемся на невинных пользователях. Из этих рассказов вырасла целая сага, по которой потом напечатали книгу, а затем еще несколько. А в сети есть WWW-редакция этого добра, и 11 оригинальных частей переведены на русский язык. Вот небольшой отрывок оттуда для примера:

“Чем я могу вам помочь” – спросил я вежливым тоном. Это один из основных признаков опасности.
“Я хотел бы знать, есть ли у нас одна программка…”
“Какая?”
“Называется B-A-S-I-C”.
>клик-клик-стук d-e-l b-a-s-i-c.e-x-e<
“Мне очень жаль, но у нас ее нет. Была когда-то…”

Ну а это видео поднимает тему на новую высоту.

TED: Brain magic by Keith Barry

Irish illusionist Keith Barry performs jaw-dropping “brain tricks” in this 2004 TED talk. It’s so amazing sometimes it’s hard to believe it’s nothing but deception of mind. Compared to this, deceitful “fortune tellers”, “healers”, “psychics” and other “magicians” look quite primitive, and yet they still succeed in fooling thousands (if not millions). Just goes to show how easy it is to be tricked. The “miracles” performed in the Bible which Christian Literalists believe, even if have “happened”, might have been quite simple tricks.

Original video on TED.com (might be better quality).

“Silly Money” by Bremner, Bird and Fortune

This is simply a marvel. John Bird and John Fortune perform this hilarious sketch of an interview with an investment banker on the topic of Subprime Crisis:

I’m not sure whether the next one is a continuation or a beginning, but here the same couple discusses Credit Crunch:

And if you liked these two, you’re probably gonna like the continuation which was reportedly filmed on Nov 2nd:

Part 1

Part 2

According to Wikipedia article on Bird and Fortune, this all is a four-part mini series called “Silly Money”. So far, I’ve found three. If anybody knows of the fourth, or the correct order of the sketches, please let met know!

The Atheist’s nightmares! OMG!

Oh, I wanted to do this for a long time! Behold, the collection of the most moronic clips “disproving” the evolution and “proving” the existence of God. Most of these actually aired on national television. Be aware that however hard it might be to believe, this people are SERIOUS! As far as I can tell, the term “atheist’s nightmare” was coined by Rat Comfort in a famous video (the first in this list) in which he, along with Kirk Cameron, ”proves” the existence of a Creator by analyzing a domesticated banana. Later though, the term became adopted by atheists and evolutionists to label exceptionally stupid attempts at attacking science. These videos are hilarious. It’s a hallmark of stupidity, ignorance, and religious dogma.

#1, “The Banana”

The Banana is the ultimate (and the original) Atheist’s Nightmare! Do not be mistaken – Kirk’s is not laughing at Ray’s cretinism, it’s a supportive smile.
 

This is a video commentary on Ray & Kirk performance, and among other things it also shows an image of a wild banana, the one that was domesticated several thousands years ago:

#2, “The Crocoduck”

Good old pal Kirk explains evolution is false because we can’t find a Crocoduck! As far as I can tell this happened on The O’Reilly Factor of Fox News. Oh, I bet Bill liked it!

But guess what, evolutionary biologists found the evasive Crocoduck and filmed it in its natural habitat:

#3, “The Peanut Butter Man”

I won’t even comment on this, ’cause I don’t want to spoil it for you, it’s so hilarious. You just gotta see it.

Of course, the parodies on YouTube were inevitable. I especially liked this one (you can rewind to the point where he actually opens the jar, it’s at 1:20):

This one is nice, too (you can rewind to 0:25):

TED: When it comes to tech, simplicity sells by David Pogue

Technology columnist for New York Times David Pogue talk and sings about simplicity in user interface design. Before becoming a tech writer, he spent 10 years working in Broadway musicals. In 2004, David won a Business Emmy Award for his segment on Google and the spam problem. Very entertaining and funny. 

Original video on TED.com (might be better quality).

Shame on you, California! – Proposition 8 passes

My tears of joy from hearing about Barack Obama winning US presidential election had not yet run dry, as I was shocked and crushed to learn that Californians voted “Yes” on Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage in this state. I find it amusing that “Proposition Eight” and “Proposition Hate” sound so similar. 

It is my belief that the “Yes on Prop 8″ campaign was based on lies, fear, bigotry and intimidation . Oh, and don’t forget appeals to God and Jesus the Saviour. Just take a look at their ads and videos of their supporters on YouTube. They want you to be scared of turning your kids gay through education and more public acceptance of gay couples, which is just laughable. Here’s a great video that goes into details on the Prop 8 Poll on IProtectMarriage.com:

The most shocking part is question #8 where they propel an old myth that homosexuality is a choice, despite most scientific research suggesting it is not, massive evidence of animals homosexual behavior (do they choose their lifestyles, too?), and plain logic – if it’s pure choice, why so many choose “the hard way”? They also seem to be quite scared of gay couple adopting kids, although, existing research suggests that neither it does increase chances of children growing gay, nor it strangles their social development and aptitude.

One of “Yes” campaign’s strongest arguments was that children would have to be taught about gay marriage in public schools. Although, I personally do not see anything wrong with it, it was also false, according to California Superintendent of Public Schools Jack O’Connell:

Here’s a great little parody on these lines of thinking:

When one of the smartest states falls victim to appeals to ignorance, stupid, God and religion, tactics of fear and intimidation, I am quite surprised (though relieved!) that the country as a whole withstood McCain’s campaign that pretty much employed the same strategy:

I’m heterosexual by the way, and I don’t even have any friends which I’d knew were gay. But sometimes I’m ashamed to be one.