I'm Just Sayin'

          Everyone has a right to their opinion. No matter how outrageous, no matter how bizarre. Whether it's rooted in fact or in support of some conspiracy theory that only they believe. We all should have our chance to get on the soapbox and regale the crowd with our wisdom, insight and lunacy.

          Which makes the Internet a vital resource when it comes to putting that opinion out where people can read it. So they can judge for themselves whether the writer is smart as all get out or someone who needs serious medication.

           So, because I often have serious opinions about very serious topics such as whether UFO's are real, The Patriots are the greatest cheaters in sports history or if I really have been brainwashed by the immoral and deeply corrupted main stream media, I created this blog. It will allow me to rant, vent or expound on all sorts of things that have nothing to do with reality.

           Politics is a subject I often think about but rarely participate in. I have a genuine fear and loathing for all things religious and God related. I hate baseball with the sort of passion that could get me committed if the wrong people (Red Sux fans for instance) got wind of it.

           I love my country. At least the half that I still feel strongly about. However, about half the American populace doesn't feel quite the same way about America as I do. Expressing an unpopular, misinformed or outright wrong opinion about America and what it means to me can be dangerous in these divided times. While I support and respect all people who serve our nation... the police, the military, teachers, paperboys and even politicians... I don't think they are all heroes who deserve to be put on a pedestal and worshiped.

          So, when I post an article and express my opinion about a subject that is near and dear to your heart; an opinion that happens to be one that you think is unfathomable. One that is insane and demented enough to the point where you think I should be tarred and feathered, just try to remember, I'm probably wrong, but scary as it might be, I could be right. But, no matter what I think, really, in the end...

          ... I'm just sayin'.

Duck and Cover

In the 1950's, schoolchildren took part in drills that would help them survive a nuclear attack. They were known as "Duck and Cover" drills. Similar to fire drills except that the plan was to survive a bomb that would destroy the entire city by hiding under their desk. They were lessons that I took part in along with the rest of the kids because it got me out of class and was kind of fun. But, until recently, I never considered having to take part in a nuclear attack a serious possibility.

When Russia invaded Ukraine the free world came together to supply humanitarian and military aid to support the innocent people being slaughtered. After failing to achieve most of their objectives Putin has become even more desperate. Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons if NATO, the U.S. or the E.U. attempt to actively assist Ukraine with troops or heavy weapons.

Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis has the world ever been faced with the very real possibility of a nuclear war. A war that could end life as we know it forever.

So, while Putin wreaks havoc on the country and slaughters the population to the point of genocide, the rest of the world stands back and wring their hands, understandably fearful of triggering a reaction that would lead to a nuclear conflict. The leaders of the free world are faced with letting thousands die to save millions.

Even more disturbing is the way that the people of the world have responded to these unprecedented and perilous events. 

The global media is covering the war like some Apocalyptic Sports event, portraying it as The Forces of Good vs. the Forces of Evil. Network Newscasts are saturated with all forms of analysis and opinions while talk show hosts compete with trying to make light of the tragedies. Daily and even hourly reports keep the world updated in real time on the number of defeats, victories, survivors and casualties.

Politicians across the world see this as a chance to appear to rally behind the oppressed and support huge financial relief. Meanwhile they point fingers at their opposition and heap blame on everyone except Putin. Photo-ops, speeches and opportunities to put themselves in front of a camera dictate their personal and party positions.

The talking heads that represent the military point of view debate the various scenarios that might happen if Russia does launch a nuclear weapon. They talk about the use of smaller "tactical" nuclear weapons as if there really is some level of nuclear war that can be limited. Hoping the attacks could be confined to some specific regions without spreading beyond the initial target. It's like they have all forgotten the concept of what is known as "M.A.D." It stands for "mutual assured destruction."

Meanwhile the people far, far away from the actual battlefields continue their daily routine. They watch the evening news, shake their heads and pronounce their support for the people of Ukraine. They donate money to a war that seems so very far away. Somehow it seems that people either a) don't understand how close nuclear war is or b) don't really understand that what they're seeing on TV is not a new reality show. People are at a point where they don't believe or trust main stream media. 

On sites like FaceBook and Twitter, where people will debate any arcane subject endlessly and with insane passion, people don't seem to be talking about Putin's threat. There are so many more important issues than the end of the world. 

They scream and protest the prices at the pump and focus on how they are impacted personally by inflation and the rising cost of living. At the same time they seem oblivious to the price the far away people under attack are paying. It has cost tens of thousands of innocent people their lives. Millions have had to flee their homes and families. There seems to be no end in sight of the horrors of war for the people of Ukraine. But if Russia launches a nuclear weapon it will signal the beginning of the end for all of us.

In the 1950’s school kids practiced drills to learn how to prepare for a nuclear attack; never being told that such a war would be the end of civilization. Whatever lessons learned by that generation has long since been lost. The fear that people felt back then has faded, 

There was a well known saying in my generation; a generation still old enough to remember Hiroshima. "One nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day.”

It's become pretty clear to me at least. All it's going to take is one mistake and everybody’s day is going to be ruined. 

Myself? I'm going to practice my "Duck and Cover" techniques just in case.

This Child, Earth

For most parents there comes a time when they realize that their children aren't children any more. For many of us that time is never more clear than the day we hand over the keys to the family car. We've watched them learn, maybe even took some time to teach them ourselves. We cheered when they passed their drivers test and finally received their very own driver's license.

Inevitably the day comes when we have to allow them to reap the rewards of all that effort. We have to let them take the car out for a spin ... without us. This is the time when, in no uncertain terms, we give them total and absolute responsibility for their life and the means to end it. We know better than they how serious this moment is. A lapse of concentration ... a poor decision at the wrong time ... and their life is over. For our kids it's a thrilling experience. For us parents it's a terrifying moment.

It's a necessary step. One all parents must let their children take. We do it so they might begin to assume responsibility for their destiny. But, nevertheless, even if most of us don't dwell on the possibilities, we know how tragic they can be. We also know that if and when the unthinkable happens and their life is put in danger by another motorist or their own inexperience, it will be at a time when we are unable to help or protect them.

We hope that the odds are the same as they were for us. We pray that they learn quickly and suffer no more than the routine fender-bender that almost all of us have at least once in our driving experience. We hope they live through it, learn from it, and become safe drivers who learn to use the power of the machine to benefit their lives instead of end them. And, for most of us, that's the way it goes.

But for some kids it doesn't. Maybe the car they have is too powerful for their level of experience. A dare or challenge, coupled with youthful swagger and the sense of invulnerability common in kids that age, come together and suddenly, the machine that they should control gets away from them and takes them in a direction they didn't intend to go; often with tragic and fatal consequences.

When I think about the future and what it might hold for us as a species, I step back and try to look at the world and all its societies and cultures, not as a collection of different peoples, but as a whole. When I do, this is how the world looks to me. It looks like that young kid, the teenager, holding the keys to the car.

This child, Earth, has come to the point where it has the keys to the car that will take it into its future. If it cannot get itself together and take responsibility for how it will use this power and learn how to control it, I fear that a crash, both severe and fatal to itself and its rightful destiny, is inevitable.

For the first time in the history of man we possess the power to literally destroy ourselves and the planet we live on. War is no longer just a fear or threat to the earth. The earth's peoples are what they will be. No one country has the capability to conquer the rest of the nations. The major powers are too strong and are beyond the fear of being conquered. The result of any such attempt would not be war, but the annihilation of the earth itself.

We need no longer fear the wrath of God for, like gods, we are capable of inflicting the type of destruction on ourselves that would make the flood of Noah look like a spring rain.

I don't believe in any formal or popular concept of God. I have no need for one. I don't believe that there is some creator who watches over us with some secret and ulterior motive for our being. The stories of God, no matter who's God, are too full of vengeance, retribution, judgment and destruction for me. All concepts of God show me that he is too much like men to be anything but a reflection of ourselves.

But for a lot of us, God is who we look to. We look to him protect us and take care of us. He fills our need, like the need of a child, to believe in a father figure; someone who, as we grew, was always ready to step in and help us understand that which was often beyond our understanding. We need to believe that God is watching over us. That he will keep us from our own folly and keep us from going astray.

So, while we wait for God to show us the way, we act as careless children do when dad is not around. We pollute our air and water with little thought of the consequences and how it will affect our children and our children's children. With no good reason or purpose and no real threat we continue to develop nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction that will never be used for defense. They lay in wait for the hands of the madman who will use them in offense to begin an era of terror that will preclude the end of the world as we know it.

Like adolescents, who feel that death is something that happens only to the sick and old, like children who have yet to feel the pain of the unexpected and irretrievable loss of something or someone that they love, we continue to take foolish dares and questionable chances, oblivious to the possibilities of tragedy.

Our past wars have left scars. But they are wounds long healed, whose origins are blurred by time. Having forgotten what the fight was about and knowing only that we got over the hurt, we are always ready to make the same mistakes again. Thinking each time we will get it right this time. All the while we count on God to step in eventually to break up the fight or heal the hurt before any lasting or life threatening harm is done.

But when our children get behind the wheel of the car alone and drive out of the driveway and into their future, we as parents know only one thing, they are finally beyond our help. It's up to them to drive safely or suffer the consequences. Dad or mom can't come to their aid if they make a mistake. Their fate is in their own hands. They are truly on their own and responsible for themselves.

This child, Earth, is at that point in its growth. We, the people who call this planet home, have to make the decisions that will determine the future of ourselves and our generations to come. There is no God to save us from ourselves. We can't waste time and resources in the irresponsible manner that we have in the past and count on God to bail us out. We cannot continue to pervert the technological advances of science into means of mass destruction. Vladimir Putin has shown we can’t trust that they will always be under the control of responsible leaders who would never use them in any way other than to defend.

We have driven to the point where one man has brought the world to the precipice of true nuclear war. Humanity’s very existence is being threatened by Vladimir Putin’s insane lust for power. His threat to use nuclear weapons if the rest of the world comes to the defense of the Ukrainian people has brought the very real possibility of nuclear conflict onto the front pages.

We all share a common destiny. The future of each man is the future of all men and the future of humankind is finally our own responsibility. We are beyond the help of God. We can blame no one but ourselves if that future crashes into oblivion. We are no longer the children of the earth. We are its passengers and we are at the mercy of a driver on a suicide ride.

The car we are riding in is more powerful than anything humanity has ever known. We have the keys to the future. The hope is we can control the power well enough to get us there. We have left the safety of our home and driveway. We are leaving both God and our parents behind; rushing headlong into our future at speeds we never imagined; traveling on strange roads to a destination unknown to any of us; with the nervous hands of a madman with nuclear weapons on the wheel.

             We are traveling into a future where the lives and destiny of all people can be decided by one wrong turn of the wheel.