Christmas For An Atheist

A  Very  Peculiar  Question

To my Christian Friends:

Of all the questions you’ve ever been asked at this time of the year there is one which I’ll bet you have never been asked. Not only that, I’ll bet you’ve never asked it yourself. In fact I doubt that it has even entered your mind.

There is a good reason for that, of course. Christmas is coming up and you have a lot on your mind. The kids are expecting you to buy out Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, and maybe Future Shop as well. Your bank account is telling you that you must choose between a lube & oil change or one of the two new winter tires you need.

That question?

What do you suppose atheists do at Christmas time?

Whaaaat?!! (I can hear you saying).  Where did THAT come from? Hey ….. they’re atheists right ….. who cares what they do at Christmas!! They’re probably out doing Satan’s work somewhere. What do I care?

Well sir, you may not have cared before but now that I have asked the question, I’ll bet you have started to wonder about it. Oh, not much maybe; but a little bit.  So I’m gonna tell ya. Y’see friend, I’m an atheist so I know whereof I speak.

The first thing you should know is that atheists are just like you. They’ve got bills to pay, and kids to raise, and doctor’s appointments to keep. Just like people do. Religious people, that is.

They too are wondering how the heck they are going to afford all the stuff their kids want for Christmas.

Oh ………. I see….

You didn’t think that atheists bought their kids toys at Christmas?  Well, I suppose that there are some who don’t; but most do. Heck we love our kids just like you love yours.

Have you ever seen the look on your child’s face when all their friends are loading up with goodies and your child gets none?  Who could hold out against a look like that? Not me, I assure you. I don’t even want to try.

A tree? Of course! Why not? It makes the old shack look kinda warm and homey. It smells great, and decorating it is a thing we can all do, as a family, together.

If you are anything like me, you probably don’t spend enough time with your kids… Y’know, doing things together.

We both promise ourselves that “one day soon” – “as soon as the pressure is off a little”, we’ll spend more time with them. Long before that day comes we’ll find them “grown and flown”, I’m afraid.

And then, as we age, we’ll wonder if their sense of “family” will be strong enough to bring them home for visits and let them keep us in their lives. If so, we’ll be thankful and humble in their love. If not, we’ll have to admit that we were the ones who set the pattern of “not being there”. A pattern that we cannot, now, blame them for following.

If this seems familiar to you then we are not so different, you and I.

So the answer to the question?—  “pretty much the same as you, my friend, pretty much the same as you.”

I wish you all a very ‘Merry Christmas’ and may you and yours journey through the years ahead in love and happiness.

We Are NOT Civilized

We cannot claim to be civilized until we have achieved ALL of the following.

1- We spend more on education and health care for our population than we do on religion and law enforcement.

2- No one in our society is ever hungry.

3- We forget about trying to be equal as individuals and learn that we are equally human.

4- We do away with a hierarchy wherein some of us are considered ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ than others.

5- Any person exhibiting “self-importance” is considered un-sane.

6- The results of ANY legitimate research are shared with everyone who wants them.

7- Our forms of entertainment do not contain violence.

8- We accept that the pursuit of pleasure is legitimate ONLY when it does not involve harming others.

9- All parts of our planet are open to all the people on the planet without restriction or hindrance.

10- We put “the good of humanity” ahead of “the good of our nation”.

The Belief That Isn’t

“Believers” Don’t Believe in God

Reading, in recent weeks, some very interesting blogs on atheist sites and the comments that get written on these blogs, one thing has gradually been borne in upon me. Odd as it may seem, I’m becoming convinced that those who claim to be religious “believers”, do not, in fact believe what they say they believe. They do not believe in a god.

Many of them show little or no signs of having any clear idea just what it is they do believe; each indicating a different, sometimes much different, concept of a “god”.  Since their idea of what and who their god is, is the basis for their other ideas about religion and faith, it is not at all surprising that those other ideas will also show a marked difference from person to person and from church to church when their very concept of god is different.

Perhaps the first thing one notices is that each person’s “god” seems to think, act, and be motivated by the exact same things that would motivate that particular person. We see that there are as many “god” concepts as there are people who claim to believe in a god. The peculiar thing among those of similar faith, such as christians, is that they mostly use the very same “bible” on which they claim to base their, very different, ideas.

The next thing one might notice is that those who actually have any clear idea of what is in their “bible”, are few and far between. The vast majority of those who claim ‘belief’ in christianity have woefully little knowledge of that mainstay of all christian beliefs. What is so striking about this is that it doesn’t matter to them! They take little time and expend little effort to examine this tome in any serious way. They may attend a church regularly or only occasionally but whenever they do, they listen to what the priest or preacher has to say and blithely accept that which they suppose that person to mean. If one asks them, on the following day, what they were told in church the day before, few can answer with any accuracy.

Now this lack of understanding of the basic tenets of what christians claim are their ‘beliefs’ has always puzzled atheists. It has often been noted that most atheists have a better knowledge and understanding of the bible than most christians do. Atheists are prepared to cite examples of contradictions, untruths, errors, and other problems with these writings. Most who claim to be christians are not so prepared.

It is, to anyone who has discussed these matters with christians, an astonishing thing!  How can these folks claim to have such a deep and abiding ‘belief’ in such a god and in what they are told is the writings which tell them what that god wants of them? Indeed, how can they make such claims and still just ignore in their daily life all that they claim to believe in?  And why, oh why, are they not doing all in their power to remedy this lack of knowledge? Why aren’t they studying that bible?

Well I think I know why. It is because they do not really believe in a god any more than they believe in elves, fairies, Santa Claus, or unicorns.

But why claim to believe in a god if they really don’t?

Because they don’t know that they really don’t. Y’see, they want to believe in a god. They see many benefits to there being a god. Benefits like ‘answered prayers’ and ‘eternal life’ and ‘being loved’ (no matter what kind of jerks they are), and explaining all sorts of things for which they have no explanation or understanding. Let’s face it, understanding how the universe works is a large task; this would take many millenniums of serious study to even begin to accomplish. It’s much easier just to say, “because god wants it that way”. Oh yes; there are many good reasons to wish that there is a god.

So now there is a wee problem. Deep down they pretty much know that there isn’t any such being  -  but they want there to be one. How to get one? Well, as we often tell ourselves in regard to other matters, all you need to do is to believe really, really hard and you will get what you want. This is exactly what they are doing. Wishing really, really hard and trying to convince themselves that they truly do believe. It is hoped, I suppose, that if enough people all wish really hard for there to be a god, then there just will be one.

Now this is obviously ridiculous. Which is why they would never openly admit to doing it. But they show, in so many ways, that this is exactly what they are doing. Ways that often they conveniently ignore or that even have them puzzled at times.

Look at how their supposed god requires them to behave towards their fellow man. Do they behave that way? No, they don’t. According to what they say they believe, their god is watching them at all times. This god knows everything they do. This god will punish them for all eternity for their wrongdoings!

My goodness, if I thought I faced eternal hell for doing wrong, I’d pull up my socks in a New York minute!!

So would they.

The fact that they go on doing things that they know are wrong is a pretty clear indication that they do NOT believe they will have to face the music for their sins. Why not? No real, deep down, true belief in a god, that’s why not.

All around them are people, just like them, who are professing belief in a god but not acting an a manner consistent with such a belief. People who are trying their darndest to believe that there is a god. Who are wishing for there to be one. Who have a need for there to be one. So, taking their cue from those around them, they too profess to believe and get fully involved in trying to make it true by wishing it to be so. Even if they are not going to church or doing all the christian acts, they, if they profess to believe in a god, are merely wishing for there to be one.

It is this “wishing for a god” that is what they call “belief”.

PEOPLE ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT?!!

A ‘Homie’ Visits A Church

Hey bro, s’up? Ain’t seen ya fer a while.

Me? Well, you remember that cute l’il blonde chickie-boo that lives over top’a the seven-eleven on 6^th Ave?

Yeah, that’s the one. Well I kinda been trying to get next to her, y’know? But she goes to that church down on Pitt St. all the time. Got chattin’ her up t’other day and she invited me to go with her. I figured it’d be a good way to get next to her so I went along with it. Man you wouldn’t believe the story them folks got!! All about how ever’thin’ got here, ‘n stuff. Some weird!

You really want to know? OK, here goes nuthin’…..

So, lemme see now if I can kinda explain how it all works… Y’see, way back a long time ago, way before my ol’ man was born; maybe even before my Uncle Max was born, there was this really heavy Dude. He could, like, do all kinds of really weird shit, Y’know?

Like, he could make stuff just appear. The world. And the sun. And the stars. And he made this naked guy from a bunch of mud or dust or sumthin’, right? So then he opens this guy up and gloms onto a bone; yeah, I think it was from his chest. And then WHAMMO! He turns this piece of bone into a naked broad! Neat huh? Just like that; a naked broad! Imagine! Wish I could do that.

Hey, ease up bro, I don’t know why the heavy Dude needed a bone. It do seem like he could’a just used some more of that mud or dust or whatever it was that he used to make the guy outta, don’t it though? Or just make them both outta nothing, like he done for everythin’ else. Funny, that!

So anyways, this heavy Dude makes a nifty little crib for them outta trees an’ stuff so they got a place to crash, y’know? Called it Eden. Lots ta eat. No worries. Good gig huh?

Then somewhere in there him and the broad get the heavy Dude pissed off at them cause they got talkin’ to some snake who encouraged them to want to know things. Kinda like that creepy Mr. Wilson over at the school who’s always tryin’ to get us to learn stuff that we ain’t never gonna use. So the heavy Dude kicks them outta their crib an’ they gotta go off into the tulie-weeds and find their own crib.

This guy gets to foolin’ around with the broad and pretty soon she’s knocked up. And then he does it a few more times. She probly ain’t looking too good after a couple of rug-rats but hey, there ain’t nobody else for this guy to boink, so he keeps goin’ back to her. He was named Adam; she was called Eve.

Yeah, names does seem kinda stupid when there is only the two of you. I mean who else could you be talkin’ to, right? Nah, I don’t know who named them; maybe the heavy Dude.

So they got these kids and I guess they didn’t know much about raisin’ kids cause later on one’a them kids, the one called Cain, kills one of the other ones. Bad scene man. Y’know what I mean? Off’in’ yer brother like that! I think the one he killed was Abel.

Now the heavy Dude, who ain’t been much help with raisin’ the kids or offering any advice or anythin’ comes back on the scene an’ starts asking a lotta questions like he was a cop or sumthin’. I mean he’s supposed to know everythin’ but there he is just askin’ all sorts of questions like he don’t know nothin’. So Cain admits killin’ his bro and the heavy Dude kicks him outta the crib – an’ it ain’t even his crib, y’know?! So Cain, he buggers off to some place called Nod and finds his-self a wife.

No I don’t know who named it Nod. Don’t know where it is at all, at all. No, no, I don’t know where the wife came from either. They don’t talk about that part very much.

So a few zillion years goes by and the world is full’a people and they ain’t behavin’ too good. Now this is where it gets hairy; you gotta pay attention to this part.

The heavy Dude decides he’s gonna do something to save all them people from their bad ways, y’know? What do ya think he does? Nope he doesn’t just off the baddies. Nope he don’t just change them into good heads. Nope he don’t use his magical powers to straighten ‘em up. Doesn’t do any of them things.

He finds himself this nice little virgin broad an’ he knocks her up! But get this….. he didn’t boink her! She’s still a virgin! He magics her pregnant! Man when she had that kid, I bet it hurt like hell, her still not bein’ ‘opened up’, y’know?

Yeah, well this heavy Dude never did seem to care much about hurtin’ folks. Done it a bunch’a times. Even drowned just ‘bout all’a them one time. Kept out a couple that he liked and sploosh… drowned the rest of them. Hell’-of-’a way to go!

Anyway the virgin broad’s dad is havin’ a bird about her bein’ knocked up an’ all, so he arranges a marriage for her with some carpenter guy named Joseph. Yeah, a good hearted guy but he must’a been a bit slow; never seems to have figured out that it wasn’t his bun she had in her oven.

The kid gets his-self born and this broad Mary, and her ol’ man, Joseph are tryin’ to do right by him. They take him to the church, which them folks calls a temple, to get him some learnin’ an’ stuff. Well he turns out to be a right smart-ass little punker. Next thing ya know he’s tellin’ them a thing or two! Figures he’s smarter than them all, he does. No, yer right, they don’t think too much of this at all. Yeah, yer right, I don’t think too much of it either; never did like smart-ass kids.

Right about now yer probly wonderin’ what’s goin’ on with all this. Turns out that the heavy Dude went through all this rig-a-marole to have this smart-ass kid start goin’ around preachin. Seems like the idea is to convince folks that they’s “doin’ it wrong” and they gotta change their ways.

Don’t ask me. If I had the powers the heavy Dude has, I’d of just made it easy on everybody and changed them folks to be the way I wanted them to be without all the bullshit. Seems like this heavy Dude had a liking for doing things the hard way. I guess that’s how ‘gods’ does things. Never was one’a dem that just got to work and done things sensible like. They always works things around so’s somebody always gets hurt.

Yep. Somebody got hurt this time too. His own kid. Well he WAS a loud mouth, y’know. Always going around preaching at folks and telling them how bad they was acting. Seems like he had some of his daddy in him too. Performed a few healings and raising up from the deads, and stuff like that there. Was a bit of a drinker too. Had a trick where he turned water into wine. Neat. I could sure use that one! Good man to have at a party.

Seems he could make a basket of food stretch pretty far too! Didn’t do it often though. I suppose he didn’t care much if folks had any scoff. I guess he had his. Leastwise I never heard of him going hungry. Did a walk-about in the desert for over a month. Didn’t seem no worse for wear when he came back.

Well he got together a few faithful followers and kept up with his preachings until the turf capo got upset and had him busted. He made the mistake of cracking wise to the wrong man and they hung his ass out to dry. For real! Hung his sorry old skinny ass up about six feet in the air, on a couple of logs, and left him there to dry out. Yeah, the sun was pretty hot, I guess. Three days later he was done for. Took him down and put him in a tomb.

What? No, I don’t think that was what folks usually did in them times. I think they usually just buried them, same as we do. I think they had a rule that he had to be in the ground before sundown of the day he died. Well yes, some rich folks didn’t get buried, they built tombs fer themselves. Got put into a tomb when they croaked. I don’t know where he got the money for a tomb. Yeah, it would’a been a good swack of bread alright. I dunno how he done it.

Then a whole bunch of weird things started happening. First he got put in that tomb. Then, when folks came to look about tidying him up the next day, he was gone. Sounds suspicious, I know, but they swore he was gone. A few folks said they saw him during the next few days but then he just disappeared after that. Probably a good thing. They’d have hung his ass back up on them logs if they would have found him still alive. I’d have got the hell out of town myself under them circumstances.

Getting back to what I was sayin’. Nothing much changed as far as how folks behaved. They just kept on as usual. Some of them folks that was followin’ the preacher boy around kept up with the preaching business. Made it profitable too!

They took to calling this fella “Jesus” later on. Started telling folks that he had died for the folks who was doing wrong.

Not the ones who was doing right, mind you; the ones who was doing wrong. Seems his death somehow pleased the heavy Dude so much that he considered it payment for the wrongdoings of folks. Some think that even the wrongdoings of folks these days, a zillion years later, is still covered.

That heavy Dude must have been some happy to get rid of that son of his if he is still forgiving folks of their sins up to today. Either that or he really gets his rocks off on blood. Yeah, he IS one weird Dude alright.

Imagine sayin’ to folks, “This here is my son. What ya do is hang him on a cross made of logs till he croaks and I’ll consider that payment in full fer all yer wrong-doings, past, present and future.” This Dude is cold, man, like real cold!

The parents? Mary and Joseph? I dunno what happened to them. Guess they weren’t around.

Hey! Don’t be startin’ in on me! I’m just tellin’ ya what them folks at that there church tol’ me. I know it don’t make no sense at all but they sure seem t’be into it, lemme tell ya! S’enough to scare hell outta ya the way they carry on about it.

No man, I didn’t ask them for no proof. I’d’a had to take them serious if I did that. They get this look on their face like they’re gonna flip out on ya, y’know?

They figure this heavy Dude can take them off to some paradise when they croak and they’re right in there brown-nosin’ away even though they can’t even see this dude. It’s creepy as hell. They calls it worshipping. Seems this heavy Dude, what can do all this stuff like make whole worlds, an’ people, an everythin’, gets his jollies by havin’ folks get on their knees, or roll around on the floor, or whatever and sing and praise him, an’ all. I just about shit, y’know? Talk about ego……sheeesh! This Dude is sick!!

Maybe their heavy Dude likes to watch them make jackasses outta themselves. It’s like they were all trippin’ on bad smack, y’know? Only worse.

And them’s the same folks that looks down on us when we toke up or drop a tab of acid. I tell ya man, I ain’t never seen nobody act as weird as them churchies no matter what kind’a bad junk they cranked.

But the worst thing is what all this does to their minds. I mean they fall right off the edge, y’know? I never seen folks get so totally out of it. They get to smiling at each other and callin’ everybody brother and sister and pretending to like each other.

Yup. You can see the smiles is phoney as can be and that they is each trying to outdo the others as to how much they can smile and shout “praise the lord” and “hal-ee-noo-yah!” and “amen”.

I don’t know what they get outta doing that. Maybe the heavy Dude is the only one getting his jollies. Sure looks weird though.

Back? Me? Nah, that once was enough for me. Some of them folks is alright, I guess. And that chick is sure ripe enough for a bite or two, but there is something just toooo weird about them all. That heavy Dude of theirs is somethin’ else too; he can’t seem to figure out if he should do his magic stuff or get someone else to do his work for him. All them churchies is always talking about “doin’ the work of the lord”.

Like…Too much! Y’know?

A Conversation With “J”

Global Warming – A conversation with “J”

A short time ago I was engaged in an e-mail conversation with a friend when the subject of global Warming was raised.

This, essentially, is a portion of that conversation…

Larry,

I’m a huge fan of Al Gore and am a died-in-the-wool Liberal (yeah, cap L), but I have to admit that I’m not “sold” on the evidence that the melting of the ice caps is solely due to human activity.  And you’re right, rather than debate the evidence, the dominant side resorts to name calling and dismissive terms like “denialist”.

On the other hand…. there is little doubt in my mind that the world would be a better, safer and healthier place if we would minimize our environmental impact.  Population growth is a big part of that, and one need only follow a diesel truck or bus (or in my case, stand near my vehicle’s gas tank with fueling!) to know that burning fossil fuels impacts the air we breath.

Dear “J”,

Global Warming (henceforth GW) is one of those issues that keeps popping up in front of my face. I have only a moderate interest in it. I do, however, detest the distortion that Al Gore and his fellows of the “Lets-All-Hate-Mankind” church seem determined to push upon us.

Let me position myself first.

1-My interest in this is modest

2-I have no solid scientific background in any science pertaining to such issues

3-Of all the knowledge I have acquired in 68 years of life, about .001% of it has been checked or verified BY ME in any scientific way. It is accepted by me on the understanding that those who do the research are careful, honourable scientists who are not, for the most part deliberately lying to me, but who might be honestly mistaken.

4-My personal and financial well-being are not being threatened by GW; I’ll be long gone by the time it gets to be serious.

5-My method of “verifying” claims made by either side (or all sides, if you prefer) is to ask three primary questions….

a)-Does this make sense (in the “common sense” meaning of the word)?

b)-How well does this fit with “knowledge” previously gained by me during my lifetime?

c)-Can I verify, within reason, any one or two of the key claims made by proponents of a position without getting a degree in the science used and setting up my own research lab?

I think you will agree that my method would NOT suit someone who is as “deeply into” something as you are with the subject of ******.

That said, here goes on Global Warming:

I was taught in school, many years ago, that the earth goes through warming and cooling cycles. Ice Ages have resulted during cooling. Little about warming was ever dwelt upon. Yet my “common sense” tells me that for there to have been “Ice Ages” (plural), as opposed to one long Ice Age, there MUST have been periods of time in between those Ice Ages when there was no Ice Age; i.e. warmer periods. Mankind did not even exist during most of these cycles; yet they occurred.

The best information I can locate (again without making myself a fanatic about it) indicates that those who study such things are able to identify at least 6 and perhaps 7 such ice ages, from geologic evidence, in the history of this planet. The most recent one having reached its “mid point” (which reason tells me would probably be its coolest point) about 17,000 years ago. Since that time the earth has slowly, although not always steadily, been experiencing warming.

Mankind has only been able to noticeably contribute to levels of CO2 for about the last 500 years, maximum. Warming, since the last Ice Age, was occurring naturally for 16,500 years PRIOR to mankind having the capability to make any contribution to this whatsoever. I have no reason to believe that this natural warming would not have continued if mankind had not developed the capacity to make a contribution to it.

The numbers that I can find seem to indicate that mankind is, at present, contributing somewhere between 3% to 10% of the CO2 in our atmosphere. The high end numbers (over 5%) seem to more often reflect the “beliefs” of the espouser than to be the result of any solid scientific research.

This is further complicated by the fact that a large number of scientists disagree that CO2 IS a major contributor to GW. They point to other causes and, despite being declaimed as “GW deniers”, have NOT denied the fact that GW exists; they have only said that evidence exists which precludes CO2 production as a major cause of such GW. Common Sense forces me to ask, “Where, for instance, would large quantities of CO2 have originated 17,000 years ago when the planet began to warm up thus ending the last Ice Age? Or, for that matter, during all previous Ice Ages which ended with Global Warming every time?”

I have seen some estimates of just how hot it got during the last warming period which shows that it got to 42C – 45C degrees. This, while very uncomfortable for most people today, IS survivable with proper preparation.

My conclusions:

1-Global Warming is a fact

2-Mankind’s contribution to it is minimal

3-If mankind were to instantly stop its production of “greenhouse gases’, GW would continue unabated

4-Attempting to cease production of CO2 would require the shutdown of almost all modern production and be horrendously expensive

5-Such a ’shutdown’ would have disastrous results on a large portion of the world population

6-The cost of attempting such a shutdown could leave us with insufficient funds to prepare to survive GW

7-We would be wiser to prepare to survive, than to attempt to stop, GW

8-There are political and business interests who see themselves as being able to profit more by attempts to stop GW than by attempts to prepare to survive it.

9-These political and business interests support the alarmist preachings of those such as Al Gore for perfectly valid financial reasons

10- My predictions:

a) Global Warming will continue to occur

b) Humanity WILL, against all reason, try to stop it

c) Humanity will be unsuccessful at stopping it

d) Large numbers of people will probably perish during GW due to lack of proper preparation to survive it

e) Profits are more important to politicians and businesses than the death of billions of people and will be sought regardless of how many will suffer because of this.

So there, Sir J, is my understanding of this subject, in a nutshell. I am comfortable with this position. I admit that it would take some huge amount of concrete ‘evidence of error’ to shake me from it. What I have seen of the Al Gore type propaganda only impresses me as being an eco-religion; and I am an atheist. My reason does not allow me to be a “believer” of any sort and I detect too many partial truths being bandied about by this crowd.

Response from “J”

We are actually in greater agreement than not, Larry.

The only additional perspective that I might offer is that none of this argues against efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, pursue alternative energy sources and seek to develop the most efficient forms of transportation possible.  To frame it in your model, I’d suggest these could be part of the policy to prepare to survive GW, rather than fight it.  If not, then I’d fall back on an argument that these efforts make sense for a multitude of other socio-political reasons (like keeping our noses and bombs out of the Middle East).

Oooops.  Did I just open another can of worms?!

Dear “J”,

It does not surprise me that we should be essentially in agreement. Most of us, who have given this even a small amount of THOUGHT, usually are. It is so unfortunate that people no longer ‘think’ about things, preferring instead to choose someone/something to “believe in” and then referring to their new-found beliefs as their “thoughts”. You frightened me with your reference to Al Gore since I did not know whether it was “tongue-in-cheek” or very serious. I have had people really freak-out on me when I dared to question “God Gore”!!

I cannot tell you how much in agreement with you I am as regards reducing our ecological  ”foot-print” AND as regards my country, Canada, getting the hell out of the middle east and letting those folks find their own damn solutions to their own damn problems. No matter if the propaganda were actually true and we were there “to bring democracy” to them (something I seriously doubt), we MUST realize that one CANNOT “give” freedom to another. If one can give it then one can with-hold it or take it away, at will; in which case it cannot be defined as freedom, but merely as “temporary, conditional, liberty”. Those folks must find their own reasons for attaining democracy; or not, – as THEY see fit.

Our “job”, if we have one, is simply to perfect our own brand of democracy for our own citizens and let it stand as an example of what we believe is a good way of doing things. Should we ever manage to do that, and we are a long, long way from doing so, then I have no doubt that others will look it over and decide for themselves whether it would, or would not, suit them. We desperately need to understand that we cannot “bomb someone into a state of democracy”.

This is especially true since, although we seem convinced that they are not smart enough to realize it, when we speak of “freedom” for their nation, what we really mean is, “We will be free to do as we damn well like in your country and you will be free to do as we damn well tell you to do.” The freedom to do as we like includes the freedom to rip off their natural resources which, in the Middle East, means fossil fuels.

I’d like to make it clear that I have little truck with those who appear to think that if we decided tomorrow to switch to alternate, less harmful sources of energy, that it should be up and running by Wednesday of next week – Thursday at the latest……

Switching to such sources of energy will take decades, if not centuries, of massive industrial effort. During this period of “up-dating” we will, in fact, be required to INCREASE drastically our use of present forms of energy with the concomitant INCREASE in pollution such massive use will entail. The “instruments” of those different forms of energy production won’t pop up out of nowhere. They will have to be built in the thousands and millions. The only technology we have available to us for doing that is our present one; the polluting one. We have NO OTHER!

Not only will the present technology need to build the future technology it must ALSO, at the very same time, meet our ever growing societal needs for massive energy output. The people who somehow expect a changeover from ‘dirty’ energy production to ‘clean’ energy production to “just happen”, have more than a few screws loose.

Those who think that it is only the present day producers of ‘dirty’ energy who are “holding things back for reasons of profit”, have not thought things through. The huge profits they will reap by providing the massive amounts of energy that will be needed for the production of the instruments of cleaner power has their tongues hanging out.

They, above all others, know just how close we are to running out of our present non-renewable energy resources. They know that we are in a race against depletion of those resources. They wish to be still in the profitable business of energy production in 10 or 50 or 100 years from now. They know perfectly well that they stand the best chance of being in that position if they are the ones to introduce the energy production methods that will be necessary in the future.

The impression is often given that our present energy producers are ‘forcing’ massive use of their ‘dirty’ products upon an unwilling populace. This is just not so. We, the people, are the ones who demand that our every whim be catered to with regard to our use of energy. We are the ones who “want what we want NOW!” When this means ‘dirty’ energy, the producers of that energy do their job; they provide it to meet our demands. Then they must suffer the self-righteous castigation of those who enjoy the good life provided by such energy. Yup, these self-righteous bastids is US! (What a surprise!!)

But then it is so much easier for us to throw all blame and responsibility on “the oil companies’ or “the coal producers” or “those damn nuclear reactors” than it is for us to reduce our own personal consumption of the energy produced by such means. The good ol’, “It ain’t MY fault” syndrome is alive and well in all those countries where massive energy consumption is the norm.

Wrong. It damn well IS ‘my’ fault. And it is high time “I” took responsibility for it. Time to find ways to reduce my own “personal” consumption of energy.

Time to stop blaming those who supply that which “I” demand.

NOTE: This conversation has been edited to remove irrelevant, personal, and other information, prior to publication as this blog……….. Sez Me!

WAR STORY

By: Sez Me
As someone new to this business of being a Senior, I have recently come in contact with a number of folks who are enough older than I to be able to tell “war stories’ which are REALLY “War Stories”.

Now there are war stories and then there are war stories. Those I am hearing about WWII make it clear which these are. These are serious. These are true. These are intensely personal experiences and are usually unembellished in any noticeable way. Sometimes they are told with great sadness and sometimes they are told with a twinkle in the eye and a trace of a smile.

The sad ones are pretty much what you’d expect. Of the horror of war; the dangers, the death and most awful to me personally, of those who lived but who were so damaged in body, mind, or both, that surviving such horror might not qualify them to be called “lucky”.

The stories which fascinate me however, are the ones that can be told with some degree of humour. These are most often told by those who were left behind; by the families of the men and women who served in the field of action. But now and then a really great one came out of the war zone too.
My first mother-in-law could always get a good audience by telling how her husband fell in love with her “at first sight” because he was a gentleman.

It seems that he, a Canadian of Danish descent, serving in London England, was caught outdoors and some distance from shelter when the air-raid sirens sounded. Hurrying to reach a safe place, he rounded the corner of a small lane just as a couple of rather large bombs fell nearby.

Also entering that lane, from the other end, was a young English nurse. The last bomb, in the series that fell near them, exploded near enough to her to hurl her down the lane toward the young Canadian.

The blast from that bomb, although not doing her much damage, tore every stitch of clothing from the young nurse! Needless to say our young Canadian soldier rushed to her aid. Seeing that she was more embarrassed at her lack of proper attire, than hurt, he promptly took off his long coat and wrapped her in it. Since bombs were still raining down, although distantly now, they decided that staying right where they were might be best.

Hesitantly they began a rather awkward conversation. In her shy nervousness the young nurse quipped, in fine English style, “Well, now that you’ve seen me naked, you’ll just have to make an honest woman of me”.

The young soldier, although not normally quick with words, managed to come back with, “Well, now that I’ve seen you naked, it will be my pleasure!” War being what it is, they wasted no time and were married a few weeks later.

Obama

Seems to me that America’s President Obama has two major concerns at the moment…..
1- Dodge Bullets
2-Walk On Water
To clarify:

1- Refers to avoiding the assassination attempts which will surely be mounted by the racist, ‘radical right’. (Later on in his presidency this threat may come from those who are now his most ardent supporters)

2- Those who support him, by and large those who are presently disenfranchised (the poverty stricken & pauperized), and those who fear becoming disenfranchised (those of the “middle” middle class who have been losing ground for some time) will, in the way of people everywhere/everywhen, expect him to be able to make major changes which will benefit them, personally. They will, unrealistically, expect these changes to take place immediately. (If not yesterday)
They, not without a little help from the radical right, will let themselves ignore the fact that they have given him the task of emptying the ocean with a tea-spoon. He might get it done – but it won’t happen that soon. Not soon enough to make an immediate major difference in the way things have been going.
Obama, I’m sure, knows full well that the problems of America (and thus the world) will take from twenty to fifty years to make any appreciable inroads into. His real job will be to get that process started while, at the same time, convincing the masses who supported him that everything they long for is about to happen ‘tomorrow morning’.
There will come a time, how distant I can’t assess, but probably in just a few years, when those who supported him discover that he is not going to put a Cadillac in every garage and filet mignon on every plate. They will be outraged at what they will see as Obama’s “betrayal” of them. These are the people who are totally convinced that all he has to do to set things right is take all the money away from the ‘rich’ and give it to them, the ‘poor’. Easy as that!
Don’t we wish it were that easy? Don’t we wish that the difficulties he faces could be, even slightly, understood by “the people”? But that is not how ‘the people’ are. And they have little patience for being told to “have patience”.

So it looks from here………Sez Me, in Canada