Hellgate London Official Launch

Mmm. Tasty Hellgate London launched today! Too bad its buggy as hell and the servers have been down for the last hour. Off to a good start already. With all that said…

WELCOME ALL TO THE OFFICIAL HELLGATE:LONDON OPEN BETA.

Hope you don’t mind the $50 fee to get in.

Satan, Lucifer, and the serpent

!Update! : My completed research paper can be found HERE.

I’m working on a research paper for my World Literature class. We spent a good deal of the first half of the semester studying Genesis, Exodus, and Job. I’m not a Christian, but I certainly don’t mind studying the Bible for it’s literary significance.

I would have to say my favorite Biblical character is Satan. As likable as he is, I am coming to realize that he is a far different character in the Old Testament than he is in the New Testament. I don’t really feel like going into the details of it all, but I’ll give some Old Testament bullets.

• The word ’satan’ is derived from the Hebrew root for ‘adversary’. It also suggests some intimacy. In other words, it was not uncommon to call someone a ’satan’ if they opposed you somehow.
• Satan is credited with a number of things, and commonly associated with the serpent in the Garden of Eden. I’m not sure who cooked up that idea, but there certainly isn’t any evidence of it in Genesis. The story of the Fall of Man is a story of man’s failure to god. To try and place Satan in the picture only serves to belittle the importance of free will, and to displace blame to some supernatural figure. If it had been Satan in the garden, wouldn’t god have punished him instead of the serpent?
• In the book of Job, God and Satan are lounging about heaven talking with each other as though they were old chums. The two make a bet of sorts, and God gives Satan the go-ahead to trash Job’s life. With a traditional Christian understanding of Satan’s relationship with God, this is puzzling. This story has Satan in one of his many roles throughout the Bible, this time as ‘the Accuser’. From my reading , it is to be understood that the Accuser is a part of God’s council, dwelling in heaven, against man but not against God. This doesn’t mesh up too well with the idea of ‘Lucifer’, the angel fallen from heaven discussed in…
• Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Supposedly the biblical foundation for the fallen angel story. Too bad its about the Babylonian king Helal, and doesn’t mention Satan anywhere.

Of course, there is much more to this, and it really does go much deeper. Alas, my laziness keeps me from really typing a crap load about it here. My real hope is that someone who knows a thing or two on the topic could perhaps give me a little discussion. It is a terribly lonely subject.

The IM world with Pidgin

Wow. Pidgin is great. An IM program that handles MSN, AIM, ICQ, MySpaceIM, GoogleTalk and more! It even manages multiple accounts at once. What? Its free too? Not just free, but the “Open Source” kind of free that doesn’t involve me handing out my email address? Unbelievable. Perfect for all my friends that insist on using different IM programs.

Grab it here.

How much can we really know about Global Warming?

So, they gave Al Gore the Nobel peace prize for his documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”. Its their prize, so they are free to give it to whomever they choose, I just don’t understand why they gave it to him. What did he do to deserve it? His documentary, while informational (debatable) and entertaining (debatable) was nothing new or special. Many documentaries have been made on the same topic (and some more informational) but for some reason Al Gore was special enough for the Nobel.So far, the best global warming documentary I’ve seen is “The Great Global Warming Swindle“. You can see their site here, and a few video sites actually have the documentary streaming. Try here or here. What you will get is an alternative theory to global warming by people who stand to profit very little from scaring the general public.

But what do I know about global warming anyhow? I suppose I only know as much as I am told, which means I must carefully choose what I accept as truth. While I’m not sure if humans contribute to global warming or not, I now know better than to blindly put all my faith into one side. The truth is we can’t be sure, and serious scientific study needs to be placed into finding out some solid answers and eliminating some inconsistencies between the two theories. My opinion right now? We’re being herded (again) into thinking what we are needed to think. Too much science isn’t happening where it needs to be.

After watching TGGWS I can see that the accepted theory of Global Warming is questionable on a number of levels. As such, nobody deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for it. Not even Al Gore.

Update

Tamino sent me a link to an entry on his blog where he discusses some interesting fact shuffling in this documentary. While there are still some excellent points in the documentary, it would seem the core of their argument is questionable.

Anyhow, if Climate Change is an interest to you, check into the Open Mind blog. Lots of good information from what I’ve seen so far.

I still don’t think Al Gore deserved a Nobel.

Jesus, 911, and the Federal Reserve

Yes, I agree. Those three things don’t really go together in the same statement. But, after watching “Zeitgeist” I somehow feel I learned a few new things about them.

The documentary is a brave look into all three topics, and will challenge your perception of the world today. I would make the following suggestions:

• Everyone really should see it. It is free, available for download or streaming on the web.
• Watch it, but believe none of it.
• Back check their extensive source listing and see what answers you come up with for yourself.
• Tell a friend.

This film challenged me to question many things I took for truth, and I feel I am better for it. See if it has the same effect on you.