Long night... I was up until about 03:30, in spite of being really tired. Downloading stuff, going outside every little once-in-a-while and watching meteors. Didn't see a whole bunch, but I did see several really good ones.
Then... I got up when Karen did. Dumb. Really dumb. Drank a coupla pots of coffee. Even dumber, huh. So, when I was ready for a nap, it didn't happen.
Last night was beautiful, weather-wise... even a bit chilly, comparatively. And all day today, too. Unfortunately, after I didn't get my nap, I developed a headache, and it has been with me ever since.
I'm continuing downloading software... soon I'll have everything that I want. I think that I'm gonna put some games on the system, since they won't actually be on MY system, and the grandkids will enjoy it. And won't mess me up, I hope.
Anyway, as I said, beautiful day, and when Karen got home from work we sat in the porch swing for a few minutes, and I noticed a spider-web between the chains on my side. In the middle of the spider-web was what looked like a bird dropping running down from the top to the center.
Well, I've seen this guy before, or his brother, anyway. I blew some smoke on the spider, who was tending his business on the edge of the web. Quick as a wink, he ran to the center of the web, positioned himself at the lower end of the "bird dropping" and wrapped himself (or herself) up in webbing... and looked exactly like a continuation of the bird dropping. This took a total of maybe two seconds, tops.
Upon closer inspection, what looks like a bird dropping is really the spider's victims, paralyzed with eggs laid in them and craftily cocooned.
Nature is so cool.
The moral of this story: men evolved from apes, and preachers from spiders.
.............
Well, OK, that's stretching it a little.
As the intelligent reader has already discerned, I'm still a tad bit upset at the state school board. No real news on that front, really... it's all said and done. Most people are saying that nothing will really change.
But... the attitude has changed.
Logic has attempted to compromise with religion, and logic came out the loser. There is no compromise with the religious right. They just keep chipping away, little by little.
And when people compromise their logic, they lose it. Logic can't be compromised... it just is. Logic requires no faith, just truth and reason. Truth and logic, unlike faith, require nothing more than a clear mind and eye. Nothing unseen, nothing passed on from generation to generation, no superstition, no belief.
The fact that religion is logically indefensible is it's weak point. And it's strength, for there are those who dislike logic. Many of those... way too many. Logic is scary. If they believed in logic, why, why... they would be dead when they died. This is absolutely intolerable. They know in their hearts that they deserve better. And anyone who says different better watch out.
And they are many. They are dead wrong in their beliefs, but they have the strength of numbers. And those numbers are scary. Politicians shake in their boots at the thought of crossing them. Even those that have no beliefs at all, and I believe that is the majority of them, will go along because of their fear of not getting re-elected. I could well be wrong about the majority of politicians being believers (What? Am I intimating that politicians might be... hypocrites? Surely not!) but I've found that many intelligent folks will lie about such things. So they won't stand out from the herd. Because standing out from the herd is dangerous.
Ah, to hell with it.
I'm really tired. More tomorrow...