Captain's Blog
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Ghostliner
Oct 27, 2015
0
#61
No. Already done my quota today.
I'll accept that.
This is a democratic vessel, is it not?
Oct 28, 2015
0
#68
Magnus Carlsen failed to retain his title at the World Blitz Championship in Berlin a couple of weeks ago, losing several games along the way. He also set a very bad example in my opinion.
None of us like to lose but what's with all the pen-chucking? What happened to the principle of: Win with grace. Lose with dignity?
His dad should have a word, I reckon...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dDG6YzLNtc
Oct 28, 2015
0
#69
The event was won by Alexander Grischuk, who earns the job of resident MEN'S CHAMPION aboard Siren. Not only has he been crowned World Blitz Chess Champion for the second time, he's also a pirate (that fondness of his for striped shirts is a dead giveaway)...
Oct 28, 2015
0
#70
And Siren's resident WOMEN'S CHAMPION is Hou Yifan, because she's uber-cool, and more than capable of keeping Grischuk on his toes...
Interesting factoid: Alexander Graham Bell suggested "Ahoy" be the standard greeting when answering the telephone.
Oct 28, 2015
0
#72
Made-up factoids generally are. There'd be no bloody point in making them up otherwise.
Oct 29, 2015
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#73
What is Pastafarianism? (FAQs)
Q: Is this a joke?
A: It's not a joke. FSM might appear frivolous (often is) but there's a serious idea sitting behind it. Normal discourse surrounding religion tends to immediately fly under the radar of critical reasoning as soon as the word "God" is mentioned. The mere act of replacing "God" with "Flying Spaghetti Monster" drags the discussion kicking and screaming into the cold light of day, and we insist that's a good thing. Why should religion be above scrutiny?
Q: A lot of Pastafarians seem to be atheists or anti-religion, isn't this just an excuse for religion-bashing?
A: No, despite the answer given above we're not anti-religion. This IS NOT an atheists club. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join our church, including current members of other religions. In addition to atheists, agnostics and freethinkers, we have numerous Christian (and Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist) members and we would love to have more. Note to the religious: YOU ARE WELCOME HERE, and we're completely comfortable with you remaining true to your own faith as well as adopting all or some of ours.
We cannot emphasise this enough - we are not anti-religion; we are anti-dogma and anti-fundamentalist-crazy-nonsense done in the name of religion. There is a difference.
Q: I don’t believe you or any of your so-called followers actually believe any of this.
A: Some Pastafarians honestly believe in the FSM, and some see it as satire. We would just make the point that satire is an honest, legitimate basis for religion, it relies on truth to be effective. If it’s a joke, it’s one in which you must be conscious of underlying truth to understand the punchline.
Compare our religion to those that are built on lies. We're not talking necessarily about mainstream systems (which themselves are often full of mysticism and ad-hoc reasoning), but think of cults, or churches where the leaders are scamming their followers out of money. These are groups where the followers fully believe. Are these churches legitimate since they have many "True" Believers?
Or can we agree that religion is as much about community as any shared faith? Pastafarians are as legitimate a religious group as any other - arguably more so, since we’re honest and rational.
Oct 29, 2015
0
#75
"Flying Spaghetti Monster" huh? Might as well have said you came from somewhere on Jupiter.
Oct 29, 2015
0
#77
Scientology guys claim to be from Jupiter or somesuch. Kind of a joke, mate. See the religious tie-in?
Also, that monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey was headed to Jupiter. Hmmm.
It has everything to do with the flying spaghetti monster.