Hating Green

Since getting back into the environmental movement in 1997 the one thing that continues to amaze me is all the hatred toward the Earth. Most of the hate falls into two categories — religious folks who believe the Earth is temporal and going to be fried anyway and, secondly, greedy developers who feel that they can do whatever they want without accountability. And when you question them, they label you a "radical."

So, I was in class on Thursday and a classmate noticed my "Sierra Club" briefcase. She is employed by a construction association and said, "You and I are on opposite sides."

"What?" I said. "Are you saying you're against trees?"

She replied: "I am when they stand in the way of progress."

First of all, I cannot comprehend how ANYONE can be against the Sierra Club or the environment, since without a healthy environment we will all get sick or worse. Secondly, this woman has a small child. Doesn't she care for her son's well-being?

There seems to be an attitude that environmentalists simply get in the way of profit. I think that one reason why people hate "green" is that it's simply an annoyance. They don't want to be bothered with the minor sacrifices that it takes to live a sustainable life, and to create sustainable buildings, and to develop land in such a way that RESPECTS the environment, instead of EXPLOITING it.

Each day I read the letters section in the newspaper and the vitriol against the environment appears never ending. Most notably, people intentionally confuse the issue of global climate change and then turn it into a supposed "lie," "myth," or "conspiracy." Why? Because companies and the general public do not want to be BOTHERED with taking responsibility for their emissions.

Believe me, every time you drive your car, turn on a light, or eat beef you are putting CO2 into the air — and it's YOUR emissions, no one elses. So, take responsibility for crapping on YOUR PLANET. And don't leave your children a hot, poisoned, giant waste dump.

When I read, see, and hear so much resistance against environmental progress, it makes me want to give up. My gut reaction is to just let the sinners drown in their own flood. I have no intention of building an ark.

As for conservative religious people and the Bubba Six Packs, well, they just wrap environmentalists into the liberal camp and see us as a bunch of troublemakers. They blame us for everything from rolling blackouts to the high price of gas. We little tree huggers are the shits of the earth, that inconvenience the lazy masses and greedy developers. We are the voices in your head that you swat like a fly as you yodel at the top of your lungs in the church choir. Father God is going to whisk you away just as you poison the last fish and sink the last island. Father God is going to give you your golden mansion, so there's no problem crapping on this place.

To those who do respect and protect the environment, you are the ones who have my deepest respect and admiration. The Sierra Club is an under-funded, non-profit organization that bravely stands up to the corporate machine and their puppets in government. The Sierra Club does amazing things with little resources, in an effort to preserve and protect the environment. I will gladly show off my Sierra Club briefcase, as well as the Sierra Club decal and license plate on my car. I will gladly take some criticism from the Earth-haters, and maybe, if I am respectful and rational with them, just maybe, they will begin to think twice about their hatred and harmful positions.

Just maybe ...

From Smart Shrews To Dumb Humans

I like to call human evolution "DE-EVOLUTION" because our species is going in reverse — we are not only destroying our immediate habitat, but the entire Planet as well.

The misinformation I hear about evolution is immense. I hear both educated liberals and de-educated creationists say things that shows that few people understand some of the basic concepts of evolution.

Allow me to clarify a few things:

• We DID come from apes. I'm not sure why people are offended by that, just because gorillas like to throw their poop around at zoos.
• We DID NOT come from dinosaurs — we split off from them 256 million years ago.
• I like to think that our earliest ancestors are the shrews, which started showing up about 220 million years ago. But, in reality, evolution is a continuum. Our earliest ancestors are, in fact, the eukaryotes, complex cells that first appeared 2.1 billion years ago. As mentioned before, it was a living hell getting those first cells to evolve, but once that happened the rest of evolution was easy.
• It was at 10,000 years ago when humans, as we know them today, began to emerge. It was around this time when we invented agriculture, started getting light skin, and began adopting cats as pets.

Our brains started evolving 550 million years ago when we were little flatworms in the water. In fact, by then a lot of what we are today had already evolved. For instance, we already had bilateral symmetry and germ layers, which led to the development of tissues and organs. So, when someone calls you a "slimy little worm," don't be offended because that's what you once were.


Anti-Enviro Shrews

The reason that evolution is so important is that the better we can understand our evolutionary history, the better we can understand our current human behavior. We are products of our flatworm brains.

When I see my brothers and sisters in the environmental movement hit a brick wall, I have to ask, "Why have they hit that brick wall?" What is it in our evolution that makes us so willing to horde resources and become obsessed with our immediate comfort, at the expense of our environment and children's future? Something apparently has gone very wrong in the evolution of our species.

One of the best ways to learn more about the facts of evolution and the myths of creationism is to follow the YouTube channel of AronRa, who is mostly a self-taught evolutionist. He does a great job of putting complex biological information into plain English.

Educate Yourself On Evolution:
Subscribe To AronRa's YouTube Channel

Santa Claus

Wow, at around age 3 you really don't know what's going on, but it sure is cool. Some fat man in a red suit comes to your house and leaves you presents. By age 4 you're totally excited and ready for this guy.

As you grow older you learn more about the story. The guy lives at the North Pole and throughout the year he has little short guys in green outfits building toys. Then, one night a year Santa Claus gets his magic reindeer and he flies through the air on a sleigh, and he delivers toys to every kid in the world.

One of those Elves your dad
was telling you about. The
old man was such a perv.

Now, as a child you are totally believing this crap because your parents are feeding you the lies and you are watching those TV Christmas specials.

And then the lie grows even bigger. See those birds on the electric line behind your house? Those are Santa's watch birds, and if you don't eat your peas they'll give a bad report to Santa -- then you won't get as many toys. In fact, if you are a ratty ass little kid, Santa will find out and you won't get toys at all — you'll get a lump of coal instead.

I was one of the late bloomers. I did not know Santa Claus was a lie until age 9 when the boy next door told me. He said it was my parents who were actually putting the toys under the tree. I was shocked so I confronted my mom, and she figured it was time for me to know the truth.

NOTE TO PARENTS: Please don't screw your children's brain by lying to them about Santa Claus.

So, there are many old myths and traditions in our history that are similar to Santa Claus. But OUR version of Santa Claus comes from Saint Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century Greek Christian bishop who gave people nice gifts (hair dryers, iPhones, etc...).

In the 19th century there were variations of the Santa Claus story and He had no one, consistent look. It wasn't until the 1930s when an artist working for Coca-Cola gave Him his current look — a fat guy with a white beard, wearing a red suit and a goofy hat.

Like many other children, I started asking questions. The main question is: "How can Santa Claus be in so many places around Christmas time?" I was told that those were people just DRESSED like Santa — the real Santa was at the North Pole.

For my oldest daughter, she figured out the Santa lie when her new stuffed bear smelled like laundry detergent. See, we used to store our childrens' presents in the crawlspace under the house. One Christmas eve, when we were getting the presents, the dog came in, hiked his leg, and peed on some of the presents. We told Christi a reindeer had peed on her Winnie the Pooh bear — she didn't buy it.

So, after screwing your child's mind for years, the parent finally tells him or her, "Oh, Santa Claus is all made up. It's PRETEND." Oh, but Christianity is completely true and factual. So, don't believe in this elaborate Santa myth, but do believe everything in the Jesus myth. Yes, the virgins, angels, walking on water, casting demons, raising the dead — all perfectly true. BUT SANTA IS A LIE.

Fixing Government

Wow, I thought I was cynical, but the cynicism and anger I see directed toward our government far exceeds mine.

Okay, everyone just relax and take a step back....

First of all, I love our government and believe it's brilliantly designed. There is nothing WRONG with our constitution and political system, but what IS wrong are some court decisions and laws that have been made since our government was created.

The biggest thing that has destroyed our democracy is giving "personhood" status to corporations. Then, defining corporate campaign contributions as "an expression of free speech" was a really sorry decision. See, President Bush packed the Supreme Court with conservative revisionists who are opening the door further for Big Business. This is our number one problem with government.

Gerrymandering ....

The SECOND biggest problem that has ruined our democracy is gerrymandering. This is where the ruling party draws election districts in a way that most benefits them and least benefits the minority party. Typically, this is done by "packing" the other party's voters into a single electoral district to reduce their influence in other districts. The end result is that the main political parties are able to elect more extreme candidates, and the poor moderates get the squeeze. Yeah, you know, those sorry team players that could actually make our nation work.

The beauty of democracy ....

The beauty of a democracy is that we debate, vote, and set public policies. This is a wonderful thing. One of the classic debates is how much to take from the rich to give to the poor. This is simply a public decision and people get way too emotional about this. Let's just all engage in reasonable debate.

Participation ....

I've worked in seven political campaigns, for both Democrats and Republicans. One thing I've learned is that if you are positive and supportive of your elected leaders, it has a much better result. I've attended various town hall meetings and forums where citizens simply get up and whine and bitch. This is not the answer because the problems of your elected leaders are YOUR problems, and we need to all work as a team to solve them.

Absolutely awesome ....

Democracy is incredibly wonderful because it allows you to ultimately be free. Sure, you are bound by the laws of your land, but you always have a pathway to change them. You are not under the yoke of a dictator or junta that makes the laws for you. You are part of a collective body that rules themselves, rather than someone ruling you. This is very, very beautiful.

DON'T TAKE DEMOCRACY FOR GRANTED!

Vote in every election, become a positive player in politics, and don't become hateful and cynical toward your opponents. If you disagree with a politician, write letters, make phone calls, and organize to topple him or her in the next election. This is all part of a healthy, functional democracy.

THE WORST ENEMY OF DEMOCRACY IS APATHY ... because then the nasty special interests creep in like parasites and they influence government to benefit them and NOT the general public. But the good news, which I've seen several times, is this: The power of an engaged public is always stronger than special interest dollars.

MOST IMPORTANTLY ... be thankful every day that you live in a democracy. Participate, be active, and be positive!

A must read:

America 2.0
By Jan Hanson

Excess Intelligence

As the story goes, we humans evolved out of the large ape family because of our unique environment on the African savanna. We eventually left the Dark Continent and started migrating around Europe and elsewhere. Around 10,000 BCE we started farming in the Fertile Crescent.

What puzzles me is that the human brain became far more powerful than what was needed to survive on the African plains. We became VERY smart.

Over the past 30,000 years or so we haven't changed much -- we just somehow got these powerful, big brains and have spent thousands of years growing into them. Just look at the progress we've made in ten millenniums, and imagine where we'll be in another ten millenniums. It seems that there is so limit to what our brain can learn and empower us to do.

One hundred thousand years ago we only needed enough brain power to escape predators and to hunt. Now, these basically same brains are allowing us to travel through space.

I recently brought this point up in an evolution discussion list and received many responses, although no one could really answer the question.

I will say that there is MASSIVELY more information to prove evolution than there is to prove the Abrahamic religions, but there are still some puzzling gaps.

There is no doubt that evolution exists, no matter how desperately the creationists try to debunk it. The evidence is everywhere and overwhelming.

But why are we so freakin' smart? This leads me to believe that there IS a higher power in the Universe and that humans have a mission. My gut feeling is that humanity is destined to populate the Universe, but who made us so smart and why?

Since humans started sitting around campfires thousands of years ago they began conjuring up stories about their existence. These same stories morphed into the wacky religions we have today. Modern religions are simply variations of ancient beliefs. Even in the earliest times it appears that humans had a "hunch" that there were supernatural forces at play.

Having read some articles on the origins of life I was beginning to think that creating a living thing is no big deal in the Universe. After all, the Universe has massive amounts of time and millions of chemical experiments taking place, so it's no surprise that life will pop up on occasion.

Creationists say that creating a molecule would be like throwing the contents of a scrapyard into the air and letting it fall into place as a 747. That is silly because we now know that lifeforms slowly transition from primitive forms to the more complex. In fact, as life evolves it continually increases in complexity, and there's no turning back. I read a book on this once called The Myth of Progress.

So, maybe there is NOT any higher intelligence at all, but, rather, only a set of laws in play. Maybe as we evolve, our brains keep evolving, and we just keep getting smarter because, maybe, there's an evolutionary advantage to that.

As we evolve mentally, look how we are also evolving socially and technologically. Just a century ago our children would be working 12-hour days in factories. And if we had just one abscessed tooth in the 1800s we'd probably die.

So, we are evolving in many ways, and, again, we are growing into our brains. Just how much are we capable of learning? Can we one day know ALL there is to know about the Universe? And, if so, then what do we do?

And won't the Universe run out of fuel one day anyway? When the last star burns out the Universe is going to be a really cold and dark as hell place. Then what do we do? Will we stockpile enough uranium from planets to keep us warm and cozy in our pitch black, expanding Universe?

This gets us back to the very core question: What is the meaning of life? I don't know, and I'm very perplexed by it. Maybe it would be better if there's no meaning at all. We just live, consume some resources, and return to space dust. End of story. It's certainly an easier story to comprehend.

The Goose

Religious Dishonesty

I have a peculiar fascination with TV evangelists and I watch them on occasion to see what they are up to. On Saturday I watched evangelist Benny Hinn and today I saw Atlanta pastor Dr. Charles Stanley. Of interest, both ministers were talking about "God's grace." Apparently, if you follow a series of steps from the Bible you can unlock "powers."

In Hinn's stream-of-consciousness, rambling rant he talked about all these powers you can get from praying certain prayers, including prosperity. Stanley's sermon was much more mainstream and he seemed to actually follow an outline. The things that Stanley mentioned that you can get from God's grace were less exciting -- things like strength and peace.

The problem is that both of these Bible teachers are making claims and presenting them as fact, even though they don't have a lick of evidence to support their claim.

Let's put it to the test using the scientific method. We will have one group of people following the Biblical instructions for obtaining wealth, strength and peace. We will then have a control group that won't do any praying. What do you think the result will be in a properly controlled experiment? Answer: Nothing.

For centuries, religion has been held to some higher standard where ministers can get away with dishonesty, and you, a mere mortal, are not allowed to question or challenge the religious claims. In any other situation, these men would simply be liars, but when they stand on their religious mantles they suddenly have the green light to say anything they want, as long as they can conjure it up from scripture.

Through the years people start believing the dishonest lies and claims, and they desperately try to justify the lies. They cling to a pack of lies, and somehow rationalize that this makes their god happy.

And for me to even challenge the "God's grace gives you powers" crap is taboo. Most Christians would be offended by me calling any religious claim a lie. But they can't prove otherwise, so, really, all religions are dishonest, and, thus, corrupt.

More and more people just need to say, "Where is your proof?" That is at least a start.

Goose