Killing humans is usually immoral

January 18, 2019

Morality is relative.

It varies over time and space.

There have always been situations where killing of some humans has been considered, not just not immoral, but actually a moral duty. To kill people of opposing faiths was justifiable for a long time. To put enemies or sufficiently “bad” people to death was once a moral duty. Even something to be proud of.

It is no different today.

For ISIS and other “terrorist” organisations killing the enemy in particularly brutal ways is something which is not only something to be proud of but also something which opens the gates to Paradise. Armies are trained to, and assessed, by their ability to kill the enemy – in bulk. Collateral damage is regrettable but allowed. It is never immoral. Many states allow individuals to kill when their own survival is threatened. Many other states do not. Many states exercise capital punishment for really “bad” people. Many other states do not and many of these mollycoddle the cancerous humans among them. In more “liberal” quarters the number of euthanasia deaths and abortions carried out have become something to be proud of. Paradoxically, the states which are most opposed to capital punishment are also the states which are most in favour of abortion and the “mercy” killings of the aged or the terminally ill.

There is no such thing as a “human right” to life. Any individual’s life is “cabined, cribbed, confined” by his genes, the privileges accorded by the surrounding society and the quirks of random events.

As with all so-called “human rights”  living is just another privilege.

 

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Abortion now a significant demographic parameter

January 15, 2019

During 2018, it is estimated that around 140 million babies were born and that around 60 million people died. The global population had reached 7.7 billion at the end of 2018.

In addition, around 41 million legal abortions were carried out in 2018. There may also be a significant number of illegal or unreported abortions so that the total number may be around 50 million.

Global fertility rates are declining inexorably. The number of babies born will be reducing over the next 100 years (with the biggest declines expected in Africa). The crude death rate is a balance between two trends; first the decline due to improving health care (and longevity) and second the increase due to an increasing population of the aged. By around 2090 deaths will exceed births and by 2100 the world population will be in decline.

Abortions are not recorded in either birth or death statistics. But what is not in doubt is that the actual number of babies born is almost 30% lower because of abortions. If abortions were included in both birth and death statistics the natural population increase (births minus deaths) would remain unchanged (190m-110m instead of 140m-60m). However, abortions would then be the single highest cause of death. The next highest cause of death would then be coronary artery disease (around 10m).

The long term, global, fertility and morbidity trends are not affected by the number of abortions. Even if no abortions took place, world population would still stabilise and then decline but this would be delayed by about 40 years (stabilisation and decline in 2130 instead of about 2090).

That abortion is now a significant demographic parameter is self-evident.

The morality or rightness of carrying out abortions is a different matter and primarily for women to decide on. The human species is the only one which has the ability to, and does, carry out intentional abortions. That women should be assisted to carry out abortions to preserve their health or for other necessary medical reasons (physical or mental) seems obvious.

I am not so sure that assisting abortions for the convenience of the mother or for covering up carelessness is equally justified. Or that 41 million legal abortions is a number to celebrate or to be particularly proud of.

 

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Darker Nhaikus

January 14, 2019

Even “not quite haikus” can get quite dark.

46.

Awake again,

It is the first day of

The rest of my life

47.

26,000 gone,

Less than 7,000 left;

Allotted span

48.

One wedding

And six funerals last year,

Life’s winter

49.

Trees also die

Of storms and fire and murder,

But not old age

50.

Orbits and seasons,

But in a cyclical world

A linear life

Winter sunrise 20190114

 

 

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Even more “not quite haikus” /3

January 8, 2019

I have caught the bug and seem to be adding 2 or 3 “not quite haikus” every day.

This set is to round off the present infection.

If I ever get to over 100, I will have to make a little book of Nhaikus.

11.

Before the beginning

And after the end of time

Iswas stasis

12.

TV News

Change the channel

Reality shift

13.

Science describes,

Even explains the how

But never the why

14.

Powerful car, but

The end of the journey

Is where the road ends

15.

Born, lived, died

Then relegated to history

Now forgotten

16.

Born, lived, died

Earned a Wikipedia entry

Immortality

17.

Without any Gods

Invented by others

No atheists

18.

Corks apopping

Another New Year to usher in

Déjà vu

19.

Three score and ten

A never-ending bucket list

Tick tock, tick tock

20.

Beyond infinity

Smaller than the infinitesimal

Unknowable

Previously:

Not quite Haiku

Some more “not quite Haikus” /2

 

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Some more “not quite Haikus” /2

January 5, 2019

Challenging enough to condense a meaning into 3 phrases in 3 lines and even more so when restricting the syllables and trying to get some measure of juxtaposition.

Some more attempts at “not quite haikus” to follow my earlier attempts.

Surely amateurish but oddly satisfying.

Basho

6.

Sitting in the car

Raindrops merging on the windscreen

Wife shopping

7.

Silence all around

Unheard cacophony in the air

Radio waves

 

8.

A hole in the thick ice

Groaning and creaking all around

Grilled fish for dinner

9.

Visitor at the door

Rolling to expose his belly

Neighbour’s cat

10.

Low winter sun

Hanging in a crystal blue sky

Brilliantly blinding

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Not quite Haiku

January 3, 2019

I was reading some Japanese Haiku (in translation) and had to have a go.

Not quite haiku which should be 3 lines with 5, 7, 5 syllables (17 total).

1.

Enveloped by a dark

Where your mind cannot tell

If your eyes are open

2.

Hiss and crackle in the glass

Of whiskey pouring on to icy rocks

Anticipating contentment

3.

A library in my hand

But no rustling of turning pages

Oddly disconcerting

4.

Beyond known and unknown

Lie the when and what and where and why

Of the unknowable

5.

Roaring deafening winds

But in the eye of the storm

The silence is music

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Many New Year celebrations left in 2019

January 1, 2019

Apart from in June and July, it would seem that New Year is celebrated somewhere in every month of the year.

 

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Sol Invictus 2019

December 31, 2018

 

 

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Devolution of democracy

December 28, 2018

A modern politician’s priorities:

  1. Me
  2. The party
  3. The party’s leadership
  4. My voters
  5. My party’s voters
  6. The country
  7. My constituency

Other parties’ voters do not enter the picture.

 

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The many, many gods of science

December 27, 2018

Many scientists (and all atheists) deny the gods of religions. Many also deny the existence of the unknowable but then illogically also deny that omniscience is unavoidable.

(Of course omniscience is one of the requirements to be a god).

But science does assume gods – in everything but name.

Many, many gods.

 

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