Bridges

I am amazed at how long it takes to build bridges. It is probably to late in the year to be pouring the concrete now. This bridge was started about a year ago along with another one that is about 1 mile away from this one. I figure they could have finished this one but stopped working on it until they were ready to do the concrete on the second bridge. If you look closely you will see the bridge they are replacing. The second picture is a better view of the one they are replacing. It is hard to believe we drive across this thing with loads weighing over 85,000 lbs. Yes it is completely made of wood other the some metal bracing under and on the sides. If my information is correct, this is one of the few wooden bridges within the state and has been on the replacement list for a good while.

 This is the second bridge and it is a one lane bridge.
If you enlarge this picture you will find  a section of railing that is of a different color then the rest of it. It was several years ago that the newer section was put in because of damage damage due to flooding.

Why don't I believe in a God 2?

I have still been thinking about this question and I see sin as another reason I can't believe a god exist.

Lets look at what sin is according to a few different sources. The dictionary say this is what sin is. What do religious people see it as? I don't think most religious people really use the dictionary version as they do their own personnel version. This is what really makes it tough to get a good list of what is and isn't a sin. I found this list of sins and another here. I haven't gone though either list completely but you can see they are different.
How many people even try to live their lives according to either of these list? How could anyone live according to these list? The concept of sin doesn't really fit in with the god most christians claim to believe in and worship. There are things those within religions call sin that I can agree with but most of the stuff harms the one trying to avoid the sin more then it would harm others if they just did it. The second list really trips me out but because of it, I am better able to understand why it is so easy to manipulate christians into acts that go against their better judgement. I have glanced at the second list and it just seems to me that sins are whatever some religious leader at the time wanted it to be.

I think people should focus more on what is right or wrong for humankind then on individual sins. How should we decide what is right or wrong? I look at how my actions will effect those around me directly. I think most indirect effects a decision has on others is not something you can use fully to make that decision. The bad part is not all actions that are right will always have positive effects on others directly. If we only do things that have positive effects we will never do anything but you can take actions with the least negative effects. I think drugs and alcohol are good examples of what can be right and wrong decisions made. Many drugs that are defined as illegal can easily have more negative effects then positive effects. The negative effects of drugs tend to be caused more because they are illegal then that a person has taken them. I know most of the hard drugs will destroy the person taking them and anyone they know can have their lives ruined also. I doubt the negative effects of illegal drugs would be as bad if most drugs were legal and controlled more then alcohol though. Alcohol has negative effects on society but with the correct education those effects have been seriously reduced. I think you could do the same with most drugs. No we will never be able to remove the negative effects either of these from society but we can reduce those effects. These are also good examples of how different religions have different things as sins. Christians all see the use of either differently and I wouldn't be surprised if you found many of these groups didn't see some drug use as a sin until it was made illegal.

New camera

I have always enjoyed taking picture but have never been able to afford the type of camera to take really good photos. I have been working for the same small company for over 10 years and instead of a cash bonus this year they give me a Canon Rebel T2i. I haven't enjoyed a camera like this in over 20 years. I have just started playing with it and I know I will now spend a good bit of time taking photos. This is one of the first picture I have taken with it and am already impressed with the quality of it. You do have to understand I have only been using 8 and 10 mega pixel cameras before this one. The only thing that sucks about this camera is that some of the concerts I like going to doesn't allow this type of camera into the concert. I can understand that because of the high quality. I hope to start posting at least a few photos every week and maybe a few videos as I get better with this camera. I think me and my dog will begin making a few trips into nature now because of this camera. I am more into nature photography then most anything else. What kinds of stuff would anyone that reads this be interested in seeing about Arkansas?

Why don't I believe in a god?

I was raised in a family that usually only went to church on Sunday and sometimes Sunday evening. I know I didn't like going but most kids would prefer anything to sitting in a church. I have at least 2 brothers who are heavy into religion but it is possible one other is but really can't see it. My 4th brother is probably a believer but not the kind that attends church unless he is chasing pussy. I have one sister that is Mormon and the other is a bit indifferent to church and it seems she only has much to do with it because she thinks that is what you are suppose to do. My mother is heavily involved with  the church but it seems it is more social then hard core believing. I have no real clue about my dad since we have never talked religion and when it is talked about he seldom if ever says a thing. I was raised in a family that really wasn't to serious about religion since I really can't remember praying before meals other then on holidays or when with extended family.

      I don't even know when I decided there was no god. I have been trying to figure out what is it that has caused me to see the world of religion for what it is. I can't say it was because of reading the bible. I can't say it is because I have more then the normal education in sciences. I can't say it was because of some terrible thing that has happened in my life. The things that have gone wrong with my life are for the most part my own fault, so I can't blame it on some imaginary being. There are things I wish I had been more prepared to deal with as an adult but I can blame that on anyone other then myself. When I was younger I never really thought much about the future and what I would need to know to deal with it. I tended to live in just the moment and boy did that come back and bite me in the ass. I think it is what I see in the world that tells me there can't be some all powerful being watching us. I see so much hate coming from so many claiming their lives are based on love and peace. I don't think that we would always turn to force if religions really were about love and peace. I know there are times that the only answer is using force but if you have to lie to justify using that force you never tried anything else. I see religion using force all the time to try and push their beliefs and will hear them whining when someone pushes back. I say if your god is real force isn't necessary for that to be shown. If you can't show your god is the truth without forcing that belief on children, I don't see it as anything more then indoctrination.

It sickens me.

I used to believe that America was the greatest country in the world. Since I have opened my eyes to reality, I am embarrassed by what we are. We have politicians who have said they are only worried about insuring that President Obama doesn't get reelected. We have a former President who has admitted he ordered a person to be tortured and no one says anything in the media. We have politicians who say they will fight all attempts to change election financing. You have a small number of people who wish to kill health care reforms.

What has caused people to forget what has usually made this country great? I am not well educated in history but know enough about the history of this nation to know it is a new type of attitude that has come around. Is the problem religion? Is the problem the media? Is the problem the major money thrown at elections? I would say the biggest factor is actually the media.

What do I mean that the media is the major factor? I believe the biggest problem we have as Americans have is the fear of the truth. I saw a comment at a blog, I believe it was at vjack's blog,  where someone said how we don't see the dead women and children from both our attacks and the attacks of the Afhgan rebels. Why don't we see the effects we are having on real people? I think it is the fact that many Americans don't understand how childish we have become. It is to the advantage of religion and politicians that we have this attitude.

I read several blogs and it amazes me that so many are willing to ignore how their actions will harm others as long as they get their way. I don't see the liberal nor conservative views as helpful in solving problems. The liberals seem to think that we need to throw money we don't have at problems while the conservative want to ignore the problems we have and throw the money into the military. They expect violence to solve the problems.  Who can we turn to to help us out of this?

I would like to say me but damn if I was the one put in charge so many would truly hate me. I would end extreme greed and privilege for those who avoid responsibility yet think they are special. If I could do anything I felt would bring the world back from the brink of failure, there are some select things I would do. I would start in the USA, since I am from here. I would give the military 6 months to bring all forces home from foreign soil. That would include all military equipment and troops. I would stop all foreign aid and would provide only material support for humanitarian aid. That would mean no money but supplies that are needed. I would make all elections publicly funded and any private ads would cost triple or more to insure all sides got a fair shake in the press. I am afraid I would actually be a bit to socialist for many people yet in the end they would see the advantage of not worshiping money but the well being of all people.

Why I seldom post.

I have been asked by a few people why I don't post more and I think it is pretty simple for me to explain why I don't. Most of what I have to say is based on my own observations and not based on any evidence beyond that. Many people want evidence and the people who have that are writing on other blogs. If you look down the right side of my page you will find a list of blogs and you will find much better writers on the subjects I tend to post about. I tend to defer to these bloggers because they are much better at presenting their evidence and making it easily understood where they are coming from.

I also have to really feel passionate about something to really take the time to write about it. I haven't found anything that has gripped me in a way that I feel I need to get my words out there other then making small comments at a few of the blogs I go to. I think some of it is also the fact that at a small number of these blogs I go to atheist actually make it easy for theist to point out how atheist are elitist.


It was a few months back that I saw a comment by an atheist that really made me feel many atheist aren't that different then theist. The basics of the comment was that he wasn't going to speak in terms that those not as well educated as he was would easily understand. He didn't want to dummy down his comments. This type of attitude is really no different then the ones most theist have it seems to me. This is the ignorance of elitist and it is a shame.

Lets really look at who is more likely to change their minds about something. How many leaders of most any group change their views knowing it will take away their power? I figure though history there have been a few but they are an extreme rarity. How many leaders of a group will change their views when the people within the group start to change their views? Look at history and you will find examples of this all over the place. The people who need to have their views changed are those that are following other not the person leading. When atheist won't dummy down their comments they are just enforcing the views many theist have of them and that makes the job of people who are actually trying to make things better for all harder.

A good example of how to make comments all can understand with little work is the book The God Delusion.  Yeah I am still working on finishing it but all I have read of it has been easily understood and makes many good points without making someone feel stupid. When people have to spend half their time going to dictionaries or do some heavy research to understand a comment, the average people will ignore it.

I also think these types of elitist atheist are why I won't call myself an atheist. I don't want my views in line with their views. The elitist atheist aren't living in the same world as most people just like most theist in leadership roles aren't.

I can't help it but I love this commercial.

I know that I shouldn't but I really do love this commercial.    I'm sorry for this but I can't get enough of it. Every time I see this I just start laughing.