Rational Ramblings of a Handsome Humanist

It’s my second season playing as an import in the Azeus Basketball League, and we’re off to a bad start. We lost the first two games, and I’m blaming myself.

In the first game, for which I didn’t practice (sorry guys) I played poorly, scoring only two points. In the second, I didn’t play at all, by default scoring zero. If it weren’t for the success of the First Filipino Freethinkers Forum, I’d still be depressed.

Suddenly I realized — this was how last season started. We also lost a couple of games early, and in the first game I only scored five points. Yet we rallied right back into the finals, winning the best of three championships decisively, two games to none, leading the final game by 13 points (58-45).

So naturally, I made a one-minute video of me not being worthless. Hopefully, watching this over and over would cheer me up and give me the confidence to play well enough to win our remaining games. Just like the good old days.

Of course, I could just go to a court and practice

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Halo 3 splitscreen deathmatch made me envy Xbox 360 owners. But not anymore. Thanks to some software (the same bunch), a freshly released hack, and almost two weeks of searching (I even tried to create dlls with VC++!) I finally got this to work. That is, in case you skipped the title, using 4 wiimotes to play UT3 on the PC.

Before, the only way you could pull this off was with 4 Xbox 360 controllers. Thanks to Racer S (http://tocaedit.com) and his freshly released controller emulator, my Glovepie-PPjoy-JoyID-powered wiimotes can now play the part.

And for the last time, my friends are not hiding somewhere with an Xbox 360. Or are they . . .

Credits:
xbox 360 controller emulator — http://tocaedit.com/
how to play UT3 splitscreen — http://gearsforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=612559
how to connect wiimotes to your PC — http://wiili.org

Coming Soon: a short guide on how to do this

EDIT: As promised, here’s how I did it:

[click to continue…]

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I believe in Nature, the ultimate Reality, that there is no Heaven, just Earth.

I believe in the Rational Man, he himself, his own Lord.

He was conceived through the Process of Evolution and born of a Man and a Woman.

He suffered under Professors and Priests, was catechized, bribed, and was brainwashed.

He descended into Superstition. On the third day he reasoned again.

He ascended into Reality and is seated at the throne of his own Thinking.

He will reason again to judge the real from the fake.

I believe in the the Human Senses,

the Freethinkers without a church, the Community of Scientists,

the forgiveness of Science,

the re-education of Mankind,

and the Life that I’m living.

Amen.

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When Barack Obama takes the oath of office, he will swear on a special Bible. A Bible no other president has used since 1861. But what’s so special about this Bible?

Is it the fact that it was published in 1853 by the Oxford University Press? Is it the burgundy velvet binding and heavily gilded edges? Perhaps the gold-washed white metal rim around the three outside edges of both covers and the the front cover with its golden shield over white metal with the words “Holy Bible”?

Of course not. It’s the fact that the first person who used it 148 years ago was one of the greatest American presidents in history.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was a great man who did many great things. But greatest of all, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, beginning the end of slavery.

But before freeing the slaves from their metal shackles, he had to unchain his countrymen from their mental ones. Because for more than 200 years, his countrymen have been victims of an irrationality the Holy Bible has perpetuated, if not created. They believed that slavery was OK, because the Bible was OK with it. Yes, the scriptures condone slavery, as long as it follows some rules (see http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/slavery.html for more):

Exodus 21:2 — If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Ephesians 6:5 — Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ.
Titus 2:9-10 — Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

These words are written in the same book Lincoln swore to. But did swearing on the Bible mean he agreed with it? How could someone who believed the passages written above even think of ending a practice that has persisted for more than two centuries? How could Abraham Lincoln free others from their mental shackles if he himself was in the same chains?

The answer: he wasn’t. Abraham Lincoln was not a Christian and he did not believe in the Bible:

“…he did not believe in special creation, his idea being that all creation was an evolution under law; secondly, that he did not believe that the Bible was a special revelation from God, as the Christian world contends; thirdly, he did not believe in miracles as understood by Christians; fourthly, he believed in universal inspiration and miracles under law; fifthly, he did not believe that Jesus was the Christ, the son of God, as the Christian church contends; sixthly, he believed that all things, both matter and mind, were governed by laws, universal, absolute and eternal. All his speeches and remarks in Washington conclusively prove this. Law was to Lincoln everything, and special interferences, shams and delusions.”

– from a letter that appeared in 1870 in the Index, a journal published in Toledo, Ohio, and edited by Francis E. Abbott

Lincoln couldn’t have made his proclamation had he based his presidency on scripture. But what would happen if a president decided to base his policies on his religion?

I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there’s an Almighty. And, secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody’s soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free.

That, of course, was George W. Bush. With his manifest destiny, he invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, waging wars that cost not only thousands of lives but billions of dollars, money the US desperately needs to save itself from one of the worst financial crises it has faced.

Tired of irrationality and yearning for change, Americans elected a rational man. Unlike Bush, Obama tempers his religion with reason:

Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.

Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do. But in a pluralistic democracy, we have no choice. Politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of common aims based on a common reality. It involves the compromise, the art of what’s possible. At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It’s the art of the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God’s edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one’s life on such uncompromising commitments may be sublime, but to base our policy making on such commitments would be a dangerous thing.

– Barack Obama’s Call to Renewal keynote address

Although Obama is a Christian, his parents are not — his father is an atheist (formerly Muslim) his mother, a skeptic of organized religion. And neither are the millions around the world whose lives will be changed by his presidency. So tonight, although he will swear on a Christian Bible, bear in mind that Obama holds reason, above all, as the basis of his presidency.

No wonder he chose the Lincoln Bible.

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Of all the rhythm games on the Wii — Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band 2 — my favorite is Samba de Amigo. I play this game everyday, buy track packs online, but I still can’t get enough.

But sometimes I wish there was a way to play my favorite non-Latin songs in Samba de Amigo. I got Jet’s Are You Gonna Be My Girl from DLC, but one’s not enough. Thanks to Audiosurf, a rhythm/racing game that takes your mp3s and integrates them into the game as obstacles and background music, my wish has been granted.

Here’s me dancing (sort of) to a song from one of my favorite games (No More Heroes), Heavenly Star by Genki Rockets.

If you want to try it yourself, here’s the Glovepie script I used:

[click to continue…]

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Spent four nights getting this to work, and it’s worth it. Even added shake controls (shake wiimote to reload, nunchuk to spin 180).

Thanks to –
Carl Kenner and Glovepie
the Wiili.org community
PPjoy and JoyID
Frank for costarring
Tin for directing
Jeff for some scripting

EDIT: Due to public demand, I’m including a short guide on how I pulled this off. I won’t go into much detail, so for some parts I’ll just refer you to where I learned how to do it. What I will include are the specific scripts I used myself.

[click to continue…]

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In high school I used to be really good at Daytona. But the years of driving in the real world have rusted my arcade driving skills. Thanks to some software and my trusty Wiimote, I can get better again, or just replay the good old days.

Thanks to:

Glovepie

PPJoy

Sega Model 2 Emulator

Wiili.org

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A great day for all Filipinos?

After winning his Dreammatch against Oscar dela Hoya, Manny Pacquiao announced that he’ll share his 523 million peso prize with his countrymen. So if you’re Filipino, just visit the nearest Metrobank or BPI branch, present two valid IDs with your birth certificate, and claim your prize.

But wait! Before you leave, note that there are at least 88.6 million Filipinos, and that 523 million pesos divided by 88.6 million people is 5.90. This six pesos won’t even cover your commute. And there’s one more thing you should consider — You don’t deserve that money. Not six pesos, not even one.

But at least one Filipino thinks he does. Let’s call him Mr. Proxy.

Mr. Proxy thinks that because “Filipino” is written next to “Nationality” in his birth certificate, he has a right to share in Paquiao’s pride. After all, as Pambansang Kamao (National Fist), Manny’s hands are the hands of every Filipino, right? His every win and loss belongs to the Filipino people, right? But does Mr. Proxy deserve the pride he feels for the victory of his proxy?

Is Proxism Proper?

A student joins an art contest. His father, an architect, paints a portrait, submits it in his son’s name, and wins. Should the son accept the award and feel proud about it?

A father kills his neighbor. His son confesses and is prosecuted in his place. Should the father accept his son’s sacrifice and feel proud about it?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I hope that instead of reading this you’re on your way to Metrobank with Mr. Proxy. If you didn’t, then congratulations.

Pride is Personal

If you are still reading this post, you know that every person  wins and loses, lives and dies, and is rewarded and punished by the thoughts of their own mind and the actions of their own body.You decide right and wrong by your own moral compass, which apparently still works. That’s something you can be proud of (aside from not thinking twice about whether that first paragraph was true. Just so we’re clear — No, it’s not).

Because pride is reserved for those who use their talent and strength to achieve their values. That someone is born with a certain race is as trivial as being born with big nostrils.

But Mr. Proxy, who is probably harassing that poor Metrobank teller, is not unusual. Aside from using proxies in weddings and baptisms — an irrational practice in itself — he uses proxies in other situations unknowingly. What’s worse is he’s proud about it.

My Proxy is Better than Your Proxy

Pissing contests are common in the arena of acquaintances. Mr. Proxy and others like him take pride in who they know –

“My godfather is Mayor of Makati!” “Really? Well my uncle’s aunt is President of the Philippines!” “Hah! A friend in my extended network in Facebook has a friend in his extended network in Multiply who own’s Google!”

So you know someone who knows someone who knows a successful businesswoman. That woman worked just as hard in the office as Manny trained in the gym. What did you do, Mr. Proxy? Get a business card autographed? Take a picture with her? Friend her in Friendster?

Not Pride but Admiration

Manny Pacquiao  is not great because he’s Filipino. He’s great because he trained hard, fought even harder, and became the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. It was his body that was bruised, his bones that were broken, and his fists that almost knocked dela Hoya out.

Now, Proud Mr. Proxy. What did you bring to the table besides your chips and your cola? What did you do besides cheer and pray and watch?

Oh, sorry. I almost forgot. You were born Filipino. Not by choice, but by chance. Not by force but by fate. And that six pesos of pride you got not by power but by proxy.

Yes, it was a proud day. But only for Manny Pacquiao. Like Efren Bata Reyes and Paeng Nepomuceno, Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, Paquiao is a great man — he just happened to be born Filipino. Filipino or not, what you should feel for these great men is admiration — not shared pride.

Pieces of Proxy

Mr. Proxy doesn’t use only people. He uses objects as proxies, too — a car for his manhood, a piece of parchment for his intelligence, a bible for his beliefs. But in every case,  the question he fails to ask himself, the question we should always ask oursleves is this:

What did I do to deserve it?

Did I earn that prize, that pride, that value through my own personal power? Or did I use someone or something else as my proxy? To those who answered the latter, there is still hope. Metrobank is open till 3 PM.

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I killed my old blog because it sucked. Why?

Because I didn’t want to offend.
I didn’t want to offend my coworkers, who read my brother’s blog, saw some profanity, and almost concluded he was the Antichrist.
I didn’t want to offend potential clients, who would give me lots of money if they got over the fact that I looked young enough to be their grandson.
I didn’t want to offend relatives, who pass the time by forwarding and reforwarding emails that promise miracles for forwarding and reforwarding spam to at least seven sinners.
So I killed my blog.

Because I didn’t want to be wrong.
I never wrote anything that could be corrected, disproved, or used against me.
I wrote with perfect spelling and grammar, the voice in my head pronouncing every word with a perfect English accent.
Everything was correct. But none of it was true. At least not my truth.
And because none of it was true, none of it mattered.
None of it was interesting. All of it was boring.
I’d rather die than be boring.
So I killed my blog.

Because the writer of that blog wasn’t me.
If you really knew me, and you read my old blog, you wouldn’t think I wrote it.
You’d think a law-abiding citizen wrote it. I’m an anarchist.
You’d think a god-fearing Christian wrote it. I’m an atheist.
You’d think an all-pleasing consultant wrote it. I’m an asshole.
I was an anarchist-atheist-asshole who blogged like an angel.
So I killed my blog.

Thus my old blog is dead.
Luckily, I’m still alive.
And luckily, blogs, unlike burning birds and mythical messiahs, can be raised from the dead.
And this new blog, born again, will be written by the real Red.
Resurrected, it will offend. And it will be rude.But it will be true.
And everyone will say:
Only Ryan Tani could have written this shit.
May the shit I write be holy.
Amen.

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