Impacts of The Giants

On April 20th, there was an oil rig explosion of the coast of the Louisiana and Alabama.




Oil Spill’s Blow to BP’s Image May Eclipse Costs
Gulf Oil Spill Could Eclipse Exxon Valdez Disaster

The immediate damage of this accident is minimal, as only 11 people are missing and not that much crude has leaked yet. The rig, owned by BP is theorized to have experienced a blowout which somehow caused the Fire that made it collapse. Now the metallic contraption is at the bottom of the ocean spewing about 400,00 gallons of crude into the sea per day.

There have been such two recent incidents in America that have caused a great review in energy policy. First there was a huge mine explosion in Virginia that killed dozens of miners then there was this explosion of oil rig in the gulf coast.This comes just as President Obama just threw his support into offshore drilling . This was obviously a compromise due to the health-care reform for blue-dog democrats so he might not exactly have been singing "Drill baby drill", but it is interesting to see the Mr. Super O squirm as his image takes such a hit . huh. He cut his wall street reform rallying short just to visit an Ethanol plant in Missouri to try and appease the country that he really "digs" new energy.With all sorts of stories going on about how this might be a diabolical plot by the supermajor oil players, i think this topic is going to become a point of conflict in the time to come.

OR

The long term damage of the accident is harder to gauge. Most estimates say that the clean up cost is going to be much higher than the Exxon valdez oil spill. The damage to wildlife and the enviroment is expected to be much higher with the Missisipi river delta and other sensitive costal areas with the oil slicks starting to arrive today on the last day of april.

The April 20 explosion of a BP rig killed 11 people and eventually led to the platform's sinking about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. But now the ensuing spill threatens 445 species of fish, 45 species of mammals, 32 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 134 species of birds, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries told AOL News. And when the massive oil slick makes landfall in Louisiana on Friday, it will hit 10 wildlife refuges or management areas, such as the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

I went across the bay on Tuesday and i could already see a little bit of oil on the shores and discolouration of the water. I think that the politics, damage and clean up effort will end up affecting very many people on the Gulf coast. I just wish i knew where my phone was so that i could snap some pictures.

Men's right

We all know of the women's rights movement, but what about the men’s rights movement. I for one used didn’t think highly of it. I used to label the movement in the same category as the gay movement and then if i had a misogynistic thought, i would just think about it the way alot of men do and just say "fuck a bitch" but the men’s rights movement does play a role in speaking against some injustices in today's world, for example:

As i have said before, marriage has long been regarded by many as the most important step in relationships. The definition of marriage has been hijacked from a simply forming of a kinship to the highly religious,ecclesiastical injunction, and/or the legal and financial clusterfuck of an entrapment web that has become common-place these days and is alot of the times detrimental to the intimate relationships in question.Even in precolonial time, arranged marriages and concepts like bride price or dowry were common and they had alot of contention involved. However there are a great number of alternatives ranging from simple cohabitation to the infamous ‘friends with benefits” relationships that exist and offer the same things that marriage does without the legal, social and financial implications that marriage does. There are also options like secular legal unions that avoid religious entrapments of church marriage.

Marriage strike is the name given to the phenomenon of males refusing to marry for fear of unfair legislations and financial ramifications of divorce for the male. Men's rights writer matthew weeks has described divorces as 'slavery for men'.the rutgers report — though based on a small sample — found ten prevalent reasons for declining preference for marriage among males. The first three are that they can get sex without marriage; they can enjoy a pseudo-wife through cohabitation; and they want to avoid divorce and its financial risks.

Due to archaic definitions of gender roles, we find a great need for the men’s right movement. The fathers’ rights movement is a very good example of this. In divorces or cases of unwed fathers, we find unjustifiable inequality in legal cases about child custody or child support. In a huge chunk of these cases shared parenting, child support or even best interest for the children is not considered adequately instead the legal prescient is defaultly assumed to be in favor of the females. There are also the cases of parental fraud where the mother of a given child lies about the father for financial reasons. In many jurisdictions around the world, DNA testing is not considered by courts or is unavailable. In many other legal situation, there is quite an unfair pressure against the fathers in the situation.

There are many other causes in employment, education, conscription, social norms e.t.c. That present unfair circumstances for men but a lot of people don’t get to hear about it. This is partially due to an effect called the lace curtain in the media, where people, the media consciously choose to ignore men issues, some theorize that it is due to an evolutionary trait that humanizes women more than men, or maybe it is because feminist firms hold enough lobbying power to redirect attention away from issues they don’t like, maybe it is because people paying attention to this are somehow viewed as gay, but the lace curtain is real since there apparently exists a force that seems to cause media to ignore issues concerning men’s rights.


I mean for example; If you take a look at the picture above, It does look gay as fuck! but the market for lawyers like Mr Sam. is actually on the rise to the ever increasing legal injustice against men 1 2 3. and sadly you will never get to hear about it since there is no appetite for cases in this circle, at least in the media.

In brief, men’s lives count only to the degree they are heroes who perform for us or save us, or villains who disturb our peace. Women’s lives count more for their own sake…a woman’s pain is every talk show.

We so rarely inquire of a man’s grief, we forget it exists. When princess di had her affair, we asked her about her isolation, her depression, her husband’s aloofness; but when prince charles had an affair, we accused him of infidelity.... As a result, billions of women worldwide identified with princess di. Few men had any male fears with which to identify.Hearing women’s internal stories – without hearing men’s – made the world seem unfair to women. Ironically, because we didn’t know men’s stories were being left out, the more we heard from women the more we thought we’d been neglecting women. Soon it became politically incorrect to interrupt her flow. So women’s stories became women’s studies, not to be interrupted by men’s studies.

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Graduates of women’s studies courses soon controlled gender related decisions in almost all large bureaucracies. When an issue about sexual harassment or date rape came up on a college campus, the feminists flooded the committees concerning these decisions, created the agenda, and decided who would be hired as consultants and speakers.

The problem? women with backgrounds in women’s studies were not only uneducated about men, but often saw men as the problem and women as the solution. They had demonized men. If someone spoke up against them, they weren’t just outnumbered, they were labeled sexist. And what we will see in this chapter is how that labeling led to the end of careers in the ‘80s and ‘90s as quickly as being labeled communist ended careers in the 1950s.

The power of feminists to allow only a feminist perspective to be aired (in every field that dealt with gender issues) came to be labeled the "lace curtain."

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How do you know if you’re part of the lace curtain? if you feel more comfortable telling a man-bashing joke than a joke bashing all women. How do you know if you’re in an organization that’s part of the lace curtain? when you tell a man-bashing joke and everyone laughs, then tell a woman-bashing joke and no one laughs.... In some organizations, the censorship starts sooner... We don’t even think of telling the woman-bashing joke!

The lace curtain is less a "woman thing" than a feminist thing. But feminism has made women-as-victim so credible we would sooner think of saving whales than saving males. In this respect, almost all of us contribute to the lace curtain.

But all this is irrelevant to me, whether these sentiments are real or made up, whether these injustices are on the rise or they are decreasing, whether the men's right movement can help or hurt the world does not concern me. The main philosophy i follow is “fuck a bitch”. I generally avoid thinking, feeling, empathizing or concerning myself with anything to do with feminism and such. But you know me, i am slightly misogynist and i might be considered abit sexist so my opinion is not that credible.

What do you guys think? What value does the men's rights hold to you?

MenWeb - Men's Issues: The Lace Curtain

Randomness ~ in religion

Manifest destiny~The painting

The randomness that we are privy to in life is a testament to the actuality that there is no set course, no single or even primary guiding force to decide the way things will happen. Our living history is guided by a sort of mutualistic anarchism inherent in all existence.

There is no single controller of predestination, No one person planning your life or no single force colliding galaxies .We are all pushing buttons ,pulling lever, or performing actions trying to exert some influence in some sort of fashion to some sort of end in our lives, our surroundings and the world in general. We can work every day to prevent global warming through the smallest actions like turning out lights, improve neighborhoods by participating in charitable work, or earn money through the sleaziest of means like shoplifting e.t.c. These are all ways we exercise influence to control our own lives. If you analyze this from a generalistic viewpoint maybe accounting for the actions in a group of people, you might find some things that might indicate that there are forces,ideas or trends that can affect huge amounts of people, you might find locales or subgroups that have been most nearly dominated by singular wills but you will never find any single force being in control of all the buttons, exerting all the influence and directing every facet of an element with total control. You will never really find a specific God influence.

I personally like the idea of God, A perfect entity influencing everything: the world, the community and you the individual to a just,happy and all important destiny that is for some cool,sweet and noble purpose. The God will protect us, control and maintain the universe, give us strength, guidance and love, even look after our tires or at least help us to repair them now that a nail has poked a hole in them. This is a great idea,it appeals to our emotions, minds and corporeal selves. it provides justice, order, plans for the past, present and future things,can make anybody feel good. Many friends and relatives have staked their very lives on this idea, giving away their time, money, minds and freedom to promote it, at a horrendous cost.But I hope they come to realize, it is just an idea, not an reality, not a hidden fact, not even an unclear truth. It is just an idea that appeals to many.

What is Visualization.

We higher mammals have a gift that we call visualization.It is a cognitive function in conjunction with our senses that allows us to form a mental image of objects of our interest. We usually see, feel, touch,smell or taste something then using cues or previous experience form a model in our minds that we use for the various purposes we see fit. In this obvious statement, we see a profound truth in that we need a basic level of comprehension for visualization.


This implies many things. For one, Visualization is not immediate or universal. If two people see the same thing, one person might visualize it very different from the other person. If for example, two people see a dolphin; one person might be disgusted by the slick skin, one might not; one person might find its prehensile penis scary and the other person might be completely uncaring about the matter. The two people see the dolphin, put the dolphin label on, and then begin to visualize it each in their own way with imagery, sensations, and emotions . The visualization process also relies on understanding. Underlying concepts, ideas, philosophies form this understanding that is used in our mental image. For example, The dolphin has a flipper that moves up and down. Since most fish have anal fins that move side to side, Most people assume that all other aquatic animals have the same underlying structure. However dolphins are not fish and evolved from land mammals. Not knowing these facts can make people picture dolphins with fins and gills instead of how they are in real life. This shows that knowledge makes a big difference in the visualization of an object.


Visualization is seemingly an ethereal process. However as science continues to reveal the inner workings of the mind, We get a glimpse of how the brain visualizes stuff. The visual data gotten from the eye is processed in the occipital lobe. This is unsurprisingly the biggest data cachet that any living thing has and in complex animals like human beings, it is unsuprising that there is a whole lobe in our minds dedicated to processing for sight. The data goes through the various stages of processing before being sent to the parietal lobe through the dorsal stream. The parential lobe is then tasked with integrating all the information from the different modalities to form mainly the spatial and navigational models of reality but also seems to helps with understanding. The Frontal lobe is the other lobe crucial to visualization. "It is the part of each hemisphere of the brain located behind the forehead that serves to regulate and mediate the higher intellectual functions. The frontal lobes have intricate connections to other areas of the brain. In the frontal lobes, we meld emotions, cognition, error detection, volition, a sense of self, and more to create our social brain." It is also important for reward, attention, long-term memory, planning, and drive, however one of the bigger functions it seems to be related to is understanding.In a sense, Creating models ,maps of structures or in other words mental images from data. That is why people injured in this region have problems in problem solving, perceptions of results of actions in relation to systems and structures, mental flexibility e.t.c. This is also partially why teenagers have problems with accurate assesment of risks and regulations of their social,economic and judicial systems, due to immature frontal lobes. Scientist liken the mind to a computer, " It able to decompose any mental representations into its underlying mathematical propositions." We have to keep in mind though that all this processing would be greatly hampered without an sound underlying framework of information about the particular humans enviroment.

In this essay, I make no differentiation in this essay between imagination and visualization. The only real difference i see is that while the imagination term is restricted to mostly imaginary scenarios, we use the word visualization in both real and imaginary mind scenarios. As a matter of fact if you really think about it, humans live a sort of conceptualistic existance. All the structures one thinks he or she visualizes are copies of reality. You guys might think i'm being all Matrix like and doubting reality or i am being all descartes like and doubting existence but it is a fact that what we think we know of reality is just an imperfect copy. We all have to synthesize the data we get from our senses into an image, a copy, a visualization of the reality we see.


Visualization is not only useful in abstract philosophy. It has a great many applications in other fields. Plain simulation, scientific visualization, geo-visualization, information visualization, creative visualization, visualization in information graphics all require this mind skill. We need to remember though that all visualization relies on a proper understanding of the subject matter.

Religion and the use of it, again!

I would imagine that in the past, life was pretty harsh. The rule of law had not been established. One ran the risk of getting killed at any time, your property raided, your wife raped. You could also get sick and just die. In such a world, religion was very useful in taming the beast in men, as well as explaining the unpredictable world.

Now the question is: with the gradual "civilizing" of human beings and establishment of law and order, from the local police all the way to the hague, with education too, and health care, is there any further need for religion (christianity, islam and all the rest)? Considering also that they have now become a major source of misunderstanding and hatred between peoples?

Of course not all places have been tamed, and some wild frontiers still exist, but in principle, what say you?

Religions are not there to act as a deterrent for "uncivility", At least that is not their main purpose . The religions are systems or structures, social systems within a community that act like tools to be used by the community and by the individuals in the community for given purposes, structures in that they are built, step by step from bottom to top by a given social circle or society due to a variety of causes.

A community might use its religion to bring together people to raise funds for the sick, to provide food for the homeless, to chase bad influence out of town with peaceful protests or pitchforks and many other uses. The community can begin developmental corporations, youth programs e.t.c.

An individual may use religion in personal or small group settings in many ways. Many Farmers to this day send deacons or religious leaders to their fields to bless them, this is a way for the farmer and his family to seem to gain control over the uncontrollable, Families also use the concept of God or higher being as a tool for many things, to explain etheral concepts like emotional connections(love, hate, good, bad, morality), the universe, higher power e.t.c. to strengthen family structure by relying on religious structure for authority, moral superiority e.t.c. Some individual use religion for economic, political and physical reasons

In all this, the individual or groups of people use religion as a tool for some specific purpose whether these purposes are good or bad is irrelevant. Personally i think all religions are lies purported by terrible people for convoluted purposes, but i cant deny that religion still has a vital role in society.

Man has been able to explain things that were erstwhile mysterious and deemed supernatural, and as this knowledge progresses,so will the role of religion diminish.

Religion is not only used as a means of explaining the unexplainable, It has many other uses, one of its main uses in society is as a tool by a group or an individual to try and exert control, this control can be social, pschycological, authoritative or physical. It doesn't have to be good or bad influence but it is obvious religion can increase this influence in many settings.

For example, in the case of a sick child, Even if he or she is in the hands of the best doctors in the world, there is still things that are not under control. The family is unable to help with treatment, the emotions of the family members are in disarray, Panic and confusion might set in, They need to maybe display the emotions of love, affection and caring to the child to set him at ease, they need to voice out concerns even for pragmatic reason e.t.c. In this case, One of the very few tools that can accomplish these goals is maybe if they have a religious belief,they could say a prayer to give a measure of control, to project order, prevent panic and confusion, show love and affection, and voice out concerns at the same time.

Again i am trying to explain a situation where religion can be used positively, I am not claiming that religion is exclusively for people with sick children or something of that nature, I am simply saying that religion can be used to gain some control over that uncontrollable situation, i.e. psycological, emotional, mind(uncontrollable thoughts) e.t.c.

It is not that it is perfect at its role as this tool since all these religious beliefs require a quantity of irrationality and illogicality at their core and You are totally right when you say that the role of religion will continue decreasing, but for many people now these religions act as the only tool to perform some of these functions.

To really understand religious structure we have to change our viewpoint radically. We have to temporarily forget the flaws in these supernatural beliefs and see what they are able to accomplish. Religion for an individual and a group can be seen as a vice to exert influence, maybe it is by invoking supernatural beliefs, maybe it is by relying on the economic, social and organizational structures built by these religion but it is possible to use a religious system to direct the individual, the group or society.


If for example i want to get a child to stop performing an action, I could use religious fear or religious reward to do it. i.e. stop that or you will go to hell, or stop that and god will bless you. I can be a politician to do the same thing to a group like the tea party people. This is the basic religious purpose, another means to try and exert influence or control . You might say that these things could be done without requiring the belief in the supernatural but we still have to view it as an option to accomplish these goals .

But this is precisely what I was saying...that religion evolved as a tool to exert control. By instilling fear of hell, lack of blessings (which is a supernatural phenomenon) etc. The question is: since modern man has outgrown many of these notions, is religion still necessary?

I am not trying to argue that religion is righteous,on the contrary there alot of problems and bad things in religion,but if you change your veiwpoint and think of religion maybe as a product, it is able to deliver services that are not easily found elsewhere like the type of influence that people usually like to use individually or in groups and I meant control as in control of ones life or influence over a given group of people to a useful end, .I don't know what type of proof to give in this situation, but if you look at the examples i am giving, you will see what i am talking about.

Hopefully a time comes when the religions our society relies upon are not the bloody, murdering, money hungry , children fucking ,asexual, pedophilic things we have gotten used to in this age.



You are saying that the role of religions is decreasing, well that says nothing about the trends in the religions themselves. The growth rate in majority of the religions is actually on the rise with highest increases being in Islam and Hinduism. I was surprised since in some countries, we find astronomical growth rates for religious belief. In Australia for example, we find Buddhism having a growth rate of over 80%.

Even with the advent of the modern scientific age, It is ultimately impossible to rid humanity completely of its elements of irrationality, as the supernatural beliefs involved in these religions are some of the greatest irrationality in place today.We also have to remember any religion is always changing to suite its environment, evolving to mirror its audience. As such it is not social and scientific progress that will remove religion from society, It might decrease religion's place but it will not completely remove it.

The example of Australia about the growth of Buddhism there is due to migration from the far east. If before there were 10 buddhists in Australia, and 10 more move in, that will be a 100% rise...but there will be a decrement of 10 buddhists from whence those came. This does not reflect an overall rise in religiosity in the world. You must agree that OVERALL, the world is a much more secular place now than it was 100 years ago. And if the trend continues, who can imagine what it will be like in another 100 years? Maybe religions will have become extinct.

Indeed we can see a decrease in some aspects of religion today,already we are seeing religion being sidelined more and more in debates of government, morality and even philosophy as scientific progress continues. However the prevalence of religion is another different trend and it seems to be on the rise.

According to religious tolerance site, we find that even though the biggest religion i.e. christianity is shrinking, we find that other religions like Islam have astounding growth, and there is an increase in new religions like Wiccas,New age, Neopaganism e.t.c. and resurgence of older minor religions like the tribal religions of Shamaisms and Animisms, and others like Confucianism. and even with the shrinking christian faith, we still see a great growth in smaller churches and group meetings.


We see things like the tea party being immensely popular, using things such as moral panic, mob hysteria, and incessant propaganda to build a sort of civil religion with loyal followers and big impacts.

That is why i say that even though all the religions we see might be based on falsehood and mysticim, they do offer services that are in high demand in our irrational society.Certainly as the impact of the modern scientific age continues to sink into humanities thick skull, religion will decrease but religion is unlikely to be eliminated due to progress.

Trends among U.S. Christians
Religions of the world: numbers of adherents; growth rates
http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/re...-chapter-2.pdf

It is ultimately impossible to justify religion and its irrationality but it is important to see what is its use in society and individual life.Thankfully I am like Laplace and have no need for such a hypothesis or system.

The article was from exerts from a discussion on Mashada