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. 

The Planet - May 27, 2013

American Angst

Since the last major election, we've heard conservative after conservative come out and bemoan the current state of affairs within the republican party. Every Republican talking head is making the rounds letting America know that Conservatives are listening, and they are ready to change. Yes sir, that's the plan.

Great thoughts, lousy results.

Even Mr. Conservative, Bob Dole, stated in a recent interview the following:

WALLACE: What do you think of your party, the Republicans today?
DOLE: I think they ought to put a sign on the national committee doors that says “closed for repairs” until New Year’s Day next year — and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas.
WALLACE: You describe the GOP of your generation as Eisenhower Republicans, moderate Republicans. Could people like you, even Ronald Reagan — could you make it in today’s Republican Party.
DOLE: I doubt it. Reagan couldn’t have made it. Certainly Nixon couldn’t have made it, cause he had ideas. We might have made it, but I doubt it.

Well, the new and improved Republican Party is out with their picks for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the great state of Virginia. Yes, they did find some color, (that bleached out heroin addict look is so yesterday), in their pick for Lieutenant Governor; E.W. Jackson. He is a minister, and his thoughts are unhinged in regards to current society. He's all about fire and brimstone, and he wants nothing to do with society today.  His big black book of boogie monsters and angels is all the "truth" he needs. He's delusional.

This gentleman has compared Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan, despises blacks for their "slavish devotion" to the Democratic Party, and has referred to gays and lesbians as "sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally." Anti-women's health, anti-anything that helps us build and maintain a civil society.

Ah, do you hear the doors opening to all of us? The big tent party's first nationally watched election since being stomped last November, and after promises of getting rid of the more extreme parts of the party, jumps right back in with crazy.

Shame on me for thinking anything else.

But for all that he is saying, it is nothing new. It's the Tea Party rhetoric that's been hampering the country's progress for years. It is the same culture wars, the same nonsense that they've been pushing since the Religious Right sunk their talons into the party. But this is actually even worse. Much, much worse than one might think.

This is the statement that should grab the attention of every atheist:

"I say the things that I say because I’m a Christian, not because I hate anybody, but because I have religious values that matter to me. Attacking me because I hold to those principles is attacking every church-going person, every family that’s living a traditional family life, everybody who believes that we all deserve the right to live. So I don’t have anything to rephrase or apologize for. I would just say people should not paint me as one-dimensional."

Now think about this. He doesn't hate gays, he doesn't hate women, (just their bodies), he doesn't hate the poor. He's just a christian with christian values, and that means that our favorite abomination of intolerance, (religion), will be legislating laws. He's a good god-fearing man that has strong beliefs when it comes to the laws of the bibles, and maybe Mother Goose And Brothers Grimm as well. If god says being gay is wrong, then it's wrong, no matter what is real. If woman desire control of their bodies, that's a sin. If the sick die and the poor starve, it's how life is meant to be lived.

The big tent party is back baby!