Friday, October 14, 2011

How do you keep a populace confused?


If you mix benign truths with lies people won’t know what to believe. 

For those who consider Rachel Maddow an honest broker of truthful reporting, don’t be fooled.  Last night she ridiculed a Florida politician who wants to have fluoride removed from the water supply.  She went to great lengths to make him seem like a nut.  She talked about how in the sixties a group called the John Birch society believed that fluoridating the water supply was a communist plot to poison Americans and imprison us in Alaska.  The politician made the mistake of making a claim about fluoride without backing it up with scientific proof.  At least Rachel didn’t mention any proof he may have offered. 

For the record, even if you believe something to be true do not speak on it unless you can back it up with irrefutable evidence.  He would have been much better of if he had concentrated on the dangers and uselessness of fluoride which does have scientific support.  Fluoride is an “industrial waste product of the aluminum and fertilizer industries, and a substance toxic enough to be used as rat poison.”  I read that it’s a little less poisonous than arsenic and does absolutely nothing for the health of your teeth.  However, please don’t take my word for it, look it up on the internet and read it for yourself.  Needless to say there will be resources out there that will attempt to confuse you so be mindful of that as you search.  

Now, back to Rachel.  I am a layperson without any credentials at all.  Rachel is a Rhodes Scholar with a research staff.  Surely if I can find legitimate references about the dangers of fluoride she and her staff should be able to do the same.  I would have had more respect for her if she had given both sides of the debate and allowed the audience to decide what they believed.  Of course, that is not the point of her show.  Her show is designed to tell her audience what to think and what is important and all the commercials that make them rich is designed to tell you what to buy.

Don’t be lead and fooled people.  Don’t believe anything you see on tv.  Think for yourselves.  Question everything that people like Rachel Maddow tells you.  I leave you with a quote that I believe is an appropriate closing.

“Do not be satisfied with hearsay or with tradition or with legendary lore or with what has come down in scriptures or with conjecture or with what has come down in scriptures or with conjecture or with logical inference or with weighing evidence or with liking for a view after pondering over it or with someone else’s ability or with the thought ‘The monk is our teacher.’  When you know in yourselves:  ‘These things are wholesome, blameless, commended by the wise, and being adopted and put into effect they lead to welfare and happiness,’ then you should practice and abide in them…”

--The Buddha

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Steve Jobs

I am always sadden by the death of any human being.  Steve Jobs died at the early age of 56.  I thought it was silly of the news stations to show pictures of people holding up their iPhones or iPads talking about how grief stricken they were over a man they knew nothing about.  Steve Jobs was a wealthy man.  Ironically, his wealth may have been his undoing.  He had so much money that he immediately sought out the best treatment that money can buy.  Apparently, he never considered alternatives to conventional cancer treatments.  It is said that he flew to Switzerland to receive radiotherapy for his cancer.  He also supposedly had a secret liver transplant.  His money enabled him to skip those who are waiting in line for the same transplant.  So, he received the best treatment that money can buy (chemotherapy and radiotherapy) and it killed him.  There are studies that shows that conventional medicine (not just for cancer...the treatment of all disease) kills approximately 100,000 people a year.  Stay away from chemotherapy and radiotherapy people.  If you should happen to be diagnosed with cancer, seek out a naturopathic doctor.  Research alternative treatments and deal with doctors who can prove they have had success dealing with your particular form of cancer. 

On another topic, I don't own an iPad or iPhone.  I have friends who cannot imagine not getting the latest gadget that Apple puts out.  I have a friend who pays every new phone that Apple puts out (she gave up blackberries for the apple).  Don't fall victim to this rampant consumerism.  My cell phone is five years old.  When I open my phone (that's right I still have a flip phone...my friends literally laugh at me) it literally falls apart.  However, I don't need to open it.  I only use it in the car via blue tooth through my car speakers. 

Check out this video to see what advertizing is doing to you:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5DCwN28y8o

Monday, October 3, 2011

Whew!!!

If you want to know how many people are in the world, just try coming up with a unique name for a blog.  Perhaps needless to say, shooting craps was not my first choice.  It wasn't even my fiftieth choice.  I came up with it as I recalled a poem that said, "Making books is like shooting craps with God."  Does anyone know the name of the poem that quote comes from?  Just curious.

As the title implies, I will use this blog to think out loud.  Many times I find myself holding back how I really feel and what I really think just to peacefully coexist with coworkers, friends, and loved ones.  I will come here to vent.  I trust it will be therapeutic.

Stay tuned...