Fibbing Friday 20/3

Instead of waiting for pensitivity101, I sent her a list of topics to lie about and share with others.  The email came back marked

Return To Sender
No Such Recipient
No such Address

So I guess I’ll just have to share these with lucky little you.

1. How many years bad luck do you get if you break a mirror?

It depends on which one you break.  Knock something off the counter and break the one in the wife’s purse, and the tornado should dissipate by tomorrow.  Break a Hepplewhite one when she drags you out antiquing, and you’ll see a shattered image of two years’ savings disappearing.

2. What shouldn’t you walk under?

15.000 steps a day, if your wife put you on an exercise program, bought His and Hers Fitbits, and registered as your Friend.  When she goes to bed early, I lie on the couch watching Netflix, hang my leg over the edge, and tap the floor.  Next morning, See honey!  Quota achieved!

3. Why are black cats crossing your path considered unlucky?

One of the reasons that we bought this marvelous old mini-mansion, was the big, stone fireplace in the main room….  Until a bat got in down the chimney, and our previously-white cat chased it through the ashes, and back out onto our new, previously-ivory Persian rug.  😳

4. Why do we ‘knock on wood’?

To be closer to our Maker.

Jesus was helping St. Peter at the Pearly Gate one day.  A very old man shuffled up.  St. Peter asked him what he had been on Earth.  He replied that he had been a woodworker.  Jesus looked closer and said, “Dad?”  The old man peered back and said, “Pinocchio?”

5. Why are horseshoes considered lucky?

Know how to stop a runaway horse?  Bet on him.  I don’t know how they can run with those heavy steel things on their feet.  Couldn’t we get them a couple of pair of nice, light Reeboks?

6. Why do we cross our fingers for good luck?

To keep the stupidity and gullibility from leaking out.  This superstition stuff is all fake.  I’m a Virgo.  Us Virgos are highly skeptical and don’t believe in any of it.

7. Why is 13 considered an unlucky number?

Because there are only 12 slices in an extra-large pizza.  Sorry bro, you got here too late.  You’ll have to order another one – and while you’re out getting it, pick me up a six-pack of Heineken Dark, k?

8. On the other hand, why is 7 considered lucky?

If 7-11 is open 24-hours, why are there locks on the doors?  7 is the end of the overnight shift.  If Apu hasn’t been beaten and robbed by some junkie by then, he considers himself lucky.  I’ve never been robbed here at the Archon’s Den during any of my late-night shifts.  I see those ne’er-do-wells slinking by in the dark.  They look up and see me watching them, and put their dog between us.

9. What is signified by itchy hands?

You’ve been doing too much shopping, and slathering on that disinfectant at every store.  I’m glad this COVID is almost over.  My hands have absorbed more alcohol than I have.

10. Why should you not put shoes on the table?

With my wife’s cooking, the roasts are always so dry and tough, shoes could get sliced up and eaten without anyone even noticing.

***

It’s no wonder that Christian Apologists get their Bibles in a knot with me.  It’s not that I’m an Atheist.  It’s that I keep breaking the Thou shalt not tell a lie Commandment.  Which one is that anyway??  The 14^th??

 

Objectively Speaking

There are no objective morals, but there are ethics that work well with civilization and we should follow them for our benefit and the benefit of others.

So, your argument is that there are no objective moral standards, that we each conduct ourselves according to our own desires at the moment.  Presumably you want people to treat others with respect, the way you do, right? Why should anyone do that?

Let’s ignore “morality”, because it’s a concept invented by the religious, particularly, recently, by the American ‘Christians,’ but about the specifics of which, no two Christian groups totally agree with each other, and go with the Secular Humanist concept of The Greatest Good For The Greatest Number, which benefits the individual, their society, and the human race at large, and which is empathetically NOT according to our own desires at the moment.  If you don’t want the greatest good for the greatest number I don’t even want to know why not, just a previous warning. If you want to know if slavery is immoral – ask a slave.

What an original thought! The dictatorship of the wise and just majority. The majority won’t enslave anyone. That’s never happened before.

Yep! We will just declare the majority our god and take a poll every time we need to make a decision about anything.

Do Secular Humanists agree about everything? Does any large group of people? Would it not be a miracle if they did? Would it be a good miracle? Without some sort of basis for judging the matter, how would we know? Because everyone is in agreement? Would that be it?  I can explain why something is right and why something is wrong. Do you have an answer? Nope! All you do is make unsupported assertions.

Oh dear!!  You do seem to expend considerable time and energy, putting words into other people’s mouths.  Us ignorant Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, and Secularists don’t declare anything to be God(like).  There is no compulsion – which far too many Christians ignore, anyway – but you are expected to think for yourself to make informed self-interest decisions.

Perhaps you have heard of Secular Humanism under its other name – Representative Democracy and Rule of Law.  It is the absolutely worst system of governance – except for every other one.  You might give it a try.  A few minor, unimportant World Nations have, and surprisingly, it seems to work.

This is where the populace selects wise and capable leaders.  They tell them what they want their country to look and act like.  They trust their elected officials to deal with the BIG moral issues, like assault, theft, and murder.  They know that the legislature will enact laws to forbid certain acts and actions, and provide penalties for those who do.  That way there’s no need for a referendum for every moral decision.  The answer to the basis of right and wrong, is mutually-agreed-on enacted laws.

Sadly, far too many Good Christians fail to join in.  They clog up divorce courts, rehabilitation clinics, and prisons.  Per capita, there are ten times as many Christians in penitentiaries, than Atheists.  In States like California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, every second inmate is named Jesus.

This then leaves individuals free to personally judge the finer moral points, like….  Should my bodily autonomy be violated, and I’m forced to carry a fetus to full term, if I’m told that I must, by a priest with no ovaries, or wife who has them??

Should I hate fags and homos, if ordered to do so by a priest/preacher who is raping altar boys??
Should I take marriage advice from an unmarried priest??
Should a priest (Who isn’t supposed to be having sex) be allowed to dictate how, when, how often, what position, whom I may – and may not – have sex with??

Why do you look at the mote that is thy brother’s eye, but do not see the plank that is in thine own eye?  👿

Face The Music Fibbing Friday

It was Pensitivity101’s birthday last Friday so she was having a ‘day off’ and glad to post another set of questions provided by Jim Adams.  Thanks Jim.  It’s okay.  Since I turned 70, I’ve had a lot of ‘off days.’

Music

Why did Don Mclean drive his Chevy to the levy?

That whole American Independence thing began with, “No taxation without representation.” So there was no Levy.  Instead, Don expected a big party – a soirée – a levee, but there was only some damn dam, keeping the trout stream out of his basement.

Who will stop the rain?

Homosexuals!  Some Fundamentalist preachers claim that droughts are caused because of the existence of too many gays.  Other Fundamentalists claim that hurricanes, giant thunderstorms and floods are caused by the presence of too many gay guys.  If we could just get all the gays spread out over the world in the right proportions, we could probably defeat Global Warming.

Where does the love go?

Over to Wembley Stadium.  Rafael Nadal stores it in his racquet case, because he almost never needs to use it, the oaf.

Who shot the deputy?

Mr. Johnson shot the deputy, even though he insisted that he was just working his side gig as an Uber-Eats driver, delivering egg fu yung to Mrs. Johnson on Mr. Johnson’s Rotary Club meeting nights.

Why was nobody getting fat except Mama Cass?

Did you ever see her eat??!  After last week’s big society gala, it was her that I followed to the buffet.  That woman sure could suck back the food.  If she’d been British, their vacuum cleaners would be called Elliots, instead of Hoovers.

How did the blackbird break its wings?

It inadvertently flew in an open window of the home of our local meth lab.  It flew out again, a few minutes later.  Observers report that it was travelling at 130 real Miles Per Hour, and gaining altitude quickly, when the catastrophic failure of both lift surfaces occurred.

What did the Traveling Wilburys find at the end of the line?

A prince, calling all the way from Nigeria, to tell them that he had $200 Million U.S. that he would give them 10% of, if they would just provide their banking information so that he could transfer it out of the country.

What instrument did Mr. Bojangles play?

The spoons!  After also following Mama Cass to the buffet, and finding it as empty as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard, Bill Robinson decided to use some of the now-useless cutlery to do a bit of busking and make enough coin to order a pizza.

Who lived on Desolation Row?

Bob Dylan’s mother.  So, Mister Musician, are you proud of yourself?  Your Father and I worked our fingers to the bone, and scrimped and saved so that you could go to a nice school, and get a profession, like a doctor, or a lawyer, but do we get any thanks??  Oh, no!  You want to play a guitar, and blow a silly harmonica.  At least you changed your name.  Maybe no-one will know.  You should have got a nice job, like an undertaker.

Why couldn’t the Rolling Stones get any satisfaction?

It was probably because of all the drugs that they ingested – any, or all, in combination.  I mean…. Keith Richards, snorting his father’s cremated ashes??! – And he wouldn’t even share a line with Mick and the rest of the boys.  Ron Wood looks like he stocks his bar with formaldehyde.

Gettin’ Physical Fibbing Friday

Pensitivity101 went all geeky on us, and asked some deep, technological questions, to which I have shallow, silly answers, that may have some vague relation to truth and reality.

Physics
What came before the big bang?

A teen-aged, trans-dimensional entity, clumping around the meta-verse in its size 13 sneakers.

What did Galileo drop off the tower of Pisa?

The large pizza that the Uber-Eats delivery guy had to schlep all the way to the top.  While a shame, he didn’t feel that it was that much of a loss, because it had Genoa salami, instead of hot Pisan sausage.

Is a Cartesian bear similar to a polar bear?

It depends on how you observe it.  From the shaded side, it does indeed look much like a Polar bear.  From the sunward side, it more resembles a casserole of lasagna.

What did Newton say when the apple landed on his head?

#$%@&*%#!!!  Oh – after that??!  That does it!  No more Mister Nice Guy!  I’m going to invent calculus to see if I can bend gravity, so that the next one misses me.

Why did Columbus think the world was round?

Because he kept getting calls from India and Pakistan, offering to have the ducts on the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria cleaned.

What was Heisenberg uncertain about?

The whole LGBTQ2+ thing, and why so many good Christians, instead of worrying about their own sexuality, are so concerned about other people’s.  Eskimos rub noses to express love.  Too many Christians love to stick their nose in where it doesn’t belong.

What was the name of Schrödinger’s cat?

Iffy, until it died…. or did it??   🙄

When a photo finish decides the winner of a race, did they change the outcome by measuring it?

Not really!  It enlarged the noses of both front-running horses by the same amount.

What is the God particle used for?

A source of irony when Christian Apologists try to use it to define their pet deity into existence.

Is the theory of everything all you need to know?

In theory – YES.  But there will always be another irritating, smart-ass know-it-all, ready to bend your ear about some fool topic.  🙄

’23 A To Z Challenge – C

By the year 2050, the entire world’s skin tone will be beige, and religion will be just a memory.

While I think that the first part of this prophecy is inevitable, I feel that the prophet who claimed it was optimistic – or pessimistic – that it will occur so soon – and the second part will come to pass, only when, as Freud said, The last human loses their fear of Death.

This past century has been one of inclusion and amalgamation.  Widespread, free movement of people, things, ideas, and information is finally breaking the grip of tribalism, isolationism, and the extensive US vs. Them mentality.  “Seasonal” fruits and vegetables have become a thing of the past, with daily airplane flights from Chile and Australia.

Immigration and tourism has opened so many narrow minds to the facts of other races, other religions, other moralities, other social customs, other legal systems, and other languages.  Language is the easiest and most often absorbed.  Here in Canada, because of the Province of Quebec, every citizen, from Inuit to immigrant, must have at least a working knowledge of the poutine that the locals claim is French.  Many French words, phrases, and place-names have crept into the “English” language, because of French explorers in Canada and northern United States.

Spanish exploration and conquest in Central and South America has resulted in the insertion of many Spanish words and terms into the, especially South and Western United States, ‘English’ language.  ‘Lazo’, the Spanish word that also gave the word ‘lace’ to English, and means noose, or bond, became ‘lasso’.  His cousin, la reata – the rope – became the cowboys’ lariat.

All of which deviously brings us to the word of the day

CALABOOSE

An Americanism dating back to 1785–95; through Louisiana French calabouse, from Spanish calabozo “dungeon,” of obscure origin

From the same base comes ‘calabash,’ an organic little dungeon of a gourd, with all the little seeds held prisoner within – the inspiration for Jimmy Durante’s girlfriend, Mrs. Calabash. Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.

Good night!!  Isn’t this fool done prating yet??

MAID Service

DON’T CUT ME OFF!

1Jaded1 recently asked about local views, and my opinion and views, on medically assisted suicide.  There’s very little mention, or pushback, here.  After all, we’re safe, sane Canada, not the Bible-thumping Southern Excited States.  Do whatever you please, just don’t scare the horses.

The issue does exist here.  Locally, it’s been given the cutesy acronym MAID – Medical Assistance In Dying.  I don’t know how far that label extends.  The very day she asked this question, an Op-Ed letter demanded that “death with dignity” access should be legally guaranteed, as a right.

I stand foursquare behind that.  I believe in the maximum of personal freedom.  I don’t feel that my bodily autonomy, or anyone else’s, should be violated by some do-gooder’s trumped-up morals.

HOWEVER!!!….

Be (VERY) careful what you wish for.  I can appreciate some people’s worry about the thin edge of the wedge, or the slippery slope.  Two days later, another Op-Ed letter arrived.  17 years ago, a man’s family and doctor fought him tooth and nail, to prevent him from accessing MAID.  With medication and psychotherapy, he is now a reasonably-functional citizen.  He was never promised that he would recover, but he now has hope.  He admits that he really didn’t want to die, he just didn’t want to live his nightmare any longer.

I am all for informed personal consent, but to ensure that cases like this do not occur, is going to require some administrative oversight. – a three-doctor panel?  This is where the bigots and the bureaucrats get their hooks in, and have a field day ruining running other people’s lives – as they see fit.

The same applies for gender-reassignment therapy.  INFORMED personal consent is paramount.  If little 8-year-old Billy wants to grow his hair down to his shoulders, and wear hair-bows, nylon panties and dresses, and call himherself Suzie – let IT!  Even non-bigot observers are rightly concerned when WOKE parents are authorizing treatments for pre-pubescent children.  You’re not even supposed to get a tattoo until you reach the age of majority – the age of informed personal consent!

Let Billy/Suzie live with the public fallout of the temporary decision for a while.  If he/she/it/they are still determined to go ahead, we can be reasonably assured that the choice is valid and duly considered.  Both these decisions have offices on a one-way street.  Once you start down it, there’s no turning back.  Considerable contemplation should be displayed, before a doctor is authorized to prescribe an overdose amount of Nembutal or Propofol, or before they lop Billy’s wiener off, and start pumping hormones in.

Pragmatically, especially on the suicide issue, I say go ahead – unless they’re directly related to me.  Earth’s population is now over 8 BILLION!  The overcrowded rats are beginning to nip at each other.  I can see you, Vladimir Putin.  I fear that a drastic reduction in population is going to occur anyway.  I can see you, COVID19, and all your mutant cousins.  A bunch of suicides might help reduce the social pressure by eliminating the emotionally inadaptable from the gene pool.

A lad from Montreal committed suicide on his 16^th birthday.  On the next anniversary, his distraught mother also committed suicide.  On the third anniversary, his bereaved father also committed suicide.  I don’t wish to appear hard or uncaring (Oh, go ahead) but, apart from cleaning up the mess, and the confusion and sadness of friends and relatives – perhaps we are all better off without their contagious weakness.

A representative of the Council of Canadian Academies wants all levels of government to do something about the profusion of scientific misinformation which has caused many preventable COVID deaths.  In addition to regulating social media platforms and private messaging apps, Ottawa needs to support the production and distribution of science-based, factual information.  Science communication is facing an uphill battle.

This is one of the things that most irks me most about some Christian Apologetics debaters.  They ask, “Even if Atheists could prove that there’s no God, (That’s not our job – or our aim!) what’s wrong with believing something that’s false?”  Because it can get you killed!!  Worse yet, you can take your family, your neighbors, your friends, and even ME along with you.  I see you, Jim Jones, and David Koresh.

That’s when and why I begin to care – deeply, strongly!  In the movie, Spy Game, Robert Redford played an old agent, training a new agent.  At one point he advises, “If it comes down to between you and him – Send flowers.”  I’m sorry that you are so dumb and gullible that you will believe internet/religious conspiracy theories.  Please accept this lovely bouquet of Chrysanthemums.  We’re all probably better off without you.”

Despite those who see only in black and white, there is no perfect world, and there is no one-size-fits-all, perfect answer to either of these problems.  We’ll just have to live (or die) with imperfect humans – and keep your nose out of other people’s business, lest someone use it as an exclamation point.  😳

Proving God

Christian Apologists seem eager to prove the existence of God.  Or have the existence proved, since many of them spend more time and energy trying to prove nonbelievers wrong, than in proving their own claims right.

How could it be done??!  In my humble opinion, it can’t!  There is no way to prove an immaterial, supernatural being, in a naturalistic, material world.  It’s a fools’ game, though there’s no shortage of fools trying.

In the mid/late 1800s, there was a Philosopher – a debater, who never lost a debate.  There was another, lesser debater who he had taken a particular dislike to.  He had challenged him many times, but was never accepted.  Finally, he offered to take a position contrary to his oft-stated belief.

He was tall, handsome, well-dressed, intelligent, well-educated, had a broad vocabulary and a powerful voice.  He emoted.  He projected his voice.  He waved his arms and hands – and he won the debate!  So, philosophy, logic, and debate are useless!  😳

I have seen two different Mathematics Professors, using two different sets of algebraic equations, PROVE that 1 = 2, in clear violation of observed reality.  So, mathematics, that pure, sweet language of the cosmos, is useless.  😳

I once read a paper from two Aeronautical Engineers.  They had studied bees, and found that the bees’ wing surface area, compared to their weight, was not large enough – they could not fly.  The bees of course, continued to do so.

With the advent of high-speed cameras, something called rectilinear flexion was discovered.  Bees don’t just flap their wings.  They cup the air the way that swimmers’ hands cup the water, for extra propulsion and lift.

When the top speed in the quarter-mile drag races was approaching 175 MPH, two Automotive Engineers calculated the top limit.  One pound of weight on the drive wheels, equalled one pound of forward thrust.  No-one could exceed 177 MPH.

When the speeds went to 179 and 180, they blamed technological malfunction – the timing lights were misaligned or the primitive electronic speed calculator malfunctioned.  When speeds approached 185, they finally climbed off their slide-rules and discovered directional friction.

So, education, intelligence and Engineering are useless, unless you can be sure that you have all the relevant information.  😦

As a wordsmith, I have noticed that many of the problems, either accidentally, or intentionally, come from language misusage and misunderstanding.  They make claims that sound like they mean one thing, while their definition and belief is something quite different.

There can be no meaningful discussion until all the terms are coherent, clearly defined, and agreed on.  This is not likely to happen in an endeavor where obfuscation is a growth industry.

So, my beloved English language is so misused as to be useless.  😦

Those who say, Oh, you wouldn’t believe, even if someone presented proof. are being disingenuous.  They are admitting that they don’t have convincing evidence.  I know a secret, but if I told you, I’d have to kill you.  It’s a good excuse to never have to present a verifiable, falsifiable argument.

If the God that so many of them claim to believe in actually exists, He would know exactly what it would take to convince me of His existence.  The fact that He has never done so, either means that He doesn’t exist, or doesn’t care if I believe.  Do unto me, as your God has done unto me.  Go away, leave me and other non-believers alone, take a pill, and dial back the anxiety.  If I’m wrong, it won’t be the reason you don’t go to Heaven.  😦

Dancing Around Fibbing Friday

Last week Pensitivity101 was inviting us to provide alternative artists (real or fictitious) for these song titles:

1. Stop in the name of Love

Some Biblical guy named Onán
No glove – No love
Spill your seed upon the ground

2. You can call me Al

Al Bundy did it first, but he just didn’t have the voice, so he went on to become the world’s greatest shoe salesman.

3. Till you come back to me

Yo-Yo Squash and the Rebounds

4. I just wanna dance with somebody

This song was made famous by Billy Idol just before closing time, at many a karaoke bar.  He said that he asked The World to dance, but, “I’m dancin’ with myself.”  It gives you a thumbnail sketch of his personality.  Sine-Aid Sinéad O’Connor told him that, “Nothing compares to you – favourably.”

5. Won’t somebody dance with me?

Were you doing shots with Billy Idol??!  I just answered this, above.  Could I hear the refrain from asking again?

6. Two out of three ain’t bad

That’s the new campaign theme song for ex-President (and we hope he stays that way) Donald Trump, ever since an aide told him that there were 34 felony charges against him, but he’d only been convicted of 22.  He also explained to Trump how to figure out how many two out of three were.  The Donald told him that he didn’t need to, because the marks he got back in maths class were “HUGE!”

7. Ghost riders in the sky

As a supplement to Up and Away, Into the Wild Blue Yonder, this has been adopted and sung by the USAF Stealth Plane Squadron.  Can’t see us – can’t hit us.  With their planes’ strange angles and radar non-reflective coating, from the ground they have the perceivability of a robin.  Nothin’ to see here, just us clouds.

8. Ticket to Ride

This is the new fight song for the Underground Transit Authority Constable Squad.  Determined to combat the plague of Chavs and other louts jumping turnstiles, they go where and when it most often happens, and lie in wait, concealed behind kiosks and pillars.  When it occurs, they leap out and put the arm on the culprit.

Oy.  ‘Alf a mo, chum.  ‘Ere’s a citation for criminal trespass, and theft of services.  It earns you no-charge transportation to the local nick, where you can explain your anti-social activities to a judge in the morning.  Like The Edgar Winter Group says, that’s your Free Ride.

9. Totally devoted to you

Melania Trump, serial monogamist Donald Trump’s third (?) wife.  She wanted to change the title a bit to, Totally devoted to your bank account, and my lifestyle.  The hit on the B-side was, It’s Not Rape Until the Cheque Bounces, and includes the lyrics, We know what you are.  We’re just negotiating the price.  😳

10. Me and You and a Dog named Boo

A duo of the English teacher, and the Maths teacher at my high school.  They wanted to title it, You and I, and a Dog Named Pi.

Ditty Bag Of Fibbing Friday

Pensitivity101 had another very mixed bag last week.  To tell the truth, a Ditty Bag is a small sack in which you can carry I-Pods, Ear-Pods, and your Smart Phone and/or tablet, laden with your play list.

1. What is clematis?

Isn’t that the thing that most women claim that most men can’t find??  O?  No!

2.  What is meant by linear?
That’s what the wife claims happens to any of her whiny complaints helpful comments.  Linear, and out the other.

3. What is a gonk?

It’s evidence for Christian Fundamentalists who don’t believe in evolution.  In a mere 60 years time, a lame, fuzzy, British toy developed into Minions.

4. What is a sirloin?

He was the Scottish knight at Camelot – Sir Loin of Beef – the second most famous, after Sit Gadalot Galapagos Gallivant Galahad.  He and his squire did not ride horses.  They saddled up on Highland bulls.

5. What is pumpernickel?
   

Now that COVID is dying back, instead of Canadian citizens, it is a renewed campaign from Tourism Canada to urge people to travel to Sudbury, in Northern Ontario, to view “The Big Nickel” outside the largest nickel mine in the world.

6. What is canasta?

It’s the contents of a tin of snails.  Oh, let’s give it a fancy French name – Escargot – and pretend that it’s somehow gourmet food.  Do you have to be as arrogant and irritating as a Frenchman to eat these things, or does eating these nasty slugs that ought to be stepped on in the garden, make one arrogant and irritating??  Je ne sais pas!

7. What is a Duchess Cake?
   

It’s one of those blue deodorizer puck things that they put in the urinals, over at Will and Kate’s place.

8. What is density?

That’s what I did the day of the Super Bowl.  I went into the family room and plunked my ass down in my recliner, with a case of beer below one arm, and a Costco-sized bag of Salt and Vinegar crisps by the other, and didn’t stir for four and a half hours – except to hit the WC during half-time.

9. Where will you find Agnes, Margo and Edith?

I recently found them at my front door.  They were three well-mannered Girl Scouts who politely asked me to purchase some of their cookies.  I was so startled that I bought an entire case, because I didn’t know that children that young were allowed to carry firearms.

10. What is a spatula?

It’s the mutual conversation exercise program that the wife and I indulge in, any given Saturday night when I’ve opened a box of beer, and she’s had 6 or 7 medicinal toddies, and the bon mots flow.  One night, she surprised me when she said, “I love you, and I couldn’t do without you.”  I asked if that was her or the wine talking.  She replied that it was her – talking to the wine.  😳

Book Review #30

Because I am retired, there is no external, commercial, reason for me to continue to attempt to improve my mind and my knowledge.  But self-satisfaction, and the ability to intelligently communicate, discuss and debate, drive me to occasionally read a book that is deeper than a rain-puddle oil slick.

The author: Lawrence M. Krauss

The book: A Universe From Nothing

The review:  The very title gave the first indication that this author thinks deeper and more profoundly than many, especially Theists, and Christian apologists.  When I asked Bing for an image of A Universe From Nothing book, the results page was titled The Universe From Nothing.  Krauss has not ruled out the possibility that our special universe may not be the only one.

This book does for astrophysics, what Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time did.  It describes and explains The Big Bang, and the universe, in simplified terms that anyone not wearing a MAGA hat can understand.  Not that I sailed through its 191 pages in one evening.  I limited myself to 10 pages a day, taking time to comprehend and assimilate.

Christian assholes apologists sometimes ask, “How can Something have come from Nothing?”  Apparently, they either forget, or ignore the fact that, this is exactly what they claim their God did.  Krauss explains recent cosmological discoveries, and how they are changing the definitions and usage of some words.

“Nothing,” whether outer space, (which is actually full of stardust and hydrogen atoms) or inner space, between the nuclei and electron orbits of atoms, or between the atoms of ‘solid’ matter, is not really “nothing.”  Just below the quantum surface, it is aboil with huge amounts of energy and creative potential.  “Nothing” is unstable!  It is almost inevitable that something will pop out, to relieve the quantum pressure – anything from individual virtual particles, to our entire universe.

“Why is there something, instead of nothing?” implies intelligent intent and control.  The question should be asked, “How is there something, instead of nothing?”  Theoretically, The Big Bang should have produced equal amounts of matter, and anti-matter, which annihilated each other.  A tiny random fluctuation in the initial expansion produced slightly more matter than anti-matter.  The rest blasted itself back into the bubbling quantum energy morass.  All the matter in the Universe is only a tiny fraction of its total mass.

Some Theistic arguers have claimed that the existence of pure, clear, mathematics, somehow indicates the existence of God.  The same mathematics does not ‘prove’ that God does not exist, but it does show that God is redundant, unnecessary, and not evident in any of the research.

The Universe is not only stranger than we know; it is stranger than we can know, but we keep asking questions, and finding more and more answers.

***

What are you doing for Easter??
Oh, just hanging around.  😳