Musings of Old Man Joe

There and back again!

Religion

How the Internet or Web is changing our world.

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We live in a mobile world, I find it easier to get my news & write my blog on my phone. We have our social networks, too many for me to be actually social. Personally I think texting is the most social program. As I’m actually having a conversation rather than just making statements.

The social thing like other online programs will change as one loses popularity as another takes the lead. Just like trendy bars in Los Angeles. They are only the flavor for a short time.
There are other ways our world is changing.

The Arab Spring would never have occurred without social networks. Groups who wish to promote their cause now have a platform. This can be good or bad depending on the cause!
I believe in free speech, but hate & violence are not free speech. The promotion of free speech while restricting hate is the challenge of the modern web.

Pornography (the industry), is actually on the decline due to the web. With so many free online sites & people willing to put their exploits on the web for free!

I see a change in our TV viewing in the near future. The only thing holding change back is the media companies. The advent of the reality show (oxymoron), was probably the worst thing to happen to TV since its inception. I have never understood the purpose in giving fools a platform just for ratings. I know it’s cheap but there is no value in it!

The web will be our answer to this, as content & software develop more of our viewing pleasure will be web based rather than just network TV. It will of course have to be paid for. My hope is we move to a one payment system for everything. Web, tv, data, because in a digital world it’s all just data! You pay for the data you use. Very simple & no throttling thank you.

I do wonder what will happen to the TV when we get all our news and shows on our mobile devises. Will the TV just be for gaming? We are in a constant state of technology transition waiting for the next leap. Only when that’s settled & people have decided what works do we know. Until then it’s just opinion, this was mine!
Thank you!!

Where are the moderates?

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It’s a fact the GOP has moved to the right over the last ten years. A conservative in England would be considered a socialist in the US.
I know religion plays a large part of this swing, which makes me dislike organized religious groups even more now. But is that the only radical group at play?
Where are the fiscal conservatives gone. Didn’t they see bush & his cronies ruin the economy. Wage wars & give tax cuts with no consideration. And yet when the next President tried to fix it they just tow the party line. Call him a socialist and do nothing to help fix the economy. Even Reagan understood you can’t just fix it with reduced spending. So he increased taxes to raise revenue. It’s the same today!
Any fool knows in order for economic growth money must move.
The so called job producers have decided not to produce the jobs, even though they still have their precious tax cuts. The Republicans will not put through legislation to spur job growth as it would make Obama look good.
So we have a stagnant economy kept stagnant because the politicians are playing power games.
So where have all the moderate conservatives who can see through the bullshit gone?

The Quest for Moderation

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Recently I have a couple of chats with people on the different end of the political spectrum than myself. One was regarding the healthcare debate and the other was regarding women’s issues, (which is really a religious theocracy issue).

The first was with a nice guy from a southern state, he gave me his idea of the health care debate, some of the usual republican talking points. And scary tactics calling anything to do with healthcare socialism or communism or some other ism!  I explained that in the healthcare debate we are not inventing universal healthcare. This has been in action in the western world for a few generations. And many countries can state it’s been quite successful. People like to not worry about what will happen in the event of an accident. Now of course different countries have different resources and some are going to be better than others. Japan has universal medicine that is heavily privately managed, so there are opportunities for business ventures in a universal healthcare system. Healthcare makes money, but when the money is only going to investors, and the patients have no say; it’s not healthcare and you are just a pawn? Anyone who grew up with universal healthcare thinks this is a no brain er. But it’s an experiment in the US and the status-quo don’t want to give away their profits or control. The southern gentleman agreed that maybe a look away from FOX News and political pundits may be needed to have a informed opinion. And this I agree with, get the true information and if you maintain your opinion on the subject at least it can be an interesting discussion.

My second conversation was a very opinionated Republican female who just decided to Obama bash. Her facts were taken from lies on right wing web sites, and if that is the only place she gets her info I’m not surprised her facts are wrong! I tried to explain that posting and quoting lies from right wing sites doesn’t make it true. There are legitimate sources to gather information and form an opinion. I countered her argument with links to different news sources disputing her lies. I didn’t think this would work, because she was never interested in the truth. Her truth already exists in her head, and the only thing she wants to hear or see will be anything to agree with her truth. The lasting argument between science (a process) and religion (a belief system), can never be won. Science looks at the world we live in and tries to explain what we see, but in order for it to be right you must prove it! Religion requires no proof, no evidence, no explanations, and no curiosity; just believe what you are told. For the curious mind this is unacceptable, science can make mistakes and then has to correct itself. Religion has no corrections and will take no critique. So my suggestion is to have freedom of religion as the founding fathers suggested, this means you are free to practice your religion, and not impose your beliefs onto anybody who doesn’t share them.

That’s why it’s called freedom.

The Church’s War On Contraception and Freedom.

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First I do think the church does have a say in what services it should provide, as a religious institution it has it’s own set of values. Save the unborn child, but when the child suffers from a priest pedophile the church will protect the priest & not the child!

The political and fundamentalist war on women and contraception is right up there with any other fanatical religious teaching. Morals and ethics may come from many different sources, not just religion.

Religious teaching was supposed to be a guide on how to live your life; not tell everyone else how to live theirs. Religious freedom is freedom to practice your religion, what other people are doing is none of your business.

Women need access to contraception for many other reasons other than just procreation. Planned Parent Hood and clinics like it, do many screening’s and check ups that save lives. To attack these institutions in the name of religious freedom is more akin to the Taliban than a free society. To indoctrinate in the name of religious freedom is in fact Theocracy in the making.

Respect & Freedom need to return to the United States, that means freedom of religion and freedom from religion.

The un-United States of America

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When I look at recent politics in the USA, it has become so polarized by factions on both sides. Most vocal would be the far right who have taken control of the GOP. Forcing moderates out of the picture.
This makes compromise almost impossible. And without change it’s only going to stagnate our farce of a democracy. The Democrats have never been very good at selling what they offer. Don’t take credit when they do good things.
There there is so much corporate influence I’m beginning to question whether any individual’s vote really counts any more.
I believe that this is about to change. As the individuals selling fear to the crowd has just about run its course. Those trying to make the USA a Theocracy won’t succeed.
The religion of Jesus was about forgiveness not hate. The church’s of two thousand years ago can’t keep up with a changing world.
I am very critical of the catholic church, that puts its own welfare above a abused child.
I’m critical of Pastors who preach hate as much as Imams preach hate, they are in fact still worshipping the same God; as are the Jews.
The religious divide between bible thumpers in the south & progressives in the west & east coasts is creating almost two Americas.
I was raised with Religion & a respect for science. These two things don’t have to be at odds all the time. Science is not a religion but a process to acquire knowledge. To put down science is to say I don’t believe what I see.
In this divided America it’s only through change and growth that progress is made. I see the lies told by our politicians who have been paid for.
Religious Theocracy isn’t freedom & I’m very much for freedom of choice. And freedom of opportunity.
We see what happens when there is no compromise. Maybe the United States should break up. Let those states who think women shouldn’t have a voice, a vote, form their own theocracy in the south. And let the progressives who believe in freedom and individual choice alone!
This is my opinion, open for discussion, any nasty comments will not be posted!