Bob does jury duty

I was called for jury duty this week.  It was a civil lawsuit trial that arose from injuries suffered in a traffic collision. The case turned out to be interesting to me because of the connection to what I do every day – which if you don't know is to teach safer driving.

The situation involved a woman who was injured as a passenger in her boyfriend’s vehicle.  The other vehicle had changed lanes suddenly in front of them, and then braked to make a right turn into a parking lot.  That driver had seen a McDonald’s and decided she wanted some ice cream.  She stated she never saw the other vehicle (at 10:50 pm on a well-lit street in a major business area), which then rear-ended her as she made the turn.  We conclude from that, that she didn’t look before she changed lanes. The injured woman sued the driver of that car for her medical bill (about $5,800.00) and they wanted some additional amount for “pain and suffering” as well.  She hadn’t gone for medical care for about two days after the accident – and then only on the advice of her attorney.  She had also filed suit against her boyfriend and apparently, there was some kind of cash settlement between them for his part.  They are still together and you have to wonder about that.

I am blogging about this because I think it was a fairly common type of case – all through the testimony my thought was that it wasn’t clear-cut, one way or the other.  What caused the wreck was the sudden move by the first car into the lane in front of the second vehicle (a small truck), her immediate and sudden braking (from 47 mph she said), down to the turning position in a very short distance), and the failure of the pick-up driver to anticipate that and successfully avoid the crash. As it was, the impact was so slight as to have caused negligible damage to either vehicle.  The driver of the vehicle that braked and caused the crash made statements that were not truthful, and changed her account of the event three times over the intervening months; this indicated to us that she was feeling guilt and trying her best to put the best "spin" on it that she could; this did not help her defense.

It was the collective thought of the jury that the medical bills were padded extensively by the chiropractor’s office, and that the treatment likely went on way beyond what was actually necessary (at their instigation as well).  The “treatment” for “back, neck and shoulder pain” in what couldn’t have been more than a 5 mph - 10 mph collision (and probably was less than that, based on the lack of any significant damage) - went on for 32 weeks.  The charges included approximately $600 for cold packs – one every visit at some $30 a piece – plus some additional ones for use at home.  We doubted the woman herself would have continued that long without advice from the chiropractor – and certainly not if she had thought she would eventually have to pay for the treatments herself (she was a person who likely lives at the poverty level, a house-cleaner, and she was back at work the next day). 

They told her that she “would have trouble down the road if she didn’t finish all the treatment" they were advising.  Really?  Two-thirds of a year of treatments for a fender-bender that caused so little damage we couldn’t even see most of it? The only visible damage was on the struck vehicle – a split or crack in the plastic bumper where it flexed on impact, and a small white paint scuff on the bumper where that vehicle was struck. There was no visible damage at all on the pick-up truck that we could attribute to the crash. We felt that the chiropractor and the attorney who referred the victim to the chiropractor were expecting a big payday – simply because they thought they could.

As the jury, we worried about the victim and what would happen to her financially if she didn’t collect something (even though we were told not to) – but we also did not want to help perpetuate the “accident injury lawyer – chiropractor subculture” that most assuredly exists; we can see their advertisements on late night television every day.  We might have been wrong, but we deduced she was involved in this at the advice of these other people, that she wouldn't have pursued it herself.

We also worried about the "65% at fault" driver – who was most definitely and predominantly at fault, but who we felt was being taken advantage of by the sharks. She is a young service woman and will not be wealthy any time soon, either. The good news for her is that she was in fact insured for these damages.  I am certain that this experience will be a long-term learning experience for her, as the possibilities have been weighing on her peace of mind for a long time; her stress was visible.  The accident happened almost three years ago.

In the end, we found that the lane-changing/braking vehicle was 65% responsible for the collision, and the vehicle in which the victim was riding was 35% at fault. We awarded roughly 50% of the chiropractor’s medical bill ($2,500) and nothing more (about $70-$80 per visit). Our deliberations took about one hour to arrive at that consensus, and I felt that the jury’s work was accurate and just.

Veterans Day, 2015

It is Veterans Day. Each year on this day, as well as on the more "general" Memorial Day in May, I reflect on the sacrifices of those who fought our wars.  I see all the flag-waving, jingoism, and national fervor of the blinded and the unwashed. What good has that ever done us?  Any of us, except maybe the arms-dealers?  I wish we would all stop to think for a moment about the real fruit of mindless, drum-beating, arrogant patriotism.

I don't know of any common, everyday soldier or sailor who ever wanted to go to war, except the crazy ones. Yet, as a nation we beat the drum and wave the flag every time there is a disagreement of some sort with other nations.  I know that in some cases, we had no choice but to fight; I am thinking about WWII in particular.  There is also something very righteous about opposing tyrants and fighting for the rights and lives of others.

But the United States, in the face of our claim to be a peace-loving people, has gone to war perhaps more times than any empire in the history of the world. I think it could be proven that we are, or have been, the most warlike people ever to live on the Earth - in written-historical times anyway; thought-provoking books attempting to make that point have been published. We remain today more than ready to coerce other nations to do our will by force.

This year, I tallied up the human cost of our ferocity, as best I could.  I included both our casualties (just deaths) and those of the nations we have fought, as accurately as I could discern it. In the major wars we have fought -- the ones we typically think of when the subject is discussed, beginning with the American Civil War, the United States (and it's allies where that was a factor) have lost approximately 1,354,700 military personnel killed fighting "for their country and freedom."  If you add in those of other nations whom we opposed, the total numbers are well-over 43,480,000 killed. 

Forty-three and a half million human lives. These figures do not include the many millions of civilians killed in these same conflicts -- collateral damage, as it were - often innocent people who just got in the way.  I was not even able to begin to estimate the total numbers who have been wounded. Often those wounds never heal. 

These are just the major conflicts we have been involved in, 1861 to the present.  Think about how many wars we fought even before that. Think about all the other wars that the US was not a party to. Some of those U.S. wars were unnecessary, unwarranted, immoral.  

These numbers are a fraction of the real total -- and they are only the ones we have a connection to, where our people were committed. Among those lost, is it not possible that the person who had the talent and brains to formulate a cure for cancer, or some other human misery or problem was among them?  Human beings are such idiots, generally speaking, and I don't see that the problem is being improved upon.

My thought has often been that when old men start wars, it ought to be those same old men who should go fight them - and die.  Pretty soon, maybe the willingness to start wars would diminish, maybe even disappear; we could breed it out of our gene pool.

I have become a conscientious objector, a newly-minted pacifist. This is kind of odd for someone who was a rather active "hawk" and very military-minded in his younger days. But it is true that many of us are softened by our life-experiences, and by reflection on what the meaning of life truly is. 

I met and talked with Barry Goldwater a couple of times, once when I was a student at university and we had lunch with him -- and I was surprised by how conciliatory and mellowed he had become since his presidential run and senate service, years before. His attitude and words were very plainly "live and let live" on many topics the politicians and citizenry are willing to rip our nation apart about today.  So I am not alone -- I have such illustrious company as the most conservative American conservative of his time.

Be that as it may, I think Gandhi was very plainly right. I also think humankind is a thick and stupid race. I don't think we should play those games anymore. If you believe your God really exists, you have to know there will be a reckoning for our hardened hearts on that last "gettin' up morning." [Matthew 7:3].

This essay is dedicated to my son, who has done more than his share in the service of this country and may suffer from the experience the remainder of his life.

Remembering Ron Delong

Rolland E. Delong

Ron Delong, who passed away last week, was one of the school owners I met when I became a defensive driving class monitor back in 1992.  As a program monitor, many of the school people considered me the enemy; government “administrators” have a well-deserved reputation for being idiots and not having a clue what makes business “work.”  I’m sure Ron felt that way too. 

He was prone to jumping to conclusions before he understood something – the Court would pass a new rule about something, and while many of the school owners would just sit back and grumble privately, Ron Delong would be on the phone that day.  “What are you doing, what does this mean, are you going to do this, that or the other… Are you crazy?"  Then, usually, once he understood what the results would be, he’d calm down and if not make peace with it, he’d figure out what to do, how to make it work. But those first few moments when "the volcano" went off were always very exciting!

The other day when I heard his son say that Ron lived life at 100 mph (both literally and figuratively), I thought of those first encounters with him and his “temper.”  Ron’s son was talking about the way he lived – his joy for living and his lifestyle – but all of those other things went right along with that. It was still the same way as the years went by – but as those passed, I became friends with Ron probably more than with any other school staff. 

He treated me like a brother.  I stayed in his home when I went to Kingman to monitor, or to visit the school office. We ate meals together (the first time I ever had the pleasure of eating at The Gourmet Room at the Riverside was with Ron).  He taught me a lot of what I know about shooting and marksmanship.  We went to Laughlin together and hung out at the Riverside together (he liked a card game).  Ron was friends with Don Laughlin – and told stories of teaching private defensive driving classes for him in the penthouse offices on the top of the hotel.

Ron was a long time law enforcement officer, from a family of law enforcement officers – many generations worth.  Many of his stories were about those times of course – and his job as a drug crimes investigator for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.  Ron had put many criminals behind bars in his career and he often worried that some of them held grudges about that – he was very careful of his safety as he went about his "retired" life, and he was never far from a weapon with which to protect himself if the need arose - and I had to get used to finding weapons in the strangest places around his home.  He thought some of those bad guys might “look him up” sometime.  This is one of the outcomes of a career in law enforcement I think a lot of folks don’t think about.


Ron apparently went about his Highway Patrol duties with a fair amount of zest.  I recently read a book about the Highway Patrol written by Paul Palmer, a retired Patrolman and originally a dispatcher.  One of Palmer's recollections of Ron was that when he checked in for duty, you knew you were going to have an "interesting shift."


I believe it was Ron’s grandfather (and grandmother) who had once arrested John Dillinger – and took him home for supper.  Ron had a photo of Dillinger, taken on the “porch” with his grandfather – and his grandmother peering through the screen door from behind them.  I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen the photo.  The story about John Dillinger was one of his favorites.

One of my own favorites had to do with something that Ron got into trouble with – in a defensive driving class.  I was monitoring his class, and he and I had been yucking it up and having some fun all day.  But I was sitting in the back, watching and listening, and Ron was moving around the classroom and talking to the students.  And without saying much, he handed a small package (about the size of a package of seeds) to a male student – a rather noisy and troublesome male student.  The package contained “Rattlesnake Eggs.”  If you’ve never seen them, they are a practical joke item that consists of a small bowed wire "frame" with a rubber band across the open end (like a sling-shot), and on the rubber band suspended between the arms of the frame, a metal washer.  You wind the washer up on the rubber band, and slip the assembled device into the paper package, so the washer is held tight and immobile within the confines of the envelope.  On the outside, the packaging advises the holder to be careful, the package contains rattlesnake eggs, and not to let the package get too warm (the implication is that the eggs might hatch).  When the unsuspecting person opens the envelope, the washer is released and spins inside the paper package, buzzing loudly as it unwinds and scaring bejeesus out of the victim.

In this case, either the student (the intended victim) had seen it before and didn’t want to be victimized again, or perhaps he was just indifferent or not-curious enough to look inside, so he handed the package unopened to a little old lady sitting beside him.  And she opened the rattlesnake eggs.  She almost wet herself, and pandemonium ensued.  Later, in my best sanctimonious official puffed-up bureaucratic voice, I advised Ron (probably through tears of laughter) that it was not a good idea to bring rattlesnake eggs to a defensive driving classroom.  We were both lucky she didn’t die of a heart attack right there.  Unintended consequences can be devastating.

During my years at the Court I was not permitted to teach defensive driving classes.  When I retired, having seen hundreds of different approaches to teaching the topic, it was Ron’s approach to it more than any other that I emulated in getting back into the classroom with defensive driving students.  Most defensive driving instructors teach a review of “traffic laws” – and really do very little with the nuts and bolts of defensive driving itself.  Ron taught practical defensive driving.  His class was built around a framework of the different types of wrecks he’d seen in his career – and exactly how a person could avoid getting involved in them.  It was real world and I believe his class was one of the best I’ve seen in that regard.  His students could go out the door with a better ability to stay safe on the roads if they listened and learned from him.  I learned from his example, and I still teach my classes using that same approach.

Ron Delong is one of my best memories of my years working with the Defensive Driving Program.  He was honest and as straightforward as you can get.  He was a good friend, the type of person that does anything for you if he can help, whether you’re talking about the community at large or on a personal level.  Ron Delong made a difference in his world. He truly did live life at 100 mph – or faster.   I loved him, I will miss him; he is gone too soon.  I was fortunate to know him. He was my friend.

Commentary on Current Events

- Donald Trump is an ass.

- By and large, the Republican field is filled with ignorant idiots. I read today that Trump is leading the field of GOP hopefuls. How frightening.

- The Democratic field doesn't impress me either.  I don't see any candidate I would vote for, in either group.  The way I see it, the Republic is lost.  See my thoughts on Greece, below.  I think we may be in the same sinking boat and for at least some of the same reasons.

- Bill Cosby and his lawyer just need to go away. He admits he obtained drugs to give to women so he could have sex with them.  And his lawyer says there’s nothing illegal about that.  The word scumbag comes to mind.

- I regret to say so, but Sandra Bland created the circumstances for her arrest herself.  When a cop stops you, you comply with their requests whether you know the reasons why or not, you don’t run your mouth from beginning to end and when they tell you to get out of your car, you get out of your car. You comply. You do not ever physically resist a police officer. If you are wronged or mistreated in the course of a traffic stop, or other encounter with a law enforcement officer, the place to take up those grievances is after the fact, with the officer's supervisors, with local government, or in the justice system, period; out there beside the road is not the place, because it puts you in grave danger. 

That said, why was it necessary for her to put out her cigarette, and why was it necessary to make her get out of her vehicle? Up to that point, her comments had just been frank.  I watched the posted video of the stop. It looks like this officer showed poor judgment in his actions during this incident – his commands to her were in large part unnecessary under the circumstances. Whatever happened to all the “Andy Taylor” kind of cops we used to see?  Why was she still sitting in jail three days after an arrest which was questionable in the first place (?); was it really necessary or was it just putting her "in her place." Anyway, I still wonder why this young woman thought she needed to hang herself. 

When are we going to step back from viewing our own people, our own neighbors, our own children, as the enemy? That said, I just don’t see that the circumstances of that mishandled traffic stop should cause a person, any person, to think that they needed to end it all.  There’s something about this whole incident that we just don’t understand. Either this young woman was not as mentally healthy as everyone is claiming, or something else happened that is as yet hidden.

- Susan Smith murdered her two little boys twenty-some years ago by rolling her car into a lake with them strapped in their car seats.  Can you imagine the terror these two babies felt when their own mother was killing them, trapped and drowning in the dark? Now she tells us (from prison) that she’s not the “monster” we all think she is.  Sorry, but yes, yes she is.  She still doesn’t grasp the horrendous reality of what she did.  She is the worst kind of human garbage.

- Is there anyone in the world that believes that Iran will honor ANY commitments it makes on nuclear weapons programs, or anything else?  I think the comparisons between John Kerry and by extension, Obama, and Neville Chamberlain prior to WWII could very well be valid.

- The Greek economy is a disaster, and from what I see, the Greeks don't want to change any of the circumstances that led them to the brink of that abyss.  Why should the other countries of the EU continually be asked to bail them out, when they will do nothing to help themselves?  I think much of their difficulty is of their own manufacture -- and there will come a time when they have to fix it.  As they don't seem to want to "own" the problem, I don't see that happening anytime soon. 

- Is flying the stars and bars flag of the Confederacy really the problem in the USA?  Or is it that we as a people suffer from pervasive and systemic racism?  I hear comments from people frequently about how “those people” are taking “our” jobs, how they’re getting things they somehow don’t deserve, and so on.  “Those people” are us, and if you don't see it that way, it is a major failure on your part.

Diverting our attention from these very real problems into making it an argument about confederate symbolism is wrong, especially since that symbolism is about more than racism.  Let’s take it a step further, shall we?  We need to take George Washington off of our money, demolish the Washington Monument, etc.  He was a racist who owned slaves.  Let’s tear down Mount Vernon, since slaves worked that estate. Likewise Thomas Jefferson and Monticello, and many others of our founding fathers and the things they built.  Even Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, had demonstrably racist views and ideas.

Do we need to purge ourselves of all of these icons and memories?  The Confederate flag represents so much more than the racism of the old south.  I don't know about you, but when I see the stars and bars, what it means to me is southern pride - and southern defiance, which are very valued American traits. What the Civil War was really fought over was the question of who we are as a nation; are we a single entity, or are we an "at will" loose affiliation of sovereign autonomous states?  Slavery was simply the foremost issue and catalyst that brought that question to the point of armed resistance and conflict.  More than any other single event, that resistance and its outcome shaped our country into what it has become -- for both good and bad.  I am not generally in support of these revisionist purges. We NEED to remember.

What we need to do instead, is to recognize our past mistakes. 

What we really need to do instead is confront racist actions and attitudes everywhere we see them, for the stupidity they are, no matter who or which group they are directed against, no matter who is behind them. 

What we really need to do is try to figure out why so many of us think guns and killing people is the answer to every trouble, as happened in that church in South Carolina, where nine innocent people were executed, as happened in Lafayette, LA, in Oregon, and as continues to happen almost daily across this entire country (as well as around the world).

What we need to do is figure out how, exactly, we are breeding so much mental illness (and hatred) in the populace of our nation.  

What we need to do is remember to treat ALL others as we want to be treated, and recognize that all of us deserve the basic human rights that Americans say we cherish.

And we need to remember exactly who we are (all of us) and what we've done.

If we don’t do these things, who will?

Happy Birthday, USA!

This is one of my favorite 4th of July stories.  The recounting of the story is by Jason Earle, writing for the Huffington Post on July 4, 2012.


I sit here in Princeton, New Jersey -- my hometown -- a small city, rich in history dating back to the Revolution, history especially relevant to this holiday weekend. Perhaps that's what's prompted me to sit down and write this post.


The Fourth of July is a "feel good" holiday. Most of us are going to find ourselves beach-bound or at picnics with friends and loved ones, eating and drinking to pleasant excess, enjoying fireworks, while trying to avoid bug bites and sunburn. It's a holiday which few people can take issue with. On a deeper level, to me it carries powerful meaning because of the freedoms that were delivered through our liberation from a tyrannical England, some 236 years ago. A few of the freedoms that still remain somewhat intact allow inspired people with creative ideas to pursue them for the betterment of those who they serve, while also creating a more abundant life for themselves, and those immediately around them. This is something I absolutely cherish. It's truly American.


While I suspect that our Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves seeing what we have done with these very liberties and principles in the years that have followed, I will reluctantly hold back from making this into a political commentary. There's something far more interesting to follow, so bear with me, please.


Thomas Jefferson and John Adams became fast friends during the First Continental Congress but the political elections, which made them both presidents, illuminated their very different political views, creating a rift that would last most of their lives. A mutual friend engineered a reconciliation between the two, culminating in a rich and heartwarming relationship, documented in 12 years of letters between them, which historians say must be read to be fully appreciated. As two of the few surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence, they were finally able to see that they had far more in common than any differences they had once perceived.


Amazingly, on July 4th, 1826 -- the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence -- these two luminaries died... within hours of each other. This alone leaves me spinning.


What's more, Adams' last words, as he drifted in and out of consciousness on his final day, were, "Jefferson...survives." Jefferson had passed away hours earlier. In his last moments, Jefferson awakes to ask his aides in his final utterance, "Is it the Fourth?"


Indeed it is, Mr. Jefferson. Today is the Fourth of July. We owe you and Mr. Adams tremendous thanks. Happy Independence Day!


Follow Jason Earle on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jasonearle   

Transcontinental air travel in 1930 in the Tin Goose

Ford's venerable Tri-Motor - NC8407

If you had flown across the USA on a commercial airliner in 1930, the chances are good it would have been on this airplane -- or one similar to it. 


There were about 300 of these built, and they were obsolete in less than 5 years (1935).  The next generation was the Boeing 247 (for a short time) and then the magnificent Douglas DC-3, the capabilities of which engendered the explosion of airline travel that took place very quickly thereafter.  But the Tin Goose was the first real step toward the "modern" airliner, and was very rugged and safe -- not only for its time, but even today. They were built from about 1927 up into the early 30s.


Back then, you would have only flown during daylight hours. You and nine other lucky passengers typically changed to the train at dusk, at least in the beginning. Either way, the speeds were about the same -- 80-90 mph on the train, not much more on the airplane (about 105 mph). Overnight airline flights were still mostly a thing of the future (not until the mid-nineteen-thirties).   Trivia: Shirley Temple was a passenger on the very first westbound overnight airline flight on a DC-3!


You would have landed about every 300 to 500 miles along the way, to fuel up the three thirsty radial engines in places like Liberal, KS or Winslow, AZ where Charles Lindbergh sited the airfield and arranged for services. It wasn't only fuel - they burned LOTS of oil. This was part of the engine design and helped to keep the motors cool.  So they topped off the oil tanks as well as the gas tanks. 


Most of these old Fords came with Wright Whirlwind engines of about 300 hp ( 3 motors, so 900 hp total).  Later models switched to early models of the Pratt and Whitney radials that produced 450 hp.  The Pratts increased the airplane's climb performance, but decreased its cruise speed to about 90 mph. This had less to do with engine power and more to do with propeller design. 

These were air-cooled engines of similar "technology" as the motors installed on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.  They were reliable way beyond other engines of their day. This particular airplane (NC8407) later got upgraded with two 450 hp motors, and one 550 hp motor - making it the most powerful Ford 4-AT-E Tri-Motor ever built.  Just for contrast, the single engine of a P-51D fighter in 1944, 15 years later, produced 1,500 hp!


In-flight service in those early days was mostly coffee served out of a thermos - just like today, there was no such thing as an in-flight hot meal on most flights (but for different reasons). Unlike today, the passengers would get off the airplane at intermediate stops for meals, when that was necessary.

Ford Tri-Motor at Lake of the Ozarks, June 1968

The total trip time, coast to coast, was probably in the range of about 30 hours or more of flight, in a noisy, drafty and cold cabin. There was no cabin pressurization, so the Fords flew low and slow - along the way, you were still a part of the passing environment (and weather), not soaring above it like we do today.  Because of that, crashes (and deaths) were frequent.

Cabin heating was very ineffective. But most folks considered it an adventure!  This was the cutting edge of the most advanced technology existing -- and only 27 years after the Wright Brothers first got into the air. 


I took these pictures of NC8407 in 1968 at a little airport in Missouri - but you can still fly on this airplane today. It eventually found its way into the ownership of the EAA, and makes its way around the airshow circuit on a regular basis. If you search on the EAA's website, you can view some of their photos of this aircraft, in flight, inside and out.  They bought it years ago, and restored it from a storm-damaged wreck into beautiful condition.  These aircraft were built so strong, that this aircraft is probably just as safe today as it was in 1929 when it was built. 

The Big Jet

This, my friends, is the great granddaddy of that Big Boeing Jet that takes you to wherever you are going today in just a few minutes or hours - it was the Model T Ford of airliners. We went from the Tri-Motor to inter-continental jet travel in just 30 years.  Flying was certainly quite different when this venerable Ford was first on the line.  As for me, I'd rather fly on an old Tri-Motor than I would a new 737 - just for the sheer fun of it!

Reality and the Nature of Death

Cranky Sage

Mortality has been on my mind. Before we start, I should tell you that I am not an atheist, although I lean in that direction. I hope that will be made clear should you read on and that you will see why I would think it important to make that distinction. That said, do you still believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy?  Do you cling to the idea that the earth is flat, or that the earth is the center of the universe and that all other celestial objects revolve around it?

Each person must arrive at their own “truth” regarding what they believe about the nature of life and the universe, but there is probably only one reality and every other belief will be dead wrong.  I suspect none of us are anywhere close to real truth, with our narrow minds and myopic frame-of-reference. 

I am more than willing to leave you (and everyone else in the world) to your own beliefs, and furthermore, not to say or do anything to convince you to believe the way I do, or to damage your ability to believe in your own chosen way.  This is why I do not often engage with those who talk about their religious faith. But I cannot in good faith participate with you in what I believe to be falsehoods, lies even, though I think that quite often, religious ceremony and traditions of many kinds are beautiful and comforting for some. 

I do not pray.  I do not ask the intervention of a god in worldly affairs or outcomes. My beliefs are obviously different than most others around me.  However, for the same reasons that I don’t accept religion in general, I am not certain that what I think is the most logical reality is in fact the truth. Further, what I believe is probably truth is not what I’d wish was truth.  What I hope for (but cannot logically accept) is that a benevolent and loving God exercises supreme authority over all, that there is a spirit world, that there is life on some plane after earthly death and that I will see my loved ones again.  I wish I could believe that there is biblical justice. I also wish, in much the same way, that there is truly a Santa Claus. 

Of course when I "hope" for these things, my hope is for you, because quite obviously, I'd be destined for the "other" place, since I am not a "believer." That's a joke, sweetie.

Alas, what I hope for is not what I believe is real. I think the reality is that there is no god (or gods), there is no spirit world, nor ghosts, and dead is dead; ashes to ashes, dust to dust means exactly that. - there's nothing else left.  There is no separate entity that we could call a "soul." We humans are not special and we are only unique in our own celestial neighborhood to the extent that we have developed and evolved. Any belief otherwise is a function of ego - and fear.

I am agnostic.  I have no confidence or belief in those things that I wish were true but that I cannot believe are real.  The idea of Christian “faith,” for example, as sufficient basis for belief is convenient. comforting nonsense (and in its extreme manifestations, it is often manipulative and dishonest). The fairy tale of religion is simply not credible.  

Religious beliefs (including a trust in a life after death) are a manifestation of our inability to accept the harsh truth that we have a very short existence, that this short life span is the extent of everything that is and that we are not the "center" of anything. The only thing we are the "center" of is our own limited imagination.

Do not quote the Bible to me – or any other religious book of any persuasion.  I do not accept that these texts are of a divine origin, any more than I believe in a virgin birth, that anyone has ever performed “miracles” or that virgins await the faithful Muslim jihadist in "heaven."  In the case of the Christian text, for example, from the very beginning, the wise men could not even agree on which books should be in it, and "truth" changes regularly based on exigent needs.  At best, those books contain learned wisdom; at their worst, they are toxic.

Atmospheric Wonders by Mandy

I hear and see people point to events, things, beauties, serendipitous coincidences, always with the comment that “there must be a God, because right there is evidence of God;” a beautiful sunset or the beauty of a landscape, for example, or when something has happened that is attributed to “godly intervention,” such as the seemingly miraculous recovery of someone who was near death, or who escaped death in some unbelievable manner. In every such case, the doubting side of my intellect thinks (but rarely says) that there is no logical connection, that there are other more realistic explanations.  

If you shared my cosmology and beliefs, attaching the intervention of “god” to such things is just as illogical and fanciful as is a belief in omens as predictors of the future, or the position of the stars as a control on earthly events and happenings, or a full moon as the “cause” of malevolent occurrences, or that the message in a fortune cookie is true. When you "give it over to God," I roll my eyes and say "please."  If you want something, or have some need, you are the one who can get it for yourself, not some imaginary supernatural deity.

You might ask, “why are we here? What is the purpose of life?"  I would turn your question around. Does there have to be a purpose; I'm not convinced. Believing that everything started from nothing by the hand of a “god” is just as unbelievably fantastical as believing that it wasn't, however unsatisfying that conclusion.  We can’t answer the question of how that might have occurred any more than we can fathom how a god might have done the same thing, or of how that god might have come about, or why that "loving" god lets the innocent suffer. 

We do not have to answer those questions here and now (but that's probably some of the difference between me and you). We cannot answer those questions of the why and the wherefore with the information that we have – or that will ever be known to us here.   We need to come to an acceptance of that unknown, because we can’t change it and we cannot solve it. 

The future of the sun - a Nova

Life is fragile – life is, while (I believe) universal, at best temporary and an aberration.  The possibility of life is strictly limited to a specific set of environmental limits; because the conditions of our celestial environment change over time, life as we know it is transitory.  Think about the fact of climate change at its extreme - our planet will in fact be hostile to life at some future time. 

What we should do is to accept life the way it exists for us (in our observed reality) – we must live with what we have and make the very best of everything that we can accomplish.  What we need to do is simply live. Like the old sayings – "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" or "grow where you’re planted."  You get the idea. 

For me, this philosophy includes facing, accepting and making peace with the likely truth that this very short life is all there is.  I'm willing to bet that life is not a do-over (or something that continues past death).  My advice, therefore, is plan accordingly and practice good stewardship, because when it's over, it's over. Whether the fat lady (or Bob) has sung or not.