Skeptics

The older I get and the more skeptical I become.
I already wrote about this topic a few months ago, but in view of what is happening in the world, I think that it is worth repeating.

A skeptic is a person who is not easily convinced, and I am such a person. I am indeed a doubting Thomas.
I want the proof by A + B that what I read is accurate (and makes sense) before accepting it. “Creationism” for instance does not make any sense to me.
Russia sending 300 “humanitarian” trucks to Ukraine doesn’t make sense either.

According to the Wall Street Journal:
“At the site where the vehicles are parked, Russian officials showed reporters the contents of the trucks, some of which are apparently military vehicles with green paint showing through a fresh white layer. The trucks were in many cases only partly filled with items such as buckwheat, baby food and sleeping bags.”

Russian citizens will of course accept Moscow’s “humanitarian” version as the only truth, just as Ferguson’s citizenry will accept the cold killing of an unarmed teenager as gospel truth.

The real truth is more nuanced than that. A video clip recently released shows the victim robbing a grocery store and shoving a grocery clerk; this clearly establishes that he is no angel.

There is of course absolutely no excuse for gunning down an unarmed person, but it illustrates the fact that no one should rush to judgment.
Nobody knows for sure what exactly happened in polarized Ferguson and I don’t believe that there are any “impartial” witnesses.

If the cop is guilty as charged, he should be prosecuted, but “protest” demonstrations turning into looting mobs do not shed a very positive light on the protesters.

And if there is to be outrage and demonstrations for a single killing, where is the world outrage (especially the Muslim outrage) against Islamic fanatics for murdering thousands of people worldwide and taking their women in slavery?
The world is strangely silent about this.

The truth is not easy to obtain and it will often emerge months or years after the facts.
So again, do not rush to judgment.

Today you should view everything you hear or read with a very healthy dose of skepticism.
Beware of people who promise you extravagant returns on your investments.
Beware of demagogues. Beware of clerics. Beware of politicians. Beware of screaming headlines.

“The skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches, as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found.”
Miguel de Unamuno (Spanish Author and Philosopher, 1864-1936)

Do not believe what you want to believe!
Believe what is reasonably believable.
And take everything you hear with a (big) spoonful of salt.

Cynically yours,

Alain

 

Immigrants

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
Voltaire

With the horrendous bloodshed currently taking place in most of the Middle East, hordes of asylum seekers will undoubtedly knock at the doors of the US and many European countries.
It is understandable.

But what also need to be understood by refugees are the new rules of the game.
Many would-be immigrants hail from countries where religion reigns supreme.
Adapting to surroundings where secularity trumps religion might be a very difficult but an absolutely necessary step.
Everybody needs to understand that clerics should always be subservient to state, and not vice-versa.

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” Blaise Pascal

When seeking shelter in the West, immigrants must abjure many practices and prejudices of their homeland and embrace the laws and customs of their new home.
A dog is not “unclean”, Jews are not enemies of Allah and Gays are not to be whipped or stoned anymore.

Sticking to anachronistic practices would be like recreating the toxic environment that forced them to flee their country in the first place.
Refugees must learn the language of the land and abide by its customs and its judicial system.

Erroneous beliefs and harmful practices are to be renounced forever.
No more “honor” killings, Female Genital Excisions, son preference over daughter, female infanticide, early marriage and dowry.

Immigrants should strive to dress according to the prevailing dress code and reject niqabs, hijabs and all overtly foreign or religious symbols.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Behave as those around you.

Any immigrant (like me) should always feel grateful and indebted to a country that took him in its bosom, and refrain from hateful speeches and deeds disparaging the country that offered him sanctuary in the first place.

Doing otherwise would be like biting the hand that fed him.

Alain

 

Robin Williams

Monday must have been a very slow news day.
The media went into a frenzy to cover the demise of Robin Williams.

Suddenly he was the greatest comic genius the world had ever seen.
With all due respect to his family, I don’t share this opinion.
Robin Williams could be occasionally funny, but a “comic genius” he was not.
I never liked “shticks” and he used too many of them.
I had a soft spot for him in “serious” roles like in Good Will Hunting.

But it is not easy to be tagged a “funnyman”. You have to constantly prove that you are witty and it is more often a burden than an advantage.
Personally, if I had to pick a funny man, it would choose John Cleese of Monty Python fame or Jerry Seinfeld.

But with the world ablaze with hatred and destruction, I cannot understand why news departments everywhere chose to devote most of the day to report the passing of a comedian.

Excuse my French, but right now I am more concerned with what’s happening in Iraq where a bunch of Islamic fanatics are maiming or killing anybody who don’t share the same twisted beliefs.

I am worried about Ukraine where Putin might ignite Word War Three.
Who thought that the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand would start WWI?

I am worried about Israel, the last sane, pro-western bastion in the Middle East cauldron.

I am worried about Turkey where sinister “mildly Islamist” Recep Erdogan was just elected president.

I am worried about Afghanistan, the resurgence of the Taliban and the fate of women in that cursed country.

I am worried about Syria, Libya, Nigeria, Sudan, etc. and the rise of extremism everywhere…

I am worried about the spawning of radical zealots in Europe.

So excuse me for not showing extraordinarily concern about the passing of a mere troubled “funny man”.

Alain