Hitchens & Sharpton / Unconstitutionality / West Bank "purge"

Below you will find a link to a debate between Christopher Hitchens and Al Sharpton on the existence of God and the authority of religion.   Hitch is brilliant as always in his critique of religion, but I was especially impressed with what he said regarding Israel.  I believe he talks about that in part 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvbeLhExaas&feature=related

It is highly unconstitutional for the States to fund efforts to settle the West Bank in an effort to fulfill prophecy and bring on armageddon. For starters, if you already know what the "prophecy" is, then it isn't all that magical for you to fulfill it. Secondly, America has separation of church and state and therefore can not legally use taxpayers money to fund a foreign crusade like that.

It's one thing to support our ally...it's quite different to support kicking poor, desperate and uneducated people off their land just because old books say we should. They aren't the amalakites.

Also, here is a paraphrased version of something Hitch said during the debate regarding human progress.

‎"Where alchemy ends, chemistry begins. Where astrology ends, astronomy begins."

I would also add the following :  Where superstition ends....our future begins.   Only by letting go of primitive and familiar beliefs can we ever hope to evolve as a species.

C.K.

Hitchens is dead

This past Thursday, December 15th 2011, brought a heart-breaking headline, although it was somewhat expected.   Christopher Hitchens, one of the most intelligent and controversial writers in the world passed away after a lengthy fight against the odds.  After a life of chain smoking, drinking and other vices, he finally succumbed to cancer, yet offered no regrets for his choice of lifestyle which hastened his demise.  I think his only regret was not having more time to spend with his family...and possibly not being able to debate religion again.   He said publicly that he wouldn't change anything if he could do it all over again.

Never before has one person transformed and galvanized my opinions on such a wide variety of issues.  He will be dearly missed.   On the bright side however, I do feel that his death will bring his work to the surface even more, hopefully reaching people who would've never heard of him or challenged their beliefs before.

Hitch was sometimes arrogant and aggressive in his views, but a deep and reaching legacy is now his for all time.  There are a million pieces online eulogizing Mr. Hitchens and I think it's fair to say I can't give a very good or accurate rendition of the man's life.  But he certainly changed mine.  :)   R.I.P.

Below are two quotes of Hitch speaking about Mother Teresa and religion.   Controversial yet true no matter how uncomfortable to challenge convention.

"[Mother Teresa] was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction." - 


“Religion is man-made. Even the men who made it cannot agree on what their prophets or redeemers or gurus actually said or did.” -


** photo and quotes taken from : http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/12/201112169397371919.html




C.K.

Stem Cell Research / Sam Harris / Gaddafi : Endgame

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LpIeJSkLEg&feature=related

Above is a link to a lecture given by Sam Harris, entitled The End of Faith.  Which is also the title of one of his many books I believe.   He delves into the "logic" behind arguments against stem cell research, which shows such amazing promise for our species.  This video obviously also deals with religion and it's impact on the human brain and the world, by shining light on important subjects such as the preaching in Africa that condoms are essentially evil.  I would say that helping contribute to the further spread of aids and the deaths of millions, is not only immoral, but also criminal.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is an excellent documentary series done by the Al Jazeera network entitled "Gaddafi : Endgame".

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/gaddafitheendgame/2011/12/201112874023937788.html

It follows the Libyan ppl as they were rising against the late Libyan dictator and shows things from the perspective of those fighting for their freedom.

   

C.K.

Largest Black Hole yet / Earth-like planet confirmed / Assange wins right to appeal

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/12/05/new_black_hole_discovery_uc_berkley_scientists_find_largest_black_hole_yet.html

Above is a link to an article about astronomers finding the largest black-hole to date.  A super-massive BH that weighs as much as 21 billion times the weight of our sun.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, an earth-like planet has been confirmed about 600 light-years away with an average temperature of 22 degrees celcius.  It would be a perfect candidate to host liquid water, although it is not yet known if the planet is made of mainly liquid, rock or gas.

Article here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16040655

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/11/02/wikileaks_founder_loses_extradition_appeal.html

Above is an update on Julian Assange and his attempts to remain in Britain, so he is not extradited to Sweden where he can be questioned for alleged sexual assault (but mainly because the U.S. will likely try to bring him to the States to face charges)

I don't have much sympathy for Mr. Assange, even if he is innocent of the charges in Sweden. Sure, his group helped to promote more transparency in governments...but they also directly contributed to the deaths of soldiers and under-cover operatives by releasing troop positions/strategies and secret information on spies working abroad.

Also.... despite the millions of classified documents released, I can't think of any huge names that have been exposed or any big cases brought against ppl for their crimes. Maybe I just haven't heard about them?   Still I have to ask myself was it worth it?? 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally is an article by Dr Michio Kaku, giving an update on the neutrinos that seemed to out-race a beam of light.  

http://bigthink.com/ideas/41222

‎"A couple of months ago, physicists at CERN, Switzerland, claimed they had found a fatal flaw in Einstein's theory of relativity........... After some criticism, they refined their experiments this week, made more precise measurements, and still confirmed their original findings. "

This is pretty huge, although it all does seem to come down to the GPS (which uses relativity itself, to calculate the differences in time between earth and space).  Apart from possibly punching a hole in much of Einstein's theory, if relativity is wrong, so is string theory and the possibility of other dimensions/universes is diminished.

C.K.

Anti - American sentiment - West is not to blame for Islamic extremists

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBxj-uhKx4I&feature=related

Above is a link to another very good clip by Christopher Hitchens in debate, when he is accused of supporting the United States' "crimes" in Iraq and elsewhere, while his opponent is basically saying the West is to blame for creating terrorists.

Hitch schools this poor bastard as usual, giving a razor sharp rebuttal on how this is absolutely untrue.  He can be somewhat hard to follow at times because he's so hyper-articulate and intelligent, but the last few minutes are such and important and accurate reflection of my own thoughts on us in the West....and the people who seem to jump on the bandwagon against this.

Below is Hitch again in an interview, explaining why it was right to invade Iraq.   There, of course, are many different sides to every story, but Christopher Hitchens seems to cover most of them....at the same time.  :)

Get well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E96-2BftzGE&feature=related



C.K.