February 29, 2008 Real Ignorance with Bill Maher"Believing in religion is fine. Believing in God is the crazy bit." -Christopher Hitchens Quite possibly the most ignorant thing I've ever heard anyone say on television. What he is saying is that believing in a code of ethics is fine, but believing in something greater than us that lies beyond our 5 senses is insanity. Just because you're blind doesn't mean what you can't see doesn't exist. People like Bill Maher, Hitchens, have most likely never even investigated Buddhism, Zen, meditation, Chakras, energy, out of body experience, lucid dreaming, all these higher energies theoretical practices, psychic healing, reiki, etc... but there is so much out there and without even holding curiosity about them, investigating them, ispure ignorance and lacks responsibility when we pass judgment upon them without carefully investigating them. Afterall isn't this lack of personal searching the same thing Maher hates about religious zealots? Does that not make Maher a zealot in his own ignorant right? February 28, 2008 I've become addicted to free podcasts from itunes lately to listen to. I got ABC World News, Ask a Ninja, CNN, Geekbrief, NBC Nightly News, NPR Fresh Air, Bill Maher, and White House Press Briefings. Its kind of fun to easily hear what's going on in the news and world events without having to turn on a television. February 27, 2008 Is America Ready for a Woman President?The obvious answer is yes we are ready, but is it the right woman for the job? I leave that to each person to decide. I am not supporting any particular candidate by this post, merely discussing the question of the topic. There are currently 17 female world leaders on the global stage. Great Britian, Denmark, Netherlands, Saint Lucia, Ireland, New Zealand, Finland, Phillipines, Mozambique, Canada, Germany, Liberia, Chile, Antigua, India, Argentina, and the Ukraine. Some of those countries have the lowest mortality rates, and highest general happiness in the world, highest literacy and so forth, so who cares? February 26, 2008 Jon Stewart Brings Home the OscarsJon Stewart was brilliantly funny at the 2008 Academy Awards as host. One thing Jon Stewart said was, that he learned from Diablo Cody who went from exotic dancer to oscar nominated screenwriter is, if you take the street you grew up on and your family pet growing up you get your stripper name which makes my stripper name, Damien Maxwell. Not bad I think. February 25, 2008 Why do we spend so much money on our pets?Follow me here for a second. We buy our cats beds, but they're more than happy to sleep on a couch, cuddled on your bed, the floor, a 24 pack cardboard soda box. We buy our cats toys, but they're more than happy to play with plant leaves, a shoelace, a tuft of swept up dust. We buy our cat's filtering water systems, but they're more than happy to drink out of an upside down turned CD case. We spend all this money on our pets to show them that we love them, when all they really want from us is reassurance that we're there. They're like children in many ways. Playful, wide-eyed, wondering, wandering, investigating every nook, getting into trouble, running all around the house, chasing you, themselves, each other. I suppose there's a lesson in there somewhere. Remember what Peter Mason said, the Executive Board of the World Society for the Protection of Animals when he paraphrased Ghandi: “ Judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals” February 24, 2008 Howls of protest as America declares open season on grey wolvesRow between US wildlife groups and government after US removes protestion for grey wolves A bitter row between US wildlife groups and the Bush administration has broken out over a federal decision to end protection for grey wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Removal of protection means wolves can be hunted again. One of the country's most photogenic wild creatures, the grey wolf (Canis lupus) has only recently been brought back from the brink of extinction after being nearly wiped out in the wild in the 1990s. Today, thanks to reintroduction campaigns and hunting bans, there are more than 1,500 thriving in the Midwest. According to officials, this number is enough to ensure their survival. 'Wolves are back,' announced Lynn Scarlett, deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, last week. 'Grey wolves in the northern Rocky mountains are thriving and no longer need protection.' But this claim was dismissed last week by environmental groups, which announced plans to bring a lawsuit to reverse the decision, scheduled to come into effect in a few weeks. 'The numbers are inadequate and the state programmes are, too,' said Louisa Willcox, a senior wildlife advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a conservation group involved in the lawsuit. Grey wolves were first protected in 1974, one of the first animals to be covered by the Endangered Species Act. But when wildlife experts went looking for grey wolves, they found there were none to protect - which led to reintroduction. Starting in 1995, grey wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho and, from initial numbers of 66, a population of 1,300 wolves has grown. In addition, some 230 wolves have settled in Montana, having migrated from Canada. Federal authorities have decided this is enough and have opened the door for wolf hunting to begin again. However, biologists - cited by environmental and wildlife groups - say the population is still too small. 'We're not at recovery yet,' said Doug Honnold, of Earthjustice, a legal group based in Oakland, California. 'We're in the neighbourhood, but we're not there.' In addition, removing federal protections now, Honnold said, would violate the language of the Endangered Species Act which requires decision-makers to use the best possible science in determining a viable target population. But federal officials reject the accusation that their science is not sound. 'Wolves are resilient, and their social structure is resilient,' said Ed Bangs, the grey wolf recovery co-ordinator for the federal Fish and Wildlife Service. Bangs said that even with federal protections in place almost one in four wolves died each year and yet the population had been rising at a rate of about 24 per cent a year. The director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, H. Dale Hall, said that if the population dipped below the state's pledged management levels, federal monitoring would be extended and other options explored as well, including a restoration of protection. February 23, 2008 Dario Argento finishes up his Three Mothers witch anthology this year with his much anticipated horror film The Mother of Tears. This film was 27 years in the making, and with that kind of hype one might expect a lot, perhaps too much, and sorry to say but I was disappointed. Please read my review in the Movie Review section of the website if you are at all interested in what I have to say about Dario Argento's Mother of Tears, The Third Mother. February 22, 2008 Happy Valentines everyone, and St., Patrick's Day is right around the corner. February 1, 2008 Winter is on the wane! The crocus is ready to bloom! Consider this. On the democrat side Clinton and Obama are in the lead for the nomination, |