Unfounded: Jews in Egypt

My internship required me to research and write a history of Egypt. While doing this I came across the fact that there is no evidence (other than what's in the Bible) for the Biblical tales of Jews in Egypt. Another reason I started researching this is earnest was a roommate’s claims that some guy had found Noah’s Ark, the Red Sea Crossing, and a whole lot of other biblical sites. The problem with Ron Wyatt is he was not an archaeologist and could make no real claims to substantiate his finds. He’s been denounced by scientific communities as well as most religious groups. Evangelical Christians love this guy, which explains why that particular roommate was so excited.

The reason this belief has been accepted as true comes from a book called Against Apion by Josephus Flavius.[1] In this book he cites a passage from the book Aegyptica by Manetho,[2] who was a historian during the Ptolemaic Dynasty, talking about the Hyksos. Josephus mistranslated Hyksos to “shepherd kings,” (which I guess is a reference to Jews) it actually means “rulers of foreign land.”

The Hyksos came in during the Second Intermediate Period (1664–1555  BCE)[3] of Egyptian history, ruled for a little over 100 years, and were the 13-15^th Dynasties.[4] They were invaders from a foreign land and managed to conquer most of Egypt. By the end of the 15^th Dynasty the Hyksos were defeated by the 17^th Dynasty (made up of Theban Egyptians) and were allowed to retreat.[5] This retreat could possibly be interpreted as The Exodus if the dates weren't off. The Exodus is dated to be around 1440 BCE,[6] or 1200-1250 BCE.[7] The Hyksos were around from 1664–1555 BCE.

If new evidence comes around and proves it cool, I will add a disclaimer to this post. As it currently stands the historicity of this section of the Bible is laughable. 

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Footnotes do not transition between Word and Blogger too well, sorry.

[1] Josephus, The Life. Against Apion (Loeb Classical Library), Harvard University Press, 1976.

[2] Unfortunately there are no surviving copies of this book. Against Apion cites it, and there are fragments left.

[3] http://www.oxfordreference.com.hal.weber.edu:2200/view/10.1093/acref/9780195102345.001.0001/acref-9780195102345-e-0328?rskey=MVJrga&result=1

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] This is according to Rabbinic Judaism.

[7] By Biblical scholar William F. Albright

Advise to those moving out

An Atheist, a Mormon, and a Pentecostal all decide to live together, stop me if you've heard this one before.

That actually has nothing to do with this post, I just thought it sounded like the beginning to a corny joke. So, I've been living with a kid (the Pentecostal) for the past semester. He's never not lived at home, and he's lacking in some areas. I'll use him as an example of what not to do when you move in with two other people that you don't know, or do know. Alternatively, if you want to be a complete dick to your future roommates, do everything I say not to do and you're sure to piss someone off. Oh, and mother, I get the dish washing thing. I really do.

1. Learn to wash your dishes. This is a relatively easy skill to learn, especially if you've ever had a job in food services. Setting them in the sink after using them is a no-no. At the very least you should try to use the water to get most of the junk off, and, if you're brave, get some soap up in there and actually clean it off completely. You can then either A. put them on a drying rack if you have one or B. (preferred) actually put them in the dishwasher. It ain't hard.
2. Washing all the dishes. This one gets tricky. You're at the sink, washing your dishes and you notice there are some from your roommates. This is a good time to earn karma with your roommates, so they don't cut you off from the internet or something equally devious. Odds are is that they have done this for you (in my case EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.) and it's a nice way to return the favor, or be a genuinely nice person. Follow step 1 for this and you'll be living with some happy people.
3. Clean up after yourself. This is a skill usually taught right out of the womb. I have a hard time with people who haven't mastered it after 21 years of life. This step is extremely important if you're sharing a room with someone. When you can see a dividing line between your side and the other persons, you've got a problem. All you have to do is put laundry in the laundry basket, trash in the trash can, and keep your area looking somewhat organized. I don't think that its very difficult, but I could be wrong.
4. Be courteous, especially at night. Everyone has a different sleeping schedule, and you should respect that. I'm a night owl, but that doesn't mean everyone else is. After a certain time you should tone your voice, TV, movie, or whatever else you happen to be doing down out of respect for your roommates. Alternatively, wake up when your alarm goes off instead of letting it go off at 5 minute intervals for half an hour. 
5. Get off your high-horse. This can refer to many things, but in this case I'm talking about building up your pathetic attempts at cleaning. So, lets say that your dishes have been getting washed by magic for over three months. Then, one time, you decide to do the dishes. First of all, holy shit, really? You really did them? Oh wait, you washed your own and a couple of others and didn't even put them in the drying rack or dishwasher. Shut up. Right now, cause you're going to have a problem. When your apartment has been getting cleaned by "magic" it really hasn't and you're a stupid person. Doing the dishes half-assed one time does not compare. When your roommates have been asking you to pitch in and you finally do in the last few days of living together it just makes you a dick. If this had happened at the beginning of your time together it would be appreciated, but you talk it up like you're the best thing in the world and attempt to make it more than it is. At this point you're no longer worth the air you breath.

Phew! I may have gotten a little angry there at the end, sorry about that. There they are, the 5 easy steps that will ensure your survival moving out and into the world. You can guess who won't be getting the internet for his last few days with us!

A series to try out

This past month I blazed through the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. There are currently 14 books out, ranging from 250ish to 450ish pages each. It's set in Chicago, and the main character is Harry Dresden, Wizard, as his Yellowpages ad declares. He's a smart-alec who gets the crap kicked out of him every book, and between books as well. He occasionally helps out Chicago PD when they have something they can't explain. Despite their constant exposure to the magical world most of them remain woefully ignorant of it.

I haven't been exposed to much urban fantasy, and I think he's done a (mostly) good job of it. My problems come from the randomly interjected sex (on one occasion it turns into BDSM ). It stands out because it feels like I'm reading a book that's somewhere between young-adult and adult fantasy with the occasional swearing. The other problem I have is there is little to no character development until book 12 of the series. Maybe Butcher is going for an extremely stubborn character who refuses to change even his basic habits, but I don't like it. There are a lot of cool ideas in the series as well, such as the Knights of the Cross and the Denarians.

Is it worth reading? Pick up the first few books, it'll take a day or two to get through them and see if you enjoy it. I didn't mind them and I got through the series in about 3 weeks. Next up will be the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. 

Vape On

I vape.

I love it.

The media has been out to get the users of vaporizers, e-cigs, electronic cigarettes, death sticks, etc., etc. Almost none of what they (anti-vaporizer/e-cig people) are saying is true, although we do look like futuristic bounty hunters. Take this article from Huffington Post. I tore my eyes out reading it.

1. E-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals. 
• False. E-juice contains propylene glycol,  vegetable glycerin, flavoring, and nicotine (optional). The juices come in a varying degrees of mixtures and flavors. All of these are FDA approved food-grade items.  
2. Kids and teens can buy them. 
• Kids can by cigarettes, which are even worse for you. Kids can by alcohol. When I was a kid I would buy highly flammable liquids to burn things with. This is a stupid point. 
3. Marketing to children. 
• Have you ever heard of Prime Times? They're flavored cigarettes, with flavors like cinnamon, wild berry, vanilla, etc.  You can make this argument with anything, what it comes down to is people like good flavors, regardless of age.
4. Lack of laws and regulation.
• This is the only valid point the entire article makes. They're right, it isn't regulated, yet. I'm all for regulation, and the community has done a wonderful job regulating itself. Recently there was a study that caused a scare. People testing cinnamon flavoring found dangerous levels of cytotoxins in it. MtBakerVapor.com, the store I buy from, pulled the cinnamon flavored juices off the market until smarter people showed how testers did the study wrong (using concentrates, not using a vaporized form, etc.).
5. E-cigarettes can be used in many places where smoking is banned.
• It comes down to secondhand on this, and it's almost irrelevant. Weber State has it posted on most of the buildings now, and I'm sure other places will soon. Besides, wouldn't you rather smell a wonderful aroma rather than burning tobacco? 
6. People think e-cigarettes can help them quit smoking.
• Not only do people think this, but are proving it true every day. I've never smoked a cigarette, so I can't tell you my remarkable quitting story, but if you look you can find hundreds, if not thousands of people who have quit thanks to vaporizers. 
7. E-cigarettes aren't taxed like traditional tobacco products.
• There's no "sin" tax, yet. I don't think there should be one either. Why tax something that helps more than harms? (Shameless plug for marijuana legalization)
8. Despite unknown health consequences, e-cigarettes are poised to make inroads with a new generation of young people.
• Absolutely. This is far better than the cigarettes, which past generations have dealt with. This is a wonderful technology that will help countless amounts of people.

There has been no research about the long-term effects, but the vaping community will welcome it, rather than hide it and cause harm to generations. The second studies show that it's harmful I'll be done with it and so will many others. It's just too good to demonize, as many people who have quit smoking by vaping can tell you. 

There ya have it. I love vaping, it's helped (and is still helping) me with some of the problems I face, on top of making me look like I'm from the future (although I use a Provari, not an e-cig). Feel free to ask questions and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.  

Celebration Post!

It's been a long five weeks without a computer. I've been stuck on my tablet for far too long. So, to celebrate the wonderful return of my laptop I humbly offer you a very brief history of Afghanistan.


Remains of early humans found in the region now known as Afghanistan date back 50,000 years; people have been fighting over it ever since.