The Zombieslayer

One serious problem with American politics is we have too many lawyers and businessmen running this country and not enough scientists and doctors.

Whether we like it or not, energy will be quite possibly the biggest problem in the next twenty years. We cannot continually depend on foreign oil, especially with the continual wars in the Middle East, and China and India entering the picture.

Scientific American (January 2008) proposed a solution how to solve our energy crisis with Solar Power. We build a giant solar infrastructure in the Southwest, and route the energy nationwide. If you haven’t gotten a chance to read the article, you can read it here.

Not only would solar power solve our dependency on foreign oil, it would cut carbon dioxide emissions significantly.  For those of you who believe in global warming, our CO2 emissions would drop from 6.1 billion tons (2007 estimate) to 2.3 billion tons in 2050 with the solar plan in place.  If you don’t believe in global warming, fine, but let’s just say you’ll be breathing cleaner air.

Amazingly, the price of electricity would drop because solar power is continual.  Currently, we’re paying around 20c per kWh, whereas in 2050, it would be 9c per kWh.   Yes, we’ll still have to use oil, but our consumption would drop significantly, from 6.9 billion barrels to 2.7.  The scientists who wrote the article stated we have the oil reserves to supply our own oil at this rate, and won’t need to use foreign oil.

The catch? Well, there are 2:

1) It will cost $420 billion over the next 40 years.  As big as that number sounds, it’s really nothing when you consider that we’ll have no reason to be in the Middle East EVER AGAIN.  And as I’ve already mentioned, the price of electricity would be less than half of what we pay today.  Imagine taking your energy bill and cutting it in half.

2) We’ll need a politician to put this through who isn’t owned by the oil companies.  That there’s the stinger.

I know Energy is about the most unsexy political issue today, but I guarantee you within twenty years, it will be our most important.

I’ve had my chart read before. It was surprisingly accurate, and even successfully predicted the hair color of my next girlfriend.

So I did a little research. I’m a Gemini, and found the description of what a Gemini is fit me 100%. I couldn’t believe it. That was me to a tee!

Then I started reading the other ones. I read Virgo and it was just like me. To a tee. Then I read Aquarius and it was just like me. To a tee. I ended up reading all twelve and they were all like me.

Breaking news. Humans are complex. You are energetic. You are lazy. In some situations, you’ll make a wonderful leader. In other situations, you’d be better off being a follower. You are smart. Sometimes, you are stupid. Sometimes you’re brave and could do things that surprise even you. Sometimes, you hide from reality. You are both open-minded and stubborn. Sometimes you are independent. Sometimes, you need other people to help you get through.

You have been both wise and stupid with monetary situations. Join the club. So have the rest of us. You were more idealistic and liberal when you were younger, and became more realistic and conservative when you got older. Or maybe you didn’t, but that’s the route a lot of us took. You are sometimes lively. Sometimes, you just want to rest. You can be pleasant on some days and some days, people need to give you space.

I could go on and on and on, but you see my point.

The origin of astrology

You are in control of your destiny. Not the planets. Not the stars. Astrology came from a time before science, when folks thought we were the center of the universe and the stars and planets were just bodies out there that affected our lives. Now that we know more about science, hate to say it, but we’re just a small planet surrounding a relatively small star in just another galaxy. There is nothing special about us. Nothing.

You make your choices because you are you. You don’t not make your choices because you’re a Virgo or Gemini or whatever.

You may be wondering why sometimes they’re right. Well, of course they’re right sometimes. It’s because they make 365 predictions a year. They’re bound to get several of those right.

I could write down 365 predictions of your life right now, and I bet you I get at least 10 right on. I mean spot on, to a tee. Does that make me have supernatural powers? If so, call me Zombiesladamus. I like how that sounds.

So I’m reading Chuck Klostermann’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and I came to the realization that it’s not just The Sims, it’s all video games. Video games are not only a waste of time, but the end result is nothing accomplished and an empty feeling afterwards.

I’ve defended porn on many occasions. I keep hearing people say porn is degrading to women. That’s utter bull. There are so many variations of porn that to single out one group being degraded is to close your eyes to all the rest.

If you’re anywhere near my age, you’ll remember the Eurythemics song Sweet Dreams are Made of This. If you’re younger, you may have heard the Marilyn Manson cover of that song. It’s about porn. “Some of them want to use you. Some of them want to be used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused.”

Someone gets used and abused. It’s not always the woman, so that whole argument is bogus. Unlike video games though, porn always has a happy ending. If you got one not to your liking, you must have accidentally grabbed someone else’s fantasy instead of the one you wanted.

So, here I am in my late 30s and I can’t do the guitar solos I used to do when I was 19. Why? Because I’m always preoccupied doing something else. I work 40 hours a week, have a wife and kid, try to spend quality time with both of them, work out regularly, keep a blog, read, keep up with the news, politics, and what’s going on with the Green Bay Packers, listen to music, play video games, practice guitar, and once a week try a new thing to cook. Something has to give.

I don’t even own a t.v. anymore so I can’t blame the idiot box for my wasted hours. So video games will have to go.

I just won a game today. It felt great when the tide turned and I started winning my battles. Then as it came near the end and it was clear I was going to win the war, it became anti-climatic and not even fun any more.

Sure, porn gets boring the second time you watched it, but at least it didn’t limit your world like video games do. Yes, when you play a video game, the rules are limited to the rules the writers give you. You cannot think outside the box. You have to follow their rules and play in their world. Talk about limiting creativity.

So no more. The rest of ‘08, I won’t play another video game. Then maybe I could spend more time on the guitar and conquer those guitar solos I wrote when I was 19.

Don’t live life by what is politically correct or what is in vogue at the moment. Do what you believe to be the right thing, no matter what the opinion polls say. In the long run, you’ll be respected more for standing your ground, even if at the time they hate you.

We know everyone has flaws. I’d rather not start off a rant by saying this, because it’s so trite, so overdone.

As a highly opinionated person, I speak my mind. Sometimes it’s not the friendliest thing to say, but there’s a Freedom of Speech in this country and by golly, I’m going to use it while we still have it.

It’s funny, my last satirical piece, I was thinking that Right-wing Americans would probably cheer and say “cool! Zombieslayer hates Muslims.” Left-wing Americans would probably say “oh no! Zombieslayer’s a bigot!”

Freedom of Speech, my friends. Use it or lose it.

Everyone does something stupid. It would be a bad world when people are afraid to call someone on it. So I do. When George W does something stupid, I say it. When Nancy Pelosi does something stupid, I say it. Well, I can’t all the time because those two are some of the dumbest people on the planet (and they’re running our country).

As for Islam, yes, you’ve heard me say it before and I’m sick of saying it but I have to say it again because you never know when there will be a newbie who reads this blog - a religion is only as good or bad as its followers. The best thing that could happen for Islam are for moderate Muslims to openly mock the extremists. Do it in public, and do it loudly. Take those stupid things off women’s heads, allow women to have every Right that men have, and stop chopping off people’s heads you don’t like.

Of all the religions, Islam has the absolute worst track record for Women’s Rights.

Of all the religions, Islam has the most vile extremists.

Of all the religions, Islam is the most intolerant.

If I were a Muslim, this is what I’d be working on:

1) Equality for Women,

2) Birth control. The reality is overpopulation in Islamic countries is the root cause of all their problems. Denying birth control and forcing women at gunpoint to breed is making the problems far worse,

3) Immediately stopping female circumcision. That practice is abhorrent and the sooner it is outlawed worldwide the better,

4) Free Speech. Yes, that means offensive speech too. And if one’s delicate sensibilities are offended, tough shit!

5) A truly Free Press. This is crucial to change. Open up the press, including criticism of clerics and government bodies.

Until this happens, Islam will continue to be seen as an ass backwards religion. There are many, many moderate, intelligent, and fascinating Muslims out there. I have befriended many, and I can tell you first hand that they’re fun as heck to party with. But they need to be more vocal about change or else all the rest of the world will see are the loud, backwards idiots that make Islam look like a religion of nutjobs.

By the way, you might want to watch this video. By all means, let me know if you know any Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan, Atheist, or Taoist groups that are this scary. Keep in mind, this is mainstream in some Muslim nations.