Star Trek into darkness

The Amazing Stan Lee!!

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Stan Lee’s Universe

By Neil Curry, CNN
updated 6:59 AM EDT, Wed June 12, 2013
Source: CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Stan Lee is CEO of POW! Entertainment.
  • Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, X-Men, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four are some of the characters he has helped create
  • The female fan audience has grown over the past years, creating a market for more super-heroines.
  • Lee is exploring new markets. Besides from creating a Chinese hero, he is also working on the launch of a digital comic book hero for India.

(CNN) — Editor’s note: Watch CNN’s TV theme week Comic Book Heroes from June 10-17 on World Report, CNN Newstream and I-desk.

Last week a smartly dressed elderly gentleman sat patiently in a crowd on a sunny afternoon in New York City awaiting his part in a super-hero movie. Unusually, for an extra, the man was attracting as much attention as the film’s A-list cast.

While Spider-man sweltered beneath his lycra suit, 90-year-old Stan Lee coolly answered questions from fans of his own, eager to know how he helped create the webbed super-hero, along with Iron Man, Thor, X-Men, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four and scores of other heroes of the Marvel Comic books.

Lee\'s Indian superhero is called Chakra the Invincible.
Lee’s Indian superhero is called Chakra the Invincible.

In an interview with CNN, the Godfather of comic book heroes downplayed his role in history, claiming he just did as he was told:

“The publisher had me doing western magazines, crime magazines, men’s adventure magazines, even romance and teenage magazines and one day he came to me and he said you know one of our competitors has a book called The Justice League and it’s selling well and it’s a bunch of superheroes, why don’t we do some superhero magazines? I said OK, I wanted to keep my job so I came up with The Fantastic Four and the others and that was the only reason. If my publisher hadn’t said ‘let’s do superhero stories’ I’d probably still be doing A Kid Called Outlaw, The Two Gun Kid or Millie the Model or whatever I was doing at the time.”

Lee admits that the superhero universe he co-created more than fifty years ago was almost entirely devoid of super-heroines.

“The reason there haven’t been as many super-heroines as superheroes is when we first started doing these kind of stories, when Marvel was first doing The Fantastic Four and Spiderman and The X-Men there were many more men, there were many more males than females buying comic books so we always really directed our stories towards the male reader and we had male readers and male super-heroes.”

If my publisher hadn’t said ‘let’s do superhero stories’ I’d probably still be doing A Kid Called Outlaw.
Comic book legend Stan Lee

Nowadays he says, the female audience for comic book heroes is huge and hopes to see the shift reflected in the stories and their characters.

More from Comic Book Heroes: Islamic superheroes team with Superman

“Little by little this field became so popular that the boys’ sisters started reading the stories and getting interested in them. Now when we have a movie like Thor or the Avengers or Iron Man, you’ll get as many females going to the theatre as males therefore I predict you will see pretty much as many super-heroines as superheroes as time goes by.”

After half a century of seeing U.S. comic book giants Marvel and DC Comics exporting American heroes to the world, Lee feels it’s time for a change.

“We figured it’s about time that we had heroes who weren’t just all American and what we would be more and what would be more interesting than having a superhero who is Chinese?

I predict you will see pretty much as many super-heroines as superheroes as time goes by
Comic book legend Stan Lee

So Stan Lee created The Annihilator — an animated character which he hopes will become the star of a super-hero movie co-produced with China.

“He has many of the Chinese characteristics and virtues that one would expect in a Chinese movie but we have successfully transferred them to a movie of worldwide appeal but we haven’t lost the feeling of what it’s like to be a Chinese young man who is suddenly thrust in to an adventure which involves a super power and a super foe but he’s guided by the background, his own background and his Chinese heritage, the things he’s learned, the things he’s experienced.”

But how will China react to such an imported hero?

“I see no reason why a Chinese audience wouldn’t love a Chinese superhero created by an American or created by anyone else as long as the character is exciting and authentic and interesting.”

More from Comic Book Heroes: Test your knowledge in our superhero quiz!

Lee is also working on the launch of a digital comic book hero for India — Chakra the Invincible.

“I think that audiences throughout the world love superheroes. I mean you could go back to the time of The Odyssey, whether it’s William Tell or El Cid. Every type, every nationality, every culture has had superheroes in their legends. People love that sort of thing. The Greek gods and so forth.”

Superhero stories are like fairy tales for grown ups
Comic book legend Stan Lee

He hopes the rise of the super-hero blockbuster movie will inspire young fans to follow in his footsteps.

“Every generation has its brilliant young people who want to do these films and I think that more and more talented people get involved and as long as that happens we will always have new and exciting themes for these films.”

Lee believes that this will ensure continuing interest in comic book characters which have stood the test of time.

“The thing about superhero stories, they are like fairy tales for grown ups. Every child loved reading fairy tales when he or she was a child. They were stories about monsters and witches and giants and magicians, well superhero stories have that same flavor but they are done for adults as well as for children.”

 

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The Jesus myth

Video

I have spoken of the Jesus myth many times and always seem to get uninformed speeches about him only being a great philosopher etc. But this video explains it perfectly and is narrated by one of the foremost intellects of our time.

11 Badass Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes    1437   Share Chris Higginsfiled under: 111111, astronomy, celebrities, education Neil

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11 Badass Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes

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Neil deGrasse Tyson is America’s preeminent badass astrophysicist. He’s a passionate advocate for science, NASA, and education. He’s also well-known for a little incident involving Pluto. The man holds at least seventeen honorary doctorates in addition to his real one; we’re dealing with a badass over here. Now, eleven of our favorite NDT quotes.

1. On science: “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” From Real Time with Bill Maher.

2. On NASA funding: “‘As a fraction of your tax dollar today, what is the total cost of all spaceborne telescopes, planetary probes, the rovers on Mars, the International Space Station, the space shuttle, telescopes yet to orbit, and missions yet to fly?’ Answer: one-half of one percent of each tax dollar. Half a penny. I’d prefer it were more: perhaps two cents on the dollar. Even during the storied Apollo era, peak NASA spending amounted to little more than four cents on the tax dollar.” From Space Chronicles, p. 25.

3. On God and hurricanes: “Once upon a time, people identified the god Neptune as the source of storms at sea. Today we call these storms hurricanes…. The only people who still call hurricanes acts of God are the people who write insurance forms.” From Death by Black Hole, p. 361.

4. On the benefits of technology invented for use in space: “… Countless women are alive today because of ideas stimulated by a design flaw in the Hubble Space Telescope.”

From Space Chronicles, p. 24.

5. On the demotion of Pluto from planet status: “I knew Pluto was popular among elementary schoolkids, but I had no idea they would mobilize into a ‘Save Pluto’ campaign. I now have a drawer full of hate letters from hundreds of elementary schoolchildren (with supportive cover letters from their science teachers) pleading with me to reverse my stance on Pluto. The file includes a photograph of the entire third grade of a school posing on their front steps and holding up a banner proclaiming, ‘Dr. Tyson—Pluto is a Planet!'” From The Sky Is Not the Limit, Kindle locations 1537-1540.

Image credit: PBS

6. On the climax of the movie Titanic: “In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs… we are treated to her view of this Hollywood sky—one where the stars on the right half of the scene trace the mirror image of the stars in the left half. How lazy can you get?” From Death by Black Hole, p. 330.

7. On death by asteroid: “On Friday the 13th, April 2029, an asteroid large enough to fill the Rose Bowl as though it were an egg cup will fly so close to Earth that it will dip below the altitude of our communication satellites. We did not name this asteroid Bambi. Instead, we named it Apophis, after the Egyptian god of darkness and death.” From Space Chronicles, p. 53.

8. On the motivations behind America’s moonshot: “[L]et us not fool ourselves into thinking we went to the Moon because we are pioneers, or discoverers, or adventurers. We went to the Moon because it was the militaristically expedient thing to do.” From The Sky Is Not the Limit, p. 70.

9. On who named the stars: “After the 9/11 attacks, when President George W. Bush, in a speech aimed at distinguishing the U.S. from the Muslim fundamentalists, said, ‘Our God is the God who named the stars.’ The problem is two-thirds of all the stars that have names, have Arabic names. I don’t think he knew this. This would confound the point that he was making.” From The Amazing Meeting Keynote Speech, 2008.

10. On 2012 apocalypse predictions: “There’s no greater sign of the failure of the American educational system than the extent to which Americans are distracted by the possibility that Earth might end on December 21, 2012. It’s a profound absence of awareness of the laws of physics and how nature works. So they’re missing some science classes in their training in high school or in college that would empower [them] to understand and to judge when someone else is basically just full of it. Science is like an inoculation against charlatans who would have you believe whatever it is they tell you.” On Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, June 24, 2009.

11. Practical advice in the event of alien contact: “[I]f an alien lands on your front lawn and extends an appendage as a gesture of greeting, before you get friendly, toss it an eightball. If the appendage explodes, then the alien was probably made of antimatter. If not, then you can proceed to take it to your leader.” From Death by Black Hole, p. 107.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I included citations for each quote because I prefer research to reassurance, and want to give you primary sources for this stuff — and our man NDT has been intentionally misquoted before. Check out his books and movies and audiobooks for top-notch science content. And stay tuned for his Cosmos sequel.

November 13, 2012 – 4:11am

 

Read the full text here: http://mentalfloss.com/article/13049/11-badass-neil-degrasse-tyson-quotes#ixzz2UqVZLuw5 
–brought to you by mental_floss!

The time is NOW!

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For years religion has bilked the populace out of billions to fund myth-based folley benefiting no one. Some of the funds DO provide food and other services and are well needed in the community, but most are not. It is time that organizations that live off of the taxpayer paid their fair share. The economy is bad and the churches are still doing well. You don’t hear charlatans like Joel Osteen or Creflo Dollar complaining, but that is because our system has given them a free ride! End the ride and end corporate welfare as well! 

More intolerant nonsense!

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Atheist Activists Targeting Children With ‘Good Without God’ Campaign

November 14, 2012 | Filed under: Highlights,Law & Government,Life & Society,Top Stories | By: 

 

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An atheist activist organization is targeting children in a new advertising campaign and website called Kids Without God.

The American Humanist Association (AHA), whose motto is “Good Without a God,” announced the launch of its campaign on Tuesday, which it states was “created to strengthen and support kids and teenagers who don’t happen to believe in a God.” The main focus of the effort is to drive children to its new Kids Without God website.

“This engaging resource offers a welcoming home for humanist, atheist and other non-traditionally religious kids where they can find information untainted by supernaturalism on a wide range of topics, including religion in public schools, science, discrimination, sexuality and reading suggestions,” the association states.

“Whether they already made up their minds to reject supernatural explanations, or are just questioning, it’s time to make available an online resource that’s built just for kids without God,” Roy Speckhardt, the executive director of the American Humanist Association, said. “These kids may be from traditionally religious families, or from families like that of President Barack Obama, whose mother was a secular humanist. KidsWithoutGod.com will be a friendly online community for kids who might be too shy to ask an adult directly what it’s like to be good without a God.”

The website features cartoon-like characters that seek to teach children and teens morality apart from the moral Lawgiver. A section of the site called “7 Darwin Promises” outlines seven things that the association wishes to impart to children through the use of the character “Darwin the dog.”

“I promise to be nice to other people, just because it’s the right thing to do,” reads promise number one.

“I promise that I will always tell the truth and take responsibility for my own actions,” reads another.

Additional promises include taking care of the earth, thinking about the feelings of others and having good hygiene.

“With the plethora of websites geared toward teaching kids about Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, we’re pleased to add humanism to the discussion,” Speckhardt said. “Kids should know there’s another way to learn about morals and values—it doesn’t need to come from traditional religion.”

In promotion of its new website, AHA is spending $30,000 on an ad campaign to point children to the site. It states that advertisements are scheduled to appear on 140 metro buses in the Washington, D.C. area, which includes 20 king size exterior posters. Billboard space has also been purchased in Moscow, Idaho.

In addition, online banner ads will be placed on Cheezburger.com and Pandora, as well as Facebook, Reddit, Google and YouTube. Disney and National Geographic turned down the advertisements due to their content, as they read, “I’m getting a bit old for imaginary friends.”

Disney and National Geographic aren’t the only ones who are uncomfortable with the advertisements, however. Terre Ritchie, the executive director of CBH Ministries (formerly known as Children’s Bible Hour), said that there are many hurting and struggling kids across America that need hope — which is only found in Jesus Christ.

“So many kids are searching for hope in their life,” Ritchie said. “We just work so hard to get that hope out to them. … We feel that children are the most pliable in God’s hands. Their minds are not filled with everything in the world yet.”

 

“There has to be more to our faith than being a nice person,” she continued. “Knowledge of the Scriptures is going to tell us what good is. … When King Solomon wrote, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding,’ [he was telling us that] if we’re going on an understanding without God, we’re not going to get far.”

Ritchie explained that CBH, which celebrated it’s 70th year in September, also reaches out to youth via print, as well as radio, in order to instill moral values in children through Scripture. One of their latest websites is called itoadu.com, which features an animated Costa Rican toad named Juan. Other sites include the daily devotional Keys for Kids and The Greatest Gift, which share the Gospel via video presentation.

“We’ve got 27,000 kids in this Bible study right now,” Ritchie said. “We’re doing everything we can to reach those children through these websites.”

“We have to do what we can. We can’t just sit back. We can’t be silent about it,” she concluded. “Because these people have money to put this out there in front of kids, they’re going to affect a lot of kids. [But], Christians nowadays are fighting as hard as we can with the funds we have to get [the Gospel] out there.”

Here is a bit of crap doled out by Christian News Network. I find it always interesting that these believers in ancient fairy tales have to always meddle in the affairs of others. They mention religious websites as being OK but DON’T YOU DARE TRY to include humanism! They say how dangerous and bad it is but NEVER include the pedophilia widespread in the Catholic church or the myriad televangelists bilking their followers on a daily basis. Yeah, don’t believe in yourself and take personal responsibility for your successes and failures, you need The Great Sky Fairy to lean on! Especially when the tornadoes come and wipe out your kids and spare YOU! THANK GOD! I’ll get right on the ‘ol horn to the children’s cancer ward and tell ’em all that the LORD is watching out for them! THANK GOD cancer is HIS will!

The thinking Atheist website.

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Bible Contradictions

This page addresses issues, contradictions and false logic with three of the most popular bible stories (Creation, Noah’s Ark and the Nativity Story), followed by a list of other scriptural accounts that conflict with each other. Browse the points below and ask yourself if the bible is truly a perfect, accurate, divinely-inspired document for living.

YESS!!

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06:20 PM ET
 

This Oklahoma atheist isn’t thanking the Lord

By Jessica Ravitz, CNN

(CNN) – Behind her were ruins, a tangled mess where structures once stood. Cradled in her arms, the mother’s 19-month-old son played with a snatched microphone, unfazed by the chaos swirling around him. And in front of Rebecca Vitsmun stood CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who – after asking her about the decision that saved her and her son’s lives – had one more question:

“I guess you got to thank the Lord, right?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she mumbled, smiling and looking down.

“Do you thank the Lord for that split-second decision?” he continued.

“I, I, I,” the 30-year-old stay-at-home mom stammered before adding, “I’m actually an atheist.”

She laughed, Blitzer laughed, and the moment passed seamlessly on live TV. Except it also became a clip heard across the Internet and social media – one that pointed to a reality about faith in America that exists even where, and when, people might least expect it.

Vitsmun, who chronicled her decision to flee her house with her son on CNN iReport, is one of 13 million atheists or agnostics in America, according to a 2012 report by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.

See Rebecca Vitsmun discuss her decision with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer

While only 2.4% of Americans are atheists, they fit into a broader category that is on the rise in the United States.

Nearly 20% of adults – and a third of those under 30 – are religiously unaffiliated, the Pew report found.

This group, which has grown by roughly 5% in five years, is often referred to as the “nones.” It is a term that extends beyond atheists, who believe there is no God, and agnostics, who believe it’s impossible to prove or disprove God’s existence. It includes a greater proportion of people who see themselves as nothing in particular, which means they might be secular, spiritual or believers – but simply don’t identify with an organized religion, said Greg Smith, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center. 

“When we ask people questions about their religious identity, when we ask them about their religious beliefs, there are relatively few who are atheists. But I’m speaking in percentage terms,” Smith said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of them around. And they’re certainly all over.”

Oklahoma included.

In fact, when the Pew Research Center last drilled down to uncover the religious landscape of affiliations on a state level five years ago, 12% of Oklahomans were religiously unaffiliated. And just as the numbers ticked up nationally since then, it stands to reason that they did the same in Oklahoma.

We tried to reach Vitsmun by phone Wednesday but were unable to connect.

Her friend Waylon Flinn, however, shed some light on who she is. She and her husband, who Flinn said is also an atheist, aren’t the sorts who advertise their beliefs or throw them in people’s faces. When she agreed to go on camera, it wasn’t for that platform; she didn’t even see the Lord question coming.

But that she responded to Blitzer the way she did is no surprise to Flinn, who opened his home in nearby Norman to Vitsmun’s family after theirs was destroyed.

“She handled it in her style, which is very honest and true to herself,” he said.

 
   – CNN Writer/Producer

Filed under: Atheism • Faith Now • iReport • News media