I love "thinking" people...

...especially those whose thinking is warped. Take for example this video of an elderly orthodox Iraqi Muslim who, based on the Qua ran has concluded that the Earth is flat and the Sun is smaller than the Earth. His authoritative source of knowledge doesn't teach it so he rejects it - in fact he rejects modern Science wholesale since it is contrary to his holy book.

Then these southern lovelies who have decided who to vote for by comparing their fitness against the Bible (well, their own interpretation of the Bible). The funny thing is to see this woman pastor pontificating about Bush not following Scripture when there are those who would slam her for daring to step into the pulpit or a leadership role.



It really is frightening and somewhat discouraging to discover how some people process information and come to conclusions. The idea that people can formulate a position from rumor and personal perceptions with no effort or ability to verify and process truth is disappointing. But what is even stranger is that these people vilify and demonize those who actually do practice good thinking processes and come to different conclusions.

I really feel sad for the young girl - she has no idea what she's talking about. She's just parroting the same attitudes that she's surrounded by. Very sad.

Puggie says, "Brrr!"

It was a pleasant -4 this morning here in Chicago. I'm looking forward
to mid 50's in Atlanta. Cold is relative...

Airport Security Follies Essay

The NY Times has a gem of an opinion piece written by a pilot about the inanity of airport security and the TSA. While I personally find very little difficulty in flying beyond the torturous experience of queuing up through security, I find the various policies absolutely frustrating. So, now the TSA is going to ban certain types of batteries. What the heck? Battery bombs? Yes I'm well aware of the purported problems with lith-ion batteries catching fire, but come on already.

Unfortunately, once freedoms and rights have been given up to the machine that is government - controlled as it is by inane people - those rights are almost impossible to regain. What is so easily given can be only extricated from the fingers of government at the threat of either great violence or great protest. Oops - now we sound like terrorists.

Personally I'm tired of living in a society filled with drones who trust their government and expect it to create for them a nice cozy safe world. My water bottle is not explosive. My nail clippers are not a weapon - my fists and feet can do far more damage by themselves. A trained person can cause more damage with a credit card than with a nail file. They can kill you with a pen much quicker. For what it's worth, I can probably knock a flight attendant out with my large Bible. Where will all of this finally wind up? With us being required to strip from our street clothes, put on hospital gowns, be handcuffed and escorted into a seat where we are enchained for the duration of the flight? Con-Air here we come. Silly, you say - but that's security.

Don't get stopped in Utah

Some would say, avoid the state, but Utah is a beautiful area. But this video that's floating around the blog'spere is fairly enraging. A young guy with his pregnant wife are pulled over and he winds up tazered and arrested. IMHO the cop is way out of line. But as most of us know, you just don't argue with cops. They have badges and guns, and way too much power. Polite and contrite is best. Amazingly enough, it appears that this guy still has his job.

Homeopathy - sounds like sociopathy

I stumbled on an excellent article in a blog post on homeopathy and its dangers. I recommend a read-in-full. It so reflects my feelings as I've listened to the dribble that passes for science among many I encounter here in Bible Belt Land. For some reason the home schoolers in this area demonstrate a strange kinship with the homeopathic industry. I'm constantly presented with "suggestions" for everything from Blake's stuttering to flu. I try to retain an open mind, yet my more skeptical nature constantly kicks in at many of the suggested remedies.

The most recent suggestion (from his teacher) was that my son may be ADD and should get a battery of tests to determine if he is suffering from an allergic reaction to environmental toxins. While I'm sure that there are environmental toxins that we react to and know for a fact that many of us react badly to them, is this the cause for his lack of interest in Math? Sure he's distracted and won't focus on homework, but is this caused by an allergic reaction? Could be. Maybe he just doesn't like math. Or there could be a need to diagnose the reason medically. But if the doctor were to confirm that he's ADD and prescribe Ritalin (I'm not a fan of, btw - but it does have its place), I can even now hear the crescendo of protests at the medical establishment wanting to "drug my child".

Too much like the health advice I encountered growing up SDA...

50 Years and counting

A number of the family got together to celebrate my aunt and uncle's
50th anniversary. This is a shot of the group. My brother and I had a
great round on the golf course earlier in the day. The weather was a
cool 92.

New Apple Store

I still remember hearing about the first Apple store opening in New
York I think. People said they were crazy. Yup, like a fox.

The Mall of Georgia is the latest sighting of the seemingly unstopable
incursion of Steve Job's band of artistic nerds.

They are giving away T-shirts to the first 1000 people; I'm seriously
wondering if there might be that many in the line in front of me. The
Northpoint community church drummer in the line with me thinks its
close...

Updates on my other blog...