News of the Political Wars

In the last two days some really interesting things have happened, any one of which could promote great change, but taken together are surely going to have an effect on the outcome of the elections in November. Here they are:

1. President Obama comes out for same sex marriage. This is a huge risk for him and is bound to outrage a bunch of people. Personally, I am glad he did, and will work to support him in this important battle.

2. The Republican Senate and a few Democrats blocked the student loan reduced interest program. The House passed a similar bill but is cutting 6 billion dollars, more or less, from women’s health initiatives to pay for it. The President said he would veto any bill that guts women’s health coverage. Good for him.

3 Richard Lugar, Republican moderate lost his bid for another term in the senate to a tea bagger. He was one of the few Republicans left who would actually work across the aisle to get consensus items passed. He would have been impossible for a Democrat to successfully challenge. The tea party guy will be a much better target for the Dems.

4. 18% of registered voters in North Carolina vote to ban same sex marriages with a constitutional amendment. Press calls it an “overwhelming vote”; I think 78 % of the state has just had something jammed down their throats. But, they are lazy bastards so they live with it.

Just keeping you all posted. And by the way, don’t you be a LANOVOC. What? What the hell is that? It stands for LAzy NOn VOting Citizen. I would simplify it by just calling them lazy bastards that have no right to complain or get any government benefit.

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Sooo Screwed

"Carolina passes the marriage amendment and Lugar loses. We are rotting from the inside out. And the world is laughing at us to boot. Who could blame them? The only country left that still debates climate change. The only country left that puts Genesis before evolution. The only first world country that executes its citizens by the hundreds. The only free world country where people die every day due to lack of access to health care. The only - - . Oh, what's the use."


I just posted this on Facebook. Makes me even sadder to reread it. The country and the world are on the edge of disaster and we still cannot seem to get past “God Said It, etc”. What a sad, sad way to go. When we should be leading the world out of the global problems, we lock the doors and pull the covers over our head. We fuss about what a marriage is and applaud fracking as the salvation of the energy industry. We are diverted from the real issues by corporate beings so powerful they can manipulate the very government that should protect us from them. We are Soooooo screwed.

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I Am Ashamed for America.

This one caught me by surprise. Link sent by a friend. Why not? Wow! Andre Rieu playing “My Way” as a tribute to Frank Sinatra at Radio City Music Hall. But that isn’t what really caught my attention, good as it was. No, in the middle of the video is footage of immigrants on ships at the turn of the century seeing N.Y. harbor and our beautiful and welcoming Miss Liberty. The faces on the immigrants were beyond joy. Many of them illegal by the way. Just bought a one way ticket and were welcomed to America. Some of them got a hard time, and some got rejected, but many, including my own grandparents, got through. And were made legal.

Where has our love of immigrants gone? Where has the pride we feel just because the poor and abused of other places want to come to OUR home gone? Where has our honor gone? Yes, we exploited many of them and for some it took 2 or 3 generations to work their way up the ladder of success. But they worked. They built our buildings, roads, tunnels. They planted and harvested our crops. The cleaned our toilets and made our beds. They cooked our food. They - - - - - - - Oh My God!! They must have been MEXICANS!!!. Quick!! Lock the door to America.

You get the point I hope. I am ashamed at the “chicken littleism” plaguing this country. I am embarrassed for our children and ancestors. And I am sick to tears at our gutless politicians who pander to the self-serving fear mongers.

And I fear for America.

 YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/embed/e-y581HdWfY?rel=0

Image: http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1895/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1895-16930.jpg

Not an Atheist, Just don't believe in God

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” — Gandhi

If someone tells you that they are a Theist, you don't think much about it. But if they say they are an Atheist, you may get nervous. So relax. I am not an Atheist but I definitely do not believe in any kind of god. As I understand religion, all of them, you have to take the “god" on faith. That is what belief is all about. NO EVIDENCE.
The Atheist's problem is the same: no evidence that there isn't one somewhere. So personally I think there isn't one.
I also think that there is much absence of any god actually giving a damn.
I was raised to be a Christian. Confirmed. Baptized. Even thought about becoming a priest! Then the science soaked in. Where is the evidence? I asked myself. Couldn't find any I answered. Why not I asked. Isn't any I answered.
So. I had to “come out" as an atheist. Not easy to a lapsed Catholic mother and a “pillar of the church" father. They  “clucked" and essentially told me that I would eventually come to my senses. I have, and there still is no evidence.
And even now when asked (this happens a lot in the South) I often answer: "I don't go to church. I'm not a Christian." Very few follow up.                                                                                    One of the perks of being a non-believer is no fear of eternal punishment and damnation from a loving god. I sleep at night. Another perk is no tithe to a sexist homophobic chauvinist bunch of old men ( yes, some young ones too).
And, I don't always have to find out WWJD before doing anything. I ask WWWD, then just DO it.
On balance I probably miss some social contact with nice people, and that can be sad. On the other hand, my friends are either secularists, athiests, or quietly solid believers who also believe that their religion is their business and mine (or lack thereof) is my business.

Image: http://www.mandm.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/created.jpg

Tiger Penis? Rhino Horn? Ground up Babies?

Yes, all three are available to Chinese people who want a little something “extra” in their diet. Some like the penises and horns are specifically for erection improvement, but one wonders why that is needed. More than 13 million babies are aborted in China per year just to satisfy the “One Child” policy but the west is told But Wait!! These babies don’t die in vain. We use them for medicinal purposes. For example, they dry some of them, grind into a coarse powder, fill capsules with the powder and sell them to people who have medical need for ground baby.

Talk about sick bastards. This really takes the cake.

I keep telling you I don’t make this stuff up, don’t I? And since the babies aren’t Christians, there is no evidence of God getting involved. Interesting huh?

News Article for strong stomachs: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2140702/South-Korea-customs-officials-thousands-pills-filled-powdered-human-baby-flesh.html

Image:

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Slamming Shut the Open Door

Twenty of the 28 Florida Community Colleges have been moved to “State College” status which makes them 4 year colleges and gives them the right to grant bachelor’s degrees. This move which was accelerated by the Republican administration led by Rick Scott leads to the dilution of the original mission of community colleges, namely to provide open access to all citizens of Florida at a reasonable cost. Budgets have been cut for several years by the same politicians and new expenses have been added. One of the “recommended” ways to make up the lost dollars is to cut developmental programs in all areas and put unprepared students in regular classes with “tutors” to help them get up to speed. Everyone who knows anything about under prepared students knows that this may only work for the border line students, not the critically under prepared.
The same government is also wholesale privatizing “public” education and paying for it by taking money from the public schools and giving it to the private schools. Not surprisingly the private schools “cherry pick” the better students leaving the less able to struggle in underfunded public schools.
The same government has already reduced public school teacher’s job security, and reduced or eliminated tenure from public Universities. Next year tenure is slated to be axed from the community colleges.
Several sources have discussed the gutting of education by Republican governments since the mid 1970’s. Attacks on curricula, denigrating science, implementing testing programs without budget increases to meet the demands of the tests, trying to abolish departments of education at both the state and national levels are still ongoing. The reason posited by the people researching the climate of educational attack? Dumb down the population so the crap the “enlightened” capitalists (the free market will cure all ills) pump out to increase profits and reduce costs can slide by a public without critical thinking skills. The deep religious core beliefs of many Americans make the swallowing of the whole thing easier since strong religious beliefs predispose a person to accept assertions without proof.
The thing that worries me is that there is no ground swell of outrage at the dumbing down of our children’s education. Maybe, just maybe, 40+ years of this relentless assault has begun to produce the desired results. If you aren’t even the least bit worried, then the case rests with you.

This presidential election, the Republican Party wants you to vote for “Proven Success”, namely their candidate and his inherited wealth. You think a black child born to a single mother on food stamps who got to be the President of the United States isn’t “Proven Success”? You gotta be nuts if you think inheriting wealth is a greater measure of success than the struggle of the POTUS. And you may just be a victim of the dumbing down of America.

Image: http://glossynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/fox-news-dumbing-down2.jpg

Cornhole? You Gotta be Kidding!!

Back to the BBQ.
Into the evening, and into the beer, a couple of friends asked me if they could get a game from their car and set it up to play. What game is that, I asked. Cornhole they replied. Cornhole? You gotta be kidding sez I. They described a corn bag tossing game. I asked them if they knew what the name of the game really meant, and both sincerely said they didn’t. In my best professorial manner, I told them. After the blushing subsided, they decided to leave the game in the car, and from now on call it “Toss the Bean Bag”
I don’t make this stuff up friends. If you don’t know what this is all about, just look up the slang version of the term.
Image and Information: http://www.playcornhole.org/

THE CATS IN THE CRADLE

As is so often the case with me, a thought to write about hits when I hear the words to a song I have heard a thousand times before.
Sal and I are getting ready for a BBQ for her faculty and staff, and about 110 answered the RSVP. Pandora is providing the beat for the work getting ready. Then, JC, (the other JC, Johnny Cash) came on with “The Cats in the Cradle”. I stopped and listened. Damn, I though, that’s me. Well maybe not completely but it did go home. My boys grew up without me around much. Divorce does that sometimes. I didn’t want it or like it. They turned out not “just like me” as the song goes. They are happily married the first time out and getting on well with their lives. They live in distant places, and we see each other infrequently, not enough. They both have very busy and different lives and I am proud of them.

The chance to be the soccer dad and the scout dad and the cry-on-the-shoulder dad passed long ago, and I wish it were otherwise. But it did and as you all know well, you can’t go back. Retirement is fast approaching, and with that we will have some time to go where they live, and maybe hang out for a bit. Not to be intrusive, just to be with family.

My point in putting this out there? A lesson for all you newly childrened families. Do your best to be there always for your kids, and take the time to throw a ball and go for a walk or swim. And if the worst happens and you are separated from them, try to keep close. You never get that time back.

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But the Bible says . . . .

Tennessee legislature votes to allow teachers to introduce evidence contrary to the collected opinions currently considered correct by scientists. Specifically mentioned are evolution and climate change (global warming). Not the second law of thermodynamics. Not the shape of the earth or the position of Earth in the universe. Just those two. You wonder what is wrong with presenting dissenting evidence. Nothing at all if, and this a great big if, the science is not settled.

Science only works when hypotheses are tested and counter tested until everyone, or nearly everyone, agrees with the assertion under review. Nobody ever said that everybody with a brain and mouth could validly challenge any scientific idea. Challenges must come from a source that knows the details of the assertion from many aspects and sees a flaw. Bubba in west Tennessee has no credibility when he says “Personally, I don’t think the earth revolves. I can’t feel it or see it. That’s just bulls**t.”  But, when Bubba says “Those tracks aren’t deer, they are hogs”, he may just be right. See? Nothing wrong with challenging a proposition. Just be sure the challenge comes from a source that should be credible in the area of the proposition.

Evolution and climate change are settled science. The “t’s” are crossed and the “I’s” are dotted. The challenges in Tennessee come from conservatives and religious people asserting opinions without the credentials to support them. When anybody starts an argument about science with “The Bible says - " the discussion stops there. There is NO SCIENCE in the Bible folks.

What this is in fact is another thinly veiled assault by the conservative right on science. And another shameless tactic of the conservative Republican machine to con ignorant people into voting for them. Again. And it will work. Again. The damage done by the evolution deniers is only to young minds, making them forever small and bigoted. The damage done by the climate change deniers are worse: We will all suffer and die due to their moronic lack of foresight.

Pity

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The Knack – and How to Get It

When this great film came out in 1965 I was in the middle of another identity crisis and needed something to get me started on the road to social contact again. I watched Michael Crawford learn to overcome his shyness by using a sort of talisman: a pair of leather gloves. It worked for him and I thought “Hmmm. Maybe. Just maybe.”

Now, finding leather gloves in Miami isn’t that easy, especially in the summer. And I wanted black thin ones at that. I went on a quest and eventually found a pair of comfortable calf gloves with just the right look and fit. I put them on, hopped on my motorcycle and BOOM!!, a new man emerged. I found that I didn’t have to keep them on to have them work. Just show up wearing them, carefully remove them and put them in a pocket. Kind of like a blankie or binkie. I mean it really worked. Even I was amazed at me. Then one fateful day I lost them. Or more precisely couldn’t find them in time. And to my even greater amazement nothing changed. The inoculation held.

The next iconic crutch I thought I needed was a white lab coat. My first full time job as a professor included lectures in a very large lecture hall. And me without my gloves. So, I put on a white lab coat and marched into the hall, confident but scared. It went well. I thought the coat gave me a cachet I needed to be “the man”. Of course I was wrong again, and after a year or two forgot to wear the coat to class and was fully in control and respected.

So the point? I am guessing that generations of students that have been in my classes would never have guessed that underneath the calm and self-assured surface lurked an insecure soul. I don’t know how “normal” this kind of behavior is (my son-in-law could and hopefully will let me know) because I have never discussed it with anybody(except Sally of course). I suspect it is not unusual. And BTW, what prompted this is a Beatles song. I was listening to oldies the other day and the line “I get by with a little help from my friends” struck a chord. A thought came unbidden: “My friends in those days were a pair of gloves and a lab coat.” Of course I had some human friends too.