Intelligent Life

Is there intelligent life on other planets?  Probably.  It seems likely that somewhere out in some other solar system there are planets which can sustain life.  Why don't they get in touch with us?  Either they aren't as advanced as we are and aren't yet capable of radio transmission, or they surpassed our level of intelligence long ago and self-destructed just as we're going to do.

I suppose it's possible some life forms managed to build a spaceship before their planet was destroyed, but if that's the case one would assume they're on a mission scouring the universe for the materials they need.  If they find Earth, they'll have to wipe out the human population as quickly as possible in order to preserve what's left.  There's nothing untainted on our planet so they better hurry.  In fact, maybe those aliens have already passed by Earth, assessed the state of our resources, and determined everything was too defiled to use.  Lucky us.

News Flash

The headline reads, "Stephen Hawking: God didn't create the universe."

First of all, is this really news?  Is this a stunning revelation to anyone with an IQ over 50?  What's next?  Is tomorrow's headline going to tell us we can't really rise from the dead?  Be still my heart!  The Bible isn't factual?  Say it ain't so!  The Gospels of the New Testament were stories created 60-125 years after Jesus died by people who weren't there and never met the guy?  Blasphemy!

We will believe what we wish to believe despite knowing better, and we won't let the facts get in the way.  We will believe what we wish to believe because it provides great comfort to those of us who cannot bear the thought of dying.  To this end, the suspension of disbelief serves a self-soothing purpose -- it help us sleep at night; kind of like an infant sucking on a pacifier.  Of course, there's no multi-trillion dollar industry built around worshiping the pacifier, and different pacifier users don't kill each other because they think their pacifier is the only right pacifier, and no one wrote a novel about how the pacifier provides eternal life.  But, hey, other than those minor differences it's pretty much the same thing.
  

I'm Worried

I'm worried my son won't be able to go to college.

I'm worried my dad may have occasional moments of utter clarity when he's fully cognizant of every single ability he has lost, and that he realizes he no longer has one shred of dignity and despises us for allowing it.

I'm worried my son will be in a car accident.

I'm worried I should be selling my house.

I'm worried Justin Morneau will never play baseball again.

I'm worried that it's not the economy; it's me.

I'm worried I'm going to get Alzheimer's disease.

I'm worried that I live in a country where people like Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin have thousands upon thousands of supporters.

I'm worried that I live in a country where people protest building a mosque.

I'm worried that I live in a country where the general population is so ignorant they think Al-Qaeda is synonymous with Islam.  Using that logic, the KKK is synonymous with Christianity.

I'm worried my car is going to quit working.

I'm worried I won't live long enough.

I'm worried I will live too long.