Arkansas Stupid: Really?

The Supreme Court in Roe v Wade established that a 23 week old fetus would not be viable outside the womb and therefore any fetus 23 weeks or younger is subject to the mothers “right to choose” option. Simply stated, the Court ruled that up to 23 weeks of age, to abort or not is the exclusive Constitutional Right and decision of the mother.

Once again for the record: I am not in favor of using abortion as a birth control method. I am for the private, exclusive and sole prerogative of a woman to choose when and if to have an abortion.
Now, the ridiculous state of Arkansas has passed a law over a veto of the Governor that defines 12 weeks as the threshold for personhood, and has thus criminalized all abortions over that fetal age. This is so clearly unconstitutional that one has to wonder what these CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS really think of the Constitution. They read it like they read their BIBLES: Cherry pick.
This MORONIC action of the Arkansas legislature will cost the state millions in litigation, and get nowhere. Not much makes me glad to be in Florida with the current political machine in charge, but OMG it is, as of now, a better choice than Arkansas.

Image: http://www.peteykins.com/sparklepics2/ArkansasSign.jpg

My Kind of Heaven

Just as Likely as Any Other

As an NDEer (Near Death Experience) myself, I feel somewhat qualified to comment on the buzz around Alexanders (1) book, Proof of Heaven.

Proof? No, anectdotes. Tales from the crypt do not constitute proof. Heaven? Fluffy white clouds? Harps? Strolling with the deity of your choice? Doing good works?
Much has been written about the conflict between the religious take on NDEs and the science that is developing to explain them in rational terms. People who believe in a heaven of some sort will naturally have a tendency to believe that the NDE experiences “prove” heaven exists. People who don’t believe in a heaven of some sort won’t. I don’t, and I don’t.
There. The cat is out of the bag. I don’t believe in heaven. Of any kind or sort. So when I experienced an NDE, I looked for a rational explanation. By the way, believing in heaven is not a rational act. It is an act of faith, which by definition must be accepted without evidence. Proof if you will. In 1960 something there wasn’t much known about these types of brain events, but now there is a ton of information. What is lacking is a good old fashioned experiment. Why? Because you can’t nearly kill someone in a lab to see what happens to their brain when they die. That aside, brain science does have a rational explanation for the phenomena. See for example and references this article (2).

The bottom line is that when you Nearly Die, your brain does funny things, and you INTERPRET these things based on your experience and belief system. Not a real trip to heaven. At least that is my position. As a NDEer.

1. http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife/dp/1451695195/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/176-1242912-7441560#_
2. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/12/03/the-death-of-near-death-even-if-heaven-is-real-you-arent-seeing-it/
Image: http://james.gameover.com/zen/disco-heaven-10x7.jpg

Confused and Pissed Off, Me and Diane.

Diane Rehm is confused, and so am I. Maybe for different reasons, but confused none the less. For decades workers, wage earners that is, have put cash money into their accounts. Their employers have done the same. Cash money. Interest-earning cash money. At the same time, the congress has taken the cash and replaced it with IOUs, called T-notes. The Social Security Administration is sitting on tens of billions of dollars worth of T-notes. And now the congress wants to cut benefits to SS recipients because "there isn't enough cash to meet the needs" or something like that. Those bastards looted the funds and now fall back on the excuse that the cash is gone. If the SS Administration were allowed to cash in the bonds, they would be flush with cash, and secure for decades without any cuts. But, to cash the bonds congress would have to borrow cash from someone. Who? Why the Social Security Cash Cow of course. Or China.

So I am confused. Can someone explain why I shouldn't be completely pissed off at congress? Because I really am. Really.

Image: http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/823/620/82362054_640.jpg