Cloudbursts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph3-rS4_fio

Thomas Paine

You know what is great about Thomas Paine. Lots. His tracts are found in the Declaration of Independence; Jefferson glyphed them from him. After he helped keep our revolution going overthrowing the British chains, he went to France and helped them with their revolution for a Republic. Naturally, the rest of Europe, Prussia and Austria, declared war on France for wanting human progress. The British indicted him for treason for publishing such unreasonable pamphlets as "Common Sense", "The Rights of Man" and the "The Age of Reason". No wonder they were upset, the truth, (any truth) could hurt their influence over their populace, with being foresworn to lying, the truth of individual conceptions on events could be dangerous. Not at all unlike our indoctrinating society and opportunistic, self-serving politicians today.

His premise, I believe, and no one speaks for Thomas Paine, is that I have an opinion on the best possible way to live my life under the systems we have created. Common sense dictates that we are given the greatest gift from God in our "gift of reason." Nobody needs to divine my opinion, I have based it upon reasonable thought, with sound evidence that is retrievable, repeatable and, if true, immutable.(Theoretical quantum physicists have agreed that information cannot be destroyed, and there is indication that every jot and tittle of events is at all times present-that's God.) If we are said a democracy, I have a voice. If I do not have a voice, it is not a democracy. Nothing supersedes the individual; not Kings, not corporations, not armies. The scoundrels will not succeed in enslaving mankind.  Somewhere. somehow, an instance of the common man's revolution will always be around, with people ready to grab their freedom, if need be, from the shackles of falsehood. The bigger they are the harder they fall, just ask King George and King Louis. Thank you, Thomas Paine, citizen of the world, man of reason.

Thank you Jasper Schuringa

Diminishing winds of change

I see that they have given up some coastline at Copenhagen. Two degrees increase is what we are now looking at in increased temperature. To the lay person that means look ouside and add two degrees. Hardly a difference, unless it is really really hot or cold.  The scientists tell us that it will raise the coastline, but they are wise enough now, having been tripped up by inconsistent predictions, to know that the number of factors involved make us unsure of predicting of exactly what will happen. Climategate, boorfully and obviously pre-planned, is nothing more than an acknowledgement of this fact, made to assuage the throbbing minds of people who don't want to deal with any change in their lives. These people are called conservatives. Conserving the traditional ways of things, dancing with what brought us here in our lovely Eden, so to speak. Sinners will taste death when Jesus returns in the clouds. Which is a metaphor for saying the old ways of doing things will fall by the wayside and not be remembered by anyone living in the future. Or, literally, that Jesus will smote the toads that gave him a hard time, especially the hypocrites. (You see a lot of the hypocrites today on television, using their wolf-in-the-hen-house, feigned ignorance and mock philosophy so that they are able feed the beast of their dated 1984 philosophy [my apologies if you just spilled your victory gin].) Either way, we will have to adapt to the winds of change. One answer will come with chemistry, and the dissemblers know this. It is a classic insiders secret, with the new capital being the controlled dissemination of information, and, especially, knowledge. Chemistry will be the answer to many creative problems of our time, and a good deal of commerce will result from the interplay of this chemistry and invented products. There will be plenty of clean electricity from fusion, pretty soon anyway. And a lovely Eden, if you can afford it. Maybe even some shared ideas and fun.