http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1139969.html
Geeze people, don't be idiots. I'm not exactly a fan, but damn it, the man's birth certificate in Hawaii was proven legitimate several times over, *AND* even if he wasn't born on U.S. soil, so long as one parent is a U.S. citizen (I believe his mother was, not sure about his father) he's a natural born citizen of the U.S.
So the paranoid conspiracy people can all go bugger off. At least, on this issue. ACORN seems about as disturbing as Haliburton, but it seems all officials are corrupt, so doesn't matter what side you vote for, you get a different flavor of corruption is all.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
On Legalizing Cannabis
http://www.mpp.org/
I don't know why I didn't find out about this site before. It's great, and pretty much falls in line with a previous post I made on legalizing cannabis.
I don't know why I didn't find out about this site before. It's great, and pretty much falls in line with a previous post I made on legalizing cannabis.
Religious idiots
"This is why we can't have nice stuff."
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/07/local_creationists_texas_highe.php
I have heard some sound, fairly put forth ideas about religion being taught in a philosophy oriented class early in high school or even middle school. By religion of course I mean all major current world religions, including but not limited to the Judaic trio (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), Buddhism, and Hinduism, not just one view point. This would help with a deeper understanding of our own cultural history, as well as cultural differences with other countries.
But then I get reminded of how idiotic the creationist religious nut jobs can be. And how badly they want to push their agenda, *THEIR* world view of religion. And make no mistake, any creationist/Intelligent Design person is following a religious view point for the simple reason that there is not a single shred of evidence that there is an actual divine entity. Of any sort, let alone the particular flavor these people are pushing.
If you believe something with out any proof or evidence, and even more, if you believe stuff that directly contradicts existing proof and evidence, then you are religious. Or crazy. Though some would call them one and the same, and there are certainly times when I lean towards that.
Religion is not science. it can never be science, buy the simple fact that it is about believing something, no matter what truths might be presented to you. Aka, religious faith. None the less, creationist fanatics want to impose their will upon the young by teaching it as science, and here are demanding the right to give out scientific doctorates, when what they teahc has nothing to do with science.
I simply can't trust them enough to give them the proverbial inch of letting there be a semester of religion & philosphy, for fear they will try to use that to take the proverbial mile, and demand a better standing for their own particular religious view.
In the end, it's not my decision of course, but I can always hope my words will, through some convolution, influence some chain of people that might help keep the crazies away from deciding what should be taught in school.
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/07/local_creationists_texas_highe.php
I have heard some sound, fairly put forth ideas about religion being taught in a philosophy oriented class early in high school or even middle school. By religion of course I mean all major current world religions, including but not limited to the Judaic trio (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), Buddhism, and Hinduism, not just one view point. This would help with a deeper understanding of our own cultural history, as well as cultural differences with other countries.
But then I get reminded of how idiotic the creationist religious nut jobs can be. And how badly they want to push their agenda, *THEIR* world view of religion. And make no mistake, any creationist/Intelligent Design person is following a religious view point for the simple reason that there is not a single shred of evidence that there is an actual divine entity. Of any sort, let alone the particular flavor these people are pushing.
If you believe something with out any proof or evidence, and even more, if you believe stuff that directly contradicts existing proof and evidence, then you are religious. Or crazy. Though some would call them one and the same, and there are certainly times when I lean towards that.
Religion is not science. it can never be science, buy the simple fact that it is about believing something, no matter what truths might be presented to you. Aka, religious faith. None the less, creationist fanatics want to impose their will upon the young by teaching it as science, and here are demanding the right to give out scientific doctorates, when what they teahc has nothing to do with science.
I simply can't trust them enough to give them the proverbial inch of letting there be a semester of religion & philosphy, for fear they will try to use that to take the proverbial mile, and demand a better standing for their own particular religious view.
In the end, it's not my decision of course, but I can always hope my words will, through some convolution, influence some chain of people that might help keep the crazies away from deciding what should be taught in school.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Religion and fanatics
I try to keep myself open minded about religious faith and letting people believe what they choose, how ever unreasonable it may seem to me.
Then shit like this happens: http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2009/07/jury_hears_father_recount_fait.html
Their 15 month old daughter died because they counted on faith healing and did not seek out any medical advice at all.
I know that this sort of extreme religiousness is relatively rare, but this sort of willful, destructive sort of behavior in the name of God is what gets me riled up.Though what a given church encourages is usually milder, this is the core of what Religion asks of people: Blind devoted faith, belief in the unseen over proof, evidence, and fact. No matter how harmful that might be to yourself and your loved ones.
I find that sort of action and attitude outrageous, and insulting & demeaning when people ask me to shut off my intellect and believe wholly in something based entirely off of faith. So that is the basis of my issues with organized religions, they demand their followers to not use their brains and just be nice little mindless sheep and drones.
Then shit like this happens: http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2009/07/jury_hears_father_recount_fait.html
Their 15 month old daughter died because they counted on faith healing and did not seek out any medical advice at all.
I know that this sort of extreme religiousness is relatively rare, but this sort of willful, destructive sort of behavior in the name of God is what gets me riled up.Though what a given church encourages is usually milder, this is the core of what Religion asks of people: Blind devoted faith, belief in the unseen over proof, evidence, and fact. No matter how harmful that might be to yourself and your loved ones.
I find that sort of action and attitude outrageous, and insulting & demeaning when people ask me to shut off my intellect and believe wholly in something based entirely off of faith. So that is the basis of my issues with organized religions, they demand their followers to not use their brains and just be nice little mindless sheep and drones.
Friday, July 3, 2009
What Environmentalists shoudl really be looking at.
OK, so there are some things that many environmentalists don't seem to get. So let's see what's really environmentally sound.
1) Nuclear power. It's simple really, coal is horribly dirty, releases lots of mercury in the air. Nuclear waste (and I'm talking about the stuff that's truly dangerous, not the 'has been in a radioactive environment garbage' like radiation suits are considered after one use, etc) is not only small and easily containable, but can be recycled into more power via pebble bed reactors, and used until it has fissioned into non radioactive isotopes to keep producing electricity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP2oG0n4NLc
2) Buying Used 4 cylinder cars, not new hybrids/electrics. The amount of pollution that goes into making almost any new car is very, very high. The amount of pollution produced by a used 4 cylinder car that's simply kept tuned and in good working condition is low.
3) Buying antiques for furniture, vintage clothing at Estate sales and such. If it's at all feasible to wait and shop for it at some place that sells used, do so. Kitchen items? Estate sales and flee markets. Furniture? Antique shops, estate sales, sometimes garage sales or flea markets. Shop Craigslist, maybe Ebay. Every time you buy used instead of new, you help the environment. Even fur is fine to purchase Vintage, as the purchase does not increase or encourage the killing of animals. That money never goes to the original fur makers, and in some cases, said company might be out of business already.
4) Helping countries develop industrially is actually good for the environment. There is a short term increase in carbon emissions and such, but a properly industrialized country requires an educated populace, to keep up with the other modern countries. This combines with a push to spend time working, and both partners working, leading to a decrease in population growth over the long term, as well as greater interest by individuals to be environmentally sound. This develops into being better for the environment in the long term.
And I'm sure there's even more I'm missing. Think out of the box, in all things!
1) Nuclear power. It's simple really, coal is horribly dirty, releases lots of mercury in the air. Nuclear waste (and I'm talking about the stuff that's truly dangerous, not the 'has been in a radioactive environment garbage' like radiation suits are considered after one use, etc) is not only small and easily containable, but can be recycled into more power via pebble bed reactors, and used until it has fissioned into non radioactive isotopes to keep producing electricity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP2oG0n4NLc
2) Buying Used 4 cylinder cars, not new hybrids/electrics. The amount of pollution that goes into making almost any new car is very, very high. The amount of pollution produced by a used 4 cylinder car that's simply kept tuned and in good working condition is low.
3) Buying antiques for furniture, vintage clothing at Estate sales and such. If it's at all feasible to wait and shop for it at some place that sells used, do so. Kitchen items? Estate sales and flee markets. Furniture? Antique shops, estate sales, sometimes garage sales or flea markets. Shop Craigslist, maybe Ebay. Every time you buy used instead of new, you help the environment. Even fur is fine to purchase Vintage, as the purchase does not increase or encourage the killing of animals. That money never goes to the original fur makers, and in some cases, said company might be out of business already.
4) Helping countries develop industrially is actually good for the environment. There is a short term increase in carbon emissions and such, but a properly industrialized country requires an educated populace, to keep up with the other modern countries. This combines with a push to spend time working, and both partners working, leading to a decrease in population growth over the long term, as well as greater interest by individuals to be environmentally sound. This develops into being better for the environment in the long term.
And I'm sure there's even more I'm missing. Think out of the box, in all things!
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