Pope Destroys Earth

OH NO, GOOSE ... YOU CAN'T SAY THAT. The Pope is a sensitive issue. You are not supposed to talk about the Pope. Now, you're going to get people mad at you.

And the Goose replies ...

Nothing personal, man. I think all religion is inherently destructive. The whole idea of forcing highly intelligent monkeys to believe non-provable facts (called faith) is flawed.

But, in regards to the Pope ....

I applaud him for the good things he has said and done, and I think Pope Benedict XVI is an outstanding human with a good heart.

BUT ....

The Vatican's staunch position against artificial birth control has done massive damage to the Planet and has brought incredible suffering to humans around the world. In fact, a case could be made that the Holy Fathers that head the Roman Catholic Church are perhaps the greatest criminals who have ever lived, and who have harmed humanity far worse than Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Pol Pot combined. Of course, it wouldn't be nice to say that, so I won't say it.

While the Roman Catholic Church and the many other Christian denominations around the world are feeding the hungry, sheltering orphans, and doing other good deeds, the ban on contraception is encouraging massive and unsustainable population growth throughout the developing world. Mothers suffer from exhaustion, diseases spread, and villages explode in size to the point where resources are stretched thin. While good deeds may help some immediate suffering, the next generation only grows larger and more desperate.

From The Catholic Faith website:

Contraception is wrong because it’s a deliberate violation of the design God built into the human race, often referred to as "natural law." The natural law purpose of sex is procreation. The pleasure that sexual intercourse provides is an additional blessing from God, intended to offer the possibility of new life while strengthening the bond of intimacy, respect, and love between husband and wife. The loving environment this bond creates is the perfect setting for nurturing children.

But sexual pleasure within marriage becomes unnatural, and even harmful to the spouses, when it is used in a way that deliberately excludes the basic purpose of sex, which is procreation. God’s gift of the sex act, along with its pleasure and intimacy, must not be abused by deliberately frustrating its natural end—procreation.

HOGWASH, the Goose says ...

First, there is no law that says humans must procreate until extinction. Part of understanding nature is recognizing its limits. Every habitat has a carrying capacity, and Earth is a giant habitat for people. What the Catholic Church is saying is that we must follow "nature." Try this simple test — allow a handful of rats to multiply in a cage and see what happens. Keep the rat's food and water at the same level, and then see what happens. It's nature, man, so don't be afraid to look after a few months.

Secondly, we are supposed to be really smart monkeys, so we should be able to recognize the inevitable consequences of overbreeding without diseases and predators to maintain balance. What will happen is that humans will breed to the extent of our food supply, and then there will come an unpleasant adjustment. Maybe we can prevent this disaster by using our brains and making contraceptives easily accessible. We can voluntarily avert disaster.

Thirdly, nature ALSO includes millions of other animal species that we share the Planet with. Shouldn't we honor and respect our fellow creatures, or should we push them all to extinction by adding endless billions of people?

Fourth, the Roman Catholic Church is courting a global disaster. Doesn't anyone in the Vatican know that rapid population growth causes environmental damage and social disruption? How about wars over resources? How about malnutrition? How about a woman having the right to just have a rest from child bearing if she wants one? We are adding 80+ million people to the Planet each year. No ecosystem or species can handle such massive and rapid change without major impacts and consequences. What the hell are you thinking, your Holiness?

Fifth, let's not play games or look the other way. Climate change, war, terrorism, water and food shortages, fished out oceans, and destoyed habitats are just SOME of the side effects of rapid population growth. Every person with a moral conscious has an obligation to pressure the Vatican for a change in this policy.

There is an excellent organization that is working to bring positive reform to the irrational and archiac thinking of the Roman Catholic leadership. It's called Catholics for Choice. I used to always display their literature at tabling events, and in fact, I still have a supply of brochures. Whether or not you are Catholic, I encourage you to support this excellent organization.

ACTION ITEM: Ask Pope Benedict XVI to Lift the Ridiculus Ban on Condoms and please support the Condoms4Life campaign!!!


Supporting Source: International Debate Education Association (IDEA) - Catholic Chruch's Contraception Policy

Two True Heroes

The key conspirators who plotted against Hitler.

Yesterday was a day of double inspiration. First, I saw the new movie Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise. This movie is about the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler's life. In the movie, Cruise plays the role of the key conspirator, Col. Claus Von Stauffenberg. I have read articles and watched documentaries on this plot before, and it has always inspired me.

A few observations:

• There were military officers and politicians committed to removing Hitler, but they did not seem to have the wherewithal or courage to do the job.
• Staffenberg learned that if you want something done in life, you have to do it yourself, and that's exactly what he did.

What Stauffenberg and his colleagues did was incredibly brave. They likely knew their plan was a big gamble, and they knew for certain that failure would mean certain death. Sure enough, the key conspirators were executed that very night, and many others were killed in the following months.

Stauffenberg sacrificed his life on a long-shot coup against Hitler. If anything, it showed the world that not every German agreed with Hitler, and maybe that alone was a good enough reason to die.

It reminds me today of the journalists and activists who stand up against Muslim extremists, Russian mobsters, corporate plunderers, and other destructive forces, even if it means giving up one's own life. There are people like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King who bravely stood up against an entrenched system and put themselves and families at great personal risk. These individuals are the greatest of the great.

We only have one life to live and maybe sometimes it is best to give up our existence to oppose an incredible injustice, so that others may have a better life. Stauffenberg, it appears, simply wanted to stop the killing, dying, and mass destruction of Europe. Had things gone just a little differently with his bomb plot, he might have succeeded. May Stuaffenberg always be remembered, and may we never forget his courage and example.

The Sea Shepherds

Then, last night I watched a documentary on the Sea Shepherds, a wonderful organization that works to protect

whales. One of their noble causes is to disrupt and harrass a Japanese whaling fleet, which goes to the South Antarctic each year to slaughter hundreds of whales. The Sea Shepherds actually follow the fleet in a ship and use a variety of tactics to disrupt the Japanese murder expedition.

I greatly applaud the group's leader, Capt. Paul Watson. A former director of the Sierra Club, I've exchanged emails with him before, and I've met members of his organization. He is very direct and consistent with his message, and he does not compromise. I really admire the guy.

In a world where there is little courage and conviction, both of these men set a great example for all of us. If nothing is done, nothing happens. If no risks are taken, nothing is accomplished.

Human Nature v. Going Green

I'm tired, but I will ramble out a few thoughts ...

It is human nature to follow the path of least resistance. Going green typically takes extra effort and more expense. Most people are in the mindset of doing things in the most expedient way, without regard to how it impacts other people, nature, or the future of their children. And thus, for the most part humans are little selfish rats.

When the economy sinks it's a mixed blessing for the environment. There is less greenspace getting slaughtered in the name of holy growth. But when money is tight, individuals, government, and companies are less likely or unable to "do the right thing," and focus, instead, on survival. It's like the extremely poor people of Haiti who move into the national parks of the neighboring Dominican Republic, and they damage the parks so that they can have firewood and farmland. While the individuals survive in the short term, the environment is knocked another notch down.

What can we do, oh great Goose?

All of us need to redirect our values and live a more simple life. We need to stop using "stuff" to fill the voids in our empty lives. We need to kick our addiction to materialism. We need to live a simple life, buy a small home, and eat low on the food chain (i.e. mostly vegetarian). We need to all just chill out, relax, and stopped being so obsessed with junk.

Let's tackle a few myths ...

• If something is old it is bad and needs to be replaced. Wrong, wrong, wrong! There is nothing wrong with having an older car or appliance. There is still great beauty in a 1998 Honda Civic. When your possessions break, repair them and keep on going. Don't bother trying to impress people because there is no one to impress and no one really cares.
  
  
• Don't buy into this prosperity religion, where they tell you that God wants you to be rich. Why would God want you to be rich when over half the world is desperately poor?
  
  
• You must have a big house. NO YOU DON'T. You don't need your bonus room and atrium ceiling. Just be happy with the home you have.

The myth of infinite growth ....

Our entire economy is based on the lie that our economy can grow forever. When the economy is growing, everyone is doing well, except for nature, which gets screwed. We have to switch our economy from an eternal growth model to a sustainability model. To make this work, every individual and company must do their part.

Yeah, yeah, I know. This is all really boring and no one really cares. I guess we'll keep doing what we are doing and slowly resign ourselves to the fact that the decades of rapid growth are over. We'll just have to learn to be poor, at least when the government can't give any more bailouts, and all our taxes are going to pay interest on debt. And, oh, the foreign countries bought all the treasury bonds to provide assistance to our national suicide. Yeah, yeah, right.

Freedom

My friend says the ideal form of government would be an enlightened dictatorship. Nosiree, I don't buy into that because who is going to define the term "enlightened?" Wasn't Hitler and Stalin supposed to be enlightened? At first, maybe? And wasn't that dictator in Tanzania supposed to be enlightened, and now he's sorta mad?

I digress ...

The point being is that democracy is a beautiful thing, and it we can't have a democratic planet, then maybe the human species should just call it quits. For democracy means freedom, and this is a great gift that most people don't have. Around the world, people are shackled by their religions, governments, employers, and cultural traditions. So what's the point? I say shed all that and be free!

In Iran they overthrew the Shah and created a religious state — they just swapped one form of control for another. Come one, the great Persian Empire has a long and great history — is all that CONTROL necessary?

The more free we are, the more human we are. When we are free, we can be happy, inspired, and carefree. We can can explore every dimension of this life, and we can form our own opinions.

Even if democracy stays in a gridlock and moves at a tortise pace, well, again, democracy means FREEDOM, and that is a precious, sacred gift. In the course of history, most people have NOT been free, so we should really be thankful for this RIGHT.

Now, in addition to promoting global democracy, I support free movement and total free trade. Yes, that means I support OPEN BORDERS and have zero interest in immigration restrictions. "But, Goose, won't the United States fill up with people?" Maybe it will, but anyone should have the right to live anywhere they want. The real issue is about the total numbers of people, not their movement. Eventually, as people move around economic homeostatis will be achieved. Maybe all the world's poor people will come here and make us poor too. Maybe that's only fair. All people are equal and nation's that attempt to fortify their borders are only, well, buying time.

I also support total, unrestricted trade. The free trade would actually raise the global standard of living, prompting more people to stay put in their towns and villages. Or, will it?

In the natural world, as well as the free enterprise system, there is a trend towards simplification. In econonimics, this achieved as companies merge, absorb other companies, and grow into massive worldwide congolomerates. For the consumer, this is a good thing because the improved efficiency mean lower prices and usually better service. For the small farmer or shop, global simplification means disaster because the small producer cannot compete with the giants. This phenonomen forces the villagers and small town people into the large cities where the large manufacturing plants are. There, they work long hours with typically poor pay and conditions. Life would have been so much better out in the country, and on the family farm. But now, around the world, MORE PEOPLE LIVE IN CITIES THAN IN RURAL AREAS.

For the environment, this is a win because humans are concentrating, and thus rural habitat is allowed to recover and thrive. Small farms become forests again, well at least until some massive factory farm takes it over.

So, there is a lot to balance here but I do believe that even though freedom may take us down some scary paths, ultimately it is a win for humanity.

In conclusion, I must say that with freedom comes responsibility. We all have the responsibility to not hurt one another and the Planet we live on. Yeah, that's the whole point of my blog. If we can't handle the responsibility that goes with freedom, then maybe we deserve to be herded like goats and kept under the grip of some theocratic, corporatist, fascist state. Yet to understand and to have the moral compass that freedom requires, then we must have an educated and enlighened populace. So, we must educate our children, and we must provide an open educational environment where they can debate and play with new ideas — you know, like an incabator.

Let freedom ring, for without it, I believe that life is quite meaningless. I am thankful to live in a nation that values freedom, although I don't buy into the myth that people have to die for it — usually not. For freedom comes from the heart, and not from the muzzle of a cannon.

Okay, enough.

Zeitgeist: Addendum

I am a huge fan of the Zeitgeist movies, and finally got around to watching the second one last weekend, titled "Zeitgeist: Addendum."

I must say that I'm becoming a huge fan of producer Peter Joseph, and I believe the premise of his movie is right on the money. In fact, MONEY is exactly what this two-hour movie is all about. Zeitgeist: Addendum primarily focuses on the corrupt Federal Reserve Bank and the International Monetary Fund. While the monetary system remains a central theme throughout the movie, Joseph does take some side ventures to take swings at his favorite targets — religion, government, and corporations. His underlying point is that these institutions are CORRUPT!

Unlike the last movie, this time Joseph focuses on positive solutions and he devotes a lot of footage to an organization called "The Venus Project." Admittedly, The Venus Project is a little way out there. These folks want to get rid of money and just provide for everyone's needs using technology. My first impression is that they are just replacing one god with another god, but then I started thinking — maybe we are underestimating the good that technology can do for us. Of course, we've sure as hell seen the bad.

My overall take on the movie is that Joseph is dead on with his assessments of the Big Three — corporations, religion, and corporations. Indeed, I agree that our institutions are corrupt to the core and attempt to control and enslave us in many ways. I think the greatest benefit that the Zeitgeist movies provide is that they will hopefully encourage people to QUESTION their institutions and challenge the status quo.

In both movies Joseph does a superb of putting extremely complex topics into very simple and easy-to-understand terms. I strongly recommend that EVERYONE in the world watch this movie. I think the discussions it spawns will help pave the way for change.

Enjoy the movie!

Pain

The pain is so intense. I try to transfer the pain on my beloved Planet, which is being systematically and thoroughly annihilated by the savage monkeys.

There is the pain of having what you can't have, of being unable to change what you can never change. There is the pain of the little ones that I love so deeply, who are destined for destruction, yet I am powerless to save them. There is the pain of reality — you want it to be a dream, but it's really reality.

I grieve, I go into a deep depression, and I am perplexed on how the pain can be so incredibly brutal, and how it doesn't go away.

I give up on love. It is arrogant of us humans to believe we possess some special emotion, that makes us different from our fellow animals. There is no love on this Planet — only a careful selection process, choosing what benefits us most. We, the selfish monkeys, jockey for position, and try to get the very best of everything that we can, AND WE CALL THIS LOVE!

I am perplexed by my total inability to change what I can't change. If I just shut my eyes and think hard enough about what I want, it will happen, but yet it does not.

I cry, I get angry, I take walks, I grieve, ever so deeply. But that changes nothing, because what is, is. And what is not, is not.

It is intensely cold tonight, and I stare into the moon. Maybe that which I love is staring at that same moon at the same time, and maybe that is my connection. I look at the white, bright moon, and I feel that surely in this insane Universe there must be sanity. I don't really know.

And I grieve, and I grieve, and I let the pain pour out. I want to change things, but I can't. I want my dreams to come true, but they don't always do. I want to be with the magic and passion, but they are elusive, and slip again into the night.

The pain, the pain. Please make it go away. It is painful to fail. It is painful to acknowledge the biological realities of this Planet. There are a million things that we can have in this life, and there are a million things we can NEVER have in this life. But yet we still want, for what we long for is our completion and fulfillment. And to never have that really, really hurts, incredibly deeply.

It hurts. Really, man, it does.

Death Wish

Okay, I've had this bumper sticker on my computer desktop for a month and finally decided to use it. I hope no one is offended.

So, I went to a dinner event at my former church last night, which is very CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN. After playing some Christmas songs they put on this strange comedy show that featured a series of skits. One of the skits was about the church "going green" and they proceeded to satirize and make a mockery of the Green Movement.

Now, I have a thick skin and always appreciate a little fun-poking, but there is an irony here — the church and its members likely do NOT CARE LESS about going green. To them, GOING GREEN is the pointless folly of left-wing wackos. If you are a conservative Christian, GOING GREEN is the furthest thing from your mind because you are too busy "finding God." Just as the Hebrews mocked and made fun of Jesus as he was led to his execution, so do the religions conservatives make fun of the environmental movement -- as it is led to ITS execution. As I left the building last night I noticed the parking lot was full of SUVs. No doubt they are holy SUVs given by God to his children, as a gift for their loyalty to the GOP.

So, really, not that I'm pissed or anything. But I do want to bring up something else that's been gnawing me all week — THE WHALES!!! Over the past week I saw a movie and read some articles about whales — THEY ARE BEING PUSHED TO THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION! Personally, I think driving other species to extinction is a serious crime against nature, and those responsible should be held accountable. I think species extinction is a LOT more serious than drinking an occasional beer or saying the word "FUCK" when you smash your thumb with a hammer. Really, I do.

This leads me to think about ABORTION, the favorite push-button issue of the Religious Right. Now, I totally agree that abortions are BAD. But let's weigh the gravity of the wrongdoings. Humans are multiplying like rabbits and have hit 6.5 billion people (500 million added in the last 9 years). At the same time, whale populations are already small, and several species are rapidly shrinking. So, when some desperate, low-income female wants to abort a baby she does not want, she is considered a criminal by religious conservatives. But when a Japanese whaling fleet steams to the Antarctic and murders 1,000 whales, the conservative Christians simply say, "Oh, they are reaping God's bounty." So, I'm just saying that there is something really unjust here.

Now, again, I concede that abortions are BAD, but I can assure you that there is NO SHORTAGE of humans. In fact, multiplying is about the only things humans appear good at. Oh, and if there was comprehensive sex education in the U.S., and if there was better access to contraception and emergency contraception, and if American males showed a little decency, respect, and intelligence, then abortions could be practically ELIMINATED!

So, getting back to the bumper sticker .... see I guess conservative Christians want to turn the Earth into Mars or maybe Venus. I'm not sure why, but they just seem to want to. According to their interpretation of their ancient stories, once they help to really, and I mean REALLY, screw the Earth up, then their God will come and whisk them into the clouds.

The moral of the story is that, sure, I'll rot in hell, but when the Christians are gone, I'll get their cars — and I mean a LOT OF REALLY NICE cars. I'll have hundreds of cars. Each heathen, Muslim, Hindu, and other non-compliant person will each be assigned CARS! And then we will get to drive the cars all over rocky Mars. And better YET, we'll all get their shoes, and I mean a LOT of shoes. So, make fun of the environmental movement all you want to because I'm gonna have a lot of cars and shoes. Wow, man.

Perpetual Anger

I constantly go through life angry and cynical. In the past few years I've really gotten into anger rock music, like Rage Against the Machine. I like to play it loud — really loud!

I often wonder why I'm continually angry. Sometimes I wonder if I'm angry and cynical just because I like being that way. Maybe it gives me comfort, in a weird sort of way. People often tell me I'm funny, but my humor has a bitter, cynical, and sarcastic edge to it. I'm a sick puppy.

The reason I'm angry is that I find that people are ambivalent, shallow, petty, and extremely selfish. People, in general, don't care about anything except for things that immediately benefit them. Yeah, I know, that's sick, but true.

What I find unfathomable is that people are so wrapped in their little selfish worlds that they do nothing to prevent their own self-destruction, the destruction of their children, and the destruction of their planet. Humans will deny and rationalize, or they simply won't be interested in the issues. I spend a lot of time randomly visiting other people's blogs and I find the vast majority of people to be petty simpletons.

A fellow activist had me pegged when he said something like:

You seem frustrated by the fact that people just don't get things that appear perfectly obvious to you.

For instance, there are major problems in this world like terrorism, abortion, and mass immigration. Your average Six Pack Joe or Caribou Barbie just wants to address the symptoms of the problem with some harsh measure, and on one ever thinks about the "root causes" of the problem. For example, terrorism is directly related to oil wealth and the dysfunctionalism and corruption in the Middle East. Everyone forgets that it was mainly Saudi nationals who attacked us on 9/11. One of the best ways to fight terrorism is to stop buying oil from nations that do NOT respect human rights or provide equality to women and minorities. This should be a given, yet we totally suck up to the totally dysfunctional royalty of Saudi Arabia. Come on, princes? That's right out of a fairytale book, yet we give these people billions of dollars to buy their black goop.

Or, let's talk about Iraq. We send our finest men and women overseas to be slaughtered so that oil companies can get back the contracts that Saddam Hussein stole from them 30 years ago. Yet, our government wraps up their true motives in lies and rambles on about patriotism and democracy, and the mothers of the U.S. heartland willingly give up their sons for corporate America. And all of this is accepted by the average American, or worse yet, they simply don't care either way.

And then there's all the denial about global warming. The right-wing radio show hacks continue to say global warming is NOT human caused, even though a vast amount of data shows otherwise. Yes, sometimes the Earth's orbit shifts and changes, which affects temperature, but that hasn't happened for 10,000 years. But since 1750 humans have been burning coal and other fuels, and releasing millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, yet right wing talking heads and religious conservatives have the gall to say that global warming is a result of "natural causes." These individuals believe their lies so sincerely that they draw others into believing their lies as well.

I could go on and on and on .....

The point is, humans are given no mandate for survival. It's up to our own intelligence to survive as a group. Right now we are destroying ourselves, which bothers me some. A human being is an endlessly amazing and complex animal -- I love the species. But I am heartbroken that the human animal is not able to use its great intelligence to override "human nature" and save itself. It's just a horrible waste. And what REALLY makes me angry is that when we destroy ourselves, we'll be taking millions of other animal and plant species down with us, and perhaps an incredibly beautiful planet as well.

I'm not sure what we'll destroy us first: weapons of mass destruction or environmental degradation. But what I do know is that humans are capable of great good, yet they are totally hellbent on killing themselves. And this is the reason for my endless anger. And this is the reason for my blog, which is appropriately titled, "Goosed."

Evo-Religion

The argument regularly comes up that humans have an innate desire to worship a god, thus there must be a god.

Sorry, but this logic may be flawed. I believe our desire to worship something comes from evolution. Okay, let's go back to, say, 30,000 years ago when humans were organizing into clans and tribes. A religion provided unity, continuity, and some sense of being for the tribe. This held them together and made them not only more efficient as a fighting force, but they also functioned as a more coherent group. The religion provided other benefits like order, structure, and enabled perpetuation of the group. Those wandering groups of homo sapiens who were not well organized through a religious order simply died out or were wiped out by competitive groups.

The Egyptians became the masters of using religion to create order and structure for their society. For an amazing several thousands of years their society changed little. When progressives pharaohs came along and tried to change the order or the religion, they were erased from history.

The ancient Greeks and Romans were long enamored with Egyptian civilization, and in fact, they both invaded the place. Through the contact with Egypt, their religious concepts and ideas permeated throughout the Mediterranean. Hmmm, controlling and providing order to society by using a deity is a GREAT IDEA!

Best of all, the deity, who can bring pleasure or pain, helps people to override their destructive human nature. If you piss off the deity you'll get punished, and if you make him or her happy, you'll get a reward. And, so, this helped make citizens behave, to an extent.

The Romans caught on quick and adopted Christianity as their official religion. Yeah, that's the religion that the Hebrews ripped from the Egyptians, and then the intellectual Greeks put their New Age spin to it. Yeah, real basic stuff -- if you're an evangelical Christian you just have to say a three sentence prayer and you go up to heaven, where you pet lions and sing hymns to God for a zillion years. If you're a little shit and refuse to say the prayer, you swim in a lake of fire with Hitler and a billion Muslims. Now, I remember when that river in Cleveland caught on fire in the 1970s — I suppose that's what hell will be like, except me and all the other people will be right in the middle of it. Yuck.

But I digress ... the point being is that the Roman Catholic Church is just like ancient Egyptian religion. Its function is to provide order and perpetuation. The purpose of perpetuation is to impose more order on we lawless and generally crappy human beings.

So, getting back to my point, religion evolved in our brains through Natural Selection, and when we stopped evolving, religion continued to evolve socially. A modern example of this are all the mega-churches popping around town. People got bored with traditional church services, with the stale hymns and the lady in the choir who always sang off-key. These new mega-churches provide live praise bands, multi-media, drama presentations, and even pyrotechnics! Yeah, serious. So, the organism, in order to perpetuate itself, has adapted to changing cultural trends. The beast feeds on that evolved desire to worship that some of us still have. And in turn, we feed the beast.

The end.

There's Gotta Be An End

As I look around in my day-to-day life I'm amazed at all the waste we Americans generate every day. Just your average fast food joint is an environmental killing field, with tray after tray of paper wrappers thrown away. And then look all around — plastic bags, product packaging, Happy Meal toys, and the carnage goes on.

Okay, I use my canvas bags at the store and recycle all my cardboard, chipboard, and other packaging material. But even I, the great environmental pariah, goeth through a lot of trash.

Ultimately, this crap ends up in landfills where it is piled high, packed, and covered with dirt. Then, more land is ripped apart for another landfill. Meanwhile, all this crap starts to decay and it generates methane gas, a bad global warming gas that goes into the atmosphere and holds a lot of heat.

All the while, happy American couples continue to make babies because a) sex is pleasurable, and b) babies are cute. So we create thousands and thousands of little super-consumers who, in turn, go through a lot of disposable diapers and throwaway wrappings.

Common sense would tell us that this cycle cannot go on forever. We are throwing more plastic, rubber, plastic foam, and other crap away at a faster rate than it can decay. And when it does decay it puts more global warming gases in the atmosphere, and at the same time we are making more and more children.

My point is that we are living a lifestyle that cannot go on indefinitely. So, the things we are doing to keep ourselves comfortable will, eventually, hurt those little babies we made. The next generation may not get to live as comfortably as us because, well, we've already screwed the place up.

Really, this isn't fair. Throwaway plates and paper items are convenient, but a big waste. Maybe someone will create products that are rapidly biodegradable — then we can just keep on being lazy. I did see a spoon once made of corn syrup -- completely biodegradable and nonharmful to the environment. Very cool.

Todd

"The artist formerly known as Goose"

Staring Into the Past

I have a great fascination with Ancient Egypt. Today I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the opening of the King Tut exhibit in Atlanta. The exhibit included a 3D movie, 130 artifacts, and various pictures and multimedia presentations. It was a fantastic display, and it was incredible for me to view all these incredible art objects that were made 3,000 years ago.

For several thousand years the Egyptian empire existed, and their political and religious system changed very little during that time. In fact, their political and religious system were melded into one system — and it was this system that brought order, structure, and longevity to Egyptian society. This is perhaps why religion remains so popular today — because the rituals and belief systems create order and continuity.

Egyptian society was organized like a beehive, with the pharaoh serving as the queen bee. For an added touch, the pharaoh was turned into a god. This helped to create order and loyalty among the citizens. Obviously, not many people are going to disobey or disrespect a god, because, who knows, you might get cursed. So, the supernatural element helped to keep the citizenry obedient and submissive.

Today also confirmed something I've known for a few years — it was the Egyptians that invited our modern religion. Some of the parallels between Egyptian religion and modern Christianity gave me goosebumps. The Hebrews ripped the religion from the Egyptians, and the Christians are an offshoot of the Hebrews, with a little mix of Greek intellectualism. In other words, Christianity simply evolved in a continuum. And as for the Egyptian religion, they stole it from the early ancients who worshiped celestial bodies.

My final big observation today is the many parallels between Ancient Egyptian and modern Western Culture. No doubt, Ancient Egypt had a huge influence on the Greeks and Romans, who both invaded the nation at different times. In turn, all three of these ancient civilizations partly make us what we are today. Not only in fashion, but also in values and the way we think.

As I stared at the exhibits, I was amazed at the jewelry, furniture, and art objects. Many of these items haven't changed much in three millenniums. Many religious concepts haven't changed either. Wow, what a surprise. In some ways humans have progressed massively, but in other ways we haven't changed much at all.

One of the items that sticks out in my head were the toilet seats. Royal households had indoor plumbing. The only difference is that the poop from ancient royalty fell into a box, which was then removed by some unlucky servant. So, see, we have a lot to be thankful for today. Yeah.

Todd

Fire

The fire burns, and I'm covered in plastic, and I spin and spin. The economy, the environment, atoms, evolution, so much to figure out. But it's all easy to figure out compared to these fires inside me that burn, burn, burn. Cognitive dissonance tears at my soul, day and night, as I trudge through this life, trying to figure it out.

Love, pain, cancer, and the desperation to believe religious lies, that promise to make things better, but never really do.

To quench the fire is to smother the soul, yet the fire burns on and destroys. Paper cups and straws, and landfills packed with garbage, and people who don't recycle, and reliance on the Taker System. Oh, how I kill, and what I kill will one day kill me.

But then the fire burns. The intense joy that turns to pain. The intense confusion. The joy of having it all, but really having nothing. The joy of deception, of illusion.

In the distance I see the shadows on the horizon, as my mind dances aimlessly about in my skull. Trying to figure it all out, but never able to. To hear the preachers scream and the philosophers ponder, and the teachers lecturing, and the moms screaming at their children. Everyone dances to a beat but no one recognizes the song.

And then there's that fire. That fire that wants to make the phone ring. That fire that makes you see what you can't see, that makes you want to have what you can never have, that makes you want to be with what you can never be with.

The timbers fall and Mother America grasps for straws as she slowly dies, and all this time I hold on to this misconception that it is better to only live for the present than to think about the future.

Burn, fire, burn. But what makes you burn? What fuels your flame? What fuels me? I do not know, and I cannot explain these feelings inside. My heart consumes my spirit, which consumes my soul. And my mind sits idly by, unable to control the powerful forces within.

Todd