An email to a former Christian leader who Facebooked me this month.

Dear So And So,

Let's get serious. I've been studying the Bible since I was fifteen. Questioning, yes, god-forbid, questioning why are there so many religions and gods out there. This is what I have found.

All religions are man-made. Sin is man-made. There is no such thing as a God and no such thing as sin. Day/Night. Good/Evil. Day/Night. God/Satan. Day/Night. Heaven/Hell. Ancient guesses by primitive men trying to explain the world we live in.

Ancient primitive men who were ignorant of the science we have today, (since they did not have modern science to explain the world around them) were scribes and these "religious" people created religions, including the Bible, to explain what science could not. To explain the world around them. To give a so-called purpose for living and in addition, they added their own bigotry, intolerance and hate to their texts.

Adding bigotry, intolerance of others and hatred to a "spiritual" text is not inspired from an all powerful god who knows the past, present and future. An all powerful god who knows the future would one day know the masses would learn to read and know the masses would easily recognize the lack of wisdom, a book that is not timeless and a book that lacks continuity and has inconsistencies.

Faith is simply a guess. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John did not even know Christ. They wrote about Christ some 30 years after Christ died. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John used "god-like" characteristics from Greek and Egyptian mythology (and who knows what other mythology they used from the Middle East) to create Christ's "god" characteristics.

There are many messiah/saviors who lived before Christ--who have the same characteristics of Christ.

There is an Egyptian God called Horus. He lived around 3000 B.C. There are approximately thirty (30) characteristics that are the same between Horus and Christ, such as: born of a virgin, born in late December, birth announcement by angels, an attempt to murder him as a baby, no information between 12 and 30 years of age, baptized at 30, had twelve disciples, walked on water, cast out demons, healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, death by crucifixion, descended into hell for three days and resurrected after three days. These are some of the characteristics that both Horus (Egyptian Sun God who lived in 3000 B.C.) and Christ (1-33 A.D.).

Here are more messiah/saviors who were written about before Christ lived:

Attis, Greece, 1200 BC
Born of a virgin
Born on Dec 25th
Crucified
Dead for 3 days
Resurrected

Mithra, Persia, 1200 BC
Born of a virgin
born on Dec 25th
had 12 disciples
performed miracles
dead for three days
resurrected
Sunday was the worship day
known as the Truth, the life

Krishna, India, 900 BC
Born of a virgin
Born on Dec 25th
Start in the East
Performed Miracles
Crucified
Resurrected

Dionysus (Greek god of wine.)
Born of a virgin
born on Dec 25
performed miracles
was a traveling teacher
Known as the King of Kings, the Alpha and Omega
Crucified
Resurrected

Need more messiah/saviors who had similiar characteristics of Christ who also lived before Christ?

Chishna of Hindostan
Budha Sakia of India
Salivahana of Bermuda
Zulis (or Zhule), Osiris, Orus of Egypt
Odin of the Scandinavians
Crite of Chaldea
Zoroaster and Mithra of Persia
Baal and Taut (The only begotten of God) of Phoenecia
Indra of Tibet
Bali of Afghanistan
Jao of Nepal
Wittoba of the Bilingonese
Thammuz of Syria
Atys of Phrygia
Xamolxis of Thrace
Zoar of the Bonzes
Adad of Assyria
Deva Tat and Sammonocadam of Siam
Alcides of Thebes
Mikado of the Sintoos
Beddru of Japan
Hesus (or Eros) and Bremrillah of the Druids
Thor (Son of Odin) of the Gauls
Cadmus of Greece
Hil and Feta of the Mandaites
Gentaut and Quexalcote of Mexico
Universal Monarch of the Sibyls
Ischy of the island of the Formosa
Divine Teacher of Plato
Holy One of Xaca
Fohi and Tien of China
Adonis (Son of the virgin Io) of Greece
Ixion and Quirinus of Rome
Prometheus of Caucasus
Mohamud (or Mahomet) of Arabia

You believe in prayer, right? Matthew 18:19 (New International Version), Christ said, 19"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven."

Okay Don, get one thousand (1,000) born-again Christians (who just asked to be forgiven) and get one (1) person who has quantity one (1) pinky finger that was amputated.

Now, have all 1,000 Christians pray that the finger on this amputee be healed. Do you know why the amputee will not be healed? Christian answer: I have to make an excuse as to why my all powerful god can't do something as simple as heal an amputated limb. Realist answer: God is imaginary.

I can't believe you have gone all these years and not searched for the real truth about the world we live in. If I said to you, go 90 mph in your car and hit a wall and you won't be hurt, you'd say, forget it, you have to prove it to me.

Now you say, based on a guess, that you know the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE? Are you nuts?

"Religion is the one area of our discourse where it is considered noble to pretend to be certain about things no human being could possibly be certain about." -Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris, 2007, page 67.

So And So, you are already an atheist to all religions other than your own. You don't believe in the "Allah" as God (Islam) or Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism or Taoism, right? You are an atheist to all these other faiths, except your own. I am simply an atheist to all religions.

It's time to get serious and take a realistic look at the false testimony of your so-called god and the false testimony of all religions who proclaim to know or have knowledge of any god.

If there was an all powerful god he/she would not be afraid to show him/herself. Let's be honest with each other on this point.

It's time to see the real truth about religion. Please take a look at these www.youtube.com videos, the websites listed below. Also, I'd recommend you read the book listed below also.

www.youtube.com videos:
10 questions that every intelligent Christian must answer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDHJ4ztnldQ

Prove to yourself that Jesus is imaginary in less than 5 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUj8hg5CoSw

Proving that prayer is superstition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0rFZIqo8A

The best optical illusion in the world! (About the superstition of prayer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk6ILZAaAMI

Websites:
http://www.godisimaginary.com

http://www.whywontgodhealamputees.com

Book:
-"Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris, 2007, New York: Alfred A Knopf

I think it's time to seriously take a look at the real truth about all religions, don't you think?

Sincerely,

Mike

Are the Ten Commandents the ultimate statement of morality? Nope.

“If you think that it would be impossible to improve upon the Ten Commandments as a statement of morality, you really owe it to yourself to read some other scriptures. Once again, we need look no further than the Jains: Mahavira, the Jain patriarch, surpassed morality of the Bible with a single sentence: “Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being.”

Imagine how different our world might be if the Bible contained this as its central precept. Christians have abused, oppressed, enslaved, insulted, tormented, tortured, and killed people in the name of God for centuries, on the basis of a theologically defensible reading of the Bible. It is impossible to behave this way be adhering to the principles of Jainism. How, then, can you argue that the Bible provides the clearest statement of morality the world has ever seen?” —Harris, Sam, 2006, "Letter to a Christian Nation," page 22, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, a divison of Random House, Inc.

There Is Nothing Wrong With Believing In A God.

Hi, I'm a Christian, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness or Islam believer (pick any god) and because you don't believe in my faith, I can hate you in God's (Allah's) name.

Imagine

Imagine if all the schools in the United States had complete funding which allowed all Americans to receive top notch schooling. And imagine if the military had to have a bake sale every time they wanted to purchase a new machine of war.

Zen Moment?

When I tell people I ride my bike every day, most people can't believe it. Their tone of voice changes as if I've found my zen. Acquaintances wish they could do the same.

No matter how many times I hear this, I am always surprised at other people's surprise of me riding my bike on a daily basis. I usually don't respond but I typically think in the back of mind, it's as easy as getting on a bicycle and riding it.

Ugh.... I have lots to post but did not.

I'll try to catch up with some posts this week.

What do Straight Parents do?

What's the first thing that many straight parents do when they find out one of their children are gay? They freak out. They say it's a phase. They tell them it's not natural. They tell them that being gay is wrong. They tell them that being gay is a sin. They beat their kids. They throw them out of the house. They try to change them to be straight. They cut off financial support. They treat them with less respect than their straight kids. For gay guys: When will you meet a nice girl? For gay gals: When will you meet a nice guy? They say there is something wrong with them. They say, "What will other people say?" They put so much pressure on their kids that the suicide rate among gay kids is three times higher than their straight counterparts.

Here is my message to homophobic straight parents: Fuck you, assholes.

(Homophobic parents don't care how much damage they inflict on their gay children, since they think pushing heterosexuality on their children is not morally wrong. Of course, if a gay person makes advances to a straight person, that's wrong! Hypocrites. Homophobic parents will also vote against their gay children concerning marriage equality.)

Are Gay Children Safe With Homophobic Straight Parents?

Are gay children safe with homophobic straight parents? Hell no.

Will the Real Anti-Christ Please Stand Up?

Christians ignore hundreds of gods, who lived before Christ, with the same god-like characters as Christ. The writers of the New Testament copied characteristics of previous gods to "prove" that Christ is the one "true" God. For Christians, the real anti-Christ can now stand up: History.

As You Look Back On Life Was Your Discriminatory Religion Worth it?

Is the religion you believe in, support your own personal prejudices towards others? For example, if you are straight, do you believe your religion only favors those who have your own sexuality?

When there is division in your family due to your religion, I hope dividing your family was worth it. Was it?

If I said, I believe in Dionysus (Greek God of Wine/Festivals 900-800 B.C. or slightly later), Horus (Egyptian God of the Sun, 3,000 B.C.), Indra of Tibet 725 B.C., and Jao of Nepal (622 B.C.), you'd probably say why do I believe in all these mythological gods?

Did you know all these gods share the same characteristics of Christ? All the above gods were born a virgin birth, were a miracle worker/teacher, crucified and came back to life and ascended to heaven and all lived before Christ.

Did you know:

The Ten Commandments are taken directly from the Egyptian book of the dead. (Note: There are about 400 commandments in the Egyptian book of the dead.)
Virgin birth: Copied from previous gods/religions
Born on the 25th of December: Copied from previous gods/religions
Baptism with water: Copied from previous gods/religions
Communion host: Copied from previous gods/religions
Miracle worker/teacher: Copied from previous gods/religions
12 disciples: 12 signs of the zodiac
33 years: That's how many vertebrae are in the human spine. Many Gods who walked earth have a life span of 33 years.
Crucification: Copied from previous gods/religions
Three crosses: Copied from previous gods/religions
Resurrection: Copied from previous gods/religions
Trinity: Copied from previous gods/religions
Holy Spirit: Copied from previous gods/religions

Yet Matthew, Mark, Luke and John never met Christ. In fact, they wrote about Christ thirty years after Christ was dead. Why did the writers of the New Testament copy the same qualities from hundreds of gods who lived before Christ? For the simple reason there was no "God" to inspire them.

If God is all knowing—past, present and future, then God would know that one day the masses would be educated, that books would be researched and published about previous gods and the internet would facilitate the distribution of incredible amounts of information world-wide to the masses.

Obviously, if "God" is all knowing, all powerful, all perfect, who knows the past, present and future—a god who was powerful enough to create the entire universe, yet this "God" couldn't do something as simple as inspire the writers of the New Testament to develop an original set of god-like qualities for Christ. And it's simply for the reason, there is no "God".

Are you happy that you believed in a fake god and selectively quote the Bible to justify your own personal, pre-existing prejudice against gay people and whomever else you are against? And ruined personal family ties, ta boot.

Rationality

If you are a person who has decided it only takes "faith"to know there is God—without requiring proof—then don't you owe it to yourself to seriously look at the other side of the coin and consider the rationality of it all, that there is no God?

Hint: Remember it's at least a 50/50 chance there is or is not a God. If you accept God on faith, which is an easy thing to do (Requiring no thinking involved, the lazy way out.), then isn't it worth the task to think things through by using rational thought and common sense to see if believing in a God makes any sense at all?

A normal rational person can look and find oh so many problems at having a blind faith in a "God." Here are a few examples below:

Faith says you must believe that Christianity is the only true religion. Faith makes many excuses as to why there are so many religions world-wide. If you don't believe in God, the answer is simple as to why there are many religions world-wide because all religions are man-made.

Faith believes in good (derived from God) and evil (from the Devil). Faith dictates that God creates good and his fallen angel Satan causes evil. If you don't believe in God, you simply know that the concepts of good and evil are simply from day and night. Primitive men (and women) knew that the day brings warmth, light and goodness and night brings, cold, darkness the unknown. Day = Good, Night = Evil. Therefore, the concepts of good and evil are born.

Faith says that sin is real. If you don't believe in God, you realize that sin is simply man-made.

Faith invents many, many excuses as to why God does not heal amputees. If you don't believe in God, you realize the amputees are not healed by God, because there is no God.

Faith says God answers prayers. If you don't believe in God, you realize no prayers are ever answered by God, because there is no God.

Faith states God answers prayers and accepts that the only answers to prayer are "yes", "no" or "later". If you don't believe in God, you realize that you can pray to a jug of milk and you'll always get the same answer to your prayer, "yes", "no" or "later" and the reason is simply: There is no God.

Faith makes many excuses as to why Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians. Christians get married in front of "God" and their Christians friends. Christian friends are praying for their marriage to last a lifetime. "What god has put together, let no man put asunder." (Asunder: 1: into parts, 2: apart from each other in position.) God is all powerful, right? Why doesn't God make a Christian marriage last forever? Faith makes many excuses for Christians getting divorced, for example, sin caused the divorce, or the divorce was caused by their lack of faith in God—oh there are so many excuses. If you don't believe in God, you simply realize that marriages don't last due to personality conflicts, infidelity, physical abuse, financial problems, intellectual incompatibility, falling out of love, lack of commitment to the marriage, lack of communication between spouses, substance abuse and the list goes on and on.

If God created the universe (Creating the universe took a lot of work and I'd venture to say, if there is a God, then God has an outgoing personality, don't you agree?) how could a God with an obvious outgoing personality pretend to be shy and not appear to us everyday? Faith makes excuses as to why God does not show himself: It's in God's plan. There is a reason and the reason is mysterious. Excuse after excuse. Is not God proud of his universe? Don't you think he'd want to show off a little bit and ensure his creations see who the creator is, the one who made this incredible place? If you don't believe in God, you know why God does not appear to us, because God does not exist.

Why does God need worshiped? Faith makes excuses as to why God needs to be worshiped. A person who does not believe in God, knows a perfect being does not need to be worshiped.

Why are there many contradictions, homophobia, rape, human sacrifice, the condoning of murder, the condoning of slavery, Egyptian mythology, Greek mythology and Astrology in the Bible? Faith says the Bible is perfect and faith demands believers to blatantly ignore all the problems the writers created when they authored the Bible. Some believers develope elaborate rationalizations to explain the contradictions and to explain the vast amount of problems found in the Bible. A person who does not believe in God, easily says, after "God" created the ENTIRE UNIVERSE (Yes, this is shouting.) it would have been child's play for a "God" to inspire a perfect book. A timeless book filled with wisdom, having total continuity, no contractions, announcing we all share the same humanity, filled with advanced mathematical formulas and scientific knowledge, denouncing slavery, supporting equal rights for all, would all be a part of "God's" Bible. But the Bible is not this, and we can easily see why the Bible was not inspired by a "God" because there is no "God." The Bible was written by primitive, bigoted, intolerant, racist and chauvinistic men.

When you assume there is no "God", then all of a sudden, the tough questions about faith, God and the Bible are easy to answer. All the various excuses or rationalizations to explain faith, God and the Bible go away in the blink of an eye.

There is a saying, if you want to become an Atheist, read the Bible.

Why?

Why would I want to spend one minute with a straight person—as friends—who does not agree I share the same humanity as they do and who does not feel I should be afforded the same rights as they do concerning marriage equality, under the law?

(Hint: Respond to my blog so others can either agree with or not agree with an intolerant point of view.)

Tom Brokaw Sees Vice President Cheney As 'Dr. Strangelove'

See this article by Cybercast News Service (CNSNews.com):
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=42273

Tom Brokaw sees Vice President Cheney as 'Dr. Strangelove':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuRB1T9jjk8

MSNBC "An end of an error."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFpuqaQCyFk&feature=related

Letterman: 'Dick Cheney Couldn't Care Less About Americans'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_JiDYkmu6s&feature=related

Dick Cheney Smirking During State of the Union Address
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M73EGtVoWyA&feature=related

Dick Cheney telling the truth about Iraq. Video from 1994.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csKkdKlLUTc&feature=related

Dick Cheney Benny Hill Style:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRFZzrevpug&feature=related

The below quote is from www.youtube.com entry by "lampshadetattoo" (youtube.com logon name) under the Benny Hill style video clip. I couldn't have said it better.

"For me, this was a very powerful moment—seeing Cheney leave the White House in a wheelchair symbolized the weak, enfeebled, worn-out policies of an unhealthy and sick administration on its way toward an ultimate ideological and long-overdue-for death! Soon, the ideas and sick policies of Cheney and the rest of the sociopathic and spiritually bankrupt ideologues of the Bush administration will return to the garbage heaps of history! CHENEY in a WHEELCHAIR is a living symbol of all that needs to die in D.C."

Below is a quote from George Phenix whose blog is entitled, "Blog of the Ages." The blog entry headline reads, "Good riddance, George Bush." Phenix's blog entry is worth reading, it's a short easy read.
http://www.blogofages.net/2009/01/good-riddance-george-bush.html

"...I have no respect for George Bush. For the office, yes. For the man, none. ...George Bush may have left the building, but not soon enough. Get over it? We’ll spend decades getting over it."

George Learns He Shouldn't Golf While Soldiers Die
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSRxNPqqUH4&feature=channel

George W. Bush: Listen to Osama bin Laden, Not U.S. Citizens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am-4nvyFJXo&feature=channel

George: Saddam Hussein Has Weapons of Mass Destruction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMStCHtUNeY&feature=channel

Bush admits that Iraq Had Nothing To Do With 9/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_A77N5WKWM&feature=related

God, Bush is such an asshole.

Isn't It Funny How the News Stations Have Changed The Way They Report The News?

Since Obama is now the President of the United States, I see news story after news story about equal rights, the importance of science, private sector accountability, the importance of green issues, taking financial institutions to task and how this country is in desperate need of change.

Then I heard stupid Dick Cheney trying to put false fear into the news concerning the possibility of "terrorist attacks." Let's be honest, Cheney is an asshole. This week, a person on TV said something like this, "Cheney is just trying to use fear tactics just to be in news. Good riddance Cheney. No one has any interest in you."

I See Homeless People Eating Out of Trash Cans

Matthew 10:31 (New International Version)
31So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Luke 12:6 (New International Version)
6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

If human beings are worth more than a sparrow, then why do I see many homeless people living (eating and sleeping) on the streets of downtown San Diego? And why do I see homeless people eating out of trash cans?

Are You Really a Moral Christian?

"One of the most pernicious effects of religion is that it tends to divorce morality from the reality of human and animal suffering. Religion allows people to imagine that their concerns are moral when they are not—that is, when they have nothing to do with suffering or its alleviation.

Indeed, religion allows people to imagine that their concerns are moral when they are highly immoral—that is, when pressing these concerns inflicts unnecessary and appalling suffering on innocent human beings.

This explains why Christians like yourself expend more “moral” energy opposing abortion than fighting genocide. It explains why you are more concerned about human embryos than about the lifesaving promise of stem-cell research. And it explains why you can preach against condom use in sub-Saharan Africa while millions die from AIDS there each year."

—Harris, Sam, 2006, "Letter to a Christian Nation," page 25, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, a divison of Random House, Inc.

Sam Harris is an Awesome Author.

Don't you think it's about time for another quote from Sam Harris?

Do You Doubt the Theory of Evolution?

"Christians who doubt the truth of evolution are apt to say things like "Evolution is just a theory, not a fact." Such statements betray a serious misunderstanding of the way the term "theory" is used in scientific discourse.

In science, facts must be explained with reference to other facts. These larger explanatory models are "theories." Theories make predictions and can, in principle, be tested. The phrase, "the theory of evolution" does not in the least suggest that evolution is not a fact.

One can speak about "the germ theory of disease" or "the theory of gravitation" without casting doubt upon disease or gravity as facts of nature."

—Harris, Sam, 2006, "Letter to a Christian Nation," page 69, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, a divison of Random House, Inc.

Concerning Jesus Christ.

In the 1970's, I easily believed that Christ died and rose for our sins because of the incredible hope for everlasting life. Why should I not believe in a messiah/savior who promises eternal life?

With just a small amount of research, one can find hundreds of messiah/saviors who were born of a virgin on the 25th of December, were miracle workers/teachers and died and rose to heaven three days later. Some of these ancient gods have some characteristics of Christ and some of these gods have many characteristics of Christ.

It is really the other way around. The writer's of the New Testament took many characteristics from previous messiah/saviors and gave these to Jesus Christ.

If God is all powerful, all knowledgeable and knows the past, present and future, would it not be child's play for God to have inspired the writers of the New Testament to create a brand new set of God-like qualities/characteristics for his son, Jesus Christ?

How much easier is it for me to *not* believe in Christ (and his promise of everlasting life) since it is obvious the writers of the New Testament simply copied previous messiah/savior characteristics to "prove" the validity of Christ as the son of God.

Why Do People Believe In The Mythology Of Religion?

The promise of everlasting life is probably the number one reason to believe in the mythology of religion. The second reason would be the promise of talking and knowing an all powerful God. The third would be the miracles which your God has done in the past and the miracles you think your God is doing today.

It boils down to this. Your god violates the laws and principles of science. How cool is that? Alas, all religions are man-made and there is no truth in the existence of God. There is one truth, the truth of when you stop believing the mythology of religion, you'll begin to enjoy life on earth as it was meant to be.

How Well Do You Know American History?

"The fact that the United States was not founded as a Christian nation was early stated in the terms of a treaty with Tripoli, drafted in 1796 under George Washington and sighed by John Adams in 1797:

[Article 11.] As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musslemen; and as the said States never have entered in to any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the partied that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

(First and second paragraph by Dawkins, Richard, 2006, "The God Delusion," page 40, Boston & New York, Houghton Mifflin Company.)

Uh err.... well... what about the Pledge of Allegiance? Huh? "...one Nation under God,..." What about that? By bringing this subject up, means someone doesn't know American history. The original Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 and did not have the words, "one Nation under God." The "...one Nation under God..." phrase was added to the Pledge of Allegiance by religious fanatics in 1951. This merging of Church and State, to be blunt, is pure bullshit.

It is time we strike the words, "...one Nation under God..." from the Pledge of Allegiance.

Uh... what about "In God We Trust?" This official U.S. motto did not become nationwide until 1956. Again... religious fanatics pushed for these words to be on our currency. Again, another bullshit decision made into law which goes directly against our founding fathers. Please see the first two paragraphs.

If Christian Americans insist we have the words, "In God We Trust" on American currency, then there is no reason why we can't have the following:
On $1.00 bills: "In Allah We Trust"
On $2.00 bills: "In Baal We Trust"
On $5.00 dollar bills: "In Buddha We Trust"
On $20.00 bills: "In God We Trust"
On $50.00 bills: "In Zeus (or Apollo or Poseidon) We Trust"
On $100.00 bills: "In Science We Trust"

So what's the solution? It's very simple. Take off the words, "In God We Trust" on American currency. No one can prove the existence of God. There is a clear separation of Church and State for the very reason, that if I pushed Buddha on Americans by enacting laws to do this, Christian America would freak out.

How do you think non-Christian taxpaying Americans feel when Christianity is pushed on them by Christian-Americans when they enact laws which promote the mythological God of the Christian religion?

Just because someone (or millions) of people feel that God exists, does not mean it is so. If I tell someone I feel that Elvis is real to me and I talk (pray) to Elvis and I feel Elvis is protecting me and that Elvis is my personal savior and lord, just because I feel this, does not make this so.

Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris

Are you a devout Christian? Meaning you pray on a regular basis, read the Bible on a regular basis, go to church on a regular basis and go to Bible study on a regular basis? You have accepted Christ as your personal savor? As an intelligent normal rational human being, it is time to purchase (or check-out this book from the Library) the book called, "Letter to a Christian Nation," by Sam Harris. It's an easy read and a book worth reading.

Are you a Christian in name only? You believe in God and believe the Bible is true. However, you don't pray on a regular basis and you don't go to church on a regular basis and you don't attend a weekly Bible study. It is time, as a rational intelligent human being, to read the book, "Letter to a Christian Nation," by Sam Harris. It's an easy read and a book worth reading.

Somtimes in my Blog I Write With Hatred Towards Others and Sometimes I Write With Love Towards Others

I'm just like God.

(This is blog entry repeated from November 2008.)

How Did the Universe Come Into Existence? Why Are We Here?

These are the questions everyone would like to know. How did the universe come into existence? Why are we here? If the answers to these questions are beyond science then the answer to these questions are certainly beyond faith leaders and their followers.

What Does The Ruling Power Fear?

The ruling power fears any truth but their own. —The Golden Compass (film), 2007

Do You Believe In What The Bible Says?

As a Christian, do you or don't you believe in what the bible says? For example, here are some Old Testament verses below:

Genesis 38:8-10
"8Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother." 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD's sight; so he put him to death also." (No condoms allowed, the hell with science!)

Leviticus 20:9
"For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him." (Shit, I just cursed my parents. Okay, I'm ready to be stoned to death.)

Deuteronomy 22:22
"If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel." (Kill, kill, kill! Hey, if the Bible says it's so, it must be okay. Right?)

Some New Testament verses:

1 Corinthians 14:34
"women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says." (Just like the Austin Powers movies. Dr. Evil: Let me tell you a little story about a man named Sh! Sh! even before you start. That was a pre-emptive "sh!" Now, I have a whole bag of "sh!" with your name on it. )

1 Timothy 2:11-12
"11Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence." (Sh!)

Colossians 3:22-23
"22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" (I thought with an African American President in the White House, that The President would not stand for slavery but the Bible says we need to treat our slaves properly. Therefore the Bible does approve of slavery. Whew, that was a close one.)

I can hear Christians screaming at this point and shouting, "These verses don't apply today. We know how to interpret the Bible."

Oh really? How to you explain the following crystal clear verses below.

Old Testament verse:

Isaiah 40:8
"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." (This verse is crystal clear on this point.)

New Testament verses:

1 John 5:3
"This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome," (This verse is crystal clear on this point.)

1 Peter 1:24-25
"24All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you." (This verse is crystal clear on this point.)

Joshua 1:18
"Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!" (This verse is crystal clear on this point.)

How can anyone call themselves a Christian if they don't obey every verse in the Bible? The unvarnished truth: Christians cherry pick Bible verses they want to obey or not obey and choose which verses they prefer to support their own personal prejudices against others.

Christians don't understand there is no "other." Using the phrase or thinking the phrase "those other people" divide families, communities and nations. Christians as a whole do not understand we all share the same humanity. "We" unites. "Other people" divide. Which ministers preach "We?" Very few. There is no such thing as Christian versus non-Christian. There is only "We."

Dubai, McDonalds and Type 2 Diabetes.

A doctor from Dubai noted that only after McDonalds began selling food in Dubai did Type 2 diabetes show in some of their patients.

Is Your Religion Immoral?

If any religion allows it's believers to view any minority as less than equal to themselves (based on gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and so on...) how could anyone seriously believe in that religion?

When a religion does not not teach the we all share the same humanity, that's when the red flag needs to go up and up!

Hind sight is crystal clear when it comes to religions of old that discriminate against other human beings. It's quite obvious these religions were written solely by ancient primitive racist and sexist men.

It's time for people to view religions for what they are: Ancient mythology of old.

The Cost of Organic Food

The two most common complaints I hear about organic food are:

1) I don't believe it makes a difference.

2) It costs too much.

Well...

1) If conventionally grown food is safe, why is there so much cancer in our society?

2) How much does it cost for three or four bags junk food and processed foods? And how much does it cost to purchase raw organic vegetables, fruit, nuts, beans, tuna, chicken and meat which might take just be a bag or two of food?

Bicycling Short Distances Versus Driving A Car

My bicycle had a flat the other day and I was forced to drive my car. You know you are doing something right when your schedule is ruined because you are driving a car instead of a bicycle.

The Worth of a Nation's Greatness

It has been said that the worth of a nation's greatness can be measured by the manner in which it treats its weakest members.

I see many dirty (and not cared for) homeless people in downtown San Diego living on the streets.

The Cheney and Bush administration found the money to kill people but they couldn't find the money to help people.

Obama has the Backing of The People.

How could anyone effect a positive change in our horrible economy? How could anyone effect a positive change to reduce the false culture of fear that the Cheney and Bush propagation machine used to con Americans?

Those people who have an aversion to Obama don't take one thing into account. Obama has the backing of the majority of Americans and the people of the world. He has the power to affect positive change for our country and the world. It's exciting.

All Obama needs to say is we need peace in this world and it will happen. All Obama needs to do is to speak the obvious—that we all share one humanity—and the entire world will listen.

He has the power to change a nation. This will in turn will change the world. That is powerful.

Top Ten Reasons To Buy Organic

This "Top Ten Reasons To Buy Organic" found below is from the paper grocery bag at the organic food store where I shop.

1) Protect Future Generations: Because of their smaller size, children receive four to five time more exposure than adults to cancer causing pesticides in foods.

2) Prevent Soil Erosion: Soil is the foundation of the food chain; conventional farming is responsible for unsustainable soil loss but organic farming helps build soil.

3) Protect Water Quality: The EPA estimates that pesticides pollute the primary source of drinking water for more than half the country's population.

4) Save Energy: Conventional farming uses more petroleum than any other single industry and more energy is used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to cultivate harvest crops.

5) Keep Chemicals Off Your Plate: Synthetic pesticides and herbicides are poisons designed to kill living organisms and can also be harmful to human beings.

6) Protect Farm Workers: Farm workers have higher exposures to harmful pesticides.

7) Help Small Farmers: Most organic farms are small, independently owned family farms.

8) Support a True Economy: Conventional food prices don't reflect hidden costs borne by taxpayers, including nearly $75 billion annually in federal subsidies.

9) Promote Biodiversity: Conventional mono-cropping, the practice of planting large plots of land with the same crop year after year, leads to a lack of natural diversity of plants and leaves the soil lacking in natural minerals and nutrients.

10) Taste Better Flavor: Organic farming start with the nourishment of the soil which eventually leads to the nourishment of the plant and ultimately our palates. Conduct your own taste test!

Is 2012 the End-of-the-World? No, it's not. The 2012 End-of-the-World Prediction is Complete Bullshit.

At work today, a woman (in her twenties) told me she saw a T.V. show last night which told of the Mayan end-of-the-world prediction for 2012. She told me she couldn't sleep last night as she was extremely worried. I said, "Do you know there was a end-of-the-world prediction for 1,000 A.D? And... there have been many end-of-the-world predictions every century since."

She wasn't convinced at this point. I said, "How old is the earth?" She didn't know. I didn't know. I said, "Let's look it up on-line." I quickly found the Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old. I said, "It's not the year 2009. 2009 is a bullshit year. This date of this year is actually 4.54 billion and such and such and such and such." Then she looked at me and said, "Oh." She said, "I'm still a little scared." I rolled my eyes.

When I came back to my apartment today, I quickly referenced a book to finish this blog entry because the research by James Randi has already been done for us. In Appendix II of his 1995 book titled, An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, lists "49 End-of-the-World Prophecies—That Failed."

"December 31, 999 A.D. The biblical Apocrypha says that the Last Judgment (and therefore, one supposes, the end of the world) would occur one thousand years after the birth of Jesus Christ. ...public documents of that era began, "As the world is now drawing to a close..." —Randi, James 1995. An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. Appendix II, New York, St.Martin's Griffin, New York.

---definition---
aprocrypha - 2capitalized a: books included in the Septuagint and Vulgate but excluded from the Jewish and Protestant canons of the Old Testament b: early Christian writings not included in the New Testament -from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apocrypha, January 9, 2008
---end definition---

Randi provides a nice list (with descriptions) of end-of-the-world predictions for 992, 1000, 1033 (Why the year 1033? After 1000 A.D. passed and the world did not end, they quickly revised their end-of-the-world date to be at Christ's death day, instead of this birthday.), 1186, 1260, 1524, 1532, 1533, 1537, 1544, 1572, 1584, 1588, 1624, 1648, 1654, 1665, 1666, 1704, 1719, 1736, 1757, 1761, 1774, 1801, 1814, 1820, 1843, 1874, 1881, 1914, 1936, 1947, 1953, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1996, 1999. —from Randi, James 1995. An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. Appendix II. New York, St.Martin's Griffin, New York. [There are several dates above I left out, from Randi's book.]

The 1999 prediction was from Nostradamus. And yes, none of Nostradamus predictions are real, they are all fraudulent. For more information about Nostradamus see this book: Randi, James 1993. The Mask of Nostradamus. New York, Prometheus Books.

What If?

What if I said, "Seniors don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People in their 20's don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Asians don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People of Arab descent don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "African Americans don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People who are a mixed-race don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Women don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Men don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People who have interracial marriages don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Christians don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Atheists don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People who don't drink coffee don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Blonds don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People with green eyes don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Single people don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Divorced people don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People who like spaghetti don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People with cancer don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Physically challenged people don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People under 5 feet and people over 6 feet don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People with IQs less than 80 don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "KKK members don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People who skateboard don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People who wear only black with black make-up don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People who like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "People who make less than $25,000.00 a year don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Trekkies (People who are avid fans of Start Trek.) don't have the right to vote."

What if I said, "Gays don't have the right to marry."

Homophobic person, "Well... uh hum... being gay is different. It doesn't apply."

Gay person, "That is the point. We are different, in one aspect of our lives. It seems that homophobic people can only focus one thing. He/she is gay. As if gay people have no hobbies, likes or dislikes, all wear the same clothing, eat the same food, drive the same car, have the same hair style, talk the same, shake hands the same, etcetera.

People living with blinders on don't see a lot. Gay is not the only aspect a person's life. We all have multiple differences that make up each one of us—gay, straight, bisexual, or transgender.

Different does not mean bad. That is the point, we (gays) are different in one aspect of our lives—our sexuality. Did we lose the right to our citizenship because we are gay? Did we lose the right to get a driver's license because we are gay? Did I lose the right to vote since we are gay? Do we still have to pay taxes since we are gay?

Why don't we have the right to marry?

We are simply human beings like the rest of the straight world. We all share the same humanity."

Why did people worship Sun Gods?

The Sun brings warmth, life and goodness. Who would want to worship a Night God? The night brings cold, darkness and the unknown. Day/Night, Good/Evil, Pure/Sin. See the correlation?

How have people described Sun Gods throughout the centuries? Here is a nice list to help get you started.

"The Sun of God, who will come again (every morning), he is the light of the world (the sun), the risen savior (Sun) who will come again (as it does every morning), the glory of God (the sun), who defends the works of darkness (the night), can be seen coming (every morning) as he is born again (every morning), up in heaven (in the clouds), with a crown of thorns (sun rays). " —from the Zeitgeist movies, links found below.

The masses did not know about general concepts of space science and astronomy until this century. So, the masses didn't know the atmosphere was several miles thick and then after that, space. Then our solar system, then our galaxy and then the entire universe. In the past, don't you agree that most people naturally thought of heaven as just past the clouds?

Zeitgeist Part 1 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNf-P_5u_Hw

Zeitgeist Part 2 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc-mrJf45Hg

Zeitgeist Part 3 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjAegPhQOUg

Seaweed

The seaweed (or sea vegetables) I purchase is from Korea. Where is your seaweed from?

Horus, an Egyptian sun god who lived around 3,000 B.C.

Hmmm... it looks like the writers (Or shall I say God? Meaning, the so-called "inspired by God" writers of the New Testament.) couldn't come up with an original never-seen-before list of god-like qualities for Jesus Christ.

Here is a web site which shows the parallels between Horus, the Egyptian sun god (3,000 B.C.) and Jesus Christ (1-30 A.D.?) I'm not sure if these birth and death dates of Christ are correct. It's no matter, the point is made.

Christ is simply another mythological sun god, not the son of a god.

There are approximately thirty (30) exact or very close characteristics of the Egyptian Sun God Horus the writers of the New Testament copied from to describe their "new" Sun God Jesus Christ. From the virgin birth, to the names of his parents, to angels announcing his birth, to being a boy teacher at 12, to starting his ministry at age 30, to performing the same miracles, to dying and rising on the third day, to reigning for 1,000 years in the millennium and more.

See: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm
(Reminder, when you arrive at this web page listed above, be sure to scroll down to see the comparison table of god-characteristics between Horus and Christ.)

Are the masses realizing that it's 2009 and not 1,409?

Ancient Mythology

"The reality is, Jesus was the solar deity of the gnostic Christian sect and like all other pagan gods he was a mythical figure. It was the political establishment that sought to historize the Jesus figure for social control.

By 325 AD in Rome, Emperor of Constantine convened the counsel of Nicaea, it was during this meeting that the politically motivated Christian doctrines were established.

And thus began a long history of Christian blood shed and spiritual fraud. And for the next 1600 years, the Vatican maintained the political strangle-hold on all of the earth. Leading such to joyous periods as the dark ages, along with enlightening events such as the crusades and the inquisition.

Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age. It serves to detach the species from the natural world and likewise each other, it supports blind submission to authority, it reduces human responsibility to the effect that God controls everything and in turn awful crimes can be justified in the name of divine pursuit.

And most importantly it empowers those who know the truth but use the myth to manipulate and control societies. The religious myth is the most powerful device ever created and serves as the psychological soil upon which other myths can flourish.

A myth is an idea that while widely believed—is false. In a deeper sense and a religious sense, a myth serves as a orienting and mobilizing story for people. The focus is not on the story's relation to reality but on it's function. A story cannot function unless it is believed to be true in the community or the nation. It is not a matter of debate that some people have the bad taste to raise the question of the truth of the sacred story. The keepers of the faith do not enter into debate with them, they ignore them or denounce them as blasphemes."

The above is a direct quote from the ending of the movie Zeitgeist Part 3 of 3 which is found on www.youtube.com.

Zeitgeist Part 1 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNf-P_5u_Hw

Zeitgeist Part 2 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc-mrJf45Hg

Zeitgeist Part 3 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjAegPhQOUg

"Rupholf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Wanted"

My favorite line from an animated movie:
Yukon Cornelius: This fog's as thick as peanut butter!
Hermey: You mean pea soup.
Yukon Cornelius: You eat what you like, and I'll eat what I like!

My favorite line from all the movies I've seen to date:
It's last line in the movie, "Wanted," 2008.

Headline on Jan 5, 2009 States the White House Mourns the Death of Their Cat.

Who cares about their cat? I mourn, every day, the death of Americans killed and the illegal murder of hundreds of thousands (or is it a million?) Iraqis. Why doesn't the media mourn the gigantic loss of human life that the treasonous and criminal Cheney and Bush have perpetrated?

I can't wait for these sick, sick people to leave the White House. Good riddance, don't let the door hit you on the way out and please go directly to jail. Those two horrible people are a disgrace to America. The entire world can't wait for Cheney and Bush to leave office.

It is a public disgrace that Cheney and Bush were not impeached for crimes against humanity. Future generations will not understand how the people of the United States of America allowed eight years of criminal activities from these two disgusting men.

It's Already January 5, 2009

Ugh! Time flies. I'm tired of working. Right after college, in my early twenties, I realized that I was tired of working 40 hours a day, during my first job. Even though no one talked about a work-life balance in the 1980's, I knew I'd rather work less hours and have more hours so I could have a life—a personal life.

Working forty hours a week takes so much time, you can't live.

If I was creating art, publishing my own books, designing my own work and selling it, etcetera, and had enough money to live comfortably, that would be a different thing. As long as I didn't have to work a full forty hour week.

I dream of a day where we will have nationalized health care and we can work part-time jobs (or not work at all) so that we can spend more time in pursuing hobbies and have more time to be creative. And have more time for our friends.

I dream of a life where people can live and be around the people they really want to be with and live with. If you work too many hours, you begin to hate life. I dream of a day where we all have enough personal time to celebrate life.

My Bicycle Ride This Morning.

When I ride my bicycle, I ride on the sidewalk for the obvious reason that many drivers don't respect bicyclists (or just don't see bicyclists) and I refuse to be just another statistic of a bicyclist killed by a motor vehicle.

Whether you believe it's right or wrong (or against the law) to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk, my own sense of self-preservation is more important than how others think (and is more important than, yes, the law) about how I (or others) ride bicycles on a sidewalk.

To get back to the first paragraph, a young guy in his twenties (or early thirties) was killed (summer 2008) this way about two blocks away from where I live. The driver said he didn't see the bicyclist—for those who don't believe this type of thing happens.

So, I'm riding my bike on the sidewalk this morning and this older man makes the comment, "Why don't you ride on the street, that's what's it for." I was thinking, here is a guy who will eventually get in his gasoline powered car or truck and pollute the atmosphere with carcinogenic fumes literally endangering my health. Who is he to talk? What a freak.

Why couldn't he say something nice to me? For example, "Happy New Year," "Hello," "Hi, sexy," or the most obvious response, "Thank you for riding a bike and not polluting our atmosphere."

And if you are wondering why I think people in America really don't get it, this is a perfect example.

Religion and Our Shared Humanity

If your religion allows you to believe that other humans based on sexuality, race or sexual orientation don't have the same human rights as you, I want no part of it. We all bleed the same color and we typically all have the same organs and a complete human body. We all share this.

If you claim to be a born-again Christian or other type of religious follower, and if you are wondering why your non-religious family members don't want to talk with you, it's not because Satan has a hold of them.

It's because your rational family members don't want to associate themselves with people who don't understand the basic concept that we all share the same humanity. We all deserve to be treated equally and with respect.

When a break down in family communication occurs, there is no evil one who is causing this trouble. The breakdown is due to your own belief in an ancient religion which allows you to promote your own personal prejudice, bigotry and intolerance towards others as you claim your all loving god approves of your behavior.

Gaps in Science

What happens when there is a natural phenomenon or natural occurrence in nature and a gap in science can't explain it?

In the past, many times, religion tried to explain gaps in science. For example, if there was a drought, religious leaders and religious people would say the gods are mad at us. We now now know that the earth has weather patterns based on the laws of science and these occurrences happen due to science and not an angry god.

What about death? Not one person knows what happens after we die. Science has no answers yet. What happens after we die is a huge unknown.

All the crazies come out of the wood work trying to explain what happens after we die. Or how we can achieve life after death. Psychics and ancient mythological religions are at the forefront pretending to be certain of the answer.

When will the masses see the correlation of this gap in science and realize everyone is just guessing?

What do I think? I can't prove it; however, I think its obvious, when we die, that's it. I'm not being flippant here, death is not a pleasant thing, death is tragic. People we love, pass and we miss them for the rest of our lives.

Please don't tell me you have the answer—with certainty—after we die. Anyone who says we live forever, after we die, is simply guessing and telling a big fat lie. They are fraudulent.

Empowering citizens.

The function of government is responsibility towards it's citizens. When politicians are intellectually honest with themselves and make policy changes which favor spending money on life for their citizens—instead of war and death—it will then become possible for all citizens to empower themselves.

Our government has basically mandated our work force to work full-time jobs to ensure we have health care. If a person wants to try to start their own business, they need to:

1) Have saved enough money to pay for health care or
2) Start a new business and risk not having health insurance or
3) Work a full-time job and try to work as many hours as possible over their 40 hour job, to start their own business.

If we had nationalized health care, people could work a part-time job and the rest of the work week have enough time to start their own business.

What alternate responses are there to sneezing?

Are you an atheist, agnostic, non-theist, humanist, rationalist, secularist, Ex-(Christian, Muslim, Mormon, etc.) or just a non-believer in the ancient mythology of Earth-gods? And... you don't like to say or hear "Bless you" or god-forbid, "God bless you" when someone sneezes?

Fear not, the Arch Angel Michael, err... Michael has some alternate sneeze responses for you.

"Godzilla."

"You are so good looking." (From the 38th Seinfeld episode, "The Good Samaritan")

"Scat, scat, pussy cat, your tail is in the gravy." (After practicing this several times, it becomes easy and fast to say.)

"Scat (there) Tom, your tail is in the gravy."

"Choo, bezzoo."

"Dog bless you."

"Congratulations."

"Are you okay?"

"Can I go through your pockets?"

"Cover your mouth."

"Will you please cover your mouth."

"May your personal deity enhance your well-being."

"Hey... clean that up, will ya?"

"Need a tissue?"

"Science bless you."

"Long may you live."

"To your wishes."

"Curse you."

"Bless me."

"Excuse you."

"Please don't spit on me again."

"Go God go." (I believe this is from South Park, not sure.)

No response.

If someone says to you, "God bless you" ask them to take it back.

"May Jesus save you from that semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air and mucous."

"May the power of Jesus Christ rest within your soul." (In a sarcastic manner.)

"May Jesus land upon your desk and offer his blessings." (In a sarcastic manner.)

"Please keep your semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air and mucous to yourself."

"Please keep your potentially infectious expelled aerosol droplets to yourself."

"Bless you? You just expelled approximately 40,000 potentially infectious air and mucous droplets traveling at speeds of at least 95 miles per hour."

My last question I pose to anyone is this: Why don't people say, "God bless you" when others fart?

(Here are some search engine search words that people might use to find this article: What do atheists say when someone sneezes? Sneeze sayings. Bless you. God bless you. Sneeze responses.)

Is America not a melting pot?

Even today, it seems that people don't collectively celebrate the diversity of people, culture, faiths and non-faiths in the United States.

Controversy over gay marriage and the separation of church and state come to my mind. The United States either is a melting pot of diverse people or it's not. We need to celebrate the many religions in our country as well as the non-theists of this country or we collectively as a country are not practicing what we preach: A melting pot of diverse people, cultures, faiths and non-faiths.

Why must Christianity, Mormonism or other religions try to dictate morality as law? It's proven that countries with more religion than not are the most lawless of countries. See United Nations reports on countries with little religion. These reports show the most secular countries have the least amount of crime. Why pretend these reports do not exist? Why pretend these facts are not true?

As most religious faiths demand their followers to spread their gospel throughout the world, isn't it obvious that one will never be able to take over the entire world? I'm sure the followers of each religious faith secretly hope this happens.

If one religious faith is able to spread itself to every person on earth, what is the point? It would be the same as one corporation trying to grow bigger and bigger and bigger. What if one company becomes so big that there is only one corporation left in the world which runs the entire world? What's the point? If one corporation ran the entire world, what would they achieve? Happiness? Total control of the money flow on earth? Hell, what a waste of time trying to become the biggest religion or corporation on earth.

This is one reason why religion should not try to make it's beliefs into law. How would Christians like it if Mormonism or Islam was made into law and was shoved down Christian's throats?

Sorry about that Chief!

Need a good laugh? The complete "Get Smart" TV series from the 1960s is for sale. The series is in full color. I thought the show was in black and white because I used to watch it on a black and white TV. In our economy, either purchase the entire series, borrow it from someone you know or purchase it with several people and pass it around.

The advantages/disadvantages of cars versus bicycles.

The advantages of a car.
It's easy travel short, medium or long distances, fast. It's possible to haul lots of things in a car. Several people can ride in a car. Driving a car is fun. One can listen to the radio or music in the car. For those with air conditioning and heating, there is a big advantage of being comfortable inside a car.

The disadvantages of a car.
It cost a lot of money to maintain. It means buying gas. It means polluting our world. A car's exhaust damages our planet as well as our lungs. If you are involved in an accident it can result in either a minor injury, permanent disability or death. It's easy to pull into drive-thrus and purchase fast food—food that has little to no nutritional value.

The advantages of riding a bicycle.
It is usually more of an adventure when riding a bike. It's easier to meet people when on a bike—if you meet someone riding a bike, you instantly have something in common to talk about. It's easy to remember to make healthy food in advance for the trip. Cardiologists and other doctors are happy that you are exercising. It cost much less to purchase and maintain a bicycle. You don't have to purchase gasoline for your bicycle. You see more when you are on a bike. Your eye-hand-brain coordination is improved by being on a bike. You health improves every time you ride your bike. You are doing your lungs and the earth a favor when riding a bike. Riding a bike is fun, fun, fun. It's easy to stop, take a break or rest at a moments notice. You don't have to look for parking spaces, you can find places to lock your bike almost anywhere. You typically don't get traffic tickets on a bicycle. You don't pay for parking meters—in fact, you use a parking meter to lock your bike. You receive sunlight on your skin which is healthy as long as you don't get burned. You feel alive when you ride a bicycle. You feel free on a bicycle. When you ride a bicycle on a regular basis, you have more energy. In city areas, you can go faster on a bicycle than in a car. It's easier to loose weight and stay toned when you ride consistently. You can ride the opposite way on one-way streets. You can ride your bike where cars can't drive. You can find short cuts when riding a bike that can't be used by cars. You can take your bicycle into the entrance of a building—you can't drive your car into the entrance of a building or you'll get arrested. It's safer to ride a bike down a city street than walk. You can travel much faster on a bicycle than walking. Riding a bike is safer on your joints than running. You can ride faster on a bike than running. You can ride on the street, a sidewalk, a paved path, a dirt path and grass on a bicycle.

The disadvantages of a bicycle.
You can't go medium or long distances, fast. You typically cannot have others ride with you. You get wet in the rain. You can get hit and killed by a car.

Mythology and the Bible.

As a teenager, I was a died-in-the-wool born again Christian. I believed I had found the key to eternal life. I thought to myself, what an incredible thing I found.

As a young Christian reading the Bible, it was very easy for me to overlook all the inconsistencies, contractions and the Bible verses that made no sense, in today's contemporary society. For the simple reason that I thought I found the key to eternal life—I overlooked these things—because I did not want to loose the chance to live forever.

Intellectual honesty dictates there is are only two options with the Bible. Either the Bible is the word of God or it is not the word of God.

Let's take the premise the Bible is the word of God.
Everyone who believes the Bible to be the word of God has to rationalize the thousands of Bible verses which contradict each other and must ignore the sexism, racism, hatred and intolerance of others in the Bible. All would need to ignore the verses of strange rituals of the ancient past which would never fly in today's society. To point out two specific points the Bible condones slavery as well as making women second class citizens as told in both testaments.

Condone: : to regard or treat (something bad or blameworthy) as acceptable, forgivable, or harmless (a government accused of condoning racism) (condone corruption in politics). From www.webster.com, December, 27, 2008, copyright 2008.

Let's take the premise the Bible is not the word of any god.
Without blinders on, it's easy to find ancient mythology, astrology, many contradictions and inconsistencies in Bible verses. There is Egyptian mythology, Greek mythology and Astrology all throughout the Bible—the Old and the New Testament.

Taking the premise the Bible is not the word of any god, allows anyone to clearly see the Bible was written by ancient primitive sexist and racist men. With that said, it now it makes sense as to why the Bible is has many ideological problems, inconsistencies, contractions, mythology and astrology throughout it's entirety.

To be specific, the Ten Commandments are taken directly from the Egyptian book of the dead, the twelve disciples are from the twelve signs of the zodiac, and the New Testament writers gave Christ the same characteristics of Greek Gods and Greek Heroes to prove that Christ is a god. The masses don't believe in Zeus, Apollo or Poseidon any more, so why should the masses believe in the god, Christ?

Companies that make people work the day after Christmas.

This year, Christmas is on a Thursday. Where is the f'ing charity? Why don't all businesses (which have little to no business to transact) give Friday after Christmas off to their employees?

Hell, the entire week of Christmas should be vacation time for everyone. Why not? At the bare minimum people should have Christmas eve, Christmas day and the day after Christmas—off.

I have friends where they had to work on Friday December 26th, 2008. Their entire office staff sat around and talked to each other all day—because there was no f'ing work. Why did the owner of the business make them work? Because their business owner is out of touch with reality.

I openly give the finger to all businesses who have little to no office work on a day like December 26th, but who insist their employees come into the office to just sit there and do nothing. Merry f'ing Christmas from your f'ed-up employer.

The winter holiday season seems to come so fast and there never seems to be enough time.

The winter holiday season seems to come so fast and there never seems to be enough time. With that said twice, I propose some new changes for the U.S. Federal Government. The Federal Government will pay all it's citizens for three, oh, let's make it four weeks of vacation during December. We need some charity here.

Remember, if the U.S. Government paid it's citizens vacation time, businesses would not bear the burden of vacation time. Of course, some people might need a reality check as to where we would get the money from. And we won't need to raise taxes for the average citizen. We simply transfer money that would have been spent from the huge f'ing military budget to it's citizens. Period. (Stop using my tax dollars to kill people, it makes me sick.)

When the U.S. Government starts paying it's citizens for an extended vacation during December, it will allow people to shop, to make holiday food, take care of themselves, visit with friends and family, and of course, to celebrate one or more of 65 winter festivals such as: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, HumanLight (Humanist Holiday), Dong zhi (Chinese Winter Solstice), or Diwali (Hindu Festival of Lights). See my recent blog (below) highlighting 65 winter celebrations.

There might be more than 65 winter celebrations around the world, who knows? Of course, anyone can make up their own winter celebration, why not? If you think of a great winter celebration, get it online and get it out there. Other people might like it.

People give lots of lip service to family values. How can anyone take the phrase "family values" seriously when one or more parents are working all the time. Parents who work over 40 hours a week are not being responsible to their "family." Parents who work 40 hours a week still don't have enough time to spend with their family.

Also, don't you think family values is a misnomer? How can anyone serious say the phrase "family values?" What is really important here? Our personal lives. It's family and friends who are important. Some people might not have a family. With that said, isn't it obvious, that for many of us, our family is a close network of friends. Talking about "family values" excludes friends. It's not a family value to exclude friends.

The point is this. If we are such a great country, then let's lead the world by making a bold statement, "The most important part of living is our personal lives." The celebration of being with friends and/or families is our top priority.

Once again I'll say it, "If we can find the money to kill people, we surely can find the money to help people." Let's put our money where our mouth is, on helping the living, live. It is time for the U.S. Government to pay all it's citizens an extended vacation in December.

Getting laid-off in December—with a twist.

Two weeks ago I was laid-off on the first Friday of December 2008. I said my good-byes to co-workers in my department and I left. I felt embarrassed and my eyes were red from crying, so I left through one of the back doors of our building and didn't say good-bye to anyone else in the company.

That day, I looked back and I remembered there were lay-offs in September, then there were more lay-offs about three weeks ago. And now, the largest number of people were laid-off and I was part of it.

I had an entire weekend to think over what happened and I began to plan for how I was going to find a job in this bad economy. On Monday, I was glued to my computer the entire morning to update my resume. Edit, proof read, edit, proof read—over and over again. It was around 1 p.m. and I was satisfied with my resume. I was about to go to Kinko's to print it. However, I thought why not just show up at my work and ask them to print out several resumes? It won't cost me anything.

When I walked into work, one person came running up to me and hugged me and said she did not get a chance to say good-bye to me. She said, if anyone should have not been laid-off, it was me. As soon as she heard I was laid-off on Friday, she ran to her manager and said, "That was the worst decision for laying a person off. He's the only helpful employee in his department when I need help. All other people say they don't have time to help me."

Other people started to approach me and told me basically the same thing, this company could have laid-off almost anyone, except for you. Even though hearing this from my pears did not get my job back, it certainly made me feel better.

I was in my department area printing my resume when my boss told me that the Vice-President just called him for my cell number. My boss told the V.P. that I was here printing my resume. The V.P. said for me to come up to his office. He hired me back.

Shopping one week before Christmas.

I was considering purchasing an expensive pen for a friend of mine for Christmas. I went to several department stores since I thought this would be the best place to find a nice selection of pens. I was disappointed that none of the departments stores sold any pens—zero selection.

As I entered the perfume department at the entrance of the last store I checked, I told a department store woman in her early twenties that I was looking for pens. She asked me in a very serious tone of voice, "You mean one to borrow or to purchase?" I stated, "One to purchase," as I turned and walked away.

But... if you are an athiest, what about Christmas?

As an atheist, non-theist, rational person or a non-believer in ancient mythology, call it what you like, I celebrate Christmas. Why not? I love Christmas decorations, holiday parties and gift giving, just like most people. I just don't believe in an invisible god. Remember, there are people who believe in a god and don't celebrate Christmas, for example, Jehovah's Witnesses. In fact, one of the nicest friends I know is a Jehovah Witness.

What if you don't want to celebrate Christmas? Fear not! There are many winter festivals around the world to choose from. (I found them in Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winter_festivals)

And, I alphabetized them, just for you:

• Advent (Christian, The four weeks before Christmas)
• Armenian Apoststolc Christmas (Christian, Jan 6)
• Bhaubeej (Hindu)
• Bodhi Day (Buddist, Dec 8)
• Boxing Day (Secular, Dec 26, Gift-giving day after Christmas)
• Burns Night: (Secular, Jan 25, Birthday of Robert Burns)
• Candlemas (Christian, Feb 2)
• Chahar Shadbeh Suri (Persian, Festival of Fire, Last Wednesday of the Iranian Calendar year.)
• Chinese New Year (Late Jan – early Feb)
• Chrismukkah (Secular, Slang term for the amalgam of Christmas and Hanukkah celebrated by religiously mixed families and couples.)
• Christmas (Christian, Dec 25)
• Christmas Eve (Christian, Dec 24)
• Diwali (Hindu, Festival of Lights, five day festival)
• Dong zhi (Chinese Winter Solstice, Dec 21-28)
• Eastern Orthodox Christmas (Christian, Jan 7, according to the Julian calendar)
• Eid ul-Adha (Muslim, 10th of Dhul Hijja of the Islamic Calendar)
• Epiphany (Christian, Jan 6, the arrival of the Three Magi.)
• Feast of Fools (Christian, Jan 1)
• Feast of the Circumcision (Christian, Jan 1)
• Festival du Voyageur (Secular, February winter celebration of the fur trade in Winnipeg, Manitoba)
• Festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun (Roman, late Roman Empire, Dec 25)
• Fur Rondy: (Secular, Late February and early March, Winter celebration in Anchorage, Alaska)
• Groundhog Day (Secular, Feb 2)
• Hanukkah (Eight festival starting in Nov or Dec, 25 Kislev, Hebrew calendar)
• Hogmanay (Secular, Night of Dec 31 - Before dawn of January 1)
• Scottish New Years Eve Celebration
• Holy Innocents' Day (Christian, Dec 28)
• HumanLight: (Secular, Dec 23, Humanist holiday originated by the New Jersey Humanist Network)
• Imbloc (Celtic, Feb 1)
• Imbolc (Pagan, Traditionally, evening of Jan 31, or Feb 1 or 2)
• Karachun (Slavic, Winter Solstice, Dec 21-28)
• Kwanzaa (Secular, Dec 26 - Jan 1, Pan-African festival)
• Lupercalia (Roman end-of-winter festival, Feb 15)
• Matariki (Polynesian, Usually early June)
• Modranect (German, Winter Solstice, Dec 21-28)
• Navratri (Hindu, 9 day celebration in Oct and Nov)
• New Year's Day (Secular, Jan 1, First day of the Gregorian year)
• New Year's Eve (Secular, Dec 31, Last day of the Gregorian year)
• Purim (Jewish, Late Feb or March, 14th or 15th day of Adar, Hebrew calendar)
• Quebec City Winter Carnival (Secular, February, Annual celebration of winter)
• Sadeh (Persian, Mid-winter)
• Saint Basil's Day (Christian Orthodox, Jan 1, In Greece, traditionally he is the Father Christmas figure.)
• Saint John the Evangelist's Day (Christian, Dec 27)
• Saint Nicholas’ Day (Christian, Dec. 6)
• Saint Stephen's Day (Christian, Dec 26)
• Saint Sylvester's Day (Christian, Dec 31)
• Samhain (Celtic, Nov1)
• Samhain (Pagan, Nov 1)
• Saturnalia (Roman, Winter Solstice, Dec 21-28)
• Signature of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan, Dec 25)
• St. Valentine's Day (Christian, Feb 14)
• Sydney Winter Festival (Secular, August 1-10th 2008, Winter Festival recreates the magic of traditional European winter celebrations, including a variety of culinary delights, and first class entertainment on an expansive outdoor screen.)
• Tu Bishvat (New Year of the Trees, Jan or Feb, 15th of Shevat, Hebrew calendar)
• Twelfth Night: Epiphany Eve (Christian, Jan 5)
• Twelve days of Christmas (Christian, Dec. 25 – Jan 6)
• Watch Night (Christian, Dec 31)
• Winter Solstice (Celtic, Dec 21-28)
• Winter Solstice (Pagan, Dec 21, New Age Festival)
• Winter Solstice, Yule: (Secular, December 21 or December 22, Late June weekend in Australia. Celebration of the Winter Solstice.)
• Winterval (Secular, Winter festivities coined by Birmingham City Council to encompass all holidays being recognized from October to January)
• Yalda (Persian, Dec 21)
• Yule (German, Winter Solstice, Dec 21-28)
• Yule (Pagan, Winter Solstice, Dec 21-28)
• Yulefest (Secular, Midwinter Christmas, around late June or July. Australian New Zealand winter 'Christmas/Yuletide')
• Yuletide: (Secular, Dec 25, Classic and modern, respectively, terms for the social and federal Dec 25th holiday)
• Zamenhof Day (Secular, Dec15, Birthday of Ludwig Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto; holiday reunion for Esperantists)

Ah! You made it to the end of the list. There are many options, aren't there? There are 65 winter festivals listed here.

Magic Markers

Why do people place a magic marker upside down in a pencil/pen holder? What happens to people's brains who do this?

1) I have never seen a magic marker that leaks when in the down position. (Unless if somehow it was broken.)

2) Do people know that gravity pulls toward the earth?

What we know:

A. Gravity pulls towards earth.

B. When you place a magic marker upside down to store it, the ink runs to the back end of the marker.

C. When you use a stored upside down marker, there will be less ink at the tip of the marker when you write.

D. If you insist that magic markers are stored upside down, why even buy them or use them?

Why does common sense go out the window for people who dispute this point?

'08 or 2008?

Ugh. I don't understand why anyone would write '08 or 08. '08 is one character short of 2008. And 08 is only two numerals short of 2008. What is so difficult in writing or typing 2008 in full?

Painters/artists: If you sign your work with an '08—you are nuts. Don't you realize if your artwork becomes valuable in 100 or 200 years, the owner of your art will be unable to verify the exact year it was made. Why are people so short sighted?

The same is true with any piece of paper or document. What if a piece of paper is found 300 years from now. If it has in '08, is it from 2008, 2108, or 2208?

How Does a Straight guy deal with a gay guy Coming onto him?

For those straight guys who know, they simply say I'm straight and move on, without the feelings that someone mistook them for being gay, gay-curious or bisexual. For those straight guys who would take this as an insult to their manlihood, all you need to do is think about how you'd treat a woman that you are not interested in and what you'd say to her. Say the same thing (and think about the experience) with the gay guy as you would a woman who does not turn you on.

Let me give you an example of a straight friend of mine. He will go to straight bars with friends or gay bars with friends. It does not bother him to go to a gay bar. When he gets hit on at a gay bar, he tells the guy he's straight. However, if he isn't hit on by gay guys at the gay bar, he wonders what he's doing wrong (or wonders what is wrong about him that night) that no one is hitting on him.

Did you ever hear about pink slips?

Those pink slips really are pink!

The Greatest Country in the World

People say the U.S. of A. is the greatest country in the world. So be it. Well, consider this:

Ten countries which set the best examples:
1) Human Development Index: Norway, Iceland
2) Global Peace Index: Norway, New Zealand
3) Gender Equality: Sweden, Norway
4) Life expectancy: Japan, Hong Kong
5) Quality of Life: Ireland, Switzerland
6) Most Competitive Economy: Switzerland, Finland
7) Economic Freedom: Hong Kong, Singapore
8) Gay Rights: Sweden, Norway
9) Obesity: Japan, Korea
10) Adults at High Literacy: Level Sweden, Norway

Top ten best countries to live in:
#1 Sweden
#2 Denmark
#3 Netherlands
#4 Finland
#5 Germany
#6 UK
#7 Canada
#8 Switzerland
#9 Norway
#10 Belgium

Top ten countries with the greatest life expectancy:
#1 Japan
#2 Hong Kong
#3 Iceland
#4 Switzerland
#5 Australia
#6 Sweden
#7 Italy
#8 Canada
#9 Israel
#10 France

Top ten countries with the highest quality of life:
#1 Ireland
#2 Switzerland
#3 Norway
#4 Luxembourg
#5 Sweden
#6 Australia
#7 Iceland
#8 Italy
#9 Denmark
#10 Spain

The above data from the website: http://www.vexen.co.uk/countries/best.html
(Remember, different sites have different data concerning the above topics.)

What if I poise the question, "What country has the nicest people in the world?" Any guesses? I'd say it's a country in Asia, called Thailand.

My View on War, Exactly.

"Interesting. You Earth people glorify organized violence for 40 centuries. But you imprison those who employ it privately." —Spock, Star Trek, The Original Series, 1966, Episode 11, "Dagger of the Mind."

Bush's New Dallas Home

To see pictures and an article, please click the link below:

Bush's New Dallas Home

Or to cut and past the URL address in your web browser:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1204082bush1.html

Where did he get the money to do this?

When will the Government put Warning Labels on Processed Food?

Personally, I wish that processed food—which fills our grocery stores—should come with a government warning label like this:

GOVERNMENT WARNING: PROCESSED FOOD TAKES OUT MOST NUTRIENTS YOUR BODY NEEDS. THIS PROCESSED FOOD LACKS VITAMINS, ENZYMES, ANTIOXIDANTS, PROTEINS, ETC., NECESSARY FOR YOUR BODY TO FUNCTION CORRECTLY. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDS EATING FRUIT, VEGETABLES, NUTS, BEANS, CHICKEN, FISH AND MEAT THAT YOU PREPARE FOR YOURSELF IN YOUR OWN KITCHEN. FURTHERMORE, REMEMBER TO DRINK CLEAN WATER.

REMEMBER, CARBONATED BEVERAGES CAUSE OSTEOPOROSIS. RAW SUGAR FROM SODA AND PROCESSED DRINKS ARE HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH. ALCOHOL IS A POISON TO YOUR HEART, BRAIN, LIVER, KIDNEYS, BLOOD VESSELS, STOMACH LINING AND VARIOUS HORMONAL AND REGULATORY SYSTEMS. THE HIGH WHILE GETTING DRUNK AND THE HEADACHE AFTERWARDS IS YOUR BRAIN TRYING TO GET RID OF THE POISON.

Omaba's web site - The Office Of The President-Elect

Wow. How awesome is this! You can sign-up on their emailing list.

"The Obama Transition Team has set-up an innovative website to facilitate public input for policy initiatives in the new Obama Administration. Please take the time to share your insights and opinions:"

The Office Of The President-Elect

Actual URL address:
http://change.gov/

-I found this link and the quote above from a recent e-newsletter from the Organic Consumers Association.

The Truth About Prayer.

Prayer is a superstition. The best way to see if prayer works is to try it, prayer will never work for you. There are only three answers to prayer. Yes, no or wait. Every answered prayer is only a coincidence. You can pray to a bottle of milk and you will get the same answer, yes, no or wait.

It's impossible for any God to loose when the only answers to prayer are yes, no or wait because yes, no or wait is always true, no matter who or what you pray to.

When you pray, you want to move the ambiguity from prayer so your prayer won't be answered by coincidence. For example, instead of praying for one person to be cured of cancer, pray that all people are cured of cancer.

So, how do you prove prayer is a superstition? Someone has already made some youtube videos for us.

YouTube Video 1:
Proving that prayer is superstition. See video:
Proving that prayer is a superstition.

Actual URL address of video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0rFZIqo8A

Youtube Video 2:
Prayer - The best optical illusion in the world. See video:
The best optical illusion in the world. (On prayer.)

Actual URL address of video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk6ILZAaAMI

How the U.S. Would be Different Today Only if...

The U.S. of A. would be different today, if politicians followed this saying: "We need to spend less money on war and death and more money on life."

My Vision for Cheny/Bush Memorials

My vision is to have Cheney/Bush memorials in major U.S. cities from coast to coast. These would have life size bronze statues, a cream pie concession stand, water hoses and plaques.

The plaques would state why Cheney and Bush were the worst President/Vice President team in U.S. history. The cream pie concession stand would be for people to throw cream pies at the statues of these men and take pictures. The hose would be to wash the statue down for the next visitor.

Us, Them and We

Those people who use the words "Us" and "Them" only divide others and even nations. There is no "Us" or "Them", there is only "We." We all share the same humanity, we all bleed red.

Why are Gay People in Such a Hurry to get Their Rights? I Don't see the Urgency.

Why don't some straight people see the urgency with gay rights? For the simple reason that straight people have their rights, so it's really not a big deal for them. Makes sense.

So, if I'm straight, how do I see the urgency of gay rights?

I'm glad you asked that question. I can help those straight people who like science fiction. Those that don't like science fiction, you are on your own!

If you have ever seen the X-men movies, it's very simple to see things from a gay point of view. Replace the word "mutant" with the word "gay."

Definition of the word "Cult".

The first two definitions of the word "Cult" from Webster.com:

1: formal religious veneration : worship
2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual ; also : its body of adherents
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult

Venerated: A ritual act of devotion.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/venerated

Why are all religions cults? All religions are man-made.

The 1960's Get Smart is now on DVD.

The 1960's Get Smart is now on DVD. Get Smart ran from 1965 to 1970. (By the way, I liked the 2008 Get Smart movie. They had very difficult shoes to fill with this movie and they did a good job.)

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

If your religion divides people rather than unites people. Please enjoy your life and the fellowship of birds of a feather that flock together having bigotry and intolerance as part of your creed.

I Know God is Real Because I Feel it. Oh, Really?

I have had many people say to me, "I know God is real, I know it and I feel it. Once you know it and feel it, you'll have this unimaginable joy." I think, "Oh, really?!"

If I say I feel I'm at the beach and I know it and I feel it. You might not say I'm crazy but you might think I'm meditating with positive thoughts.

If I say I know Elvis personally, he is real and I know it and I feel it. You'd say I was crazy.

Can you guess what I think of people who say they personally know the all powerful and all knowing creator of the universe?

If Christianity, Islam or Mormonism are so Great...

If Christianity, Islam or Mormonism are so great, why do these religions divide people instead of unite people? Because religion poisons everything.

Processed Food.

One of the reasons why people are overweight and have bad health in America is processed food. The stomach is supposed to do the processing. When a manufacturing plant takes plants or animals and processes them, nutrition is lost. It is not the same as eating fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, or cooking beans, meat or fish.

A good rule of thumb, when you buy food, if it grew from the ground, it's okay to eat. If it's from a manufacturing plant or fast food restaurant, either don't eat it or limit the amount of processed food you eat.

Cigarettes have a warning label as to their health hazard to people. (And in the U.S. the warning label on cigarettes is small and unobtrusive—this is wrong! But that's a topic for another blog entry.) If the F.D.A. were ethical, they would put a health warning on most processed foods and fast food restaurants stating the food is not healthy to eat. In fact, the warning label would say the food is dangerous to eat.

Here is a quote from the Puristat web site describing the dangers of processed food.

"Processed food is made from real food that has been put through devitalizing chemical processes and is infused with chemicals and preservatives. Beef jerky, canned tea, jam, hot dogs, and low-fat yogurt with sugar or aspartame are a few examples of processed food.

Junk foods contain very little real food. They're made of devitalized processed food, hydrogenated fats, chemicals, and preservatives, and include anything made with refined white flour. Canned breakfast drinks, cold/sugary cereals, doughnuts, drive-through foods, and soda are examples of junk foods.

Fake foods are made primarily of chemicals, and often contain gums and sugar fillers. Examples include bacon bits, bottled salad dressing, dehydrated soups, and instant coffee.

These non-foods have one thing in common; it costs your body a great deal more to digest, absorb, and eliminate them than they offer your body in nutritional value – an extremely poor return on your investment that leaves your body sluggish and depleted."

From: http://www.puristat.com/standardamericandiet/processedfoods.aspx

Another web site talks about eating a raw food diet. When raw foods are heated past 118 degrees, enzymes necessary for our stomach to digest, start to breakdown.

See: http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/enzymes.htm

What about soda? (Written by Kathy Loidolt)

"We Americans love a soda! And no wonder! It tastes great, gives us a boost and feels like a celebration drink. I don't want to rain on your parade, but do we know what we are drinking? Most of us are aware that there is a lot of sugar in soda (High Fructose Corn Syrup is a concentrated sugar) that's why it tastes so good, right? Sugar, among other things, lowers our immune system, making us susceptible to illnesses.

The bad news is, sugar is the least of our concerns when we drink soda. Many sodas contain color dyes, which have been known to cause ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and impotence. Another common soda pop ingredient, sodium benzoate, is a chemical compound that has it's own MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) filed with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Organization). The MSDS for sodium benzoate states "Caution! Harmful if swallowed or inhaled!" The manufacturers are instructed to wear protective goggles, lab coats, gloves and use a vented hood. Now, I know we all drink sodas and feel fine right after, but what is this chemical doing to our bodies, soda after soda, year after year?

The "natural and artificial flavorings" is ingredients code for MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) which has been linked to migraines, MS, IBS, fibromyalgia, anxiety, seizures and depression. If you are drinking diet soda, you are getting lots of MSG, as it is a flavor enhancer used to make foods and drinks without sugar still taste good.

Of course, we all know that soda also contains carbonated water. Soda pop has been nicknamed "osteoporosis in a can" because the carbonation in the soda takes calcium out of our bones through a three stage process:

1. The carbonation irritates the stomach.
2. The stomach tries to cure the irritation by secreting the only antacid at its disposal, calcium. It gets this calcium from the blood.
3. The blood, now low on calcium, replenishes its supply from the bones. If it did not do this, muscular and brain function would be severely impaired.

Osteoporosis has been shown to be five times worse in kids and women who drink dark cola than in those who drink other types of soda.

So next time you have the kids at a restaurant and they ask if they can order a pop, pull this article out and read it to them! Maybe they'll choose water."

Written by Kathy Loidolt, author of Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living.
See:
http://ezinearticles.com/
?Stop-Drinking-That-Soda-and-Prevent-Osteoporosis&id=1526465
(This URL address is very long and I had to break it into two sentences. If you want to view the article, you'll need to copy and past both sentences without spaces and place into the appropriate place in your browser.)

Isn't it time the F.D.A. puts warning labels on most processed foods and food from most fast food restaurants and all carbonated drinks?

Companies That use Voice Mail Systems and Prompts

The public is sick of voice mail systems and prompts. I worked for a major U.S. Airline in the late 1980s in the domestic reservations department. When I first started working for this U.S. Airline (Do you get the hint of who I worked for yet?), we had no voice mail system for the public when they called the airline's 800 reservations number.

As an airline reservationist, I answered all the 800 calls, making reservations, confirming reservations, taking credit card numbers/checks for people to buy their tickets, checking to see if flights were on-time, checking for lost baggage, and etcetera. When someone needed an international reservation, I'd simply transfer the call to the international reservations department.

Then management announced they were going to start a voice mail system where the public would need to press buttons to get through. When the system was put in place, I (in domestic reservationists) would still take all the calls and would only have to transfer calls going to international reservations. Nothing changed for the employees and what we did.

We finally found out why management put this system in place. Management wanted a report as to who was calling and why. Yes, management needed their official reports and didn't mind that it made it more difficult for the public to get through.

And here's another scenario. I work for a print shop now. Our customers will send us jobs without directions. I wish I could read my customer's minds as to how they want their prints jobs run. My company does not keep customers specs on file and for a good reason. You can run a print job a million different ways. For example...

A customer might run their job in color for ten orders in a row. We know what the customer wants, right? The 11th order comes in and we run the job in color again. The customer gets their 11th order and calls us and complains. They wanted the 11th order to be run in black and white, they needed the prints for their file copy. Too bad the customer didn't tell us this upfront. More times than not, they don't.

So, what's the point?

The customer gave us their office phone number and they refused to write down their office extension. We call their main office number, get the voice mail system and punch in the person's first or last name and the voice mail system says that person doesn't work there. (Of course, pressing zero does not ring anyone, you get someone's voice mail.) We can't get through to our customer because their company voice mail system has not been updated for all their employees. The customer is mad the job is late or because the job was run incorrectly. It's all because companies think it is clever to install a voice mail system.