The Planet - April 21, 2013

American Angst

The Boston Marathon bombing has troubled the perceptions of many. Though there's been a sane discussion on the sitehere, the news of that day was filled with false reports and ridiculous speculation. CNN decided they had the scoop; "a man with dark skin was arrested."  Though retracted, for part of the day the thought that was implanted in white America's head was once again be afraid of the dark skinned human. While commentators backed off the "arrest," they still left us thinking for hours that yes, another possible terrorist attack had occurred.

Though know one knows the why yet, endless speculation produces useless distraction for people with nothing better to do. Get a life.

Glenn Beck's faithful are waiting for Monday, when their favorite clown will once again delve into conspiracy nonsense. Useless, except as an example of how simple minds don't work, Beck explains how the injured Saudi student is part of the Muslim Brotherhood who is working in cahoots with the Saudi government and secret Muslim Barack Obama. Time to try impeaching the president once again.

Though foolhardy, this man makes money by deceiving the public. Rhetoric like this should be compared to the old example of yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater. We all know that a small percentage of Americans will believe anything, and more than likely they own a few firearms and know how to use them. This type of nonsense endangers all of us.

Beck wasn't the only one of course. Initial responses from Red State, Pamela Gellar and the New York Post, all blamed Muslims for the attack. Possibly the worst was FOX pretend news commentator Erik Rush tweeting about Muslims;  "Yes, they're evil. Let's kill them all." 

Basically all the current media fools jumped on the bandwagon with horribly inaccurate comments.

Gun Groupies

Even thought slightly buried by the bombing in Boston news, the failed bill to make background checks necessary before one can purchase a gun should remain firmly in the public eye. There have been many responses to the failed legislature, but once again the comedy channel has the only shows that make you realize how inane the debate is.

Stewart and Colbert in recent weeks have brought up the following thoughts. When it comes to magazine size, a conservative, (paraphrased), response was "why ten, why not nine or eleven?" Insinuating that any limits would seem to be haphazard at best. The response from the Comedy Central titans was something to the effect of "Yeah, why set a speed limit at seventy, why not sixty or eighty?" Why? Because you guys were all elected to make laws and that is what laws do, set limits. If you don't want to make laws, why are you in the legislature?

Even better, Stewart's response to the argument that "stopping legal citizens from purchasing guns won't stop criminals from getting them." What an odd response by conservatives. The thought that any type of even minor gun laws being passed is "criminals will still get guns why law abiding citizens cannot." Well, criminals steal, kill, etc., and we have laws for that. Maybe anarchy is what they are promoting. No laws on anything? Back to the speed limit analogy, screw that 70 mile an hour speed limit, criminals don't obey it. Press the pedal to the metal and drive spectacularly!

No matter. No laws protecting the populace will have any support from our elected Representatives. Senators and Congressmen who only take orders from people with deep pockets, and only pretend to listen to you when they need a vote.

The Planet - April 4, 2013

The Mad Skills Of Mighty Mortals

We are Mighty Mortals, and we are Mad. The "mighty" part is easy. We breathe, drink and eat, ignoring the final moment of our meandering lives. With mad skills we debate, we love, we friend; for most of us, we have no real fears. If there is fear, that experience is provocatively engineered; keeping us distracted, keeping us worried, keeping us busy. We exhort the subject matter of the day like there is no tomorrow where we will end. Working, playing, loving, laughing; no worries for us. Squabbling like children at the playground, too many of us never grow, never mature. We play games with life so we feel alive.

Yet none of this has anything to do with reason or thought, which is why our skills are so mad.

Mad skills belong to the preacher, who distracts thoughts of reason with platitudes and lies. Befuddling our minds with nonsense, a dream that our minds relate to. A falsity of why and where we are, a mind numbing diatribe of foolishness that keeps our minds off of our short existence. Keeping progress under lock and key, keeping us at odds with our humanity as we kill for nothing but a figment of our imaginations. A skill so depraved that it enslaves our children's minds so no future exists that embraces peace, only poverty enslavement and death. Exchanging kindness and love with depraved righteousness. A skill so demonstrable, that humans kill not only others, but themselves. In acts of either madness, or sacredness, depending on the storyteller, we destroy instead of build.

Mighty mortals latch on to their favorite religion. Never minding that they believe every other religion is phony; because theirs is different, it is real.

We insist that our grand scheme of life forever is better than all the others. In religion, in everything. At a friends house, I am corralled into watching one of the many reality shows that clog up the airwaves. We know they're made up drama and scripted and have nothing to do with reality, yet he says no, this isn't like the others, this one is different. It is the best. Well, no it isn't. It's the same nonsense. Just like your religion is the same nonsensical crap that wounds other lands. None of it is great or real in any sense.

Mad skills of imagination we do have.

Mad skills belong to the politician, who warps the events of the day. Who can change the mind of a constituent with a well turned phrase. Who can take a subject that we all agree upon, and make it seem as if there's a needed opposing view. Who can anger the masses with a sly twist of words, who can move their nation into a direction that no citizen really wants. Riches and fame, not statesmanship, is the goal of the governing party. Only self enrichment matters, you do not.

What mighty mortals we let them become. We can't tell the difference anymore. Your local politicians might as well be the newest and greatest advertised fitness regime. There is nothing there that is special, nothing different, nothing needed. The expectations of grandeur never are realized, yet it is forgotten in a moment. Here's the next greatest ruler, the next better mousetrap; here for your perusal and consumption.

You will like it.

Do we have atheist conmen as well? I'm sure there are nonbelievers aplenty taking what the rubes willingly give. What mightier mortal is there than one who knows reality, and takes advantage of those who do not. How simple to copy the prose of a preacher to fill your pockets. It does take work, but is only a puzzle that the mind begs to solve. To live knowing only one life exists, to enjoy it to the the fullest by taking what is others; this would seem to be an avenue that probably has been, and perhaps, possibly should be, travelled.

Atheism doesn't seem to say much when you think about it. One point, and one point only; the supernatural does not exist. It doesn't tell us to live a moral life. It doesn't tell us what we ought to be doing. That one point may hopefully lead to a better human, but what if it does not?

Critical thinking and philosophy seem to focus more on what we should be, instead of what we are not.

The mad skills of mighty mortal atheists might need more focus. We know what is, but do we know what can be? Will only not believing really change anything?