My plate is not quite like theirs

I haven't eaten a piece of fruit in at least 20 years. It doesn't seem to matter. If you'd like to follow me down this slippery slope, be sure to take your vitamins every day and you'll probably be fine. Maybe. In any case, it doesn't seem to have hurt me and I didn't have to eat twenty years worth of fruit! It's like the bonus you get from being an atheist: you get to sleep on Sunday mornings! Hooray! No mass, no fruit! Life is very, very good.

No fruit, no gods and lots of espresso -- it's how we roll here at the Worlds Blog.

Mmmmmmm, baseball!

I love to visit MLB's Probable Pitchers page. It's sheer delight. All those games, all those pitchers, all that fun!

When I get to the page, I'm like a fat person with a fabulous, new menu to peruse. It's smorgasbord time. Rich, that's how it makes me feel: rich!

Take tonight's Mets game. Last night the Mets came back from a 7-0 deficit to win the game 9-8. It was great! And look at this matchup. I love Niese, the Mets pitcher, and Derek Lowe is a fine opponent. And coming after that come-from-behind win, it's gotta be magic. Gotta!

I'm so glad I found baseball. Who knew it was this great?

Thinking without language

I found an interesting article on physorg. It's called "Monkeys might be more logical than we think". Here's an excerpt:

The implications of these findings are broader than the lives of baboons. Says Fagot: “The real question is ‘What is thinking without language?’” Without words, can creatures process the things they see and accomplish cognitively challenging tasks? These brand-new findings, he says, “suggest there is thinking without language.”

I've wondered about this over the years. It seems to me we often think without language. It's not like we're constantly talking to ourselves while we're alone. We simply do things and think of things and words don't enter the picture -- at least, at times. The question is: can we do something mentally challenging without words? Is that possible? It's interesting to consider, isn't it? (And no, math doesn't apply. It has its own language.)

So tell me. Do you think in words all the time? And does this extend to complicated tasks?

Thoughts of Joplin

I keep thinking about the awful memories that must be stored in the minds of the HS kids who graduated in Joplin the night of the tornado. Like you, I've seen the videos of that high school ceremony held just before hell broke loose.

It's such a nightmarish juxtaposition: the joyous graduation and the tornado, almost in one breath. And of course the idea that one of them was killed that night after the ceremony will always haunt them.

Memories can be debilitating. I hope it's not that way for this group of kids. Sometimes you can find strength in adversity. I hope that's the way it works out for them, and that they get the support they need. May they survive and build strong lives despite (and perhaps even because of) the damn tornado.

And doesn't it seem odd that I'm commenting on something that happened way, way, way back in the past -- like more than a day ago? The disasters mount and we forget them so quickly. It almost seems out-of-synch to refer to a past disaster. They're gone and we've moved on to the next ones, which seem always to be waiting in the wings. This is a strange state of affairs and the horrible thing is that we're getting used to it.

Tell it to the Marines

There is a 1926 silent movie on TCM with this name. When I read the phrase -- Tell it to the Marines -- a jingle popped into my mind. Do you remember a product that used this as their slogan? I can hear them singing/talking it in that military way, and they delivered as if there were two phrases: "Tell it! To the Marines!". Does this ring a bell with anyone? I'll bet it was an insurance company jingle. I tried googling it but found only military references. Sorry, fella. No company jingles.

What strikes me as odd is that I also looked the phrase up and the meaning is negative. And it doesn't refer to our Marines, as you might assume, but to Brits -- the Royal Marines. This used to be something said about naive, rookie Marines -- who would apparently believe anything they heard. The full phrase at the time was "You may tell that to the marines, but the sailors will not believe it".

So how could this be a company slogan? It's derisive in nature. Help me solve this mystery. Does anyone remember the jingle? (I'm afraid anyone under 50 is out of the running on this one; sorry. It's from way back, I think.)

Ed Brayton on Bachmann today

On Ed Brayton's excellent blog this morning I found this delectable tidbit:

"People want something new and different and that's one thing I've established with my voting record," [Michelle Bachmann] said.

New and different? Michelle Bachmann? Other than being a female, what is new and different about her in politics? Just another proudly -- defiantly -- ignorant politician pushing a regressive agenda and pandering to other proudly ignorant people. The list of such politicians is long, though not terribly distinguished. Dressing up Jesse Helms in a female body does not make something new and different.

And I can't wait for the day -- if it ever comes -- when a politician claiming to speak to or for God renders them unelectable to any office that is not directly related to church government. They should be taken no more seriously than those who think Ouija boards or tarot cards help them communicate with the dead.

Ed is a fine journalist and blogger and I read him every day. You should, too.

A good quote to remember

Jason Rosenhouse this morning:

"I don't recall who first said it, but it has been wisely noted that if atheism is a religion then not collecting stamps is a hobby."

And yet people will still go around saying "atheism is a religion." Oy, the dumbness. But then, these are people who believe in god. It's not like there's a bright light in any of those heads (or even a dim one).