The Big Crunch Revisited

Once upon a time I was an idealist and thought that science and technology combined with reason would lead mankind out of the darkness. But over the decades I come to realize that mankind was instead "dumbing down" and was using his science and technology as a means for self-destruction. Mankind is doing everything to assure his destruction; or at least the destruction of his institutions. I'm not one to believe that his existence is about to be terminated, just his civilization. He ignores the energy crunch that is impending in the next one or two decades, he insists on cultivating superstition, instead of embracing reason, he does nothing about curbing population growth, he insists on raping the environment, and politically does everything to encourage all of the above. Greed and superstition drives our civilization.
I mentioned dumbing down--that means each generation is dumber all around than the one before. I remember when teachers were well rounded in knowledge, having a broad base of knowledge and experience. Now teachers know teaching and that is all; and dumb teachers produce dumb students, who in turn become dumber teachers and produce dumber students. I'm generalizing of course, but do you see smart teachers staying on teaching for years? No, they find more rewarding pastures.
Education and learning for education and learning's sake is a thing of the past. It used to be a status symbol, an attribute of culture--now it just a means to make money, if the job still can be found in this country.
I mentioned energy more than a few times in the past. We are energy greedy. Everyone knows that someday it, oil, will be a thing of the past yet we do everything in our power to use it up faster and faster. Big gas guzzling vehicles, gas guzzling playthings, and misuse of energy at every turn--such as wars and inane pursuits. We are in self-denial to the extreme. We will believe anyone who tells us what we want to hear, and we want to hear that the oil glut will go on forever, that it will remain cheap and available. Then there is global warming. Record heat, storms, melting of glaciers and ice packs---ding, ding, ding--anyone out there? Can we afford to gamble on the chance that there is some phenomenon happening such as global warming?
Then there is the middle east. How many times has anyone mentioned the turmoil in the Middle East? Do we need preachers to dictate to our politicians how to bring on Armageddon? Has Democracy become the new religion of the world, one which will solve all problems? Is G.W. Bush the Second Coming?

Mid-East Problem-Same Ol' Solutions?

The Arabs have been resisting the Jewish take-over of Palestine since 1929 and the resistance just seems to build over time. Solutions, such as they are, are not working. Who is to blame? The U.S., Europeans, and the U.N. is my guess. Since Israel is the creation of the U.N. , with strong U.S. backing I'd say it is about time that they solve the problem. Israel and the Arabs are too far entrenched in their positions to work out anything so it must be imposed on them. Israel would be easier to deal with, since much of their income is from the U.S., loans or gifts to the tune of 2 billion dollars or more. Sanctions on the Arabs is trickier, since they got the West by the gonads, by threat of oil embargoes.
Two main stumbling blocks exist--Israeli settlements and control over the West Bank, and Israel's right to exist, which so far has not been guaranteed to Israel by the Arabs. Oh, yeah they have mumbled it under their breaths, all the while shipping rockets to Hezbollah behind everyone's backs. What a crazy world!
Where else in the world is it "normal" for rockets to be launched at a State by militant political organizations from a State that has diplomatic relations with the State being fired on? Then consider that the political organization is being provided sophisticated rockets without being held accountable by the international community, who mouths "cease fire" and "diplomatic solutions"; and these diplomats are the best we got?

Bush and the Middle East

Bush had hoped for Democracy and peace in the Middle East--all he has gotten so far is strife, with the promise of much more strife to come. His administration doesn't have a clue to what the Middle East is all about and what is feeding all the turmoil. T.E. Lawrence and the British government promised the Arabs a state--Palestine and that is all they got--promises. At that time there were an estimated 23,000 Jews, compared to about 2 million Arabs living in Palestine. The Zionist movement encouraged Jews to buy up Arab property for the purpose of taking over Palestine, and they did. How much land, compared to land bought, that was taken by force I don't know, but there was a lot of Arab refugees after the dust settled. Of course taking over someone else's land and country is not new--it is part of American heritage; so not much of a fuss is being made about Israeli actions; and that is the problem, the lack of representation for the Arabs. The Arabs feel they got a raw deal and until their feelings are respected Democracy, as Bush envisions it, is not going to flourish in the Middle East. I'm not taking sides in this, simply stating the facts and reality. Something the administration and our President is not doing.

Bush Dumber Than a Rock?

The other day Bush was talking about two Iranian small businessmen and how they were following his employee verification plan--then he went on to talk about his immigration reform plan and how he wasn't going to give anyone amnesty--then in the same breath said it would be impossible to return all those illegal immigrants who were "hard working" and who had been here a "long time". What the hell is he trying to say--anyone?
If not returning illegal foreign nationals back to their own country; and allowing them to become citizens--isn't "amnesty" then what is? Forgetting their breaking of all kinds of our laws (entering illegally, illegal residency, using false documents, identity theft, etc.) is "amnesty" by definition. Either he should go back to school and learn how to speak English or he should go back where he came from, and that is Texas!