Friday, August 17, 2012

A Bad Turn to the Right

I disagree with President Barack H Obama for many reasons. We spend too much money and forfeit too many lives on imperialist conquests overseas in places where the US flag doesn't belong. During Obama's reign, major banks and corporations continue to cheat and steal every penny they can just to make a few CEO's hyper-rich.  The justice system has all but declared open warfare on black men -- jails are crowded with African-Americans who couldn't afford good lawyers or pay to find fair and impartial judges. The Planet earth's environment is swirling down the toilet while we continue to poison the air, rape the land, and build walled mansions for the one percenters.

Of course, I am not the leader of the still most prosperous nation on the planet.  I don't have to live under a microscope while every poop and splash I make is  dissected and analyzed. I don't have to compromise my morals just to allow a tiny glimmer of  sanity to shine and perhaps light a path to a better world. I am not the commander-in-chief of a gigantic military comprised of loyal men and women who only seek to serve their country while risking their lives.

Yes, even though I may disagree with many of President Obama's policies, I am truly horrified by what the conservative right is doing.  It is so blatant, I get chills. Republicans seek to steal this country blind by fixing the game. People will be denied their right to vote. Only the poor and middle class will pay taxes. America will get involved in even more useless wars.  Women will lose their right to govern their own body. More prisons will be built to lock up  more black men and woman. The legal system will harshly punish anyone who makes less than a million dollars. Social security, healthcare, employment insurance will be on the auction block -- sold to the highest corporate bidder.

That  is the type of country that the political right wants. They don't care about people. The political right wingers are mostly rich  and white and male with the right connections and no conscious or caring for anyone not in their social class. The only hope to stop their madness is our power to get involve and to  protest and  to boycott and  to vote. But don't blindly vote for the reelection of President Obama because he is the only choice.  Let everyone running for office  know that you are voting for specific causes such as:
  • everybody pays their fair share of taxes including churches; 
  • school teachers are more important than basketball players; 
  • the earth is our only home and we need to protect it, vigorously; 
  • how we elect our public servants is desperately flawed and corrupt; 
  • we must stop the flood of money purchasing our mayors, senators and judges;
  • we must respect religious freedom including the freedom to NOT believe;
  • guns must be tightly regulated--gun offenders must be treated harshly;
  • build fewer prisons and fund more community colleges; and
  • open a diagloue where all people can discuss their problems and find solutions to help us all.

 Also, lighten up. I may disagree with Obama but in my heart  of hearts, I hope that Obama's heart is in the right place even if his head may be on a slightly different plane.


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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Jesus on a Dinosaur

Frankly, other than for funerals or weddings, I don't go to church. I have many friends and family who are avid church goers. I love them and wish them well while politely turning down their requests to join them for worship services. Church is not always bad, it is just not right for me.  I believe that some churches actually benefit our communities. Many church leaders are sincere and hardworking souls.  They put people first and religion second and politics a distant third. If you took away the holy books, these people would still do good for the world. They would feed the hungry, help heal the sick, and prepare a better future for our children.

However, there is an aspect  of religion that truly frightens me. Fanaticism exists in all organized movements and there is too much evil in our various religions. I define "evil" as hatred against our fellow beings and the planet. There are people who  rabidly adhere to the notion that their god is the only god and their beliefs are the only beliefs that people should follow. They will kill and destroy for that belief. I doubt that God really cares which day we go to church or how much money we donate to the preacher or which president we vote for. 

Yet despite these ills, most disturbing to me is the lack of intellectual curiosity that conflicts with established doctrine. There is a  movement in America that promotes "anti-thought" and downgraded education.  Dystopia is a word that science fiction writers would use to describe what may be happening to our world. (From my friend Wiki-- Dystopia:  a society, generally of a speculative future, characterized by negative, anti-utopian elements, varying from environmental to political and social issues.) 

Evil cannot overwhelm us if we are aware of it and take action. We need to expose the greedy charlatans in our churches, news media, congresses, and businesses.  The world is not flat (but the Universe could be flat).  Education from elementary to post collegiate should be free to all people (pay teachers more money).  All religions have some good and some bad elements. Jesus never rode a dinosaur because the earth is more than 5,000 years old. Evolution is real and we are still learning to cope with our existence on a planet that is heating up as a result of our activities.

Creationist Museum: http://creationmuseum.org/

The Ark: http://arkencounter.com/

Interfaith Alliance: http://www.interfaithalliance.org/

Reason and Science: http://richarddawkins.net/

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Celebrations



In case you have been hiding under a rock, NASA and the United States of America have landed another robot on Mars.

 Is this a big event?

Yes!

Contrary to the misconceptions promoted by the political right, NASA is alive and doing well, and setting the organization's sights on higher goals. Almost every nation has a satellite or access to a satellite in low Earth orbit. Only the U.S.A. has a SUV cruising on the surface of Mars. Several countries are attempting to get back to the Moon. American spacecrafts have exited the solar system (any moment now) on their way to the stars.

There are oceans larger than the Pacific on bodies around the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. NASA and its partners have plans to "Go Fishing" there. And,  later, maybe capture an asteroid or two in the Asteroid Belt.

How does all this effect the price of a price of a dozen of eggs? $2.5 billion which includes spacecraft development, science investigations, and the cost of launch and operations has been injected into our economy. This is not money squandered in some rich playboy's offshore bank account. These are salaries paid to thousands of workers who made NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission possible.  Landing on Mars allows people on Earth to buy cereal and orange  juice and gasoline and  tuition to college for sons and daughters.

That is a good reason to celebrate. 

See NASA at: http://www.nasa.gov



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