I jumped aboard the blogging bandwagon–via Blogger–in March 2005. It was a sad time for Australia, chiefly because the Howard Government had only a few months earlier been elected for a fourth term, and in those early days the content of Five Public Opinions was far more heavily weighted in the direction of politics than either philosophy or slave morality. Back then that was exactly the direction in which I anticipated my blogging would take, and I hoped that my writing–though it would admittedly be coming from a “left perspective”–would be “tempered with a good deal of critical thinking and self-reflexiveness.” Hmm. But in the light of recent events, I also find what I wrote here interesting.
Suffice it to say: while I have always been an atheist, Five Public Opinions has not always been an atheist blog, if you take my meaning. It evolved in this direction out of a growing interest in the hybridisation of religion and politics both in Australia and in the US, and the ramifications of this hybridisation for science and education (e.g. the ID debate) as well as liberal democracy (e.g. discrimination against non-heterosexuals and same-sex couples). In the course of many fruitful (and even some fruitless) online exchanges I have come to identify myself as an agnostic atheist–the kind of atheist that Richard Dawkins would term a “Level 6.” I am yet to be convinced that a move further along the scale towards “Level 7” is warranted.
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Level 7 has some cool benefits like a gold plated name badge and entrance into participating clubs and hotels ; )
I could not understand the picture on the title of your blog.Can you explain me the same?
It’s the Last Supper meets Dawn of the Dead (or whatever zombie movie you wish to substitute). No need to read too much into it.
Actually my favourite is the Last Supper meets Star Wars. You should be able to find it somewhere in the archives on My Confined Space.
Sorry- my “rant” wasn’t about your comment policy- it was in response to the
story about the American 22 yr old raped & kept in the container- I went to
ck your comment policy and mistakenly commented right after I read it without
going back to the ARTICLE I’d read- I apologize!!
First: Greetings from TTF, AV! There are still people over there who are wondering where and how you are.
Next, just a short comment about Ben Stein, who evidently believes that his being Jewish makes it easier on him when he’s attacked: “Jews are used to it.” Whatever the case, he’s a silly man, who, if he worked in a grocery store surviving on a bagger’s pay, would not be paid attention to. But his money makes him dangerous, as witness his movie “Expelled,” with all the neocon/religious fanaticism that’s woven into it.
Barley
AV says: “…I have come to identify myself as an agnostic atheist–the kind of atheist …”
Dawkins aside AV, how can one be an agnostic and an atheist at the same time? I see them as two different birds: an atheist is convinced that there’s no God (that word needs clear definition), period, and an agnostic is convinced there’s no way to prove either existence or non-existence of “God.” (You’ve hear this rant before on TTF, I know, I know…!)
I personally am convinced that the God described in the world’s holy books is no different from any other myth, including Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy: simply one of man’s anthropomorphic projections on the world. But to say that there is no sort of Sentience or Sentiences operating with Purpose behind (or within) Reality…well, I believe that can’t be proven one way or another. I believe that man’s current state of brain/mind and sensory development are insufficient to the task, for the same reason that a cat’s makeup makes it impossible for him ever to read Playboy…
So AV — how do you differentiate between “atheist” and “agnostic”?
Barley
Dawkins aside AV, how can one be an agnostic and an atheist at the same time? I see them as two different birds: an atheist is convinced that there’s no God (that word needs clear definition), period, and an agnostic is convinced there’s no way to prove either existence or non-existence of “God.”
It’s quite simple: agnosticism is a matter of epistemology (what you know; what can be known); atheism a matter of what you believe (or rather, don’t believe). I’m agnostic on the question of whether or not a god/many gods/a Sentient Being/many Sentient Beings exist, because I don’t know whether or not they exist. And I’m an a-theist (as opposed to a theist) because, given the lack of evidence for the existence of a deity, I see no reason to believe in such a being–I lack belief in such a being.
To recap: agnosticism is a statement about what one knows (or doesn’t know); atheism is a statement about what one believes (or doesn’t believe); and the two are therefore quite compatible.
an atheist is convinced that there’s no God (that word needs clear definition)
As a global definition of atheism, that is simply incorrect–and a strawman if you apply it to all who describe themselves as atheists. What you are describing here is strong or gnostic atheism (as contrasted with weak or agnostic atheism), but strong atheists comprise only a subset of all atheists, just as Republicans comprise only a subset of all Americans. Hence, just as it would be wrong to claim “All Americans are Republicans,” it would be equally wrong to claim “All atheists are strong atheists.”
Good to hear from you!
AV: “To recap: agnosticism is a statement about what one knows (or doesn’t know); atheism is a statement about what one believes (or doesn’t believe); and the two are therefore quite compatible.”
Umm… I believe that the “God” of holy books doesn’t exist. In fact I am convinced of it. I further believe that due to our biological limitations, we cannot know if there is some or any sort of Sentient Force acting with Purpose relative to Reality one way or other.
Further, I define myself as an agnostic not by your definition, but by the Oxford Dictionary’s: “A person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God … a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.” I take it a step further by my personal ruling-out of the holybook concept.
Barley
Pointing to a dictionary definition of “agnostic” is no rebuttal, any more than pointing to a dictionary definition of the word “marriage” is a rebuttal of the arguments in favour of same sex marriage (a tactic Joxy tried to use back in those interminable Forsaken Inn debates, until I showed him a Webster’s dictionary that included same-sex marriage in its definition of the word “marriage”). Dictionaries merely record the most common or popular usages of words at a given point in time in a given culture or linguistic community: if you try to use the dictionary as way of winning a debate over what a word “truly” means (as if words have timeless essences, as if the usage of words doesn’t change over time or between different communities), you’re simply committing the argumentum ad populum fallacy.
Having said that, how I have defined “agnosticism” does not significantly differ from the definition you prefer. I agree that “a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God” can be described as agnostic–though I would object to the “can be known” part since this presumes too much about what might be known or knowable at some point in the future. The notion that one can claim “neither faith nor disbelief in God” is ambiguous, and a lot depends upon how “disbelief” is defined. On the one hand, either you believe the claim “God exists,” or you don’t: I don’t see how a “middle ground” is possible here. On the other hand, there is a difference between lacking belief in the claim “God exists,” on the grounds of there being insufficient evidence in support of that claim, and mounting a counter-claim “God does not exist.” Perhaps by “disbelief” the lexicographers mean “belief in the claim that God does not exist;” if so, that is a poor and confusing choice of words on their part, in my view. Moreover, the argument that if you don’t believe the claim “God exists,” you must believe the claim “God does not exist” is a false dichotomy. (Whereas belief/lack of belief in the claim “God exists,” and belief/lack of belief in the claim “God does not exist” are not false dichotomies.)
Suggested reading: “Weak and strong atheism” (Wikipedia)
I am trying to avoid unnecessary complexities here, AV; I am not attacking nor attempting to rebut. I am trying to be clear about explaining my own belief so that it’s clear to others. I am saying this: as far as I am concerned, (1) The god concept advanced in religion — any religion — is a figment of the imagination, an anthropomorphic projection, the sincere (and unwarranted) conclusion of having experienced a vision/hallucination at best, or — at worst — the usual attempt at trying to find a pattern, and ending up connecting dots that have nothing to do with each other. (2) Our bodymind sensorium simply is not capable of probing reality anywhere near well enough to come up with an answer. Indeed, the question itself may be a total non sequitur (like asking questions that infer the reality of Martian canals, or the moon’s being made of green cheese) for all we know — which I believe is the case.
Just spotted something in your statement I hadn’t noticed about language. Granted: a dictionary definition is a snapshot of how a word was used in a certain time. Granted that definitions can change, or even that words which were at one time “wrong” become “right” over time because of their general acceptance by the Great Unwashed. For instance it has evidently become correct to say “snuck” as past tense of “sneak.” However when I still had hair on my head which wasn’t grey, we said “sneaked,” which still sounds correct to me. But I now find “snuck” listed (in that pesky Oxford dictionary) as (1) the past and past participle of “sneak,” and also termed an “informal” version of “sneaked,” which is still listed as the “legitimate” form, “snuck” being the pretender to the throne that actually usurped it. And while the dictionary admits the presence of the word “snuck” in its pages, it still finds it loathe to use it in an example; “sneaked” being the preferred word.
And so I cling to my Oxford/Random House dictionary def of “agnostic” because it describes more closely than anything else what I happen to believe, at least about myself: I can’t say that there is a Prime Force acting with Purpose regarding Reality, because I can neither prove nor disprove it, because of biological limitations.
Barley
I am trying to avoid unnecessary complexities here, AV; I am not attacking nor attempting to rebut. I am trying to be clear about explaining my own belief so that it’s clear to others.
That’s fine, but asked me to clarify my usage of the terms “atheist” and “agnostic.” Hopefully I have done so.
Indeed, the question itself may be a total non sequitur (like asking questions that infer the reality of Martian canals, or the moon’s being made of green cheese) for all we know — which I believe is the case.
I’m sympathetic to this hypothesis, though not to your examples. Claims regarding Martian canals (I’m assuming you mean their being the product of some intelligent agency rather than natural forces) or whether the Moon is made of green cheese are testable–at least in principle.
But I now find “snuck” listed (in that pesky Oxford dictionary) as (1) the past and past participle of “sneak,” and also termed an “informal” version of “sneaked,” which is still listed as the “legitimate” form, “snuck” being the pretender to the throne that actually usurped it. And while the dictionary admits the presence of the word “snuck” in its pages, it still finds it loathe to use it in an example; “sneaked” being the preferred word.
All that suggests to me is that perhaps “snuck” is in a transitional phase on the way to canonicity. Or maybe it isn’t: who knows? The lexicographers don’t know, nor is it up to them to decide (though they would have some degree of influence, given the popularity of the notion that dictionaries are repositories of the “proper” meaning of words).
And so I cling to my Oxford/Random House dictionary def of “agnostic” because it describes more closely than anything else what I happen to believe, at least about myself
And there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you acknowledge that you still have to argue for your usage of the term (if you wish me to adopt it, that is). 🙂
AV: “…there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you acknowledge that you still have to argue for your usage of the term (if you wish me to adopt it, that is). ”
I have no need for you to adopt anything, m’friend. I just want to know that I’m heard and understood, I don’t even need to be agreed with… 😉
Barley
[…] stumbled across this image on the header of Five Public Opinions, it’s part of a series of Last Suppers from My Confined […]
I wasn’t sure where else to post this, but I just wanted to say that you have a great blog and I especially love the Jesus meets zombies picture in the header. Keep up the fine work!
Thanks, OJ. I wish I could keep it updated more regularly.
not sure where you live AV, but if you ever over my way there’s a six pack of beer or a good bottle of wine for you. Appreciate your commenting on my blog, especially lately.
Cheers, Oz. Always glad to help.
To be honest, I didn’t get the titlebar image until the crackergate episode.
I found it on My Confined Space one day and it tickled my fancy, not to mention my pathological hatred for all things Christian. 😉
…not to mention my pathological hatred for all things Christian.
OMG! The truth at last!
OTOH, I do love babies . . . though I can never finish a whole one. (Badabadabing!)
You’ve been tagged, you baby eating heathen.
Where u been, AV? It’s getting quiet around the old blogosphere!
Missing you around my blog, AV. Come visit sometime!
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, in 1915 the world’s population was just 1.8 Billion people. In 2009 the world’s population is 6.8 Billion people. In the past 94 years the world’s population has increased by 5 Billion people. That’s only one lifetime. In 500 years that will be 25 Billion people. If there is poverty, starvation, global warming and a hole in the ozone layer now, what do you think it will be like in 500 years? Man is literally destroying the earth and himself by over populating. Save your generations from suffering a miserable and horrible end. Stop creating and if you have children tell them when they grow up not to create. Help spread this message to the entire world. Byeyouall, Jesus
AV, where are you!
Hello Guys,
Cherry Hill Publishing is honored to have produced and published the audiobook version of Dr. Robert Altemeyer’s The Authoritarians, and I am hoping you can assist us by setting up reciprocal links between our websites. The audiobook is read by Dr. Altemeyer himself, with the foreword provided by John W. Dean.
Those of us who are familiar with Dr. Altemeyer’s research understand how important this information is to the future of society. Thanks for taking the time to consider my request even if you ultimately decide to decline the link exchange.
Rick Roane
Cherry Hill Publishing
The Pope calls for Peace, and still says that God condemns the unbelieving to hell.
The ungrateful
In the US House of Reps, intellectual discourse centers on Jim Crow Logic, Bible Thumping, Golf course deals, G W Bush family and friends ties. The Speaker is Orwellian. Millions of US dollars from ?? pay for this.
Gasp for air!
Sadly, Global economics translates into Global cash power. Bank of America is the largest Bank, with CEO control. Algae does not fare well in toxic rivers. Coal Mines are very profitable.
SWOOSH
Just a thought, as an experiment, test which is more powerful.
Sounds, or Images?
stay tuned
Bob Dylan, poet, singer
Case 1
Painting
The Debate ends with Rupert Murdoch, Fox, Big Money and Slime.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch
Very Sad
Tribalism, the force behind the Tea Party (“God said my tribe owns real estate in Israel”). Slaves were bought and sold by Christians, Romans, etc. But in reality, In my view, many people are like rednecks in the south, just victims of desperation, propaganda ( priests), and choice. Choice is a function of education, or it’s absence. No one chose 1.5 billion bytes of memory hard drives 5 years ago. No one chose birth control pills 100 years ago. No one instant texting to the planet 10 years ago. Children don’t choose bisexual fathers who give them HIV. Etc. In order to choose, one must have choices. Fox, big money, serve up Slimy heads talking on TV, Radio, Newspapers, etc. Just like slave buyers and sellers.
FT
One ray of hope, Rupert Murdoch is an old man, subject to statistics. The hope, my hope, is that sunlight will return to journalism.
TH
Just like in Tunisia
TH
The Pope has tons of influence, due to mass propaganda, just like Fox.
CWT
All the animals on a boat, 300 hundred year old man. All unbelieving go to hell. Not a cool ideas for slave owners, but great for desperate slaves. Neanderthals had great cave art, but didn’t use slime like Rupert Murdoch
Soon ?
Sociologists know that cooperation works, but cheaters will prevail, given the chance. This is what the House Leader (John Boehner) knows, and uses. In the US House.
SAD
The remedy? Guys and Gals like King, Simone, Davis, Solzhenitsyn, None of the talking heads on TV have an advanced education ( except Dr Rachel Maddow, PHD ). Snooky talks openly about sex, and relationships, and gets on TV. No accident. There are people who know how to sell stuff. Aldous Huxley wrote some stuff about this.
CWT
Sorry, I didn’t answer my own question: the answer? The answer to all questions is “are you talking to Me” as Robert De Niro mentioned.
AF
Since rugged individualism has been erased from the planet earth (make it on your own), what are the choices? A very hard question for kids.
the answer ZA ZEN (sitting meditation, from 4000 yrs ago)
When I refer to right and left handed people, it is clear what I mean. When I put a target cross-hair on a target it is clear what I mean. At any given time there are about 5% of the US people with serious mental problems.
Sara Palin should know this
Good job MaCain
When baby boys are cut, do they cry? Just think. Do they bleed? Good job Priest! Priests say behave, or go to hell. Good job Priest. And on and on. The Taliban are reminders that evolution is painful. Sara Palin is a redneck sociopath, like African tribes that cut girls.
Cry Me a River
In mathematics, terms in the equation, on both sides of the equation, have to work together, by definition. I think this is what President Obama is saying.
Grateful
Mental Health. In the French revolution, the guillotine shows were public events.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine
I am sure that Sara Palin would approve. After all she enjoys killing animals.
SN
Rupert Murdoch never shows up on Fox live, even though he is the head guy. Hitler never set foot at Treblinka.
As one of the talking heads on Fox said “the the tide comes in, the tide goes out”
Hopefully
If you are in a room of money counters, with stacks of thousand dollar bills, and you say “Free Trade lifts all ships”, and the masseuse says not always, the guy playing the piano says my piano wasn’t tuned for minor keys, lets see what Sara Palin Says
Good work MaCain
God, and Gods
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology
The common theme, behave, or you will suffer!
200,000 years of evolution
Dave, you are correct. I love you. Our national air waves are to precious to praise poor humor. Call it quits. Call someone like Bill Maher for advise.
Just Me
I love you, you are a good person.
I spoke these words to my mom
Me
My Dad spoke of Jews, niggers, and was insane.
the product combat in the jungles of the south pacific in WWII, malaria, and Priests. He had me kneeling on iron grates for squirming in church when I was six years old. When I sat at his beside while was dying, I fell asleep, woke up when he gasped, and he died.
I was very tired
Since the reality of HIV hit the scene, one would thing science would be a popular subject on our airwaves.
Male gays seems to be a joke on TV. As a reminder, gay males practice anal and oral sex, know to transmit HIV.
MD
The House Leader was invited to the State dinner with the head guy of China, and declined to be there. I think he was afraid, and might cry, being overwhelmed by the Chinese leader, known to be a Genius.
Vote for Rednecks, GOP
I have been reading daily posts from Paul Krugman on his NYT blog, and have come to the conclusion that Paul Samuelson, economics 101, in which I got a C, just did not get it. School book sales are a multi billion business. Priests and TV pimps know this. Baby foods contain strange stuff (20% corn sugar). Etc, Etc.
Good job GOP
The Chinese leader said ” My country is huge, I know we have problems”, not reported on FOX today. The House Leader was not there to talk Obama’s guest.
Pointy white hats are not IN on the global scene
Cook book smiles, and very tough ideas, not appealing on ABC, “what do you think? Nightline.
Finger in throat
TV pimps are cultivated for cash potential, by the Comcast pimps.
Not close to “what you and I like’. etc etc etc
Think of poets like, like Bob Dylan
Today, thousands in the streets in Yemen. China again? Stay tuned.
Face to Face online, spreading the word.
1984 ?
House Leader (John Boehner), repeats Jo GOP thoughts, while the world changes.
Gasp
When using your cell, and to be safe, wear a mask. Because there are many cameras in the streets, in Yemen.
Be safe, and be back soon.
1984 ?
Koreans are as hard as nails, and are also lovely people. Visit any Korean restaurant and you will feel love. I own a Hyundai, and it has been flawless for 11 years. This is the model that Ford has used. The Volt, by GM, is stupid and costly. They have not learned anything.
Sadly
Korean cell phones are the best in the world, I know. I am a design engineer who uses their ideas as a template, as did the fruit guy.
Why do I say this? Because education is important, as Jerry Brown knows.
Rok on
The GOP wants to cut spending (they say). How about nuke subs? How about Lockheed, etc etc. Troops in Germany, France, Japan,
Comcast fired MSNBC guy
Why do manufacturers put corn syrup (fructose) in baby formulas? The market is huge. Fructose is known to nudge overweight kids into diabetes.
And then they (kids) want more. Sound familiar?
Good Job House Leader (John Boehner)
The GOP says they don’t want big government, regulations. I guess incest is OK in Idaho.
Rok ON
I own a $1600 tablet computer, 2 years old, made by HP, that overheats, and crashes. Meg Witman has been hired a a board member. Carli was in the mix.
I love blatant hypocrisy, I know who to (stand by, this is France, 1039)
Enogh tto muuch si su kalo nu to much too much se sui
With billions ( a billion = 1000 million, or 1,000,000,000) of people in the world, a large percentage who think now is a preparation for soon, it no wonder that smart guys can find people to use deadly bombs in public places, to get to heaven, now.
Bush talks to God, he says.
As Bill Maher has said for years, or words to the effect, “Religion, harmless? Millions dead from HIV. The Pope condemns safe sex. Pray on Bush.
Gasp
More people have died from HIV than all the wars in human history.
http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm
Good Job Preists
Education, one could say, is the product of evolution, and chance. Telling lies in the US House of Representatives, like the house leader does often, muddies the waters, like FOX and Hitler.
Too much
Dogs, when confronted with new dogs, have very predictable behavior. Sniffing etc. This is coded in their DNA.
Bush ( former leader of the largest economic country on the planet, with a very large army) does not believe in evolution.
He talks to God, he says
Gasp
Things Work. I am now typing on my PC, sending pulses of voltage levels to the cloud. I know if this PC bursts into flames, I can buy a new PC soon, and, although having to spend a day, resume.
The Earth is not Flat, and many people know this
Blue Skies
In mathematics, symbols are used. You know, x and Y. When you build a rocket, you test those symbols.
Bush talks to God, he says
Since there are billions of people on the planet, why am I typing this blog? Because I love brown eyed girls.
Me
Pimps get money buy selling sex.
FOX gets money by selling religion
Good slaves were healthy
The Pope tells children that masturbation will send them to hell. He is serious. This sentence includes the word “hell” , not found in science.
If you doubt this, read wiki, history. It will take many years.
Moscow
There was a dialog written by an artist in “FIVE EASY PIECES”
” Can you hear me?”
HF
There is nothing wrong with Gay male sex, as long as it does not spread disease.
HIV
Why do I harp on this? Kids born with HIV are in the millions. Where is compassion? GOP. Good old boys.
Bush talks to God, he says
HM
There is some new science (new to me) that I read about in cognition research that stuns me. Long story short. Guy sees pain in other, that fire receptors in corresponding cell brain locations.
Just Science
Rachel Maddow, culture wars in the mix. As I have said before I love her. Because she is wright, but hard to follow, because she talks too fast. Uses poor artistic tools.
Slow Down
As an example, Rachel, watch Larry David’s art.
As they say, “but it’s all good, kitten”
Me
Fox was quite today, they don’t deal well with real time events, and actual news. The BBC was in Cairo on the ground.
Education is important
The human brain is collection of cells. Regions specialize. Two major groups, left and right. And from there, the knowledge continues. Spots can recall scents, and sounds, move fingers, cause erections.
Some say science is a good thing, some say science the work of the devil. Did you vote for Bush?
TM
I hear that Chaney is thinking about a heart transplant, which involves very serious science. He told Bush to invade, and solders died. My question. Who will pay the hospital bill?
TM
Leaders, government leaders, have police officers, body guards, sycophants, cooks, maids, gardeners, lawyers. All paid for by people who give up their cash for hope of cooperation and reason. Cairo and Bush, the GOP.
Gasp
Two terms, Bush. Willie Horton. The Supreme Court. Florida. Faulty voting machines. Third party guy drains votes from the Dems.
Bush talks to God, he says.
Antibiotics. A result of of science, and many many years of research. Strangely, Bush, who sent solders to fight weapons of mass destruction, lied about his research.
And hundreds of thousands died.
But, Bush talks to God, he says
How long is a “Generation” ? 20 to 25 years. Marriage date to kids maturity. Intelligent adult behavior starts at roughly at 30. This is why Priests get their kids young.
Sick
This is why Christians denied education to their slaves, and wives.
Bush talks to God, he say.
Police Officers in the US, who I love, and call sir, deal with reality. President Obama has to deal with reality. Not like FOX.
Bush talks to God, he says.
The art of diplomacy, in the US, talking to foreign governments, can mean the difference between good outcomes ad bad choices. The stability of the Middle East is in the balance.
Support Reason
I think the people in Cairo are just angry, like when I saw slums in Vietnam, and kids crying.
Bush talks to God
Sadly, children, the next generation, will be stunted by sights of fear, and bad things.
Bush Talks to God, he says
World War I, was the result of global stupidity. No reason.
BUSH TALKS TO GOD, HE SAYS
New art I found
Maura O’Connell with Nanci Griffith – Trouble In The Fields
I love women
I spent some time in Norway, Oslo, NATO, and a women, about 35, walked into the shower room and said good morning, in perfect English
Things can work
Sometimes I think of Viet Nam, F4 phantoms, bombs, napalm. etc. I was there doing my job
Hurts
Like roses, you have to admit, that that young priests prefer young buds.
And free money
A little to the left, but true
Yuk
Muslims teach their kids many hours a day. After all there are billions of brain cells to train.
Very Sad
It is very sweet to solve problems with reason.
Just Me
Jimmy Kimmel has some very good writers on his staff, for his mono, in my view. I chuckle and think, and remember. And think.
Just me
Sir Elton, never sings about enemas, and black kids born with HIV. Sick, but true
Yuk
Ever strum a real D8? They hurt your fingers at first. They cost thousands of dollars today, but were cheap when new. Ideas can get that way. Pacifism can also hurt, but bring sweet tones.
India
I am frequently (always) wrong, as a Nobel Physicist said. “Albert Einstein”
RM
On two way roads, in the UK, the left side works best, by law. No reason, just is. No argument here.
Just Is
Nobel Prize in Physics (1921)
Albert Einstein
Lasers are like tuning a guitar. But with lots of science. Do you enjoy TV? Some people, I fear, feel they will not be invited to the participation party, if they feel they have been wrong about many things. This is what Richard Feynman talked about.
A cool genius
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
try Youtube also
We are invited to party
Richard Feynman
Guy walks into a bar in Chicago, says “the Boss wants his”. FOX says the “Boss pays well”. And hires guys and gals, with tons of cash. Sara Palin ain’t a dumb
and cashes in. It’s God’s will, and very profitable. With billions of people on the planet, and mass instant communication, and editing, I fear that clever priests will do their stuff. My conclusion, sit there in Cairo until you all get satisfaction. Even if it hurts.
Me
Why do what I say. “Priest”, because I say so, to a child who can’t read. This is called preemption. Sometimes I get angry, very sad, too.
I feel, there fore I am
Cartoon Shakespear
Very seriously, do what’s best, for all.
In Memory
Left foot, big toe, right foot, big toe, …….breathing ………scent….feelings….wife….kids….harvest….tea ceremony
Religion, Buddhists
In art
Monks and reason.
Now
When parents OK cutting baby boys and girls, today, in Africa and Israel, and Priests tell kids about the “Book”, I think of crimes, and laws, soon.
Me
When I studied differential equations, I developed a calluse on my finger,
from spending hours doing homework, with pencil. Sara Palin has no idea what a differential equation is.
Go GOP
Saying your name on TV, in Cairo, Very Brave. Wins my love.
Me
Thank you, who ever you are, for this blog.
Me
Tipping Point.
Mohamed ElBaradei, as the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. He is the author of the forthcoming book “The Age of Deception: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times.
The Next Step for Egypt’s Opposition
By MOHAMED ELBARADEI
WHEN I was a young man in Cairo, we voiced our political views in whispers, if at all, and only to friends we could trust. We lived in an atmosphere of fear and repression. As far back as I can remember, I felt outrage as I witnessed the misery of Egyptians struggling to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads and get medical care. I saw firsthand how poverty and repression can destroy values and crush dignity, self-worth and hope.
Half a century later, the freedoms of the Egyptian people remain largely denied. Egypt, the land of the Library of Alexandria, of a culture that contributed groundbreaking advances in mathematics, medicine and science, has fallen far behind. More than 40 percent of our people live on less than $2 per day. Nearly 30 percent are illiterate, and Egypt is on the list of failed states.
Under the three decades of Hosni Mubarak’s rule, Egyptian society has lived under a draconian “emergency law” that strips people of their most basic rights, including freedom of association and of assembly, and has imprisoned tens of thousands of political dissidents. While this Orwellian regime has been valued by some of Egypt’s Western allies as “stable,” providing, among other assets, a convenient location for rendition, it has been in reality a ticking bomb and a vehicle for radicalism.
But one aspect of Egyptian society has changed in recent years. Young Egyptians, gazing through the windows of the Internet, have gained a keener sense than many of their elders of the freedoms and opportunities they lack. They have found in social media a way to interact and share ideas, bypassing, in virtual space, the restrictions placed on physical freedom of assembly.
The world has witnessed their courage and determination in recent weeks, but democracy is not a cause that first occurred to them on Jan. 25. Propelled by a passionate belief in democratic ideals and the yearning for a better future, they have long been mobilizing and laying the groundwork for change that they view as inevitable.
The tipping point came with the Tunisian revolution, which sent a powerful psychological message: “Yes, we can.” These young leaders are the future of Egypt. They are too intelligent, too aware of what is at stake, too weary of promises long unfulfilled, to settle for anything less than the departure of the old regime. I am humbled by their bravery and resolve.
Many, particularly in the West, have bought the Mubarak regime’s fiction that a democratic Egypt will turn into chaos or a religious state, abrogate the fragile peace with Israel and become hostile to the West. But the people of Egypt — the grandmothers in veils who have dared to share Tahrir Square with army tanks, the jubilant young people who have risked their lives for their first taste of these new freedoms — are not so easily fooled.
The United States and its allies have spent the better part of the last decade, at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars and countless lives, fighting wars to establish democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now that the youth of Cairo, armed with nothing but Facebook and the power of their convictions, have drawn millions into the street to demand a true Egyptian democracy, it would be absurd to continue to tacitly endorse the rule of a regime that has lost its own people’s trust.
Egypt will not wait forever on this caricature of a leader we witnessed on television yesterday evening, deaf to the voice of the people, hanging on obsessively to power that is no longer his to keep.
What needs to happen instead is a peaceful and orderly transition of power, to channel the revolutionary fervor into concrete steps for a new Egypt based on freedom and social justice. The new leaders will have to guarantee the rights of all Egyptians. They will need to dissolve the current Parliament, no longer remotely representative of the people. They will also need to abolish the Constitution, which has become an instrument of repression, and replace it with a provisional Constitution, a three-person presidential council and a transitional government of national unity.
The presidential council should include a representative of the military, embodying the sharing of power needed to ensure continuity and stability during this critical transition. The job of the presidential council and the interim government during this period should be to set in motion the process that will turn Egypt into a free and democratic society. This includes drafting a democratic Constitution to be put to a referendum, and preparing for free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections within one year.
We are at the dawn of a new Egypt. A free and democratic society, at peace with itself and with its neighbors, will be a bulwark of stability in the Middle East and a worthy partner in the international community. The rebirth of Egypt represents the hope of a new era in which Arab society, Muslim culture and the Middle East are no longer viewed through the lens of war and radicalism, but as contributors to the forward march of humanity, modernized by advanced science and technology, enriched by our diversity of art and culture and united by shared universal values.
We have nothing to fear but the shadow of a repressive past.
Grateful
Me
iReader
The above was copied from the NYT, this AM, before the “Resignation”. Isn’t it lovely that writers can use English so well. As a third language.
Me
This man was in the the heart of when camels and bad guys (for children) was were doing their stuff.
Very Brave
Me
The Story. The VP, I heard say in English, on “Use rational thinking”. Don’t be quick to comment. These men grew up in very hard cultures.
Me
Lovely writer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck
Not on the GOP reading list
Chaos in Mexico, tacos and good things we enjoy. (for adult only).
President Obama has global stuff on his plate. Global includes the US. Millions with HIV, male gays doing anal sex, drug sellers with billions of dollars, GOP cutting help to drug users, free needles, and abortion.
ME
One could say, with mathematical precision, that none of the members of the KKK spoke more than one language.
Me
John Boehner to me, Email ( I signed up for his Blog)
“Spending the Future: President’s Deficit-Filled Budget Threatens Job Growth
Yesterday, President Obama sent Congress a $3.73 trillion budget that calls for more failed ‘stimulus’ spending and job-crushing tax hikes on families and small businesses. The President’s budget destroys jobs by spending too much, taxing too much, and borrowing too much.
This week, House Republicans will move to create a better environment for job creation and economic growth. We will go beyond our Pledge to America and cut at least $100 billion in discretionary spending over the next seven months. And there will be more cuts to come.
Also in this week’s E-Bulletin you’ll find the times and locations for my weekly “Open Door” program, as well as the latest on the job-crushing impact of ObamaCare. Please continue to keep me updated on the issues that concern you. ”
President Obama simply asked for an adult conversation, and this is how the Leader of the House Reps replied.
Sad
Politicians. How can you teach kids about real time stuff. No easy job, teaching kids.
I have easy no answer
Me
Apples fall to the ground. No one knows why. Not even Albert. No reason to kill people.
Chill Out
I steel stuff from the NYT
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Willie Sutton Wept
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: February 17, 2011
Willie Sutton Wept
There are three things you need to know about the current budget debate. First, it’s essentially fraudulent. Second, most people posing as deficit hawks are faking it. Third, while President Obama hasn’t fully avoided the fraudulence, he’s less bad than his opponents — and he deserves much more credit for fiscal responsibility than he’s getting.
About the fraudulence: Last month, Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center described the president as the “anti-Willie Sutton,” after the holdup artist who reputedly said he robbed banks because that’s where the money is. Indeed, Mr. Obama has lately been going where the money isn’t, making a big deal out of a freeze on nonsecurity discretionary spending, which accounts for only 12 percent of the budget.
But that’s what everyone does. House Republicans talk big about spending cuts — but focus solely on that same small budget sliver.
And by proposing sharp spending cuts right away, Republicans aren’t just going where the money isn’t, they’re also going when the money isn’t. Slashing spending while the economy is still deeply depressed is a recipe for slower economic growth, which means lower tax receipts — so any deficit reduction from G.O.P. cuts would be at least partly offset by lower revenue.
The whole budget debate, then, is a sham. House Republicans, in particular, are literally stealing food from the mouths of babes — nutritional aid to pregnant women and very young children is one of the items on their cutting block — so they can pose, falsely, as deficit hawks.
What would a serious approach to our fiscal problems involve? I can summarize it in seven words: health care, health care, health care, revenue.
Notice that I said “health care,” not “entitlements.” People in Washington often talk as if there were a program called Socialsecuritymedicareandmedicaid, then focus on things like raising the retirement age. But that’s more anti-Willie Suttonism. Long-run projections suggest that spending on the major entitlement programs will rise sharply over the decades ahead, but the great bulk of that rise will come from the health insurance programs, not Social Security.
So anyone who is really serious about the budget should be focusing mainly on health care. And by focusing, I don’t mean writing down a number and expecting someone else to make that number happen — a dodge known in the trade as a “magic asterisk.” I mean getting behind specific actions to rein in costs.
By that standard, the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission, whose work is now being treated as if it were the gold standard of fiscal seriousness, was in fact deeply unserious. Its report “was one big magic asterisk,” Bob Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities told The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein. So is the much-hyped proposal by Paul Ryan, the G.O.P.’s supposed deep thinker du jour, to replace Medicare with vouchers whose value would systematically lag behind health care costs. What’s supposed to happen when seniors find that they can’t afford insurance?
What would real action on health look like? Well, it might include things like giving an independent commission the power to ensure that Medicare only pays for procedures with real medical value; rewarding health care providers for delivering quality care rather than simply paying a fixed sum for every procedure; limiting the tax deductibility of private insurance plans; and so on.
And what do these things have in common? They’re all in last year’s health reform bill.
That’s why I say that Mr. Obama gets too little credit. He has done more to rein in long-run deficits than any previous president. And if his opponents were serious about those deficits, they’d be backing his actions and calling for more; instead, they’ve been screaming about death panels.
Now, even if we manage to rein in health costs, we’ll still have a long-run deficit problem — a fundamental gap between the government’s spending and the amount it collects in taxes. So what should be done?
This brings me to the seventh word of my summary of the real fiscal issues: if you’re serious about the deficit, you should be willing to consider closing at least part of this gap with higher taxes. True, higher taxes aren’t popular, but neither are cuts in government programs. So we should add to the roster of fundamentally unserious people anyone who talks about the deficit — as most of our prominent deficit scolds do — as if it were purely a spending issue.
The bottom line, then, is that while the budget is all over the news, we’re not having a real debate; it’s all sound, fury, and posturing, telling us a lot about the cynicism of politicians but signifying nothing in terms of actual deficit reduction. And we shouldn’t indulge those politicians by pretending otherwise.
iReader
Slaves in Caesar’s household were aware that guards were paid very well.
Control
“Be Here Now”, Widows7 phone promo. Stolen from EST training. Blue windows for all.
Not original. And who cares.
Me
Because of security measures, guards were not permitted in the Senate. Caesar had many foes, but trusted Brutus, his friend. Scientists are like tuna fish, strong and top fish, and unaware of Bible Thumpers
Today
Music. Singing. Whats possible?
Angela GHEORGHIU – Vissi d’arte – Tosca – Puccini
I love women
As a Vietnam vet, I can tell you I did not have self owned thought until I was about 25 years old, and read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. As you might guess, he is Russian.
Me
If you want your way in life, define your way, and be prepared for the worst, or best.
Sadly, men and women with power hire soldiers to kill their foes.
The Pope recruits kids
Me
Review of history from 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955,
as expressed in the mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2.
Guys living in tents felt that they were loosing there freedoms.
Understandable.
Me
From 18 April 1955 until today, roughly two generations, Ideas, (a strong influence on behavior, often taught to children ) have changed, because of imperfect memory, genetics or by elimination (IE, death, tribalism).
Just the Facts, Sir
Joe Friday
The Leader of the House of Reps in Reps, in the US thinks he is herding sheep as does Gov. Scott Walker. An inside joke. (they both love sheep)
Me
I don’t believe in Gods.
But I love people, and feel and worry.
Me
All facts I present come from being alive for several years
Me
I frequently make spelling errors. Quite = Quiet. There=Thier. Thats not important to the Gods
Silly, but important
Love to All
Congress members take money for election
Flash
Cairo, Judge wearing robe, goes out into the street, and directs traffic, in the middle of a traffic jam.
Things can work
Love
I love, remember Vietnam. Be patient.
Love
WTF, Google has gone GOP
YUK
Google has a new CEO
YUK
Google searches are not the same. Now by popular, not relevant.
YUK
Thoughts of Benito Mussolini, Nicolae Ceauşescu, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin.
In real time, something for Gadhafi to think about
There are mills of blogs, humor me
Love
Bush, who talks to God, and is willing to kill for God, forgot that other people will kill for God.
Go GOP
HuffPost lovely lady suggests, with logic, and clear ideas, and with love, that the 2 party system may not be perfect.
Love
1×1=1
(-1)x(-1)=1
René Descartes March 1596 – 11 February 1650)
Not on GOP reading list
Me
Did you ever look into daughter’s eyes and see redness. This is the first thing that doctors look at.
Me
If I said these things in the shower, they would better tones.
Sign Off
Hitler didn’t have any “no fly zones” and just did what he did. before 1939.
Sad
The war hero, who gave us (the world) Sarahahah Palin gets to be on national TV talking head Sunday shows. Sec State Hillary Clinton candidly dissed US News. I love this girl.
Me
Rupert Murdoch does not have Gaddafi kind of money at his finger tips (about 74 billion), but sociopaths do what they can.
FOX NEWS
psychiatrist
Child
Adult
Parent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Berne
Hope
Rupert Murdoch dies soon
Me
You don’t have look for worms in your salad.
Me
Twice more than a year ago.
Go figure
Christiane Amanpour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Amanpour
Thank You God
A guy says “what is the square root of 137”.
See any problem with education?
Go GOP
In the mourning, men can choose what to shave.
Me
Hot water (from top) freezes faster than cold water because less gases are in the water.
Me
tap not top
There are 300,000,000 people in the US. News on CBS, NBC, ABC, are seldom accurate.
Me
The Airwaves, in the US are controlled by less than 3 companies.
Me
Fresh Tomatoes taste better with a sprinkle of salt. Salt enhances the movement of electrons.
Me
I did not think tanks could find drivers, but there are many men who will do this.
Me
The GOP should listen the Guy in Libya, with hair on his upper lip, and chin, about talking points.
Me
“to the Guy” (I need to take 5 secs before I say enter (I use voice enter )
Me
Voice in my head
None of the News prime time people on CBS, NBC, or ABC have advanced degrees.
Me
John Steinbeck
The old rule ” I before E except after C ” is an example of why reason matters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck
Not on GOP reading list.
Jonas Salk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk
Not on GOP list
Michael E. DeBakey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._DeBakey
Not on GOP reading list
US Congress
Now is no time for cartoons.
My father killed Japanese solders in Guadalcanal, and watched friends die.
Fuck Fox News
Happy finish, things work, in reason.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace_transform
Me
Sadly, the US Congress is so poorly educated, that thinking is stunted.
Sad
FOX and science, Rush Lump lectures about Climate Change ( to millions of Tea Party NPR haters).
Beaches in Japan
George W Bush is on record saying he listens to Rush Plump regularly. He said this in an interview on Rush’s radio show. I heard it on YouTube but can’t find it today. The Dutch government has a 200 year plan to deal with rising sea levels. Really. George W Bush was elected 2 times. Bush talks to God. Werner Heisenberg had a different view.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg
I love people
Men with guns, tanks, airplanes, money, delusion, and faith in God.
Normandy
But very very complex things can be used, like iPad 2, Android, WiFi, SDMA, internet, backhaul, splitters, return loss collection, return loss repeat, regeneration, on on and on. My mom just liked cooking apple pies and hugging kids.
Me
I’m not sad about NPR sacks, I’m a little tired of oatmeal.
Me
My Youth
If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one with a microphone to record the sound, did it really happen?
FOX news
BBC, 1939-today. Bombs in London. News people not at all like CBS, NBC, ABC, NPR.
Thanks
CNN says “tune in to CNN for latest news” I think they meant lamest news.
Me
My pet peve, Priests and inhumanity. Kids abused.
Line from comedian “ass holes, fucking ass holes”
Me
Asshole
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asshole
Me
My next door neighbor wants, is, learning the bass guitar, with 6 inch amped, 100 watt speakers, at 2 am. He is a “fuck you” kind of guy. In Vietnam, in 1964, a Buddist Priest sprinkled gas on himself. And lit a match. There was nothing on CBS news about this. It was reported on the BBC.
Me
None of the News prime time people on CBS, NBC, or ABC have advanced degrees.
Costs too much Money?
Budget Cuts?
AP news, which I pay for, online, costs me $1.98 per month. There are 300,000,000 people in the US.
Do the Math
The US speaker of the House of Reps, has zeroed out NPR. I agree, encrusted oatmeal eaters waste my time.
Me
Air, pain
Death
Go Gop
In the back of our head, there may be a better answer,
Socetes
The New York Times is going to charge $15 a month for online. This will exclude about 7, 000, 000, 000 people.
Me
Some people hog ideas, and keep ideas to themselves. Money buys stuff.
Me
Dictators with oil wells, prevent starvation, to some.
Me
Filling time. Sounds, quarter notes, rising, wavering, imagination.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven
Me
Hundreds of thousands of kids get HIV at birth . The Pope teaches kids about God, Priests, obeying, and hires pedefiles, and protects them. The church also recruited 60 minutes to sell their stuff, in between ads for “Crunchy Cereal”.
Good job CBS
If you can’t say it in less time than your show lasts, then shorten your show. I have not watched more than about 7 minutes for months. Thats why tweets are sweet.
Love
CSPAN, the final Voyage. Only for the brave, and Comcast nerves of steel, buying the World, where no man has gone before. Dominating all. Not for weak liberals, people without discretionary cash. Too risky to show in real time. Follow the Leader to the back room deals, scary.
There is not a dishonest bone in President Obama’s body.
I love math, not arithmetic. Math is intuitive. The the new Browser confounds me, and keeps asking me questions without choices. I feel like I’m having a conversation with John Boehner, or Joseph McCarthy
Help
Sometime I get into my car, and think It would be nice to have GPS, even though I never leave California, and know it like the back of my hand. Not true. GPS, and Wiki and Google can transform your life.
Love
I forgot what I was going to say.
Thank Mr Jimmy Wales
Creator of Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales
Love
HIV kills and is spreading.
Anal sex is deadly.
Me
I am frequently wrong
Me
Do gay guys fuck each other in the ass. Check out your local porn shop.
Me
In the interest of science, I read Wiki reports on porn shops.
Me
Gay guys are cute and like pastels, and are harmless.
Me
Things that work, work.
Socretes
Tool kit
Love
A bag of rice
Twice more than a year ago.
Go figure
Snypers. on top buildings are easy targets, for good snypers.
With training, from UK and US.
Me
AC130 gunships are extremely accurate. They can fire one shot, or a thousand shots in 1 second, at night. If I was on a rooftop, holding a rifle, I would be stupid, in a country south of Italy
Me.
With acoustic analysis, and high seed computers, sources of gunshots can be determined. Learned from nuclear submarine research, and many years of practice.
Me
An interesting word.
Me
Other people don’t know about the KKK.
Go GOP
The KKK. No documents that I know about.
Go GOP
Agreed. Things happen. Hold an apple above your head, let loose, and it falls to the ground. Have you, dear reader, asked how things are moved in complete vacuum.
FOX reason
When having a conversation with commentators (the last word) , phony sideburns prove nothing, like men hair on their lip.
Love
Publish online, or however, classic military strategies. These known to Tripoli, not know to rebels.
Me
Spread out, in the desert, and move west. Get radios, GPS, not heavy weapons. Move quickly.
Me
Say whats happening on the radio, using intelligent resources, factually.
Set up strategic ambushes, well hidden, and use timing, for best effect. Never, never say your location, use simple codes.
Me
Simple codes implies a leader command. Choose a leader.
ME
That is why the coalition has put in place help. Radios (secure) and commutation, I think, will help.
Just Me
Tripoli has no air recon, use this fact.
Me
Radios can change their code, remotely, to prevent breach of security, often. A tracfone costs $19.
Me
Cell towers can be replaced by coalition aircraft.
Me
Charging cell phones in the desert. I’ll give you one guess.
Me
Send out a message, via whatever works, “talk to leaders first, if you can. It’t your choice.”
Love
Fuel, 1000 miles, 100 hundred gallons per, a priority. Get it. Food, peanut butter, cheap.
Me
Water, take it, one quart per day.
Me
There are 300,000,000 people in the US, 1.2 Billion people in Indra, etc etc. 35 cents would make better business.
Me
Forgive me, I don’t type very well, I lost 2 fingers and a thumb in Vietnam.
India.
Me
I suspect some people have an agenda, motivated by personal ideas. This is called voting.
Me
Modern Corporate leaders expect millions of dollars of of pay, because they now how to do the shit.
Me
50,000 new cases of HIV last year in US. “Not caused by kissing, and quietly, caused by gay men”. It’s online, see it yourself.
Me
Gay sex is “Funny”
Me
“Should Congress candidates have to take a test to see if they are intelligent enough to govern”. Not an exact quote, but close. By the way, “” signs are an abbreviation for = signs. In my head, I just made that up.
Go GOP
Insanity is just insane.
Bush talks to God
Religion and Government. People get steamed, Really steamed. Case in point, me and the current speaker of the House, in the US. Money, God, and insanity. What Can I Do?
Help
The speed of light is 186, 254 miles per second, in free space. IE vacuum. A little slower in air, and zero in rocks. In a current book by a scholar (NPR) the question was asked, who is Joan of Arc? Answer, Noas wife.
Help
Twit or get of the pot. People are being killed now.
Me
No mention of safe sex. 50, 000 new cases of HIV in US, last year. But good for NBC bottom line (no pun intended). Kids born with HIV are too young to get the humor.
Me
of = off sorry
Me
The Speaker of the House of Reps uses the same logic.
Go GOP
Blame the Orange guy, who stutters, slurs, and weeps, in public, frequently says “No” to people without cash, but “Yes” to guys with tuns of cash. Trickle down. You know, rising tides lift all ships (Japan). Climate change? Talk to Rush, his hero to get the latest GOP thinking (pun intended).
Not Funny
Blame the US voters. Blame big money. Blame me for not being smart enough to cure insanity.
Me
In 1917, things happened in Russia. Change happened. Big Money moved things the wrong way. Read history. Coal, radio, The Church. The Pope. GOP.
Facts
Expected, not surprising, Africa is dark. Kids have very dark skin.
Me
There are more than ? Muslims on this planet. Socrates had ideas about reason.
A quote from myself “Things that work, Work”
Love
The biggest crime of all time is telling Kids to believe in God, and Godlings, and Priests, and the US Speaker of The House of Representatives. Shame on the GOP. Shame on the Pope. Shame on believers.
Sad
Just as cops on the beat stop crime, the Pope has an obligation to say “Kids there really is no Easter Bunny”. By the way, what is the connection between bunnies and chicken eggs? I really don’t know! Please priests, don’t kids about vodoo. Please.
Seriously
Darkies do some stuff
Thanks
I have not seen any documentaries about Papal writings concerning King Leopold and business in the Congo. The Dutch were, then just business realists. What was going on in the Congo was only known to a few thousand people, wealthy people. There were no missionaries on the rubber plantations, who did not agree
“harsh disciplines”.
(Read History)
Go GOP
Just in case there is someone out there actually reading my stuff, Wiki has tons of info. Also, the movie “Apocalypse Now” was inspired by Joseph Conrad.
My Point: Modern Government is important.
Me Thanks
John Boehner
Things can get bad with money in politics.
Sad
The best summation of Now (Shutdown). Outside the looking glass.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12571718
Thanks BBC
It is very profitable to sell illegal drugs in the US, France, UK, Spain, ….. Not profitable in Holland. Some one said “Follow the Money”. Mexico, where I would like to go, is not safe.
Me
PSA’s, public service announcements, are not the same thing as “grow your penis size, for free”, as I see on porn sites. No wonder why Muslims hate the US.
Sad
You may not know, sounds are much more important to us than reason. TV has pictures, but sounds do the job, in research on brain stuff. A smile and hello can make my day.
Life is Good
Thank you for this blog, if I was a believer , I would say “God Bless You ”
Me
Things that work, work
France Leader
Hold Breath
There are several letters in English, 23 or something. There are about 37.235 million words in English. Turn off the radio? Zen, if you see it, you own it.
Vote
CBS, NBC, ABC do not hire PHDs for news. There are thousand of PHD’s in the US
Sad
http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html
Me
The brave man, now seen as legal vote getter, in Côte d’Ivoire, needs support.
Love
I got my homework from “the Last word”. Yesterday.
Thanks
Education, evolution, tribalism, food to eat, love of kids, some kids are born with HIV, gay men like sex with gay men. Some gay men have anal sex, but not all. Anal sex is known to transmit HIV. I love women, gay guys love men. unfortunately, men do not have evolved gay things to have sex with.
Kids born with HIV have no choice
Me
As a summary, I have no idea of WTF I’m talking about. As the Zen Master Said, “Why does the Moon move from left to right” 600 yrs bc
Me
It is known, by whatever rationale, that tribes, ants, lions, priests, money guys, news guys, will do stuff, like sell kids in Thailand, for WTF.
Me
While rebels fight for dignity, CBS jokes about gay sex, on Late Late night.
Kids born with HIV, In thousands, can’t even think about this stuff
They are kids
I live in an area close to San Francisco, where they have gay pride events. The estimated death toll from HIV is around 6,000,000.
Cute guys love cute guys
Several years ago, in a hospital, a nurse came to change my sheets, and I got an erection. I said Sorry. She said “Thank You”
Me
JOHN boehner. The DOW is down about 2 % today. Thanks GOP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocrisy
Sad
In the US, the south fought for slavery, bravely. That was 1861, not that far in the past. The GOP is still trying to go back to “The Good Old Days”.
Me
The US, UK, NATO, could easily retire the guy with hair on lip and chin, with funny hats, and be loved by all, using professional military. Unfortunately, the tools required to do this action are chosen by politicians, who are not very bright.
Sad
The GOP seldom references FDR. Simply because they are stupid.
Me
Drones, but only two, now. Lets see if they can do some good first. They may be needed elsewhere.
Recalibrating
There is a reason why bad words hurled at people , on national TV, may hurt the undeserving. Like calling someone a Natzi, without proof. The bad word means something to kids born with HIV.
6,000,000 with HIV, today.
Me
Kate Wolfe, lovely singer
Love
Jim Croce
Love
Croce, 30, Maury Muehleisen, 24, and four others died in a small commercial plane crash on September 20, 1973.
Inspired me to study classical guitar.
Sad
Constructing sentences is what writing is all about. Why do I always feel like I am at strip show in Vietnam, when I was19, with incredibly beautiful girls. When watching I never get the “QED” feeling. Math equations do not contain colors, scents, textures, history, or wetness. A tool found on the road, for lack of a jack, like 3 fence post can fix a flat tire. In deep back country. I do get that “QED” nuance with the “Last Word”
So, What!
My point, books have prefaces. Study my saint, Terry Gross.
Love
Stevie Ray, cave art
Love
Most people, in the US, have never experienced dying, personally. I think this why the US government is blind.
Sad
The Tribal warning is a reminder that some guys have hair on their face.
Cave Art
The US talks about “Sanctions”. Muslims (319 gazillion on planet)
Very scary
In C minor, brings on many changes, as the writer said.
“Five Easy Pieces”
Be careful what you ask for
Love
While President Obama tries to whats wright to balance reality equations, there are very few physicians specializing in Fox Endorsement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorsement
Be careful of what you don’t know
Love
The difference between natural death and “Volunteering” in dark cultures, is torture. This is why Jews abuse children.
Me
I once spent 3 days tying to solve a differential equation
Me
Reminds me of Ron Paul
Me
I want to thank Google. I think the Nobel prize is not big enough.
Love
There are places after death. Some nice, some unspeakable. The Pope prefers nice.
Me
Rupert Murdoch, and Trump, and Rush are fat slobs and will die soon, like Haley Barbour.
Sick
Several hundred people have been murdered in Africa. The death toll from HIV is measured in hundreds of thousands. There are no cameras in hospitals live today, covering this issue. Courts argue about Gay men wedding gay men.
Are young gay men particularly affected by HIV and AIDS?
In the USA, the UK, and a number of other European countries, HIV and AIDS have affected young gay men more than any other group of people. In the UK and USA especially, the percentage of young gay men who have been infected with HIV and the percentage with AIDS is much higher than other groups such as heterosexual people or children.
In the USA, it is estimated that nearly 255,000 men who have sex with men were living with HIV/AIDS in 2007, and nearly 5,400 had died. Around 48% of all people diagnosed with AIDS in America in 2007 were probably exposed to HIV through male-to-male sexual contact.1 In the UK, by the end of June 2009, around 45,947 diagnoses of HIV had been in men who had probably become infected through sex with another man. 53% of these men were aged below 35.2
There are also other parts of the world where men who have sex with men, many of whom do not identify themselves as gay, are affected by HIV. For example, the primary HIV transmission route in Latin America is sex between men. In Brazil, men who have sex with men accounted for 40% of all AIDS diagnoses among males between 2000 and 2005.3 In some cities in Colombia, estimates of HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men range from 10% to 25%.4
Despite the continuing impact of HIV & AIDS there are signs that awareness is waning among young people. For example, research with British teenagers has shown decreasing awareness of HIV & AIDS.5 The same pattern of increasing prevalence and decreasing awareness exists for STIs as a whole and many young people, including young gay men, may underestimate how likely they are to be exposed to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. There is also evidence that in some places, even where they are otherwise well-informed about HIV and STIs, young people do not believe that they are vulnerable to contracting them.6
In the UK the numbers of young people with chlamydia, gonorrhea and genital herpes has risen by more than 100% since the 1990s. 7
What needs to be done to prevent more young gay men becoming infected with HIV?
The data on HIV infections show that there is a need both to sustain current prevention work with young gay men and to develop new approaches. It is important to do both, so that young gay men don’t forget messages about HIV & AIDS or start to think that they are no longer relevant to them and to meet the needs which arise as circumstances change over time. For example, young gay men may need to get updated information about new testing arrangements in their area or new types of condoms. At the same time basic information needs to be provided all the time because new young gay men are beginning their sexual careers and may never have been reached with information, support and advice about HIV & AIDS or thought it was relevant to them.
Good, effective prevention work with young gay men has the same basic elements as prevention work with any group or community. It involves:
Raising awareness about HIV & AIDS, challenging myths and assumptions and reducing stigma by providing people with accurate, up-to-date information and opportunities to clarify their attitudes and values;
Providing opportunities for people to develop their personal and social skills in order to enable and empower them to make decisions and carry them through in terms of protecting and promoting their sexual health;
Providing accessible and appropriate sexual health services and advice including access to condoms;
Providing access to HIV treatment and care.
Examples of effective HIV prevention among young gay men
A considerable amount of effective HIV prevention work has been carried out with gay men since the advent of HIV & AIDS in the early 1980s. Much of the work has involved groups and communities of gay men themselves. Many men have felt motivated to get involved because they have seen their friends and partners become infected with HIV. Others have felt that their particular needs have been ignored by mainstream health education and promotion.
A good example of a particularly effective intervention is the Mpowerment project, which was implemented in California, USA. This project was based in a gay community and involved young gay men working in gay venues and other community settings to initiate discussion groups and informal conversations with their peers to promote safer sex. They provided their peers with condoms and informed them about HIV prevention. Young gay men were involved in the management, design and implementation of the project, which helped ensure its relevance to other young gay men. The project successfully raised awareness about the risks of unprotected anal sex throughout the community and reduced unprotected anal sex among young gay men.8 9
Similar projects have been run in the UK like the ‘Committed to youth’ project in which health promotion services and the commercial sector came together to distribute safer sex information and condoms through special events in night clubs.
Different types of intervention have been used with young gay men who do not use gay social and community venues and groups. Some of these young men do not, or cannot identify themselves as gay at all. For example, in Belgium a Flemish AIDS prevention organisation has developed a project which involves young gay men who have just ‘come out’ in working with other young men who are unsure or just finding out about their sexuality. In this project the young gay men are trained and equipped to run ‘house parties’ and other small events in community venues and people’s homes at which young men can come together to talk about their feelings and experiences. Safer sex materials and condoms are made available. 10
An intervention in Dakar, Senegal specifically designed for men who have sex with men, and particularly effective at reaching younger men, has been found to have successfully increased HIV knowledge and use of testing services. The programme used peer educators to disseminate information and condoms. It also targetted the media to address issues facing gay men, and engaged health providers to make STD services more accessible to men who have sex with men.11
The development of special health services which appeal to young gay men can be a very effective form of HIV prevention intervention. In the UK a particularly successful service offers young gay men advice on a range of issues like bullying and coming out. The centre keeps in touch with young gay men through a newsletter and website12 and runs support groups, residential weekends and information about what a young gay man can expect from the gay scene in London. This project successfully appeals to young gay men by meeting a wide range of needs and combining health advice with more general support and the opportunity to meet other young gay men.
Anal sex, young gay men and HIV
Effective HIV prevention also needs to take into account an issue that causes some young gay men to be at particular risk of HIV. This is unprotected anal sex, which can be especially risky in terms of the transmission of HIV. Anal sex involves a man putting his penis into the anus or rectum of another man or woman. It is unprotected when he does not wear a condom.
Not all gay men have anal sex. Some don’t like it or want to do it and others only do it rarely, even if they are in a relationship. Research in the UK has suggested that about two thirds of men who have had any sexual experience with another man in their lives have never had anal sex at all.13 However, for those who do have anal sex condoms are essential for HIV prevention. Unprotected anal sex carries a high risk of HIV transmission because during anal sex it is easy to make small tears or cuts in and around the rectum through which HIV can pass.
Why do some young gay men have unprotected anal sex even if they know the risks?
When two men do decide to have anal sex there are a variety of reasons and circumstances when they might not use condoms, even though they know the facts about the risks of HIV infection. These reasons are not exclusive to gay men and can affect the choices heterosexual men and women make about using condoms too.
If two men both think that neither of them have HIV or another sexually transmitted disease they might choose not to use condoms for anal sex. For many young gay men making a decision not to use condoms based on their knowledge about their own and their partner’s HIV status is not really a realistic option. Research has shown that this is because when people are young they are very likely to have more than one sexual partner in a fairly short period of time and may well have sexual relationships with two people at the same time. 14
For some gay men not using condoms is bound up with trust or love. Some of them say that using a condom in the context of a monogamous relationship suggests that they have been unfaithful. Problems can arise here if either of them does have sex with someone else. Then they have to deal with potential difficulties of telling their partner about it because they will have to use condoms until they can be sure they haven’t contracted any infections including HIV. Using condoms with every partner means this situation doesn’t have to arise.
…there is also a rumor out there that it’s an urban myth. That is cross infection doesn’t really happenHIV positive man15
Some gay men may choose to have unprotected anal sex because they are both infected with HIV. In fact, this is still risky because they might pass on other diseases which can make them particularly ill because their body’s immune system is already weakened by HIV. They can also be repeatedly re-infected with HIV which can counteract the benefits of any treatment. A UK study of HIV positive gay men found that only a minority were concerned about the possibility of becoming infected with a new strain of HIV, or ‘superinfection’ despite the long term effects on treatment options.16
Men can find themselves in circumstances where they feel less cautious about protecting themselves and their partners than they usually do. This can be in social situations like in clubs and bars or when they are on holiday. Drugs and alcohol in these settings can make men less likely to protect themselves 17. Some research with gay men visiting gay clubs and bars in London has shown that there are small number of gay men who socialise at these venues who have had significantly more sexual partners than most other gay men or heterosexual men and women. The research in London had some parallels with that in North America, showing that about a third of men have had unprotected anal sex in the year before being questioned. These men tended to be under 25 or over 40 years old.18 Research with gay men on their sexual experiences on holiday showed a similar trend with a small number taking risks they wouldn’t usually take at home because they thought there was less risk of meeting someone with HIV, there were more opportunities to have sex with new partners and because they felt under less pressure to have safe sex. 19
I guess I’m putting the blame on the drugs but it’s true that if I was totally sober then I would probably have thought of using condomsYoung gay man20
Research has shown that some young people, including young gay men, can see taking risks as valuable. For some it feels like an important part of learning to make decisions for themselves. 21 It is also the case that being too worried about risks associated with sex can also make them feel fatalistic about the outcomes of their behaviour. 22
Some young gay men may find it difficult and embarrassing to raise the issue of using condoms in some circumstances and to negotiate using them. For some men asking a partner to wear a condom can feel like they are suggesting that they might have HIV or another sexually transmitted disease. The best strategy is probably for a man to point out to a sexual partner that they want to use a condom because it protects them both. Talking about using condoms can be very difficult nonetheless.
In some situations men may not have access to condoms – either because they aren’t carrying any with them or can’t find anywhere to obtain them. It is recommended that special stronger condoms are used for anal sex and for some young men asking for these may be difficult because it means they have to effectively disclose their sexuality when they might not want anyone to know or feel confident about their sexual identity.
What should be done about this?
HIV prevention programmes and activities for young gay men should take into account the particular risks that can be associated with unprotected anal sex. This means that programmes need to include the following:
Information about how HIV is transmitted and why unprotected anal sex is particularly risky;
Information about where to get and how to use extra strong condoms and lubricants. Really effective programmes will include making sure that both are available to young gay men through health and community-based sources;
Reminders to young gay men that it is their choice whether they have anal sex or not and opportunities for them to develop and enhance their confidence and inter-personal skills through which they can exercise this choice – enabling them to negotiate confidently with sexual partners about having sex, talking about HIV and about using condoms.
Information and access to HIV testing and counselling. This may involve promoting existing services which offer testing and developing new and specific services which are easily accessible and especially appropriate to the needs to young gay men;
Realistic messages targeting settings and situations in which young gay men can find it more difficult to maintain safer sexual behaviour. This can involve developing materials and information especially for distribution in clubs, bars and holiday venues and resorts.
What role can schools play in HIV prevention for young gay men?
Schools have a very important part to play in supporting HIV prevention for young gay men. This does not mean that schools are a good place to do prevention work which is just aimed at young gay men, because they are not generally places where they feel safe and secure about being identified. But in whatever HIV prevention schools do through their health education provision there should be acknowledgement that in almost every group of young people there will be at least one young gay person and therefore the HIV prevention should acknowledge their needs and experiences. Moreover, all young people, whether they are gay or heterosexual, need to know about and to understand the experiences and particular risks that young gay men may be at. This can help reduce stigma and prejudices which still exist about gay men and HIV and means that heterosexual young people do not grow up thinking that the disease only affects them.
Raising the issue of homosexuality can be difficult because it is politically sensitive. One good reason to make sure homosexuality is covered is because in every school there will be young men who either know that they are gay or might have a sexual relationship with another man at some point in their lives. If they do not receive information about condom use, sources of advice and support and so on, which is relevant to them it can place them at additional risk of becoming infected with HIV. Other good reasons are:
All young people have a right to accurate information about sex and sexuality
The primary purpose of sex education is to enable young people to have control over and get satisfaction from their sexual lives and relationships. In order to do this they need information which is relevant to them, regardless of their sexual orientation. If sex education does not include coverage of relationships and sexuality other than those between men and women it not only excludes young gay men, lesbians and bisexual people, but also does not prepare young people to live with, tolerate and understand people who are sexually different from themselves. It is practically impossible to discuss issues like gender, sexual identity, HIV and AIDS and sexual feelings and relationships properly without dealing with sexual differences and orientation.
Young people are already talking about homosexuality
Even when formal teaching and learning in a school does not cover issues to do with knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about gay men, lesbians and bisexual people, this does not mean that young people do not talk about it. In fact, young people talk about sexual difference a lot, but are often not well informed. Bringing some discussion into the formal context of sex education and other relevant subjects like lessons on literature and history provides teachers with an opportunity to correct misinformation and explore the basis and effects of prejudice and discrimination
Reducing sexual risks
Providing young gay men with information about safer sex which is relevant to them can help enable them to reduce the risks they might run of becoming infected with HIV. Young heterosexual people may also believe that HIV is something which only affects gay men and therefore be taking additional sexual risks. Providing accurate information about risky activities rather than groups which are at risk of HIV can help redress this.
Reducing stigma and bullying
Young people can be very prejudiced about homosexuality and particularly towards gay men. It is very common for homophobic comments to play a part in bullying. Many young gay men have terrible experiences of school as a result. Schools need both to have policies about behaviour which make it clear that this is unacceptable and to address the misconceptions on which prejudices are generally based through positive teaching.
See our gay at school page for more about young gay men’s perspectives on sex education and the school environment.
How do stigma and discrimination contribute to young gay men being at risk of HIV?
Stigmatisation and discrimination against gay men is widespread. Many governments throughout the world continue to criminalise homosexuality; globally, there are 80 countries that uphold laws banning sex between men and seven in which it is punishable by death (Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen, as well as parts of Nigeria and Somalia).23 Even in many countries where homosexuality is not illegal, gay men are subject to different rules and laws about sexual behaviour to heterosexual people. It was only in 2001 that the age of consent in the UK for two men to have sex together was lowered to 16 years old – the same as for a man and woman.24
The social stigma about being gay can make it difficult and even dangerous for young men to disclose their sexuality and ‘come out’. Many young gay men worry that their family and friends will react negatively if they find out that they are gay. The development of support networks for families plays an important role in increasing acceptance. Feeling accepted and supported as a young gay man is very important in terms of self-acceptance and self-esteem. Having high self-esteem among young gay men has been shown to have a positive impact on confidence about negotiating sexual relationships and practising safer sex.25
Permissive laws which equalise the rights of gay men with others in the population can help normalise sexual differences and restrictive laws can be widened to make sure that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is treated as are other forms of discrimination. Gay men suffered particular stigmatisation when they were widely perceived to be responsible for the epidemic rather than affected by it. Raising public awareness and understanding has an important play in challenging misconceptions like this.
Who else can help prevent young gay men becoming infected?
It is not just the responsibility of gay men themselves and organisations like schools and health services to prevent young gay men from becoming infected with HIV. Many other people have a part to play too. For example, the families and friends of young gay men can provide especially valuable emotional support. Where families and friends acknowledge and accept the sexuality of young gay men it can make it easier for them to feel confident about being themselves, talking about their concerns and taking care of themselves.
Everybody can share in the responsibility of challenging prejudice and discrimination against young gay men whenever they see or hear it as leaving it unchallenged only contributes to young gay men’s invisibility and vulnerability. Everybody can also join in challenging those people who say that prevention isn’t necessary and who say that education, particularly in schools, is wrong or doesn’t make a difference. By contributing to a reduction in the stigmatisation of young gay men everybody helps to make the way clearer for targeted prevention work and for young gay men to come forward and get the help and support that they need.
iReader
Being a native born American does not assure fluency in English. Trump has a hard time with prepositions.
Me
Glee and Male anal sex: Millions suffer. But money is money, and power is power. No Navy Seals raiding bath houses. But Gays are so CUTE! To Gay guys. Not to me.
Fox will put anything on TV, like Trump.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch
Note a Joke
Young men reach orgasym in around 11 seconds. One could say then men love women, but only frequently.
Me
People, as apposed to dairy cows, have conversations to arrange their lives. In my opinion. ZaZen, quiet presence, is more useful than Gods .
Me
The power to kill people creates fear, hence facial hair.
Me
In Math, most people think in terms of numbers. 123 + 456 and stuff. People do not know about time domains and frequency domains. It would be nice if CBS, NBC, ABC used our precious airwaves for education, rather than selling soup.
Me
They have strong beliefs. When you sit in a chair, you are sure the chair is solid matter, while you watch TV, and chuckle. Physicians, our elite, have somehow learned to be Physicians, by virtue of education. Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Atheists, are all good doctors.
Me
If I was knew that the world was hunting me, I would not put my family at risk.
Me
One could say that teaching children about actual Gods, today, might bring future conflicts. Trust is a matter collecting data that works. Sabertooth tigers had large teeth, and snakes slither today, still. But it’s really not wise to yell fire in movie theaters. The Pope warns us of bad thoughts and Hell.
Muslims and Christians kill each other, today, 2011
Good job
The UN should consider finding a lovely island, with pristine beaches, where delusional heads of state can go, and feels safe. Avoiding public expense and drain on legal talent resources. Bush won’t have to ride horses, which terrify him.
Me
The island will be funded by billionaires, who do not like the idea of Wall Street reform. US courts have power. Modern governments, in the Norway, Sweden, US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, etc. are made up of many lovely people.
Love
A fast steel, copper clad, projectile, accurately positioned, can end end of life suffering. Instantly. My father, a South Pacific veteran, WWII, father of five, was insane, after 1944. Died recently. The light spectrum, in physics, moves from short to long waves. Indecently, not even the best scientists in the world have a clue how light moves in absolute empty space
Love
Freudian slip?
Be wary of spell correction
Indecently = incidentally
Took me about 11 secs to learn this
I should have done a Google. Google, I think, hired mathematicians, familiar with Werner Heisenberg
Life is good
Nuance
did you understand
Me
Not the Third Reich
Education works better
Millions of people with HIV, can now wish for a better life, instead of a painful end of life. On “Face The Nation” Bob Shieffer said it is appaling that both sides cannot tell the truth.
Gay anal sex, multiple partners, worse than Ugandan MPs drop demand for execution of homosexuals
Proponents of anti-gay legislation being introduced in Uganda look set to lose the battle to introduce the death sentence for what they describe as “aggravated homosexuality”.
In its original form, the bill – first proposed in October 2009 – called for the the death penalty for “serial offenders”, for active homosexuals living with HIV, and for same-sex rape. But one of the bill’s backers, the pastor Martin Ssempa, this week said gays should face imprisonment rather than the death penalty.
“The parliament should be given the opportunity to discuss and pass the bill, because homosexuality is killing our society,” Mr Ssempa told the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee on Monday, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Similarly, David Bahati, the Ugandan MP who proposed the private member’s bill, told AP last month that the death penalty provision was “something we have moved away from”.
When the bill first surfaced, it caused international uproar, such that several Western donor nations threatened to curtail or withdraw their aid to Uganda if it passed into law.
Until the hearings this week, the legislation appeared to have been quietly shelved.But some legislators have indicated the bill could pass into law before the end of the parliamentary session this week. Others, however, believe there is insufficient time left.
As in many African countries, in Uganda homosexuality is unacceptable to many, and is widely considered a Western, “un-African” import. Despite the international uproar, the anti-gay bill would find substantial public support in the conservative country, where 85 per cent of the population of 32 million are Christian and 12 per cent are Muslim.
In October last year, a Ugandan tabloid newspaper Rolling Stone – no relation to the American publication of the same name – published a list of the country’s “top 100 homosexuals” complete with photographs, addresses, and the strap-line: “Hang Them”. One of those named in the list, the gay-rights activist David Kato, was beaten to death with a hammer in January in his home town of Mukono.
The introduction of the anti-gay bill in 2009 also followed the visit of evangelical American pastors to Uganda, who decried the gay movement and claimed to be able convert homosexuals into straight men and women.
The New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission released a statement on Friday condemning the proposed Ugandan law. “We are shocked that after more than two years of engagement with the government of Uganda about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, this heinous piece of legislation may still become law,” the statement read.
“Governments, world religious and political leaders, and HIV-prevention experts have all appealed to Ugandan parliamentarians to put their distaste and fear of LGBT people aside and use their better judgment for the good of the country,” it added.
iReader
Ugandan MPs drop demand for execution of homosexuals
Proponents of anti-gay legislation being introduced in Uganda look set to lose the battle to introduce the death sentence for what they describe as “aggravated homosexuality”.
In its original form, the bill – first proposed in October 2009 – called for the the death penalty for “serial offenders”, for active homosexuals living with HIV, and for same-sex rape. But one of the bill’s backers, the pastor Martin Ssempa, this week said gays should face imprisonment rather than the death penalty.
“The parliament should be given the opportunity to discuss and pass the bill, because homosexuality is killing our society,” Mr Ssempa told the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee on Monday, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Similarly, David Bahati, the Ugandan MP who proposed the private member’s bill, told AP last month that the death penalty provision was “something we have moved away from”.
When the bill first surfaced, it caused international uproar, such that several Western donor nations threatened to curtail or withdraw their aid to Uganda if it passed into law.
Until the hearings this week, the legislation appeared to have been quietly shelved.But some legislators have indicated the bill could pass into law before the end of the parliamentary session this week. Others, however, believe there is insufficient time left.
As in many African countries, in Uganda homosexuality is unacceptable to many, and is widely considered a Western, “un-African” import. Despite the international uproar, the anti-gay bill would find substantial public support in the conservative country, where 85 per cent of the population of 32 million are Christian and 12 per cent are Muslim.
In October last year, a Ugandan tabloid newspaper Rolling Stone – no relation to the American publication of the same name – published a list of the country’s “top 100 homosexuals” complete with photographs, addresses, and the strap-line: “Hang Them”. One of those named in the list, the gay-rights activist David Kato, was beaten to death with a hammer in January in his home town of Mukono.
The introduction of the anti-gay bill in 2009 also followed the visit of evangelical American pastors to Uganda, who decried the gay movement and claimed to be able convert homosexuals into straight men and women.
The New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission released a statement on Friday condemning the proposed Ugandan law. “We are shocked that after more than two years of engagement with the government of Uganda about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, this heinous piece of legislation may still become law,” the statement read.
“Governments, world religious and political leaders, and HIV-prevention experts have all appealed to Ugandan parliamentarians to put their distaste and fear of LGBT people aside and use their better judgment for the good of the country,” it added.
iReader
When people see the facts, it is unlikely that they will laugh at Gay jokes, like on Late Late TV, CBS.
Sad
because homosexuality is killing our society
$8,000,000,000 for Skype? How about $8,000,000,000 for sex education?
Me
Men being attracted to men does not mean anal sex is cool. How graphic does one to get? Craig Ferguson thinks its funny. Kids born with HIV, are just kids.
Me
Why do I Harp on this? Because HIV, compared to Libya, is like saying Gaddafi loves his people, and gay men love anal sex.
Yuk
Truth – Teaching God Mythology as True = Re-election to The House of Representatives in the US Congress.
Lesson learned; It’s OK to Lie, if it protects the delusional, and wealthy people. A form of compassion. Slave owners went to church on Sunday, and listened to experts on God’s book.
Sad Me
Gay Marriage, in my view, is the same as saying Tax Breaks for small groups (partners) should be law. Why do couples get special tax treatment? Single people pay more taxes. Why? Social engineering? The answer, I think, Gay’s want to be accepted in society. Sorry, I believe in evolution.
Socrates Things that work, work
Me
For whatever reason, Hitler and friends did what they did. It’s beyond me. All I see today in the US House of Representatives Speakers speeches is pure crap.
Very sad
Did anyone in your country love Osama bin Laden?
Answer: Yes, we killed hundreds on people in Pakistan, to please our leaders, and get cash, and stay alive.
Me
to GOP congressmen “Do YOU love Jesus”. YES 100%
hALUYUYA god GOD, PAYS OUR WAY
2011 TODAY USA
Thankfully I can tune into the last word, and feel “unalone”
Love
Why did Hitler hate Jews.
I don’t know, but millions of Arabs share his point of view. The only course of action, in my view, is “dialog”. Mr Obama used this word recently.
Tea party’s for all need to happen. Zen style. On the floor, no chairs, with a Zen master tapping each speaker on the shoulder, saying “speak know”, and with a samurai solder standing with a long sword nearby.
Me
The Great Flaw. The Supreme Court in the US says giant companies can hire members of Congress. A physicist, with nothing to loose, said easter bunnies don’t hatch easter eggs. Just because the Fox head guy has many news outlets around the world, and can call the shots, does not make the “the night of long knives is un-newsworthy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives
Me
The East, different, world is complex. Needs to be studied. Dialog is my new Zen Kōan. Thank you Mr Obama.
Love
If I was a women trying to survive, as a hotel cleaning employee, with child to take care of, I would understand why thousands of people might march in the streets.
Bail?
Newspapers, the paper kind, had editors. They had some time, daily, to read stuff.
Me
When gay men have mutual anal sex, do they have bowel movements first.
Yuk
When Assad enjoys Russian caviar, dos he think about Stalingrad?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad
Courage
C major, no tricks.
Stephane Grappelli Plays “How High The Moon”
Love
Violin players need a reference for tunning. Violins don’t have frets. Pianos have stable tunning.
Me
Stéphane Grappelli – Stardust
Love
I did a Wiki on the word “Nuance”, and found almost nothing. A perky nipple is a nuance.
Me
What’s your point? Gin and stuff on TV? Read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn
Love
Apples fall to the ground. Did you know Galaxy’s get bigger with time. Some force, yet a mystery, is there. Albert put it in his equation.
Me
It is my great pleasure to visit your website and to enjoy your excellent post here. I like that very much. That is very kind of you to do this for us. Thank you very much. If you are looking for mac cosmetics , here is the right place. We are engage in mac comestic
Retirement Plan. Run for President, hire wife, get cash, and jewelry.
GOP is good for cash hopes.
Your’s truly
In the English languish, spelling is an art
Me thunk
A smile in line at Walmart
A small dance in front of a child acting up in line a Walmart
Doing strange arm movements at Walmart, making the little girl laugh.
Noting the the Mom is about 8.9 months pregnant, by herself.
And laughing
Life is good
I love partial differential equations.
Me
I never saw any Opra shows, they must have been good. I was late to watch Seinfeld also, which I enjoy even today, despite the canned laugh track. The writers were, are, artists.
Me Thunk
At what age do girls in some nations have to put cloth over their head? 6, 9, 12, 14?
Very, very sad
I love the tenor sax
me love music
The President deserves a vacation.
Me
Opra is taking a vacation (she is still a kid). Letterman is senile. Bill Maher loves life. So is this the last word. Never talk about the people you love, you might hurt them.
Love
The current total HIV positive on African the continent is estimated to be
22, 000,000.
Is this funny CBS late late? Letterman?
Angry
Of coarse some say gay on gay men is not the only transmission mode. Maybe only 75%. It started with gay men, and they are proud to march in San Francisco. How about metal jacket bombs for educations, metaphorically speaking.
Good Job Priests
HIV and AIDS is not funny.
Friday, 25 January, 2002, 00:22 GMT
Aids is notoriously difficult to target with vaccines
Aids will surpass the Black Death as the world’s worst pandemic if the 40 million people living with HIV/Aids do not get life-prolonging drugs, a medical expert has warned.
Not on CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX etc. Is on BBC
BBC News | HEALTH | Aids toll ‘will surpass Black Death’
Aids will surpass the Black Death as the world’s worst pandemic if the 40 million people living with HIV/Aids do not get life-prolonging drugs, a medical expert has warned.
In terms of illness and death HIV/Aids is soon likely to surpass the Medieval killer plague, Peter Lamptey, president of the US-based Family Health International Aids Institute writes in the British Medical Journal.
The illness has killed 25 million people since the early 1980s and an estimated 14,000 people are infected each day with HIV, which destroys the immune system.
Thabo Mbeki: Poverty causes Aids
As much as 95% of new HIV infections are in the poorest countries of the world, with out ready access to essential drugs.
The Black Death – or bubonic plague – ravaged Asia and Europe in the 14th Century killing 40 million people.
It was caused by a bacterium carried by rats, with infection spreading through rat flea bites.
Mr Lamptey writes: “HIV/Aids is likely to surpass the Black Death as the worst pandemic ever, as without access to drugs, most of the 40m people living with HIV will die.
An affordable cure is urgently needed as well as “intensified prevention, care, and support programmes”, he adds.
And the world is urgently in need of an “effective and safe vaccine” and an affordable cure, Mr Lamptey says.
‘Inadequate resources’
Mr Lamptey says programmes to change behaviour and promote condoms and the treatment of sexually transmitted infections are effective, but are seriously hampered by a country’s wealth.
He said: “The pandemic continues its relentless spread – about 14,000 people are infected every day.”
“Large scale prevention efforts have been successful in only a few countries, mainly because of inadequate resources and lack of international commitment.”
There could be some hope in the report, also in the BMJ, by the Medical Research Council of South Africa, whose scientists say an accessible HIV vaccine is seven to 10 years away.
But the report’s author Malegapuru William Makgoba says to be successful the research needs the collaborative effect of politics, science and public-private partnerships.
Donald Berwick, president and chief executive officer, of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Boston, USA writes that drug companies could hold the key to fighting Aids.
He argues that modern drugs can improve the lives of people with HIV by years, even decades, but their high costs are often cited as the reason why poor countries cannot develop effective infrastructures for the care of patients.
But Richard Sykes, chairman of GlaxoSmithKline says it is all too easy to put cost as the main barrier for poor countries.
Zackie Achmat, of South Africa’s Treatment Action Campaign, said it was down to a “lack of political will” by the international community to provide HIV/Aids sufferers with drugs.
Mr Achmat, chairman of the campaign believes a global health fund will be a start in providing treatment as well as supporting HIV prevention efforts.
iReader
CBS makes lots of money, over our airwaves, selling products. They do not make stuff. In engineering, there is a concept called “hysteresis”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysteresis
“Time” is a term (or factor) in many equations. Simple equations. Newtonian thought, 1710. Paul Ryan, as Nobel economist calls is the DEEP THINKER dejour.
Me
Sad
Bob Dylan wrote lovely melodies. I played this to my kids.
Love
Constructing poems is an act of deliberate humanity. Of conversation.
Me
Remember, this was when black kids were called boys, all their lives.
California junior colleges in 1966 were not only free, but had PHD’ s teaching classes, some times 100 at time. There was no need for small classes, the ideas were enough. The exams were graded by teams of undergrads. Even so, my teacher said to me, good job *** when I answered a question about protons being large in mass, but low in energy. Stable energy. Turned loose you have you know what.
Me
Physicians are not car salesmen .
Tell the truth GOP
The vast majority of people in the US do not know sounds are more important than images.
So what
News channels use scarce resources to sell stuff, not tell the truth. NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX.
ME
Al Jazeera English does not have ads, and has PHD’s from around the planet
Me
Al Jazeera English, is paid for by Qatar.
As have said before, I love differential equations. As the US President said “Diolog” is needed
Me
Contradiction?
Qatar has been ruled as an absolute monarchy by the Al Thani family since the mid-19th century.
Me
Time, as Albert said is relative.
Me
The Last Word. I served on a grand jury for six months, in 2006. I was humbled by the quality of lawyers.
thank you
Pickling vegetables. Very easy. 3 parts water, 1 part acid (Vinegar)
Me
Grand Jury= Ham Sandwich, free of charge.
Me
Grand Jury’s are convened by elected officials. See any problems here?
Me
Grand Juries have only claims, not defense.
Me
Reminder to Politicians. equations have no polarity. 2+2+2+2= 4+4
Me
I used to have a so so feeling about Bob on CBS, but when he said I worry about “nursing homes” I realized that CBS pays him too much.
ME
Bob Dylan said Joan is an excellent guitarist. I also think she had a very, very brown eyes, that danced with her mind, and voice.
Love
Joan Baez. If I said I said I had near goddess worship, it would not do justice to colors on a flowers.
Me
A side note. Joan Baez always uses perfect English, in her lovely voice. The GOP candidates don’t understand prepositions.
In grammar, a preposition is a part of speech that introduces a prepositional phrase or combines with a noun to form a phrase. For example, in the sentence “The cat sleeps on the sofa”, the word “on” is a preposition, introducing the prepositional phrase “on the sofa”. In English, the most used prepositions are “of”, “to”, “in”, “for”, “with” and “on”. Simply put, a preposition indicates a relation between things mentioned in a sentence. Another simpler term, a preposition is a prior explanation, typically found before a noun, pronoun, or substantives, that explains the noun, pronoun, or substantive. Examples would be beneath, between, under, above, below, upon, atop, into, onto, within, without, or across. (The princess found the pea ‘underneath’ her mattress.) A postposition would be for the same use but used after the noun, pronoun, or substantive. (He drew a line on the map from one state and ‘across’.)
Babe
Clear
Joan Baez
Love
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece. Modern scholars refer to the myths and study them in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece, its civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.[1]
Greek mythology is embodied explicitly in a large collection of narratives and implicitly in Greek representational arts, such as vase-paintings and votive gifts. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and mythological creatures. These accounts initially were disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; today the Greek myths are known primarily from Greek literature.
The oldest known Greek literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer’s near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths also are preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and in texts from the time of the Roman Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias.
Archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence.[2]
Greek mythology has exerted an extensive influence on the culture, the arts, and the literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in these mythological themes.[
Today, with electron microscopes we can viruses in the lab, in vivid detail.
Mormons believe in multiple what?
No hope
Most people who understand calculus, don’t think there is only 1 dimension. Sometimes proof is demonstrated. Bikini island is not where skimpy bathing suits are in fashion.
Good Job GOP
As I recall from somewhere, Joan Baez’s father was a scientist of some sort. Lived in the middle east? Some say education is too expensive.
Go GOP
GOP is short hand for Grand Old Party. Slave owners went to church on Sunday.
Me
People with pets, know there will be no pet uprising.
Caviar is cheap for dictators. Delusion is a medical word.
Sad
Outside my window I hear crows making lots of noise. Crows, are tribal, and very aggressive. I often find dead Robbins.
Me
Death toll from AIDS equivalent to tsunami each month
Published Date: 29 November 2006
By JOHN BINGHAM
AIDS is killing as many people every month as died in the 2004 Asian tsunami, a leading scientist said today – 25 years after the first case of the disease was reported.
Miss Directed Effort
Mitt Romney is a Morman, and proud of it. Voters love honesty, not accuracy. Delusion is a nine letter word. A fact.
Me
I am very happy to vist it.
it is perfect.
thanks for the information, i think it was really usefull for me.