A quick thought on Hip Hop..

I love Hip Hop.  To me, there is no greater musical style that has the potential to  effectively convey ideas, opinions, worldviews and just plain old stories in a way that is both entertaining and thought provoking.  I say "potential" because I find it wasteful for good beats and rhythms to be wasted on rapping about cars, booze, getting high, getting drunk and stuff like that (that said, I love Dr. Dre's new song "Kush").

Maybe that's a little cynical of me, as there is a place for that type of Hip hop and, of course, everything mixes together anyway.  But I get my true enjoyment from lyrics that really mean something.  A good track not only has a good beat, but lyrics that transcend simply rapping about getting high.  A good MC makes you think, not just passively listen.  When you listen to a track there should be meaning within the words, or the possibility for you to impose your own meaning onto them (like most songs).  Indeed "Shad" (a Canadian rapper) says it best: "you can't be everything to everyone, let me be anything to anyone".  

If you're going to waste time rapping about nothing but partying and the like, what is the point of saying anything at all?   For the record I said "nothing BUT". Rap about that stuff, just not every fucking song.  Indeed there are many great rappers who switch it up now and again(I'm thinking Kid Cudi off the top of my head)  To be fair, I think most artists generally lead away from the generic stereotypical Hip hop that plagues the minds of many older generations.

But Hip Hop at its best, in my opinion is something like this:

Artist: K-os

Hip Hop done right can say more than the most eloquent speeches and the most detailed novels.

I'll probably go back to Hip hop later but for now, does that seem right to you?

Definitely worth checking out.

Does that seem right to you?

"The Banana man" calls...

Well, I just watched the live stream of "The Atheist experience" and I can say that it was one of the most satisfying shows to date.  For this was the show that had a call in by Ray Comfort himself.

For those of you who don't know(and by "those" I mean the two people who I know read this blog) Ray Comfort is an outspoken creationist who hosts "The way of the master" and is known as the "Banana man" to the atheist community(why? check this out).

You can't see the whole episode offline yet but I just wanted to discuss a brilliant analogy of evolution that Matt Dillahunty(the host of the show) made to Ray. 

We can see that the Spanish and French languages originally came from Latin.  We never saw, or would see, a Latin speaking women giving birth to a Spanish speaking child.  Rather we see a slow change from the original Latin language to different forms and dialects until we come to the present day, where we have two separate, but similar, languages  The process is not immediate, nor is it ever stopping.  

I think Matt said it much better, so I'll be sure to post a link to the video when it comes available.  For now, check out "The Atheist Experience" and all the people who make it possible(without pay mind you!). 

Does that seem right to you?

Lets still not panic...

I have always supported the full implementation of renewable resources.  Indeed, I am often frustrated by the position our governments take in their refusal to make, at least, a reasonable effort to make renewable energy a significant part of our energy production.

But It would seem almost counter-intuitive for a quasi-environmentalist, such as me, to say they support Nuclear Energy. undoubtedly , nuclear energy is indeed not a risk free venture and of course, it is not a perfect solution, given the waste by-product that comes from the energy production. 

But time and time again I am faced with irrational fear whenever the topic of nuclear power plants come up.  When people think of Nuclear power, they see the Chernobyl disaster or the iconic image of a mushroom cloud.   What they don't see is clean efficient energy that poses no harm to the planet and relatively no harm to people.  Indeed, when we compare the Nuclear industries to the mainstream industries of Coal and fossil fuels there is really no contest in which resource is safer, cleaner and cheaper.

But relative fear of Nuclear power has only been increased by the terrible events in Japan and the events surrounding the Fukushima power plant.  All around the World, countries have put a hold on nuclear initiatives and the fear of radiation seeps across the Pacific and throughout the World.

But I need to say something that not many people have been saying.  The disaster at Fukashima is not really that significant.  Lets consider the situation for a moment.

The reactor in Fukashima is of fairly old construction.  Compared to modern technologies, it is significantly less safe than any reactor we would build today. 

Next we have possibly the worst case scenario, short of an impacting asteroid, that could have hit the reactor.  One of the most powerful earthquakes on record coupled with a tremendously powerful tsunami.  And yet, presently, no one has received any lethal doses of radiation. 

Conversely , if were to see more widespread adaption of nuclear energy we could see the construction of incredibly safer plants and the closing of dated, less safe, designs. 

Instead of irrationally pointing towards the disastrous outcomes of Nuclear energy, we should be gaining some perspective from the events in Japan.

I'll let George Monbiot, a leading environmentalist, have the last word.

Yes, I still loathe the liars who run the nuclear industry. Yes, I would prefer to see the entire sector shut down, if there were harmless alternatives. But there are no ideal solutions. Every energy technology carries a cost; so does the absence of energy technologies. Atomic energy has just been subjected to one of the harshest of possible tests, and the impact on people and the planet has been small. The crisis at Fukushima has converted me to the cause of nuclear power.

Check out his entire article here:  http://www.monbiot.com/2011/03/21/going-critical/#more-1568

Does that seem right to you?

Our secret is out...

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=798#comic

The Nine

According to an analysis of census information, researchers using, a mathematicl model, have predicted that religion will slowly become "extinct" in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland.

Thats nine countries!  You know what that means!  Soon, the nine will ride out onto the battlefield of the mind and rid Middle Ear-I mean,THE Earth of religion once and for all.

Okay, I'm getting a bit carried a way, but you have to admit, the imagery of these nine counrties as the nine Nazgul is pretty darn cool, if not a little ambiguous.  The metaphor only works if you think of the Nazgul as a unstoppable force that will never quit until they succeed (i.e freedom from religion) and not as mindless thought slaves unquestionably following the will of a quasi-religious dark overlord.

But coming back to reality, it is clear that more and more people are coming around to the view that a positive future for humanity does not involve religion.

And thats pretty cool. 

check out the news report here:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12811197

check out the study here:  http://arxiv.org/abs/1012.1375 

Does that seem right to you?

Sometimes its hard to do homework...

Source: http://xkcd.com/815/