Skepticum

The following excerpt from a job posting from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America sheds light on how organized religious groups secure investment funds, that they subsequently use for expanding their church infrastructure :

MIF provides investment opportunities for ELCA members, congregations, synods and related ministries to earn interest on their financial resources while helping to further the mission and ministry of the Lutheran church. With the invested funds, MIF makes loans to new mission congregations for purchases of land and construction of initial church buildings; established congregations for renovation, expansion and relocation projects; and ELCA-related ministries for capital projects.

Tags: investments, Religion

Chicago Tribune published a list of “10 Things You Might Not Know About Famous Evangelists.”

Some of the ‘things’ are oddities, some of them are plain crazy and corrupted behavior, and some are well known, such as Tammy Faye’s tattooed-on eyebrows and lips (at least I could tell…).

Here are the three that paint a picture of no-common-sense evangelist power-mongery:

1. Zion, a city north of Chicago founded by Scottish evangelist John Alexander Dowie in 1902, at various times banned circuses, theaters, alcohol, gambling, tobacco, pork, politicians, doctors, drugstores, jazz, oysters, chop suey, tan-colored shoes, flirting, dancing, swearing, spitting and whistling on Sunday.

Ouch, imagine not owning a pair of tan-colored shoes. And what was this dude’s problem with doctors and drugstores?

5.  Georgia’s Rev. Creflo Dollar, whose ownership of a Rolls-Royce harks back to the quintessential “prosperity preacher” of the ’70s, Frederick Eikerenkoetter, better-known as Rev. Ike. The now-retired Ike owned a fleet of mink-appointed Rolls-Royces and said,”The best thing you can do for the poor is not to be one of them.”

Yeah, that’s one way of putting it….

8. Oral Roberts’ most famous fundraising effort came in 1987, when he said God would “take me home” if he didn’t raise $8 million for medical scholarships. Less well-known was another life-threatening experience he revealed the same year. Roberts said Satan had entered his bedroom and tried to strangle him, only to be chased away by Roberts’ wife, Evelyn.

I bet he was a feminist too.

Tags: evangelism, Religion

Salient and Why Don’t You Blog have been carrying a very interesting discussion on blogging tools such as Technorati and Blogrolling that atheists use, and their potential lack of effectiveness lately. I have also commented on this with the idea that a change from Blogrolling to another blog rolling services that would not be as overwhelmed may be necessary.

As a result of this discussion Salient looked at some Technorati data to see if any trends were visible there:

“Despite the fact that Planet Atheism seems as busy as ever, the graph for “Blog posts mentioning atheism per day for the past 30 days” does appear to show a major decline.”

English posts that contain Atheism per day for the last 30 days.

First, the graph I pulled today from Technorati looks different than the data given to Salient Technorati yesterday. I blame this one on Technorati and the not-so-exact science of web statistics.

Also, I would love to see a comparison of this set of data to same period last year. Because technorati doesn’t give us data from last year, I decided to look at a 180 day period rather than just 30 days.

English posts that contain Atheism per day for the last 180 days.

So, the great news is that there was a huge spike in atheist-themed blog posts that Technorati identified during the mid Sept. and mid Oct. time-span, which dwarfed the periods before and after. So I agree with Salient that the current decline is probably related to the Holiday season, but it also seems to be a return to statistics more in line with the pre-spike periods. But when I look at usage of word ’science’ I’m seeing a drop in stats similar to ‘atheism’, whereas Salient is seeing  an increase in the usage of science. So is Technorati making this data up on the fly?

How relevant is Technorati data? Here’s a review of the past 6-months of Technorati history:

• In May David Dalka reports an unusual loss in Authority.
• In Sept. Technorati experiences performance issues during preparation for data center migration.
• Beginning of Oct. Technorati announces new CEO. The search had been going on for 6 months.
• In Oct. Strumpette wrote about Technorati’s data integrity and asks for an in depended review after Techorati’s response admits to improper indexing.
•  After Strumpette’s reaction BizHack publishes another post discussing with skepticism Technorati’s explanation of indexing, and publishes a list of blog posts discussing the Technorati issue.
• Beginning of Nov. Technorati users report losing content older than 6 months.  The Technorati response was that they’re “in the midst of some economization,” and that “most people won’t notice.”

I’ll let my readers decide on their own how much credence to put on technorati data at this point in time. It may be that a few months from now, when they’re done with data center changes and “economizing” we’ll see an increase in quality. Until then we can follow the advice on the Technorati troubleshooting page, write to them and ask for changes (which apparently has happened a lot lately), and/or we can find a better service.

Tags: authority, blogging, indexing, technology, technorati

Recent poll calls in Iowa and New Hampshire that were allegedly  critical of Mitt Romney’s faith have resulted in press discussions on whether or not Romney should publicly discuss his allegiance to the Mormon church. The only recipients to have come forth about the calls though, were all on Romney’s payroll.

Controversy aside, the Romney campaign claimed it is unamerican to question a candidate about his religion.

Atheist Christopher Hitchens made the case on Fox News that Romney should not be surprised by questions about his allegiances, and that the least he could do is to discuss the intersection between his church’s authority and law, as well as questions related to the Mormon church’s racist and polygamist past. All of these can potentially have political consequences and Hitchens believes it would be unpatriotic to not touch upon these topics.

As a former resident of the state of Utah, I can say the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is highly politically aware and involved. Utah policies are heavily influenced by the Mormon church. However, Utah does not stand alone when it comes to high religious influence in politics. Larger states that get a larger number of ballots, such as Texas are also heavily influenced by their majority religion.

Some have claimed that Romney looks like a leader, however, the emphasis on looks signals to Mormon culture as well. The Mormon church raises its men to look like leaders, as a proselytizing attraction tool. All men who serve missions are taught how to dress, groom, talk, act and behave in the most persuasive ways. Mormon return-missionaries make great sales-men and have a strong reputation in the corporate sales-world.

Looks aside, would Romney be a good leader? Can one who avoids reasonable conversations related to his controversial church be a good leader, in a country where difficult international conversations happen every day?

While I think Romney should answer questions related to how his religion may influence his policies, just as Carey had to answer questions about his take on abortion, I think there is a Christian double standard at play in America. The mainstream Christian candidates are not challenged based on their religion, yet they should be equally questioned, regardless of religious affiliation. By the same token, Romney should expect and answer questions about his religion.

No one should be fooled into thinking that religious organization don’t influence politics, or that religion can be completely eliminated from politics. But just saying my church is just as Christian as yours is not a valid reason to skirt religious questions.

When your church owns the downtown block of Main Street in Salt Lake City you should be expected to answer tough questions. And when your church decrees same-sex couples can’t hold hands on this same Main street block, you may really want to answer how many of your decisions your church may influence. And if you can’t give an answer you may not be a good enough leader.

Tags: atheism, christian, church, Hitchens, Mormon, Politics, Religion, Romney

It seems Chicago gets the first snow on Thanksgiving, every year.

Tags: Chicago, snow, Thanksgiving

“A secular country allows for religion to flourish, if it wants to. A secular country allows atheism to flourish if it wants to,” said Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, during a speech at University of Texas at Austin.

Barker is a former evangelical preacher who says he “de-converted” in 1984.

Recently I’ve noticed the term deconversion used to imply a shift away from religious belief to atheism, as well as the synonym expression, “conversion to atheism.”

Historically I’ve associated the term conversion with Christianity. Also, most dictionaries will list conversion in the religious context as, “an experience associated with the definite and decisive adoption of a religion.” (Merriam Webster, Your Dictionary, Wikipedia).

The concept of “decisive adoption” is very important when discussing religious conversion because most religions  have in place a test of faith, by which they identify true conversion. Usually the test of faith encompasses both conviction as well as obedience and practicing of rites (outward expression of faith). Baptism is an essential rite in Christian conversion, for example.

So can one convert to atheism being that it is not a religion, does not require a test of faith, and does not require absolute allegiance to a set of rites? And can one deconvert from atheism?

As many atheists I attribute the supernatural a probability of existing so small that it’s insignificant. Be it a deity or a magical mist the supernatural belongs to fiction books.  I don’t feel the need or pressure to prove my allegiance to atheism. I don’t have to deconvert or convert either. My atheism didn’t come about as a falling away from something else (though some may disagree with me, because they think I fell away from their “true church”). I don’t even have “strong feelings” about my experience that could be attributed to a conversion. If atheism came with mystical experiences it would indeed be a religion. To me being an atheist is about being practical, rational and skeptical.

So I’d say the term conversion to atheism or de-conversion from atheism would only apply as as a way of using familiar rhetoric of religious type to either be sarcastic or to create some commonality in terms when faced with a potentially religious audience. However as an atheist I would stay away from such rhetoric for fear of making my audience believe atheism is a religion. Had the term never been used with a religious connotation and truly mean what its Latin origins described, a move away from something, I would not oppose its accompanying the term atheism. As it is, there’s too much religious baggage behind it to allow it to taint discussion of atheism.

Fun fact, when asking google to define “religious conversion,” those at the Church of Google suggest that we look up “religious conversion and terrorism.”

Tags: atheism, conversion, Religion, rites

In Oct. I reported that Illinois Atheist Rob Sherman and his daughter Dawn filed suit in U.S. District Court to challenge the constitutionality of the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act, that requires state schools to observe a moment of silence each day.

Nov. 14, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ordered the superintendent of the Illinois State Board of Education not to enforce the act. According to Chicago Tribune:

“Gettleman issued the preliminary injunction Wednesday for District 214, finding that a new statute mandating the pause is too vague and may violate the 1st Amendment.”

The act was criticized as a way to establish prayer into public schools under the guise of “meditation.” Despite lawmakers’ claims the act was not introduced for religious reasons, the name of the act purposefully lists prayer as one of the activities thus legalized.

After yesterday’s judge order, Sherman wittily stated,

“It seems to me that the judge has indicated that this law doesn’t have a prayer.”

Tags: atheism, education, prayer, Religion

About two weeks ago I wrote about an unexpected way to finding a wii console at a Sears store down the street.

Since, I’ve noticed the press on how the wii consoles are scarce, sellers are getting highly creative at ripping consumers off and parents are having fights over those last-in-stock consoles in stores.

Start with the Nintendo list of retailers.

After that, call brick and mortar stores. If you have called stores in your area and came up empty-handed, you may want to try the Yahoo Buyer’s Guide, which today showed the Wii in-stock at Walmart.

In the UK try the Wii Stock Updates or the Wii Stock Checker.

If you still find yourself without a Wii try some of the multiple sweepstakes or give-away events that seem to pop-up all over the place these days.

Amazon.com will randomly select customers to receive Wii consoles at a discount on Nov. 22. The Customers Vote program has started today, and it involves customers voting amongst specific items, including the Wii, PS3, and XBox and returning to the site on a specific day to see if they were randomly selected to receive the item they voted for at a discounted price.

Comedy Central teamed up with Nintendo and Scion to give away 48 hourly prize packages which will include a Wii console and a Garmin(R) nuvi(R) 200:

From Thursday, November 22 through Sunday, November 25, COMEDY CENTRAL will air 48 hours of mixed programming to celebrate the network’s “‘Ving Break.” Viewers need to stay tuned because a different code will appear every hour, giving fans a chance to register and win 48 hourly prize packages and a shot at the grand prize. By logging on to www.thanxgiveaway.com and visiting the COMEDY CENTRAL Thanxgiveaway sitelet, viewers will enter the codes thus becoming eligible for all prizes. Sweeps entry ends December 2.

So, happy shopping!

Tags: gaming, Nintendo, shopping, wii

BlackSun commented yesterday on the news that Ga Governor would hold an open call for prayer on the steps of the capitol. The prayer was to be for rain.

“What Sonny Perdue is accomplishing with this (either uber-cynical or mind-bendingly stupid) stunt is the diversion of attention of citizens from their own accountability–for the dunce governor they elected, bad water infrastructure decisions over decades, and for the continued cheating and waste of now-scarce water by Georgians,” writes BlackSun.

In the irreverent anti-religious tradition of Skepticum, let me put a more entertaining spin on this. I’d prefer, instead of boring capitol prayers, that we do an old Eastern European ceremony, that involves skimpily dressed virgins, wet t-shirts and lots of dancing. I’ll admit that religious rituals are more fun than atheism in certain instances, especially when they involve dancing and naked people.

In the Romanian agrarian rite of Paparuda, young women are nude or dressed in rags covered in leaves, and are paraded dancing through the village, while older women throw water on them. This Summer-time rite is meant to function as a fertility ritual to bring about rain and help the crops grow.

What better way than to bring prayer and wet t-shirt contests into one? It would probably provide more entertainment than such a poor excuse for irresponsible entitlement as displayed by Perdue.

Tags: prayer, Religion, ritual

Here’s an update on blogging tools and changes at Skepticum:

Things that Rock:

Tumblr: I added my Light the Atheist Fire tumblr log in the sidebar. I write quick notes on there primarily because it’s easy to tumblog from a handheld. The address is skepticum.tumblr.com .
Blogging via SMS: I signed up with letmeparty.com so I can post to the blog via text messages. I’ve tested this service and it works well (SMS technology limitations aside). This is one project worth supporting.

SEO: Site’s getting good readership numbers and good subscription numbers. SEO is rocking and within a month organic search traffic went up by 300%. The big contributor is All in One SEO.
I eliminated the following:

Blogrush–I’ve had enough of Christian junk, so blugrush is out, for good this time.

Java-heavy scripts: I tested one by one different scripts that might cause page load problems and took out the ones that increased page load times.

Useless and buggy plugins: I removed plugins that were rarely used or that caused site to load slowly, such as polls, Amazon showcase plugin &others .

Upgrades:

WP 2.3.1 upgrade went well with a couple of problems listed below. I also upgraded a number of plugins such as All in One SEO.

Problems:

Since upgrading to 2.3.1 I’m not getting email notifications for comments. Also, some comments get marked as spam, so if you don’t see your comment and you’re not trying to spam this blog find my email on the contact page and let me know.

Blogrolling is still not listing/pinging my site. So I rarely ever show on the Atheist Blogroll as *new* anymore. If you look below you’ll see I still write. If you want to be notified of new posts please subscribe via RSS.

Technorati has been annoying me, either by not loading my favorites or not updating my favorites regularly, so I moved all my favorites to an RSS reader. It was interesting to find that at least 2 of my favorites did not have an RSS feed…

Tags: blogging, mobile, rss, seo, SMS, tumblr, wordpress

Quizrocket.com features a religion test that promises to tell you which religion is best suited for you. The test surprised me by asking 3 very interesting questions:

• Gender
• Birth date
• Zip code

I find it very interesting the quiz asked for age but instead of allowing one to enter age it forces a field to fill in birth date. And how would the zip code be relevant outside of the US? I’d say the questions were asked for statistical reasons only, if they weren’t introduced with statements such as, “The search for the right religion can be a long one. How old are you?”

I got even more suspicious when I saw a paid ad on google for this quiz. So I decided to test it out and see if my suspicions were valid.

I didn’t get to see the prescribed religion, but I did get proof for my hypothesis that this quiz is a ploy to collect data for potential proselytizing purposes.

Why else would I be asked to provide name and home address to receive the results of the test?

It’s also very revealing of the subtle, yet aggressive campaigns organized religions employ to increase their tithe paying flock. And the more tithe payers the more money to buy google ads.

Tags: atheism, christian, church, proselytizing, Religion

A recent study from University of Virginia found that consensual sex at a young age is not a predictor of juvenile delinquency.

The new study debunks Ohio State research released in Feb. that claimed youngsters who lose their virginity at an early age are more likely to become juvenile delinquents than their peers who didn’t lose their virginity at a young age. This study was used by abstinence-only proponents to strengthen their message.

“Educators wanting a piece of the nation’s $200 million “abstinence only” budget must adhere to a curriculum that links sex to delinquency and explicitly precludes discussion of contraception.”

The new study, which is hailed to be more rigorous than its predecessor because it uses behavioral genetics (studies on twins), makes teaching that there is a link between sexual behavior and juvenile delinquency unethical and scientifically incorrect.

Tags: abstinence, delinquency, science, sex

Since my publishing of a series of “Irreverent Halloween” posts, which started with Take Halloween Back from Christians, my blog scored more pro-Christian comments than atheist comments. I’m not complaining, but the large volume prohibited me from properly answering some of the more interesting statements. So here are the top five jaw-dropping, did-she-just-say-that comments, that are too priceless to not discuss:

1. The demonic testimony:

“demons do exist; I was formerly demon-possessed (no my head didn’t spin around) so I know first hand. If you read the New Testament with an open mind, God will show you that it’s the truth.”

There is nothing more powerful to a Christian than testimony, in this case counter-testimony, as in, god must exist because demons exist, and I know because I was possessed by one.

The unanswered question remains, if god is great, why is he not protecting believers and those in faithful families from possession? All possession stories come out of believing circles. Doctors, scientists and non-believers do not appear to have ever been possessed. What ever could protect this latter group from possession by demons?

That was a rhetorical question…

2. The “atheism is religion” counter-attack:

“From what I read, you find your peace in science, which is your god as well, and your religion. If there was no faith in God, you couldn’t be called an atheist today. Why do you rely so much on science? Isn’t it the science that creates monsters? Isn’t it science that “finds” today a cure for a disease which tomorrow proves to be poison? Science….faith in a religion….it’s all the same to me, when it is brought to fanatism.”

There’s nothing more entertaining than playing a game of get-to-know-you. But unless we’re playing charades I think it’s wise to stay away from telling people that because they find peace in something, it would make that something their god. Lately I’ve been finding peace in playing Wii, does that make Wii my god?

Science is not my god, science is no one’s god. It may be someone’s major preoccupation, but chances are those who respect and understand science don’t attribute supernatural properties to science. Also, I can’t think of any monsters that science created, but I can think of a few created by people. Or rather, people turn their own selves into monsters, and many of these monsters came about as an aftermath of religious fanaticism. It is sad that many hide their choices, good or bad, underneath the umbrela of entities outside of themselves. With a few exceptions most humans are personally responsible for the consequences of their actions, and blaming mom, or dad, or a religion, or lack of a religion does not excuse humans from being accountable.

Also I’m pretty sure Marx said “religion is the opiate of the masses” not science, so science creating poison is a new thing to me. Cures that were cures but then stop working were never cures at all, and whoever claimed they were cures, was either lying or delusional, neither being a commandment of the ‘church of science.’ However, people do lie and suffer from delusions.

3. The “God has a plan” spin:

“It really isn’t like the cartoons- a little devil on one shoulder and God on the other- the Big Guy is all-powerful, He could/will/does take Satan down. He also hardens some hearts so that His purposes might be filled. In the end, I don’t know what His ultimate plan is, I don’t know who “will come to the Father through Christ”, but He has called me to share my story and my beliefs.”

If all other arguments fail, just say, “I don’t know what god’s plan is, but I know he has one.” This statement is usually accompanied by a visual like the cartoon one above. As in, let me explain this to you in a way you’ll get–ah, I know! I’ll use a cartoon metaphor, because an atheist such as you can’t possible get anything more complex than that.

Let me break this news to you, atheists know that the cartoon metaphor presenting the dualism between the devil and the angel is nothing but an illustration for the struggle between good versus evil. We don’t actually take that literally.

4. The pseudo-science argument

“Well the DNA is made of molecules, and evolution says random mutations and natural selection is what put us here. Mutation is nothing more than movement of molecules isnt it not? Random DNA mutation means the DNA encoded itself, now thats akin to accidentally generating a 128 bit encryption algorithm, and simultaneously randomly generating the decryption algorthm. Nobody would believe that can ever happen, yet this is what evolutionsts wants us to believe that DNA encoding and decoding procedures (algorithms) were randomly created.”

This comment was so wickedly bad, I did reply to it the following way:

“When you talk about molecules moving I instantly think of Chris Rock talking about pimped-up rims–”they’re spinnin’, they’re spinnin’…”

I’m also seeing the potential that you’re just making fun of creationists here by impersonating all the inane arguments I’ve ever seen brought against science and evolution. I can’t honestly believe you are serious when you say, “Mutation is nothing more than movement of molecules isnt it not?”

Bad grammar aside, and in case I am wrong, and you are serious, the answer is NO. Genetic mutation is not movement of molecules. It’s not about the rims “spinnin’ and spinnin’.”

“Mutation is a permanent change in the DNA sequence that makes up a gene. Gene mutations occur in two ways: they can be inherited from a parent or acquired during a person’s lifetime. Mutations that are passed from parent to child are called hereditary mutations or germline mutations (because they are present in the egg and sperm cells, which are also called germ cells). This type of mutation is present throughout a person’s life in virtually every cell in the body.”

5. The apocalypse prediction:

“See what evolution is doing to us, this stupid evolution crap is going to be the cause of the end of this world. ONLY GOD KNOWS how people can believe that we came into existence by random movements of molecules.”

Yep, only god knows how some believe mutation comes from random movement of molecules, or how that’s going to lead to the end of the world.

Tags: atheism, creationism, evolution, hell, monsters, Religion, science

The Golden Compass has been a best seller book in the ten years since it was first published, but with the upcoming release of the movie the Golden Compass the Catholic League released a statement to call the book, “atheism for children.” They also claim, “the trilogy, His Dark Materials, [of which Golden Compass is the first book] was written to promote atheism and denigrate Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism.”

In a Nov. 2 Today interview, Pullman responded,

“I always mistrust people who tell us how we should understand something. They know better than we do what the book means, or what this means, and how we should read it and whether we should read it or not. I don’t think that’s democratic, I prefer to trust the reader.”

What is the main concern of the Catholic League, in Bill Donohue’s words?

If unsuspecting Christian parents take their children to see the movie, they may very well find it engaging and then buy Pullman’s books for Christmas. That’s the problem.

Clearly the problem is with the book, but to stop sales of the book (for Christmas in particular) Donohue wants the movie boycotted. As if censoring one thing would eliminate the existence of the other.

The difference between the two men’s statements is that Donohue wants censorship and Pullman believes in the freedom to read and interpret information as one wishes. Donohue implies parents aren’t able to discern, that boycotting the movies is the right way to stop parents from buying their children the book. Pullman on the other hand trusts that the readers will draw from the book their own learnings. And that’s the difference between censorship and freedom–the former assumes a one-size-fits-all impact of information, plus inability of the audience to self-discern and prescribes formulaic elimination of such information, whereas the latter allows the ability for all to discern on their own accord how, when and why they consume the information.

As for the claims the book is anti-Catholic, Donohue broadcasts his paranoid interpretations once more. The Golden Compass describes a world lead by a a highly politicized church, that has accrued enormous power, which is being used to less than positive ends. Which makes one wonder why “big bad church” rings a bell with Donohue.

However, Pullman distances his book from religious debate and touches on the core ideas in his writing, such as democracy and freedom, as opposed to tyranny.

The qualities that the books celebrate are those such as kindness, love, courage and courtesy too. And intellectual curiosity. All these good things. And the qualities that the books attack are cold-heartedness, tyranny, close-mindedness, cruelty, the things that we all agree are bad things. (…) It doesn’t matter to me whether people believe in God or not, so I’m not promoting anything of that sort. What I do care about is whether people are cruel or whether they’re kind, whether they act for democracy or for tyranny, whether they believe in open-minded enquiry or in shutting the freedom of thought and expression.

Tags: atheism, catholic league, catholicism, censhorship, christianity, freedom, Golden Compass, Pullman, Religion

For weeks now I’ve been browsing the web trying to find an affordable and most importantly, available Wii console. You see, a few weeks back my best friend got me addicted to Dance Dance Revolution. No, I’m not 12, but I am a sucker for those kinds of active challenges. Ever since then I’ve been obsessing over which console I should buy so that I can feed my addiction.

I am a web marketer IRL and I will confess, I live by the web. I buy most everything online, including groceries when I can (Peapod rules). I do buy clothes from stores but only when I’m in Minnesota, as I found they have a great sense of fashion, available sweaters year-round and 0% tax on clothing. Cook County, which includes Chicago has a 9% sales tax, and there are ongoing tax discussions to raise tax to 11%. No, I didn’t type that wrong. 11% is what the politicians in the area are discussing. So you can’t blame me that I think twice before buying anything from the stores around here.

Back to the Wii. My search ended today. As I said, I looked all over the web, and the only sites that advertise Wii “in stock” are sites I’ve never heard of. Also, they advertise these wii packages for about $360, which is about $100 more than the retail price.

In my confidence that the web rules all other means of trade, I didn’t think to look in stores. Until postifthen recommended calling a store.

I looked at the Nintendo Wii website and saw Sears is a Wii retailer. Wouldn’t you know it, the Sears store down the street from me had one in stock. Even the store clerk was shocked.

Wiiiiii!

Update:

Since I first published this post I found additional creative ways to find a Wii.

Which reminds me, this is the second week in a row where I experience the disconnect between online and brick and mortar stores. Last week I needed a fog machine and I checked the website of a Halloween store. The site told me there were no fog machines available in the stores within my zip code, but they did offer rush shipping (at extra cost) from their warehouse. I needed a fog machine that day so in my desperation I went to Walmart (I think Walmart is like the jesus of stores, we all look to it for salvation), after also seeing on their website that “this item is not available in stores.” I found the fog machine at Walmart… but I couldn’t check it out. The SKU wasn’t in their system… Discouraged I left Walmart and noticed the before-mentioned Halloween store across the street. I decided to give it a try and not only did they have a fog machine, they had two different kinds!

So I think that in this day an age even though the expectation is that retailers would integrate their stock-tracking software with their online platforms and front-ends, many companies aren’t all that well integrated, including large retailers such as Sears.

So if you can’t find a Wii online, and websites tell you they’re out of stock, dust off your phone and call those good-old brick and mortar stores. Who knows, you may find a Wii that didn’t get sold because people like me put all their faith in the power of the web.

Tags: Best Buy, console, dance-dance-revolution, electronics, gaming, nintendo wii, Sears, shopping, video-games, wii, wii-console