The End

Hello all. I apologize for the long hiatus. While I have had ideas for posts, none of them gelled in my mind long enough to for me to write about them.

The End of the World?

Philosophically and technically, the world we know changes from moment to moment, day to day, year to year, etc. So, the world we knew yesterday is never to be seen again. Thanks to REM, we can look at the end satirically.

So, here we are more than a couple months after President Obama was re-elected to the highest office in the land. There seemed to be literally millions of people out there who believed the world, or at least the USA, would end if Obama won. Guess what - we are all still here, at least most of us. I will get to that later. Yes, the economy is still getting better, admittedly slowly. The unemployment rate nationwide is at 7.8%. That is down nearly 3 points since it's highest position.

And, the stock market is moving up steadily. The DOW was at ~6,600 back in 2009 and has doubled since then. Yes, that is an improvement despite how slowly it has occurred.

Newtown's World

The world did end for parents, students, and staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on December 14. The peaceful world they knew is gone forever. Twenty-six innocent people died for unknown reasons. I always wondered why the need to find a motive for such actions. It's not like any motive could explain or justify something so horrible. Then again, I have not experienced anything like this so my opinion does not count. 

Below is a poster created and distributed by the Brady Campaign. Brady was one of those injured during the Reagan assassination attempt back in 1980. So, can someone tell me please, in a reasonable manner, how it is that guns have nothing to do with people killing people?

The slippery slope that gun owners seem to be terrified of works both ways. They think that Obama and those horrible liberals want "to take all their guns." Except for maybe a few radicals out there, that just is not true. If new gun laws are enacted against assault guns then the next "obvious" step is all weapons - yeah, that makes sense.

The other side though is what I and so many people are concerned about. What is the tipping point? How many guns do you want in schools? Does every teacher need to be armed? Do we need schools locked down every day?

Arms Race

The situation kind of reminds of me Gorbachev and Reagan arguing over nuclear weapons. It was arms race, just with much larger arms. How many times could we blow up the world back then? Escalation just get's one more weapons. It was called mutually assured destruction. Do we really want this kind of environment in schools? The ad the NRA put out recently actually makes gun free schools sound a like bad thing. Really, a BAD THING??

Chasing Ice

Yesterday, I watched a mesmerizing and awe inspiring documentary about how glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. For those who need to actually see evidence of climate change then you need to find a theatre and watch with an open mind.

The melting ice could mean the end of the world for millions of people who live along coastlines around the globe. Yes, the ice and water that are already in the oceans have little effect on the water levels, but what happens when the glaciers on Greenland are gone?

Please watch the trailer and read the web site.

Chasing Ice Trailer

The End?

So, despite some of the misinterpretations of the Mayan calendar, or the false prophecies of Karl Rove,  or the horrible and pointless deaths of people, the world is not ending - at least not immediately. Common sense, rationality, love, reason, compromise, logic, intellect, open mindedness, and wisdom can save us. That is if we want to be saved. 

"And in the end, the love you make is equal to the love you take." Lennon and McCartney