Mythless

Sex and God. It occurs to me, a well meaning atheist, that there is little difference between how individuals treat their sex life and their religious affiliations. For the most part they are handled the same way, a sort of benign and almost embarrassed afterthought that is really nobody else’s concern. It is not, in general, discussed unless you are in a sort of frat party situation where great exaggeration are the norm, seriously. Think about that kegger moment when you and your co-believers got tanked and started making those absurd claims of my dick is bigger than your dick! Or at the local mosque, temple or church when the minister full of himself and the Holy Spirit declares that his god is bigger, nastier or flat out better than all other gods. As the tempo escalates you can bring in “proof” of the most absurd kind and very often those discussions degenerate into physical violence. We all know, especially the women, that the differences are very small, that they mean ...

Who will be next dead Horst Wessel or John Birch hero of intransigence? I ask because there are already a number of volunteers on the ISIS side who have postulated for the honor. Many have applied and the closest we have come is Jihadi John, the British, now hamburger meat, who took great satisfaction in beheading people. Oh, sorry, I forgot to explain. As you know Horst and John were the poster children of extremist movements who achieved such high honor by conveniently dying. Horst on the Nazi side and John on the GOP side. They were both firm supporters of a certain ideology and it seems that extremist groups really need this type of figurehead, so when Mein Trumpf decided to embrace right wing thuggery the search was on for a suitable candidate. The main drawback is that no one has died yet in the service of Mein Trumpf. There has been a lot of Sturm und Drang, incoherent rants and raves, a smidgen of violence encouraged and embraced by the Yam, but no real substance. But hair ...

Clearly VW has stepped in it big time, and clearly they will have to pay but just as clearly there are dangers in sacrificing the baby with the NOX bath water. As an expert in crisis PR with an abiding interest in energy and more recently renewable clean energy, there are some serious silver linings in this black cloud story, but first let’s try and analyze the problem in a mature and adult manner. What is the crux of this situation, in a sense is  VW and Audi’s almost slave like determination to promote their hugely successful TDI engines beyond what they could support or deliver. The little machine that won LeMans several years in a row, put diesel power way ahead of a number of very sophisticated gasoline engines while delivering unbelievable MPG and performance still has a long life ahead of it. The TDI is what the diesel should have been when it was first started running on peanut oil. Then the actual petroleum fuel that came out of the design centers in Germany exploit...

  As a senior citizen I now have the option of looking back on a series of careers that spanned being a boatyard mechanic, selling nuclear power plants, handling marketing and PR for an uncounted number of high technology firms and now driving cars and people around for a large rental agency. My conclusions, which are aimed at the hiring managers, HR people and the PR departments of some of the larger corporations in America, Europe and even Japan at one time are that I am syill useful and decidedly underutilized. For the last few years I have tried to land a position that would provide me with more than a minimum wage, using my experience and skills to the betterment of the company that hires me. I am afraid to say that that will probably not happen. It has less to do with my skills than the hiring personnel ethics. Let me explain. The HR department operates under a number of fallacies bolstered by a perceived evaluation of its mandate and importance. The most pernici...

The Ethical Dilemma of an Aspiring Christian Martyr. With the emergence of a cadre of Muslim terrorists dedicated to closely following the example of the Prophet Mohammed (PUH) and slaughtering an open menu of innocent people, they owe us the common courtesy of what our responsibilities are vis a vis our martyrdom. It gets even more ethically and theologically complex when you dial in such issues as how do I reconcile my own position or that of my religion or lack of religion to accommodate the needs for eternal salvation or whatever of the slaughtering team. For example, one of my friends is a born again Christian secure in his faith and willing and able to follow every last precept as it emanates from the Bible (The True Word of God Almighty). Now he asked me how to handle that admonition of turning the other cheek if slapped on the right one. “How can I do that if one cheek is six feet away from the other following a sloppy beheading?” The answer is obvious, consider yo...

Recently highly trained medical professionals fighting on the front lines of what may become a major epidemic have been slapped with 21 day jail sentences until they can prove that they do not represent a threat to the communities they are trying to save. The rules for surviving Ebola are fairly simple, as long as you do not show symptoms you are safe to be around. Conversely, the moment you show symptoms is the time you need immediate medical care. This actually is a very generous effect of this deadly disease compared to others with lengthy incubation periods without symptoms. Add to that, the fact that the people on our shores with this disease have mostly come from the red zone with experience and training in how to discern the symptoms and how to treat them in a timely manner. It seems that the treatment these virtual prisoners have received is savage and unwarranted and may undermine our efforts to stop it in Africa because of a lack of qualified medical specialists. The fear...

There is an epidemic coming to the first world, Ebola so far has killed one half of all the infected victims. It is killing professionals who know how to protect themselves, doctors and nurses who have stood at the front ranks of this war. Africa is one of the worst places for this disaster strike, they lack almost all the resources needed to save individuals and to stop the spread of the disease, two very different strategies. The less than ten people in the US who have been treated here had every facility known to man to save them and even then some have already died. If you look at the multi million dollar facilities where they were treated you can only wonder if the fight is already over in West Africa and we can now start society's countdown. We have no cure, although some experimental drugs seem to be working, the three doses in existence did keep two people alive. But, anyone who has read Defoe's Journal of the Plague Years, Camus La Peste, followed the 1917 Flu Epid...

We are spending a lot of time agonizing about who is responsible fro the latest round of terror in that mythological land called Zion, Israel, Palestine, Promised, Milk and Honey et le reste. It really makes no difference at this point because the study of responsibility is a look at the past and in this case, for over 200 Arabs and two Israeli that is all they have. The real question to who is responsible for the death of these people lies squarely on all those who could have stopped it and did not. That list is is also endless so walking down it is again a waste of time. There has been too much time spent on the clashing mythologies in that barren strip of land claimed by every major mythology known to  man. Let's break it down to some basics, for the Jewish faith, the object from 1947 onward has been to smash and grab, hence the illegal settlements installed everywhere they were told by a gutless world not to infest. They went anyway, and in going tipped the balance of disgu...

Memo to all you "Cold Dead Hands" heroes out there.   Since it is clear that you intend to kill yourselves if the government decides to inject sanity into our gun laws, please plan to do it in a concerned and efficient manner:  1) Choose your spot carefully, I would suggest out in the open so that your loved ones will not have an onerous clean up job  2) Select your weapon with care for the same reason, use a small caliber to prevent widespread blood and brain spatter.  3) Also if you score a through and through you will not endanger your neighbors  4) I realize that you are making a statement to protect your rights to semi and full automatic weapons, but select single shot please to avoid accidental overspray as you fall on the gun 5) Please advise the proper authorities via time delayed email where they can pry your weapon of choice from your cold dead hands. It will make it easier for them to comply with the law and remove one more gun from so...

A long time ago when notebook computers were just starting, I worked with a small Japanese company that made one the first and possibly one of the best notebooks at the time.   We had just launched our Intel 386 model, and were gearing up to produce a faster, more powerful, 486 processor based unit. I was in charge of Public Relations for the company and was very involved with all aspects of the developing machine.   So I was not surprised to be invited to attend what was termed a “Key Product Definition” meeting.   KPDs were very important, very confidential and very technical and terminology such as interface algorithms, clock speed and PCMCIA soft interface were discussed.   The topic sounded innocuous enough, “Default Settings, Definition and Recommendations”. What that means is that whenever something weird happens inside the computer, or when the customer buys his computer, the default settings are the basic instructions on how the machine will start ...

The subject of gun control in America draws a lot of attention. When attacking the National Rifle Assosiction (NRA) on Huffington Post I am certain that I will get more abusive mail than for almost any other topic and there is a reason for this. The NRA is a thinly disguised front for the arms manufacturers of America and that should raise a huge red flag. The most often quoted reason for not allowing anyone to think about abolishing weapons in America is the faded and pathetic Second Amendment to the Constitution adopted on December 15, 1791 which states: A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. This seminal piece of imbecility was passed and approved by our founding fathers at a time when America faced threats from within and threats from outside. They had a very small standing army and the natives were restless. They also had a budding arms industry that needed the busines...

I was asked by a niece to review my teenage years, this is what came out 1: How do you remember your teenage years? The best year of my life was 12, because at that time I was in full possession of faculties, I had no insurmountable problems, relationships were easy and simple. As I moved ahead life became more complicated, but I remember my teenage years as being an incredibly wonderful period of my life with very few negatives in it. I had good friends; my parents were not too involved in my life because frankly they had their own dark secrets. I also was forming a philosophy of life that has stood me well over time. There is no god, killing others is wrong, I control my destination, others control my destiny etc. 2: When you were a teenager, what age did you consider old? Honestly, I thought 30 was old because I had friends of that age who seemed to be moving into a weird twilight of marriage and responsibilities. 3: Did you know your grandparents? What do you remember about...

Lest we Forget It was a quiet dinner party, a few friends, some family, even people I had never met before. It was a comfortable evening in a small Belgian suburb of Brussels where ideas were exchanged, experiences shared and discussions coming and going with no particular direction. It was a nice time, good food, impeccable wines bred from good taste, solid dependable upbringing, good breeding and decent schools. Into this quiet and tranquil pond suddenly a large rock hit the surface and rippled out, and continues to ripple in my mind, three years later and an ocean and continent away. As I recall, the conversation went from what does an American do when he returns to Belgium with his children, in my case I always took my daughter and son to Fort Breendonk between Antwerp, where I was brought up, and Brussels, the new capital of Europe. Breendonk was where the Germans assembled the Jewish population of Belgium before sending them east to Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen and other extermi...

The Gay Victim. Welcome to a shadow world, a world where children walk in fear of their parents trying to confront questions to which they have no answers. A world that will ostracize them, bully them and eventually even kill them. They are trapped in the cruel reality that their bodies are not what everybody else's bodies are. They crave what others fear and loath. Welcome to the world of gay America, a land that forces its citizens to perform incredible mental, psychological and physical gyrations just be allowed the right to exist. It is a world where they are advised to lie and dissemble, that in the pursuit of that most precious commodity, love, they sneak around in fear of their own feelings and lives. These are normal people, they are your family, your friends and your business relations. They are the ones who cannot defend themselves because in many cases they are not comfortable with who they are or what they have been told they are. They do not live in a closet so they...

Muslandia for Women In the mythical land of Muslandia women hold an honorable place. They have come from further back than the men,faced greater adversity in fighting slavery and subjugation and recovered so much of the space taken over by their "betters"; males from all over the world. They have also developed a fine sense of irony aver time, an irony that translates into keen insights on how Muslim women in the rest of the world see themselves. The simple wearing of the head scarf has, in and of itself, become a benchmark. In Muslandia you wear a headscarf because of the cold because they know that only the kept women of the dead prophet wore the scarves so as not to be bothered by the demands of the followers. Muslandian believers, and yes there are true believers in this make believe land, know that the wearing of the scarf is really a vast act of arrogance since the wearer truly believes that she is one of the dead prophets wives, concubines, mistresses or just plain ...

Welcome to Muslandia! Muslandia is a mythical place, a place where Muslims can come and actually live as real human beings and not Prophet Surrogates or PS'. There are very few connections between Muslandia and the real Muslim world because the real Muslim world is not a happy place. In Muslandia, for example, women are not required to cover themselves with bags over their heads, or tents around their bodies. On the contrary, women are treated as normal human beings with feelings, intelligence and respect. In Muslandia you will actually see Muslim women driving cars, treating sick people and talking to their male counterparts without shame. Muslandia is a dreamworld for Muslim women because it is so far from the reality of their existence that they dream of Muslandia every day. In Muslandia no one feels the need to kill people in random acts of violence as dictated by the Prophet, and Prophet Surrogates do not take it upon themselves to tell others how to dress, what to read, wha...

STOPPING THE OIL SPILL NOW EMT specializes in alternate fuels and has experience in environmental security concepts. The following is our best effort concept to prevent further damage from your oils spill off the Louisiana coast. Please don't hesitate to contact me or to pass this on. I sent a preliminary concept to your online suggestions email, but I am concerned that it may be overlooked. I have spent many years in PR and handled press relations for the Canadian nuclear group, Canatom, during Three Mile Island. I realize that your team on the spot is probably overwhelmed with just trying to keep abreast of the damage control efforts. Please excuse the rather off the wall naming of the idea, but I believe that in the strange world of the Oil People, the name will at least give our ideas a 15 second recognition factor. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. A way to arrest the oil spill from the BP Platform The Kevlar Kondom Koncept Summary: The effort ...

Shit Happens, or does it? It is a very old expression, something along the lines of Kismet or Inch Allah and it explains nothing and allows for horrors to be repeated. Shit happens and thousands die such as the elections of George Bush. Yes the shit happened and its name was George. Shit happens, and the coasts of Louisiana, Florida and who knows where else the shit will happen, and yes here again shit happened and its name was Halliburton and BP. You see shit has a name, and those names can be published and punished. Shit never just “Happens”, it needs a helping hand, a murderous incentive, a need for someone to come out on top, and as the other expression goes, shit floats. Yes, shit does float and who is floating to the top, usually the biggest piece in the toilet, here again that shit has a name, Halliburton and BP. Make no mistake, when the dust clears, the shit will hit the fan, the guilty will be pursued, but not punished and how do I know that shit, because BP provides the ma...

Jesus only had one cross to bear. Because of my complete lack of belief in a god, any god, many of my friends question my need for spiritual sustenance. They remind me often that they take great comfort in knowing that Jesus, the savior, son of man and god, the pure, the beautiful etc; you get the picture, died for ME on the cross after suffering horrible pain at the hands of the Jews and the Romans. Those were harsh times, and I will not minimize the pain and suffering of anyone hung on a cross and allowed to die a long painful death, but Jesus was not alone. Thousands of citizens were crucified, there were two others nailed with Jesus that day. And yet the mythology prevails, Jesus died a horrible death so that we could ALL be saved, and to that I say bullshit. Jesus had it easy, he took the simple way out after an exciting life as the head of a small local cult, adored, not unlike Jim Jones or David Koresh, by his immediate followers and a small coterie of the citizens around him...

Guilt Tripping Over Dead Issues. Recently the Governor of Virginia discussed Civil War Month and he seems to be re-visioning history once again. My approach to that whole period is that it is history and whether I am an African American, a Georgia cracker or a Boston Banker, it has NO, repeat, NO effect on me. I am neither guilty or even involved in any of what happened so long ago. My genealogy wanders upwards into Belgium and Germany on one side and Ireland on the other. We probably sold and bought slaves through the Roman conquests and went into the Congo for harvesting rubber and people. But in my particular situation, I can only say, not guilty nor even aware of any guilt. You know, I sold my last slave about a year ago and I am now pretty much clear of all that guilt and pain. But it still rankles that the South has issues admitting that they killed, maimed and enslaved a bunch of foreigners. I mean, the whole illegal immigrant issue was bypassed by simply selling the Africans t...