It falls upon me to make the following sad announcement:
Anne ("Lil' Bill") Warburton has passed on peacefully, one week short of her 92nd birthday. She was in the company of her immediate family in Santa Barbara.
Overpopulation and Further Thinking
THIS is the most important problem on the earth, no quibbling, and if humans don’t solve it for themselves, Nature will solve it for us.
The most important weapons directed at the human race are uncontrolled growth of population and laws against the right to die. These are two rights of great importance, rights which should belong only to the person involved. Most women would like to have children of their own. However, in the case of a woman who just loves to breed, her selfish reproduction may cause another woman who also wants one or two children to decide not to have any children at all. There should be a law warning all women of the rights which we owe each other in this regard.
Death has been decided on for all of us by whomever or whatever created us.
Just as important is the right to choose to die, whether to end a terrible illness, or an agonizing and endless struggle with mental illness. This, again, is a tragic, but private decision which should be made by the person so involved and his close family.
Religion is largely responsible for the disasters which await us, urging women to produce many children, and condemning them for having an abortion by teaching them that they must multiply, as well as condemning them for abortion and even birth control as sin. This undoubtedly goes back to the early days of our conquest of the Indians in our crusade to usurp their land-- very successfully, by the way-- and to convert them to Christianity as a means of control.
One of the saddest results of these beliefs is the resulting birth of many physically and mentally ill-equipped humans, many of whom must live relatively long and unrewarding lives, for their families as well as for themselves.
In any event, religion should play no part in our national laws governing all of us, except to confirm that no religious belief, or lack therof, shall control any of us except by the will of the individual so involved
If I can get LittleBill off my lap, and remember what I wanted to say, I hope to get a blog into the airwaves (or wherever it goes) sometime today. What I have to say is a bunch of short thinking, some of it old, but still important to me.
PAUSE...............
Sorry about that, I woke up a couple of days ago with considerable arthritic pain in my left hand and wrist. And I am having alot of trouble talking without lisping or using words that sound similar to what I want to say, but are not the words I want to say. Those problems may be a reaction to the various drugs I am receiving through my implanted pain pumps. And the confusion has entered my computer keyboard as well. Don’t mean to go on feeling sorry for myself. Just thought that the symptoms might comfort other old people who have the same and are relieved to hear that someone else has had them too. I’m glad to say that working on the computer doesn’t seem to hurt my hand.
..........
Now where was I? Oh, yes... As usual, one of the Republican senators was just on TV, winning many new voters by relating how much Republican tax money goes into the hands of the undeserving poor. At the same time, the Republicans use religion and abortion to enlist the support of the poor, especially those who have been taught that abortion is a sin. And so it is that the southern poor in particular end up producing children they cannot support, many of whom, in turn, follow the same path.
..........
From the way in which the Republicans have consistently voted against Pres. Obama, it is apparent that they must have had some sort of plan from the beginning to nix almost everything he has tried to introduce to improve the way in which democracy serves the people. If you watch the leading Republicans, either singly or in a group, they distinguish themselves by NEVER smiling. One wonders if his race has anything to do with their reaction to him.
.........
Abortion and the right to die are the two problems universal to all of mankind, and without them they will lead to our extinction. First, just as I was thinking of what I want to say and how I want to say it, there was a discussion on CNN about the rights of citizens of America, and not one word was said about Indians. It was all about Americans, mostly Christian, to subsume the land and mores of almost an entire continent so that they could continue to practice their own beliefs, including the conversion of others.
And, of course, there was no mention of atheists. As one of them, and speaking for others, we tend to be very comfortable in our moral and ethical personas, all individual, but none out to convert others. You can’t get here that way from there.
ARW
2/20/11
YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS!! A HORROR TALE OF IN-HOME CARE
(Looking back, it almost seems like a Laurel and Hardy comedy for those old enough to remember, except that, at the time, it wasn’t funny.)
A new caregiver was sent to me one morning as a substitute. I was still in bed, and Jackie, my ex-caregiver who has lived here ever since her professional time here, brought her to the door of my room to introduce us. “The caregiver” stood just out of sight at the door until I invited her in. From that point on, it is easiest to recount the FIFTEEN MINUTE span of time we spent together. I can’t, and don’t want to remember her name, so I shall just refer to her as her or she.
First, I asked her to please empty the bedside potty before I got up. When she came back, I told her I was ready for my shower, whereupon she whipped out a completely new pair of rubber gloves and put them on. I told her I didn’t think she would need a new pair of gloves, as I did not have any diseases (except for my various venereal diseases, which I did not mention) and gave myself my bath, so all she needed to do was help me get into the bathroom. Explaining to me that she wore them for her own safety, we proceeded.
Upon entering the bathroom, I could see that no preparations had been made for me, and I moved on to the toilet as a sanctuary upon which to relax as she prepared. As I approached, I could see that the lid of the potty was still up (a no-no for cats) and the seat was covered with feces and urine. Obviously, “the caregiver” had not even raised the seat before emptying the pot.
When she had finally gotten that taken care of and I was able to sit down, we proceeded to the “preparation of the tub.” Nothing, up to that point, had been done. First, I asked “the caregiver” to put down the tub mat, which was hanging on a grab bar along the back wall. The only possible problem here was that she needed to put one end of the mat under the chair in the tub for me to sit on; she handled this very nicely, except that she placed the mat upsidedown, with the sucker side up.
The final step in the arrangements for “madam’s bath” was for the bathmat—you know, the one you step upon as you exit the tub—to be placed alongside the tub. Easy enough, but even that failed. With both mats, she did them “Look, Ma, one hand,” and thus, the mat landed on the floor with a hump in the middle, at an angle from the tub. (By the way if you read the last words of the last sentence over, starting with “with a hump,” you’ll discover, as I did, that it has a catchy lilt to it.)
Back to the story: It was at that point in my saga that I called to Jackie, “Get her out of here!!!” (I’ve been told before that I am inclined to raise my voice when angered, so that may very well have happened here.)
ARW
2/6/11
cc: Everyone, VCC
THIS COUNTRY AND THE WORLD AT THE START OF 2011
Don’t know whether I have mentioned this before, but I find I do my best thinking just BEFORE I wake up in the morning. From there on, it’s a matter of time and circumstance as to how long I can remember, and how soon I can get my thoughts down.
What I am most concerned about right now is the economic journey this country is making. I looked “democracy” up in the dictionary, and economics and democracy are not directly related. So I can only assume that you who spend your lives in the exciting game of getting rich, can do so while at the same time both you and the world can look upon you as an outstanding citizen.
For starters, all animals (humans among them) require the same two assets in order to exist: food and shelter. Very few of us, at least in this country, can provide them by ourselves, and so we must provide them for ourselves by paying others for them in the form of money.
At the top of my sleepy-time notes is my comment that some sort of evening-out between the top and bottom income levels of human existence is long overdue. Few of the rich made their money by their own hard work; most of us, rich or poor, need some sort of financial backing to get educated.
No one NEEDS to be rich; everyone, on the other hand, NEEDS a chance to become educated.
National financing of education is absolutely ESSENTIAL to the success of this nation, and the success of the human animal as a whole.
Many people, on the other hand, resent having any of their own money go toward the education of anyone else. We were all born, however, to different parents, under different circumstances. Seems odd to me that so many of us boast of living in this nation which boasts of being a Christian nation. As LittleBill’s momma, I would like to put forth my philosophy that financial chance è education è ability to find a job è self-esteem è hopefully, the desire to pass the same chance on to others.
Countries need to live according to their own natural resources (gas, oil, fish, crops, natural resources, etc.) rather than trading with each other, and live according to the resources within their own lands.
It is especially bad for countries like ours to woo promising students from foreign lands to free education here, and then keep them here for ourselves. They should be encouraged to go back to their own lands—as it is, our generocity turns out to be a form of piracy.
And countries the world over need to replace machines and technology with human labor, attuned more to the worker than to the technology. It is the worker who must contribute first in order to be rewarded for his work. Technology doesn’t know, and doesn’t care. The most powerful tool of a human being is his mind; the only meaningful purpose of a human mind is to think and to contribute, and the only meaningful reward for his contribution to the world should be appropriate recognition in the form of the ability to provide a comfortable life for his family. It is the employer who provides the reward, but it is the worker who does the work which provides the salaries for both of them, and when the employer takes more than his share of the reward while the employee is given less than he needs to survive, that constitutes the grossest form of robbery.
The Socialist (signed with pride)
2/5/11
THOUGHTS KEEP RUNNING THROUGH MY HEAD
There are still many of us around who remember the “olden days”, when few thought much about how many children a family should have. For one thing, it has only been a little over a century since Man abandoned the Ages of manual and animal labor, and dove headlong into the debauchery of living lives made easy by technology.
The worst part is that this age of physical ease has also led to varying degrees of personal greed, best expressed through the lives of some of the Very Rich, but also added to the Wish Lists of those farther down the financial hill.
And—if you can wander down the wandering mental path of an old shut-in—I must explain that what I am about to write came to my mind several days ahead of what I just wrote above.
First, Americans keep bragging to the rest of the world that this is the Land of the Free. Just exactly which Americans are free? Let’s accept the notion that we live in a white nation. (I wonder just what percentage of the Indians—many of whom still live on reservations—think of this as an apt description.)
Next, the black population: Almost without exception, the blacks who live here now are descended from blacks who came here in chains. I’ll bet they have a different view of what “freedom” means—even now!
And let’s not forget the latest problem most annoying to white Americans right now—the Hispanics. To review our national history a bit, our white forebears had to sail—do you get that—actually SAIL all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, and then fight off and kill a lot of the people who already lived here in order to bring OUR children here to the land which (probably someone decided) God had said should be OURS. And now—can you believe it?!—we have Mexicans, albeit many friendly, coming across a different border to Our Country looking for jobs and homes and futures for their children as well?!
Which leads us, in turn, to the caste system this country presently enjoys. We like to think of ourselves as living in a land of freedom for everyone to climb a number of—but not all—ladders of choice. The most popular are those which require Wealth, Family Name, Connections, and Just-Plain-Luck. They don’t require too much work. In almost all cases, if you got it, you get it; if you don’t, you won’t.
The most valuable and meaningful ladders are those which require a great deal of time and effort in any available education and/or opportunity which can be seen as goals of service (large or small) to others.
Why is it that, by the luck of birth, some of us are entitled to lives of comfort—and even wealth, while many others are condemned to lives spent in meaningless, often difficult jobs, unrewarded by salaries that make them worth doing; and even worse, jobs which do not even reward them with self-respect? And to make matters worse, that is the only inheritance many have to pass on down to their children. (Improvements in their lives are beginning to take place now, but they are a long way off.)
Listening to discussions right now on the matter of unemployment, the anwer which both sides seem to agree upon, apparently rests on increased jobs. BUT, how can you solve it when we have increased population completely ignored on one hand, and reduced jobs on the other, due to enormous advances in humanless technology on the other?!
As a hardrock Atheist, it amazes me that so few Christians living in what they like to proclaim as a Christian Nation, apparently have given any serious thought to the moral and eithical sins of our national way of life.
And I close with the conundrum to beat all concundrums: How can you add another drop of water to a one-cup measuring cup which is already full? The answer is, You Can’t.
Neither Man, nor any other organism can spread itself beyond the spatial or nurturing bounds of the Earth without very possibly precipitating the End for All. And I would go beyond this to realize that, MORALLY, this probably should apply to Outer Space as well.
ARW
12/12/10
THE PET PERIODICAL – More Creatures to Save
How I could have written on how to save a fly and then neglected other insects far more in need of help is beyond me. I hope this will make up for my mistake.
There are many insects which can ONLY crawl—no flying. And the death trap most eager to welcome them is the bathtub. Once a crawling insect enters the tub, it is trapped, for it cannnot crawl back up the upright slippery side, wet or dry.
For those of you with the sense of mercy to help them, the first thing to do is close the down-drain. Then get a piece of paper (if a fly rescue cup is not available) and encourage the poor creature to climb on so that you can take it outside.
If you’re a really human Human Being, that ought to make you feel good.
ARW
12/5/10
THE PET PERIODICAL – How to Rescue a Fly
Sitting here in my “office” day after day, one would think that I do not have much to write about. From my point of view, however, there is a great deal. My only problem right now lies in actually getting it done. But now, at last, it is very important to me to write on this subject, as I realize how very much I am slowing down.
One day, as I turned away from the constantly and instantaneously available connection of the television screen which brings us the real-life horrors of human life and human cruelty, I turned toward the window facing the opposit direction. And there I saw a fly on the inside—just sitting.
To catch a fly you have to be prepared with instruments at hand and the ability to react quickly. The instruments of choice range from the world-famous fly swatter, back through the years to fly paper and large bowls of soapy water in whch to drown any insect with curiosity--all of them cruel, a trait which only the human animal has been able to conceive and exhibit to such a high degree.
Very luckily, I happened to have a four-ounce plastic food container with plastic lid to match, and I quickly—but sneakily--grabbed them and placed the cup over the fly. Then I slipped the lid between the cup and the window--with the bewildered fly inside--and rushed them through the garage and outside, where I set the fly free. NOW, DON’T ARGUE WITH ME; as he flew away, he waved goodbye and said “thank you” to me!
From that day to this, I have regretted all the time it took for me to learn this lesson. Somehow, instead of feeling crazier, I acually feel more human.
ARW
12/4/10
