Radio reminder

Get 2nd post on this one.

An oldie but a goodie....

666 Biblical Number of the Beast
660 Approximate Number of the Beast
DCLXVI Roman Numeral of the Beast
665 Number of the Beast's Older Brother
667 Number of the Beast's Younger Sister
664 or 668 Number of the Beast's Next-Door Neighbors
999 Number of the Australian Beast
333 Number of the Semi-Beast (also "Halfway to Hell")
66 Number of the Downsized Beast
6, uh..., I forget Number of the Blond Beast
666.0000 Number of the High Precision Beast
665.9997856 Number of the Beast on a Pentium
0.666 Number of the Millibeast
X / 666 Beast Common Denominator
0.00150150... Reciprocal of the Beast
-666 Opposite of the Beast
666i Imaginary Number of the Beast
6.66 x 102 Scientific Notation of the Beast
25.8069758... Square Root of the Beast
443556 Square of the Beast
1010011010 Binary Number of the Beast
1232 Octal of the Beast
29A Hexidecimal of the Beast
2.8235 Log of the Beast
6.5913 Ln of the Beast
1.738 x 10289 Anti-Log of the Beast
00666 Zip Code of the Beast
666@hell.org E-mail Address of the Beast
www.666.com Website of the Beast
1-666-666-6666 Phone & FAX Number of the Beast
1-866-666-6666 Toll Free Number of the Beast
(which could also be written 18-666-666-666 !)
1-900-666-6666 Live Beasts, available now! One-on-one pacts!
Only $6.66 per minute! (Must be over 6+6+6 years old!)
666-66-6666 Social Security Number of the Beast
Form 10666 Special IRS Tax Forms for the Beast
66.6% Tax Rate of the Beast
6.66% 6-Year CD Interest Rate at First Beast Bank of Hell
($666 minimum deposit, $666 early withdrawal fee)
$666/hr Billing Rate of the Beast's Lawyer
$665.95 Retail Price of the Beast
$710.36 Price of the Beast plus 6.66% Sales Tax
$769.95 Price of the Beast with accessories and replacement soul
$656.66 Wal-Mart Price of the Beast (next week $646.66!)
$55.50 Monthly Payments for Beast, in 12 easy installments
Phillips 666 Gasoline Used by the Beast (regular $6.66/gal)
Route 666 Highway of the Beast (where he gets his kicks!)
666 mph Speed Limit on the Beast's Highway
6-6-6 Fertilizer of the Beast
666 lb cap Weight Limit of the Beast
666 Minutes Weekly News Show about the Beast (airs daily from
Midnight to 11:06 a.m., on Cable Channel 666, of course)
666o F Oven Temperature for Cooking "Roast Beast"
666k Retirement Plan of the Beast
666 mg Recommended Minimum Daily Requirement of Beast
Lotus 6-6-6 Spreadsheet of the Beast
Word 6.66 Word Processor of the Beast
Windows 666 Bill Gates' Personal Beast Operating System
#666666 Font Color of the Beast (the gray in this table, no kidding!)
i66686 CPU of the Beast
666-I BMW of the Beast
IAM 666 License Plate Number of the Beast
Formula 666 All Purpose Cleaner of the Beast
WD-666 Spray Lubricant of the Beast
DSM-666 (rev) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the Beast
66.6 MHz FM Radio Station of the Beast
666 KHz AM Radio Station of the Beast
66 for 6 A Beastly Score for an Innings (in cricket)
6 for 66 Bowling Figures of the Beast
6/6/6 Birthday of the Beast (but in which century?)

What is the opposite of a godless brunch? A godawful dinner? Roast gods? Roast people (them gods gotta eat!)? The gods drop by (sortof like the in-laws)?

But does the buffet include squid?

Hello, Pharyngula viewers, I am extremely intoxicated. You might not be able to tell via text, as I am very careful to be precise when typing. However, you can totally trust me, I'm drunk.

Love it.

I want to reiterate an earlier comment I made regarding the current fooferall regarding PZ's cracker desecration. All organized religious belief is completely invalid. I argue that it is up to the individual to define their own belief system; it has about as good a chance of being right as Catholicism. Therefore, I actually request further desecration as a means to incite followers to the anti-religious (commonly called atheistic) cause.

Can we get some footsoldiers in the war on religion, please?

Don't forget to say grace!

I'll be at the godless brunch.

Must bring crackers.

So, so tired of the religious.

I'll be at the godless brunch.

Must bring crackers.

And a rusty nail! Amen!

A devine brunch, a heavenly crunch, a godless bunch.

Sounds fun enough to me.

I'll be listening but not brunching. I've something of a social allergy to Edina.

I have to admit, PZ, you have a real face for radio!

Only because the sight of his beard is wholly awesome. Men second guess themselves and women go weak in the knees! It's a follicle WMD, targeting your very core, making it warm and fuzzy like a fresh towel.

Why not eat downtown at Hell's Kitchen, PZ?

Better name, plus, I'd have a chance to show up (I'm staying in a hotel and have no car). ;)

Well guys, #9bis was postend BEFORE I listened to the most recent podcast on Atheist Talk radio. And, to be sure, a feel a little baffled, exhausted even. All those words, all the talkings, some of these simpleman's talkings, all the troubles, harassments....

So, I surely wish you all quite a bit more devine moments than I deemed necessary when I posted #9.

Cheers ("here's to you!") from this Dutchman.

http://www.minnesotaindependent.com/view/religious-right

"Not Christian enough for the Republican National Convention? Sen. Charles Grassley was told by the Iowa Republican central committee that he cannot be a delegate to the convention in St. Paul, the Washington Times reports. The central committee's decision has a lot to do with its recent makeover: The Iowa Christian Alliance, formerly the Iowa Christian Coalition, succeeded in ousting conservative committee members and replacing them with members who are even farther to the right."

"Maybe the Democrats are trying a little too hard: The Democratic National Committee, which has often and perhaps unfairly been criticized for not being Christian enough, has been engaged in some religious right activities, possibly in conflict with the party's human rights stances. The New York Times reports that religious outreach might have gone too far when the DNC paid for an ad in Alabama that asked Democratic candidates to pledge to "require public schools to offer Bible literacy as part of their curriculum" and "pass a constitutional amendment confirming that all life is a gift from God and should be protected; and that life begins at conception" and to "defeat any efforts to redefine marriage or provide the benefits of marriage to a same-sex union."

"The first presidential debate will be held in church: Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama will square off at a "who's Christian enough?" presidential debate at Saddleback Church, a megachurch in southern California. The Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion on Aug. 16 will be the first debate between McCain and Obama and will be hosted by church pastor Dr. Rick Warren. Following the debate, the event will include a community discussion between Christians, Jews and Muslims. Warren said in a press release, "In addition to my primary calling to proclaim the Gospel Truth of salvation in Jesus Christ, these Civil Forums further three other life goals: helping individuals accept responsibility, helping the Church regain credibility and encouraging our society to return to civility," Warren added."

Ach! I don't know the zip code, can anyone help me out?

@ 14

didn't know it mattered but 55304 works.

Re the numerology of the Beast (@2): My real-life ZIP code is 06066, which I regularly describe as the "ZIP code of the Beast" when I have to give people my address.

On a similar note, along the route I usually drive to get to the nearest mall, there's a nondenominational Christian church called the Avery Street Church. It's called that, but it's actually at the corner of Avery and... wait for it... Beelzebub! You have to wonder what sort of worship is really going on there, eh?

Street names in my neck of the woods can be fun: For instance, there's a major thoroughfare called Asylum Street, on which you can find several of the biggest churches in the area (make of that what you will). But my favorite street-name game is a missed opportunity: My own address is on a little cul-de-sac called Olive Lane, but one of the places we looked at when we were househunting was on Gin Still Road. Those two roads are nowhere near each other — in separate towns, in fact — but in my dreams they cross each other, and I own the house at the corner: Martini Place.

"Not Christian enough for the Republican National Convention? Sen. Charles Grassley was told by the Iowa Republican central committee that he cannot be a delegate to the convention in St. Paul, the Washington Times reports."

Wow. For a state central committee, of either party, to exclude a sitting U.S. senator from its delegation to the national nominating convention — for any reason — is bizarre and extreme. Outside of the Zell Millers and Joe LIEbermans of the world, who get excluded because they're traitors to their own party, AFAIK it's unheard of to keep a senator (or even a former senator) off the delegation.

"The New York Times reports that [Democratic party] religious outreach might have gone too far when the DNC paid for an ad in Alabama that asked Democratic candidates to pledge to 'require public schools to offer Bible literacy as part of their curriculum' and 'pass a constitutional amendment confirming that all life is a gift from God and should be protected; and that life begins at conception' and to 'defeat any efforts to redefine marriage or provide the benefits of marriage to a same-sex union.'"

I wish there were a link on this (a link to the NYT source, I mean), because it seems awfully dubious to me that the DNC would actually buy airtime to essentially shill for religious right positions that are entirely counter to the party's platform... even though this is the heart of the Bible Belt. My spidey-sense is warning me about this: Im thinking that either there's more to the story (e.g., some local campaign or organization that's received some sort of DNC funding has gone off the rails on its own) or this is outright disinformation. Of course, that's just a guess in the absence of the underlying facts... but absent those facts, this assertion doesn't seem plausible on its face.

"The first presidential debate will be held in church: Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama will square off at a 'who's Christian enough?' presidential debate at Saddleback Church, a megachurch in southern California."

I, too, am uncomfortable about this event, but I think calling it "a 'who's Christian enough?' presidential debate" is a bit inflammatory. In fact, the rest of the description somewhat undercuts that characterization:

Following the debate, the event will include a community discussion between Christians, Jews and Muslims.

I'd like to see nonbelievers included in that dialogue, of course, but an interfaith community discussion hardly reflects the same kind of hard Christian right emphasis that characterizes the other two examples, or that the beginning of this description suggests.

The Grassley thing is eye-opening and frightening, but I'm not buying the Dems-are-just-as-bad meme that the rest of the article seems to be pushing. That kind of thinking gets us back on the Nader train (or worse, maybe; does anyone know what Nader's position is on religiosity?).

How about putting the radio reminder out on Saturday, before it has happened?

Otto (@18):

Subscribe to the podcast and you'll never miss it, no matter what PZ does.

I was at the godless brunch. Using my skills as a paranormal debunker, I determined that it was haunted...

BY GODLESS COMMIE SCUM!!

Oh wait, I'm godless commie scum. Never mind, then.

A good time was had by all.

@Bill

This is the link to the source article at the New York Times on 1/27/2007. Note the second excerpt from Howard Dean of the DNC.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/27/politics/27religion.html

"In Alabama, a deeply religious state where Democrats support prayer in the schools and a Democratic candidate for governor recently introduced her campaign with the hymn "Give Me That Old Time Religion," the Bible class bills reflect Democrats' efforts to distance themselves from the national party."

"In an interview, Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, promised that Democrats would do a better job talking about values to religious voters. "We have done it in a secular way, and we don't have to," he said, adding, "I think teaching the Bible as literature is a good thing."

@ Bill

Dug a little deeper into the story and found the actual source. Turns out it's Leah Daughtry who is chief of staff to Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. She founded F.I.A in 2005.

"Established in 2005 under the leadership of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Chief of Staff Rev. Leah Daughtry, the mission of the DNC Faith in Action initiative (FIA) is to develop and maintain an integrated strategic plan for communicating with and for organizing in communities of faith around our shared priorities, including eliminating poverty; protecting the environment; and providing affordable healthcare to all. We are increasing the national visibility of Democrats on issues of faith and public life. And we are strengthening local outreach and organizing efforts around these same priorities."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/magazine/20minister-t.html?pagewanted…

"F.I.A. has also financed the faith outreach of state parties, sometimes in striking ways. In Alabama, the pro-life party chairman was given F.I.A. money to publish a "Faith and Values Voters Guide" in local newspapers just before Election Day in 2006. The 12-page insert provided the religious narratives of statewide Democratic candidates -- "I was richly blessed in my life with parents who raised me in a Christian home. . . ." -- and concluded with a Democratic "covenant for the future." The covenant pledged to "require public schools to offer Bible literacy as part of their curriculum" and made at least two vows that run counter to positions of the national party: to "pass a constitutional amendment confirming that all life is a gift from God and should be protected; and that life begins at conception" and to "defeat any efforts to redefine marriage or provide the benefits of marriage to a same-sex union."

"Leah Daughtry talked with me excitedly about the Matthew 25 Network, a political action committee she recently started, the first such group, she said, to harness the power of faith to the Democratic Party. She told me about the Believers for Barack T-shirts that would be sold on the Matthew 25 Web site. "Imagine," an advertisement for the group reads, "a president who stands for this," and then the text quotes from the 25th chapter of Matthew's gospel: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. . . . I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Speaking about the way the teachings of Jesus could draw more and more young believers to progressive politics, she could hardly contain herself. "This," she said, "could go viral."

The podcast is now up. PZ is in the first half, C.L. Hanson is in the second.

Goesdownbitter (@22&23):

Thanks for the links; I'll have to take some time and read that story carefully. In the meantime, this is what leapt out at me at first glance:

Daughtry sounded surprised when I read her these vows. Though she is a biblical literalist who [blah, blah, blah] she, following the teaching of her father's church, is also pro-choice. ... Hearing Alabama's covenant, she said right away that F.I.A. has not vetted everything the state parties have done with its money.

This is more or less consistent with my guess that it was a local group gone off the reservation, and not the DNC per se pushing what is essentially the other party's agenda. Careless, though, isn't it?

I think PZ's beard is pretty cool. He reminds me a bit of that X-Men guy Wolverine, only much gentler and soft spoken (he doesn't growl as often as Wolverine does).

Bjorn:

The podcast is now up. PZ is in the first half, C.L. Hanson is in the second.

Thanks for the hard work, Bjorn. It was nice meeting you, and other Minnesota Atheist folks, at Q. Cumbers this morning.

If you're a Twin Cities-area Pharyngulite and you weren't there, you missed out!

he doesn't growl as often as Wolverine does

Yeah, but how often do those metal claws spring out of the backs of his hands?

Come on, if PZ were going to be anyone from the Marvel world then he'd have to be Doctor Octopus.

does anyone know what Nader's position is on religiosity?

Unscientific at any speed.

We should do a Q. Cumbers event more often. What a fun bunch of people!

The crew of the radio show are usually there every Sunday around 11 AM. There's a happy hour and dinner social, at La Casita and Davanni's in Roseville and Richfield at 5:00 or so every second and fourth Monday of the month. Keep an eye out here for what's going on:
http://mnatheists.org/component/option,com_gcalendar/Itemid,69/

Yeah, it was great fun to meet PZ and all of those fabulous Minnesota atheists!!! I wish I could attend these events more often.

I've posted a couple pictures from the radio station here.

Is it just me, or does 'pandering to the religious' actually mean 'make every effort to strengthen and expand the privileged status they already have, even if nobody's asked you to'?

My high school biology class seemed like nothing more than an exercise in rote memorization of anatomy and processes. It wasn't interesting, so it didn't stick. In contrast, I loved Zimmer's Microcosm - it was like science with a plot. Common themes held everything together so that it wasn't just a pile of disjoint facts. This is exactly what PZ is pushing on the science front: science writing made interesting, important and accessible to lay people. And this is exactly what we need science writing to be if we are going to pry the brains of the masses from the wretched clasp of the putrid, flesh-eating corpse that is reality tv. Thank you, PZ.

P.S. Great post about the desecration. The historical significance of host desecration accusation and reaction, and the allusion to the involvement of Catholic memes in the genocide of WWII demonstrated why we cannot allow the reaction to Cook's cracker mistreatment to go unchallenged. Though I have disagreed with PZ and the Pharyngulites on various issues in the past, I am in full support of PZ's cracker and book nailing. Adding The God Delusion to the pile was a brilliant way to emphasize that paper is paper, bread is bread, and mass-produced, inanimate objects are categorically unimportant. Well done.

We were late for brunch, ate and then learned you're supposed to pay first - doh!

Don't dis Edina, home of Paul Westerberg's basement, and nursery of many a fine lad.

PZ's beard appears to be of natural origin as opposed to that of Dr. Science. Dr. Science claims to have found ferrets living in his beard, perhaps there are zerbra fish (Phish Zebra') living in the beard of PZ? I noticed he was drinking lot's of water...