Cell Suicide and the Gunfest

I recently learned about apoptosis, which is also called "cellular suicide." There are millions of cells in our bodies, and if one becomes infected by disease, or even if it's not needed, it can self-destruct in an orderly, programmed fashion.

Apoptosis pops into my head every time I see a mass shooting in the news. It's almost as if humans have some built-in mechanism where they are self-controlling their overpopulation.

The model is simple: The National Rifle Association (NRA) takes an exceptionally wide view of the Second Amendment, and promotes their agenda aggressively. Contrary to what you hear in the press, the power of the NRA is not their political contributions, mostly to Republicans, but rather it's their grassroots power. In the NRA world there is constant fear because that's what drives membership. People who own guns are usually scared people anyway, so it takes little to activate them emotionally and get them to call and write their Congress member.

Now, on the other half of the equation you have a United States of America that has gone totally batshit crazy. We are a nation of mentally ill individuals and it takes only a moderate amount of effort to match a crazy, deranged man with a semi-automatic rifle. And, there you have it — apoptosis.

Sandy Hook

I knew all hope was lost when an evil whacko walked into an elementary school in 2012 and murdered 20 children. Nothing could get more horrible than that. But rather than using the incident to promote common sense gun laws, and RATHER than expressing sympathy for the victims, all I heard was, "Obama is going to take our guns away." Predictably, Congress ended up doing NOTHING. At that point, I knew that the massacres would only continue and get worse. We Americans have entered a suicide pact with the crazies and their NRA enablers.

Guns

I hate guns with a passion and always have. That's one thing that makes me feel good about myself. Ironically, the early Christian church embraced pacifism. There are plenty of New Testament Bible versus to support this position, yet in America "guns and God" appear to go hand-in-hand.

Instead of shooting Bambi's, glass bottles, clay pigeons, or silhouettes of unlucky men, why not just enjoy a quiet hike in the forest? Listen to the gurgle of a running stream, and enjoy the majesty of wild deer instead of killing them. Just chill out. Guns are noisy, they terrify wildlife, and are extremely dangerous. There are so many other more peaceful hobbies.

Of course, I am continually told, "If our guns are taken away, then only the criminals will have guns." Well, that's a sad reality. If you feel unsafe in this insane, dangerous country, buy yourself a handgun. But at least get yourself thoroughly trained and keep it away from children.

The sad fact is that there are already millions of guns in our social ecosystem. And now some politicians recommend that we get millions more to stop the crazies with the guns. It's a downward spiral to hell.

Now, what I currently keep hearing is, "Gun control hasn't helped Chicago." Well, I'm guessing that most of the gun violence there is gang and drug related. That problem requires a different approach at the community level. What I am suggesting is that we ban semi-automatic assault weapons and require rigorous screening for gun buyers.

The Gun Cult

When I had my first blog in 2004 I rarely received comments from outsiders. But whenever I posted an anti-gun message, the gun advocates came out of nowhere and sent me terse messages, sometimes threatening. I was amazed that gun cultist are so dedicated to protecting "gun rights" that they must constantly peruse the Internet, looking for anything that may challenge their gun powder-based religion. In this country, gun owners are fanatical about their dangerous play toys.

Take Action

It's ironic that the best gun control groups were founded by victims of gun violence. My two favorites are The Brady Campaign and Giffords. The Brady Campaign was founded by Jim and Sarah Brady. Jim was shot during the Reagan assassination attempt and passed away a few years ago. Giffords is a congresswoman who was shot during a town hall meeting in 2011. After Sandy Hook, she and her husband said, "ENOUGH," and founded a gun control organization. I encourage you to get on the email list of both these organizations (links below) and send them money. They provide a desperately needed counterbalance to the NRA.

Personal Assessment

Sorry, folks, we are screwed. The mass shootings are something we get to live with forever — apoptosis. When I mentioned this to someone a few days ago, they replied to me, "Yes, but your chances of being a shooting victim are still very slim." But that means NOTHING. That doesn't bring dead people back to life or ease the suffering of family members. Give me a fucking break.

After every mass shooting, mostly Republicans send out their nauseating "thoughts and prayers" platitudes. And before long, will go back to their debates on making guns even MORE LETAL by considering such things as silencers and ensuring the legality of bumper stocks.

As the wounded are treated and the dead are buried, flags are flown at half mast (it's to the point where they almost stay at half mast), and people hold candlelight vigils. Some political and religious leaders will make banal speeches about how we "need to unite together" and "overcome evil."  But all of this is pointless because the only solution is a political solution. The only thing we can do is make politicians more scared of us than the NRA lobby. Financial donations, phone calls, and letters by the millions may get our impotent Congress to move. I doubt it, but as people of conscious we have to try.

It's as if each mass murderer tries to outdo the other one. The Las Vegas massacre was sick beyond belief. Did Congress do anything? NO. And then as we are still trying to absorb that tragedy and others, a whack job walks into a church and guns down more people.

Sanity is down the toilet. Welcome to the new America.

Source: Opensecrets.com, Giffords, Brady Campaign, Who Would Jesus Kill
Photo credit: Sebastian Spindler

Glazed Over

As I'm hiking through the forest I stop and focus on a single bug on a tree, which slowly moves to the top. It's just one little insect in this vastly alive and complex world we live in. SO WHY ARE WE KILLING IT AND THE WHOLE WORLD WITH IT?

Is it just me, or is everyone getting crazier? Or is my perception just different as I get older? We, as humans, argue endlessly over everything as civilization, overall, sinks. Has it always been this way? Are we evolving, or just going in circles?

Most of what I hear in the news every day are what I call equity battles. People of different races, religions, genders, nationalities, economic classes, and geographic regions are arguing about EVERYTHING.

And then there is social media, which bombards us constantly, until our brains go idle and we just shut down. How can I, Todd Daniel, scream and get a message out above all the background noise? I know that few people will even read my blog, so I think I'm writing for the next intelligent species that may come along. Or maybe I am just venting, sending my words out into deep, dark nowhere.

Glazed Over
Most of us are going through life in a zombie trance, just trying to survive, while others are focused on their selfish desires. Many people are addicted to accumulating nice crap, which makes us feel better. Others pop pills while others escape through religion or another avenues. No one appears to be home any more.

Politics
American politics have gone from being partisan and vicious and have spun into a new world of insanity. The whole world stays focused on Donald Trump's next Tweet. It's drama at its finest. Both sides of the political spectrum blow everything out of proportion and create their own augmented realities. No one really knows where the real reality is at. The Conservative Right wanted to rebel against the establishment and elected Trump, and the Liberal Left seems like a rudderless ship. Everyone is walking in circles. It's fucking weird.

The Point of This Blog
I created this blog in 2013 because, well, I thought the name sounded cool. I needed a place to hammer out my thoughts and to figure out where humans are going wrong. For instance, why can't we just identify a problem and then come up with a plan to fix it? Doesn't that sound simple?

Gun Massacres
The mass shootings are the pinnacle of our insanity, and after the Las Vegas slaughter I figured I needed to start writing again. The U.S. Congress is supposed to write laws that protect us. They are quick to write laws governing a woman's uterus, but have no problem when an insane psychopath goes to a few gun stores, buys an arsenal, and then begins randomly murdering innocent people. Hell, we've become used to it. The flags fly at half mast, a few people hold a candlelight vigil, and then it becomes business as usual again until the next mass shooting. Not even the slaughter at Sandy Hook could stir the NRA zombies or the impotent do-nothings in Congress. It seems that all the gun whackos like to target groups, so if you are in a group you are in danger.

Environment
Well, this is a topic for my other blog, We Live on A Planet. I'll just say that the killer hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes seem to indicate a problem. But, once again, we zombies just continue on with our lives. What we should be doing is changing our lifestyles to reduce carbon and pressuring our Congress to promote a clean energy economy.

As I hike I love the sound of the crackling twigs and leaves at my feet. I love the ever-changing terrain as I walk up and down hills. I breath in and smell the various forest smells. Deer come to greet me as if I'm Snow White. A yellow butterfly flutters by. Squirrels hustle in the distance and shoot up trees. In the distance, I hear an owl. Man, I'm alive. In the woods I'm really alive and I feel like I'm part of this ecosystem. I don't have to hear the crazy news reports. It's all peaceful out here. I'm alive, I'm alive.

— Todd 

Moonlight on the Horizon

Okay, it's 2014 and I'm stopping to think. The finish line is in the distance. The only regret I have in life is the few times that I was mean to someone. I tried to find them all to apologize but I couldn't, so all I can do is be kind to others.

The only thing in this life, perhaps, that matters is compassion, yet I find so little of it. These right-wing conservative politicians I hear about everyday are beyond disgust and a waste of carbon. Yet, the dwindling angry white base keeps electing them in. They are backed with the putrid Koch brothers money and slimy and vile things keep rising to the surface. Yeah, Rep. Paul Broun I'm talking about you. I single you out by name because you are particularly a bad wart on a maggot.

I go through life jaded and cynical, but I keep wanting to find a way out of our mess, although my gut feeling tells me we are pretty much done. How can we destroy our home planet like a bunch of stupid parasites? Just how stupid are we? And all the violence, sexual abuse of children, thievery, and general disrespect toward one another is sad and pathetic.

I believe our biggest problem is that we are all so dysfunctional from our childhoods that we cannot effectively collaborate as a species, to move forward for the greater good. I get so discouraged from the beginning of any effort because people will argue about every small detail, they will throw roadblocks at you, and quickly drag you into the dirt. Nothing gets accomplished and this beautiful thing we call democracy has become a broken, and paralyzed mess.

As for Facebook, what a strange glimpse into the human psyche. You really get to see a lot of mental health problems come out in the open. People post away, thinking they are building some great persona, when, in reality, everyone is seeing their personality disorders first hand. I'm not sure what social media is doing to the world, but it's changing everything and I'm not sure it's for the better.

So, I'm thinking, all we have to do is identify a problem, work as a team, and fix it. I only wish we had strong personalities like Lyndon Johnson or Teddy Roosevelt, who could push a solution to a problem. Now, all our politicians are limp wienies.

I do think the entire Georgia state government is going insane. Real problems like transportation and helping the poor are pushed aside, and all the fucking legislature and wimpy governor care about are GUNS AND GOD. Personally, I sort of see a conflict between violent guns and peaceful Christianity, but not the stupid rednecks of Georgia. It's all about pushing their social agendas to please their Jesus huggin', gun totin' base. As the conservative movement collapses the political minions appear to get only more crazy.

So, what do I do? I am suppose to do my part to fight for justice and reason, even though I'm on a giant sinking ship. If I do good work will that accomplish anything? No it won't, other than to make me feel better.

I guess my breaking point was when I worked so hard to get green county commissioners elected, and then they either quit, sold out, or were beat in the next election. My greatest successes in life were soon washed away and the developer-purchased puppets were soon back in power. And now, the developers and wealthy rule my county, and they continue with their corrupt ventures, while virtually ignoring the poor and needy. I want to vomit on their shoes.

So, cough, cough, I have vented. I just go through every day as a zombie. I only focus on survival and do my best to help others here and there. I try to make people smile and laugh every day. I particularly try to brighten the days of all the minimum wage service people I meet because I know their life sucks. Maybe if I can make them smile, laugh, or feel good for a brief moment, maybe I've at least accomplished something.

Photo credit: Theophilos / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Evolution & Technology

It's a foggy, rainy, and quiet Sunday morning. I got up at 5:10 a.m. this morning to take my daughter to the airport. All morning my mind has been racing, like it always does. My brain is nothing but organic mass, mostly made of water. Once oxygen is cut off the whole damn thing is dead forever, in just a few minutes.

So, today I'm thinking about how the Universe created technology from just a few simple compounds. Let's start with the sun, which is mainly a roaring furnace created and held together by gravity. Gravity is really the force in the Universe that makes everything, yet I'm having a little trouble understanding it.

How It All Began

From one article I read the first cells of life began in a pond, which was swishing back and forth. It didn't happen overnight, but rather over hundreds of thousands of years. We only live 70-80 years, so such a large span of time is difficult for us to comprehend, but it's only a blink of the eye in cosmic time. Over time in the primordial soup, simple heterotrophs began to form and ate other organisms for energy.

So, how can a warm pond with organic compounds turn into a human being in just 3.5 billion years? What forces drive a bunch of amino acids and proteins to become so vastly complex? Well, I'm guessing it has to do with the drive for heat dissipation and energy efficiency.

Moon & Asteroid

Of course, I do not believe evolution can be driven forward without change and adversity. Thus, I think our drive to create utopia by eliminating disease, war, and all sources of conflict is not all good because it will stop evolution.

If it were not for the moon and its daily gravitational pull, I doubt that life could have formed on this Earth. Also, some asteroid hit our planet millions of years ago and knocked it off its axis, which gave us the seasons. It is the seasons that provide the climate variety that forces organisms to adapt and thus pushes the process forward. So, without a moon and tilted axis I don't believe life could have evolved. In addition, for life to occur I believe a planet must be relatively stable and it has to be in the "Goldilocks" range from a sun. I'm guessing that only a few planets meet all this criteria, and that is why I think life is rare in the Universe.

From Sun to Brain

I love my cat and dogs because we share a common ancestor - marsupials. Now, I know that the southern United States is a very religious place, and a lot of people will just call me an idiot or say that a demon jumped inside me. But, I'm actually sort of smart, so religionists shouldn't brush me off so quickly. But that's a topic for another day.

So, what amazes me is the vast complexity of even a tree. How does a tree know to grow straight? Yes, I know the tree can detect gravity (geotropism), but how do the particles in the tree detect the gravity and then guide the growth of the tree? HOW? DAMNIT, HOW??? Please don't tell me that "God just does it." Then, a tree may adapt its growth pattern based on light (phototropism). So, part of the tree is saying, "I need to grow straight up to better handle the weight," and another part is saying "you need to grow at this certain angle to catch more light?" How are these decisions reconciled in what we think is a dumb tree?

And when you get to the human brain the functions are vastly more complex. What makes us conscious of sight, how do we remember, and how do we tie dozens of tasks together to do something like drive a car?

Religion

At the gym the other night, while on the treadmill, another epiphany hit me. Religion is a static, structured source in many humans that provides definition to the unknown. Our brains like to connect everything together and we like to have an explanation for everything. Prehistoric humans did not have science, and once they invented fire they could sit around in the evenings and start pondering the universe, like I am doing today. They forced upon themselves explanations for the stars, cold weather, predators who ate them, and so forth. These ideas were carried on to the first agricultural civilizations who needed reasons for droughts, locusts, and epileptic seizures. The Egyptians developed many of today's Western religious ideas and they mastered the art of using religion to provide order in their society. Well, it worked, somewhat, until royal family members and factions started getting DIFFERENT ideas about their religion.

Religion is a conservative force that tends to protect the status quo and order. So, here is my epiphany: it is religion that keeps our human evolution in check with the development of our technology. Already, our brain and society are having trouble keeping up with and adapting to such developments as the Internet and then social media. Look at how these two technologies alone have completely changed EVERYTHING in our society and social order. And social media is simply an evolved offshoot of the Internet, which, in turn, is an offshoot of university computer networks. HOLY COW, look at how everything is evolving in some mysterious forward path. Without religion, our technology would have skyrocketed past our ability to cope with it. I guess we should thank the Catholics for persecuting Galileo and Copernicus.

What's Next?

Some people take offense when I say, "You come from a monkey." "That's an insult," they reply. "God made my ancestors 6,000 years ago out of a handful of dirt." So, it's somehow less offensive to be called "dirt" than a "monkey?" Maybe, just because dirt doesn't throw its shit at you at the zoo? Yes, my ancestor was a monkey-like creature, and before that it was a marsupial, and before that I was a pond of warm goop.

Where evolution goes with humans will be determined by how well critical, rational, and skeptical thinking can override structured, delusional, and mythical thinking. Throughout our country and the world we see daily conflicts and wars along these two lines. I thank Islam for keeping a billion human brains in check and preventing them from contributing significantly to the general pool of knowledge. Now, to clarify that statement, I know there are many wonderful and brilliant Muslim doctors and scientists. I'm just saying that, in general, Islam as a religion has evolved particularly well, and it's control mechanisms, which ensure its perpetuity, seem super efficient. So, overall, the great efficiency of the controlling religion has thwarted the development of the scientific and technology side. We see this same scenario with fundamentalist Christians who are pushing intelligent design in public schools. Nothing personal, folks, but there is no such thing as intelligent design because you can't even use the scientific method to set up and monitor an experiment. The intelligent design movement is just like the monkeys throwing shit at the onlookers at the zoo. It's merely an attempt to gum up the thinking, rational side with prehistoric mythology, which, for some freaking reason, they feel the need to defend.

I do see positive change in the U.S. as the rational side of us is slowly beating out our collective irrational side. I don't know where this effort will take us, but I know that in the end we will be happier, more peaceful, and live more sustainable lives.


Photo credit: tanakawho / Foter / CC BY-NC

The History of Where I Live

I live in a small Georgia town called Powder Springs, which is 20 miles dead west of downtown Atlanta.

Prior to the 1830s the land was a buffer zone between the Cherokee and Creek Indians. The Gold Lottery took place, which allowed people to grab land, and they started moving into the area. In only a few years a community started to form, which was later chartered as "Powder Springs."

In the years prior to the Civil War the springs in my town became famous for their so-called healing properties. Soon, the little hamlet became a resort town with five hotels.

During the war Federal troops occupied the city. I've heard mixed stories on what they destroyed, but based on three sources I've found they did not burn the local churches to the ground. They simply dismantled the Baptist and Methodist churches and used the lumber. They used the Presbyterian church for both a hospital, and later for a horse stable. I can say that around here there is no such thing as a "Yankee." They are all "Damn Yankees."

I Cometh

In the 1970s my aunt and uncle settled here. My uncle was a heavy equipment broker and, at one time, was the richest man in town. They had a beautiful home that was a mansion to me. There was a separate room just for barbecuing. The great room was massive, with a high ceiling and a wall of windows that overlooked a creek and woods. Even the laundry room was amazing, which also contained a sewing area and shower. Downstairs, in the basement, there was a game room and a long hall with a row of bedrooms.

I was still living in central Florida at the time and I spent the summers of 1975 and 76 at their home, when I was 15 and 16. It was a lot of fun hanging out with my cousins and we created life-long bonds.

Some of my fondest memories were exploring the vast acreage around their home. Now, a 5-lane highway has been cut through the area and the land has been checkerboarded with subdivisions, but in the mid 1970s the area was nothingness. One summer my cousins and I went deep into the forest and fields and had a blast exploring. We also rode dirt bikes. Little did I know that I was riding the bike in an area that I would one day have my house.

On one of our exploration hikes I remember looking across a vast field and seeing a train on a trestle bridge way in the distance. There was just so much vast, undeveloped land, and it wonderful.

A creek ran through the back of my aunt and uncle's property, and one day my cousins and I walked in the center of it for a couple of miles. Again, all we saw was wilderness.

Back Again

Much to my delight, the next year my dad went to work as a private pilot, and we moved from Fruitland Park, FL to Powder Springs, GA. We moved over the summer and I started my senior year in a new high school. Fortunately, because I already knew my cousins and their friends the transition wasn't too bad. Plus, the Georgians were friendly folks and I had made a new best friend on the first day of school. One of the first things my new friend Daryll said, was, "Did you guys raise hell in Florida?" Well, of course we did, but Daryll was going to teach me how to "raise hell" Georgia style. This mainly involved lots of drinking, smashing mailboxes, doing doughnuts in your car, and getting in fights with rival high school gangs. I stayed out of most of the mischief, but Daryll thrived on it.

Married and Back A Second Time

I got married in 1983 and settled in the nearby town of Smyrna, where I lived for six years. When it came time to buy a house I ended up getting a home in 1988 in the same area that I explored 12 years earlier. My house has a nice 3/4 acre lot that includes a second lot behind my backyard. When I first moved in I could still see furrows in the lower lot, from some long-past farm. Another interesting thing is that I once dug up part of a cast iron school desk in my backyard. One day I need to get a metal detector and scan my property — I think I am living on some history.

Conclusion

So, I've lived in the same house for 26 years now. My oldest daughter was two when we moved here and my second daughter was born two years later. In 2008 developers came through the area and cleared land and were in the process of building all sorts of projects around my neighborhood. Then, the economy crashed and all got quiet. Since the crash, the empty lots are now filled with 6-year-old pine trees. Around the corner from my house there were plans to build a shopping center or something, and homes were actually hauled away, so my area is actually less dense and more wooded than before. It's actually a beautiful area. North Georgia receives a lot of rainfall, and I love rain. I also love trees, and it feels like our small subdivision was carved out of the forest canopy. There are plenty of remnant pieces of land that couldn't be developed, and these area provide plenty of forest cover. I like it here and I like Georgia. I have no interest in leaving this place.

A Special Little Bird

Yesterday was a dark, cold, wintery day. I bundled up and spent the afternoon working in my yard. As I was working I noticed a little bird following me. It was roundy with little black claws that seemed too small for its body.

As I went from one place to another, it would follow me. It would jump from fencepost to branch as I moved about. The bird was not fearful, but it was sometimes cautious. It would sometimes jump back to another branch or fencepost, but it wouldn't panic. Several times it was within arms length of me, and I was grateful for the trust he gave me.

At one point the bird went down to the ground and I thought he might be injured, but he quickly returned to a fencepost and started munching on a blackberry that he picked up in its beak. He was just munching away while still observing me.

I sent pictures of the bird to a friend, who identified it as an Eastern Phoebe. Sure enough, a visit to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology confirmed the bird's identity.

I felt like I made a connection with this little creature, and I was thankful to have the company as I worked outside. Sadly, many people would not even notice such a minor contact with nature, or even care. But I care because it reminds me that we live in a vast and complicated ecosystem. And just because humans are supposedly smart and have a consciousness that doesn't make us better than other animals. We are all one and we are all connected. Some religionists have a problem with that because of the "have dominion" clause in the Holy Bible. Well, to that I say "poop."

Kind Words

I had a few kind words and kind gestures given to me today, and it really lifted me up. Speaking of this topic, I want to share my philosophy:

Okay, every day you wake up, and you're consuming a lot of resources. As an American, you are using 200 times more resources than the average Ethiopian. I feel that every day we all need to justify our existence.

One thing you can do is make it a point to make life a little less miserable for someone every day. This can be done with a kind deed or some nice words.

We all come across service people every day — in restaurants, stores, and other businesses. Always give them a smile. Try to say something positive and kind. Always try to lift others up. If there is a problem with your service, freak people out by not being a jerk. Rather, be patient and tolerant. Service people are usually low paid and they typically don't want to be behind that counter. Many of them lead hard lives and they are just trying to survive. If you have a sense of humor, make them laugh.

Over the course of a day, it just take a few positive people like yourself to put someone in a better mood. When that person goes home from their crappy job, that positive mood may transfer to others in their household. Holy crap, you just made the world a slightly better place.

Don't whine, demand, and scream because there is a pea in your mashed potatoes. Life is short, and in the grand scheme of things it's not important.

EXPECT the world to be an imperfect place, and you'll be a lot less stressed and feel better. Technology will fail, just as it has since the beginning of technology. People will make mistakes. Things will go wrong, and then snowball. Learn to accept that. If you have a service problem, explain your problem, and ALWAYS be polite and respectful. Trust me, assholes are a penny a dozen. Be the exception.

Just for fun, I always like to have a behavior that's totally unexpected. One time I was at an event and I learned that even though I had a room reservation, no rooms were available. The hotel had rebooked me at another hotel, far away by the airport. I simply said, "That will work out perfectly - I have a colleague who's staying in that area." The hotel clerk was surprised. He said, "Wow, you're the only person who didn't yell at me about this today." That made me feel really good.

In conclusion, I want to give a shout out to the positive, happy people in my life who continually lift me up and make me feel good. I am blessed to have each of you in my life, and I love you all. See, I said something nice.