Carrie Prejean To 'Protect Marriage'

Professional bimbo Carrie Prejean made headlines recently by spouting off her right wing Christian Mega Church values against gay marriage, or as she called it, 'Opposite Marriage.'

When asked a question on the topic she said:

"I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised."

Oddly she later claimed that she had prayed to God for help answering these questions, and judging by her retarded answer, one can only assume that God was too busy helping the poor and needy, as opposed to watching a bimbo fest in Las Vegas.

Her answer of course caused a bit of offense generally, and panicked the pageant organizers who feared a backlash from angry sponsors.

But instead of just dropping the matter the sweet little Barbie has gone on the offensive, allying herself with various right wing crazy groups in order to 'protect marriage.'

She has reportedly signed on with a leading Christian PR firm (A. Larry Ross Communications), to promote her discriminatory ideology, and has already participated in several interviews on TV. During one such interview she claimed to have many gay friends, and said that God was using her to promote His anti-gay agenda. She also claimed that there was a possible book deal, movie deal, and various other nonsense (it's like "Joe" the "Plumber" all over again).

This morning I saw her on cable news talking about her job 'protecting' marriage, and I just couldn't help but think what a vacuous bitch she really is. This is a woman whose 'values' include getting fake boobs paid for by pageant officials, and believes in discrimination against gay people. She has tried to stress that she is merely stating her personal opinion, but she is doing a lot more than that. She is promoting an agenda of discrimination against people, and encouraging others to do the same. She is not campaigning for her right not to enter a gay marriage, but instead demanding that gay people not be allowed to.

Many of her supporters have ignored this strange logic, focusing on how pleased they are that she stands up for what she believes. But that is only an admirable quality if you are trying to help others, rather than marginalize them.

She is also trying to pretend that she is smart, which is clearly a stretch. If you look back at her original quote she begins by saying that she thinks it is 'great' that we live in a country where 'Americans are able to choose one or the other.' But that isn't true at all. The average American who is gay cannot choose to be married, because bigots like her are campaigning for their rights to be curtailed.

So my question to Barbie is if you believe it is so great that gay people have the freedom to choose, why are you investing so much time and energy into campaigning against gay marriage? Aren't there real causes out there? Poverty? Infant mortality? Disease? Education? The environment? AIDS? Teen pregnancy?

I suspect however the real reason for all this is the fact that she is a publicity whore. She is trying to portray herself as a tireless God campaigner among other things. She even said in an interview that she was doing God's work for Him. However, I find it hard to believe that God's plan was for this self absorbed narcissist to get fake boobs, parade around a stage in a revealing bikini, and then call for discrimination against others. I don't recall reading of Jesus doing anything like that.

End Of An Era

One of the first blog posts I ever wrote was about Crowder's Vac & Gun shop.

As an Englishman, I found it quite amusing that a company could stay in business, selling guns and vacuum cleaners. I was also intrigued by the notion that someone would sell those two fairly different products in the same store.

I took a trip to Jonesborough, Tennessee today for a business meeting. It is not a place I visit often, but along the way is Crowder's. Sadly, it would seem that in these difficult economic times there is not much call for a gun and vac shop, despite the right wing push to buy as many guns as possible since Obama got elected.

So farewell. I'm sad to see you go. You were a little piece of Americana that will probably never be replaced. Thanks for the blogging memories.

Will Sean Hannity Step Up?

Right wing crazy person and Fox News pundit Sean Hannity may have let his crazy talk get the better of him recently.

As is common among Fox News pundits, they play down the fact that waterboarding is actually torture, and causes serious psychological damage to victims. So a few days back Sean Hannity went so far as to claim that waterboarding is such a trivial matter that he would personally volunteer to undergo the torture himself, just to show how it is no big deal.

This may ultimately prove to be a very foolish boast, because his MSNBC rival Keith Olbermann has stepped up to make the proposition a little more interesting: He called Hannity out for his stupid statement, and offered to pay him $1,000 for every second he endures waterboarding. The money would of course go to troops and their families. He further offered to double the money if Sean Hannity later renounces the practice as torture and admits that he feared for his life during the torture.

I'm not as rich as Keith Olberman, but I'll be happy to chip in $100 an hour if Hannity has the balls to go though with his stupid boast. He can spot me the first hour, but for every hour of waterboarding he endures, I will be happy to send some cash to that charity. And I'll double it if he begins campaigning for prosecuting members of the Bush administration for war crimes.

Now I suspect that Sean Hannity is probably going to pretend he never made such a boast, or simply finds an excuse to wimp out. Time will tell if he really believes his own bullshit or not.

Celebrity Apprentice: Joan & Melissa Rivers

I've always thought that Joan Rivers was a scary apparition. An iconic and sad reflection on American society: One obsessed with money, looks and fame. And her daughter always seemed to me to be a pathetic hanger on, riding her mothers coat tails in lieu of any personal talent.

But my opinion of these two freaks began to change a little as I watched them on the Celebrity Apprentice. Joan was genuinely funny, and pretty quick witted for someone I can only assume is about 100 or so.

Her daughter on the other hand was everything I expected her to be: An entitled spoiled little princess bitch, who has almost no talent.

The mother and daughter duo proceeded to pretend they were above the show and acted crazy like they both could use some considerable therapy. Joan attacked the sexist asshole and full time control freak Clint Black for being a complete tool. But then just episodes after claiming that she was going to burn all his CDs, became friends with him.

Professional poker player, and psychological genius Annie Duke, played them both like a couple of children in an adult world. Despite their claims that they 'knew' her game (and likening her first to Hitler, and later to Satan), they got PWND; royally.

This past week, Melissa was as useless as ever and played the role of whiny brat. When that didn't work for her she began spouting wild and paranoid allegations (everyone was apparently out to get her because she was just SO good).

Ultimately Donald Trump gave Melissa Rivers her marching orders, and she proceeded to act like the spoiled little media whore her mother raised her to be. She threw a tantrum which included yelling at the producers, and refusing to give an exit interview.

In a move of solidarity, her mother claimed she too would leave the show.

In all the years of the Apprentice, I have never seen such pathetic grandstanding. And I've seen the Queen of crazy Amaroso on the show.

What made me laugh really is that the Rivers contingent made a number of allegations about Annie Duke's class and various other personal insults, while pretending to be above such good-for-nothing poker scum.

Unfortunately for them, what they did display is their true colors. They are both total assholes, and are the center of the universe that exists within their own minds. If the whole world is not revolving around them, they want a public inquiry to investigate why not.

Annie Duke does not have their 'star power' but what she has is far greater; a brilliant mind. She owned them both from beginning to end. She kept calm and used her poker/psychological skills to outwit them, and use their own egos against them. She became the greatest ever Celebrity Apprentice fundraiser in the history of the show.

Meanwhile, the Rivers family displayed a complete lack of class, and furthermore were willing to put their own egos above the importance of raising money for their respective charities.

As far as I am concerned I hope they both remain off the show, and indeed off my TV indefinitely. My metaphorical hat is off to Annie Duke for destroying them in such an entertaining way.

My money would be on Annie to win the whole thing. It really is her competition to lose at this point.

History Today With Newman And Baddiel

Classic British humor from the 90s.

Maxed Out - Another Bush Legacy

I just got done watching a movie documentary called Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Lenders, And Predatory Lenders. It was quite an eye opener, exposing the unchecked evil that permeates the credit card industry.

During the documentary we got to see scumbags who work as debt collectors for a living. Despicable human beings that traded on the misery of others for a fast buck. And we got to witness another dreadful chapter of the endlessly revolting Bush era. Then we got to see the heart rending stories of those who had fallen victim to predatory and irresponsible lending.

It is rather interesting that this movie was put out in 2006, because it was a remarkably prophetic piece. Interlaced throughout the movie were several red flags that appeared to speak of the storm gathering on the horizon. And of course a couple of years later we all know what happened.

While there were several snippets of fascinating information in the documentary (including the fact that the loan sharks who bankroll check cashing services are often major corporations within the banking industry) was the roll of George Bush in helping to cause yet more human misery.

Shortly after beginning his second term, George Bush announced to the American people that too many people were simply skipping out on their responsibilities by filing bankruptcy. He signed a new law in April 2005, that basically turned bankruptcy courts into collectors for the credit card companies.

Loan sharking credit card companies were lending money like crazy to anyone and everyone, including those with no means to pay it back. Once the victim got to a point where he or she could no longer cope with the debt, massive fees and penalty interest rates would be applied until quite often the original debt had ballooned threefold.

The money making scheme was working just great. Sure it wrecked lives, but profits are profits right?

Unfortunately the thorn in the side of these companies was that pesky consumers would go out and file bankruptcy and the credit card companies that helped drive them to bankruptcy would lose some of their profits.

So during 2004, they assisted George Bush get re-elected to the tune of millions of dollars in campaign contributions. MBNA alone donated $5.2m. Citi and Morgan Stanley kicked another eight million dollars into the fund.

As if by magic, four months after he takes the oath of office, George Bush closes the 'loophole' that protected bankruptcy victims from evil corporations.

The documentary is certainly worth looking at. Especially in the historical context of what transpired in the two years that followed its release.

It truly is just astonishing how many different ways George Bush found to fuck with us. And it is quite amazing how many victims of George Bush policies still vote Republican. They must be FUCKING STUPID.

Torture Is Torture

This week we've heard much debate in the news about torture, and whether waterboarding is really that bad, along with the demented rantings of former vice president, Darth Cheney.

The video above is not about waterboarding, but is another kind of torture known as Chinese Water Torture.

The torture works by securing a victim, and then allowing drops of cold water to frequently land on their forehead for an extended period of time.

The video shows rather interestingly why even the most innocuous sounding torture is still torture; a concept seemingly lost on the right wing crazy folk.

Mythbuster Kari is comfortably secured to a bench and the water torture begins. Tests are carried out throughout the experiment to check her well being. Her heart rate and blood pressure are monitored. There are paramedics monitoring the experiment. An ambulance awaits any possible problem. Psychological wellness tests are conducted regularly to ensure she is doing okay. Kari has worked with the Mythbuster team for many years, so is surrounded by friends and co-workers.

Despite all this, within 90 minutes the experiment is called off due to concerns about her health and safety. Just one hour into the test Kari is crying and is clearly in distress.

But here is the reality. She knew that she could get out of the experiment at any point. She was clean, well fed, clothed, relatively comfortable, in a well lit room, surrounded by friends and co-workers and certain that she could call a halt to the proceedings at any given time.

In the real world, torture is a whole different ball game. The victim is in a completely foreign environment where normal rules of society do not exist. They may have been mistreated in any number of ways from simple food, water, and sleep deprivation right up to full scale torture and abuse, for days, weeks or even months or years.

The victim has no idea if or when the torture will end. They know that there is a possibility that something will go wrong and they could die. They know that at any moment the torture could be escalated in any manner of horrific ways.

When you watch this video, consider too that Chinese Water Torture is nothing more than repeating something annoying over time to someone who cannot escape. Waterboarding on the other hand involves deliberately simulating drowning over and over again, which is an entirely different, and markedly more extreme, level of stress and discomfort for the victim.

All the unbiased non-partisan evidence of experts point to the fact that torture causes deep psychological wounds that can last a lifetime. But worse than that, there is little evidence that it even works.

Most of the studies into torture show that at best the victim will ultimately crack and tell the torturer whatever they want to hear. Anything to stop the torture. Unfortunately, the information given may be wildly inaccurate and useless.

At the end of the day, the efficacy of torture is irrelevant. Either we are the good guys or we are not. During World War II, certain Nazi doctors conducted horrific experiments on prisoners of war to advance their medical knowledge. Some might argue that the information gained from these experiments could potentially save lives in the future. Does this mean we should accept that the benefits allow us to disregard the morality of these actions? Of course not.

Torture isn't a game. It's not an episode of 24, where you rough up a prisoner and as a result of his confession get to stop a ticking bomb and save thousands of lives.

Torture is a fundamental abuse of human rights. It is a proof that for all our boasts and good intentions, we remain a barbaric and second rate society, who abandon our morals whenever it suits us.

Character is demonstrated during difficult times, when doing the right thing isn't always easy. It's no use bragging about freedom, the rule of law, and democracy, if we throw our principles out of the window any time we feel threatened.

History is already beginning to show that our response to 9/11 was wrong on almost every level. Our leaders allowed us to panic, and then used fear as a weapon against us to further their crazy agenda.

It is my belief that everyone involved in torture, authorizing torture, and abuse of human beings in the name of the 'war on terror' should be brought to justice. Our barbaric legacy that Bush has created gives Jihadists the moral arguments to recruit all kinds of crazy people into their ranks, and continue to threaten our safety.

Until we stop behaving like bullies, and start actually living up to our stated values, we will never be free of terrorism. Because we have helped, and continue to help, create the monsters who wish to do us harm.

Torture is torture. Right is right. Let us stop making excuses, let us stop being assholes about this important issue. We are either the good guys or we are not.

Blu-ray vs. Slumdog Millionaire

I watched Slumdog Millionaire last night, which I have been planning on doing for a while. I enjoyed the award winning movie in all its high definition glory on Blu-ray, but at the end of the movie, I was left asking one question:

Why did that movie just cost me $29.99?

Sure, it's a good movie. Sure, high definition is probably a little more complicated to put on a disc, but is it really necessary to rape me this way?

The same store that sold me the movie for that outrageous price had Terminator 2 on sale for just $14.99. In fact a few months ago I bought another Blu-ray movie for $10 at Walmart.

So if they can sell me a Blu-ray movie for $10, why is it that I need to pay three times that for Slumdog Millionaire?

Amazon.com are selling Slumdog Millionaire for $25.99 right now. If I want it on DVD I could pay just $15.99. But if I want to enjoy that HD experience I have to accept being screwed.

The thing is, it's not about the money, although that is an issue. The problem is I fear for the fate of the format. When I bought an Acura TL, I was excited about the DVD Audio surround sound. But as a result of over pricing and bad marketing DVD Audio died a death, and despite the superior sound quality and surround sound capability of the format, we as consumers don't get to experience it any more.

Then the recording industry decided to get into an expensive and unnecessary format war as HD-DVD went head to head with Blu-ray. The consumers were confused, and Toshiba who basically owned the HD-DVD format withdrew from the fight in spring of 2008.

But despite Blu-ray winning the HD DVD format battle, they are not out of the woods. Consumers are finding it hard to justify switching to Blu-ray.

After all, a good big screen TV, home theater system, and DVD player will give you a pretty good home movie experience. DVDs are cheap, as are the players. By contrast, if you take the Sony Playstation 3 out of the equation, a Blu-ray player can cost hundreds of dollars, and if that isn't enough, a new movie can cost $30 or more.

The whole time the recording industry tries to rape the consumer once more, people are getting into downloadable media. There are an increasing number of non-physical formats out there. Movies on demand, downloads, streaming content, and even the replacement for the Blockbuster business model, Netflix.

Many articles have been written about the HD format wars, and many have concluded that while Blu-ray may have won the battle, it may ultimately lose the war. Consumers are simply not going to accept $30 a pop for movies. They don't care if they get a digital copy to play on their iPhone. They don't care if the sound is a little bit better or the image is a little sharper. What they care about is being ripped off. No one wants to be taken for a sucker.

The reality is that if they can sell movies on Blu-ray for $10, it is obviously not a technical impossibility to create low cost Blu-ray discs. So the only conclusion is that they are looking to take us for a ride.

What makes me sad is that this greed could spell an end for Blu-ray and so despite it being a superior technology (like DVD Audio was over the CD), it may simply fall by the side of the road, as people adopt more reasonably priced products.

I guess time will tell what happens to the format. But I think it would be a sad thing if we did not make progress in technology simply because of greedy recording industry executives.

Make Money From Google?

Meet Neil Anderson and his lovely girlfriend. He's a regular guy just like you. He grew up in a small town near you, and here he is on vacation in Italy. The only reason he's not like you or me is because he makes $50,000 a month, doing almost nothing. Wow, what a dream!

The only problem with this dream is, it's a lie, from beginning to end.

This picture from NeilsMoneyBlog.com is the same picture used in countless other blog-like web sites offering to allow you to make mega bucks from home (with little or no effort).

I was recently playing Mafia Wars on Facebook when I ran out of energy and noticed an ad on the right telling me I could make thousands of dollars from my blog. Highly skeptical, I thought it would be amusing to read up on some of these claims, so I put on my investigator's hat, and went exploring.

When I arrived at the page, the right hand column had a picture of a friendly face. The story began:

"My name is Neil Anderson. I am originally from the Kingsport, TN area. Recently married. I lost my job as a boring account rep for a manufacturing company a few months back. But here is my story on how I make $50,000+ a month by just submitting small text and ads online on Google. Read my story to learn how I did it and how you can do the same."

The moment I read this claim, I found it hard to believe. First off, Kingsport is a town not far from me and only has about 55,000 people living there. Of all the places in America to be from, a place just down the road seemed unlikely.

So I took a look at the source code and found this:

document.write
(google.loader.ClientLocation.address.city)

For those of you unfamiliar with JavaScript, this is part of a tiny script that inserts the city of the viewer right into the page.

Yep, that's right. Our friend from just down the road is not our friend, and just used JavaScript to pretend to be from just down the road. Imagine that.

The page then goes on to talk about the wonderful concept of getting free money from Google. We learn how our friend Neil made thousands, we see 'proof' of his riches, including his new car, and other trappings of the successful. Then we hear from his friends in a series of comments, posted blog style at the bottom of the page. Of course the comments have conveniently been disabled due to 'spam.' So I guess we don't get to hear from any real customers.

At the bottom of the page there is the usual disclaimer, that includes:

"*INCOME CLAIM WARNING: Testimonials do not result typical result. Photographs or images are depiction of individuals and payment methods. These income examples are representative of some of the most successful participants in the program. Some individuals purchasing the program may make little or NO MONEY AT ALL."

So what does our friend Neil want in order to teach us the secret of being rich like him? Just $2.95. Actually his money making course is completely free, we just have to pay for 'shipping and handling!' Yep, our high tech millionaire in the making cannot just email you information on how to sign up for Google Adsense, he needs to send it to you in the mail!

Now I call bullshit on this program for a wide variety of reasons, not least of which are the lies and outlandish claims made, and the fact that he feels the need to lie about his identity. I found several of these sites, all under different names, all with the same pictures and 'facts' on them. Surprisingly all the people lived less than 20 minutes from me! I tell you, I had no idea there were so many millionaires in this area!

The great scheme they are referring to is the use of Google Adsense, which displays customized ads on a web page or blog. However, they pay tiny amounts of money, which can add up if you have a lot of traffic. But to reach earnings of over $1,000 a day as illustrated on Neil's blog, you would need many thousands of hits a day, if not more, to even come close to those kind of earnings.

At the end of the day, it's just another get rich quick scheme, targetting the stupid. The only people making money are those who collect the checks for $2.95 and mail you a letter telling you to sign up with Google Adsense.

However, I'm such a nice guy, I'll tell you for free: Go to Google, type in Adsense, and sign up. They will show you how to put an ad on your page, like the one I have on this blog. If you are lucky, and have plenty of readers on your web site, you may get a check for $100 every few months. But you are not going to be buying a shiny new Range Rover with the money, nor will you be making $50K while on vacation in Italy.

Could Someone Tell Cheney To Shut Up?

Back in the bad old days of the Bush administration, do you remember when us liberals were told to shut the fuck up and not voice our concerns about the horrific values and policies of the Bush administration? We were told that questioning the war was a direct insult to the troops. We were told that questioning the morals of torturing people was unpatriotic. That real Americans shut up and did as the Republicans instructed.


But now the boot is on the other foot. Democrats are in charge, and are in the process of finally bringing back core American values; which don't include torturing people.


Unfortunately, Dick Cheney continues to believe the rules that apply to others still don't apply to him. In fact we've heard more from the dark lord since he left office, than when he was in office, hiding in his secret lair he removed from Google Maps.


During the first few weeks of the Obama administration, Cheney has decided that his love of spreading fear and negativity should continue into his retirement. From the get go he has started whining that the President does not believe in torture or holding prisoners of war without regard to the international agreements and treaties we signed.


He famously announced that we are now less safe (perhaps less safe like we were on September 11th, 2001 - While he was Vice President). Now he has teamed up with the bastion of quality news programming, Fox News, to continue to peddle his bitter drivel about how afraid we should all be.

But I have a simple message for Dick. Please shut the fuck up. You are old, useless, and no one gives a fuck what you think. The fact that you praised the Teabaggers so warmly just shows how stupid you are. The fact that you believe that America needs to torture people tells us all we need to know about your humanity. The fact that 9/11 happened on your watch, tells us all we need to know about your knowledge of terrorism.

With this in mind, we don't need to hear your opinion any more. Even George Bush, who is clearly dumb as a brick, recognises the need to shut up and enjoy retirement.

Your reign of terror is over Darth Cheney. Disappear into the shadows and be grateful that Obama lacks the political spite to charge you with war crimes, which is what you deserve.

ZCT one sixty eight v3.1

Well I think I'm about done.

The transition to the new version of my blog took a few days and a little frustration, but I think it's been worth the effort.

I began with a very lengthy search for suitable templates, and found a really nice one called Nitelife, that was actually one of the first I liked when I began looking. It featured a very cool background image, and layout. But one of the issues I've found in looking for templates is that many are either amazing looking graphically, but with very crap font and formatting choices, or they look like crap, but have good font and layout choices.

Although I am a web design hobbyist, I am not really a true expert on CSS and XML, so I have to fight it and spend a lot longer messing with it than I should. Understanding the idiosyncrasies of Blogger, combined with how the template is coded can be quite a pain.

To make matters worse, this template I chose was created initially for Word Press. It was then converted by someone else to Blogger. I've a funny feeling that such a conversion can introduce some annoying cut corners in the process, so finding things in the code becomes even more of a pain.

Over last weekend I managed to get 3.0 to work just fine, but it was little more than a modified theme at that point (with a few bug corrections from the original template, that I suspect were missed in the translation to Blogger). This week however I took it to the next level by providing myself fully custom features including the ability to change the main image at will. I needed to redraw all of the original graphics in my art package (still using Photo Impact X3).

With a few finishing touches, I'd say I am about done. I may find the odd minor fix I feel I need to make here and there, but generally speaking, I think I am going to leave it alone for a while.

The programmer in me is always frustrated when a web page does not look 100% the way I imagined it in my head. But I will probably get over that and leave things alone.

In any case, time to stop messing with the template and get back to some blogging.

ZCT168 3.0

I am in the process of re-skinning my blog to give it a fresh new look. This will be the third major renovation of my blog since it began.

During the next 24-48 hours you may notice some weird things here and there as I get things looking just how they should be. Please be patient.

Brainless Tea Baggers Interviewed

Another great video from The Daily Show.

I just find it astonishing that people are so brain dead they are actually protesting a tax increase on the richest people to help our country recover from eight years of mismanagement.

Easter Quiz

Since it's that time of year when we get a long weekend, and get to eat chocolate, I thought I'd share a rather amusing quiz I found online highlighting some of the rather serious inconsistencies in the Bible surrounding the Easter story.

Since the death and resurrection of Christ is considered to be the cornerstone of modern Christianity, it is odd that the Bible contains so many contradictions surrounding the events that allegedly took place.

Easter Quiz

1. Was there a guard at the tomb?

a. Yes.
MT 27:62-66

b. Apparently not.
MK 15:42-16:8, LK 23:50-56, JN 19:38-42

c. No guard--the women were planning to anoint the body with spices.
MK 16:1-3, LK 24:1

2. Why did the woman/women come to the tomb?

a. To anoint the body with spices.
MK 16:1-2; LK 24:1

b. Just to look.
MT 28:1; JN 20:1

3. When did the woman/women obtain the spices?

a. On Friday before sunset.
LK 23:54-56; 24:1

b. After sunset on Saturday.
MK 16:1

4. How many and who were the first visitor(s) to the tomb?

a. 2: Mary Magdalene & the other Mary.
MT 28:1

b. 3: Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, & Salome.
MK 16:1

c. 5 or more: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women.
LK 23:55-24:1, 24:10

d. Only 1: Mary Magdalene.
JN 20:1

5. What time of day was it when the first visitor(s) arrived.

a. Toward dawn.
MT 28:1

b. After sunrise.
MK 16:2

c. Early dawn.
LK 24:1

d. Still dark.
JN 20:1

6. Was there a stone over the entrance to the tomb when the first visitor(s) arrived?

a. Yes. It was rolled away later.
MT 28:1-2

b. No. It had already been rolled or taken away.
MK 16:4, LK 24:2, JN 20:1

7. Was there an earthquake?

a. Yes.
MT 28:2

b. Apparently not.
MK 16:5, LK 24:2-4, JN 20:12

8. Who else was at the tomb?

a. 1 angel who rolled back the stone and then sat on it.
MT 28:2

b. 1 young man sitting inside the tomb.
MK 16:5

c. 2 or more men suddenly appear standing inside the tomb.
LK 24:2-4

d. 2 angels sitting inside the tomb.
JN 20:12

9. What did the visitor(s) do immediately thereafter?

a. Ran to tell the disciples.
MT 28:8

b. Said nothing to anyone.
MK 16:8

c. Told the eleven & all the rest.
LK 24:9

d. The disciples returned home, Mary remained outside weeping.
JN 20:10-11

10. Where were the disciples to first see Jesus?

a. In Galilee.
MK 16:7; MT 28:7,10,16

b. In Jerusalem.
MK 16:14; LK 24:33, 36; JN 20:19; AC 1:4

11. By whom were the disciples told that they would meet the risen Jesus in Galilee?

a. By the women, who had been told by an angel of the Lord, then by Jesus himself after the Resurrection.
MT 28:7-10; MK 16:7

b. By Jesus himself, before the Crucifixion.
MK 26:32

12. Where was Jesus' very first post-Resurrection appearance?

a. Fairly near the tomb.
MT 28:8-9

b. In the vicinity of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem.
LK 24:13-15

c. Just outside the tomb.
JN 20:13-14

13. To whom did the risen Jesus first appear?

a. Mary Magdalene alone.
JN 20:14; MK 16:9

b. Cleopas and another disciple.
LK 24:13, 15, 18

c. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.
MT 28:1, 9

d. Cephas (Peter) alone.
1CO 15:4-5; LK 24:34

14. What was the order of post-Resurrection appearances?

a. Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, the eleven.
MT 28:1-18

b. Mary Magdalene, two others, the eleven.
MK 16:9-14

c. Two, Simon (Peter?), the eleven.
LK 24:15-36

d. Mary Magdalene, the disciples without Thomas, the disciples with Thomas, then the eleven again.
JN 20:14-21:1

e. Cephas (Peter?), the twelve (?--one disciple was dead), 500+ brethren (120 in AC 1:15), James, all the Apostles, Paul.
1CO 15:5-8

15. Did the risen Jesus want to be touched?

a. No.
JN 20:17

b. Yes.
JN 20:27

c. Did not mind being touched.
MT 28:9-10

16. Did those who first heard this story believe or disbelieve?

a. Some doubted, but most believed because they followed the revealed instructions.
MT 28:7-10, MT 28:16

b. The initial reaction was one of disbelief--all doubted.
MK 16:11, LK 24:11

17. When did Jesus ascend to Heaven?

a. The day of the Resurrection.
MK 16:9, 19; LK 24:13, 28-36, 50-51
Note: the original Gospel of Mark ends at MK 16:8

b. Forty days after the Resurrection.
AC 1:3, 9

c. We are not told that he ascended to Heaven.
MT 28:10, 16-20; JN 21:25

18. When did the disciples receive the Holy Spirit?

a. 50 days after the Resurrection.
AC 1:3, 9

b. In the evening of the same day as the Resurrection.
JN 20:19-22

19. Was the risen Jesus recognized by those who saw him?

a. Yes.
MT 28:9; MK 16:9-10

b. Not always.
MK 16:12; LK 24:15-16, 31, 36-37; JN 20:14-15

20. Was the risen Jesus physical?

a. Yes.
MT 28:9; LK 24:41-43; JN 20:27

b. No.
MK 16:9, 12, 14; LK 24:15-16, 31, 36-37; JN 20:19, 26; 1CO 15:5-8

21. How many times was the risen Jesus seen by the disciples?

a. Presumably only once.
MT 28:16-17

b. Twice.
MK 16:12-14; LK 24:13-15, 33, 36-51

c. Three times.
JN 20:19, 26; 21:1, 14

d. Many times.
AC 1:3

22. How many disciples were present when Jesus appeared to them?

a. 11.
MT 28:16-17; LK 24:33, 36

b. 12.
1CO 15:5

Reprinted from a page I found here.

Baracknophobia

Well worth a watch. Baracknophobia from the right, as Fox News stirs the shit, presented in classic Daily Show format.

There's just some crazy shit out there if you are a paranoid Republican that hates black people.

Shamwow Guy Arrested

I always thought the guy was creepy and wondered how he got a job doing infomercials. Now he's been arrested for hiring a hooker and beating her up. Craziness. Although I can't say I am shocked. Very funny video from Mr. Olbermann.

Hollow Point Bullet Recall