Food for Thought...

Penn Jillette, the talkative half of Penn and Teller, is a well-known atheist and speaks out regularly about his non-belief. He was interviewed for the "This I Believe" segment on NPR a few years ago, and I found his explanation thought-provoking. Someday, someone might actually read this blog, and might find it interesting also. The original is at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5015557

Here's what he had to say:

"I believe that there is no God. I'm beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy — you can't prove a negative, so there's no work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?

Nubar Alexanian

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Penn Jillette is the taller, louder half of the magic and comedy act Penn and Teller. He is a research fellow at the Cato Institute and has lectured at Oxford and MIT. Penn has co-authored three best-selling books and is executive producer of the documentary film The Aristocrats.

So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The atheism part is easy.

But, this "This I Believe" thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So, I'm saying, "This I believe: I believe there is no God."

Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my life. I'm not greedy. I have love, blue skies, rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be enough. It has to be enough, but it's everything in the world and everything in the world is plenty for me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more. Just the love of my family that raised me and the family I'm raising now is enough that I don't need heaven. I won the huge genetic lottery and I get joy every day.

Believing there's no God means I can't really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around.

Believing there's no God stops me from being solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different people from all different cultures. Without God, we can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where I'm wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really communicate. I don't travel in circles where people say, "I have faith, I believe this in my heart and nothing you can say or do can shake my faith." That's just a long-winded religious way to say, "shut up," or another two words that the FCC likes less. But all obscenity is less insulting than, "How I was brought up and my imaginary friend means more to me than anything you can ever say or do." So, believing there is no God lets me be proven wrong and that's always fun. It means I'm learning something.

Believing there is no God means the suffering I've seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future. No God means the possibility of less suffering in the future.

Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have."

I'd be very interested in the responses of my theoretical readers.

Meaningful Legislation on the Bush-era Tax Cuts?.......

.......Don't hold your breath while this group of Bozos is running things in Washington.

On one hand, the Republicans are willing to sacrifice trillions in income by shielding the wealthy from tax cut repeals, but they insist that unemployment benefits be "paid for" before being extended. Ya can't have it both ways, people. They make me want to retch. Add to that, the Republicans, if they had their own way, would only give tax cuts to millionaires. Which would continue their agenda of transferring wealth from the poor and middle classes to the wealthy. I refer you to:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15923.htm

".....The economic pie is getting bigger -- how can it be true that most Americans are getting smaller slices? The answer, of course, is that a few people are getting much, much bigger slices. Although wages have stagnated since Bush took office, corporate profits have doubled. The gap between the nation's CEOs and average workers is now ten times greater than it was a generation ago. And while Bush's tax cuts shaved only a few hundred dollars off the tax bills of most Americans, they saved the richest one percent more than $44,000 on average. In fact, once all of Bush's tax cuts take effect, it is estimated that those with incomes of more than $200,000 a year -- the richest five percent of the population -- will pocket almost half of the money. Those who make less than $75,000 a year -- eighty percent of America -- will receive barely a quarter of the cuts. In the Bush era, economic inequality is on the rise.

Rising inequality isn't new. The gap between rich and poor started growing before Ronald Reagan took office, and it continued to widen through the Clinton years. But what is happening under Bush is something entirely unprecedented: For the first time in our history, so much growth is being siphoned off to a small, wealthy minority that most Americans are failing to gain ground even during a time of economic growth -- and they know it......"


Meanwhile, the Dems just forced a vote on keeping tax cuts in place for ONLY the middle class. Even though they knew it wouldn't work. Nothing but posturing. All they're thinking about is how they'll frame issues to the voters in the next election cycle; they want to be able to say they voted for middle class tax cuts and not tax cuts for the wealthy. I have a hard time believing they really give a crap either. All they care about is their own re-election.

And, of course, there's much made of the fact that this is all taking place during a "rare" Saturday session. My heart bleeds for them. As a nurse, I've worked plenty of evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays. Those shifts weren't at all "rare." Am I supposed to feel sorry for our poor Senators for having to work on a Saturday? Cut the fuss people. I'm not impressed.

Can the USA as we know it survive this kind of government? The answer may be no:

http://investmentwatchblog.com/when-the-people-find-they-can-vote-themselves-money-that-will-herald-the-end-of-the-republic-benjamin-franklin/

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been about 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

Might just be time to go get a little piece of land in the middle of nowhere, dig a moat and pull up the drawbridge.

Survivalist Blog Give-away

M.D. Creekmore at the The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog dedicated to helping others prepare for and survive disaster – with articles on bug out bag contents, survival knife choices and a wealth of other survival information is giving away a 1,000 round case of 9mm – 124 Grain FMJ (a $200 value – donated by LuckyGunner)! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for the details.

Protests Against Wind Farms? For Real???

You've probably heard the whining about how wind farms are an eyesore and will mar the view and bring down property values...etc., etc., etc. I'll bet most of the people complaining about them have never seen one up close. I've travelled to many corners of this country and have seen wind farms in several states. I think they're quite beautiful.

But even more beautiful is the idea of ending our dependence of foreign oil. And not having miners die in coal mines. And not facing another Three Mile Island, or our own Chernobyl.

Take your choice people, but please make it a smart one. You can have clean renewable energy from sources such as wind farms or photovoltaics, or you can continue to rely on Middle East oil, dirty coal technology (contrary to what they'd have you believe, so-called "clean coal technology" doesn't exist yet) or (yikes) nuclear energy and all of its' inherent risks. You can continue to lose miners, fund terrorism, and risk nuclear accidents, or you can have beautiful windmills on the horizon.

IMHO, the choice is clear.

My Message to my Representative re: Health Care Reform

I sent the following message to my Representative today.

Representative **********,

I've tried calling your D.C. office but your phone inbox is full and can't take messages. Ditto the S.D. office phone inbox. I'll bet the conservatives are making a concerted effort to clog the lines so that supporters of reform can't get through to you.

I also looked for info about your stance on health care reform on FB, but couldn't find anything there.

Please vote in favor of health care reform.

And please understand that, even though I am registered as an independent voter, you shouldn't assume you can lump me in with the gullible tea-baggers who believe all the lies fed to them by the ultra right-wing crazies out there.

I am a Registered Nurse, and I know all too well how desperately reform is needed. Under the status quo, the health insurance companies are getting away with murder. Literally. Voting against reform is, IMHO, aiding and abetting them in their crimes.

Do the right thing.

Pat ********

Loyal Opposition?

The term "loyal opposition" has become meaningless in politics. The only loyalty the opposition holds is to the special interests that put them in office. They have no loyalty to their constituents. Voters are only there to be manipulated by the powerful special interests, such as the health insurance industry, big pharma, big oil, etc.

Case in point: the teabaggers. They seem to believe anything the conservative interests throw at them. Death panels? What a joke. Government rationing of health care? Who the heck do they think is rationing their health care right now???? The insurance companies, of course. And the insurance companies are profit-motivated. I would prefer health care rationed by the government because the government, at least, does not have that same kind of profit motive.

These days, the "loyal opposition" is just a bunch of power-hungry obstructionists, trying to shove the agenda of special interests down our throats. They are obstructing the will of the people who voted for change, and I am disgusted with the lot of them.

If I ruled the world, lobbyists would never be allowed to contribute to campaigns. Sadly, the Supreme Court seems to feel otherwise....but that's a topic for another day.

I am registered as an independent voter. I'm afraid, though, that too many pols are lumping all independents into the category of gullible teabaggers, easily manipulated by the republican machine. Not so!

Hmmm.......I may have to investigate this coffee party movement.

My Letter to my Senators re: Health Care Reform

This is the letter I emailed to my two senators today:
************************************************
Senator XXXXX,

My mailing address is in XXXX, but I am a registered voter in XXXX. I am registered as Independent, but please don't make the mistake of thinking that all registered Independents are gullible tea-baggers, easily manipulated by the fear tactics of the Republican machine.

WE NEED HEALTH CARE REFORM AND WE NEED IT NOW! I would prefer a plan that includes a public option. If that's not possible, a plan that provides for a lot more competition between the insurance companies might have to do.

Unfortunately, the Democrats have shown themselves to be incompetent, even with a super majority. And the Republicans are still the Party Of No. One party CAN'T do anything, and the other party WON'T do anything. The business of the American people is being ignored in the heat of political battles. I'm fed up with both sides.

PLEASE DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO GET THIS DONE.
************************************************

So....if I ruled the world, elected officials would get booted out of office if their voting record even hinted that they were putting their political interests before the business of the American people. I'm sick to death of talking points. I'm sick to death of the special interests having more influence than private citizens.

Doubting Their Sincerity

You've seen the protest signs - President Obama depicted as The Joker, or as a tribal medicine man, etc. The people holding these signs are, presumably, conservatives. They're protesting against many things, abortion rights among them. I guess that's because they care so much about children. Yeah, that's it. They care about kids.

So why are they willing to put Sasha and Malia in the position of having to see these horrible parodies of their Dad?

They are hypocrites. Either that or they're so stupid they can't think through the consequences of their actions.

Socialized Medicine?

I understand that people have different philosophies about health care delivery in this country. There's a wide spectrum of ideas being advocated, ranging from leaving the system just as it is to having the government take complete control with a single payor system. There's a legitimate debate there, and everyone has the right to express their views. So far, no problem.

I do have a problem, though, with the people ranting against socialized medicine while getting their own medical care through Medicaid, Medicare, or the VA system. I'd love to find out what percentage of the anti-socialized medicine protesters fall into that category. I'd guess it's pretty high....

Remember one of the signs a protester held up that said Keep Your Government Hands Off Of My Medicare??????? What the.....? People like that are clueless. And what's really scary is that they vote.

Debate is wonderful. It's part of the rich political heritage of the United States. But I wish the protesters had a real grasp of the issues before taking to the streets to express their opinions.

".....the American people....."

If I hear one more politician speak for what "the American people" want, I'm gonna scream. Mitch McConnell uses that phrase, as does John McCain. Among many others. I'm one of the American people, and they don't speak for me! Their frequent use of that phrase in their rhetoric is nothing but presumptuous grandstanding. Enough already!