The recent hurricanes and gasoline issues are proof of the existence of a new chemical element. A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named Governmentium (Gv)- it has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every action with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause an action that would normally take less than a second to take over four days to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 4 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each re-organization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass. When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium - an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

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I lost my faith in mainstream religion when I was 11 in 1969.

This article is a little naive.  I think this is a pretty good article when you realize that it was written by young teens for teens.  The whole finding other Spirituality means you turn from God is a little unnerving.  I just thought it was cool to see younger people being aware of these types of issues.

L

Have the Youth Lost Faith?

Why are some young people turning their back on God and the religion they were born into? Young reporters from Headliners investigate why a growing number of young people seem to be losing faith.

Headliners reportersLondon is possibly the most multi-cultural city in the world with millions of people from different cultures, races and religions living next door to each other. But young people here still have different views on religion, and for some it’s become a cause for concern. There seems to be a growing number of young people, our friends included, who are converting from one religion to another, or at least thinking about it.

Sarah, 18, from Croydon is one young person who has already started moving in the opposite direction to God: “I don’t believe in God and there are many, many reasons why. I used to be a Catholic and I lost faith when I was 14. At that time I was such a strong Catholic. And then suddenly the more I was learning about it the more I didn’t like it. I remember reading passages from the Bible that were full of really disturbing stuff. One passage I read was one of the most revolting things you will ever read about incest between a father and daughter. I would go to church and listen to the readings but I didn’t like what the priest was saying. It felt wrong in my heart. It was almost offending me to be there in his presence. So, that’s when I started thinking about other religions.”

She says her family, who are very strict Catholics, didn’t support her decision. “I told my mum I was changing to Wiccan and was reading books on the subject to find out more. My mum wouldn’t speak to me for a very long time and she banned me from reading books about it. She got a priest to come to my house and she was crying and crying.”

Wiccan is a magical tradition, which contains aspects of ceremonial magic and ritual, spirituality and mysticism and those who believe in it celebrate the changing seasons, the phases and power of the Moon and Sun, and a Goddess and God. We never knew there was a religion like this and we all thought at first that it meant Sarah was a Goth and believed in the devil. But she was just a normal teenager just like us, she dressed the same and acted the same.

Not all young people who have questioned their religion have had such a difficult time with their families. James, 16, is a friend of Sarah’s and says “my family is pretty open minded about stuff. We all realise that we have the right as individuals to believe in what we want and it’s never really come up as a strong topic.”

He told us how he started questioning his faith. “I was a fairly strong Christian and believed in the Bible stories. And then I grew up and became a bit more independent. I had some experiences as well which kind of changed me and made me look into spiritualism. I ended up completely disowning Christianity and changing from being a strong Christian into a Spiritualist but eventually that also faded out. I am still not sure what to believe in but I do believe there are ghosts and things like that.”

14-year old Yosieph says he believes in God but would think about changing his religion, “I have been brought up in a Catholic atmosphere but I doubt my religion because things in the world are never peaceful and if God existed he would make it a better place. I don’t agree with the Catholic way and I would think about changing my religion. The last time I went to mass my parents forced me, and this isn’t right because I like to make my own decisions and be independent. I think young people change religions because they are influenced by their peers or because they don’t think their religion is all it’s cracked up to be.”

So, if young people are turning against God, what are they turning to? Sarah says she’s got different beliefs and hasn’t settled on anything in particular yet. “I have changed my faith about four or five times. I like to think I am a mixture of four things; part Roman Catholic, part Wiccan, and part Spiritualist and the last part of me is Absurdist. Spiritualist is when you believe in ghosts and Absurdist is my own theory on what God is.”

We asked Sarah why she believed in so many different things and she says it’s because she is still confused. “I doubt the whole thing. Whatever I have put faith into hasn’t worked out for me and that is why I have been searching through different religions for something that feels true to me. I shouldn’t do it but I am picking the best bits out of each one and making up a whole new religion. I’ll just keep changing until I find something I strongly believe in. Next year I’ll probably find a fifth one to add to my collection. Who knows?”

And what about James? “I will eventually start believing in something, I hope. I don’t think I am going to completely flip and go for something completely different, I just think I will develop.”

We always hope that our friends will support us but both Sarah and James had a difficult time getting their friends to accept their new beliefs. “My old friends were strong Christians and when I started wearing pentagrams, which is the Wiccan sign, we had a huge argument in the Biology classroom and my friend was saying ‘Why don’t you believe in God?’ That was a huge thing. But my new friends in college accept it,” says Sarah.

“I had a really close friend and we’d always talk about religion and she’d try to, in a way, in her words, ’save me’ and bring me back to Christianity. She couldn’t do it so I ended up losing her as a best friend. It was upsetting for me.”

We were surprised when we met Sarah because we knew she believed in wiccan-or-witch/">Wicca and we thought she would be wearing all black. She wasn’t what we thought she was going to be. It shows that you should never judge a person before you have met them.

But not all young people want to change their religion. Bana, 12, from London, says “I believe in God because I am a Christian and I don’t doubt my religion because my family is Christian and I was brought up like that. I believe that God created the world. I would not change my religion, even if my friends did, because I like to make my own decisions. Some young people who want to change their religion don’t realise that other people might be happy with the religion they are born into.”

And Amon, 10, agrees: “I believe in Christianity and I have no doubts about it. But I think I would be happy with whatever religion I was born into. But I think some religions cause problems, because sometimes people from one religion are racist against people from another religion.”

It seems there is great conflict in the minds of some young people who want to or have changed religions, as it can completely change your lifestyle and your relationship with your family and friends. One idea could be for councils or youth groups to run courses for young people who need to know the truth about their religion and others. Otherwise the youth of this generation might grow up in a time of great religious confusion. Whatever happens we must all remember that whether you’ve changed religions or whether you haven’t it is always important to respect other religions and not to stereotype people.

Check out more at http://www.headliners.org/storylibrary/stories/2007/Have+the+Youth+Lost+Faith.htm?id=86598241262756228

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I found this interesting.  It seems that some people belive that freedom of religion means only their religion.  Don’t they get on your nerves.  I get real tired of them.

Loki

Wiccan symbol at Nativity scene damaged by vehicle

7:27 AM EST, December 11, 2007

OLEAN, N.Y. - Police are investigating vandalism aimed at a symbol of the Wiccan religion set up next to a Nativity scene in front of city hall.

Officials in this city 60 miles south of Buffalo say someone in a pickup truck backed over the Wiccan pentacle around 10:15 p.m. Monday, then sped off.

The pentacle, a pentagram within a circle, was placed last weekend near the Nativity scene Olean Mayor David Carucci allowed to be set up outside city hall last month.

Some Olean residents complained that placing the Nativity scene on government property raised issues over the separation of church and state. Carucci responded by allowing members of other faiths to display their symbols on city property during special times of celebration.

The pentacle was then set up by April Garlow, a Wiccan.

To find out more

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny–symbolvandalized1211dec11,0,3764475.story

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California recently outlawed plastic bags. I learned that this was a great idea because few of us understand the environmental problem presented by plastic bags. I have shared the California law with many around here including friends and grocery store clerks. For the most part I get stares of disbelief, some questioning my sanity probably afraid that I am one of those environmental kooks you read about.

I found this blog Save Our Planet One Bag at a Time . The writers of this blog explain things much better than I ever hoped to, possibly due to my poor communication skills.

If we want to save oil, doing something about this problem will help. I don’t know if the price of gas will go down (gas prices are high for those who have not noticed) but it can’t hurt. The more bags we don’t use the longer gas will be around and that must be a positive thing (maybe, maybe not?).

Bottom line is that dependence on oil and oil products keeps our country in the Middle East and keeps us neck deep in Middle East politics. I am pretty sure that this is not a good thing.

Using recyclable bags might actually be a good thing. It can’t hurt. The only problem is that it is inconvenient and most of us don’t like a little inconvenience. I know I don’t.

I have not made a move yet or taken any action in my personal life about this problem. I was ignorant till California passed their law and I saw it in the news. It takes me a while to jump on a bandwagon. I have visited large urban areas (Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis etc) and have heard talk about the bag problem but thought what the hell” it probably has nothing to do with Alabama and besides people will think I am an idiot if I go to the store with my own bags. It is much easier to take an environmental stand when it is popular. Standing alone can be very scary. I must pick my battles wisely. Who knows what the future will bring?

Loki

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Have you ever wondered where the Amazon Rain Forest goes after the land has bee raped and turned into large, slow environmental killing farms?

I got this; ALERT: Mayor Bloomberg: We Love New York, But Hate Your Government’s Rainforest Destruction! off Climate Ark-Climate Change and Global Warming Portal blog

It seems that NY City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) and NYC Transit use hundreds of thousands of board feet of tropical hardwoods per year.

Loki

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Many of you know that I have been looking for new ways to bring in new sales. Maybe I should sell fresh Donkey meat?

Seriously, different countries have different cultures and eat different food. Here is an article about a Chinese man advertising fresh donkey meat using a real live donkey. The locals have no concern about selling donkey meat but have concerns over the problems with donkey dung.

The article states: Animal rights are still a strange concept to many Chinese, who enthusiastically consume donkey, horse, dog and even cat and think little of keeping those meant for the pot in terrible conditions. This statement seems to show how different we here in the states look at animals and the way animals are viewed in China.

The article also states: Last year though, banner-wielding animal rights protesters swarmed into a restaurant serving cat meat in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and forced it to shut. After reading this statement I thought about how many jokes I have heard about going to the local chinese restaurant and being served dog and cat. Little did I realize that in China they served cat in restarants. We would call that messed up but the the Chinese call it normal.

Loki

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The dead zone this year coming from the Mississippi River is amazingly large. The dead zone is an area in the Gulf that has no oxygen due to the nitrate run offs from the fertilizer used in large farming. If you have never heard about the dead zone I would look it up for a good fright (the real horrors of this world are not in the movies). Nothing lives in the dead zone, absolutly nothing due to the fact that life needs oxygen to live unless it is silicone based. The dead zone increases every year and will continue to grow untill we stop using nitrogen fertilizers.

I was reading The Slow Cook Blog about nitrogen fertilizers that are killing our soil. The bitch about this is that this unnatural fertilizer is not unnecessary for healthy crops. Crop rotation and natural fertilizers work very well. The problem is that if you rape the soil you have greater profits in the short run but minimizes production and profit in the long run.

Farmers are getting smarter and waking up to these environmental problems. I hope to see the trend continuing.

Loki

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I found this ‘Disgust’ over white stag death and it hurt my heart.

I have been around a while and I have grown a hard skin and a cynical nature towards the human race but I am still surprised at what some people will do for money.

I would of liked to seen this magnificent animal. His picture was impressive. A gift from creator.

Loki

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Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?

Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious ‘colony collapse’ of bees By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross Published: 15 April 2007

It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world’s harvests fail.
They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.
The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees’ navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive’s inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers, like so many apian Mary Celestes. The vanished bees are never found, but thought to die singly far from home. The parasites, wildlife and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when a colony dies, refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.
The alarm was first sounded last autumn, but has now hit half of all American states. The West Coast is thought to have lost 60 per cent of its commercial bee population, with 70 per cent missing on the East Coast.
CCD has since spread to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. And last week John Chapple, one of London’s biggest bee-keepers, announced that 23 of his 40 hives have been abruptly abandoned.
Other apiarists have recorded losses in Scotland, Wales and north-west England, but the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs insisted: “There is absolutely no evidence of CCD in the UK.”
The implications of the spread are alarming. Most of the world’s crops depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, “man would have only four years of life left”.
No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.
German research has long shown that bees’ behaviour changes near power lines.
Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a “hint” to a possible cause.
Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: “I am convinced the possibility is real.”
The case against handsets
Evidence of dangers to people from mobile phones is increasing. But proof is still lacking, largely because many of the biggest perils, such as cancer, take decades to show up.
Most research on cancer has so far proved inconclusive. But an official Finnish study found that people who used the phones for more than 10 years were 40 per cent more likely to get a brain tumour on the same side as they held the handset.
Equally alarming, blue-chip Swedish research revealed that radiation from mobile phones killed off brain cells, suggesting that today’s teenagers could go senile in the prime of their lives.
Studies in India and the US have raised the possibility that men who use mobile phones heavily have reduced sperm counts. And, more prosaically, doctors have identified the condition of “text thumb”, a form of RSI from constant texting.
Professor Sir William Stewart, who has headed two official inquiries, warned that children under eight should not use mobiles and made a series of safety recommendations, largely ignored by ministers.

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Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, recently warned Orlando, Florida, that it was courting natural disaster by allowing gay pride flags to be flown along its streets. “A condition like this will bring about … earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor,” he said, apparently referring to his belief that the presence of openly gay people incurs divine wrath and that God acts through geological and meteorological events to destroy municipalities that permit gay people the same civil liberties as others. (Robertson also warned Orlando about terrorist bombs, suggesting the possibility that God may also employ terrorists.)

Before Pat and his Christian cronies get too carried away promulgating the idea that people who displease God prompt natural disasters, they should take a hard look at the data. Take tornadoes. Every state (except Alaska) has them - some only one or two a year, dozens in others. Gay people are in every state (even Alaska). According to Pat’s hypothesis, there should be more gay people in states that have more tornadoes. But are there? Nope. In fact, there’s no correlation at all between the number of gay folks (as estimated by the number of gay political organizations, support groups, bookstores, radio programs, and circuit parties) and the annual tornado count (r = .04, p = .78 for you statisticians). So much for the “God hates gays” theory.

God seems almost neutral on the subject of sexual orientation. I say “almost” because if we look at the density of gay groups relative to the population as a whole, there is a small but statistically significant (p < .05) correlation with the occurrence of tornadoes. And it’s a negative correlation (r = -.28). For those of you who haven’t used statistics since 1973, that means that a high concentration of gay organizations actually protects against tornadoes. A state with the population of, say, Alabama could avert two tornadoes a year merely by doubling the number of gay organizations in the state. (Tough choice for Alabama’s civil defense strategists.)

Although God may not care about sexual orientation, the same cannot be said for religious affiliation. If the underlying tenet of Pat’s postulate is true - that God wipes out offensive folks via natural disasters - then perhaps we can find some evidence of who’s on God’s hit list. Jews are off the hook here: there’s no correlation between numbers of Jews and frequency of tornadoes. Ditto for Catholics. But when it comes to Protestants, there’s a highly significant correlation of .71.

This means that fully half the state-to-state variation in tornado frequency can be accounted for by the presence of Protestants. And the chance that this association is merely coincidental is only one in 10,000. Protestants, of course, come in many flavors-we were able to find statistics for Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, and Other. Lutherans don’t seem to be a problem-no correlation with tornadoes. There’s a modest correlation (r = .52, p = .0001) between Methodists and tornadoes.

But Baptists and Others share the prize: both groups show a definite correlation with tornado frequency (r = .68, p = .0001). This means that Texas could cut its average of 139 tornadoes per year in half by sending a few hundred thousand Baptists elsewhere (Alaska maybe?).

What, you are probably asking yourself, about gay Protestants? An examination of the numbers of gay religious groups (mostly Protestant) reveals no significant relationship with tornadoes. Perhaps even Protestants are less repugnant to God if they’re gay. And that brings up another point - the futility of trying to save the world by getting gay people to accept Jesus. It looks from our numbers like encouraging Protestants to be gay could more effectively reduce the frequency of natural disasters.

Gay people have been falsely blamed for disasters ever since Sodom was destroyed by fire and brimstone (we have been unable to find any statistics on disasters involving brimstone). According to a reliable source, the destruction of Sodom was indeed an act of God (see Genesis 19:13) and was perpetrated because the citizens thereof were, according to the same source (see Ezekiel 16:49-50), “arrogant, overfed and unconcerned [and] did not help the poor and needy” - not because they were gay. Now Pat would have us believe that gays are the cause of tornadoes (as well as earthquakes, meteors, and even terrorist bombs) in utter disregard for evidence showing that Baptists are much more likely to cause them.

I say “Kudos!” to Orlando. Despite Robertson’s warning that Orlando is “right in the way of some serious hurricanes” (hardly a revelation), note that it was not struck by the very destructive Hurricane Andrew a few years ago. And amid the recent conflagrations (that’s fires) in central Florida, which occurred just after Pat sounded his alarm, Orlando was spared. Keep those flags waving!

As any statistician will tell you, of course, correlation doesn’t prove causation. Protestants causing tornadoes by angering God isn’t the only explanation for these data. It could be that Baptists and Other Protestants purposely flock to states that have lots of tornadoes (no, we haven’t checked for a correlation between IQ and religious affiliation). But if Pat and his Christian crew insist that natural disasters are brought on by people who offend God, let the data show who those people are.

Author Unknown

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I found this great article on Stonehenge.

http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/lost-city-apollo-found-at-stonehenge/weird-scien\
ce

I though it was interesting. For many years I have been curious about
stonehenge. It’s mystery attracts many of us. I thought the idea of
Vespian’s Camp being the city of Apollo is plausible.

I love the speculation because we will never know the exact truth.

Loki

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President Ford waited till he was dead to attack President Bush. President Carter decided to get Bush before his death. He slammed him good. Then of course President Bush had to slam President Carter.

Gotta love those ex presidents.

Check out these links

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/20/carter.bush.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/19/carter.blair.ap/index.html

Loki

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Check out the high cost of Iraq

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

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It is about timer that soldiers fighting for our religious freedom are able to participate in that freedon when they are killed fighting for that freedom.

Check it out

http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&id=9077&JServSessionIdr007=2tvm1×6wc4.app5b

Loki

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I knew there was a reason I don’t eat at KFC and Taco Bell. Check out the rats

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