The Activism Page 2004

June 27, 2008 Thank you so much! This page has been linked in a couple of places for various reasons so, not that this should be needed, let me just state .. the comments on this website are mine and mine alone (unless I have quoted someone) and not the opinions of anyone else. <sigh>.

November 2004

I am in despair. In spite of everything, Dubya is back for anther term. I give up on writing this crap. I am just gonna keep a diary/blog from now on instead. Grrr.

October 16 , 2004 Push Polling

Ok, I have had the same phone call about six times now. Someone calls (the caller id says it is an unknown name and number) and a pretend poller asks me my voting preferences. When I say that I am voting for Kerry, they ask slimy questions that call Kerry's fitness into doubt to try and get me to change my mind, while at the same time gathering demographic and voting data. What another brilliant phase in the filthy sewer that is now politics in the United States of Amoco. Not only do you get your polling numbers, but you can slime your opponent at the same time - as usual the Republicans have proved that the lowest common denominator holds. I am going back to Betty Bowers for a decent laugh or I would weep. BettyBowers.com

October 12 , 2004 Prime Rib, hold the feces please!

There is an absolutely revolting article in VF this month about contamination of the beef supply, the incompetence of the FDA and USDA and the long term dangers of BSE. Guess I wont be eating much red meat any more (not that I eat much anway), but the joys of carpaccio and very rare steaks appear to be gone forever.

September 6, 2004 My brain really hurts.

For some reason, we got on the subject of religion this morning, which got me thinking about the arguments for the existence of a creator, and my brain now hurts <grin>. So, here goes and I would welcome some feedback on this one!

I think that we can all agree that logic is irrefutable.

If you accept that, then eventually, when arguing with anyone over the (non)existence of a Creator, theists can only fall back upon only two arguments:

1. The argument of faith. This falls apart for me as logic states that faith is incompatible with reason.

2. The kalam cosmological argument, which states that:

a. Every effect needs a cause.
b. The universe is an effect.
c. Therefore the universe was caused.

More sophisticated versions of this classical argument are employed by most Christian philosophers and apologists. If it stands as true, say the theists, then this proves the existence of God i.e.

a. The universe is an effect
b. Every effect needs a cause
c. God is the ultimate cause
d. Therefore God must exist to have caused the universe

The entire argument falls apart with Steven Hawking's theory called the Wave Function of the Universe, which is based on assigning numbers to all possible universes. All of the numbers cancel out except for a universe with features our universe possesses. For example; contains intelligent organisms such as humans, etc. This remaining universe has a certain probability which is very high and, in fact, near to a hundred percent, of coming into existence uncaused. Therefore the above argument falls apart.

(There is also another cool school of cosmology predicated upon the "weak anthropic principle', which states that the universe is as it seems because, if it were any other way, we would not be around to observe it. Another field of thought, "the strong anthropic principle", states that the universe exists to give rise to certain types of entity - ie, us. - Cool, huh?)

Regardless of the Hawking theory, there is the fact that there is a chance, no matter how close to infinitesimally small, that the universe simply sprang into existence. In this instance, Einstein and the Big Bang Theory and Hawking have conclusively proved that the universe is infinite. In an infinite universe, if there is any probability that the conditions under which life might come into existence occur, however remote, then that probability becomes a certainty given infinite time.

To me, there has never been a logical argument able to be made for the existence of a Creator, therefore that and Occams razor proves that a Creator can not exist.

That said, however, there exists a possibility in which we, ourselves might be able, at some point in the future, be able to create God ourselves. That is, in terms of special relativity, being able to communicate or travel faster than light is effectively equivalent to time travel, at least from the perspective of observers in different frames of reference. Quantum theory (Bose-Einstein) allows for the possibility of faster than light communication. If you build a faster than light communicator, then build a logic gate that transmits its output into its own past, where it is wired into its input you have the basis for acausal logic which gives you the first tool to create a transcendent artificial intelligence, which, to all intents and purposes, would be God. In this instance, God could exist, but only because we built him at some point in our own future. (I've cribbed lots of this from Charles Stross). My brain really hurts now - I think I'll go back to criticizing George Bush instead!

September 4 , 2004 Mankind are zombies

I was reading an article about Carribbean mythology and came across the following definition of a zombie:- "A zombie was a non-self-conscious entity that acted just like a conscious one; it laughed, cried, talked, ate and generally just behaved like a real person, and if questioned, would claim to be conscious - but behind its superficial behaviour, there was nobody home, no internalized model of the universe it lived in." Sounds like the definition of most of the electorate to me and certainly explains Dubya's rise in polling numbers.

August 26 , 2004 Follow the Money!

A recent study in Private Eye has the following statistic.

Increase in value of the world's oil companies since Bush became President - $120 Billion. Decrease in value of the rest of the world's stock markets in the same period - $4.732 Trillion. Yeah, we are in Iraq for oil, not for the Bush families connections to oil!

August 22 , 2004 Boycott Circuit City!

Simply put, Circuit City donates money to Anti-Gay politicians. Boyott them and let them know how you feel at Circuit City, 9950 Maryland Drive, Richmond, VA 23233. My letter is as follows:
"Dear Sir or Madam: It is with great distress that I read that you are sponsors and donors to anti-gay politicians through your political action committee. This, combined with the fact that you are based in Virginia and have done nothing to combat or speak out against the acts of hatred against LGBT people in that state, is the reason that I will no longer patronize your stores and am informing all of my friends, acquaintances and business associates to do the same. For your information, and due to the above, I just purchased a Bose Lifestyle system and a Sony 60 inch DLP television from Best Buy. Hopefully before you file Chapter 11 you will realize that discrimination and bigotry are not just offensive, they are also extremely bad business practices and I am surprised that your Board of Directors is not cognizant of this fact."

August 12 , 2004 A wonderful thought!

Don Sakers makes a throwaway line in "Dance for the Ivory Madonna" which I loved: "Miranda said smoothly, "A point of information, please. My esteemed colleague from the Christian Coalition has very eloquently argued that no minority in our society should be granted what she so disarmingly refers to as 'special rights.' Her legendary rhetorical skills are impeccable, so it must be my ears that have left me confused." She turned a quizzical look across the aisle. "Is she suggesting that we withdraw the special tax rights that so many religious organizations enjoy? Or the special rights that exempt most religious organizations from civil rights laws? If so, I am delighted - albeit bemused - to find myself on the same side as Madame Averra."" Unfortunately we all know that this situation will never occur in the US as freedom of religion and separation of church and state only apply if you are Christian or one of that cults subgroups in the USA today.

June 14, 2004 Carl Marx - nearly right!

After watching the rise and fall in Dubya's polling numbers I have come to one inescapable conclusion. He said "Religion is the opiate of the masses" but I beg to disagree as in this culture, religion is only one leg of the triumverate needed to keep our poor insensate public anaesthetized. Religion, along with sports and celebrity are the opiate of the masses. So long as we can keep the public obsessed with J-Lo et al and whether their sports team is doing well while ensuring that their preachers keep telling them that God is the answer to everything, they wont question their sad, pathetic little lives and the illusion of American democracy will continue. As Gore Vidal stated many years ago, there is only one political party in America - the Property Party.

June 10, 2004 So the poor, senile old bastard is dead!

Excuse me for not getting all weepy over Mr. Reagan's passing. He certainly wont be missed for his contributions to the motion picture oeuvre and frankly this bizarre outpouring of grief seems hypocritical. It certainly was morning in America during his administration compared to that of our present lying, venal, terrifyingly militaristic cowboy in thief, but that isnt really saying much! (I mean, Hess wasn't as bad as Hitler but we didnt cry over him.) Lets face it, the largest deficits in history (until now), AIDS, and the rise of the radical far right were the most negative lasting legacies of his administration, and every "reduction" in big government and "simplification" of the tax laws, which were the only supposed positive legacies of his administration, have since been dismantled. Perhaps the fact that he, singly handedly, is responsible for the fall of Communism (does anyone really believe this??) is the reason that we should add him to Mount Rushmore and replace Washington on the one dollar bill. It finally is bedtime for Bonzo.

June, 2004 He's baaaack!

The garden and house look great, thank you, and business is finally looking up, so I actually have a little free time to start writing the ocassional thing up here that might piss a few folks off.

April 4, 2004 Going on hiatus!

With getting everything ready for spring around here, I am up to my ears so am going to stop putting stuff up for a little bit. Check back in May or so <grin>

Feb 4, 2004 Laura Bush - heroine?!

How nice for Laura Bush to comment in a recent Health section article that she saved a life by talking about heart disease and caused a woman to go to the the hospital. I wonder if she thinks that makes up for her running a stop sign and killing her boyfriend in 1963. Just imagine if Hillary had ever done that, I wonder how the press would have covered that particular incident.

Feb 4, 2004 A dialog on Same Sex Marriage

I don't usually agree with a lot of what Andrew Sullivan writes but this time he has nailed it with a discussion about the hypocrisy of the same-sex marriage debate. Please check the following link for a terrific column:
The Sacred and the Pop Star

Feb 3, 2004 Yaaay! Dubya's new fair budget.

So, we are going to increase spending across the board but slash funding for health, justice and the EPA, while leaving the bills for the future. Guess where Dubya's priorities are. The only thing propping the dollar up right now is the Chinese and the Brits. How much longer do you seriously think that this can continue. Time to start selling your stock portfolio and buying gold?

Feb 2, 2004 Another day, another death.

A 17 year old student was shot to death inside a high school in DC today. Everyone is up in arms shrieking about metal detectors, more cops, etc., etc. The one topic that is conspicuously absent from the dialog is the most obvious - ban fucking handguns. I think it would be a little more difficult to get a hunting rifle hidden in a backpack. Sometimes I despair!

Feb 1, 2004 Janet's breast!

I never cease to wonder at our priorities as a culture. It seems perfectly acceptable for children (and adults) to regularly witness horrific acts of violence on a daily basis. Our airwaves and print media are saturated with images of death, rape and bloody violence, yet the minute that a normal, and perfectly healthy portion of the female anatomy is shown on television we are deluged with cries of horror and demands for investigation. What does it say about us that we are more concerned with children seeing a bosom than we are about them watching people hack each other to death. Isn’t violence the true pornography?

Jan 31, 2004 Boycott CBS

CBS, the same channel that dumped "The Reagans" as it might offend, and the same channel that, coincidentally has just benefited from the Bush administrations rewriting of the FCC media ownership rules, is now disallowing MoveOn.org from showing their issue ad during the Superbowl. Read this article and the accompanying LA Times Op-Ed piece.
MoveOn.Org

Jan 22 , 2004 Impeach Cheney

The European press is reporting that Dick Cheney may be under investigation for a number of payoff and bribery scandals that may have taken place while he ran Halliburton. Needless to say, there has been no mention of this in the US press.

Jan 21 , 2004 The Scream

Am I the only person in the world who thought the Speech and "scream" was completely understandable and normal after a long and tiring fight.

Jan 3 , 2004 I Love Private Eye!

Private Eye, the English satirical magazine has a great comment on the Saddam/Dubya capture fiasco. As they put it "President Bush has mocked Saddam Hussein after his final hiding place was revealed, saying "When the going got tough, you went and hid in a hole. This contrasts so starkly with my decision during 9/11 to secrete myself away in a proper underground bunker until all threat of danger had passed.""