Sad state here and abroad

I felt very sad when hearing of the death of Benazir Bhutto. I admired her extreme courage and determination, her vision and her cause. The world has lost a powerful leader who happened to be a woman.

I’m sad on many fronts these days, nearing the end of this year. I have a completely illogical aversion to odd numbers and 2007 did not bode well from the start. I still fear for the coming year with the election and disgusting hype that comes along with it.

These days, I’m as certain as a scientist could reasonably feel “certain” that history will remember the Bush – The Sequel years as the darkest time of U.S. politics. We’ve lost so much, including our way.

I long for a day when religion won’t play a part in politics. I’m terrified at the thought that we might continue on the road to Christian facsism. In 2008, I wish for freedom and tolerance around the world. I wish I could do more than wish about it. I contacted my Congresspersons many times but they seem to be deaf, dumb and blind. It makes me very worried. We’ve let the executives of politics and business lead us far off the best path and the sheeple followed without thought, cheering.

So, 2007 ends with sadness about the state of the country and the whole world. There is some hope: I am glad to see greater acceptance of environmental consciousness and of atheism. It’s a good thing we change the calendar at some arbitrary marker so we can at least get just some sense, however contrived, that there is a chance to regroup and move forward.

Jamie Lynn Provides Parents an Opportunity

Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy provides parents of girls between 7 and 14 with a golden opportunity to talk about birth control. Just do it. It’s easy. It’s absolutely necessary.

Abstinence isn’t going to cut it. That’s actually been proven. Let’s face it – kids that are too young still have sex. If you are a wise and caring parent, you encourage them to be smart about relationships but you also teach them about birth control so they don’t derail their lives with a child before its time.  The young girls in poor neighborhoods don’t have the resources that the Spears’ have to care for a child (though I would question celebrity parental skills). A 16 year girl living in relative poverty may not be able to graduate and establish her independence with a child in tow. It’s very sad. She may become a burden to society instead of an asset.

Just to add, I’ll highlight the complete disregard that the fundamentalist religionists have for the life of these young women. Nothing is so telling about the health and prosperity of a society than the status of its women. If it were left up to the fundamentalists (of all religions) women would be relegated solely to the role of broodmares, subservient to their husbands. Their religious texts support this view. I deeply resent that. Ask your Presidential candidates ‘what is the role of a woman in society?’. Their answers may be very telling.

Nasty business of disaster prediction

There is a news release posted via Science Daily entitled “Large Earthquakes May Broadcast Warnings, But Is Anyone Tuning In To Listen?”

This is exactly the point I’ve made previously in my series of posts and published in Intermediate States: The Anomalist No. 13. Previously, conventionally, seismologists have concentrated on seismic signals as precursors. That has been less than a resounding success. There was plenty of good data to suggest they should be looking elsewhere. It appears looking elsewhere isn’t too expensive in this case. This is promising news. It would not appear that it is the catch all for accurate prediction for every quake, even every large one because the mechanisms might be unique for some. But, it is a good start to shift the view away from the ground to the air.

The bigger question arises when the observations catch a new signal. What do they do then? Scientific disaster prediction is a horrible, nasty business. If you are unsure about a coming event, do you send out the warning in order to save lives with the potential that you make everyone mad and less trusting if nothing happens. Do you risk economic hardship for people and life disruption that accompanies an evacuation? Or, do you keep quiet and risk the guilt if people die unnecessarily? It’s an extremely hard question.

I believe the answer is one of public understanding of science and community preparation.

If citizens in hazards zones understand the risk and the error potential in prediction, all warnings should be clearly broadcast. No panic should ensue and the public should be prepared to follow a well-planned, secure procedure. Well, what are the odds of that happening? Not under current leadership.

I heard a very forward-thinking idea today from a climate change specialist who said the we should not only be actively working towards alleviating the global warming problem but (perhaps more importantly for the moment) preparing for disasters better than we do now because more are coming. We’ve all see how disgracefully the U.S handles disasters, even when there is adequate time to prepare. There are few valid excuses, in this age of technology, scientific prediction, and mass communication that we can’t get our act together and live through a tsunami, coastal flooding, hurricane, volcanic eruption or earthquake.

Dropping the F-bomb

My daughter, (age 9) likes Green Day and Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters). She doesn’t share my affection for My Chemical Romance but I figure it might grow on her. Note that all three bands swear on occasion and have the Parental Warnings on their products.

For Xmas two years ago (when she was 7), she wanted the “Bullet in a Bible” DVD – the Green Day concert film. I thoroughly enjoyed it myself. She spent a weekend up at my folks around that time. I told her she’d better not bring the DVD. Grandma and Grandpa wouldn’t necessarily approve of the F-bomb dropped a few times. (Not to mention they would not appreciate the tunes.)

When I told a colleague (who is my age and has a taste for Alice in Chains and porn videos) that she thought Green Day was dreamy, he looked at me cross-eyed. “They swear a lot in their songs. You let her listen to that?” Friggin’ hypocrite…

Of all things, if the kids hears some slang words from Dave, Billie Joe or Gerard, I’m pretty sure they won’t be warped for life. In fact, she may not know what “fuck” literally means but she knows it’s not a word to be used in conversation. It’s a word that has a strong emotional tag that is useful for artists and writers. It isn’t derogatory towards a person; it’s become rather neutral.

[Aside: Remember when they weren’t allowed to say “bitch” or “ass” on TV? I remember when that most excellent waste of TV time “Dynasty” would throw “Bitch” around and everyone would gasp. How times have changed. I was, like, 10 and wasn’t allowed to watch it much.]

I would rather she understand that there are different styles of language to be used in different situations when appropriate. I don’t accept that MTV bleeps out the words “murder” or “shit” or any reference to drugs. That’s sort of dumb since they exhibit little restraint in showing videos with disgusting hot-pantsed women shaking their asses for pimps. I guess they think glorifying women as sex objects and showcasing the hedonistic excesses in life is fine.

I would rather she learn lessons about art and freedom of speech. If that means she hears the F-bomb used as an expletive (not a verb), I’m OK with that. So, I let her know that people DO judge you on what you wear, how you act and what you say. It’s up to you to chose how to express yourself but there may be consequences.

There are days when I wish I could cuss away at the world but it’s not my purpose to express anger to the masses and rile them up. When I do use the F-bomb on occasion, those around me know I’m really pissed off. Thus, it retains its power.

Flying Spaghetti Gift Monster

This would be my Holiday Greetings card if I decided to send one out. It would totally confound everyone I know. But, that would be funny.

Happy Holidays to all, no exceptions.

I’d like to remind everyone that a mid-winter holiday was celebrated long before Jesus. It’s sad that some feel they have a right to hijack a perfectly good time to gather family together, eat and reconnect (or at least attempt to do so) by being prejudiced and self-righteous about those that don’t share their exact belief system. It reminds me of the stories about war time officers frowning upon enemy combatants holding a truce over Christmas Eve. They thought that was bad strategy because the soldiers might actually realize the so-called enemy was also real person, just like him, more alike than different.

I admit that I can not comprehend why a person would want to have one solid, unshakable belief about the world and their place in it if it meant demonizing everyone else. It’s no different than being racist. If I could design a holiday display for the center of town, it would have a menorah, a manger, a Yule log, a bottle of Coca-Cola, and a symbol representing every other cultural, natural or pagan symbol of the season. Something for everyone and anyone.

Christmas as a general holiday has survived and flourished because it has changed with the times. It has become a secular holiday because we all don’t like being burdened with religious connotations in order to have a happy time. It’s such a good time that various folk (of various religious backgrounds) celebrate it in some way. If you want to be Puritanical about it, go ahead and have your holy day. Puritans didn’t celebrate it at all.

What’s the Reason for the Season

How’s your holiday season going so far? Gee, it’s only the first week in December. Since I noticed decorations on display at the craft store when I was looking for Halloween paraphernalia, it feels like December 25 should be, like, next week. But it’s the next FOUR weeks, actually.

I’m not a big fan of Christmas. First, my family does not celebrate any religious aspect of this time of year (or any time of year). So, I don’t warm up to people preaching “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”. Nice rhyme but the tilt of the earth’s axis is the reason for the seasons. Too bad that doesn’t sound as catchy. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make it any less true.

Holiday time is frequently a trigger for bad memories: people miss lost loved ones, they remember disappointments or tragedies, or they sadly realize that they can’t share any joy with someone because they are alone. It’s highly insensitive to push a happy, joyful message to these folks and call them Scrooges or Grinches when they fail to join the festivities.

Xmas time for me is full of anxiety. With divorced parents on my side and various relatives spread out in the state, I worry about getting in the required visitations. I have to cart along two small children and a dog. They don’t. I have to work pretty hard to figure out appropriate gifts for those who have what they need. They don’t. When in doubt, they just hand out cash. They can send out cards and greetings. I don’t have time.

This year, I’m quite the “Grinch”. I don’t have any enthusiasm for putting up the tree. I don’t feel motivated to light up the house or festoon the interior. I might make cookies this year because the kids like that and they make thoughtful gifts. But, generally, I do not embrace the consumer excess and overexertion that goes with the holiday preparation.

I heard that among the common toy requests in children’s letters to Santa are the wishes for parents to come home from Iraq or Afghanistan, for everyone to get along (at home and in the world), and for snow to fall. How simple are those wishes. I wish the same. I want all those soldiers home from a senseless war. I want us to stop fighting abroad and at home about faith and what it means to be a good person. I wouldn’t mind a dusting of snow to make everything clean, quiet and a pretty background for the twinkling lights.