Kill the infidels. Or convert them. Or just leave them alone.

In a recent post we discussed common misconceptions in the Bible (Mostly the King James Version.) The two other mainstream religious texts The Quran, and the Torah also have misconceptions (and even though many of the Muslim faith won't admit it, contradictions.)  The Kabbalah will not be discussed here as it's not a mainstream religious text, but a text used in other religions by certain sects. The Torah (which means "instruction" or "teaching") is basically the first five books of the old testament. It is the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Although the titles of these chapters have different meanings in Jewish tradition. The Torah is almost a word for word reproduction of the first five books of the Bible. (Although many of Jewish faith would say instead that the first five books of the Bible are a word for word reproduction of the Torah.) The Jews believe that the Torah was inscribed by Moses. (Except for the last verses which describe his death.)  In the Torah the Commandments are not the same as the Judeo Christian commandments. In Jewish tradition there are 613 commandments. Although they do follow also the ten commandments (which are different from both the catholic ten commandments and the protestant ten commandments) So the same misconceptions from the King James Bible, also appear in the Torah. One major difference however is that the Torah is written and studied in Hebrew. Where the King James Version of the Bible has been translated from Greek and Latin into English. So we at The Crazy are sure that the Torah would hold some surprises for anyone who could do their own translation from Hebrew. (Don't look at us, we can barely used our own language, let alone Hebrew.)  Now on to the Quran. There are some extremist Muslims who believe that the only true version of the Quran must be read in Arabic. Unfortunately we here at the Crazy don't understand Arabic, and therefore have to rely on the English translations. But in cases where we do quote the Quran we have used the most widely accepted translations. It should also be noted that only about 20 percent of Muslims can speak or read Arabic. The Quran is considered by people of the Muslim faith to be the unerring word of Allah. (God)  And was transcribed by Mohammed. Who was familiar with the Torah and had said to his followers "Relate from the people of Isreal, and there is no objection." This has enabled Islamic scholars to cite precedents from Jewish Scholarship.  Ok, let's get to the meat of the matter here. Almost everyone who has mentioned the Quran to me has said that it advocates the killing of all infidels. Which is not what it says at all. For example the word Infidel does not appear in the Quran. It is an ecclesiastical christian term, which means one who does not believe in Christianity. (Why would a Muslim kill someone who doesn't believe in Christianity?) But it is true that there are many verses in the Quran that do advocate violence. (The same can be said of the Bible.) And many versus that advocate peaceful coexistence. (The same can be said of the Bible.) Like all religions, there are extremist sects who devoutly believe that every word in their respective religious text requires them to act against any non-believers. Why do some Muslims follow the Sura 4:89 “seize them and slay them wherever you find them: and in any case take no friends or helpers from their ranks.”And others follow The Quran 11 which says " Say: O unbelievers! I do not serve that which you serve, Nor do you serve Him Whom I serve: Nor am I going to serve that which you serve, Nor are you going to serve Him Whom I serve, You shall have your religion and I shall have my religion." These are both from the Quran, yet one advocates letting each have their own religion, the other killing anyone who has a different religion. A clear contradiction. Describing the Quran is a pretty difficult task. Unlike the King James Bible which is ordered chronologically in time. The Quran is not ordered chronologically. But based on the size of the verses.  Muslims however are taught the Chronological order from an early age. If our readers (who are probably getting quite bored by now) would allow us to make one small point. We at The Crazy think we can agree that the majority of people who read the Bible would not attack or kill non-believers. Yet in Deuteronomy 13:6 through 13:17 we are clearly told to do so. Even killing your own family if they fail to worship the ONE true God. And for those Christians out there who say "but that's the old testament" remember that Jesus told the Apostles they must follow the laws of old testament, (most people believe this means the 10 commandments) but which laws? Of the 613 words, or laws in the old testament, which should they follow. The 10 commandments are different in 3 places in the Bible. And never clearly defined. And as a matter of fact seem to number 14 or 15. (possibly more)  And the Quran has the same problem, the contradictions tell us both books were clearly written by different people, in different times, with different agendas. (If any extremist Muslims are reading this, sorry, but the truth is the truth no matter how you slice it. And we assume that an extremist Muslim would say the same of a throat.) It is clear to us here at The Crazy, that most religious texts are perhaps purposely left vague. Why? We don't know. But this is a free country, you can believe what you want. Or disbelieve what you want. We certainly won't kill you for it. As a matter of fact we like a little dissent. If you disagree with this post please let us know. If you agree with it, let us know that too. (If you are an extremist Muslim, you shouldn't be reading this as it's in direct violation of your belief in the Quran, shame on you. Go cut off your head.) Be free people, that's about it, ciao for now.

One small step for man....

Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon. Died today at the age of 82. We are sad to see him go. But it's not the death of this American hero that we will remember. It was the life he lived. He earned his student pilot license at the age of 16. During the Korean war he flew 78 combat missions. He was a test pilot, and an engineer. And a family man. And in 1969 an estimated 500 million people watched on television as he became the first man to step on the moon. We often wonder how it felt to be the first human being to walk on the moon. (And one of only a dozen men who came after him.) You would think it would give you a big head. Neil Armstrong always handled himself with humility, and was not one to crow about his own achievements. We may never see another like him again. And although we are not necessarily religious here at The Crazy, we would like to say Godspeed Mr Armstrong. We just thought we should stop and pay attention to his passing. That's about it. Ciao for now.

Oh, Oh, not politics, religon. What the hell are we thinking?

Thought we would post a couple of things that people believe to be true, but simply aren't, or in some cases we just don't know if it's true or not, but somehow it has become "common knowledge".  Lets start at the beginning shall we. Genesis, Adam and Eve eating of an Apple in the garden of Eden. Actually the Bible never says Apple, what it actually says is the fruit of the "the tree of  knowledge of good and evil."  In middle English the word "apple" is used to describe all fruits and nuts (except berries) and when it was first translated, middle English was the language used. Hebrew scholars usually believe it would have been a fig, or a date. 
    The serpent that convinced Eve to take of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is not referred to as Satan in Genesis. He (or she, the sex is never mentioned) is referred to only as the serpent "who was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth."  At no point in the Bible by the way is Satan referred to by the name Lucifer. Nope, not once.
    The Ten Commandments. There are three versions of the Ten Commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). They are at Exodus 20:2-17, Exodus 34:12-26, and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. We could spend hours poring over them. (One version has over 40 commandments.) But the 10 Commandments put forth in Exodus 20 are as follows.
                  
     2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
     What, that's 17 commandments? After much research we at the Crazy have come to the conclusion that it would be impossible to pick just 10 from the 40 different ones found in the Bible. (Or 60 if you add the Talmud into the mix.) 

   Angels. Ok, here we go. A lot of you aren't going to like this. But please understand that every culture puts it's own spin on the religions that they choose to follow.  For example we all know that all angels have wings and look like glowing people. But if you read your Bible you will know that this is simply not true. There are many different types of Angels in the Bible. 
        We will refer to The old testament and the New testament angels as a whole as the descriptions are similar.
          Angels (Ordinary) number in the thousands are messengers, jail breakers, rescuers. They are described in the Bible as handsome young men. And have no wings.
           Archangels (Michael for example.) Possibly 1 but up to 7 of them. Their job is to protect the Jewish Nation and herald the second coming. Described as handsome young men. And have no wings. (Also may be dressed in military armour of the time.)
           Cherubim (the Bible mentions more than one, possibly four.) Described as having four heads with the faces of a man, an eagle and a lion and an ox. They appear to Guard Gods Domain.
           Gabriel (Messenger of God.) only one. Described as a handsome young man. Again NO wings.
            Lucifer. (Oops.) Lucifer in the Bible is a man, the King of Babylon. Not an angel. Nor Satan.
            Seraphim. Six wings. But must cover themselves with them or they will incinerate or blind whoever sees them.What they look like behind the wings is never explained. 
             Satan. Well actually the Bible never says Satan was an Angel, although in Revelations he was cast down. And his angels with him. But it's clear that Satan HAS angels, not that he is one.

    The Bible (which is actually from the Greek for Book) has been twisted and warped by one religion after another to suit their own needs. There is much wisdom in it. And a lot of violence. Women are in many cases treated as property in the Bible. Slaves are accepted and common. Murder is wrong, unless God tells you to kill someone, then it seems to be okay. War seems to not only be condoned, but desired. Even the new testament at times condones killing someone simply because their religion differs from yours. (And different religions have used this to interpret the Bible to mean our religion is right, and yours is wrong.)  We at the Crazy have no problem with people reading the Bible or living by it's ideals. But please make sure you know what it says before living by its ideals. That's about it, ciao for now.
   

On Intelligence, (and thankfully no politics there.)

You are sitting at your desk, or on your couch, or maybe on the john reading this. (That's disgusting by the way, Do you realize what's getting all over your laptop keyboard?) You can comprehend the words written here. Does that make you intelligent? Intelligence is defined as the ability to learn or understand. The skilled use of reason. But true intelligence actually is much more than that. The ability to adapt to a new environment or change your current environment to suit your needs is also a sign of intelligence. The capacity to acquire knowledge is another sign of intelligence. The capacity to understand abstract ideas, and to produce original and productive thought are most certainly signs of intelligence. Einstein (who most people would think of as intelligent) once said "It's not that I'm smart, it's just that I stay with questions longer."  Is that the key to intelligence, a bulldog like tenacity to get the job done, and done right?  It seems to us here at The Crazy that intelligence can mean different things to different people. We've all been involved in some task or other puzzling about the best way to do it and had someone walk up and solve the problem with a simple "try this."
  And it's obvious that people have different abilities, Einstein was gifted in math. But couldn't read until he was seven. And didn't learn to talk until he was four. Oscar Wilde (who once said "I am so clever that I sometimes don't understand a single word that I am saying.") had a very creative flair for writing but was unable to keep a relationship for any real length of time. Is the interaction between people a sign of intelligence? In anthropological terms intelligence is often associated with the use of tools. But birds, chimpanzees, apes, and even some reptiles have been known to use items from their environment as tools. For another example (and a funny one at that.) check out THIS site.. It is our opinion here at The Crazy that we humans are too egocentric to see that what we term as intelligence is nothing of the sort. The definition of intelligence is much broader than our current understanding. Are we missing part of a natural intelligence that is currently beyond our understanding? Maybe not, but it would be cool wouldn't it. That's about it. Ciao for now.

Sorry this is a political post. If you don't like politics move along.

We recently placed a post here stating.. "Vote for Obama, his lies are prettier!" making a joke about politics and politicians all being liars. It seems to have raised the ire of at least one reader, who posted a response with quite a few right wing beliefs posted as fact. Of course we can't let that stand without at least attempting to clarify our position. Let's start with the beginning. In the post the anonymous writer stated Obama lied when he said he would be a one term president if the unemployment didn't improve. Of course that's not what President Obama said. The exact quote was base on the effectiveness of the stimulus package. And it was  “If I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.” Meaning that he would not be reelected. Certainly not a lie as that may still happen. He never said he would not run again. So who's lying here? Ok, on to lie number 2. The anonymous writer calls President Obama "the welfare king."  Let's look at the facts shall we. During the Bush administration Food Stamp Recipients rose by 14.7 Million people. As of January 2012 during the Obama administration they rose 14.2 million. And have gone down since then. Who is the Welfare King Again? Next he talks about the Obama administrations Justice Department as being a bunch of criminals.Mentioning the Fast and Furious Scandal and not prosecuting Black Panthers intimidating voters at a polling place. The Black Panther thing is the easiest to dispense with so we'll deal with that first. Yes two members of the Black Panthers were using intimidation tactics at a polling place on election day in November of 2008.  The Charges against the New Black Panther party was dropped because the two men arrested claimed no affiliation with the New Black Panther party and acted on their own. The Charges against Jerry Jackson one of the two men who were accused of intimidating voters were dropped because Police officers who were called to the scene interviewed him and found him to be a certified pollster and allowed him to remain.  It should be pointed out that NO voters in the precinct filed a complaint about intimidation. The injunction against Mr Shabazz of voter intimidation stood.  The punishment for federal Voter intimidation is currently a fine or in some cases up to a year in jail. The punishment of Mr Shabazz was left to the Philadelphia legal system as that is where the crime was committed.  Oh by the way President Obama has NO say so as to what type of punishment a person should receive under court order in Philadelphia. Now on to the Fast and Furious debacle. You are right. Something shady was going on there. It had to do with the fact that ATF officers wanted to seize the weapons but couldn't. Why? Because the weapons were legal under Arizona gun laws. For the first time, the lead agent in the Fast and Furious case, Dave Voth, speaks out, as do other agents. Linda Wallace, a special agent with the IRS's criminal investigation unit, who was detailed to the case, is quoted saying, "Republican senators are whipping up the country into a psychotic frenzy with these reports that are patently false."  Yes Obama has a valid social security number. The one you are seeing on the extreme crazy rights web pages is a lie. As for his being a citizen of another country. Nothing in the constitution says an American cannot be a citizen in another country and still be president as long as they hold American citizenship and were born here as well. Now about Obama spending millions to hide his past. This is a load of pure bullcrap. Obama is not required to release his college transcripts. But he certainly has spent NO money hiding them. Listen we could go on here for quite a while. It amazes us the lengths that the far right are going to while trying to disparage our President. We haven't seen this kind of insulting and down right lying since the Lincoln, Douglas debates. Anyway we've had enough. Next blog will be about something more interesting than politics. This stuff is annoying. Ciao for now.

Radiation irritation.

We have been reading a lot about Fukushima in the news. The west coast seems particularly focused on it. Due to the flotilla of Japanese junk making it's way toward the U.S.  It's time to set a few things straight. First of all, the radiation released from the Fukushima nuclear plants during the earthquake and subsequent tidal wave was frightening to be sure. Area's within a 25 mile radius of the plant were exposed to 22 rem. About 10 times the recommended safe dosage. It was however under the 250 to 300 rem which can be immediately lethal. Of the 22.000 people who lived in that area. It's estimated that maybe half of them were exposed to the 22 rem. Which means about 197 of them will develop cancer. (If studies of radiation exposure from Nagasaki, Hiroshima and the Bikini Islands hold true).  The levels of radiation in the area dropped by half every 8 days. By 4 weeks after the Tidal Wave, Radiation levels were under .2 rem. (The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends evacuation of a locality whenever the excess radiation dose exceeds .1 rem per year.) And although the Japanese people accept this idea. (And most nations try to follow it.) Denver Colorado has a yearly dose of .3 rem per year. Yet we don't seem to be evacuating Denver. (Interestingly, Denver also has an incidence of Cancer which is lower than the national average. We wonder what that means.)When materials from Japan wash up on the shore on the west coast they are immediately checked with a Geiger Counter and so far none of it has been radioactive. Radiation levels in the Seas around Japan are higher than normal. And it appears that some radiation is still leaking from within the Fukushima plant. The good news (and pay attention here.) is that the materials coming out of Fukushima are radioactive iodine. Which has a half life of eight days. So once the leak is sealed (if indeed it is still leaking at all) radiation levels will return to normal relatively quickly. The short half life of the radioactive iodine from Fukushima also explains why we are finding no radioactive materials arriving on our shores. So we at The Crazy suggest people STOP PANICKING about the Fukushima incident. And if you must panic, try not to injure anybody while you are running around and screaming. That's about it for today. Ciao for now.

Vote for Obama. His lies are prettier!

What do we know?

How often do you hear a politician say, "we were wrong." have you ever heard a member of the clergy say that? Religion and science both began when humans began to try to understand the world around them. What are those bright spots in the sky at night? Where does the sun go when darkness begins? Why is the moon less bright than the sun? Why do the spots in the sky change with the seasons? It must have been frightening to see the night sky and have no knowledge of what it was. (And in some ways we suppose it could be even more frightening to some when they know what they really are.) It must have been reassuring to early humans to be able to explain the sun as just another chariot driven across the sky by a god. When Copernicus postulated that the Earth was not the center of the universe in about 1516. (He did however incorrectly state that it was the sun.) He shook the foundations of religion. Most in his day refused to believe such heresy, that God would not place man at the center of all things. When Galileo went to Rome in 1616 to try to persuade the catholic church not to ban the writings of Copernicus. Pope Urban the VIII asked him to include arguments for and against the idea of the sun being the center of the universe. Unfortunately for Galileo, the arguments stating that the Earth were the center of the universe came across as foolish. And Pope Urban realized they were the same arguments he had been using. He had Galileo arrested, and one of the greatest thinkers of his time spent the rest of his life under house arrest. Later when Galileo died in 1642 he was buried in a small room next to a novices chapel at the end of a corridor from the southern transept of the basilica to the sacristy. In 1737 he was reburied in the main body of the basilica when a statue was erected there in his honor. During the move the middle finger of his right hand was removed and is currently on display at the Museo Gallileo in Florence Italy. (We here at The Crazy like to think he is flipping Pope Urban the bird.) Why did the church arrest Gallileo? Because the Bible told them in Chronicles 16:13 "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." And in Ecclesiastes 1:5 "And the sun rises and sets and returns to it's place."  Galileo was a religious man. He believed that the Bible was simply being written from an Earthly point of view, and saw nothing to place doubt in his belief in God. But the Catholic church at the time feared anything that would could cause any doubt. The Church did finally change it's mind. Although they never said "we were wrong." And there lies the difference between Science and Religion. In Science an idea is postulated, and then experiments are performed to see if the idea holds merit. If the experiments prove the idea to be wrong. Science says "Whoops, we were wrong, let's try another tack."  As for Politicians admitting they were wrong. Don't get us started on that. That's about it, Ciao for now.

The Subconscious Mind.

Let's talk about your subconscious mind. You may not know it, but it's way ahead of you. While you are sitting here and consciously reading this your subconscious mind is hard a work. It is regulating your body temperature, helping you keep your balance. Moving your body before you have to think about it. (For example. Do you remember thinking about sitting down at the keyboard. Do you decide when and how to move your arms or legs when getting a glass of milk or a cup of coffee. Your subconscious mind has that all figured out for you, long before you make any effort to move at all. Studies have shown that the subconscious mind may be aware of things long before your conscious mind has any inkling what is going on. Did you ever have a time when you knew something was wrong, just before something catastrophic happened to you. Many people report feeling a sense of  HEY WAIT SOMETHING IS WRONG just before being mugged or getting in an accident. Scientists now believe that the subconscious mind may have been aware of things leading up to those events that the thinking brain was simply unaware of. Have you ever heard of a savant? Although rare there have been enough savants found to prove that some people do indeed have extraordinary abilities that far surpass the norm. In many cases the person with the ability is autistic yet shows a flair for music or math. The case of Blind Tom Wiggins is one example. You can read about him HERE>.  Some Neurologists are beginning to understand the brain functions that cause these incredible savants. (And one scientist believes he can make anyone such a savant.) A person who could tap into their subconscious mind would have faster reflexes, be more creative, and generally be more intelligent. Is autism a stepping stone in the evolution of man? Will our great grandchildren be intuitive creative geniuses? Can we bridge the gap between our conscious and subconscious minds? Imagine the possibilities. Oh for those of you who are interested here is a link to John Davis performing "The Rainstorm" that Blind Tom Wiggens wrote at the age of  five. Just a quick note to give you something to think about. Ciao for now.