Deny Everything!!

Denialism - not yet in the OED. It refers to large proportions of a cultural unit denying some truth even though the truth is unequivocal. Examples are the denial of Darwinian evolution as fact, or the denial of the science of global climate change. This phenomenon seems to be more entrenched in America than anywhere else in the world and one has to ask “Why?” There are a large percentage of people in America that are “believers” of some kind. Believers by definition don’t require evidence to assert a position. For example, if someone says that they believe that the earth is flat in the face of evidence to the contrary, they just “believe” it. But that doesn’t make it true. Fact is true and belief is not. The real difference is simply this: Evidence-based assertions do not have to be “believed” because they have the benefit of facts to support the assertions, while belief-based assertions have faith but no facts for support and often fly in the face of the known laws of physics. Belief in levitation is an example of this.
The swing to denial of science-based conclusions in this country is a dangerous trend. Ignoring warnings about the ultimate shift in climate that will lead to disaster make the arrival the disaster even more disastrous. Lack of planning leads to unsuitable response. Educating children to “believe” rather than follow the trail of facts leads to an electorate that is easily led and easily deceived. This puts control of the country into the hands of believers or cynics who play the believers like a pipe organ. I see both of these already in place and working.
Who are these believers? Well, I have been taken to task for apparently confusing “conservative” with “evangelical” or “fundamentalist”. So with that in mind, I propose that the fundamental world view of some Christians and conservatives form the core of the denial mind set. Pounding the Bible and expounding on the “truth” of their own narrow view resonates with many Americans. Why? Because they lack the intellectual experience to see the conflict and see the obvious fallacies. They are unable to see through the raving to the evidence-based conclusions.
Unfortunately, much that is good about America is being co-opted by a small but vocal minority who denies reality and spout belief. This dangerous trend must be stopped and reversed if America is going to reclaim the position it once held in the world: A place with world-class universities where free thinking produced tremendous advantage for American industry and commerce; A place where foreign nationals, once educated, stayed to contribute their labor to an ever growing American corner on innovation and production. That seems to be going fast, and other places are catching up with America.

Our response seems to be to fall back on “belief” and relegate science to the back seat.

Image: theculturedoctor.com.au/blog/2009/10/

Trub Trub Squirel with a Nub

My old and very funny buddy John Cone had a cat named "Trub". Now you might think this was shorthand for "trouble", and you might be right. The cat had almost no tail and had his own little Dr. Seuss rhyme: "Trub Trub cat with a Nub". So everybody called him "Trub".

Well, a couple of weeks ago a squirrel showed up under a bird feeder in the back yard with half a tail. Instantly he became "Trub", with his own rhyme. We have pondered the lack of tail. Speculated about a hawk, or dog or some other near miss resulting in a loss of tail tip. Could it be genetic? Could Trub have generations of half-tailed squirrels? Could Lamarck be right? (I doubt that.) We will never know.

But, that got us thinking about John and family. So, I looked him up and got an email address. I will send him this little musing and see if we can get together again, if only in cyberspace.

You never really know where the day will go, do you?

Image: "Stubby" at www.new-jersey-birds.com/2010_04_04_archive.html

Thoughts on Jesus

Why is Jesus a cool guy? Consider the issue of a historic Jesus. In other words, was there really a man that lived, was named Jesus and was considered by others or himself as a messiah or prophet? When he died was he really resurrected? There is no agreement on these questions to the level of certainty. So if we suppose that there was such a person, what could we know about him? The New Testament claims to document some of the known life of this prophet. No real-time transcriptions of his utterances are known, and most are reconstructions well after the fact. Could they be perfectly remembered, misremembered, made up entirely or “inspired” after the fact? Possibly any or all of these could be the case. Taking the Jesus as represented by all that is written (no, I don’t know all that is written, and many people are quite willing to ignore documents that don’t fit their model, like the newly discovered Gospel according to Judas) he seems to have been a holy man, a philosopher, a healer, a teacher and a peace-bringer. His teachings seem consistent over his life. Tolerance, love, inclusion, caring and nurturing are among his reported philosophies. He is seen as opposing oppression and fighting for good and righteous causes. He is seen as a common man, living simply and doing good works. He could be a formidable enemy too, and was not afraid to speak and act his mind. He spent his short life in the service of others, as a Rabbi in later life according to some. What about a personal relationship with this guy? All you need to have a personal relationship with anyone is knowledge of what you think they want, stand for, believe and who they are. A personal relationship is one in which you “know” the other at some level and believe (share) in the same core values, or in some cases do not. For example, you may have a personal relationship with the devil in daily struggles but not accept the core values ascribed to that entity. So, personal relationship can and must be individual and derived from one’s own sense of the other. OK. So that brings us to Jesus’ core values. We all understand them, I think, as love and what emanates from love. He seemed to care about and accept everyone at a personal level without distinctions. He seemed to want everyone to be saved from the sin and evil of the world. He was ready to sacrifice himself to achieve that goal (possibly). He was most definitely not a sappy simpering sanctimonious preacher. He was aflame with passion and angry with much of the world he saw. He spoke out in the face of hate with love, a very dangerous thing to do. Often asked: WWJD? I know what he would do. He would speak out against intolerance, hatred, wrongfulness and bigotry. He would rail against the false prophets (as are most of them at one level or another) and take the high ground of love, peace, forgiveness and redemption. He would support the rights of all against the oppression of them by others more powerful. He would not tolerate meanness, treachery, lying, cheating, stealing or other common attributes of public figures and clergy. He would be at all times ready to embrace and love others. He would move among us with ease and be one of us without striving for gain or glory. He would speak against religious practices and arguments that separated, segregated or denied others full inclusion in life. He would surely be killed for his teachings.
You don't have to believe in the God to practice the principles. You just have to know Jesus. A very cool guy.
Image: Osiris Resurrecting: http://www.daytonartinstitute.org/exhibits/egypt/images.htm

Who is Really "Crippled"?

I belong to a group of fans of the writer Nicola Griffith. Along the way she described herself as a "cripple" because she has MS, progressive I think, but not sure about that. I really resent the term because it is so pejorative. I have never heard someone that isn't crippled mean something nice or good when using the word "cripple", even though according to the OED it simply means "One who is disabled (either from birth, or by accident or injury) from the use of his limbs; a lame person." This is the context Nicola meant; simply unable to "walk like she should do" (Rosie by Eric Bogle, citation coming later) I have a good friend crippled by polio as a child and living in a wheel chair. She is a star. Entrepreneur, wife, mother, friend. Crippled? No doubt. But handicapped in life? Not that I can see. Sure, there are things she can't do that she may want like need to do. But who doesn't have things like that? She can't walk like she should do. Period. Crippled is a state of body. Disabled is a state of mind.

This brings me to "Rosie". Eric Bogle is an Aussie song smith from Scotland. He writes some of the most emotion-laden songs I have heard, among them is Rosie . Because I want to respect his copyright request I will provide a link to the song lyrics on his website. Go there and read the full text. http://ericbogle.net/lyrics/lyricspdf/rosie.pdf and go to this link to hear him sing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzYHLgUwXJ4 Here are a few excerpts, hopefully not enough to piss him off.

"She may not walk like she should do,
she may not talk like she ought to
Sometimes the anger and the pain show through in her frustrated cries
But when she smiles at me I can see The Little girl who lives in Rosie’s eyes"

And he finished with this:

"I once knew a barren crippled man who stood straight and strong and tall
A bitter, heartless, loveless man, with no pity and no soul
But because his limbs were strong and clean no one turned aside their face
He was a perfect shining mirror for the perfect human race".

Nicola may be crippled by MS, but not in will or action. My friend may be crippled by polio, but not in will or action. Where am I going with this? Not sure really. I just hate the idea that people see physical cripples as somehow unworthy, while people strong of limb, regardless of soul, as worthy.

I hate labels that seek to diminish or mock or denigrate. Period.

Image: http://ashokbanker.com/2008/08/
OED: Type "cripple"

The Constitution is Only For OUR SIDE!!!

I just got a forward from a guy that is obviously pissed about the Feds suing Arizona. He conveniently overlooks the 12 or 13 Republican governors that are suing the Feds over the Health law. If States can sue the Feds why shouldn’t the Feds sue States? In the end, the courts will decide if any of the laws are constitutional, and that is what this is all about. Conservatives loudly thump the Constitution when it suits, but somehow get offended when someone else thumps it. Go to the Supreme Court for gun rights? That is a God-given right. Go to the Supreme Court for gay rights? That is a blatant insult to the Constitution and the founders. The conservatives can’t have it both ways, but they WANT it both ways. Supreme Court to uphold all of their issues, and Supreme Court to trash the ones they don’t like.
Many conservatives don’t like the ACLU, and throw all kinds of dirt at it. In the end though, the ACLU is only an arbiter for anyone or any issue that could be unconstitutional. If someone thinks that killing possums is a violation of some Constitutional right, then they have the right to find out. Everyone has the right to find out what is and what isn’t constitutional. The Constitution guarantees it.
I think we should trust the courts to sort out the issues and tell the conservative and liberal politicians to keep their hands off. If a law is unconstitutional, then it should be struck down. If not, then not. How can you ever tell if it isn’t challenged? A dangerous trend began to develop during the Bush II era. Questioning the Government was seen as being unpatriotic. Against the Iraq war? Must not be a Patriot. Against Guantanamo? Must not be a Patriot. Against UNLAWFULl tapping of AMERICAN CITIZEN’S phones? Must not be a Patriot.
And now: Against a law that looks on the face of it to be discriminatory? You must be a liberal socialist anti-conservative hack.
Read the Constitution and you will find that expressing your opinion is a very AMERICAN thing to do. Choke that off and you kill the dream. Do you really want to kill the dream? I don’t.
Image: www.searchnsniff.com/united-states-constitution.html

Follow That Dream

We were in Melbourne, Australia on a rainy evening, trying to find the motel recommended by a friend. A relative of his owned the place and he told us we would get a good “Aussie” welcome. We found it, and we did get that famous Aussie hospitality. And an unexpected bonus too. The owner, Ian Muir, was a friendly bloke (see, I still speak Australian) and we enjoyed his company over brick oven pizza and beer. He told us about his dream of getting into the country music scene and about his songs and local gigs. After a few days we left, having made a friend in Melbourne.
I have known lots of dreamers over the years. Mostly they dream, and then do other things.
One day we got a thickish envelope in the mail from Australia. In it was a cassette tape called “Time Stands Still” by Ian Muir. The dream was a reality, and Ian was published. As I mentioned in an earlier essay, one of his songs about an abused child got national attention, and this song called “Daniel” is on “Time Stands Still”. I listen to the album often, and always when “Daniel” comes on I get angry.
Ian now has 4 albums, tours in Australia and has been over here as well. He stands as a model for us all. The message is simple: If you have a dream, follow it. Don’t give up and don’t give in (hmmm. sounds like a song itself). You may have to have a “day job” to keep the bills paid, but the rewards of the dream are worth the price. Oh, and a talented and supportive partner make things that much easier. Ian has Glenny, I have Sally. My brother, also a musician, has Asya. Matt has John, and Hal has Cori. There is a message there too: next to a dreamer stands a solid partner willing to say “go for it”, and mean it. Thank you all. This is awesome company to share.

Image: http://www.ianmuir.com.au/

Waiting for the Tile Guy.

He started on the floor Monday, cleaning up the old vinyl and putting down the blue goo. Called Tuesday on the way to the Doctor to get his cough checked. No call today.
It is really strange how so many of the building trade people have the deserved reputation for undependability in terms of show up when they say they will, and not calling to tell you they won’t be there. So you sit around like a dork waiting. At least when you wait in a car repair place or Doctor’s office you know sooner or later someone will call your name. Not so with these guys. Roofers have the worst reputation of all, and electricians too. Don’t even ask about painters. Plumbers seem to be OK. Maybe because bad plumbing can be such a disaster.
I have dealt with a few dependable workers. The counter company we used 10 or so years ago was good then and right on time now. Capital Marble Craft for those interested. And the company that did our pool/patio screen was excellent. One of the owners came out to estimate the job, came back to measure and had the crew here to install. Every time on time and good work. American Discount Aluminum is the company and Dirk is the go-to guy.
No, we don’t get any discounts for name dropping. But I wanted to have a counter point to the complaint about crappy worker attention. There are good ones out there, but you have to be lucky to find one. The others just piss me off.
Image: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/5-holiday-disaster-stories-555935/
For fun: http://www.americandiscountaluminum.com/
http://www.capitalmarblecraft.com/index.htm

"Another Child has Died"

This 7 year old girl was starved to death by her mother in 2008. In England, where social programs abound to prevent just this kind of abuse. She was also abused by her mother’s partner. Her 3 brothers were at the point of death when finally found by the authorities. Failures at every level caused this. Everyone that was charged with protecting children in Manchester failed to act. The City has since put safeguards in place to minimize the chances for this to happen again. The mother and her partner were just sentenced to a minimum of 7 years in prison.
Does this sound familiar? It should, because it is happening all around all of us all the time. Overworked social service people, overworked teachers, staff cuts in school nursing and other support programs and nobody notices one small child evaporating before their eyes. It makes me so mad to think that right now thousands or millions of children (and old people too) are dying from neglect and/or abuse under our noses. What to do? I don’t know. Just keep your eyes open and notice things that are out of balance. Like a rail-thin child or missing granny. Pressure politicians to fund (where is the money to come from?) more social service type positions in schools and communities. Vote for someone with a conscience, not just a greedy bastard with dollar signs for eyes.
Years ago an old friend (1) of ours wrote a song called “Daniel” about an abused child that died from his abuse. The song raised the consciousness of an entire country. Australia. He gained national recognition telling the story of “another child has died”. How many more must we see killed before we collectively do something?
1. Ian Muir at: http://www.ianmuir.com.au/

Image: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298006/Khyra-Ishaq-death-preventable.html

(if you’ve never been down how can you know you are up?)

It occurs to me sometimes that in the pursuit of happiness (what ever that is) people don’t always have a reference point. I was just writing about the joy of life and it occurred to me that sorrow, loss, failure, disappointment, depression and other bummers are necessary parts of being alive. Think about it. If you never failed at something how could you possibly savor the wonderfulness of success. I seriously pity anyone that has never failed at anything. They have no idea how wonderful it is to succeed.
Love without loss? I think that you have no idea what love is until you lose someone /something/ someplace you think you love. Then you really know,and then you know the next time love comes around, too. In the depths of depression everything seems to be useless, or worthless, or hopeless. Then “up” happens and you have a reference point. What is better that being up and KNOWING how far down really is?
So this little essay is about taking life as it presents itself with all the ups and downs equally relished. Hard times ahead means better times too. If you think you will be rewarded for a life well lived you are right. The reward is LIVING the life well lived. All of it.
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brookenovak/1305383543/

The Box You Love to Hate

Scary. The message read” Diskette drive 0 seek failure” followed by “no bootable partition in table”. And that was it. No boot. No nothing. F12 got nowhere. F2 got nowhere and F1 got nowhere. Shut down 12 or 15 times. No boot.
So I went out and bought a new Dell multichannel processor, 750 gig HD, 6 gig ram, wireless internet, white sidewalls and skirts. Cheap too. Got home and tried the old one one more time: The frigger (see earlier essay) booted. Good. I had a nice chat with Deepthi Shankar at Norton and now can transfer NAV2010 to new computer.
God, I hate these things sometimes. I hate to be completely at the mercy of some GD processor or, even worse, hard drive. Once I could fix anything that broke on a car. Now there is so much electronic crap you need a computer lab to figure out what happened. Even washing machines and toasters have “microprocessors” instead of relays and switches. Remember the days when there were appliance repair shops that could actually repair a toaster cheaper than a new one cost? No, you young’ins wouldn’t. Crap.
I can’t wait to get my new Dell up and running. This one only has 40 gigs of memory and I have almost 18 gigs of free space left. Anyone want to buy a few gigs of memory?
Image: backupshare.com/main/data-backup.html