The Planet - November 4, 2013

RELIGION

When thinking of biblical evil, the omnipresent root of everything bad is the devil. The thought that people are born evil is a purely theistic view of the world and its inhabitants. A view that seventy percent of our population seemingly believes. This allows us to want harsher penalties for crime; screw that rehabilitation nonsense, people are evil and that's all there is to it. The world is a horrible place to live for those who subscribe to biblical evil. Get off the juice theists, we are human, not evil. 

On November 6th, the case of the Town of Greece v. Galloway is set for a debate. The "Separation of Church and State case," involves the predominantly christian prayers before government meetings. I'm sure that in many towns across the states, their city council meetings to state legislature forums are the same; someone talks about god and all the good things we don't get from him. Worth watching because of the implications for atheists around the country, especially for those who may be considering politics as a career.

Finally, christian killers will pay the price for their insanity. In Washington state, christian homeschoolers have been found guilty of beating and starving their adopted daughter to death. The bible doesn't appear to be much of a guide when it comes to raising humans; never has been, never will. 

I've already posted about the South Carolina atheist group that was not allowed to help out at a christian run soup kitchen. Listen to the executive director, Lou Lundrum, tell us the reason why volunteers to help the needy are not wanted:

"This is a ministry to serve God. We stand on the principles of God. Do they (atheists) think that our guests are so ignorant that they don't know what an atheist is? Why are they targeting us? They don't give any money. I wouldn't want their money."

The atheists, being of sound mind and body, reacted to the rejection of their charity by handing out three hundred care packages across the street from the "christian" assholes. Basically the director is saying, "oh no, only christians are capable, and allowed, to perform good deeds. Asshole.

CULTURE

Hope no one had trick-or-treaters in the family in Albuquerque. If you did, they may have come home with a nice anti-choice card with their candy. Images of fetuses adorned with cute little messages like, "I am not a clump of cells," or the ever popular, "I am a human being."

I only mention this because of the fact that the anti-abortion dicks who screwed up Kansas, and as far as I'm concerned helped enable the killing of Dr. Tiller, moved to Albuquerque. Here we go again.

In stupid fucking Texas, student Isaiah Smith was suspended because of screwing with a bible. The bullied, gay student had enough of god's stupid fucking followers and started ripping pages out of the bible. Excuse the language, but freedom of speech is all we have left. When that's gone, democracy is gone.

HEALTH

If you feel the need to remind yourself why chiropractors are not the place to go for medical advice, Preston Long will let you know. He has a nice list of "20 things most chiropractors won't tell you." Here's a few:

1. Chiropractic is not based on science
2. Chiropractors promise too much
3. Their education is vastly inferior to that of medical doctors
4. Their legitimate scope is very narrow
5. Little of what they do has been studied
6. It’s best to get diagnosed elsewhere
7. They offer lots of unnecessary services
8. “Cracking” the back doesn’t mean much
9. If the first few visits don’t help, more treatment probably won’t help
10. They take too many x-rays

And then there's the god news. The six health benefits of drinking beer highlights all the good reasons to enjoy that ale. A reprint from the spring of this year, it still is current for this guy. Here's the first three for you:

Reduces Risk of Heart Disease

All alcohol, whether it is beer, wine, or liquor, is known to help reduce heart disease. According to a 2008 article in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, moderate consumption of alcohol makes blood less sticky, and so it is less likely to clot. Alcohol can also increase good cholesterol and lower the bad, as well as lower your blood pressure. A Harvard study of 70,000 women found that those who consumed beer had a lower blood pressure than those who consumed wine or hard alcohol.

Helps the Kidneys

Alcohol gets a bad wrap for being hard on your kidneys, but beer can actually help in that department. According to the 2011 ADA Times, beer can actually reduce your risk of kidney stones. The hops not only help slow the release of calcium from the bones — too much calcium can cause kidney stones — but beer also has a high water content, which helps clear out those kidneys.

Packed with Nutrition

Beer is a surprising source of many nutrients. One 12-ounce beer has around one gram of fiber. It is also packed with B vitamins like niacin, pantothenic acid, folate, riboflavin, and vitamins B6 and B12. It is also rich in silicon, a nutrient that is said to help strengthen bones.

POLITICS

Governor Rick Perry of Texas signed in law restrictions on reproductive rights. This is going on in most states that our conservative controlled, and in many states it has been the courts who fight back. Well, a federal judge ruled that the law was unconstitutional at the end of October. Unfortunately, it was reinstated after an appeal. This looks to be Supreme Court material.

doone already posted this, but in case you missed it; Tom Delay is back and on "a mission from god." Hey, who else would endorse this crook but the almighty god? God loves him some sinners. Delay's laundering conviction was overturned by a judge, a Texas judge of course. He thinks he had the "joy of jesus in him;" I'm thinking it was the "joy of bubba in him" that kept him going.

And not all idiots come from Texas. In Nevada, Assemblyman Jim Wheeler told members of his party that he'd bring back slavery if that's what his constituents desired. Even his supporters shuddered at that thought. It appears that the party is now run by the Klu Klux Klan.

Of course, moderates are running from the party as fast as they can. The last Planet highlighted a Texas republican judge who finally had enough and switched sides. He's now a democrat. In North Carolina, another conversion has taken place. A conservative congressional candidate by the name of Jason Thigpen just couldn't take it anymore. Please tell us why sir:

I simply cannot stand with a party where its most extreme element promote hate and division amongst people,” Thigpen said in a statement posted to his campaign website Thursday. “Nothing about my platform has, nor will it change. The government shutdown was simply the straw that broke the camels back. I guess being an American just isn’t good enough anymore and I refuse to be part of an extremist movement in the GOP that only appears to thrive on fear and hate mongering of anyone and everyone who doesn’t walk their line.

Maybe there's hope after all.

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?