The U.S. National Deficite or I'll pay you tomorrow for a hamburger today!

OUR CREDIT CARD ECONOMY.

I want it!

I want it all!

I want it now!

And I don’t want to pay for it.

We constantly preach to consumers to pay off their credit cards, lay out a budget and live within their means. However, this is the antithetic of the financial program of the Republican Party. Since the time of Regan the plan has been to operate the budget at a deficit, give the money to the rich, and the rest of us will benefit by serving the needs of the rich as laborers or producers; and, in the meantime the economy will grow to counter set the deficit. Regan called it Trickledown Economics. What an insult to the common man, and yet the punters bought it. We know how much the rich and powerful care for the middle and poorer classes: Let them eat cake. We have seen over the Bush years how well tax cuts for the wealthy benefited the economy.



Ronald Regan begin his term with a tax cut that was not matched by a spending cut, resulting in the largest deficit since World War II. This has only been topped by George W. who, along with the Republican Congress, increased discretionary spending by 26% and decreased revenues with a huge tax cut for the rich, which results in our present deficit.



As of 22 Nov. 2010 at 7:43 GMT our national debt peaked at $13,804,733,376,403.78. Let’s read that off: thirteen trillion, eight hundred and four billion, seven hundred and thirty-three million, three hundred and seventy-six thousand, four hundred and three dollars and seventy eight cents. With an estimated population of 309,527,555 citizens, the debt averages out to about $44,599.37 per person. An even more horrible truth is that with Bush’s wars and the slow economic recovery the debt continues to grow at about $4,170,000,000.00 (four point one seven billion dollars a day.)



When we start talking about millions, billions and trillions the numbers are so large that people don’t really have a concept of actual size. People are so use to hearing the government talk in “trillions” that they become jaded and unconcerned.

HOW BIG IS A TRILLION?

• If you would drum your pencil on the top of your desk once-per-second, it would take you seventeen minutes to drum out one thousand beats.

• If you continued, without stop, twenty-four hours a day, it would take you twelve days to drum out a million beats.

• If you could continue, non stop, it would take you thirty-two years to drum out a billion beats.

• And if you could continue for the rest of your life, and your children’s, and your grandchildren’s… – you could drum out one trillion beats in thirty-two thousand years.



Remember the US budget deficit is over thirteen trillion dollars.

(Check out the national debt at: http:\\www.brillig.com/debt_clock/)

A LEGISLATURE WITHOUT TERM LIMITS,

OR HOW TO BUY A GOVERNMENT.

Remember, the primary goal of any Senator or Congressperson is to remain in office. Fact: the politician able to spend the most money usually gets elected. So how do you stay in office? It doesn’t require a business degree to figure that if you’re good to mamma, mamma’s good to you.



All major businesses are looking for an advantage. It can be government subsidy or relaxation of environmental or labor laws that can increase the profit margin. Therefore, businesses hire lobbyist to romance the legislators with an unspoken understanding that if pro-business legislations are supported the legislator will receive financial support at election time. This whoring by politicians is the results of no term limits.





Now the fly in the ointment: Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, 130 S.Ct. 876 (2010), was the recent decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that corporate funding of independent political advertisements in candidate elections cannot be limited, under the First Amendment. In other words, corporations can now finance political ads for or against candidates with unlimited funds – they are allowed to buy any election.



As long as politicians can be bought they will legislate on the side of the money. The mega-wealthy and large corporations have usurped control of the Congress and Senate and future legislations will be on the side of war profiteering, tax cuts for the wealthy and tax loop holes for big corporations. The results will be a constant increase in the U.S. deficit and the cutting of social programs as a Republican lip service to deficit responsibility.



Doing away with pork in the U.S. budget is overtly proclaimed by both parties as a step toward financial responsibility – though each Senator and Congressperson covertly pursues all the money he or she can get for their states. A line item veto for the president is the answer to leaning down a bloated budget. (When pigs fly…)



Finally, the U.S. spends more money on its military than all other countries in the world combined.



So, in an ideal world, how would we bring fiscal order to the National budget?

1. Raise taxes to bring in more income.

2. Close the tax loop holes for corporations and the mega-wealthy – one rate for everyone – no deductions.

3. Reorganize and downsize our military.

4. Cut back on unnecessary military related expenditures.

5. Require a balanced budget.

6. Enact a line-item veto for the President.

7. Limit campaign contributions and enact term limits.

Two tears in a bucket – motherfuckit.

The Lady Chablis

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION

THE CORINATION OF ROYALTY

Did you ever consider that you have to pass a test to be a doctor, a lawyer, a CPA or a school teacher; but, any fool on the street can become a senator or congressperson if they can talk enough people into voting for them?



Our legislative body was set up almost two hundred and fifty years ago. Our founders believed in the rights of the individual, but they also believed that the people needed a benevolent, sage group of men to guide them. Illiteracy among the people was the norm and communication and transportation between colonies took weeks and sometimes months. Our founders were opposed to royalty but unknowingly they were creating a royal class.



Both Franklin and Jefferson realized that access to power tends to corrupt politicians and both men supported term limits for officials.



Just as Franklin and Jefferson feared, our Legislative Branch has an old-boy network which is composed of members whose primary concern in reelection. What other small group of people have the power to vote in their own pay raises, decree their own term limits (none) and lock the government into a two party system? Strom Thurman was a senator for 48 years, finally dying while still in office at age 100. Ted Kennedy was in office for 47 years. This is the type of service that locks-in and guarantees the old-boy network. A career as a Senator or Congressman is the best job in town. It is a stepping stone to power, wealth and privilege. It is a coronation to American royalty.



At present senators are elected for six year terms and representatives for two years. Their salaries range upward from $174,000 a year. There is per diem, dislocation pay, foreign travel allowance, domestic travel allowance, office expenses for two offices and allowance for aides and staffers. Legislatures vest in a retirement after five years. They get to choose civil service or government employees retirement systems and health insurance coverage. Their retirement can be up to 80% of their salaries – determined by length of service.



An eight year term limit would change this. It would attract people who desire to serve the public and are willing to make changes for the good of the people. The election to the legislative branch should offer an adequate salary and prestige, but not retirement benefits. It could benefit the people willing to commit to service by returning them to civilian life with an impressive resume. By rotating people in the Legislative Branch we could break the mindset of business as usual and oust the old white men who have controlled and manipulated our government for their own purposes for so many years. The focus would change from getting reelected to serving the people. The Catch-22 is - that the only way we could decree a term limit would be for the Legislative Branch to enact it as law – and they are not about to do that.



In the early 1990’s there was a move by some states to institute term limits for their members of Congress and the Senate. A law suite instituted by legislatures (including Tom Foley, ousted Speaker of the House) against term limits made its way to the Supreme Court. In 1995 the Court ruled term limits unconstitutional. (US Supreme Court ruled term limits unconstitutional in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (May 22, 1995).



Now, the only way for term limits to be instituted would be by an act of Congress. Fat chance for that…



Now let’s move on the other big lie.

ONE PERSON – ONE VOTE – NOT!

As Americans we are brought up to believe that we sustain our democracy through the process of one person one vote. In the Presidential election this is an allusion: the President is elected not by popular vote but by the Electoral College (the old boy network.) It has happened, as recently as Bush that a president was elected that did not receive the majority vote of the people. How wrong is this? In this technological age tabulating the vote of the people is not rocket science. Why do we need an Electoral College if not to allow an avenue for the old-boy network to manipulate the vote?



When we, as Americans, cast our vote for a presidential candidate we are actually casting our vote for electors. Article II of the Constitution requires an Electoral College. The idea of the College was to give states with a smaller population an equal weight in Presidential elections. Also, Congress did not trust the common man to make an informed decision. Each state has one electoral vote corresponding to its number of senators and congressmen. There are five hundred and thirty eight electoral voters and two hundred and seventy are required for a win.



Major political parties may select their electors at their party convention or they may be appointed by party leaders. Here lies the problem: the electors are not required to vote as their state popular vote indicates and their collective votes do not correspond to the percentage of votes cast for each candidate. In the 2000 Presidential election Al Gore won by more than a half million popular votes but George Bush ended up elected to the presidency (with the help of the Supreme Court) by an electoral vote of 271 to 266. Who are these electors that supposedly cast our vote? Most Americans will never know.



Article II, Section I, Clause II of the Constitution states:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.



Changing this system would require a Constitutional Amendment. The old white men who wield the powers in our government and political parties would loose their influence if a Popular Vote Amendment were enacted – and they control the direction of legislation in our House and Senate.



Again, a circular outcome and self-fulfilling expectation comes from a Legislative Body without term limits.



The next BLOG will deal with the selling of our government (Citizens United Ruling,) line item veto and balanced budget.

AMERICA: THE IMPERFECT UNION

ALL THINGS USA CONTINUED.

Or

HOW CAN WE MOVE TOWARD A MORE PERFECT DEMOCRACY?

What do we need to turn the country around and make it what we would like to believe it is? I can give you my list. (Remember, this BLOG is all about me.)



• We need our senators and congressmen to have term limits: being a member of our legislative body should be a service to the country, not a career. No state has term limits for US Senators, as the US Supreme Court ruled such limits unconstitutional in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (May 22, 1995, so tomorrow is the 12th anniversary of that decision).


• We need to get rid of the Electoral College and have the people’s vote elect our president.

• We must close the loop holes that allow industry to manipulate government through lobbyist and contributions. (Citizens United Ruling)

• We need to have a fiscally responsible government: we must stop the pork by enacting a line-item veto for the president.

• We must demand the government operate within a balanced budget.

• We must rethink and reinforce the idea of free enterprise, by not subsidizing inefficient and outmoded companies.

• We need to reinvent the railroad in order to transport goods more efficiently and drastically decrease the need for inefficient and polluting semi-trucks on the highways.

• We must enact a totally green energy-policy.

• We must reorganize and down size our military.

• We must control population growth.

• We must improve the education in this country by removing it from the hands of uninformed legislators and placing it under the total control of educators.

• Finally, we must be an active member, and accountable to a world of nations.



This is a wish list; an unrealistic musing of a path toward a more perfect democracy. The reality is that the United States is not a democracy but a plutocracy: a country manipulated by corporate interest. The government proper is juxtaposed between two political parties, each vying for control. What’s good for the people is second place to securing power for the party and the personal ambitions of the legislatures. All this is fed by the wealthiest Americans and mega-corporations that funnel money into the electoral process, allowing them a major influence on legislative outcomes. Add to this a sizable sector of the population that is not bright, uninformed and easily manipulated by thirty-second commercials, loaded phrased and catch words like abortion, gays, guns, god, patriotism, the military… and you have a country locked in to system that is moving toward a place and time that we will all regret.

The TEA PARTY NATION -

BE AFRAID - BE VERY AFRAID

In future Blogs I will discuss each item listed in the above wish list.

Patriotism: God Bless America and Don't Tell Me Otherwise.

ALL THINGS USA

Life is full of experiences,

though it’s dust in the wind.

What’s really important

are women and men.

People are important. Every person lives in a mini-world of loves, pains, accomplishments and failures. The path we follow constantly changes us. As individuals we are capable of great good and great evil – but generally we just try to keep-on keeping-on: but we constantly change.



Solzhenitsyn said it best (Gulag Archipelago,) “One and the same human being is, at various ages, under various circumstances, a totally different human being.”



I have empathy for human beings. Most of the people I know struggle just to get by. There are women raising children, men working long hours, kids in school, old people facing the reality of their passing; everyone wants that little bit of happiness, or at least contentment.



The individual’s great down fall is when he loses concern for the feelings of other human beings. We are egocentric by nature, but we have the ability for compassion. It is only when we organize ourselves as group that we tend to lose our personality and our individual compassion. That is when we are capable of the greatest evil.



Humans are heard animals and we have an imprinted nature to organize and identify ourselves as a group. There are good groups, destructive groups, and necessary groups; and when we become a member of a particular group we willingly hand over our individualism and identity to the group. We have club affiliations; church affiliations; local, state and federal affiliations: political parties, law enforcement, military, clubs and gangs etc. As a member of a group the needs of the group become paramount over the needs of the individual – and as a member we loose our individual empathy and concern for people outside our group.

GROUP USA



Patriotism

Good God y’all

What is it good for? 
War



We make a mistake when we show blind allegiance to our government. Our founding fathers came from a monarchy in which the individual’s purpose was to serve the needs of the government. Our country was founded on the premise that the government be organized to serve the needs of the individual. But, over the years our government has moved away from the principals of individual liberty and freedom guaranteed by our constitution. We now find ourselves alumni of the Bush “W” era when the government operated in secrecy; a chilling parody of George Orwell’s 1984:

“WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.”

And Big Brother knows what’s best for you.

We should hold our government accountable to serve our needs and our best interest.

It makes you wonder at what point in the Orwellian nightmare did Big Brother begin scaring the people with Terror Level Colors – At what point did Big Brother give immunity to the tela-coms for spying on the people – At what point was Big Brother able to convince the people that arrest and confinement without due process was acceptable – And at what point was torture warranted for the protection of the state. It took real patriots to accept the rule of Big Brother.



I don’t trust the word Patriotism, for it bespeaks blind allegiance to the heard. I am fortunate to be born in this country, but I am not blind to the fact that there have always been factions in our government that do not, and have not served the needs of the individual. Just as we must have a realistic view of religions we need to take off the rose colored glasses and have a realistic and informed view of our country.



When I taught History in high schools I always begin by making the point that U.S. history is a record of wars and the lulls in-between the wars - as written from the perspective of the winner. In the United States our heritage is war. War has defined us:

• 1620-1754: Scrimmages with the Indians, Dutch, French and Spanish

• 1754-1763: French and Indian War

• 1770: Boston Massacre

• 1773: Boston Tea Party

• 1775-1783: Revolutionary War

• 1786: Shays Rebellion

• 1812-1814: War of 1812

• 1846-1848: Mexican War

• 1861-1865: Civil War

• 1898: Spanish American War

• 1914-1918: First World War

• 1939-1945: Second World War

• 1950-1953: Korean War

• 1961: Cuban Standoff

• 1964-1973: Viet Nam War

• 1982: U.S. invades Grenada

• 1991: Persian Gulf War

• 2001 The war on Al Qaeda

• 2003: U.S. invades Iraq

• 2003: Iraq war

• 2004 :Troops sent into Pakistan



Each war has brought on social and political changes. We could paraphrase Solzhenitsyn and say: One and the same country is, at various times, under various circumstances, a totally different country. As wars and weaponry have become more and more dangerous to humanity, war should be viewed less and less as the means of settling disputes and controlling natural resources.



The specter of war rallies many of our people to blind patriotism, which allows our leaders to maneuver our Nation into dangerous and destructive situations.

I have told my students that the history they are taught has been written and edited here in America – with an American perspective – and an American spin.



Let’s take a realistic look at the United States.

• We are 16% of the world population, yet we consume 25% of the world’s natural resources

• We have a huge disparity between the rich and the poor resulting in a decline of the middle class.

• 25% of the world’s jail population is incarcerated in the United States.

• We have a greater percentage of citizens in jail than in college.

• We have the highest infant mortality rate of any developed nation.

• We are the only major industrial nation that still has a death penalty.

• Our students perform poorly on standardized test.

• Industries are leaving the United States at an alarming rate because they can not compete using American workers.

• We have a decaying infrastructure: roads, railways, bridges, sewer and water

• We have a government willing to spend billions of dollars a month on the unnecessary invasion of Iraq while we have thousands of families that can’t afford health care, and thousands of children that go to bed hungry.





On the positive side: we live in a country where an intelligent boy from a poor family, raised by a single mother can become President of the United States. (Bill Clinton and Barack Obama)



On the flip side: we must also be aware that a boy from a rich family, with a mediocre education, a background of drug addiction and a history of irresponsibility and business failures, because of his connections, can be appointed President of the United States. (George W.)



Nothing is black and white. People with initiative can succeed here. Good, hard working people can also fall through the cracks. We have many opportunities in this country yet many of our people are disenfranchised.



We have our proud times: On September 11th twenty-three religious fanatics took the lives of 3000 innocent civilians, and our people rallied. This attack will go down in our history books as an atrocity against humanity.



But we also have our darker side that you will not fine detailed in the high school history books as an atrocity against humanity:



The date was August 6, 1945. It was eight fifteen in the morning. The sun was coming up in the east and the city was coming to life. The people of a major metropolitan city were starting their daily routine. Mothers were feeding their children breakfast and preparing them for school; fathers were leaving for their jobs; while somewhere overhead an American bomber was releasing the first nuclear bomb.



The explosion took place 1900 feet above the city. The ground zero area was disintegrated and two thirds of the city leveled instantly. Of the three hundred and fifty thousand civilians in the city of Hiroshima, one hundred and forty thousand died.

Five days later a second nuclear bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Of the two hundred and seventy thousand civilian inhabitants, seventy thousand died: men, women, children, old people, pregnant women, unborn babies…and no birds sang.

The men who released the bombs were American patriots. We are the only country to have ever use nuclear weapons: and we dropped two of them – on civilian cities.



Are we bad? No, we are human. Men have always been willing to kill other humans, we had just learned to do it more effectively – and we did it first. We write the history, so we will justify this killing.



Am I proud to be an American? Sometimes.



I live a pretty good life. I have a cabin in the north Maine woods, a beautiful wife, a fat cat, a four-wheel drive truck, and enough income to keep the wolf away from the door (barely.) There is no place else I would care to be.



Am I disillusioned with America?  No. I am disillusioned with Americans. The American people on the whole are poorly educated, uninformed and apathetic. They do not make it their business to hold their government accountable. A small percentage of our people vote and of those that do, many blindly follow a party allegiance.



A large percentage of the American people believe they live in a fairytale utopian city/state ordained and overseen by a Christian God. They believe that to question actions of the government is blasphemy and they are willing to blindly line up with flags and placards in hand – and even give their lives – when the political/ industrial puppeteers invoke the cry of patriotism.



Samuel Johnson defined patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels. Actually, patriotism is the autonomic response of the heard to the scoundrels who invoke patriotism as a means of control and manipulation.

Patriotism is mindlessness – Beware!

Christianity: Why don't they captialize smallpox?

ATHEISM: Cogito ergo sum

(I think therefore I am.)

While I’m on this metaphysical kick I might as well deal with religion.



David Strauss (1835) said: “Religion is no more than a myth in a particular historical form.” Nietzsche said: “Christianity is the morality of the heard – a slave morality.” Actually, all religions are nothing more than a heard mentality. Ask no questions, fall in line, chant the creed, open your purses, and march lock step over the cliff singing Onward Christian Soldiers (or whatever chant of compliance the dogma demands) and your reward will be life after death: trust me on this.

Most religions require a belief based solely on faith. The reason, of course, is that no religion can stand up to logical scrutiny. Religions persist today only because man can not accept the finality of death. Now, I’m not an expert on all religions, but I have been subjected to more than my share of Christianity. Therefore, Christianity (as the representation of religions in general) is the cult I can discuss.



The basic premise of Christianity is that if you are willing to hand over the social and mental control of your life to the cult you will not actually die but transition to some wonderful place where you will live with gods as an immortal being.



To paraphrase Mark Twain, only man could invent a heaven devoid of all the earthly pleasures, and sell it to the punters. The Christian heaven is portrayed as a bland existence: a seven-day-a-week church service where you sit around and praise God. Now, if you could convince me that heaven was a wild sex orgy with beautiful necked women nymphomaniacs, good Bourbon whiskey, and fine cigars you might be able to convert me. But then again – I doubt it. Beside that, my wife wouldn’t approve. It is obvious that men invented God but women invented heaven.



Let’s explore the Christian myth. It all starts with this young girl in her early teens. The girl is pregnant and betrothed to her much older uncle (who believes, because of her young age, that she’s a virgin.) Now it’s pretty obvious that Joseph ain’t bright. Supposedly, Mary convinces him that yes - she is a virgin - and yes she is pregnant. Now even in my most drunk and hung over times this argument wouldn’t work on me. But as it turns out uncle Joseph is told that an angle of the Lord…: and he buys it.

Now there are two things memorable about this tale. First, as a carry over from the Old Testament, it reinforces the belief that if young women aren’t virgins they are somehow soiled. Second, it is the only incidence where a woman in the Bible is shown in a positive light, or as anything other than a husband’s or son’s subordinate. Women should be up in arms because of the way they are portrayed in the Bible, but good Christian women accept their sinfulness and their lowly status. Remember, you are not allowed to question.

Where did this story come from? Who wrote it down? What language was it written in? When was it transcribed and in how many translations? I’m sure any fundamentalist could answer these questions. They can also dispute Darwin and the origins of man. One thing we must remember is that it was written at a time when an ass drawn cart was cutting edge technology.



Next, we find this man/god with his disciples. This puzzles me. Christians are so homophobic, yet Jesus spurns the attentions of women and relishes the company of men? You definitely can’t say he had heterosexual interest.



The whole saga ends with a bloody human sacrifice. If you talk about the Incas offering human sacrifices people will shake their head in disgust, but Christians flaunt human sacrifice. They proudly walk around with icons of a human crucifixion hanging around their neck. Now come on. What kind of a sadistic god would demand a human torture and sacrifice to “take away the sins of the world?” What the hell is that suppose to mean?



All bullshit aside, exactly what was accomplished here?



God the father: now that’s an oxymoron. This father is so petty that he readily inflicts pain, suffering, and even drowns his children. It’s a good thing He’s not female and doesn’t live in Texas.



None of this makes any sense, but if you are willing to believe it you’ll never have to die; you will just transition to some better place where you can sit around for eternity in the company of God.



Another carrot on the stick that Christianity uses (beside everlasting life) is prayer. You want something in this life – all you have to do is put your hands together and pray and God will grant whatever you desire. Prayer gives you a direct line to a God whose only interest is taking care of good Christians’ needs. Children pray for new bicycles, adults pray for personal success and wellbeing, football players pray to make a touchdown.



During every minute of every hour of every day one or more women are being raped, numerous children are being molested, people are dying of starvation and disease. We have people being tortured and murdered and yet God seems to have nothing better to do than make sure a particular pass receiver catches the football as he crosses the goal line. Maybe we’ve uncovered the truth here. God is a sports junkie. He’s so into manipulating football, baseball and auto racing that he doesn’t have time for fire, famine, pestilence, rapes, murders and all the other boring calamities heaped on mankind.



Did you ever notice that most of your mass murderers and serial killers were Jesus freaks who claimed to be acting on orders from God? I believe the less violent ones end up as TV evangelist.



It’s pretty obvious that most of the troubles in the history of the mankind can be linked to religious differences. Even today we have Jews fighting Moslems, Christians fighting Moslems, Hindus fighting Moslems (Moslems seem to ask for it) and Protestants fighting Catholics. If you look at underlying causes you will find that most political conflicts, if not directly – then indirectly, spring from religious differences.



Six hundred years before the birth of Christ, Greece was the center of civilization. For six hundred years the Greeks promoted education, science and ethics. The progress and the strides were incredible. An atmosphere of inquiry fostered brilliant thinkers:

Thales was an astronomer (circa 585 BC). He believed the earth began as water.



Anaximander believed all life came from the sea and that man evolved from fish. He also made the first maps of Europe.



Pythagoras is known as the father of geometry.



Empedocles stated the earth was round.



Leucippus described the atom about 420 BC.



Socrates promoted a method of enquiry.



Plato (about 350 BC) founded the first university and wrote ‘The Republic’ outlining the idea of city/state.



Aristotle founded universities for the study of ethics, politics, biology and poetry. He is known as the father of Logic and Ethics.



Diophantus – Algebra. Ctesibius – the water clock. Euclid – geometry. Hipparchus – trigonometry. Aristarchus – diameter of the moon, and the earth rotates around the sun. Archimedes – physics and mechanics.



Had this atmosphere of enlightenment continued where might mankind be today?

Now we have the rise of the Roman Empire. (Note: we always speak of the Greek Civilization and the Roman Empire.) For a number of reasons Christianity (why don’t we capitalize smallpox?) got a start and found a fertile atmosphere for growth in the Roman Empire. With the decline of the Roman Empire the Christian Church came into power. Because Science, enquiry and logic are always the enemies of religious dogma, the church closed the universities, burned the libraries, and restricted books and knowledge. This is the beginning of what we know as the Dark Ages. For a thousand years the Roman Church and her inquisitors presided over the Dark Ages. Any ideas contrary to Church teachings were considered heresy. People were tortured and executed for expressing new ideas. As late as the sixteen hundreds Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for writing that the earth rotated around the sun. Even the famous astronomer Galileo was tried for heresy and forced by threat of torture to recant, for publishing that the sun was the center of the universe.



Partially because of the great plagues and the advent of the printing press “The Church” lost it grip and mankind was able to struggle out of the Dark Ages and into the Renascence. I marvel that here, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Christianity still holds court on science, progress and reason.



Politics and religion is a deadly combination. Even though our Constitution guarantees us freedom from religion, Christian factions are always trying to insidiously insert themselves into government policy making. The religious-right, represented by the Republican Party, crusades to limit our freedoms of choice, freedoms of speech and freedoms of expression. Religion thrives in an environment of ignorance, and fundamentalist Christians try to legislate ignorance through censorship, misinformation and control. I vehemently object to the inscription In God We Trust appearing on our currency, swearing So Help Me God during legal proceedings and opening prayers at the beginning of government functions. Organized Christianity would like nothing better than the power to hold court and punish anyone whose actions or beliefs are contrary to their narrow religious points of view. We constantly point to the human plight in Moslem theocracies, but we should be vigilant, for the Christian “right” would like nothing better than to turn our country into a Christian theocracy and be able to legislate and enforce their dogma.

Christians at a soldiers funeral.

We have had fundamentalist try to place their Ten Commandments in our court rooms; they have tried to change our Constitution to reflect their bigotry against homosexuals; they have managed to have their god acknowledged on our currency: and in thirteen states (Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia) they have been able to pass laws to restrict sexual freedom between consenting adults (including married couples) in their own homes. Their anti-sodomy laws make a criminal offense of both oral and anal sex. They also strive to outlaw the teaching of Darwin and mandate the teaching of intelligent design (an oxymoron) in certain geographic areas in our public schools. The list goes on. Their covert attempt to defeat the separation of church and state and to create a Christian theocracy is the end gold of this cult.



It’s not funny. I view religion beyond contempt. It would be amusingly funny and entertaining if the consequences were not so serious.



My objections to religion:

1. The creation myth

2. Blind faith and allegiance

3. The virgin birth and other miracle fantasies.

4. Glorification of human sacrifice

5. Transubstantiation (cannibalism)

6. Intolerance, bigotry, racism and pious outrage.

7. Sexual repression

8. Female phobia: contempt for women.

9. Repression of logic and reason

11. Censorship

12. Proselytism

13. Blatant contradictions with science

14. Resurrection and after life myth.

15. Required belief in gods, demons and angels.

16. Opposition to stem cell research, birth control, sex education, abortion…



From the earliest times religion has been the undercurrent of divisiveness which has polarized groups of people against each other. Religion has caused wars and persecution on a massive scale. Murder, rape, genocide and torture have all been justified under the pious mantle of religion. Even today most of the atrocities against humankind have at their base religious differences.



I recently spent three years as the principal of three schools in two Yupik Eskimo villages in Alaska. These two villages are accessible only by bush plane, but are connected by three miles of dirt road. At one time there was a single Native village on the river at this location, but the introduction of two different religions by white missionaries resulted in a split among the people causing prejudice that sometimes results in violence. Part of the politics of being the principal for these two villages was to mediate the bickering between the upper village (Catholic) and the lower village (Russian Orthodox) when it affected the children in our schools.



This is a microcosm of what is happening in the world today. The major conflicts of the twenty-first century: the wars and genocides and atrocities against human beings, can be attributed, in the largest part, to religious differences.



Let’s take a look at the current wars and warring factions:



• Balkans: Orthodox Serbians vs. Catholic Croatians; Orthodox Serbs vs. Bosnian and Albanian Muslims.

• Caucasus: Russian Orthodox vs. Chechen Muslims; Azerbaijan Muslims vs. Catholic and Orthodox Armenians.

• Ethiopia: Muslims vs. Christians

• India – Pakistan: Hindus vs. Muslims

• Indonesia: Muslims vs. Christians

• Israel – the Arab world: Judaism vs. Muslims.

• Iraq: Sunni Muslim vs. Shia Muslim vs. Christian

• Kashmir: Muslims vs. Hindus

• Northern Ireland; Catholics vs. Protestants

• Palestine: Judaism vs. Muslims

• Shri Lanka: Buddhists vs. Hindus

• Sudan: Muslims vs. Christians

True Believers



Jonestown: more true believers

 As we move into a time when nuclear proliferation can not be contained we face the prospect of religious fanaticism bringing an end to civilization. The Muslim religion is by far the most dangerous ideology in the world today, but let us not underplay the more subtle drive by the other world religions to move us backwards to a new Dark Ages.



I have no problem with people choosing to follow a religious belief and avowing their compliance to its dogma. My problem is when these same people believe they have the right to force me to their compliance: if you don’t believe in abortion – fine – don’t have one; if you don’t like homosexuals – don’t become one; if you want to drink the cool aid – fine – lock the door of the church and go to Jesus; but, leave me the fuck alone and stay out of my life.



One last point to grind on: I object to being labeled an atheist. I am a logical, educated, reasoning, seventy year old male and a citizen of the United States. People who wish to identify themselves with a god-cult have every right to call themselves Christians, Moslems, etc. However, I do not require a label to exclude myself from a cult membership.

Dubito ergo cogito ergo sum.
(I doubt therefore I think therefore I am.)

RELIGION

The Tower of Babble – Babbling – The Ramblings of a Chaotic Mind.



Damn I’m horny – the wife is watching TV – not interested – there will be no pussy today – hell, I’d settle for a hand job – I’m sure a blowjob is out of the question.

Regardless of the fossil record, the disconnection in sex drives between women and men is all that is needed to disprove intelligent design. On the six day God created man (if that’s so it was a rush job) - and if you believe that, I’ve got a condo in heaven I will sell you cheap. We are led to believe He created women as an afterthought (probably because the animals were complaining about Adams bestiality tendencies.)

There can be no doubt that God disdains women – I’ve always thought there was a homoerotic element in the Christian created God - with Jesus it’s even more obvious - I know that in the Divinci Code they attempt to make a link with Jesus and Mary Magdalene - but I think that is an attempt to cover up the fear that Jesus was homosexual - hey, He was way to intimate with his twelve disciples – He spurned the sexuality of women – He liked to put on big dinners: that’s gay. Churches would have you believe that Jesus was a god-man. He never took a crap – He never took a piss – He never beat-off – He never had sex – hell they would have you believe He didn’t have a butt hole or a penis – surely never farted – can’t you picture it: God Gas - if you could ever locate the Jesus family privy you could make a fortune on E-Bay selling bits of God Crap.

I marvel at the faith of Christians – a tornado can come down and turn their double-wide to match sticks, impale their dog on a telephone post and put grandpa in the hospital, but when the TV crew arrives their only comment will be to praise Jesus for delivering them from the storm:, “we’re alive – it’s a miracle.” It never occurs to them that God just took a big dump on them. But: God is love – All creatures grate and small – the Lord God made them all: whales, elephants, horses, dogs, rabbits, mice, the plague, AIDS virus, ebola, dysentery… - Praise Jesus – God the Father – God the Son – God the Holy Ghost – Not a sparrow falls… God is everywhere: God is here, God is in London, God is in France, God is in Jessica’s under pants. Ohhhhh Nooooo – not in Jessica’s underpants – there is only evil there – remember, God says women’s bodies are dirty – women are responsible for original sin - women the fornicators – women the adulterers – women the seducers – women’s butts – women’s vaginas - women’s mouths – women’s tits – women’s nipples … Ohhhhhh Nooooo! Not women’s nipples – man’s nipples ok – women’s nipples nasty – hide the children’s eyes – mustn’t see nipples – Janet Jackson – Ahhhhhhhh! Black women’s nipples – you’ll go blind.

Churches preach that sex is nasty. You won’t go to heaven if you have sex before marriage – or heaven forbid: un-natural sex (an abomination.) We must train the children: abstinence is holy – you can’t get to heaven if you have sex. No wonder that Christians are so frustrated.



Heaven - now there’s a concept. It’s easy to see that man invented religion in order to be able to impose illogical control on the faithful, but it is equally as obvious that women invented heaven.  In their heaven there is obviously no sexual submission imposed on them.

HEAVENLY REWARD

You die and find yourself in heaven. St Peter meats you at the gate, “Congratulations, you have made the cut; you are about to enter heaven.”

YOU, “There really is a heaven!”

SP, “Oh yes, it’s real. Now, before you go through the indoctrination do you have any questions I could answer?”

YOU, “Yes, I seem to be hungry, is there food up here?

SP, “Absolutely, we have milk and honey bars.”

YOU, “Any steaks or burgers – how about bacon and eggs or pork chops with fries and onion rings?”

SP, “No, just milk and honey.”

YOU, “Is there whisky, beer or cigars?”

SP, “Of course not. Just milk and honey.”

YOU, “That’s disappointing, what about women?”

SP. “Yes, yes – there are actually more women here then men.”

YOU, “Things are looking up. Is there any restrictions on how we spend our days?”

SP. “It is not exactly restriction, but your days are already planned for you; you sit in the presence of God and sing His praise all day…it’s like being in church all day, nothing can be greater.”

YOU, “But what about sex?”

SP, “No, no, no…none of that. You see, women have no vaginas – they are not necessary here.”

YOU, “That’s not good news; but there is always anal sex (any port in a storm)?”

SP, “None of that either – God doesn’t want to have to deal with sewerage disposal – so you have no anus.”

YOU, “But tits, women still have tits don’t they?”

SP, “Oh yes, but without nipples – dirty, dirty, dirty – God has never liked women’s nipples, so He removed them.”

YOU, “Well, actually oral sex is my preference – women do still have mouths?

SP, “Of course, but sex – no - you see, you will have no penis.”

YOU, “THIS SUX. I’ve been a good Christian all this time and this is what I get for an afterlife?”

SP, “Don’t complain, you could be down in hell. Look at the TV monitor. In hell everyone is necked – they are all fornicating – there is drunkenness and gang bangs and fetishes. All the whores and sluts and adulterers and bikers are down there – it is one continuous drunken orgy – I know it is hard to make out with all that loud rock-and-roll music and the tobacco and pot smoke around the camera, but you are fortunate you have come to heaven. This is your reward as a pious Christian.”

YOU, “No, this is hell!”

SP, “No, this is heaven.

YOU, “No, this is hell!

SP. “You know this is heaven. You were never made to believe otherwise.”

HELL - RESERVE A SEAT FOR ME.

THE BETTER NATURE OF MANKIND IS WOMANKIND.

WOMEN THE ENIGMA






Perhaps this is unfair to describe women from the point of view of a man, but that is what this writing is all about – my point of view.

To begin at the beginning we have to begin with women, for that’s where we came from. People, who try to look at our species as somehow separate from the rest of the animal kingdoms on this earth, have not really taken into account women. Women are the quintessential creatures of nature. Their lives are controlled by the rise and fall of the tides, the phases of the moon, and other mysterious physiological functions that we men will never understand.



Young women are a ball of fluctuating emotions and can go from elation to depression in a fraction of a moment, leaving men totally confused.



Let’s back up and look at it from the very basics. Males are the fertilizers, women are the life givers. In some species males extend their roll to protectors, and in some few cases even providers (though this is not necessarily a natural state for the male animal.)



Women are born with this need to procreate. Little girls play house. They play dolls and mommies and daddies. Finally in their late teens this need to procreate connects with their female development and turns into sexual urges. They don’t realize a conscious need to procreate, but are receptive to sexual overtures. They spend the majority of their conscious time concerned about their hair, their clothing, their body and in general, their attractiveness. With pure animal instinct, the young female Homo Sapien exudes sexuality that can drive young males wild. To females, sex is a way to connect with a partner – an attempt to establish a relationship. To males it’s all about sex. Sex is fun, and the more different partners – the more fun. The only reason young women don’t have more sex partners, is that most young men behave stupidly in response to the female’s sexual aura.



The proof of sexuality as animal instinct is child bearing. What sensible person in their right mind would go through childbirth; have their insides and orifice stretched to the point of tearing, and then turn around and go through it again. I have often heard women remark that if men had to have the babies the human race would end – and they are right. But women, being such natural creatures, continue to respond unconsciously to their instinct for procreation and do it again (and again, and again, and again.)



Women and men are totally different in their aggressive tendencies. By nature, women are not aggressive (catty - yes, physical - no.) . Women prefer to get along with each other and are rarely physically threatening. Generally, if women play games together they aren’t competitive games and they aren’t obsessed with winning. They seem more content with just being apart of the group. Women who claim to enjoy football and other contact sports are usually following the sport to impress males. Women watch sports as observers, men watch sports as vicarious participants. Women do not get the same adrenaline rush when a big lineman takes out the quarterback. If by themselves, women aren’t likely to view racing all day Saturday, watch football all day Sunday (leaving the TV only during commercials for a piss, a beer and more potato chips) and then stay up late on Monday night in anticipation of Monday Night Football. Whereas men like movies with violent physical attributes (fighting, sex, killings, sex, stabbings, sex, chases involving cars and motorcycles and sex) women prefer less violent viewing involving emotional situations with the insinuation of sex.



Everyone must admit that sex is the driving force that brings men and women together. Which brings us to the fact that one of the most devastating and fearful realities that all women must face is rape. Rape is abhorrent. There can be no other act as humiliating and debilitating as rape. Women’s natural role in sex is submissive. Men do it and women receive it. Even in the marital bed men often physically restrain their wives at the height of male climax. It is the civilization of society that protects the female.

Man’s propensity for war and rape (which are akin) is deeply implanted in the male’s arcane animal instinct. It is only in the past few centuries that rape has been condemned as the spoils of war. It is easy to see that our basic male instincts are contrary to societal norms. The example is easy: porn debases women; men love to watch porn; men want their wives and daughters to be respected (though they would love their wives to be slutty in bed



The booming population increase and the ability of mass communication have forced civilized socialization on the human male and have allowed women an equal voice in many societies. But, rape is still ignored in many third world countries; and, in some theocracies women are blamed and punished for being the victim of rape.



With the complete liberation of women, and women as a powerful voice in the community and home, we can reach a society where sexual violence against women is not acceptable and not tolerated. We are not there yet. We still have families in this country where women are abused by their husbands, and male children grow up allowing the more primitive instincts of their nature to control their actions.



This brings us to women in the work place. I’m not going to touch this one. Sorry girls, but in a combat situation I would prefer a man guarding my back than a woman.

A woman is not the same woman throughout her life. After menopause, women come into their prime. As older men become set in their ways and doddering, older women become the matriarch: the strength and stability of the race. Mature women see things in a humanitarian light that men are never quite able to achieve. Older women become nurturers and seem to have the ability to live life more fully than older men. Old men live in the past while older women live in the present. I think it is an obvious observation that men peak out at middle-age, but women continue to grow in confidence, ability and poise throughout the last half of their lives.



Our world would be a much more peaceful and humane place if older women were in charge.



There are women in the arts, women in the homes and women in the work places that have made valuable contributions and enrichments to human existence; and I love and respect my wife who is an intelligent and capable woman; but, I’m a male animal, and natures rolls for male and female animals are imprinted differently – these rolls run parallel but do not merge. I can only view and try to understand women through my male filters.



My observations of women have dealt mainly with sex and this is because most of my life I have viewed women mainly as sex objects. The fact that I haven’t viewed women with more depth of character is my short coming and my inability as a male, to understand the female animal.

STRONG WOMEN
Kindergarten teachers in a Yup'ik Eskimo village in southwest Alaska. 
My wife front/right