This is a question posed by the blog “the BEattitude“, which has recently gained over 1,000 well deserved comments on a post concerning losing religion. The author’s personal answer, he says, is very simple:

I expect God to do for me what he did for virtually every Bible character.

In other words, he wants God to show himself, which shouldn’t be a difficult task to fulfill for such a being. He also shows how the Apostle Paul is being hypocritical about telling believers that faith is all you need, as Paul only became a believer after Jesus appeared to him as a blinding light. Are we really expected to have faith in Jesus Christ, when the founder of the Christian church itself could not do the same?

Faith is the most important requirement of any religion, because with faith you cannot distinguish between what cannot be seen and what does not exist. Without faith, your eyes are finally opened to all possibilities, and reason ultimately prevails.

For me, the question has an equally simple answer. I would expect the Bible to be filled with unambiguous, literal, truth.

Any God that is worth worshiping should be able to make sure that their holy book was completely accurate, doesn’t contain contradictions (or ambiguity), and can be read and understood by anyone. It doesn’t take much effort (for an omnipotent being) to correct the scribe who makes a copying error, or to protect the books from damage as believers are persecuted, or to write everything as literal fact that cannot be observed in nature.

This is what any rational person would demand of any other claim, so why can’t it be done for religion? The pseudoscience of homeopathy is less ambiguous than current interpretations of the Bible, yet more people reject the former. It is clear to anyone that the Bible is not true, and yet instead of giving up on Christianity, the believers can do nothing but lie and make excuses about the mistakes.

In the scientific community, when you are reduced to this level of dishonesty, your reputation is destroyed. In the religious community, you are held as a warrior for faith. I don’t know about yourself, but my mother taught me to never trust people who lied or made excuses for their mistakes. It seems only the scientific community has taken this to heart.

How about you? What would it take for YOU to believe in God?

(via theBEattitude)

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Book: What are we up to, sweetheart?

River: Fixing your Bible.

Book: I, um… What?

[Pan over to River, who works on a book with pens, brushes, and loose pages.]

River: Bible’s broken. Contradictions, false logistics… doesn’t make sense.

Book: No, no. You -- you can’t…

River: So we’ll integrate non-progressional evolution theory with God’s creation of Eden. Eleven inherent metaphoric parallels already there. Eleven. Important number. Prime number. One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. Noah’s ark is a problem.

Book: Really?

River: We’ll have to call it “early quantum state phenomenon”. Only way to fit 5,000 species of mammals on the same boat.

. . .

Book: River, you don’t… fix the Bible.

River: It’s broken. It doesn’t make sense.

Book: It’s not about… making sense. It’s about believing in something. And letting that belief be real enough to change your life. It’s about faith. You don’t fix faith, River. It fixes you.

Oh River, you taught us so much; like how “the human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems“. If you haven’t watched Firefly, then go watch it on Hulu, or buy the DVD. If you simply don’t have the time, then the Wikiquotes article should give you a few laughs.

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Macro evolution is the theory of a species changing to another.

Micro evolution is small changes that DO NOT create a new species.

Ok, so it was the standard definition that creationists use when covering the topics of micro and macro evolution. One of them sent me an article from Answers in Genesis to read in response to one of my points about evolution and “increasing” information (Dr. Lenski’s famous E. coli experiment). From that article I clicked through to an article about Noah’s ark, and that is when it struck me.

Noah’s Ark is a paradox.

At least, it is a creationist paradox. If we are to take the Bible as literally true, that Noah took 2 of each “kind” of animal on the ark (or 7 of each clean animal) then we have an immediate clue as to the cryptic meaning of the word “kind”. It cannot mean “species”. There are far more species in the world today than there could have fitted on Noah’s Ark, even if you reduce the number by the species who could survive on water or in water.

Yet the creationist denies macro evolution (one species changing into a new species). To them, it is impossible. This leaves them with the tricky situation of explaining how all the animals today could possibly exist. As “kinds” are not species, or at least not every single species, then the only way for us to have the animals we do today is for the animals on the ark to have macro-evolved. If macro-evolution is wrong, then every single species today must have been on the Ark, which is impossible.

So either Noah’s Ark is a paradox, or it helps the evolution theory along. Assuming Noah’s Ark isn’t a paradox and is true, then macro-evolution must be true as well. If the creationist denies this then they have to admit that the Noah’s Ark story is inaccurate, and if Noah’s Ark is inaccurate how many other parts of the Bible are as well? Not only is the evidence for evolution clear, but it has to be for this simple biblical story to start making sense.

Personally, I don’t believe a word of the Noah’s Ark story. The paradox goes well beyond that of just elementary biology, but into boat construction and the amount of water on the planet, as well as the lack of geological evidence. However it poses a serious problem for believers, who must either admit that evolution is true or their story is false.

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According to this Telegraph article, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church is planning on picketing a production of “The Laramie Project” in Basingstoke. The production is about the torture and murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay university student who was brutally attacked for his sexual orientation. The play is being performed by the local “Freedom Youth” group, who say they won’t be intimidated by the church.

A few politicians have tried to stop the Phelps family from entering the UK, and whilst I understand their reasons for doing so, I hope they allow them to come in. This is one of those freedom of speech issues that is tough to call, but the fact is, this might be hate speech, but it isn’t incitement to murder or violence. They aren’t telling people to kill gay people; they reckon their God will do that. I think if they are allowed into the country, we will see an example of what freedom of speech should be about; namely, the Westboro Baptist Church will say whatever their opinion is, and everyone who disagree will loudly tell the Westboro Baptist Church what they think. This was illustrated quite nicely in America where groups dressed in white clothing would surround the church at their funeral pickets, effectively blocking them from the view of the mourning families.

I’m thinking about going up to Basingstoke on Friday for this very reason. I want to listen to what they have to say, and respond with my own opinions. Of course, that is dependant on whether they are allowed into the country or not, and why I sincerely hope they are. In a free secular society, freedom of speech and expression must hold true, and I hope the government understands that the people will rise up in opposition to the church themselves, with no need for any official intervention.

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Hill for example is a mound of dirt or stone that covers the level surface of earth. Hull is the covering of a nut or the covered part of a ship. Heal is the covering of a wound. Hall is a building space which is used to cover people or goods. Hole is an uncovering. Shell.

In the early days to hell potatoes meant to cover them, as to store them in a cellar or underground. To hel a house meant to cover a portion of it with tile. The term heling a house is still used in the New England portions of the United States.

At first the use of hell had no pagan meaning to it. It was simply used as the common grave of man. To go to hell in the old English language meant simply that one was dead and buried. It was in Germany and England that the word began to evolve into the pagan unscriptural meaning of eternal punishment.

The Catholic Douay Version translates sheohl as hell 64 times and once as death. The King James Version translates sheohl 31 times as hell, 31 times as grave and 3 times as pit.

This is common in older translations as well, such as is used by the English Revised Version (1885) where sheohl is transliterated in many cases but most of the occurrences were translated as grave, or pit. Hell being used 14 times. The American Standard Version (1901) transliterated sheohl in all 65 occurrences and haides in all ten of its occurrences, though the Greek word Geenna (English Gehenna) is translated hell.

The Greek teaching of the immortality of the human soul and hell began to infiltrate Jewish teachings probably around the time of Alexander The Great. The Bible itself, however, is in stark contrast to the teachings of pagan origin regarding the soul, which is not immortal ( Ezekiel 18:4 ) and therefore can’t suffer forever in hell. The Bible also teaches that there is no consciousness in hell. ( Ecclesiastes 9:4-10 ).

Sheol corresponds with the Greek Haides, both being the unseen resting place of the dead. It is not a place of fire, but of darkness ( Job 10:21 ) a place of silence ( Psalm 115:17 ) rather than a place filled with tortured screams.

The Greek word Haides occurs 10 times in the Christian Greek scriptures. ( Matthew 11:23 / Matthew 16:18 / Luke 10:15 / Luke 16:23 / Acts 2:27 / Acts 2:31 / Revelation 1:18 / Revelation 6:8 / Revelation 20:13 / Revelation 20:14 ).

It means the unseen place. In ten of the occurrences of haides it is in reference to death. It is not to be confused with the Greek word for grave ( taphos ), tomb ( mnema ) or memorial tomb ( mnemeion ), but is rather the common resting place of the dead. The place of death.

Jesus also uses haides at Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15 in a figurative way to indicate the debasement of Capernaum compared to heaven.

Also see The Rich Man And Lazarus below.

The Christian Greek Gehenna is a literal place – a valley that lies South and South-West of ancient Jerusalem. It is the modern day Wadi er-Rababi ( Ge Ben Hinnom ), a deep, narrow valley.

Today it is a peaceful and pleasant valley, unlike the surrounding dry and rocky terrain, and most certainly unlike the pagan / apostate Christian hell.

In the days of unfaithful Kings Manasseh and Ahaz idolatrous worship of the pagan god Baal was conducted in the place which was then known as Geh Hinnom, ( the valley of Hinnom ) including human sacrifices to fire. It is ironic that the pagan custom burning in fire would have so clearly infiltrated the Christian teachings, considering that this practice was a detestable thing to Jehovah God, and his prophets spoke of a time when this place would be turned into a defiled and desolate place. ( 2 Chronicles 28:1-3 / 2 Chronicles 33:1-6 / Jeremiah 7:31-32 / Jeremiah 32:35 ).

The prophecy was fulfilled in the days of faithful King Josiah, who had the place, especially the area known as Topeth polluted into a refuse heap. ( 2 Kings 23:10 )

So it was that in the days of Jesus and the early Christian congregations, that the valley was known as a literal place where the carcasses of criminals and animals were thrown, having no hope for resurrection. The refuse there was kept burning with sulphur, which is abundant in the area. When Jesus used Gehenna as a figurative – a symbolic reference to the spiritually dead the people in the area knew what he was talking about.

Peter refers to the angels who in the time of Noah foresook thier original positions and became men in order to have relations with the women of earth. The result was their offspring being giants, the Nephilim, who caused so much trouble God had to bring forth the flood. ( Genesis 6:1-4 / Ephesians 6:10-12 / Jude 1:6 ).

It is interesting that this verse is often mistranslated because when Jesus was resurrected from Sheol / Hades ( Hell in some translations ) on earth, he first went to tartarus – that is to say the disobedient angels whom had been lowered in position – who happened to be in heaven. This means that if you don’t understand the mistranslation you would see Jesus go to hell on earth and then hell in heaven.

Ancient Egyptian beliefs considered the Other World to be a place of pits of fire for the damned though they didn’t think this lasted forever.
Islamic teaching considers hell as a place of everlasting punishment. Hindus and Buddhists think of hell as a place of spiritual cleansing and final restoration.

Let it also be known that if this account is to be taken literally then that would make Jesus a liar. How so? How could Lazarus be at the bosom of Abraham in heaven when Jesus had already said that no man had ascended to heaven other than himself? ( John 3:13 )

“Hades . . . it corresponds to ‘Sheol’ in the O.T. and N.T., it has been unhappily rendered ‘hell’ ” – Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (1981, Vol. 2 p. 187)

“First it (Hell) stands for the Hebrew Sheohl of the Old Testament and the Greek Hades of the Septuagint and New Testament . Since Sheohl in Old Testament times referred simply to the abode of the dead and suggested no moral distinctions, the word ‘hell,’ as understood today, is not a happy translation.” – Collier’s Encyclopedia (1986, Vol. 12, p. 28)

“Much Confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheohl and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception.” – The Encyclopedia Americana (1956, Vol. XIV, p. 81)

“The word ( sheol ) occurs often in the Psalms and in the book of Job to refer to the place to which all dead people go. It is represented as a dark place, in which there is no activity worthy of the name. There are no moral distinction there, so ‘hell’ ( KJV ) is not a suitable translation, since that suggests a contrast with ‘heaven’ as the dwelling-place of the righteous after death. In a sense, ‘the grave’ in a generic sense is a near equivalent, except that Sheol is more a mass grave in which all the dead dwell together . . . . The use of this particular imagery may have been considered suitable here [ in Jonah 2:2 ] in view of Jonah’s imprisonment in the interior of the fish.” – A Translators Handbook on the Book of Jonah, Brynmor F. Price and Eugene A. Nida, 1978, p 37

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The game features list is ridiculous though, because it contains a load of useless references to pretty common game standards:

Animated lens flares!!!! OMG!

360 degree panning world with stereo sound? Yeah, that’s in pretty much any game with a 3D world these days. The next 3 points are all about video animation, and thus are all simply padding for the list. A “game feature” has nothing to do with how cut scenes are shown (at least in my opinion).

No idea how their 3D menu interface is unique, but it doesn’t need mentioning unless it’s as awesome as the implementation in Sauerbraten.

Animated lens flares? Seriously??? Personally, I find lens flares very annoying in video games unless you have a very good reason for them. If your character has a visor, then sure, it adds to the realism. I have no idea why anyone would be wearing a visor in Heaven though, unless you are a Christian astronaut that died whilst on a mission. Of course, that also means that when you die you don’t get to change clothes. Christian Top Tip: Wear something casual when you die…you’re stuck in it forever remember!

Same thing applies to “animated game cursors” really. It’s just not a game feature. Powerful Biblical content is though, and I reckon there could be a heck of a lot of that. The game features list really doesn’t tell me anything about the actual game, only that it has a explorable world based on Biblical heaven, and you have to complete several levels (who reckons most of them involve worshiping the almighty?).

Did anyone spot the 5 spelling errors? Answers revealed when you click the button below (JavaScript needed):

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I took one look at the document in my hand and saw the word “God” mentioned a couple of times. Together with the picture of the sunset, I knew I was dealing with a religious guy. My mind worked through several scenarios; I could stay and talk to the man, telling him I don’t believe, and be late for my friends, or I could go be sociable. I chose the latter (mainly because of the aforementioned rush I was in), thanked the man, and went on my way.

Of course, I’m not going to let the questions in the document go unanswered…

Does God really care about us?

No, because there probably isn’t a God, and if there were, does it really look like it gives a shit?

Will war and suffering end?

No; humans are very social creatures, but we tend to subscribe to different types of society. Unfortunately, these societies do not like each other very much. Major suffering might end when we cure all major illnesses, but that doesn’t stop new illnesses, inflicted wounds, etc.

What happens to us when we die?

We rot in the ground, although I personally want my body donated to medical science and then the remains cremated and scattered somewhere (waste not people).

Is there any hope for the dead?

Is there any hope for other inanimate objects like spoons? No.

How can I pray and be heard by God?

Once you accept that you are talking to yourself, I’m certain you’ll be able to hear.

How can I find happiness in life?

Try new things, find out what makes you happy. Pursue it.

You might also notice none of my answers involve believing in a ridiculous doctrine made up by men thousands of years ago who thought the sun was magic. It’s a slight bonus.

I do hope the Jehovah’s Witnesses come round again; I’ll be able to give them my answers!

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On facebook recently, I noticed an addition to his information:

I am an evangelical (also called “heavy duty”) Christian! Christianity in a (sizeable) nutshell:

1) God created the world and it was very good. Humans were made in God’s own image to rule over the world and enjoy it. We are especially loved by God and therefore distinct from the animals. God’s relationship to us is one of a loving (but holy) Father.

2) The first humans (Adam and Eve) chose out of their free will to disobey God. As a result, they put distance between themselves and God and came under the so-called law of sin. Every human since has been born sinful, unable to avoid what their conscience tells them is wrong or to do what they know is right.

3) Each of us has inherited a sinful nature and we are all guilty of wrongdoing, even if we try to be and seem to be “pretty good” people by our own human standards.

4) Because of point 3, we are in very serious trouble. God’s standard is perfection – being “pretty good” will not do. The price for sin has to be paid in full and unfortunately for us, that means physical death followed by eternal spiritual death.

5) However (this is the good bit), a solution has been provided! The Son of God took on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and met God’s standard where we were unable to, living a sinless life despite temptations. Having lived without sinning, alone among humans, he died a death which he did not deserve when he was executed on the cross.

6) Because Jesus had not deserved death himself, he died as a substitute for all of us, taking God’s judgments against sin upon himself. As he was the infinite Son of God, his sufferings and death on the cross were fully adequate to pay the price for every human sin.

7) Having paid the price for sin, Jesus rose from the dead in a glorified body which can never die again. He is at work in the lives of Christians now as a “best friend,” and his glorified resurrection body is the pattern of the body which will be given to all those God raises to eternal life.

8) Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can be reconciled to God, enjoying a relationship with Him in this life and eternal life in the world to come. To do this, we must accept Jesus by faith as our lord and saviour. Faith is not something in the mind, but rather the same thing that happens when you sit down on a chair and trust it to hold you up rather than collapse. A rickety chair may let you down, but the one who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame.

9) If you want a relationship with God followed by eternal life, call on the name of the resurrected Jesus Christ and ask him to come into your life. This may take a long time to happen – very rarely do people ever become Christians as an instantaneous event.

10) Anything more, ask me :)

It makes me sad to see such intelligence so corrupted by religion, especially when he responded to my inquiries with this BS.

The notion of seven short 24-hour days of creation is, in my opinion, a *spiritual* misunderstanding of Genesis 1. There is, however, no evidence for evolution.

I think the notion of believing there is no evidence for evolution is an *ignorant* misunderstanding of science.

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My father is a recently remarried atheist (I found that out when he asked if he could borrow my copy of “The God Delusion”).

My sister calls herself an agnostic, but she cares little about religion so apatheist would probably be the correct term.

My mother is a Christian. My mother is now apparently an atheist as well.

I went home for the weekend to fix some computer stuff / set up internet for my mother’s boyfriend, and earlier today we went out for lunch. Over lunch, my mother started talking about her job (she works at Salisbury Cathedral) and how one of her clergy friends was going on a course with his wife where they are kept in separate rooms, not allowed to talk, and have to constantly study the Bible…for 7 days.

My mother expressed her horror with this situation, and commented how she could not “keep quiet for 7 minutes, let alone 7 days”. I then decided the press the religious issue, and said I could probably keep quiet for 7 days, but I wouldn’t be able to if I were reading the Bible. I’d be constantly saying “that’s just wrong” and crossing out stuff.

I then mentioned that the Bible was possibly the worst book ever written, what with it being sexist, illogical, and plain stupid. My mother questioned me, asking how it was sexist, and I reminded her of the Garden of Eden story; how it was a woman who was responsible for sin, and how Lot tried to give up his daughters for rape in Sodom. To my surprise, my mother had not heard of the Lot story, and hadn’t even heard of Leviticus (often used by Christians to incite hatred against homosexuals).

She then told me how the Bible was rather ridiculous, full of stories that made no sense, with people who lived to be 1000 years old. Then, out of the blue, “I don’t believe in God anyway”.

The conversation went a little like this for a few minutes:

Me: “You’re an atheist?”

Mother: “No.”

Me: “You just said you didn’t believe in God, that makes you an atheist.”

Mother: “I don’t like to use that word, I think religion is a good thing.”

Me: “Yeah, but atheists aren’t all anti-religious.”

I think she still feels a kind of spirituality in a way, some kind of force that people can tap into. A few years before her mother died, she tried some form of faith healing, and it worked wonders for my grandmother. She could walk without feeling any pain, and lived like that until she died. My mother used this as evidence that there was still some kind of force out there that we don’t understand. I pointed out that we tried the faith healer on me (I was 12 or so at the time) and nothing happened. The key difference? My gran was very religious, I was not. The “power” of prayer is not anything magical or mysterious, but simply mind over matter. In my gran’s case, her faith gave her the ability to put her mind over the pain.

I did the same thing a few years back, when I was going through a period of minor depression that slowly escalated to the point where I wanted to kill myself. Instead, I got over it by literally willing myself out, and I am a better person for it. I’m the general “happy go lucky” guy that doesn’t give a damn what people think of me. Of course, I love it when people like me (who doesn’t), but if a person expresses dislike, it is their problem, not mine.

So I guess my mother is the “Bill Maher” type of atheist. That makes my whole immediate family a lovely bunch of heathens; I’m so proud!

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A letter from afar

The “AAA” stands for “Atheist & Agnostic Alliance”, and that is my address, which I released in my post “Edging Further Away From The Closet“. The post mark says “LONG BEACH CA 908″, and there are two “USA FIRST-CLASS FOREVER” stamps on it.

What was inside was even stranger. No contact information or anything to hint to a sender; just two pages of 18 bullet points:

1. Day and night was created on day 1 – impossible since the sun was not created until the fourth day.
2. The first woman was created twice: first time on the sixth day (in God’s image) and sometime after the seventh day using one of Adam’s ribs.
3. Since Adam came into existence on the sixth day, how could he or anyone know what happen on the prior five days, and in what sequence, and how long it took?
4. Since Adam and Eve did not die after eating the forbidden fruit, God is a proven liar. If God should speaking to you, be skeptical.
5. The flood story does not make any sense for many reasons. One is that the amount of water would have to be four to five times that which presently exists on earth. Another is that the floods would have destroyed all ice and glaciers, since ice/snow will float on water. From ice core samples (using a tree ring type dating), ice has existed intact in Greenland and Antarctica for over 110,000 years – not the 4000 years B.C estimated from the Bible. Another reason is that water of a depth of five or so miles would have killed off all vegetation so that the released animal would have nothing to east except each other.
   Since the flood story is so obviously fiction, this implies that all stories (Genesis) earlier than the flood are also myths.
6. The anti-abortionists are fond of quoting “Thy shall not kill”. However, with the flood, God committed mass murder by drowning everyone except for eight Jews. The religious do not seem have a problem with these horrendous murders.
7. If the population started with eight Jews after the flood,how did the world create the large variations such as Eskimos, Australian Aborigines, Navajos, African Pygmies (under 5 foot), Tutsi (often 7 foot), etc. unless by evolution.
8. Matthew and Luke listed absolutely totally different genealogy for Joseph starting with King David. One or both must be in error.
9. After birth, Matthew says that the family went southwest to Egypt. However, Luke says the family went north to Nazareth; one or both is lying.
10. Three Magi (eastern so called wise men) went to Jesus’ birthplace. They got lost and first went to Jerusalem. Although the distance between Jerusalem and Bethlehem is only about five miles, they went to the head ruler, Herod, to ask for directions. All they really had to do was ask anyone in town. In addition, the needed a star to show the way, for five miles, barf. Any star will be about the same size as our sun, roughly a million miles in diameter, as well as very hot. Changing the star position from east to south of something that size is ridiculous. Also, something of that size could not pinpoint the manger. Placing a star close to earth would have incinerated earth.
11. Luke misstates the year of Jesus’ birth as being in the reign of Herod. Herod died in 4 B.C, whereas Jesus is believe to have been born in 4 A.D.
12. John says that Jesus was crucified the day before the Passover meal, whereas Mark says that Jesus was crucified the day after the Passover meal.
13. The Bible says absolutely nothing about abortion. The following is taken from one of Sam Harris’ books. It is estimated that 50% of all human conceptions end in spontaneous abortion, usually without the woman even realizing she is pregnant. In fact, 20% of all recognized pregnancies end in miscarriages. If God exist, he is the most prolific abortionist of all.
14. The religious believe in “Intelligent Design” and are opposed to evolution. However, “Intelligent Design” would more accurately be described as “Deeply Flawed Design”. Human variations include cancer, blue babies, cleft lips, Down’s syndrome, appendicitis, allergies and allergic reactions, color blindness, seizures, polio, leprosy, leukemia, insanity, autism, etc, etc. Why would a perfectionist God take credit for these? Various individual groups of people are resistant to malaria, smallpox (which wiped out many American tribes), and tolerant of dairy products. The protection usually occurred because some of their ancestors survived these conditions, which is basic evolution. We are probably are very fortunate that there are flaws. with the millions* of animal species that have occurred over millions of years, we are one of them. [*Perhaps up to 100 million or more.] This brings up a question. It has been estimayed that 99% of the species are extince. If God is so intelligent, why the destruction of so many species?
15. The Jews were slaves to the Egyptians and Babylonians for hundreds of years. Many of the Bible stories are taken/plagiarized from the myths of these two people and surrounding communities.
16. If God ever existed, then God must have been around just prior to the “Big Bang”, some 13 billions years ago. Since the conditions immediate after the explosion were gaseous, then God was surely destroyed. Why be concern about a dead God?
17. Why would a God create dinosaurs and then kill them all off? Not a very bright move.
18. The Bible allows slavery, multiple wives, murder (of unbelievers) and the father to sell his daughters into prostitution.

Not entirely sure what to make of this. Some of the points are good, others are quite petty, and some are just plain silly (16???). So thanks for your efforts random stranger. If you feel like revealing your identity then please do, and in future if you want something posted on the blog, you could try contacting me online and save the postage costs (especially if it is just a few pages).

Not that I mind getting mail that is :D

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