Our current energy policies have put us on the fast track of killing our planet

Reposted from the Dyslectic Atheist:

After weeks of listening to the officials at B.P. lying, while trying to downplay the severity of this ecological disaster, which was caused directly because of their own negligence and greed – and then hearing all those ignorant right-wind pundits, claiming that the severity of this accident was being overplayed by the environmentalist, solely for their own political gains (I thought how can someone overplay the deaths of 11 oil workers?) And then came the radio talk show hosts like Limbaugh, who were claiming that the oil was actually good for the ocean - and just when I believed that I had heard all of the lunacy, that these ignorant morons had to offer; then I heard this preacher on the radio, blaming this disaster on the godless scientists and the EPA, for over-regulating the industry, which in turn was forcing the oil companies away from drilling their wells in safer places. He was claiming that all of this was happing, because the godless scientists, don’t believe that god has given us these resources to use, and he said that god had placed enough oil in the earth, and everything else on the earth, that will ever need, and it all will last until the rapture comes – and all of this after hearing an ignorant Christian caller, on a different radio talk show, saying how much she missed her dead husband, and that the rapture, couldn’t come quick enough for her – the only thing that I could do at that point, was just scream!

What all these willfully ignorant people, don’t seem to understand is, and that indifferent to what they may believe based on their deluded old book of fairy-tales, is the fact that all life here on earth, started in the oceans over a billion years ago. And if we kill the oceans; all the rest of the life here on the earth, will soon follow – and there will be no rapture, and no imaginary Jesus, to save them.


I find it hard in placing all of the blame for these people’s stupidity and ignorance, solely on their religious beliefs, for them not understanding, just how finite the difference is between the earth being a living planet, and it just being another dead rock floating in space. Our ecosystem is extremely complex, and every and all facets of this system; are totally interdependent on each other - from the smallest life-forms in the oceans, to all of the land animals, including people, everything is depended on each other for survival. Tiny little plankton is the base of the marine food chain. Little fish eat the plankton that then feed the bigger fish, who then intern feed even bigger fish, and at the top of the food chain, is us. The most important of these tiny life-forms, is the phytoplankton; they resided just under the surface of the water, and they provide about 50% of the earth’s oxygen – and together with all the other marine plant-life, they are the only source of oxygen for the fish to breathe. Phytoplanktons are extremely sensitive to toxins – and totally incapable of living in oil. And if there is a mass dying off of the Phytoplankton and other marine-plants, the consequences’ of this, will be extremely severe. As the oxygen levels in the ocean begin to fall, there will be an explosion in the numbers of harmful Bacteria – and the poor fish that haven’t already suffocated to death, will simply become sick and die – many of these bacteria; are also very harmful and toxic to humans as well.


Another of the many problems that we’ll soon be facing; will be an increase in the levels of toxins and carcinogens in the food-chain. Back when the mining industry, began using mercury in the process of extracting gold from ore; no one knew back then, that this extremely toxic substance, would be coming back to haunt us in our food-chain – today, there’s not one single living creature on the planet, that hasn’t been poisoned to some degree or another, by this substance. And soon the extremely toxic chemicals that B.P. and others have been using in a futile attempt to dissolve the oil, will evaporate into the clouds, and return to earth in the form of precipitation (they’re simply breaking down this mass of poison into even more toxic chemicals). And yes, the food crops, the live-stock animals, and humans, will soon, all be enjoying this poison, in the form of rain (at least two of these toxins in this compound, cause changes in the DNA structure of all living creatures – and causes mutations and birth-defects in their offspring).


There are rivers of oil, floating at different depths under the surface of the water – 80 percent of the spilled oil is still under water, and most of it, will eventually reach the coast-lines and pollute the beaches. But not before these toxic clouds create marine dead-zones; and any fish, or any other type of marine animals entering these zones, will simply die. The ones who do survive, will be so poisoned by this toxic mess, that they will have a very difficult time reproducing, furthering the decline of the marine life, in the soon to be wasteland of deadly toxins.


I find this whole situation appalling on so many levels; and not the least of which that it could have been prevented in at least two ways. First of all, it’s too dangerous and irresponsible for our leaders to allow this kind of oil drilling, in such an important and sensitive area of our coast. Secondly, this massive blowout of oil and gas could have been easily prevented, with a device that costs only a small fraction of what the bill for the incompetents of the Bush administration, will be in the end.


Then B.P’s response to this disaster; has just been simply mindboggling to me. Even before the bodies of the 11 dead workers had gotten cold; they were only concerned with recovering as much of the oil as they could – simply so they could keep producing oil from the well; and indifferent to the environmental costs. They started lying about the severity of this event from day one; and now their simply trying to hide it from us. And every one of the actions that they have taken to date; have only be to recover the oil production from this well – these fucking people have been acting like crack-addict’s, who are trying to find they’re lost cocaine-rock; so that they can continue smoking! Now today they’re putting even more people’s lives at risk, in an attempt to try and show that this mess that they have created, is not as toxic and poisonous as it really is – they are creating photo-ops, in which cleanup workers are running around cleaning up oil on the beaches, and without them even wearing the proper safety gear – and at the well site, the boom workers have been exposed to toxic levels of methane gas. They have no concern for the safety of the cleanup workers; they’re only concern is maintaining their own image. When in fact, dealing with this toxic mess, is the equivalent of one sticking their heads into an oven, and then turning the gas on.


What if any good can come out of this mess?


I can only hope that the Obama administration will investigate B.P. and charge those responsible for these acts of willful safety violations – and then have the balls to prosecute them.

Our continued use of fossil fuels is only going to lead to more of these types of events. Before a good friend of mine who made millions of dollars back in the 1950``s and 60s as contractor in the Middle East, building their oil industry, had passed away in the 80s – we had many good conversions. He said that in many of the Muslim Nations where he had worked; that when the oil and military contractions who came before him had seen just how, the people living there, were so brainwashed and kept so ignorant by their beliefs in their silly deluded religion, and that they were easily controlled, and kept so stupid by their king’s and leaders, and how their leaders were keeping them busy, by feeding them irrelevant religious bullshit, while they were making all the money – that they decided to use this as a model for America. In god we trust was added to our money; and then all of that other fucking god-loving bullshit, came into being.


What our government needs to do today, to begin solving this problem in the Gulf Coast; is first take control of the situations, and stop letting B.P. dictate the course of our actions – didn’t we resolve this matter with the American Revolution, and the war? B.P. has caused so much harm to our nation that our government should seizes all of their assets, and then take control of the corporation. And then invest massive amounts of money into developing renewable clean energy technology. We need a Manhattan type project, with the goal of eliminating our need for fossil fuels, by the end of the next decade.

It’s Time to Send the Religious Bullshit Back into the Churches:

Reposted from the Dyslectic Atheist

I awoke this morning thinking about a conversation that I had with my son a few weeks ago, and the part about the universe, and how big it is. He told me how grateful he was that I had spent so much time with him and his brothers, teaching them about science and cosmology. He said that when he entered collage as a student of science; that he was already way ahead of most of his fellow classmates – but the one thing that I had failed at in getting him to understand, was just how vast the universe actually is. As I looked into my son’s bright star-struck eye’s he said that it was so damn petty and selfish, just how the religious people believe that their God made all of this, just so that he could put all of us humans, on a tiny speck of it called earth. Then leave us all alone, to fight over each other’s God delusions, and just so he can pick a few of us, to join him in a place called heaven. He then said that after completing the first years of their education, none of his Christian peers were still buying the religious bullshit either. He told me many stories about other students that he knew, and how they had found enlightenment. One such story was of a catholic student, whose religious upbringing nearly caused her to have a mental breakdown, when she realized that everything that she had been told by the church about life and the universe; had all just been a big load of fucking bullshit. And in her 3ed year of study, how she proclaimed herself as an atheist to him – and if I was reading correctly between the lines; I believe he thinks he’s found his soul-mate.


He told me that in most of the secular Europe countries, where he’s both worked and studied, that the kind of religious bullshit that we deal with here is not tolerated. And not tolerated even in Great Britain where the government, even provides partial funding of private religious schools (here in the U.S. we have those ignorant Christians down there in Texas, who are trying to set the teaching curriculum for the rest of the nation). He said that in most of the places that he’s been in Europe, people still have the rights to be just as stupid and ignorant as they please. But those people don’t get to dictate public policies based on their deluded beliefs; and the people there wonder just why, we here in the U.S. have allowed our nation, to be dragged down into a Christian cesspool of ignorance (the Bush years, were our darkest days).

His stories serve both to remind me of just how small minded and petty, ignorant religious people are; and why we as rational people, we must take a stance, and begin fighting to rid all levels of our government of this deluded religious, superstition and nonsense - and then take back our nation as the secular one that our Founding Fathers had intended it to be – lest we become just another nation of ignorant warmongering, and death loving Christian morons. We must stop these petty little small minded ignorant people, who polices are destroying our planet, from having any say in the decisions of our government – be it either at the state or the federal level; this is simply a church/state issue, and a very important one to our own survival. These people don’t care about the state of our planet; to them, this is only the first stop on their way to heaven – I simply want a place where my grandchildren and their future children can live, and live within reality, and the only place where we currently have to live our lives, is our home here on earth.

I don’t know about any of you, but even with all of its other problems, the U.K. sure sound like a much nicer place to live!

Seeing puppies in the clouds; and feeling the “holy-spirit,” are all one in the same!

Ever since my friend showed me this photo of clouds he found on the net; I’ve have been reminiscing back to the day that I realized that I was different from most other kids I knew, and including their parent(s) for the most part. This all happened on a spring afternoon back when I was about 8 years old. I had been playing hide & seek with at least three other kids, two of them were girls. After we had all burned ourselves out from chasing each other around; we all just laidback on the grass and rested.


As one of the girls was looking towards the sky and watching the white puffy clouds pass by, she said: “do you guys see that cute little puppy up there in the clouds?” then the other girl asks: “where, I don’t see it?” then the first girl points at the sky and said: “see, he’s right there!” then the second girl replied: “Oh, I can see him too, I can even see his head and his tail.” The boy then said: “I don’t see him, where is he?” the girls pointing: “he’s right there, don’t you see him,” the boy: “no, I don’t see no damn dog in the sky – you girls are both nuts.” The girls: “you don’t see him because you’re just too stupid to see him; you’re just a stupid boy!” A few moments passed, and then the boy said: “Oh, now I can see him – he looks like he’s waging his tail.” The girls: “you little liar, you can’t see him now; he’s already gone!” then the girls turned to me and ask: you seen him, didn’t you John?” (As the boy sat there nervously fidgeting while waiting for my answer) I look at both of them and said: “no, the only thing that I had seen was white puffy clouds!”


It was at that moment I realized why I had never felt the “holy-spirit” move over me. And why I never felt a personal connection with Gawd or Jeebus either; or anything else “supernatural” for that matter either. I believe this is also why when most people find themselves in these types of situations, where other people are claiming they feel or see something supernatural or spooky; most people will simply go along so as not to be different from all the rest of them – and even if they have to lie about it.


I had seen this happen, many times before at my Pentecostal church when I was a child; during the part of the service when the pastor was performing “exorcisms.” Someone would point and say: “did you see that demon jump out of them – and look, it’s over there trying to climb-up the wall.” Then everyone in the area that they were pointing at, would then get up and start running away from the “demon” and saying thing like: “where’s the demon at now.” And people would start pointing all over the church; at the walls, at the floor, the ceiling and everywhere. They all seemed to be, all having a mass delusion. And at this point, I would always get up, and get as close to the front door, as I possibly could! This profound exorcize in stupidity and ignorance, would then go on uninterrupted and nonstop, for hours at a time.


Neither my mom nor I, had ever seen a demon in this church; but my two older siblings would say they always seen the demons. When these ignorant deluded morons, would ask me why I was standing there so calm, while most of the rest of them, were all playing demon-tag; I would simply say: “I just don’t see the demons.” My response would anger most of them; then they would say: “the only reason you don’t see the demons, is because you must have one living in you too.”


Years later, I concluded, this is about the same mentality as we see exhibited by onlookers, who start chanting “jump,” when someone is out on a ledge of a tall building, and threatening to jump off.


I’m not trying to say that all religious beliefs are as extreme as the Pentecostal ones are; but their all just as deluded and dangerous. When someone forces a young child into believing that there are things outside the realm of normal reality, and that “it” can cause them harm, and therefore they must fear them. And the only way that they can be safe from “it,” is by participating in some form of ritualized religious bullshit – they’re simply creating in their heads, an even bigger monster than the boogieman living under their bed, and that monster, is one, that most will never grow out of. The indoctrination of children by simply instilling fear in them – is one of the most extreme and evil forms of child abuse that has ever contrived by man. I could see this as a child, and I simply decided that no one would ever convince me to adhere to a deluded belief; just so I could be like everyone else.


When my friends first showed me this photo, and claiming that they could see an image of Miss Piggy wearing a Vikings cap, and even with her little piggy ears sticking through the top of cap, (see where the black arrow is pointing) at first I thought these kids must have been smoking something. But as I sat there, and as they were pointing out the piggy-like features in this photo; I too started seeing Miss Piggy, and wondering if this was the same process by which people become “born-again Christians?”


I’m not even going to go into what they claimed the green arrow was pointing at.

Living Our Dreams through Our Children:

When I was in my early teen years, I had an older friend, whose lifelong dream was becoming a fighter-pilot. As far back as I can remember, this guy had always been an adrenaline junky. However, for one reason or another, he settled on becoming a fire-fighter instead, but he continued his fascination with jets. I remember the day; I first met his son, who at the time, was a newborn baby. As my friend and I stood there talking, he said “this boy is going to become something that I could not be; he’s going to be a fighter-pilot, when he grows up.” He started grooming his son for that role, almost from birth, and today his son is an officer in the US Air Force, and like his dad, I too, am very proud of him.

I on the other hand, was never into dangerous adventures. My only aspirations were, to become a scientist. I studied for over 8 years, in many fields of science, from chemistry to theoretical physics. I submitted many papers under an alias name, on some of the theories, I was working on, and however, I only received one positive review. One of the theories I was working on, postulated that neutrinos have both mass and weight, and sometimes when they passed through our bodies, they caused damage to our DNA, possibly causing cell mutations, which can even become cancerous, I also theorized, the cell mutations, may have even been a factor in human evolution also. I believed at least two of my theories were sound, however; no one else in the scientific community agreed. I eventfully put science on the back-burner, and moved into other fields.

After my first son was born, and one day as we were babbling to each other in baby talk; I decided he would become a scientist when he grew up. A few months before he was born, his mother and I agreed, to give him the last name of one of her dead relatives, and the name of his dad, be listed as one of my aliases, on his birth certificate. We repeated this with the rest of our children as well. One might ask why we did this, and if there was some kind of criminal intent involved? The answer to that question is no; we were simply protecting them from having to deal with the Christian-hate, I had been dealing with for most of my life (I will leave that story for another post).       

We raised all of our children to be curious, and to see life and the world around them, as an exploration of one’s self, and to understand, how they related, to everything within their perception. Reality is hard to instill in children; we live in a sea of delusion. I began teaching our children science when they were real young. And we protected them from religious delusion, and today we have two scientists. One who specializes in the field of nanotechnology, and carbon fiber, (nanotubes) the other one is working in the field of particle physics, and I am so proud of all of them, even our other son, who went into economics.

I don’t believe it’s a bad thing to drive your children like this; the Japanese and other cultures have been doing this for years.  In the mid 50s, there were many parents here in the US who pushed their children to achieve the goals of becoming engineers and scientists. Then something happened here in the mid 60s, which, for the most part, changed all of that, as our population was growing, we became more, and more Christianized. And as a resolute, we have gone from being the world leader in technological research, and scientific development; to being a nation of consumer-sheep.

In Japan, where over 90 percent of its people are non theists, they are kicking our fucking asses today, like there will be no tomorrow, in both technological research, and scientific development. And the main reason I believe this is; here in the US, while parents are pushing religion on their children, and saying in effect, it’s OK to be stupid and ignorant, just as long as you believe in some fucking space-god, and his fucking dead space-zombie son Jesus, you’ll go to heaven when he comes back, and there will be no tomorrow, after that, anyway, so why care about, anything today.

I was both happy and disappointed, after learning in 2002; that two Japanese scientists had in fact discovered that neutrinos do in fact, have both mass and weight. I was happy because this confirmed the theory, which I had developed in the 80s; I was just disappointed, that this hadn’t taken place, here in the US.

Is there any way that we can stem this tide of ignorance here in the US; or are we just destined now, to become the land of the lost? The ignorant fucking moron preacher, in the video below, is a good example of both the ignorance I was exposed to while growing up, and what’s causing this problem here in the US today (it’s ok to be stupid and ignorant, just as long as you believe in gawd).

  

   

Godless heathens: Wash. ranks 36th in importance of religion

I was pleasantly surprised to see the latest report on the importance of religion from the Pew Research Center. My state of Washington ranks only 36th in the survey. Only 48 percent of those in my state said they believe religion is very important to their lives; down from the first survey which I seen over 20 years ago, when the numbers were over 85 percent:


The Pacific Northwest had long been viewed as the least "churched" corner of the United States.


According to Pew's evaluation, 48 percent of Washington citizens believe religion is very important to their lives. The Evergreen State ranks 34th in worship attendance, 32nd in the frequency of prayer, and 36th in belief in God.
The Seattle PI



The state which ranked the highest in religious importance was Mississippi:


The rating ranks Mississippi as the nation's most religious state, with 82 percent saying religion is very important in their lives. The Magnolia State comes first in worship attendance, frequency of prayer and belief in God.


The states which have the lowest importance of religion were New Hampshire and Vermont; where one can also see a direct correlation between the levels of education, rates of crime, and religious importance. In those states where there are less deluded people; there’s also a lot less crime.


Free higher education = less religious delusion and crime – I support free higher education for all; though I know we’ll never see it. We can’t even get real health care reform passed!


John

What would Our Post Atheist Revolution World look like?

One of the things I enjoy doing most when I’m bored, besides fantasizing about winning the lottery, is thinking about what the world would be like, without religion and superstition.

When I hear Christians say: this is a Christian nation, and founded by Christians, and on Christian principals. It always takes me back to my teen years, when I studied world history; the American Revolution, and read the works of Thomas Paine. Paine, an atheist and pro-revolutionary; both instrumental in writing the Declaration of Independence, and the founding of our nation, Paine was also instrumental in both the American and French Revolutions as well.

Paine became one of my heroes; he stood for workers rights, and was against racism. Sadly, in his later years; after being shunned by most of his “friends,” and persecuted and hated by ignorant Christians, who probably would have been just a happy, still being controlled by the “church.” He died alone.

The first things I learned in life about Christians were: their evil liars and deluded people; who will makeup all sorts’ of lies, for the purpose of brainwashing their stupid followers (NO, our nation was NOT founded by Christians and on Christian principals – our nation was founded by men of enlightenment, and on principals derived from reason; NOT superstition, ignorance and stupidly). Can you even imagine what our nation, and the world for that matter – would look like today; if it had been founded by deluded ignorant morons, of the likes of Ted haggard, and Pat Robertson, and throw Jerry Falwell into the mix, if you still don’t get my point!

I know there’s no magical pill to cure stupid; we have over 4bilion people on this planet, walking around, and talking to their assorted space-daddies. And many of them, willing to kill and die over their deluded beliefs. What would we do with them; if we were running the show? What would we have to change in our Constitution or laws? How would we prevent civil-war, would Christians form, Christian terrorist cells, and start blowing up schools and universities, and doing drive-by shootings? And even putting all that bad stuff aside; what would our post atheist Revolution nation look like?

John_poson26

Christiban in Ohio

• Suspended for going to prom? : News : WNWO NBC24
• "at a prom there will be many young ladies who will be dressed in the current styles which would be low cut dresses and things like that and there will be dancing. How does a young man protect his mind and not have wrong thoughts or lustful thoughts in a situation like that," said Heritage Christian School Principal Tim England.
  

• The Associated Press: Ohio Christian school tells student to skip prom
• Frost goes to Heritage Christian School. The fundamentalist Baptist school in northwest Ohio forbids dancing, rock music, hand holding and kissing.
  

On Mojoey's Atheist Blogroll:

• Atheism Examiner: Christian school makes it clear education is not primary concern
• You know, this could also be a factor in the declining appeal of religion : Pharyngula
• Christian School Punishes Student for Wanting to Go to Prom | Friendly Atheist by Hemant Mehta
• Fundy Fun « An Apostate’s Chapel
• The New Atheist: Teen Threatened by Theists Over Going to Prom

Are the girl students required to cover their hair? It's no wonder fundies are up tight they don't allow themselves to have any fun!!!

- Larro

Kosher Bullshit: Jews Offended by Usage of "Swine Flu"

Religion is a funny, lob-sided issue: Religious sensitivities often demand the kind of respect only the worst of tyrants and despots would find the cheek to demand the masses, and if someone's religious sensitivities are offended, the religious fool is apt to accuse the anti-religious "perpetrator" of being a heinous persecutor of his aggrieved religion. Give the livid religious fool a gun, and you can bet your last dollar that he will not hesitate to shoot the alleged offender to death.

In recent weeks, swine flu fear has gripped the world; governments are scrambling their resources to curtail and contain the latest infectious disease, a strain of flu which has been dubbed "swine flu".

Instead of working hard to get rid of the dreaded virus, some religious morons have banded together to get rid of the word "swine" from the flu instead: The usage of the word swine, it seems, has offended some nutty right wing fundamentalist Jews, and they are advocating that the word "swine" should be dropped in view of Jewish kosher (diet) laws.

Yup, yet another pork-hating race is scrambling to erase the filthy swines from human consciousness. Bumper.

Israel Deems Swine Flu "Kosher" After All

JERUSALEM, (AFP) - - Swine flu hasn't skipped the Jewish state. And despite some attempts, neither has its non-kosher name.

Deputy health minister, Yakov Litzman, a member of an ultra-religious party, said earlier this week that the name "swine flu" should not be used as it contains the name of the animal banned by Judaism. Instead he said the authorities should call the virus sweeping the globe "Mexican flu."

That, however, did not sit well with either Mexico's ambassador to Israel nor the Jewish state's envoy to Mexico.

Mexico's ambassador Frederico Salas and the Israeli envoy to Mexico Yosef Livne both lodged official complaints at the foreign ministry on Tuesday protesting at the new term.

"The ambassador (Salas) said he was offended when the deputy health minister called it the Mexican flu," a foreign ministry official told AFP.

"Israel has no intention of giving the flu any new names. It was nothing more than a slip of the tongue," the official said.

Eating of pork is prohibited by Judaism, the religion practised by the majority of Israelis. Islam, adhered to by most of Israel's Arab minority, likewise bans consumption of pork.

Political Fracas Over Pork, As Folks Are Dropping Dead & Getting Sick

As more folks are getting sick and dying from the swine flu, religious morons bicker on the sidelines, hoping to get a piece of the limelight and screaming unctuously to the world that their fucking religion is indeed more important than a potentially deadly flu virus.

Respect the Kosher laws, gentlemen, and stop calling it swine flu. But calling it Mexico flu is fine, you know, Mexicans are less dignified and respectable than some old Abrahamic religion!

Hypocrisy aside, this is the kind of sectarian thinking which, when fostered and bred to the extreme, exhibits just the kind of moronic and lethal response from folks, and when exhibited by government leaders who should be concentrating on saving lives than engaging in verbal tit-for-tat, really makes us wonder why people still believe in such archaic nonsense in the same place.

"The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry." -Richard Dawkins

All Those Evil Commies: The Persecution of Communist Cuba

Communism: A filthy word commonly associated with tyranny, anti-religious movements, and ultimately, something to be feared and unctuously derided as a scourge of the modern world?

In the post world era, the Cold War hung over the heads of a fearful world, dominated by the politics and the mad-cap ethics of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) weapons and a protracted antagonistic stance between democratic nations led by the United States, and the supposedly rogue Communist nations led by Communist Russia.

In such wars of attrition, irony plays a huge part in such conflicts: Vietnam became the staging ground between the North and the South, as was North Korea, each side armed to the teeth with weapons from the United States and Russia respectively. It is as if, both superpowers were fighting a proxy war via feeder nations, in a bid to avoid direct confrontation.

And it is in view of the cold war that Cuba, of all communist nations, stands alone and unique in today's politics: As the closest communist neighbor to the democratic bastion of the US of A, she has rode the rough storms of a cold war era, suffered from numerous sanctions, threats and embargoes, and the fact that she has stayed largely intact as a communist nation is testimony of her resolve against a superpower dominated by anti-communist rhetoric fueled by the religious right.

Anton Kozlik gives an excellent account of this appalling state of affairs in the beleaguered Caribbean nation, and how Obama's bold step to unravel the evils of a misled American public is the first step towards a healthier state of affairs for both sides:

“US America takes a step towards becoming a moral nation!”
President Obama takes a bold step

The recent relaxation of some of the sanctions US America imposed on Cuba over the last 50 years is a welcome step by President Obama.

The move has done much to improve US America's tattered claims of being a moral nation. It was a long time coming since China and Russia had been enjoying trade, travel and commerce with US America for years.

Cuba: Lack of Natural Resources

Cuba was at a serious disadvantage because it didn't represent a major market or supplier like the other communist countries. Also, Cuba did not have oil reserves.

More than 50 years ago, thousands and thousands of rich and immoral citizens of US America enjoyed living it up in Cuba. They could do things there that wouldn't be approved back home in the USA where many of them enjoyed a respected presence in its religious communities.

The Hypocritical Religious Right

Castro: Cuba's Whipping Boy for Uncle Sam

I would like to point out that this could be another case where the religious kept turning their heads when people from their congregations did dirty deeds. Those bad deeds apparently didn't count because they were out of sight .

They had paid for that right to have their fun by supporting Batista and greasing the necessary palms. Between the two of them, US America and Batista, they made life pretty horrible for Cuba's peasants. Those same peasants found no respite or remedy from their church. It seems the church had also been bought off – at least to the point that they weren't going to make waves with the existing powers.

The North American press and priests paid lip service to Castro's fight by appearing to champion his cause. There were even minor celebrations when he took Havana. The pesky US American's beat a hasty retreat.

It is possible that US America merely felt this would be a change in leaders and they would continue to enjoy their debauchery once again by just paying off the new “landlord”.

It didn't turn out that way.

And, when threatened with sanctions, Fidel turned to Russia and that dreaded political thing called communism. The Catholic Church excommunicated Castro.

And the fun began.

Like playground bullies who had their toys taken away, US America proceeded to make it a living hell for anybody inhabiting their old playground. It placed an embargo on trading with Cuba – at least one that it could claim to the rest of the world.

Enforcing an Embargo & Trading via the Back Door

In spite of this embargo, US America found ways to keep the recently nationalized oil and sugar refineries operating. For example, regular private flights from Canada supplied Cuba through Canadian subsidiaries of US corporations with equipment, parts, and US service personnel. Trips to Cuba did not show up on passports. The idea was to keep things operating until Castro was overthrown and US America could resume its ownership and control. The practice was abandoned when it was apparent that US America would not be reclaiming its control over Cuba.

Demonizing Communist Cuba

What happened during the next thirty years would be considered political and economic skirmishes with US America claiming righteousness by battling “communism”. Who did what to who and how is really not the point. Cuba was the enemy, it was communist, and it was only 90-miles from US America.

Also, Cuba was smaller than Russia and China – and it certainly didn't have oil.

It also embarrassed US America by providing troops and medical aid to other nations who also had issues with US American support of questionable regimes. And while it enjoyed support from the USSR, its universal health care was headed to being one of the best in the world.

Incidentally, Cuba was able to secure its oil supply from Argentina by exporting hundreds of its medical professionals to help with Argentina's struggles – also with US America.

Survival of the Fittest: No God Involved

I believe President Obama relaxing US America's sanctions will help Cuba regain its position as an important member of the North American community.

Cuba has also shown shown that it can survive and strive . . . without gods!

The Hilarity of Bullshit: A Christian in Wonderland

One of the chief reasons why I left Christianity, and eventually gave up on the frivolity of religion altogether is the problem of sectarianism: More often than not, religion expounds on the type of unctuous self-promotion that propagates the "me-against-them" attitude, encouraging its god-effacing god into embracing an entrenched mentality which drives the mind into severe bouts of psychotic spasms.

As followers of this blog should know, Daniel the homophobic Christian has earned my ire and infamy with his silly, off-the-cuff bigotry, and in our latest series of verbal swipes, Daniel once again convinces me why a siege mentality employed by religion is the surest way down the path to mental breakdown:

1. Hating God, Hating God's Law?

On his blog, I posted the following comments about Daniel's slimy, shady character, which I did type from the bottom of my heart:

"And it is because of people like you I quit Christianity altogether. I simply cannot fathom myself becoming one of you, full of self righteousness, bigotry and utter stupidity.

And thanks for reminding myself how lucky I am NOT TO BE A CHRISTIAN."

Daniel Responded:

"No, it is because you hate God and His Law. You as a creature detest the fact that you have to answer to your Creator after your death, and just like Stalin, you shake your fist and scream to the heavens and tell God: I REJECT YOU AS MY CREATOR AND LORD. Despite God's gracious gifts to you, you spit on His goodness, insult Him to His face, and would kill Him if you could do so. "

More often than not, I am sure that atheists like myself have often emphasized on one particular premise: There most likely is no God. There is no evidence to proof that a deity ever existed in the past, and chances are, none will turn up in the foreseeable future, unless, of course, you consider gay-looking, cosmopolitan, sensitive new age men to be saviors of the supernatural variety (You know, like.....Jebus???).

Granted, no one can ever prove a negative, and God, or Gods might actually exist, even if the odds are infinitesimally small. Assuming God does exist, he probably won't give a shit about the mundane affairs of mere mortals, and such a God, or even a colony of God heads (like the pantheons of Greek Gods on Mount Olympus), would hardly be worth an iota of attention from us, considering the randomness and callous nature of Earth and its earthly mechanisms, such as Mother Nature, devastating earthquakes, and so on and so forth. In short, a deistic deity who cares naught for our wants and needs.

A god who doesn't exist or a god who doesn't give a shit isn't deserving of our praise nor our outrage; Being an atheist, I am pretty much confident that the absence of evidence pointing towards a supernatural deity is a valid reason for us to discredit such a anthropomorphic entity. Since there isn't a God in the first place, how the heck are we supposed to hate God? To put it in a better perspective, where should we direct our vitriol, perceived hatred, and the damn spit at? A spittoon, maybe?

2. Of Ostriches and the Great Vast Dessert

Me & the Big Fat Ostrich.......Bloody Hell!!!!

In line with this train of thought, Daniel directs his arguments in his own exegetical, religious mode: The truth, it seems, lies in the ostrich with its head stuck in the sand, butt sticking out so that Jebus can enjoy a bird's eye view of the ostriches big, fat, succulent ass!

"Never mind that the very fact that you can continue to exist for one more second is because of His grace. Depraved sinners suppressing the knowledge of God within their hearts, rebelling against Him with all of their might, and hoping desperate that if they will silence the messengers totally, God will disappear from the scene. Worse than ostriches putting their heads in the sand, such people will try all means to silence the message, yet they can never silence their conscience, which constantly accuse them of their evil and hatred of the One who gave them life in the first place."

Oh yes, Daniel alludes me to the damn fat ostrich (Now I feel a little aggrieved and insulted....tsk tsk), along with other usual Jebus diatribes: I am a bloody sinner who happens to deny God, and of all things I own my one second of existence to his graciousness.

Such words of veneration will be fine and dainty unless, of course, it applies to everyone: Right now at this very moment, billions of people are going hungry, and many of them are going to sleep tonight on nothing else but empty stomachs and empty dreams. Sure, these poor bastards owe their one second of existence to a deity who doesn't seem to be bothered to provide them with even a decent drop of clean, drinking water. Makes me feel all welled up in emotion and love for this deity who doesn't really seem to give a damn for the welfare of the poor and the down-trodden!

3. The Beast Gnashes His Teeth!!!


And guess what's my next move? Clever Daniel with all his clairvoyance says it all, on my behalf:
"[You can just about hear the gnashing of teeth now]"

Ouch. I wonder why I should be gnashing my teeth.......ouch, the cramp in my thighs maybe? Wait wait.......my penis is on fire........must be the hot chick I saw on my way off work......

Seriously, reading such incredulous comments do make my day. After a hard day's work, nothing drives me off my nuts than a good gnashing of my own teeth.

4. Jebus is Coming Back on A Spaceship! Repent or Burn, ye Earthlings!!!!

"Beam me Up Lordy!!!" Jebus and the Amazing Flying E.T........

And finally, Daniel proclaims salvation: Indeed, Christians have been predicting the arrival of the Messiah for almost two millennial!

But alas, Jebus really needs to engage a good mechanic; otherwise, folks like Daniel are going to be sorely disappointed.......

"However, we have hope: that God will regenerate His own, and will change the hearts of those He has prepared for salvation, such that all of God's people who hear the Gospel will repent and turn from their evil to life in Christ. Nothing can stop the power of the Holy Spirit in changing the hearts of those He will, not even the rebellious heart of callous atheists. God calls all men to come and repent. Why will you die? Why follow the path of destruction? Recognize your sin, turn to Christ so that you may live."

Daniel in Wonderland: Living in a Imaginary World of Minefields and Delusions


Like a convoluted version of "Alice in Wonderland", Daniel believes in magic thinking: God, above all else, loves him, will redeem him of his "sins", and save him from the dreariness and the sufferings of his mundane existence.

And it is with a sense of trepidation that accompanies me when I wonder what would happen to me if I had persisted in believing in epistemological bullshit of this kind: Will I become a religious zombie, the same sort of idiots who would not hesitate to lampoon folks whose creeds do not align with mine? Or the hypocritical creep, who would not hesitate to impose my religious beliefs on others who want no part in the ways of a Jebus-loving cult?

One thing I do know for sure: Like Alice in Wonderland, Daniel lives in his own, imaginary world, a world plagued by his own inner demons. And I am so damn glad that I am not a Christian, or worst yet, a Christian fundamentalist with one finger up my own damn arse.

Man: The Religious Animal???

-"Man is a Religious Animal. Man is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.... The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste."

Mark Twain

Three Cheers for Obama Again: Reinstating Stem Cell Research Without the Handcuffs

"Look! Its a Baby!!!!"

Pro-life: A cheesy colloquial term hogged by religious folks who clamor for the humane treatment of "unborn" babies, or in this case, fertilized embryos, plus a whole lot of emotional package to go along with it.

Curiously, most of us, it seems, will want to be "pro-life" in the practical sense of the word: No one wants to be caught dead slapping a monkey, or killing a pet rabbit, well, I mean, as long as the stomach isn't growling all that much, and we don't really need to feed extended families who incidentally also have growling stomachs just like ours.

Yup, pro-life and pro-choice are two synonymous words dealing with compassion. While it is true that many of us still consider poultry and livestock farming ethical ( We still love our bacon!), nonetheless humans are apt to be pro-life and pro-choice when it comes to sentient human beings, and sometimes, this crazy obsession with human life goes way beyond the pale.

Stem Cell Research: A Baby-Killing Enterprise????

Misplaced Priorities.........

For the past eight years, stem cell research has languished in the United States, thanks in no small part to the Bush Administration's stupid and inept curbs on federal tax funding for stem cell research, particularly for research that deals with "unborn babies", i.e fertilized human embryos which have been artificially inseminated for the purposes of research.

While the Bush Administration did reserve special treatment for embryos, I do wonder, however, if Bush himself ever reserved such sentiments for adult humans, such as, say, the folks he regularly tortured in Guantanamo and other CIA facilities set up for just such a nefarious purpose??? Or the American soldiers who had been consigned to fight in a seemingly never-ending war in Iraqi?

These embryos, which are hardly visible unless they are viewed under the microscope, are highly regarded as potential homo sapiens based on one incredulous single notion that life begins at conception: The unbridled truth is that if we need to take the ethics of human life to the extremities of singular cellular organisms then one could also surmise that the process of masturbation kills of millions of potential babies in the form of sperm cells! Well, going by such astronomical figures, if a male stud jerks off, on average, 5 times a week, that number could very well amount to billions of murders in a single fucking year.! Heck, he'd be a worst mass murderer than all the tyrants that have ever existed (assuming, of course, these tyrants never masturbate!). And damn the women too, for shedding off their eggs once a month! Bloody murder is on the cards!

And thank goodness, then, that President Obama has the good sense and initiative to overturn these silly, presumptuous curbs on stem cell research, and as usual, the religious rights groups are howling and moaning about murder and infanticide. Jebus Fucking Christ!

Obama Overturns Bush Policy On Stem Cells

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama signed an executive order Monday repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research.

Obama's move overturns an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.

Obama also signed a presidential memorandum establishing greater independence for federal science policies and programs.

"In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said at the White House.

"In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research -- and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly."

Researchers highly value embryonic stem cells because of their potential to turn into any organ or tissue cell in the body. Stem cells have this ability for a short time. A few days before the embryo would implant in the uterus, it starts to develop into specific cells that will turn into skin or eyes or other parts of a developing fetus.

Conservative leaders echoed Bush's rationale in their criticism of Obama's decision.

"Advancements in science and research have moved faster than the debates among politicians in Washington, D.C., and breakthroughs announced in recent years confirm the full potential of stem cell research can be realized without the destruction of living human embryos," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Sunday.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research Minus Religious Regulations

Because of their ability to regenerate into organs, embryonic stem cells have a very good potential for development and treatment of many debilitating diseases, and obviously more work is required to realize its full potential.

With the Bush-era laws out of the way, albeit for perhaps a brief couple of years, scientists can finally carry on with their jobs without the nosey religious morons poking their noses into the scientific realm, where they obviously do not belong.

Furthermore, it is very unethical and downright cruel to ignore the plight of millions of folks who are stricken by some form of genetic disease, such as Alzheimer's and muscular atrophy. These folks are wasting away because medical science currently does not have the ability to eliminate these horrendous diseases. Their fates and their pain are very, very real, and if you think that the imagined plight of cellular embryos should take precedence over the pain of full-fledged adults then you need to take a trip down to a hospice which takes care of these patients (I have seen it first-hand, and believe me, it will rip your heart out, albeit not literally) and witness the suffering for yourself, firsthand.

After all, fertilized embryos are no more human babies than an omelet is a chicken drumstick, even if they are both equally palatable and delicious.

Stem Cell Research: A Beacon of Hope Against Genetic Diseases



-"These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward. Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases."

Former First Lady, Nancy Reagan, Who Lost Her Husband, President Ronald Reagan, To Alzheimer's Disease