Lebanon and Israel

I wrote this on 1 August to some people I mostly don't know about the mess in Lebanon before the fighting ended.

The whole stinking mess is mind boggling to me. Being atheist, the place has no meaning to me, I just see millions of people fighting to the death over some ancient fairy tales that shouldn’t be told to kids beyond kindergarten. Of course Hezbollah hides behind civilian structures, they’d be crazy to go out into the open and get spanked by the Israeli army. Besides, they think anyone dying in the cause will go to heaven, women, children, armed men. At least that’s what their leaders say from the safety of their hideouts. The Israelis on the other hand somehow think that they can defeat them with force. They have been trying for how many years now? I bet they have created many more new Hezbollah recruits than they have killed. When will they learn they have to have some meaningful dialog? But the religious extremists on the Jewish side are as bad as the Muslim extremists, pressuring to get the most they can, compromising as little (if any) as possible.

Bush’s pathetic “sustainable cease fire” policy just drives me nuts. If I were a real cynic, I’d say here are the Christians egging on the Jews and Muslims to fight it out and solve the issue once and for all. But I am not quite ready to believe that. More likely it is just plain and simple incompetence by Bush’s inner circle. The silence from congress is pretty deafening. And the press is just orgasmic over a new war that is nice and safe to cover, unlike Iraq.

There are a lot of reasonable smart people involved in this mess. If only they could get past the past and give the people something to believe in besides religion. Israel is going to be in the same boat we are, rebuilding a country they bombed into the past century and no body thanking them for it. It is going to cost their children much of their future like our children will be paying for Iraq for decades.

Sorry to bring up the big religion taboo. It isn’t polite. It isn’t friendly. And most of you don’t even know who I am. But people are dying in the name of it. In my humble opinion needlessly, stupidly, criminally.

Tom
End faith. Get rid of the old fairy tales, embrace reason, question until you understand, demand evidence. Faith will kill us.

Airplane ride for Anna

Anna and Liz riding in the plane. Good time last Sunday. 

Bloggermann: Feeling morally, intellectually confused? - Bloggermann - MSNBC.com

Bloggermann: Feeling morally, intellectually confused? - Bloggermann - MSNBC.com: "Aug. 30, 2006 8:34 p.m. ET
Feeling morally, intellectually confused?

The man who sees absolutes, where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet, or a quack.
Donald H. Rumsfeld is not a prophet.
Mr. Rumsfeld?s remarkable speech to the American Legion yesterday demands the deep analysis?and the sober contemplation?of every American."

Wankers

I had this pair of bumper stickers on my car for about an hour when some old coot in a Caddy passes me on the highway giving me the finger. I pass him a little bit further and he really gives it to me again when he re-passes me. I just laughed at him. And showed him my finger. 

LiveScience.com - U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution

LiveScience.com - U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution: "U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution

By Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 10 August 2006
02:01 pm ET



A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower.
Among the factors contributing to America's low score are poor understanding of biology, especially genetics, the politicization of science and the literal interpretation of the Bible by a small but vocal group of American Christians, the researchers say.
?American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalist, which is why Turkey and we are so close,? said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University."

Yep...