Monday, 05 November 2012
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Interesting & Unusual Animal Facts
What follows is a quick overview of a few interesting animals, more here Animals and Pets: News
Interesting Animal Facts: Self-Awareness and Intelligence
In this post I bring together some scientific studies combined with videos to show that animals have self-awareness and can think. Of course, they are still animals and respond to the stimuli of their environment as always. What I will show is that they respond in an intelligent manner. They can plan. They can understand. They can recognize themselves in a mirror. At least some can.
To begin with I would like to bring your attention to an extract of an article from Scientific American...
One World, Many Minds: Intelligence in the Animal Kingdom
*Despite cartoons you may have seen showing a straight line of fish emerging on land to become primates and then humans, evolution is not so linear. The brains of other animals are not merely previous stages that led directly to human intelligence.
*Instead-as is the case with many traits-complex brains and sophisticated cognition have arisen multiple times in independent lineages of animals during the earth's evolutionary history.
*With this new understanding comes a new appreciation for intelligence in its many forms. So-called lower animals, such as fish, reptiles and birds, display a startling array of cognitive capabilities. Goldfish, for instance, have shown they can negotiate watery mazes similar to the way rats do in intelligence tests in the lab.
In other words, awareness and intelligence is not something that is only present in us.
When we are kids we begin to recognize ourselves in the mirror between the ages of 2 and 4. This has been observed scientifically by using a "mirror test".
The test is simple. Put a mark on the subjects face and see if they can recognize the mark on their face in a mirror (and try and remove it).
Little kids have passed the test and so have apes (not monkeys), elephants and dolphins.Interesting Dolphin Facts: Awareness and Intelligence
Dolphins locate objects by using sound. They bounce high pitched sounds off of objects to sense where they are. This is called "echolocation" and it is the way that bats 'see' as well. Dolphins have sophisticated hearing and navigate and hunt by using sound.
Like whales a Dolphin has a blow hole at the top of its head and must come up to breathe. So a Dolphin normally stays about 10-15 feet from the surface so it can come up to breathe often. However, a Dolphin can dive to over 500 feet if they want to.
A Dolphin can stay under water for 15 minutes or more.
Dolphins are carnivores and eat mainly fish and squid.
Dolphins have a complicated system of communication using clicks and sound. They coordinate their hunting and social group using sound.
A dolphin sleeps with half of its brain shut down and one eye closed!
Dolphins have been clocked as going as fast as 30 km/hr underwater!
They have been playing and communicating with people from ancient times and still do.
Learn more about Dolphins here.Interesting Facts About Apes: Awareness and Intelligence
Chimpanzees and Gorillas have been able to learn simple sign language. They also make tools to help them when foraging for food such as using a stick to get bugs or using a rock to crack hard nuts.
One Chimpanzee, who was taught sign language, signalled "water" and "bird" in sign language first time she saw a duck. This shows that chimpanzees create different labels to understand their environment.
All apes have developed a system of communication that suit their particular lifestyles. A good analysis of chimpanzee communications can be found here.Chimpanzee vs. Human child learning (1/2)
Interesting Facts About Elephants: Awareness and Intelligence
Although the African elephant is larger, the Asian elephant is more related to the ancient Mammoths.
An elephant drinks water by filling its truck and then putting the water in its mouth.
An elephant trunk is heavy even for an elephant! Sometimes an elephant will carry its trunk on its tusks.
Elephants not only have long memories but they play, laugh and cry.
The African elephant is the largest animal on land on earth.
An adult elephant can eat over 330 pounds of food a day.
An elephant can live for over 70 years.
An elephants trunk has over 100,000 different muscles which makes it very sensitive and strong.
Read more about elephants here.
"Elephants communicate on many levels.
One way to gauge animal intelligence is by the complexity of their communication. Elephants communicate like other animals both verbally and with body language. But elephants can hear at a much lower frequency than humans, and also sense vibrations with their hyper-sensitive feet from miles away." From "Elephant Intelligence"Crows and Ravens
Crows adapt to their environment fast and are very intelligent which can be seen in the video below.
Crows can mimic the sounds of other animals and have a sophisticated system of communication.
Historically crows have been a nuisance for crops so they have often been attacked by humans to decrease thier population. Many communities still have a negative image of crows because of our historical incompatibility.
Crows can "dive bomb" people or animals if they approach a nest. For nesting crows will pair off and produce 6-8 young. At least one of the young crows will stick around to get food and protect the nest for the next season.
Crows tend to live in small groups that are not necessarily determined by 'family'. It's more like independent tribes of crows with very few nest related crows in a group.
More crow facts here.About Crows from National Geographic
[Crow image is from here.]
Crows as Clever as Great Apes, Study Says
Anyone who has watched crows, jays, ravens and other members of the corvid family will know they're anything but "birdbrained."
For instance, jays will sit on ant nests, allowing the angry insects to douse them with formic acid, a natural pesticide which helps rid the birds of parasites. Urban-living carrion crows have learned to use road traffic for cracking tough nuts. They do this at traffic light crossings, waiting patiently with human pedestrians for a red light before retrieving their prize.
Yet corvids may be even cleverer than we think. A new study suggests their cognitive abilities are a match for primates such as chimpanzees and gorillas. Furthermore, crows may provide clues to understanding human intelligence.
Published tomorrow in the journal Science, the study is co-authored by Nathan Emery and Nicola Clayton, from the departments of animal behavior and experimental psychology at Cambridge University, England.
They say that, while having very different brain structures, both crows and primates use a combination of mental tools, including imagination and the anticipation of possible future events, to solve similar problems. They base their argument on existing studies.About Bird Intelligence - Do We Underestimate How Smart Birds Really Are?
Interesting Facts About Parrots: Awareness and Intelligence
A parrot can live up to 80 years in the wild!
There are over 350 different species of parrot. They all have certain things in common. They all have curved beaks. they all have two toes pointing forward and two toes backwards. They all eat fruits, nut, berries and sometimes small insects.
Parrots live in all warm climates all over the world and are a common sight in many cities. More on National Geographic.
Many species of parrots can 'speak'. What they really do is mimic sound using enlarged air sacks to compress air to mimic the sound it likes.
A parrot likes to eat its food while holding it in one of its hands. Either one will do.
Parrots live in herds and tend to squaq and screech alot. Making alot of noise.
Parrots make excellent pets and are fairly easy to train. Pet parrots tend to mimic sounds alot more than ones in the wild. The best speakers are African Grays.
Parrots may be alot more intelligent than we first realized. Some species more than others of course. They seem to be as smart as crows in some ways, maybe even smarter?About Bird Intelligence - Do We Underestimate How Smart Birds Really Are?
No one really knows why Zebras have stripes but they think it might be camouflage. What we do know that no two Zebras have identical stripes. Each one is unique in how its stripes come up just like fingerprints on people.
Zebras live in family groups and can join with other family groups into large herds. Yet in the herd itself the family members on one group tend to stick together.
If a Zebra gets caught by a lion then its family will help it and fight of the attack.
There are three species of Zebras. Two in East Africa and one in South Africa.
The Zebras coat is very shiny which helps reflect the heat of the sun off them. Some scientists think that the stripes help reflect sun rays even better making it easier for them to stand the hot African savanna sun.
The females in a group always walk according to an establish order. The oldest mare takes lead while the youngest is at the back of the line. The male horse - leader - of the group goes about as he wills.Interesting Facts About Giraffes
Giraffes are the worlds tallest mammal. Just their legs are over 6 feet and they themselves can grow taller than 18 feet!
Each step of a giraffe cover a distance of 15 feet.
They can run at over 35 miles per hour (53 kilometers/hr).
Giraffes don't need to drink water everyday. In fact they go several days without water.
Like cows giraffes regurgitate their food to eat it later. (they also fight like bulls... with long necks!)
They eat hundreds of pounds of vegetation a week and so must travel over miles to get it.
A giraffe will only sleep for about five to 30 minutes in a day.
A baby giraffe can stand up within a half hour after birth and can actually run, keeping up with her mother, in under 14 hours.
Each giraffe has a unique coats of spots and you can tell a giraffes age by how dark its spots are. The darker the spots the older they are.
A giraffe is one of the few animals that is born with a horn.
A giraffe can kill a lion with just one kick.Interesting Rhinoceros Facts
There are three types of Rhinoceroses. The Indian Rhinoceros, the Black Rhinoceros and the White Rhinoceros.
The Black and White Rhinoceroses are actually gray. Both live in Africa. The difference is that one grazes from the ground while the other forages from trees and bushes.
The Indian Rhinoceros has only one horn while the others have two horns.
All Rhinos have good eyesight and bloodhound like smelling abilities. They actually track each other through smell from trees and the ground.Rhinoceroses love to wallow around in the mud and soak themselves in water. They also like to stay out of the sun and under the shade for most of the day.
Rhinoceroses have armor like skin which has protect them in the wild so much so that they have been around for millions of years. They are vegetarians and get all thier food by grazing. They also live to about 35-40 years of age and have been clocked at over 30 miler per hour - that's a really fast charge keeping big predators like lions away from them.
Get more Rhino facts here.
Interesting Hippopotamus Facts
The name Hippopotamus is Greek for 'River Horse' because they spend most of the day submerged underwater with only their eyes and nose showing.
When they bask on the shore-line their skin gets covered with an oily red substance which they produce as a moisturizer and sunblock.
They graze on over 30 pounds of grass a day or rather night as that is when it is cool enough for them to leave the water. They can travel 6-8 miles after sunset to a grazing area.
They live over 40 years and yes, they do fart through their mouths!
Hippopotamuses are bad tempered animals that should be avoided. They also have been difficult to trace - evolutionary speaking. For over 2 centuries scientists have been trying to figure out where Hippopotamuses evolved from. Interestingly enough they have this problems with whales too. Recently it has been discovered that Hippopotamuses and Whales may have a common ancestor.
"And several DNA analyses have concluded that whales and hippos in particular share a common ancestor. But some paleontologists have been reluctant to embrace the molecular findings because whereas the oldest known whales date back to more than 53 million years ago, the earliest hippos yet found are only around 15 million years old. The fossil trail of anthracotheres, however, doesn't peter out until some 41 million years ago. An anthracothere origin of hippos could thus reduce the gap between them and whales to just 12 million years. "This is the best work so far to link anthracotheres to hippos," comments fossil-cetacean expert J.G.M. (Hans) Thewissen of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. The challenge now, he adds, will be to identify anthracothere ancestors from the right time and place to bridge the remaining break between hippos and whales." From Scientific AmericanInteresting Facts About Elephants
Interesting Animal Facts: Self-Awareness and Intelligence
The Great Apes: Intelligence, News, Videos and Articles
Dolphin Intelligence, Facts, Pictures and Video
The Rhinocerous: Facts, News and Videos
Sunday, 04 November 2012
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Saving The Post Office (& P.O. Jobs)
I initially thought that the Republican Congress was obstructing economic improvement just to oppose Obama. Now I realize they just don't care about the United States and are robbing it blind. of course, to do this you have to see beyond thier words and look at thier actions AND the results of thier actions over the last 20 years (even longer but I can't explain this in detail because most of the GOP are high-school dropouts who got a GED and did a few months of community college to put on their resumes. They can barely do math much less elementary algebra but think they are smart cause a bunch of hot women of Fox News are telling them that. Yes, they are really that gullible!).
Moment of Zen - Gretchen Carlson on Postal Workers: Fox News' Gretchen Carlson has a suggestion for slow postal workers with bad attitudes.
This is economic war on US Citizens. There is NO other way to explain it.
On The GOP's & Fox news Efforts To Shut Down The Post Office: It's IN the Constitution AND can be saved easily.
EXPLANATION: "The Postal Service Is a Civic Institution, Not a Business"
Return to Sender: There's one downside to the United States becoming the only civilized nation without a postal service, but Stephen has just the solution.
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video ArchiveIMPORTANT:
1. Ben Franklin was the first Postmaster General (Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers).
2. Fox News is promoting, or news reporting, the "conservative" opinion, that several offices should be closed.
3. The future of the US Postal Service depends on swift action by congress. So the post office is being intentionally destroyed by the GOP as that's what they do. (proven here)
From Senator Bernie Sanders...
Post Offices Face Hurdles in Efforts to Diversify: WASHINGTON - Well before online bill paying was popular, the Postal Service in 2000 began operating a secure system that would have allowed it to remain the primary conduit for most Americans' monthly payments. But the Internet industry objected, and Congress successfully pressured the Postal Service to abandon it.
The same pattern has repeated several times over the last decade, with the Postal Service identifying a way to cope with the decline of traditional mail, only to have companies - and ultimately Congress - object.Postbusters: A hot new trend called bankruptcy has taken America by storm, and it's now as close as the corner mailbox.
Related: Congress ties Postal Service into knots
Nov. 1, 2012 — What does a business that has perennially been short of funds do in the happy circumstance where it begins to have surpluses available? Well, it might pay off some of its debt and put some money away for a rainy day. But then, particularly if was operating within a competitive landscape, it would take the opportunity to make heavy capital investments to upgrade its plant and otherwise modernize its operations; to look to improve its competitive position; and to examine potential new lines of business, particularly those that could leverage its existing investments.
Operating more like a business is precisely what the U.S. Postal Service has been directed to do ever since it was turned from a cabinet-level department to an independent federal agency in 1971. As the President’s Commission on the United States Postal Service commented in 2003, “The Postal Service should be maintained as a public entity, but refocused and reorganized to enhance its efficiency and adaptability in the face of an uncertain, and ultimately more competitive, future.”
In looking at the decisions the Postal Service has been forced to make since the early 2000s, however, it is almost as though the Bush Administration and successive Congresses had decided that the task was to make the Postal Service a failed business and a failed public service. The alternative hypothesis? That no one at the wheel knew what he or she was doing.
Although even a Postal Service not straightjacketed by counterproductive mandates would not have been immune from the economy-wide recession and from some of the consequences of declining first class mail volume, the singularly compressed retiree health benefit pre-funding requirement imposed on the Postal Service — as well as rules prohibiting the Postal Service from expanding into new businesses — figure heavily in the Postal Service’s recent woes: massive deficits, default on two occasions in the payment of its excessive pre-funding obligations, and, in terms of service (the only kind of dividend that this kind of business can pay to the public, its “shareholders”), the prospect of sharply constricted service.
It didn’t have to happen this way.
Important extract from the guy who can save the Post Office if yall will listen to him:
Senator Bernie Sanders...The managers' amendment that Sanders helped write strengthens the original bill by including the creation of a blue-ribbon commission to help the Postal Service develop a more entrepreneurial business model which could substantially increase revenue. A "chief innovation officer" would be created to oversee the development of new postal products and services to improve the Postal Service's financial position.
"I hope we can agree that the Postal Service needs to change and become more entrepreneurial. I hope we can also agree that in the midst of a terrible recession it makes no sense to downsize the Postal Service by tens of thousands of workers, slow mail delivery service and devastate rural communities by closing their post offices," Sanders said.
Under the managers' amendment, the Postal Service would be required to maintain regional overnight delivery standards. As a result, the Postal Service would be required to keep at least 100 mail sorting centers open that are now scheduled for closure.The Post Office creates stable jobs for educational investment to take place which is essential for long-run economic growth (currently the US is one of the dumbest countries in the world while thinking it's the smartest - with supreme confidence! That's a dangerous mix.)
Return to Sender - Phil Rubio...
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video ArchiveON TAXES:
The Family Guy Guide To How Taxes Pay To Make Your Life Worth Living (Fools!)
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The Family Guy Guide To How Taxes Pay To Make Your Life Worth Living (Fools!)
A simple explanation of why civil services and taxes (Article 1 Section 8) IS written INTO the United States Constitution...
This episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I2mfai2G0w of family guy accurately portrays the types of people in the Tea Party (The keyword to understand the Fox Cult and it's various mini cult offshoots is ANGER - Ignorance isn't a keyword because no one can think when angry anyways)
http://youtu.be/KdOd_aUlzgM Ive actually heard a redneck in Ohio say something similar about Japanese girls in college. Probably supporting Bush again... er, I mean Romney.
http://youtu.be/yy8z8Xr_G4s lol! Get the Koch Brothers reference and Stewie saying "he doesn't get sarcasm"
Lamestream Media (anyone that ignores you is "lamestream media" ... people don't realize they are acting crazy, they think they all deserve the same amount of attention.... another effect of US Disneyland Culture) http://youtu.be/w_ABZuypWHk
Note: The end of this family guy episode explains how civil services and social services came about through the Constitution. [ This is actually true for most of the fat insecure guys in the tea party (or GOP, same thing) http://youtu.be/RA3aaGY8jxY Note: Tea Party was founded by Ron Paul then became a part of Koch Strategy (TM)]
BTW, "Has The US Become a Sort of Disneyland?"
From Mike Bloomberg (an ex-Republican turned Independent)= Mayor Bloomberg: Low taxes aren’t the most important priority for business
More?
While Firefighters Battle Sandy, Romney Eyes Cuts to Firefighter Funding
In Wisconsin the policy has been to break up unions, yet the political figure the GOP idolizes supported unions as he believed removing unions would lead to a loss of freedom:
Ronald Reagan supports unions and collective bargaining in a speech from the 80s. (00:09)...
Related:
Book Review: Lies my Teachers Told Me
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in The Whitehouse
Public Employee Union vs. Wall Street Bonus Contracts...
Explanation: On the one hand the above fake Libertarian supports Wall Street contracts which for some reason are still valid although the company went bankrupt and is being bailed out BY TAXPAYERS (& being given generous bonuses with taxpayer money!) - and on the other hand he supports breaking contracts that are NOT bankrupt because the Koch Brothers want them to (especially as far as Wisconsin is concerned)
You may think that Ron Paul doesn't know this but when asked to define himself in JUST ONE WORD (during the last (?) debate in the primary) chose "Consistent" NOT "Libertarian".
[Keep in mind that if you are proved wrong but remain consistent then you are following a bad sort of consistency. If you incorporate the WHOLE truth into your approach then you have a good sort of consistency.]
From John Stossel of Fox News (a FAKE Libertarian) = "I think it will take visible riots to help people focus on this thing" (an indirect call for violence)
[Crazy GOP union positions first covered here.]
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In any case, nowadays, the "conservatives" derive their talking points from Glenn Beck who popularized Margret Thatcher's favorite book "the Road To Serfdom". Which I have updated for modern readers and the uneducated GOP-Republicans...
Summary of "Socialism", Keynesian Economics & "Road to Serfdom" (by F.A.Hayek)
----------------NOTES:
The Curious Case of How Libya Became an Election Issue http://mojo.ly/Y17Qs1
Mitt Romney Explains his present investments, in the past: "The Blind Trust is an Age Old Ruse": http://youtu.be/Q9DVKWhPibw
1. Yes, Romney's a Liar, But This is Getting Ridiculous: http://tnat.in/eTcwm
2. Mitt's FEMA etch-a-sketch: Yesterday: Let states fend for themselves. Today: Fed gov't should help states. http://trib.al/uCkmH8
3. Mitt’s useless “storm relief” http://www.salon.com/2012/10/30/romneys_unhelpful_storm_relief/ … via @Salon -
Mitt Romney's plan thus far? Taxes are increased on the poor/middle-class and decreased on the wealthy...
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-january-11-2012/moment-of-zen---john-sununu-vs--msnbc
Question: Why does Mitt Romney do so well?
Answer: Because the Republican party is more traditional than many analysts realize. With John McCain's support, the "waiting in line" torch was passed on to Mitt Romney and so he is now the unofficial 'party head'.
From CNN: "Despite the tea party’s extraordinary energy over the past year, it looks like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will win his party’s nomination. At the end of the day, Republicans are following a familiar pattern: Nominating the mainstream candidate who has waited his turn. This is the party that’s had a Bush or a Dole on its ticket for 20 years. It’s a party that also had Richard Nixon on its presidential ticket for 20 years." http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/11/zakaria-romneys-real-problem/
In other words, it would be seen has disloyal (how cute!) to many NOT to follow the traditional line of the GOP... http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/381485/april-12-2011/mitt-happens
(and they claim to be free, yet they can't think beyond what Foxnews and the GOP tells them!)
BTW, Mitt & the Republican National Committee DID this = "Mitt Romney & His Allies Cover-Up Of Ron Paul..." http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767339995/mitt-romney--his-allies-cover-up-of-ron-paul/ - BTW, notice That Romney made people sign a "Loyalty Oath"! What the hell is that! This is the 21st Century and NOT swearing in for Citizenship or Army life!
Further Learning:
Corn on MSNBC Live: Romney's Abortion Investment http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/07/corn-msnbc-romney-abortion-investment
Romney Interviewer Told She Can't Ask About Abortion or Akin http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/romney-wont-talk-about-abortion-or-akin
PROVEN: Mitt may have been pro-life and pro-helping rape victims BEFORE an election http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767618602/mitt-romney-took-bailouts--made-money-from-abortions/ ... BUT he is NEVER Pro-helping rape victims AFTER an election. - PROOF from The Huffington Post = "Mitt Romney vetoed a bill to help rape victims get abortions!" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/09/mitt-romney-contraception-veto-morning-after-pill_n_1194422.htmlMitt Romney refuses to answer questions about FEMA http://thebea.st/SsIgL5WATCH: Mitt Romney proposes gutting FEMA and leaving disaster relief to states. Or privatizing it: http://bit.ly/PJEsTnMitt Romney's dim view of FEMA may be justified—at least when his own party is in charge of it http://mojo.ly/Rw5kX4Why Romney is lying about the auto bailout: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/10/why-mitt-romney-has-turned-to-lying-about-the-auto-bailout/264298/This Week in Poverty: Bigfoot, Nessie and Paul Ryan http://billmoyers.com/2012/10/28/this-week-in-poverty-bigfoot-nessie-and-paul-ryan/Elizabeth Warren saved taxpayers $1billion: "[Her Oversight Panel made] a roughly a 100-to-1 return on investment" http://trib.al/3feeUgCompare the above to the bad investments the GOP is making. Recalling Congress may be the United States ONLY hope of economic survival.
Can you handle more?
On Mitt Romney http://explorer9360.xanga.com/759154101/on-mitt-romney/
Paul Ryan VP's Plan Is EXTREMELY Bad For Seniors
http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767251204/paul-ryans-plan-is-extremely-bad-for-seniors/
Mitt Romney Has Provided NO Proof (Zero, Nada) Of HOW He Made Money
http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767132850/mitt-romney-has-provided-no-proof-zero-nada-of-how-he-made-money/
Mitt Romney Puts "Sacred Symbols" On His Underwear!... ON HIS UNDERWEAR!!!
http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767152298/mitt-romney-puts-sacred-symbols-on-his-underwear-on-his-underwear/
Mitt Romney Has Federal Government & Federal Reserve Connections (Obviously)
http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767122772/mitt-romney-has-federal-government--federal-reserve-connections-obviously/On Health Care https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4257098378316&set=a.3052218097062.2130261.1011553247&type=1&theater
PROVEN = George Carlin Was Right About The GOP On Abortions & War! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3576171675574&set=a.3057444867728.2130372.1011553247&type=1&theater
My dance with Rupert Murdoch https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3210601616551&set=a.3057444867728.2130372.1011553247&type=3&theater
Indictments: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4228072252681&set=a.3052218097062.2130261.1011553247&type=1&theater
Thank god for taxes
Politicians treat firefighters like pawns. When my house burned down, I learned how valuable public servants can be
Midnight in Berkeley, Calif. I am standing barefoot in the middle of the street watching firefighters rush in and out of my home. My phone rings. It is my daughter, calling from a small town in Normandy, France.
“Dad,” she says. “What’s going on? I got an email from a neighbor saying our house is on fire?!”
Yes, I tell her. Our house is on fire. As I speak into the phone, I watch a chainsaw-wielding firefighter cut a hole in my roof. Two others are getting their oxygen tanks replaced.
“What happened?”
I try to shake off the shock and humiliation. I thought I had reached that point in my life when a late-night call from my children would mean they had their own disasters to report. But this catastrophe is all mine. My best guess, I tell my daughter, is that after her brother and I had grilled burgers earlier that evening, a charcoal ember had slipped through the decrepit ash-catcher underneath the grill and smoldered for hours in the wooden deck before exploding into flame.
No one was hurt, I tell her. After dinner, her brother had biked over to a friend’s house to play video games. I had gone to bed early, preparing myself for what I expected to be a very busy morning of Supreme-Court-striking-down-Obamacare news coverage the next day. But around 10:30 I’d woken up, alarmed by strange popping-and-crackling sounds.
The sight of 8-foot-high flames through the window of your back door has a strange way of seeming at once utterly surreal while at the same time forcing a burst of adrenalizing total concentration. Which is not to say that I exploded into competence. A neighbor started banging on the door, yelling: Your house is on fire! We both dialed 911 but I couldn’t seem to hit the buttons on my phone in the right order. I stumbled out of the house.
The first fire engine arrived within minutes. Six more followed in short order. A crowd gathered on the street as hoses were unfurled and axes hoisted. My next door neighbor, evacuated from her home, watched in dismay as firefighters chopped down burning sections of the fence that separated our two homes. I kept mumbling “I’m sorry” to the people standing around me. A year that hadn’t been particularly good to begin with had just taken a dishearteningly sharp swerve for the worse.
Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon. On Twitter, @koxinga21I’m a politically minded person who writes about economics, and in the days that have followed the fire I have been unable to resist the impulse to put every tendril of flame into larger context. Consider today’s crappy Weber grills, where every new model seems to degrade into obsolescence faster than the previous one, a victim of the cost pressures midwifed by Wal-Mart-style globalization. Or how about the lifesaving value of insurance, a point brought home to me as never before on the very same day that John Roberts astoundingly upheld the constitutionality of healthcare reform. (Note to mandate-haters: If my mortgage lender hadn’t required that I have home insurance, would I have plunked down that check to Farmers every one of the last 16 years?) Also of interest: prior to the fire, I had no conception of how big an economic event a disaster like mine is for other people. The hubbub of job-creating activity related to my home in the past few weeks has injected instant cash into the local economy — from Santa Rosa down to Watsonville. I am my own Keynesian-stimulus. Want to get the U.S. economy really moving? Burn everything down.
But most of all, I am emerging from this drama with a renewed appreciation for the value of my taxpayer-supported public services. The Berkeley Fire Department did right by me — not only by saving most of my house from burning to the ground, but also by demonstrating real human kindness and connection in the middle of fire and chaos. In the rubble, I found magic. And in a strange way, I feel like I deserved it. In Berkeley, we are addicted to high taxes — in the 25 years I’ve lived here, I can’t even count how many times I and my fellow citizens have said a resounding yes to yet another tax hike or bond measure. Two weeks ago, I got my money’s worth.
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I couldn’t sleep after the fire was finally squelched, tossing and turning on a neighbor’s couch. As soon as dawn broke, I had to survey the aftermath.
After destroying the backyard deck, the fire had gotten into the back wall of my house and made inroads into both the basement and the attic. The upstairs and downstairs bathrooms were destroyed. Firefighters had ripped large holes through the ceilings of the upstairs bedrooms. My son’s boxes of Lego were covered in a shroud of plaster dust. Torn strips of insulation littered the floor of my daughter’s room.
I’m an expert at turning my kitchen into a phenomenal mess, but this time I’d taken disarray to an entirely new level. As if reproaching me for my carelessness with the BBQ grill, the fire targeted with smart-bomb karmic precision nearly everything that had to do with my most cherished pastime: cooking. All my cookbooks, burned. All my kitchen appliances, from the waffle-maker to the coffeemaker to the Cuisinart, destroyed. All my BBQ tools (and I had a lot of BBQ tools): gone.
No power, water or gas. A sharp, acrid smell of smoke permeating everything. The house is unlivable, and, as I came to learn later in the day, I won’t be moving back in for six months to a year.
Of course, it all could have been much, much worse. Even as I moved from room to room in my sleep-deprived haze, hundreds of homes were burning to the ground in Colorado. Lives had been lost. Meanwhile, my possessions were mostly intact, my loved ones were safe and I had insurance.
Even before I filed my claim, the ambulance chasers started gathering. During the fire, two different men representing companies that specialized in boarding up burned homes and providing initial cleanup services handed me their business cards. The first vaguely represented himself as semi-affiliated with the fire department (“We work very closely with them”) but quickly backed down after a couple of sharp questions. (A reporter’s instincts come in handy, on occasion.) The morning after the fire, as I sat on my stoop making phone calls, a steady stream of building contractors, cleanup and restoration service reps, and no less than three different “public insurance adjusters” walked up to me and started pitching their services. I hadn’t called anyone except my insurance company, but I guess bad news travels fast.
The public insurance adjusters were the most alarming of the bunch. These were guys angling to be hired to act as a go-between who would negotiate the terms of my insurance settlement with my insurance company. For a chunk of the final settlement, they would get me a better deal, they promised. On one level, it made sense: Of course my insurance company would try to keep its costs downs. But in my underslept, emotionally vulnerable state I really didn’t need this parade of smooth-talkers telling me how badly my insurance company was going to treat me. That same morning, when I talked for the first time with the claims adjuster assigned to me by my insurance company, I was warned to watch out for the “people” who would be coming out of the woodwork to get a piece of the action. It’s as if the sharks swarming around a sinking yacht were critiquing each other’s killing techniques before settling down to their meal.
As I listened to one public insurance adjuster talk about the necessity of getting my insurance company to pay for “forensic hygienists” who would ferret out hidden smoke damage, a van arrived with three young guys sent by the insurance company to board up the house. Another truck pulled up from a fabric-restoration company, come to take away every piece of clothing and linen I owned for dry-cleaning and smoke treatment. An environmental testing company arrived to check for asbestos.
Asbestos?! I’d been rummaging through the rubble with my bare hands, looking for some family photos that had disappeared from a shelf on my upstairs landing. If there were traces of asbestos in the debris, the claims adjuster told me, nearly everything in the house would have to be declared unsalvageable. My house, more than 100 years old, was a prime suspect.
I sought solace via my iPhone and Facebook. Amost 20 years after the Internet exploded into our lives, it is still fashionable to decry social media for the emotional shallowness of virtual community, but I found my smartphone-enabled connectivity to be a desperately welcome psychological lifesaver. Overwhelmed by my immediate reality, I would post a picture of my burnt lemon tree or molten spice-grinder and friends and family scattered across the world would weigh in with support, jokes and helpful suggestions. A fight broke out over how my kitchen should be remodeled. Regular readers of mine know I have loved my iPhone ever since I purchased it, but in the wake of a disaster, it became almost inconceivably useful. It was my virtual office, my camera, my notebook, my library. Keeping its battery charged has become my prime daily logistical challenge.
During one Facebook conversation that day, my daughter chimed in again from France, asking if her scrapbook had made it through the fire unscathed. She had spent her junior year of high school in France, and upon her return, devoted many, many hours to creating an illustrated record of her year abroad that was as intricate and elaborate as a medieval bible. She said she had left it on the floor of her room, but when I eyeballed the bedroom I couldn’t find it. I didn’t search too hard. After learning about the possibility of asbestos contamination, I wasn’t too eager to sift through the piles of broken plaster heaped on the floor of her room.
Two days later, my house got a clean bill of health from the testing company. I revisited her room. As I looked through the debris I became increasingly alarmed and frustrated. Not only couldn’t I find the scrapbook, but the precious family pictures were also nowhere to be found.
It’s one thing to lose your blender and copy of “The Joy of Cooking” and giant philodendron because of a disaster caused by a grill fire gone awry. A bummer, but hey, my bad. That’s what Amazon and insurance money is for. But to lose my daughter’s scrapbook was unconscionable. True dereliction of duty. Bad, bad parenting.
I felt increasingly flustered, on the edge of tears. Desperate, I started opening the drawers of my daughter’s dresser, though there was no reason why she would have put her scrapbook there.
Drawer after drawer was empty, scoured clean by the fabric restoration company. Until I reached the last drawer, at the bottom left-hand side of the dresser. And there, carefully protected from the fire and the smoke and the water and the dust, I saw, to my amazed delight, not just the scrapbook, but also all the family photos that had gone missing.
The more I think about this the more amazed I become. The firefighters told me that the fire had been an especially tricky one; they’d had to play whack-a-mole as it darted through the back wall from the basement to the attic. They were operating in the dark, in an old wooden house — just a few days earlier, a similar house had caught fire and the owner had died before the firefighters could get to her. Yet somehow, in the midst of all that madness, one of the firefighters had had the presence of mind and sensitivity to gather together some items that obviously held emotional significance for my family.
Was it the same guy who came out of the house with my Macbook and told me that he had put the charger underneath a tarp over the coffee table “because I know what a bitch it is to get those replaced”? I don’t know. Was it the investigator who later attempted to console me by telling me that what I had done was not “a criminal act”?
“You made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes. Hell, I once burned down my own barn, when a trash fire got out of control.”
I don’t know.
What I do know is that as I stared down at my daughter’s scrapbook, nestled next to a picture of my mother and grandfather, the tears started to flow for real. I was sandbagged by a sense of real human connection. For what seems like a lifetime I’ve been immersed in political warfare in which public sector workers — our teachers, our police officers, our firefighters — have become little more than proxies for partisan bickering. When we read about the bankruptcy of San Bernardino, Calif., someone is sure to point out the firefighter who is pulling down $150,000 grand, or complain about the cost of pension obligations. When we look at public sector layoffs, someone else immediately launches into a lecture about how government austerity is crimping economic growth. Mitt Romney tells us that the “lesson” of Wisconsin is that Americans don’t want to pay for any more teachers or firefighters or police officers and Democrats pounce. Obama’s last budget would cut federal support for firefighting services, but not by as much as the most recent House appropriations bill. The International Association of Firefighters claims that government cutbacks will result in thousands more layoffs nationwide. Republicans shrug — the IAFF is another Obama-supporting union.
And so the bullshit battle rages! Far too often, we’re forgetting what our public servants do. All I can think about, right now, is that even while risking his or her life to beat back the flames, a Berkeley firefighter took time out to make my daughter smile.
That firefighter deserves a raise. Put it on my next ballot, please.
Saturday, 03 November 2012
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US Deficit Solution (With Growth Built In)
The deficit problem in the United States was created by unfunded wars and allowing robber barons (of Laize-Faire Capitalism) to run free in a way that was unconstitutional. The US economy is geared towards war. To switch the US economy back to non-war ventures is going to take effort and money. Simply stopping spending will spell financial disaster for everything but the war machine ('warfare state' as Ron Paul calls it). Greece has a welfare state with retirement age at 52 and tax evasion it's main problem. The US has a warfare state. War is more expensive than health. Below is the simple solution to cut the budget quickly and freeing up resources for economic growth.
Currently the economy is 'going in the right direction' but it could be better if it wasn't for GOP-Republican obstructionism, who also stopped Guantanamo from closing and are probably the genesis behind this crazy drone policy.
Basically, Obama is a coward and is even following the BUSH TIMETABLE FOR WITHDRAWAL. (The GOP wants to send troops back into Iraq but it didn't poll well so they shut up. Ridiculously.).Here is what is going on:
From Fox News:
The congressman said resolving the debt ceiling issue "is crucial for our place in the world economic system," adding that he's open to all ideas to balance the budget. One option the Washington Democrat is proposing is letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire. "The deficit would go down by $533 billion," he said. "So, there are a lot of ways we can get there."
Why is it so difficult to resolve this simple economic issue? The problem is ideology NOT economics...
The old Republicans used to be sensible. Then they got old. Problem is they brought up a bunch of 'old' children as well, stuck in ideology and not aware of the facts the way Republican's used to be. [For example: My grandparents lived through the Great Depression which was so traumatic that they adopted, a 'great depression' perspective. Always worried, accumulating everything they can, wanting things not to change etc. They will often accept ideas from certain authoritative sources just because they have for a long time.]Extract:
"It used to be that conservatism was a hard-headed set of ideas rooted in reality.
Unlike the abstract theories of Marxism and socialism, it started not from an imagined society, but from the world as it actually exists.
"This is the way things work," conservatives would patiently explain to wooly headed liberal professors. "Whatever you may want it to look like, this is what it really looks like."
But consider the debates over the economy these days. The Republican prescription is cut taxes - slash government spending, then things will always bounce back.
Now, I would like to see lower tax rates in the context of simplification and reform, but what is the actual evidence that massive tax cuts are the single best path to revive the U.S. economy? Taxes as a percentage of GDP are at their lowest levels since 1950. The U.S. is among the lowest taxed of the big industrial economies.
So the case that America is grinding to a halt because of high taxation is not based on facts, either past or present. It is simply a theoretical assertion.
The rich countries after all are in the best shape right now with strong growth and low unemployment are ones like Germany, Denmark and Canada - none characterized by low taxes."
The problem with the conservatives is that since Nixon they have been focusing on a political strategy that makes thier base dumber. Even the textbooks in Texas (a source of National Textbooks) have become so dumbed down that when you couple that with the continuous increase in child abuse under GOP rule... must be intentional. There is no other way to explain it.
----------------
In any case, nowadays, the "conservatives" derive their talking points from Glenn Beck who popularized Margret Thatcher's favorite book "the Road To Serfdom". Which I have updated for modern readers and the uneducated GOP-Republicans...
Summary of "Socialism", Keynesian Economics & "Road to Serfdom" (by F.A.Hayek)
----------------
More proof that the economic debate in the States is an ideological debate - i.e. watch the following talk between the economists on whether we should have jobs vs. whether we should be budgeting (I know I'm biased, but that sounds like my Grandparents... sensible for an individual in dire economic times but not for an economy/country). With jobs for our youth there will be a boost in demand driven by greater income. Add technological boosts and new/small business boosts and the demand in the country's economy will be even greater - i.e. we can think innovatively and succeed with the resources that we have.Notice where it says 'in my judgement' in the following quote - another proof that this is an ideological debate...
"STOCKMAN: Yes. That's the dilemma that we're in. We're in a deflationary cycle. We can't afford to borrow more. We can't afford to create artificial demand and artificial employment. And so, therefore, we're likely to have unemployment in the teens for the balance of the teens, that is, for a decade or more.
That's the mess that we have created after 30 years of, you know, tax giveaways and lack of control on entitlements and running this massive $800 billion war budget that we don't need and can't afford. It sounds like very harsh medicine, but it happens to be reality. We cannot borrow our way out of this one, in my judgment. We're now facing the day of reckoning, literally."
Here is another direct quote (notice that what this Republican economist thinks should be done is an ideological perspective NOT an economic one {i.e. he is using metaphor of personal budgeting for understanding an economy)...
"Two years ago, Greece was borrowing two-year money at 3 percent. This morning, they're borrowing at 30 percent. There reaches a point when the bond market is no longer willing to tolerate the kind of fiscal irresponsibility we have, and I think we're very close to that, and it is very foolish to run a risk of trying to find out how much longer we can go on with this before the reaction sets in.
So, yes, I agree it would be nice if we could afford to spend money to put people to work or put money in people's pockets, although I don't think that's a good public policy. But we can't afford it. Literally, we are broke. Literally, we are at the edge of a financial calamity and we have to get beyond the idea that there is always enough balance sheet left to borrow some more money until we get to economic conditions that are more to our liking. The conditions that we have are the ones that we have to cope with, and that, unfortunately, is the fact of life today."
It is a fact of life for people. Economies function on different principles as my new REAL Economics blog will make clear. this post is just to make it clear that raising the debt ceiling an creating more opportunities and jobs VS. the current GOP leader's 'budgeting' approach to a country's economic system is an ideological one NOT an economic one.
Note on Greece-USA Economics Comparison: In short, it can't be done. It's a Fox News tactic to spread fear. First, the Greek problem comes from Tax Evasion (a problem compounded by help from Goldman Sachs) while the USA's main problem is unfunded wars with an economy geared just for war. Second, The US economy is still strong. it just need to be put back on track. Unfortunately, the GOP-Republicans are DETERMINED to stop that from happening. For various reasons.
Proofs for image above:
1. [Long Version] Political Nonsense of the Debt Ceiling "Debate"
2. Recalling Congress, Credit Rating Agencies, ECON 101 & Expectations
3 From Bernie Sanders "Republican's and thier revenue sources own 90% of media."
4. The Financial Crisis - Commentary by PBS (Frontline) and The Daily Show
5. A study of effects of words on culture and society... (How Karl Rove started (and adds fuel to) Obama's "Anti-Christ" problem. NOTE: The UK doesn't realize how crazy it is in the States. They stand in line during riots, how can they understand the US?
6. IN Wisconsin the policy has been to break up unions, yet the political figure the GOP idolizes supported unions as he believed it would lead to a loss of freedom...Ronald Reagan supports unions and collective bargaining in a speech from the 80s. (00:09)
7. On the one hand this fake Libertarian supports Wall Street contracts which for some reason are still valid although the company went bankrupt and is being bailed out BY TAXPAYERS - and on the other hand he supports breaking contracts that are NOT bankrupt (get it?)... Public Employee Union vs. Wall Street Bonus Contracts
Explanation on Why Spending is Important for ANY Economy: That spending is good for an economy shouldn't be debatable. If you have a business and nobody buys your stuff (i.e. if no spending occurs) you will make no money. This is basic economics, even George Bush wanted people to spend to boost the economy, he just wanted it to be ALL on consumer spending while the Government focuses it's spending on war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The debate should be instead on WHAT FORM OF SPENDING SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT. I support peaceful spending activities (done properly, transparently and efficiently), while the GOP and the Paul Ryan Plan goes the other way.
There are two quick and easy solutions for deficit spending that Barack Obama CAN implement...
1. Why Ron Paul's Plan of Cutting 5 Departments/Cabinet-Posts Is Reasonable (saving 1 trillion).
&
2. Base reduction i.e. we have 900 bases 150 different countries - We have enough weapons to destroy world 25 times!
(Don't be silly. Nobody needs 900 military bases if they aren't already at war. This is just nuts ESPECIALLY WHEN WE HAVE REAL PROBLEMS - cut at-least 50% of bases and you got enough cash left over to use to jump-start the US economy, the global economy AND start moving towards a sustainable future. The trillion dollar cuts above remain untouched - at least that's how I envision it.)
"Let the record show that on January 16, 2012, the good people of South Carolina booed the Golden Rule." ― Jon Stewart. Indecision 2012
BTW, I like how we CAN fight the Government with the NDAA but we couldn't fight Bush-Cheney cause it was secret.
Links for more on the US Warfare State
Proof of Paul Ryan's Corruption And Thus The Reason For His Lies
The Paul Ryan Plan Leads To War
"God's Muslim Warriors: Iran" & The Results of Bad Foreign Policy.(The unfunded wars)
Satire (truths in joke form) video clip proofs...
On Health Care
Republicans, Leukemia Team Up To Repeal Health Care Law: "If anyone's angrier than Republicans that children can't be denied for having preexisting conditions, it's leukemia."
Here's a tribute to a few Republican senators who find comfort and advantage in invoking the heroes of 9/11 but refuse to give them health care.
Republicans Block 9/11 Health Care Bill: Republican senators refuse to vote on the 9/11 health care bill until wealthy Americans receive an engraved notification that their taxes won't go up.
General Fox News Incitement...
1. Bill O'Reilly Defends His Nazi Analogies
2. 24 Hour Nazi Party People
3. Glen Beck's Nazi Tourette's Syndrome
4. Glenn Beck agrees with the CIA... that Osama should attack America!!!! (i.e. Glenn Beck advocates killing US Citizens to get his way)
5. From John Stossel of Fox News (a FAKE Libertarian) = "I think it will take visible riots to help people focus on this thing" (an indirect call for violence)
Scorn in the U.S.A. It must be tough for Republicans to love America so much but hate almost three-quarters of the people living in it.
Moment of Zen - Rick Perry on Iraq: Rick Perry explains why U.S. troops should go back to Iraq, during a Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire.
Thursday, 13 September 2012
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Ambassador Stevens, Libya, Hillary Clinton & Middle-East Foreign Policy
"ONE OF THE SADDEST DAYS IN MY LIFE." http://on.cnn.com/Sd7XKX That’s what a Libyan Ambassador told me about losing his friend U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens in the attack in Libya.
BBC World Have Your Say BBC World News CNN iReport The White House
Hillary, one section of your speech was awful (telling people we/us have 'free speech so we can't block a video, killing is not the answer' it was condescending to the Muslim world especially when Afghanistan and Iraq were invaded ... with complementary genocide and war crimes against humanity based on JUST a speech by George Bush & NO investigation! - the fake one the Bush and Cheney held before doesn't count for anything = http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-20-2011/accountability-in-the-u-k---david-cameron-kills-it ). (second half of this Daily Show video)
1. Yes, killing for any reason NOT involving self-defense is unIslamic....
2. If an idiot is rude that doesn't constitute on attack on Muslims... UNLESS thier faith is so WEAK that words become an attack.
3. The US has no moral authority to say anything. The millions killed after 9/11 WAS based on JUST a speech. No investigation.
[i.e. "The World Trade Center's Cross Has Demolition Cuts On It! It must be from WTC 7!" http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767756955/9-11-the-world-trade-centers-cross-has-demolition-cuts-on-it-it-must-be-from-wtc-7/ ]
Note: What happens in illiterate cultures where action is taken WITHOUT an investigation (where people read the Quran in a language that they don't know AND then claim to know what the Quran says). Yall know what punishment the Quran advocates for that behavior... BUT "Those who act kindly in this world will have kindness." Qur'an 39.10
What happened in Libya is an example of illiterate people following an illiterate (or bad/evil) Religious dude. Islam supports killing ONLY in SELF-DEFENSE. #LIBYA If you are so insecure in your faith that you kill random people for the sins of others. Get a life.
Bill Moyers part of the problem in this crazy video incitement incident is missionarism. In the missionaries there is the belief that everyone not included in thier faith ARE going to hell anyways. To listen to such people in the first place is wrong. To give them a channel (Fox News) has to be a crime against humanity and all faiths & religions.
Related Quranic verses for religious tolerance (& simultaneously prove that missionaryism is NOT a part of Islam. Living your faith as an example to all is. Unfortunately the Muslim world is in a dark age (since the 13th Century). Illiterates and bad people tell lies about Islam - ON BOTH SIDES - this is just ANOTHER SHAM DEBATE:
Surah Al-Ma'idah verse 48 states:
"If Allah so willed, he would have made you a single People, but his plan is to test each of you separately, in what He has given to each of you: so strive in all virtues as in you are in a race. The goal of all of you is to Allah. It is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute." (The Quran 5:48)
Surah Al-Ankabut verse 46 states:
"And dispute not with the People of the Book, except with means better than mere disputation, unless I be with those of them who inflict wrong and injury, but say to them: "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him that we bow." (The Quran 29:46)
Note: Seeking to convert others, or being desirous of converting others, is a missionary attitude NOT a Muslim one... i.e.
"There is no compulsion in religion" (Quran 2:256)Explanation of Socio-Cultural Context:
The Muslims are living in a Dark Age since the Mongols destroyed thier civilization in the 13th Century. Most people haven't read the Quran in thier own language (or don't know how to read), thus Muslims often act like fundamentalist Christians (such as killing gay people in Iraq - That's from the Old Testament... NOT a book for Muslims. Some the army must have made friends with locals and managed to find a common thing to hate, i.e. gay people, like I said before, most Muslims are illiterate they probably don't even know that hating gay people is part of Leviticus while showing kindness, mercy and compassion is Islamic see quotes below).
The reason why Islam is supposed to be more tolerant than Christianity is simply because the Muslims have been told, "There is no compulsion in religion" (2:256)
The problems in the Muslim regions stem from their history (not covered in western media, so I'll get to it later), lack of literacy and economic disparity. Another problem, addressed here, is that in reaction to Christianity's increase in prostylization there has been a Muslim backlash (to a very small extent, i.e. comparatively).
So, now, many Muslims actually believe it is their duty to go out and 'convert' when in reality it is their duty to learn and then teach ('the knowledge of Allah').
The following illustrates this dichotomy:
The above image is a common theme among believers of all faiths who are insecure or illiterate and misled.
What's wrong with the above image/points:
‎1. There is a vacuum in space, so no sound can reach the moon from here.
2. For there to be lights only in two places in Arabia there would have to be a worldwide blackout (we would have heard about it) - This is what the earth looks like at night...
Note: Seeking to convert others, or being desirous of converting others, is a missionary attitude not a Muslim one... i.e. "There is no compulsion in religion" (Quran 2:256)
Related Quranic verses encouraging religious tolerance:
Surah Al-Ma'idah verse 48 states:
If Allah so willed, he would have made you a single People, but his plan is to test each of you separately, in what He has given to each of you: so strive in all virtues as in you are in a race. The goal of all of you is to Allah. It is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute. (The Quran 5:48)Surah Al-Ankabut verse 46 states:
And dispute not with the People of the Book, except with means better than mere disputation, unless I be with those of them who inflict wrong and injury, but say to them: "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him that we bow." (The Quran 29:46)We tend to notice differences more than similarities when encountering other races or cultures. Yet we(the human race) have more in common than most people realize. A citizen of any country wants economic prosperity, peaceful conditions to live and raise a family, entertainment, freedom of choice and so on.
Governments come and go but the basic morality and compassion of the people remain the same through out the ages. Unless acted upon by an outside force. Be it invasion, famine, propaganda, despotism or revolution.
Guidance from The Holy Quran: The golden rule, kindness, mercy, compassion...
Those who act kindly in this world will have kindness.
Islam. Qur'an 39.10
God enjoins justice, kindness, and charity to one's kindred, and forbids indecency, abomination, and oppression. He admonishes you so that you may take heed.
Islam. Qur'an 16.90
If you efface and overlook and forgive, then lo! God is forgiving, merciful.
Islam. Qur'an 64.14
Happy is the person who finds fault with himself instead of finding fault with others.
Islam. Hadith
Let there be no compulsion in religion
Islam Qur'an 2:256
Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.
Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 13
If you efface and overlook and forgive, then lo! God is forgiving, merciful.
Islam. Qur'an 64.14
Better and more rewarding is God's reward to those who believe and put their trust in Him: who avoid gross sins and indecencies and, when angered, are willing to forgive... Let evil be rewarded by like evil, but he who forgives and seeks reconciliation shall be rewarded by God. He does not love the wrongdoers.... True constancy lies in forgiveness and patient forbearance.
Islam. Qur'an 42.36-43
On Honesty:
O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it concerns rich or poor: for God can best protect both. Follow not the lusts of your hearts lest you swerve, and if you distort justice or decline to do justice, verily God is well-acquainted with all that you do.
Islam. Qur'an 4.135
Related Blog Posts... with even more explanations of religion and scripture...
"God's Christian Warriors" & The Beginning Of The End For Christianity?
"God's Jewish Warriors" & The Future Of Israel...
"God's Muslim Warriors: Iran" & The Results of Bad Foreign Policy...
Using "The Middle Path" (Buddhist Philosophy) For Peace Of Mind.
Cultural Comparison...
Image From: OccupyMARINESBBC World Have Your Say CNN iReport
Basically, at issue in the US debate on gay marriage is property rights. The idea is that if two people build a business together (which many marriages are like) then if one partner dies, whether the other one has rights to property accumulated.The sham debate sides are:
1. A quote from Leviticus (Old Testament) against gay people which ALSO forbids pork, unshaven faces, mixing two different types of cloth and wearing it (such as mixing cotton with polyester or something like that) and tattoos i.e. this is just the GOP incitement people, like that idiot who made that video to incite the Muslims, for political gain. Also called "divisive politics".
2. Clear hypocrisy against the Christian OWN faith, as is supposed to be, IF they were following the commandment of Jesus. [i.e. "God's Christian Warriors" & The Beginning Of The End For Christianity? http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767523106/gods-christian-warriors--the-beginning-of-the-end-for-christianity/ ]
Note: Mitt Romney is a Mormon. Mormons are in a war against gay people (Romney LITERALLY used to molest them, though not in a Biblical way, maybe) AND they seem to be in control of lots of the US media and the "debate" on religion. The US is in danger of getting taken over by someone who is the leader of a REAL cult! [i.e. Disturbing - & Covered Up - Information On Mitt Romney's Beliefs. http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767339071/disturbing----covered-up---information-on-mitt-romneys-beliefs/] -This is proven with the fact that they have a religious rank of "Apostle" http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/organisation/priesthood.shtml... that's crazy. Think about it. Someone like Romney with his non-existent background (hiding his taxes & when exactly he left Bain), without a 9/11 investigation having taken place (as The Daily Paul pointed out recently as well = http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767857300/from-the-daily-paul-911-as-told-by-karl-rove-write-in-ron-paul-or-vote-democrat-only/) ... in-charge of Foreign Policy, the Economy AND the Army! That's crazy.A look towards the future (a danger is real economic terms, for EVERYONE)...
Proofs for image above:1. [Bot Bites] The GOP Are Messing With The Economy Just To Get Obama! http://explorer9360.xanga.com/759642881/bot-bites-the-gop-are-messing-with-the-economy-just-to-get-obama/2. [Long Version] Political Nonsense of the Debt Ceiling "Debate" http://explorer9360.xanga.com/758931792/case-study-political-nonsense-of-the-debt-ceiling-debate/A simple deficit reduction solution for the USA...
There are two quick and easy solutions for deficit spending that Barack Obama CAN implement...
1. Why Ron Paul's Plan of Cutting 5 Departments/Cabinet-Posts Is Reasonable.
&
(Don't be silly. Nobody needs 900 military bases if they aren't already at war. This is just nuts ESPECIALLY WHEN WE HAVE REAL PROBLEMS )
BTW, "The
#GOP Used 9/11 & The Emotions It Generated...TO MAKE MONEY!" http://explorer9360.xanga.com/767757503/911-the-gop-used-911--the-emotions-it-generated-to-make-money/
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- Name: explorer9360
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- Birthday: 9/27/1976
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