Mass Exodus

From time to time I turn to the Bible for comfort and religious guidance. I mostly stick to the parts quoting Jesus as he seemed to be compassionate and level-headed. Jesus was a "cause guy" and I dig that about Him. But then I get to the parts of the Bible that they somehow never covered in Sunday school and I have the shit scared out of me. Take this little, chicken noodle soup for the soul, passage for example:

20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money".
--Exodus 21:20-21

Got it. I'm glad we have the whole legality thing cleared up when it pertains to beating another human being with a club. But what's even scarier is how "Christians" will try to put a positive spin on the whole passage like this joker-->Link. Oh, I get it noowww. They weren't really slaves, per se, but willing employees. I like how these "defenders" debate the semantics of slavery and completely ignore the fact that the Bible is condoning physical abuse. Still need a little more guidance concerning your responsibilities in the slave trade? Read on...

"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment". (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)

Wow! Polygamy too? This is definitely the band wagon that I want to jump on. Not.
No wonder they called this part of the Bible "Exodus"...

Same Planet, Different Worlds

"Live simply so that other's may simply live." -Ghandi





Note: The second photo was taken by South African photographer Kevin Carter during the famine in the Sudan. This heartbreaking photo of a collapsed girl on the way to a relief station is entitled "Wanting a meal" and won him a Pulitzer Prize. Three months after receiving the award Mr. Carter committed suicide. He was 33.

Engineer Gets 110 MPG Out Of '87 Mustang

I normally won't comment on anything related to the state of Ohio but this is the exception. Click this LINK to hear about an important invention that will probably be sabotaged by an oil-company spy.
So a guy(Doug Pelmear)in his garage can figure out something like this but highly paid engineers at automotive and energy companies can't? I wonder how many inventions/modifications have been shelved as it just might cut into oil profits. I thought this quote was interesting:
"I'm an optimist, and I think people need to know there is hope out there," Pelmear told the Toledo Blade. "That's why I decided to enter the X Prize race. I could have sold this [technology] off, but then people might not have seen it."

Ode to George

He was crude, lude and rude but he sure will be missed...

A World Not Worth Living In...

While we focus our attention on rising gas prices, the "Presidential Election" and Heidi Klum being given a "Peabody Award" Link, it's only natural that a little thing like the extinction of Frogs and Bats might slip under the national radar. Both populations have been declining from loss of habitat but now they both have a fungal disease which is threatening their very existence. And of course the fungal disease is being attributed to the rise in global temperature. Even if you never really liked frogs and/or bats I bet that you like the fact that they eat more than their body weight in bugs everyday.

But I for one like frogs and bats, God Dammit!!! I used to catch (and release) frogs as a boy and I've always felt ever-so-grateful to the bats flying around my head because I knew that I wouldn't be attacked by mobs of mosquitoes. So even if you don't like those creepy frogs and spooky bats could you please do me a personal favor so I might want to continue to live on this planet? Could you please not drive to the store in a Hummer while you pass a bus full of people using mass transit? When you produce a product could you do it responsibly? Could you not have a family of three live in a 4000sq. ft. house? Maybe you could build your house in the city rather than woods or wetlands? And, ironically, when you go to visit our remaining natural wilderness could you please not drive a fucking 8-mpg Winnebago to get there? What's it going to take for some of you to get on the fucking bandwagon and help the cause?!? The extinction of dogs, maybe? Or how about horses? Birds? Man? Do you honestly want to see your children or grand children live in a world where they will never get goose pimples from a bat flying outside their window or hear the chorus of frogs on a warm, spring night?

Maybe you don't give a shit about that. If that's the case then at least do it for yourself. With warmer temperatures and more insects in the air that means Malaria will be coming around soon. It's already spreading in America's south. Maybe West Nile Virus, I heard that's pretty fun to contract. And don't forget that Ebola, Impetigo, Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever like it when it's hot out.

We are Americans. And as Americans we produce 25% of the world's pollution even though we account for 5% of the human population. We have to do something or at least try to do something for bats, frogs, our kids, ourselves, our planet and our future as a species. And if you still don't care about the world we may live in then I leave your heart with one more bit of information for it to ponder. The Koala Bear is on it's way out the door as well...

John F Kennedy

The assassination of President John F Kennedy. We have all seen the grizzly video of him being shot to death. So much so that we forget sometimes that he was a human being who was murdered and not just our president being assassinated. Most of us have accepted the Warren Commission's finding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and was solely responsible for the murder of JFK. "Conspiracy Theorists", a label given to people that disagree with the Warren Commission's report, have rightly said that we should not trust the report as it was basically a government report which was written by a government trying to protect itself. Now the internet is providing the public with more information, or clues, as to what really happened. Below are two YouTube videos that have put me into the "Conspiracy Theorists" camp.
The first video video has been referd to as, "The Speech that got JFK Assassinated":

Eerie, huh? Who exactly was he warning us of? It makes you suspect of some of the things that are going on today...

The second video raises questions about the governments handling of his security:


So here's another question: where have these audio and video tapes been?

The Sorrow of India

As if the world's food supply wasn't precarious enough, there is a ghastly epidemic of suicides among India's farmers. By one estimation, over 160,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide since 1997 although the official estimate is an average of 10,000 per year since the early 1990s. Crop failures, free trade policies, indebtedness, little irrigation and lack of governmental support have led a seemingly hopeless situation for the farmers. To compound the situation, most of the suicides have taken place in only four states which has psychologically devastated India's agricultural region.
Here is a link if you would like to learn more.

America Waves...

This LINK will take you to my very own internet radio station! Well, it's more of an internet playlist, actually, of musical artists on KIAC. The site allows you to check out artists of all styles and compose your own listening page. It's a great way for up-and-coming artists (even Willie Nelson!) to get some exposure for a nominal fee. But if you just want to listen and maybe set up your own page it's absolutely free! Check it out!

P.S. My personal favorite is "America Waves" by Emile Millar. He wrote the song after watching a documentary covering a family's coping with the death of their son in the Iraq war.