The Truth is in the Babies

 Another work week begins.  Yaaaay, and for me this is going to be an 8-hour workday.  But that's okay, I am off for the next 2 days.  Temps are forecasted to be in the upper 60s (F), which is fine with me.  There is one day when they drop down into the 50s (F), but after that they are predicting daytime highs in the mid-70s.

Yesterday was issue day at work because it was the end of the fiscal quarter.  When sales are up, as has been the case for the past 2 years, there is no promotion, no incentive, for people to purchase a flooring installation.  This year revenue is down, so there was a 10% discount on flooring installations over a certain amount.  This brought out several very frugal customers... and every one of them had issues that couldn't be resolved on a Sunday.  One customer, who was measured back in February, purchased the wrong flooring to get that discount, his plan?  To cancel that order and replaced with a cheaper product once he decides which product to use.  He has 3 days to cancel and still get the discount.  After he and his wife left, we looked at each other and laughed, one of us muttering "well, this is going to be a real cluster fuck."

I saw this on Marc's blog and had to copy it.

I don't know if everybody will understand how pertinent that meme is but believe me it says a lot about science vs religion.  One of the 'end-of-time' religions has done a lot for science: astronomy, mathematics, health services (they developed triage).  The other?  Well, that one hates science.  One of these 2 religions has had a messiah, which set their timer ticking, the other has had a prophet, leaving room for possibly another prophet... or two, before their messiah arrives.  One of them needs to keep its disciples primitive, eliminating education which enlightens, the other is slowly evolving.   Both of them like to dictate the lives of their followers, however one is slowly moving forward, the other requires thinking from an earlier time.  Interestingly enough, the one that is slowly moving forward is also making lots of babies, the other one?  The one that desperately wants to be stuck in the past?  Well, that one isn't making a lot of babies.  i wonder sometimes if this might be their Judgement.

Anyway, I see that another Republican governor is on the verge of throwing his hat in the presidential ring, some guy named Asa Hutchinson from one of those red states to the south.  This will be interesting.  Also, I get a feed from Newsweek, which is conservative, meaning it lacks centrist honesty, and they published an opinion yesterday stating DeSantis was going to win by a landslide.  I'm still laughing at that one.

Embracing the Dark Ages.

Well, today's my Hump Day.  The temperature is only forecast to go up to 92 (F).  The next 3 days, however it's going to be sitting around 99 (F) which is warm.  We haven't had and supercharged heat waves so far this summer (knock on wood), not like last year, of course with Covid 19 that would be a back page story.

Here in the US we shattered another record yesterday.  And Kayleigh McEnemy said we shouldn't let science interfere with the opening of schools.  You know, I heard that and do believe it set my life back about 600 years.  The Republican party is embracing the dark ages because they don't like what science tells them.  Conservatives despise science because it provides facts.  The only facts they like are those they decide are pertinent.  For them the ability to paint something as irrelevant is a strong tool in keeping people ignorant.  They love ignorance.  They find the ignorant are much easier to lead around by their noses.  Science is bad.  Vaccines will make your children autistic.  Masks attack your independence.  Injecting disinfectant is a very good way of killing... well, who really cares as long as people believe you, and support you.

Cracker Jack Christians love the Dark Ages.  As a group, they were never more powerful.  They led the crusades!  Back then Islam was leading the way in science, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics, and were far more tolerant.  Cracker Jack Conservatives love their intolerance.  They like to point fingers... and wear little red hats.  They much prefer telling the ignorant how to live their lives rather then deal with people who live by fact and reason.  This is because fact and reason make Conservatives look stupid.  They hate enlightenment.  They want you to put on a little red hat and embrace the dark ages.

An early image of Young Republicans

I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard the real reason for Brad Pascale's demotion was because he was banging Hope Hicks and the Idiot Jerk got jealous.  Sadly, that explanation makes perfect sense for this administration, dark and dirty.

The Fine Print

It's Wednesday.  Does anybody still refer to it as Hump Day?  Did anybody in their right mind ever think Hump Day would turn out to be a trendy colloquialism and nothing more.  I went to visit my sister yesterday and my niece, who lives at home, was working... at home.  She works for Blue Cross (I think, not Highmark, I know that).  While we were sitting out on the patio talking, I could hear her inside chattering on the phone.  She knows how cruel insurance companies are being to people who get Covid 19.

Evidently there's a large group of Republicans who are flipping for Biden.  This is funny since they are the ones who had no problem with him in 2016.  It was just as obvious 4 years ago as it is today that he's nothing more than a dinglberry from Hell.  Now they're going to have to deal with being call treasonous by that Cracker Jack Crazy Mike Huckabee.  Of course, now everybody realizes he's nothing more than a dingleberry hanging on the ass of the Idiot Jerk in the White House.

And a lot of Cracker Jack Crazies got all giddy yesterday when the Supreme Court said religious schools could be funded by state programs.  Freedom of religion, you know?  They don't understand Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.  Hinduism is right on its heels.  And Cracker Jack Crazies?  They're just not making the required number of babies to stay in the lead.  Since the Supreme Court used the "freedom of religion" escape clause, Muslim schools and Hindi schools are also included.  However, like most Conservatives, the Cracker Jack Crazies never read the fine print.

The new tank arrived yesterday, as did the pump.  I'm going to order the new heater shortly.  It's going to be an inline heater... one less thing dangling off the back of the tank.  This is what the new tank looks like unpacked.

It wasn't until I sent this picture to my PC that I realized you can see my reflection.  Good thing I was wearing something decent when I snapped it. 

Ducky Dandy

Well, we had rain all through the night, a steady soaking rain, which is supposed to continue through the rest of the day.  In fact, looking at the forecast, things might not start drying out until Monday... maybe.  No lumberjack outfit today.
There are other things needing to be done around the house on my day off.
I'm going to see my Mom this afternoon.  Picked up cookies this morning at Giant to take over as a snack.  She usually seems to remember me... that is slowly changing.  She'll turn 85 in July.  In her mind she's always turning 81 and nothing can convince her otherwise.  Someday her age will be irrelevant.
There was an interesting article in the BBC about our Crazy Christian Vice President and some of the things he's been saying.  His delusions make my Mom's delusions look like flights of whimsy.  Every time he thinks about his beliefs his dopamine levels must crash through the roof.  He's a neurotransmitter junkie.  Like all junkies, he will do anything and everything to keep the rush going.  For him that means more religion.  As the article points out, the statistics he uses fail to meet the reality check.  They're not true.  However for him, the truth doesn't give him the little jolt his deceit does, and so he lies.  And like a junkie, he doesn't know or care that he's lying.  All he really wants is that little ping in his brain.
The sad truth that Pence and the rest of his zealot friends fail to understand is that they are in a non sustainable position.  They aren't making enough babies.  Perhaps this is how the Universe passes judgment.   Not with a bang and a flash, but rather something less extravagant.  They are in the process of dying off.  Next on the list is Islam.  If it fails to meet Universal standards, it too will fade away.
Anyway, we seem to be sitting in a swamp of humidity here in Central Pa.  We are in a flood watch.
The peace talks with North Korea may be in jeopardy - like supporters of the Idiot Jerk in the White House are surprised.
Gas are going up!  Brent crude was up to $80 a barrel.
I have a ride scheduled for this afternoon.  I'd like to get 20 miles in - that would be ducky dandy.

Politics and our current religious war

In this election year both the politician and the businessman are saying they will defeat those Krazy Muslim Extremists.  I wonder how they're planning on doing that.  Neither gives details.  The truth is that is just verbiage Americans want to hear, specifics are not required, they just want someone to tell them "hey, I'm going to kill those mothers."  In campaigns, people say a lot of things.  What they don't say is several things will need to happen in order to take out those extremists.
One of those things is putting troops on the ground.  No one wants to say that.  No one wants to hear that.  Bombing alone creates a lot of damage, buildings get destroyed, people die, and anger grows towards those bombing.  The US carpet bombed the hell out of Vietnam and achieved... nothing.
More important is getting those people on our side.  This means you're going to need to cut back on the anti-Muslim rhetoric, which is where Clinton succeeds and Trump is a total failure.  Republicans completely fail here, mostly because they've got that big Evangelical foot up their ass.  Islam is the enemy.  In other words, if we end up with a Republican president this war will go on for years.. and years... and years.

And if Trump wins he just might start throwing nukes all over the place because he doesn't really understand nuclear weapons, or the damage they do, or the amount of radiation they produce,or how using them is the ultimate failure.  

Whether you like it or not, Islam is here to stay, so make nice with them.  This means our troops can't call them ragheads, or what ever the current derogatory slang is for Muslims.  This is how the world is and we may be a super power, but we don't rule the world.

Religion

Today's my day off.  So what if it's Sunday, I've got a full day planned: mowing the lawn before it rains, cleaning and dusting (I've already cleaned the bathroom), picking up 18 pavers (I'm having 3 tons of pea gravel delivered on Wednesday), and a trip to the movies this evening.
Anyway, since to day's Sunday, I thought I say a couple things about Religion.  Last year the Pew Institute came out with their report on world religions.  A lot of Christians were not happy because Islam is over taking Christianity by leaps and bounds.  This is how things go.  Three thousand years ago if you'd told your average Roman citizen their gods would be usurped by a monotheistic religion they'd have called you stupid.  Twelve hundred years earlier, had you said the same thing to an Egyptian, they would have thought the same.  Three thousand years ago, had you said the same thing to a Hindu he would have laughed because they're still around, in fact there are about 1.2 billion of them.  They are the world's 3rd largest religion.  Interesting.

I suspect that two thousand years from now another religion will be taking over the planet, one which is more philosophical and doesn't rely on an end of times.  I always thought that was a mistake, you know?  Revelations?  The more centuries that pass without an apocalypse the weaker the religion grows.  I'm not going to be around in two millennia, but I'll be honest, I'd be interested to see how the advent of space travel and longer life spans effect faith.

Nasty Newt

Just a quick note before I slip off to work... I saw that Newt Gingrich is opening his crazy, trash mouth saying things like "we should test all Muslims to see if they believe in Sharia," and I'm thinking to myself that believing in Sharia doesn't make one evil, and it doesn't make you a terrorist.  Of course Newt doesn't care about this.  All Newt wants to do is throw red, juicy, raw meat to the GOP base, he wants to spoon feed the Trumplodites.  It's a terrible thing to say but I think the Republicans need the the Muslims the same way the Nazis needed the Jews, as a focal point for hatred, and Newt is a mouthpiece.  And you can bet he's loving this, creating a palpable threat.

He is one of the villains in this piece of Trumplomania.  They don't really care who gets hurt, just as long as they get someone in the White House.  They want to make America great by branding it in their own likeness, very white and dressed in their version of Christianity.

Out There

This morning while I was scanning through the Internet I came across this photo of our Universe.  This is, albeit a small section, still it does make one wonder.  For centuries, when mankind looked up, he thought he was seeing only stars and nothing more.  The idea that all of this was out there was totally inconceivable.  The Earth was flat and was the center of the universe and everything revolved around us.  We were chosen.  Religious debate did not even take into consideration we might actually be a very, very small part of something greater.  Had they known this, one can only wonder what Christianity, and Islam, and Buddhism would have looked liked today.  You'll notice I don't include Hinduism because there are certain sections in their Holy Books where there seems to be some sort of awareness.  I don't know if it's Shiva or Vishnu, but one of them claims to be the Destroyer of Worlds.  Many of us find it almost amusing to think of Galileo being jailed for blasphemy for daring to suggest we were not the center.  Of course he recanted and was later proven correct and still nothing changed.

It's filled with galaxies

Even today, with new planets being discovered almost weekly orbiting distant suns, the subject of our being infinitesimally small is never brought up by the devoted.  Their main concern, as always, seems to be to proselytize.  They can't question.  They need to rely on blind faith.  I know people who are extremely religious and if you mention "the Goldilocks Zone" they look at you incomprehensibly, and then they smile because in their minds they've decided that you're a little out there.  They can't concern themselves with the idea that there we are a small planet on the outskirts of the Milky Way Galaxy.  The fact that with all those millions of stars circled by millions of planets means there is the good possibility of life out there might get you a smirk.  As a result, I suspect someday, maybe sooner then later, something is going to happen and they're going to find themselves blind sighted.  They may find themselves horrifically challenged simply because they never took the time to think there might be something else  out there.