Moments of Clarity

2009-07-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

What is Suffering?

2009-07-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, sorry for the disturbing image. This photo to the left is the "Pulitzer Prize" winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan famine. The picture depicts a famine stricken child crawling towards a United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.
Although my posts are few and far between and I have only one follower at the moment, I still have something to say. I live and work in Silicon Valley CA. I was driving to work today listening to my favorite commercial news radio station when a reporter was going on about the CA budget. As you may know, CA is going through a budget meltdown currently. The report was about how the State of CA is closing down DMV offices for two Fridays a month to save money. The reporter was interviewing an individual who had to wait in line for "as long as an hour". Then the reporter went as far to say that Californians were "suffering" because of our budget crisis. Suffering? NO! we are NOT SUFFERING. The child in the photo is suffering. We are doing just fine.

2009-06-04T17:14:00.001-07:00

Unix turns 40: The past, present and future of a revolutionary OS

Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie in the early days of Unix. You KNOW they were smoking something!

Great article from ComputerWorld.

Unix is 40 in August. Most of my work is done on a series of Linux boxen which ultimately owes its existence to these two men. Mind you Linux is not Unix, but Linux was spawned from Unix enthusiasts so happy birthday Unix!

Medical Bills Driving Most Middle-Class Bankruptcies - Forbes.com

2009-06-04T13:29:00.001-07:00

Medical Bills Driving Most Middle-Class Bankruptcies
06.04.09, 12:00 PM EDT
Private insurance isn't covering costs as promised, report's authors say

THURSDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- In 2007, medical problems and expenses contributed to nearly two-thirds of all bankruptcies in the United States, a jump of nearly 50 percent from 2001, new research has found.

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OK people, this is getting crazy. Did you know that ALL hospitals in the US are privately owned by Corporations? That's right, that means the primary focus of these corporations, by definition, is MONEY, not your health. I have a friend who is traveling the world right now. She needed a filling in Thailand. She paid $15 US! How much did you pay for your last filling? Was that with Insurance or without? Don't you think something is wrong here? We need legislation that puts a cap on corporate profits or a heavy tax on corporations that profit from a basic human necessity. Profit from necessary health care, education and basic food needs should be illegal! Look what its doing to us!

Eye for an Eye?

2009-06-01T08:48:00.001-07:00

I refuse to believe that the killer of George Tiller believes in God. The alleged murderer may believe he is saving children, but he is a vigilante and nothing more.

I also refuse to believe that anyone who makes laws that outlaw personal choice has faith in God. If one truly has faith in God, they know that God will be the judge at the time of their death, It is not up to the individual or group to decide on laws governing choice.

Furthermore, I despise the term atheist. I may not believe in this lofty, hairy man in the sky. I do believe in a Universal Consciousness which comes with it a mutual and undeniable responsibility for all living things. A consciousness that demands exploration of the Universe (past and future) with no restrictions. A consciousness that demands highest moral standards and the infinite and undying search for truth.

There's no place like Homer

2008-12-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

I refuse to turn into Homer Simpson.

Please, no, must fight burger.

Take the 'urge' out of burger and you have "br" which, when surrounded by brackets, returns <br> which is the html tag for 'line break' - follow me?

Enough Already

2008-11-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

I mean really. Jesus would be royally pissed right now. He hung out with beggars and ne'er do wells, not pretentious opinionated bigots who have nothing but hate and contempt for those different from them. Jesus fought against narrow-minded bigots or am I wrong? What say you?

To be clear, I am an atheist, but I believe Jesus existed as a man who tried to change the world. I truly believe he tried to tie all faiths together. He traveled east and brought back knowledge and faith of a different kind that was initially rejected and then accepted by the establishment to be used as a means of controlling the masses like all religions have been.

This is What it's All About

2008-11-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

Free HUGS
Uploaded by FREE-HUGS

Free hugs, yes ladies and gentleman. This is what its all about. Love is contagious. Spread it around. I mean after all, what would Jesus do?

The first sweet little old lady that hugs him is so precious and beautiful.

Religion and Politics

2008-11-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

Please watch:

Again I accompanied my wife and kids to Church. And being an objective Atheist, I again listened with an open mind to the Pastor. As it turns out, the Pastor of the church reinforced most of the points Obama stated in the above speech; the main one being that there is nothing more divisive than politics, except religion. We can call ourselves a "Christian" nation, but which Christianity would we use? The Old-testament bible thumper version or the new testament love-thy-neighbor-reagardless-of-faith-Sermon-on-the-Mount version (the latter of which I believe to be "true" Christianity, but what do I know)?

The fact is if we declared Christianity as the official religion of this nation, this nation would reduce itself to civil war because the Catholics would disagree with the Protestants and evangelicals would want their say, etc. etc...

Freedom of religion or lack thereof is one of the things that keeps our beautiful country and other Democracies at peace. You only need to look at history and the current state of the Middle East to see examples of when one religion was used to divide people and nations. On the flip-side when religion is declared illegal, those nations are doomed to fail as well.

The fact of the matter is, its freedom that people want, not restrictions. Religion only serves to restrict some and embolden others. Freedom for all means freedom of religion and freedom from religion or it is not freedom.

Love on the other hand is Universal and that is what we should focus on, regardless of the source love is love. Religion that creates divisions and hate is not Christianity because it is not Christ-like.

As both our Pastor and Obama says, "people gotta read their Bibles."

Palin: Does Obama Think Terrorists Are The Good Guys?

2008-11-03T13:19:00.001-08:00

Let's break it down:

freedom - like a woman's freedom to choose?
tolerance - like tolerance of non-christian religions?
equality - like rights of homosexuals to marry?

About Sarah Palin
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

God Prefers Atheists

2008-10-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

I read something that struck me on LOL God today and the comic that is posted there makes a very good point. I am sure, I mean absolutely positive that God (if he/she existed) would be happier, more satisfied and even proud if the people he allegedly created chose not to steal simply because it is a "dickish thing to do" rather than simply because God says stealing is wrong. I mean just because I am an atheist does not make me a sex-starved mother-hating wife-stealing self-involved lazy criminal with no morals. I have morals. I am proud of who I am and how I treat people. I love people. Isn't that all that matters?

An Atheist in Church

2008-10-27T10:01:00.001-07:00

So I went to church with the wife and kids yesterday. To be clear, I am an atheist but my wife was raised in a Christian family and she feels compelled to take the kids to church on Sundays. I go for support. I also pride myself as being open-minded and so I do listen and absorb. I actually agree with 90% of the principals expressed. Its all the fluff I have a problem with.

I tend to look around and wonder what other people are really thinking and praying for. Do they really have faith inside?

Yesterday was different because I started thinking what would it take for me to believe. If this "God" is "all-powerful", then it makes sense to pray for something that is worthy of such power. Then a thought popped into my head; what this world really needs is a "global unified moment of clarity."

So I tried it as an experiment - I actually prayed for a "global unified moment of clarity". I put myself in Christian shoes and prayed to God. For a moment, I had faith. I said the phrase over and over again in my head - this is what I want from God. Yes, I thought, that is the answer. I mean that is the most worthy thing I can think of to pray for. If there is a God, then he/she can do this. After all, we aren't going to do it on our own it seems.

After I came down from my prayer/thought I looked around and nothing had changed. Does this prove God one way or another? No not by itself. However if there is an omniscient, all-powerful God and my prayer was heard by God and that God knows that I (and perhaps everyone) would believe if a unified global moment of clarity was reached by all humans on this planet, it seems like a waste to answer Joe Six-pack's prayer for a new truck.