Confusion

Angry his friend is
being bounced, Alaska
man urinates on bouncer.

If Christians and Muslims worship the same God, do they all agree that Israelis have a Divine Right to Gaza? Somehow I wouldn’t think so. I confess to little understanding of all the gods, goddesses, angels, spirits, ghosts, and whatever other so-called supernaturals are claimed to exist. These various beliefs do seem to cause an inordinate amount of trouble.

Of course I don’t seem to understand much of anything that is going on at the moment. Take ads for automobiles and trucks, for example. Everyone, or at least some people, or perhaps only me, are supposedly concerned about getting vehicles that have much better mileage. As I don’t watch much TV, and thus don’t see many ads, I can’t claim to have much of a sample. But I have yet to see an ad for a car or truck that boasts of how many miles per gallon – other, of course, that a whole lot of them that boast of 24 miles to the gallon (my wife’s Honda beats that by far, so what’s so great about 24 mpg). All the ads I ever see are all still about horsepower (332 horsepower seems to be sort of “in” at the moment, or they are about power. They never are about small size, less horsepower, slower speeds (like, realistically, who needs a car that will go 100 or more miles per hour). What is said to be desirable by those who are concerned about this seems to have no relation to what is being built and marketed. This bailout of the auto industry is supposed to change this, but now that the price of oil is down again, don’t bet on it. You certainly don’t seem to be able to depend upon Americans to do anything sensible.

Another thing that confuses me is politics (of course politics have always puzzled me). For example, Obama wants a bipartisan plan to save us from disaster. Republicans say they will work with him. But then I see where they only want to work with him if he will do what they want him to do, because they fear if he is too successful in saving us from our pending disaster, they will quite likely be out of power for another 20 years as they were after FDR. In other words, staying in power is more important to them than saving the country. I understand that politics is supposed to be the art of compromise (it certainly hasn’t been that for the past eight years), but I believe there are some things that cannot easily or meaningfully be compromised. For example, I do not believe there could be any compromise over whether water is privatized or not. Water is too fundamental to life, too basic to our existence, to be allowed to be controlled privately. Air, likewise. Power, also. If people want a free market economy let it be restricted to things like cosmetics, fashion, tobacco, liquor, professional sports, and things like that. Absolute necessities cannot be compromised (I would include health care also). Goering apparently said, “When I hear the word culture I reach for my revolver.” That is precisely the way I feel about the word privatization.

Still another thing I cannot understand is International Law. I mean, I understand there is International Law, and I also understand more or less what it purports to regulate. It is supposed to regulate aggression toward others, as well as what is or is not permissible during hostilities. But it doesn’t. Israel has ignored International Law ever since its beginning in 1948, and no matter how often it has been condemned for violations, they still pay no attention to the law. I understand there is a difference between the formal, codified, and written law, and what is referred to as the “living law.” That is, there are things that are done that might technically violate the formal law, but are at the same time regarded as relatively commonplace and understood violations that are tolerated. So are we to believe that Israel is engaged in the living law, while the rest of the world is more compelled to observe the formal law? I don’t think so because the Israeli violations are by no means commonplace and understood by most people. We have a similar situation here in the U.S. Bush/Cheney have repeatedly violated both our own laws and International law and to date have gone completely unpunished. Does this mean they are using the living law while the rest of us are hung up on the formal laws of our nation and the world? I don’t think so. Anyway, as I don’t understand gods, goddesses, angels, or mpg’s and laws, I shall watch the football game. It’s relatively simple and straightforward.

LKBIQ:

If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.
Bertrand Russell

TILT:

The Ancient One, known as Unkulunkulu, is the Zulu creator. He came from the reeds and from them he brought forth the people and the cattle. He created everything that is: mountains, streams, snakes, etc. He taught the Zulu how to hunt, how to make fire, and how to grow food.

From Wikepedia