Sunday, September 27, 2015

THE POLITICS OF EXTINCTION

Pope Francis has been in the States for the last few days, and although much of his message many of us may agree with, his is still a message of death. Although recognizing, and if at all possible, battling Climate Change is a message that resonates with a hopefully large number of atheists, it does not alleviate the path to extinction that the catholic church would like to take us down. 
Although conservative leaders did not welcome his messages on climate, wealth, refugees, etc.; they really enjoyed his life starts at conception spiel. The catholic church has been at the lead when it comes to the rights of cells. Apparently that is so much more important than the unknown number of children molested by priests; the church has still not made their records accessible to the government or the people. All internal, christian law. 
The Ordovician-Silurian extinction occurred about 439 million years ago due to a drop in sea levels as glaciers formed followed by rising sea levels as glaciers melted. During this extinction 25 percent of marine families and 60 percent of marine genera (the classification above species) were lost.
The pope's reluctance to bring up the many horrors that have been recently committed by the church, and his stance on women negates and overwhelms any good his message may contain. The anti-choice movement has its champion, and the world screams in anguish. Over 7 billion humans now hold sway over all life. Catholics have been in the forefront of the anti-choice terrorist movement, and the pope supports the terrorists.
The Late Devonian extinction took place somewhere around 364 million years ago. To this day its cause is unknown. However, evidence supporting the Devonian mass extinction suggesting that warm water marine species were the most severely affected in this extinction event, has lead many paleontologists to believe that an episode of global cooling, similar to the event which that may have resulted in the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction, may have lead to the Devonian extinction. Thus this theory suggests that the extinction of the Devonian was triggered by another glaciation event on Gondwana, which is evidenced by glacial deposits of this age in northern Brazil.
According to Earth Overshoot Day we used up what the earth produced on August 13, 2015. This means we are drawing down on the earth's principle instead of living on its interest, if economic models work for you. Basically we use more resources than the earth can produce. 
The Pope's desire to see humans needlessly propagate is an abomination; propagation is what animals do to keep their species alive, but it is not something they should be forced to do. To straddle teens who have an entire life ahead of them with the burden of raising offspring, to destroy a woman's life for the sake of the unborn, to deliver children into the misery of a life that cannot be sustained, is simply torture.
The Permian-Triassic extinction happened about 251 million years ago and was Earths worst mass extinction. 95 percent of all species, 53 percent of marine families, 84 percent of marine genera, and an estimated 70 percent of land species such as plants, insects and vertebrate animals were killed during this catastrophe. 
The anti-choice comments were applauded by our conservative congress. The anti-science crowd who cannot accept basic life sciences like evolution, who cannot understand climate science, who purposefully close their eyes and minds to reach an unsustainable goal of profit for the few and misery for the rest. These people really are not just a freethinker's enemy, they are the enemy of all life that exists on this planet.
The Chairman of the House Science Committee, Lamar Smith, cut NASA's earth science budget this year. Though he chairs a committee on science, he doesn't understand what science is. Ben Carson, one of our fine anti-science conservatives running to be president of the Unites States, thinks evolution is a fairy tale. A neurosurgeon who does not accept the basic life science that we have al benefitted from. Instead of science, we now used ideology as theory. This list goes on and on, the vast majority of conservative elected officials do not have our best interests at heart. 
The End Triassic extinction, taking place roughly 199 million to 214 million years ago, was most likely caused by massive floods of lava erupting from the central Atlantic magmatic province triggering the breakup of Pangaea and the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. This possibly contributed to global warming.
If you glance at the possible reasons for past extinctions, you'll notice that climate change has been a possible helping hand, or the main event, that drove countless species into extinction. Yet here we are, ignoring all the signs of another catastrophe. We are drowned out by a media that cannot explain what is happening in a soundbite so doesn't bother trying. The public seems to care less and less about anything science, unless it's a new way to kill, and that fault lies squarely on the confusing data being fed to them by the media. 
The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction occurred about 65 million years ago and is thought to have been aggravated, if not caused, by impacts of several-mile-wide asteroid that created the Chicxulub crater now hidden on the Yucatan Peninsula and beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Yet, some scientists believe that this mass extinction was caused by gradual climate change or flood-like volcanic eruptions of basalt lava from the Deccan Traps in west-central India. During this extinction, 16 percent of marine families, 47 percent of marine genera, and 18 percent of land vertebrate families including the dinosaurs.
Religious leaders, and politicians, are only looking out for their own welfare; senseless puppets in our new Oligarchy. These are the newest of the false prophets. They are living for today and not for eternal life. 
The Holocene extinction, sometimes called the Sixth Extinction, is a name proposed to describe the currently ongoing extinction event of species during the present Holocene epoch (since around 10,000 BCE) mainly due to human activity.
Humans may be on their way out. We have spread to the ends of the earth using resources as fast as we can. For the most part, we have no sense of the future. Our ideology and politics are driving us to extinction. Any that have even a minimal understanding of the ecological requirements for diversity, basic biology and life sciences, should be able to imagine a future that doesn't include life as we know it.
It was fun people. 

Sunday, September 20, 2015

CAUSE AND EFFECT

The con is on. The religious have rigged the game. The lies they spread and the lies they tell are shared by unknowing or uncaring friends and family. Deceit and confusion have always been useful tools for the god botherers. 
The anti-choice, anti-abortion crowd is growing, and daily protests around local Planned Parenthood facilities are common in most, if not all, cities. Sometimes those protests becomes acts of violence as the christian arm of terror commits unspeakable acts. That does grab nation-wide attention, but only for a moment. When you live in a country where mass murders are commonplace, it is apparently easy to forget any atrocity in a few days. 
There is one way to take the anti-choice movement to the next level, and that is through politics. The current threat to shutdown the American government is based on funding women's health. The proponents of the shutdown are politicians that consistently break the basic founding statement asserting the need for the separation of church and state.
Carly Fiorina grabbed the baton and ran for it on Thursday at the conservative primary debate. Her impassioned comments on the evils of Planned Parenthood brought tears to my eyes; not tears of compassion, but tears for the loss of reality in American dialogue. Where are the Statesmen? Apparently long gone. Carly gave us the image of a living human kicking and moving on a sterile table while medical personnel talked about harvesting the supposed child's brains. All caught on video, a video that she dared her possible liberal opponents to watch.
Unfortunately for her, people did watch and concluded that what she was saying was nothing more than a fabrication of her imagination. But that doesn't matter, she relayed this fantasy to over 25 million Americans. How many can be reached with the truth? Not enough. 
In this country, the religious have the upper hand because they run for local office. They run to become school board members, small town council members, and attempt to move up. When they succeed, they govern using christian "principles." With religion entrenched in local and national politics, matters that should be personal decisions are now ruled by christian law. Who you love, how you propagate, how you enjoy life, are controlled by our puritan background. 
Is there a case that can be made by the anti-choice crowd that is backed up by reality? I can tell you with a good amount of certainty that they have no case. If they did, why rely on lies and myth to make your point? At local protests around the country they use images that are meant to horrify and confuse us. The hand holding a tear drop encasing a fetus is promoted constantly as a six week old fetus. Appearing human, fairly well formed; it's a child. This is used to create an impression in the public that this is a child and any abortion at this time is an abomination. Looking at the hands to estimate the size, the fetus would appear to be an inch or more in length. 
We can all understand how this photo and accompanying data could be disturbing to us all. Humans are compassionate about life, and to destroy a child would not be easily accepted. 
Apparently when life is nothing more than a testing ground for faith, then reality is lost. When life is shrouded in mystery and darkness, then all kinds of crazy gets loose.
This must be why christians must lie to get their way. That's why science must be ignored. At six weeks a fetus is the size of a lentil, of a pea, and it looks only vaguely human. This is why education is not a major concern of our christian leaders. Education means the lie would be spotted with ease. Education makes for informed decisions. Education destroys myth. 
Googling abortion and then looking at images tells the story. Photo after photo of small children hacked to pieces. Photos of perfect looking babies that they claim have been aborted, disregarding the reality that what they are showing is a stillborn life. 
If you're interested, this is what a 6 week old fetus looks like. We look more like cousin fish than human. Our evolutionary trail is clear, there is not any doubt. Creationists cannot look at this reality without feeling uncomfortable. 
The abortion rate has been dropping over the years. Education has helped. The problem is kept alive by religious abstinence only education. Abortions should not be controlled by a christian influenced government, but regulated by a secular government. Abortion is cause and effect based; theists cause the problem by working around education, like promoting non-public schools. Puritanical views on sex contribute to the lack of education, which is theist based. 
The religious prevent education, which creates a problem that they want us all to abhor. Can you wrap your head around this?
This is a staged problem. This is subject matter that is theist created to keep religion in public view. This is a subject that religion uses to keep themselves seen as important when it comes to matters of morality, which historically they have not been very keen on.
The solutions are clear but ignored. To stop abortion, stop conception. If their is a need for an abortion because a mother's life is in danger, because of rape, because of reasons that are not anyone's business, then that is a decision that is made between doctors and family. It's not my business, it's not some priest's decision, it is not the governments's decision. 
This is all about being trying to maintain relevance in an age where myth is disappearing. Good riddance. 

Sunday, September 13, 2015

The Sunday Planet - September 13, 2015

GODSPOTTING
I see god. I see his people godsplaining daily. 
At a recent anti-Iran deal event, we got to enjoy the crazy all in one day. Phil Robertson complained that he was told "god was dead in college, but he wasn't." From there he expressed his love for all things jewish; "You know why I love Israel? Because they wrote the bible, when god decided to become flesh 2015 years ago - just look at your calendar - he became jewish flesh." Robertson is a godly man, he's "anti-pulling babies outta women's wombs, he is anti-perversion" - that means you, gay people. He claims that "WE," which I gather includes you and I and everyone else, "are pro-god almighty, we're pro-gun, we're pro get-your-ass-out and go to work." In his words, "America isn't religious enough."
The Tea-Party anti-Iran rally was more of a church service then anything else. Glenn Beck is still alive, dammit, and he was as crazy as always.
Before he started his sermon, he got one quick anti-science jab in; you know, you can't have god without stupid. Beck says, "I've solved the issue of global warming, it's not our SUVs, it's that big flaming thing in the sky."
Then the sermon started.
"We live in a world that is suffering under the delusion of peace and prosperity..." he says. "The confusion comes from the abandonment of truth, a truth that has been chased out of our public square, out of our public buildings, out of the media, our universities, and quite frankly, out of many of our churches as well."
Tell me more about how truth/religion has been booted from public discourse jackass sitting on the lawn in front of the United States Capitol. Please. Then tell us the why peace and prosperity is a delusion, maybe religion?
The fun continues. "But god's timing is divine, if we fail to restore truth, god will do it for us... In this week's torah portion, we are told about the early Israelites, where moses stood at the edge of the promised land and commanded god's people to choose, life or death, light or darkness, or they would be swept from their promised land. Today we are faced with the exact same choice. Because something is happening in America, something is happening around the world, I believe we are no longer fooled by those who made good evil, and evil good. With Planned Parenthood and the slaughter of our police officers out on the streets, while we get into bed with bad guys... We realized we have been silent too long, we have been dulled, been dulled, into a senseless slumber. But there are millions of people waking up all around the world, they are shaking themselves, and their families, awake. They are turning back to eternal principles, because there is a hunger for truth."
Silent? If only bitches. Yep, I see you god. Truth? You can't handle the truth.
Politicians on the right seem to think getting all friendly and cozy with a myth is the only way to run a campaign.
I see Kim Davis holding hands with Mike Huckabee, a candidate for the president of the United States. I see the rallies for stupid at the jailhouse where she should still be locked up. Kim refuses to follow the law of the land, and this ties in with all the rest. Mike lets us know how "courageous" Kim is for standing up for her beliefs. She takes the stage with Eye of the Tiger playing in the background, (yeah, lawsuit coming). Raising her arms in the usual worshipping pose, she proclaims that "I just want to give god the glory. His people have rallied, and you are a strong people. We serve a living god who knows exactly where each and everyone of us is at. Just keep on pressing, don't let down, because he is here. He's worthy, he's worthy"
Oh crap, he was watching me again? God dammit, give me some privacy god. The anti-government terrorist group, the Oath Keepers," have offered to guard Kim from the state in case they try to arrest her again. Yes, make my day.
Although I like to joke about the stupidity, this is also about a horror that we cannot allow. As with the tea party rally, this is a call to the believers that only god's word is law, not man's. All these events have one thing in common, and that is to impose god's law on the land. Christian law, Sharia law; religion wants us to bow our heads to the idiocy that all holy books promote. The christian conservative right is losing the numbers they once had to promote their agenda, so now the war becomes more "in your face."
The attacks come in all manners, many are hidden.
In Tennessee a mom would like to ban a book on science. The mom, Jackie Sims,  thinks that "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" - which is a book about science, race, and ethics - is pornography. Prudes and the anti-education crowd all come from the same pot, religion. I like the ones who try to work around mentioning religion, but all the signs point in that direction. As I've said before, I don't care what someone wants to believe as long as it is not inflicting society as a whole. If she wants to keep her son uneducated, I guess she can. The problem here is that she wants to limit education to all the students in that school. It's not good enough that her son will be less informed, she wants all students to mire in her unenlightened view of the world.
This is how religion is fighting the demise of belief in the U.S. Fear and stupidity are always the main weapons used  in the battle, that hasn't ever changed. 
The godspotting will continue. 

Sunday, September 6, 2015

The Sunday Planet - September 6, 2015

HUMAN

Apparently being human can suck, or maybe it could be better defined as being improper being a humanist in some situations. 
Oh the pain, the suffering, the humiliation; I lost a "friend" on Facebook. 
Well, not really a friend, just a fellow atheist that happened to friend me over the years because we agreed that religion is, well, bunk. I've seen her posts over the last few years - mostly ignoring - but every so often offered an opinion. Last night I was tired, had a few drinks, and finally let her know how I really feel; and that is always a mistake in life. 
She is a writer of books and screenplays, and promotes herself heavily. No problem, good for her. Science Fiction is what she centers on, and hey, I've enjoyed that genre just about my entire life.  I've never read any of her novels or plays so cannot attest to her ability, but I have no reason to doubt it. She has a habit of posting scientific material that sometimes isn't scientific, but that can happen to most of us. No, I have no problem with errors, they're usually straightened out immediately.
So now that I've bored the living hell out of you, let me get to the point. She is one of those who is seemingly very anti-muslim. Like probably most that will read this, I probably agree to a certain extent. To be clear, I think any religion is harmful to society as a whole if left unchecked. To continue with the thought, I really don't care if someone wants to believe in whatever fairy tale grabs their fancy, as long as they don't use it to tell me how to live my life, have any effect on society's mores, or be used to govern; that's where the battles always begins. 
The heart of her muslim posts seem to center on getting rid of them. They are an evil that should be eliminated, Islam is a blight on humanity and must be stopped; the list goes on as it probably should. The last post though was in error again and was about the influx of immigrants, predominately from Syria, trying to escape into other countries, mostly European. The gist of her tirade was that that ungrateful muslims were throwing away food that was given them in Hungary. Hungarians are poor and they could of used that food, etc. 
The real story is that immigrants were tossing away the food because they were going on a hunger strike to protest not being allowed passage to other European nations. Quite a difference in my opinion. 
I see this as a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, nothing more.
Yes, they're muslim. Yes, it seems that Europe has a problem with immigrants who refuse to integrate into society, I would as well. But yet, these are families escaping war and poverty, are trying to find safety for their children, are trying to find life; wouldn't we do the same? I just can't blame them for the attempt. When I see the photos of a dead child laying on the beach, when I hear the stories of a father's loss as his family drowns, I seem to not see the religion, but the humanity.
It appears I am at odds with many atheists. Maybe it would be better to force them into sleeping in the beds they made. This is all their own doing, they decided to embrace religion - a religion that sucks the morality out of life - why should we care? Maybe they'll destroy each other so we don't have to.
We have had prominent atheists - think Hitchens - who railed against Islam. What would he say if he still was walking this earth, let them die? Dawkins is not a friend, what does he say? The latest I see is that he thinks the richer Arab states should be helping, and in that I agree. With the way the muslim population currently acts in many European countries, I don't see it as being a boon to said countries. Integrate or leave is how I look at it. Become an asset or go home.
An ex-AU-member from the Middle East once explained a issue of morality that comes up every so often. When a country is hit by drought, or other natural phenomenon that makes it hard for the people to survive, they are taken in by neighboring states who support them until they can go back home. They do this because maybe next year it will be the opposite. It is survival. Possibly this should be treated the same way?
There are now over 4 million refugees out of Syria. Turkey has taken in almost half of them. This should be a problem that muslim states deal with, not the west. Yet if the Middle East is going to be up in flames for years, maybe the farther away you can run the better. Perhaps I am just too liberal in my thinking? Should a more conservative viewpoint be embraced?
I'm sure my European friends will be happy to explain the problem, please do.
Regardless, being human to me means that allowing other humans to suffer is immoral. At times it appears I may be wrong, but that's a problem I haven't come to grips with yet.
Being human at times can and does suck, but that's based on a selfish vision. To be a humanitarian would appear to be even much worse if the decisions you make are in error.