Equal Marriage Rights for Gays?

Not EQUAL, but ADDITIONAL Rights!

As the debate rages on in the U.S. between legalizing gay marriage and banning it altogether, there is one point that needs to be made – a point that I have yet to hear either side make. It's a really critical point of clarification and is basic to the issue at hand. Now, before I make that point, please understand that I am taking no sides here, and I'm not a gay hater or even a gay disliker. So don't flame me as such.

THE NEXT STEP?

[The Helix Nebula - courtesy of NASA and The Hubble Space Telescope]

The photo above is also sometimes referred to as The Eye Of God. While it's an inspiring image to say the least, and perhaps it might lead a religious person to think of God, I've shown it here because it inspires me to comment on life in the universe and here on Earth as a result of, not God, but Man's efforts to create life from scratch and find it elsewhere in the universe besides Earth.

Just a few months ago there was an amazing development in science. Here are a couple of quotes from LiveScience:

"Now scientists have created something in the lab that is tantalizingly close to what might have happened. It's not life, they stress, but it certainly gives the science community a whole new data set to chew on.

The researchers, at the Scripps Research Institute, created molecules that self-replicate and even evolve and compete to win or lose. If that sounds exactly like life, read on to learn the controversial and thin distinction."

Just How Important Do You Think You Are?

At Left: Hubble Space Telescope image of the Large Magellanic Cloud, nearby galaxy of our own Milky Way


As of March 7, 2009 there are approximately 6.76 billion people on Earth. And over 300 planets outside our own Solar System (exoplanets) have been discovered - all within our own galaxy, the Milky Way. And we are just now scratching the surface of possible planets out there. Recently, unbelievable as it sounds, we have even confirmed the discovery of a planet in another galaxy (extragalactic planet) - the Andromeda galaxy, nearby to our own Milky Way!

Say What You Mean, and Mean What You Say!

"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one-hundred percent." -- Horton the elephant [Horton Hatches the Egg, by Dr. Suess, 1942]

Saying what you mean, and meaning what you say is a topic I have obsessed about in the past, having used the highlighted quote at the top many times and apparently erroneously attributed to Horton the elephant. But after a bit of research, it appears that what Horton really said is a bit different, as quoted and attributed above, hopefully correctly. However the meaning is clear either way, and that's what this particular blog is about, not Horton, or elephants.

I've always had the strong conviction that if you're going to say something, mean it, or else don't say it. And say what you mean for Pete's sake - take a second or two to put your brain in gear before putting your mouth in action! If there's something that irritates me during a conversation, it's when someone just blathers on without the slightest regard for the value of choosing their words in any particularly thoughtful way.

The Truth Is Out There, but so is a lot of other nonsense!

The title of this post pretty much sums up my experience of life so far. I was having a discussion around a campfire with friends one night and I happened to comment that one of the purposes I'd chosen for my life was to seek out the truth of life and existence. And wouldn't you know, somebody asked me "Well, what truth have you found?" I replied with "Oh, I've found very little, . . . but I HAVE found a whole lot of things that are NOT True!"