Fearmongering Scientists

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You know how, later this year, the world is going to end on December 21, 2012? Today between 11:00 and 12:00 I heard Astronomer Phil Plait on WHYY internet radio trying to convince us all that it's just not true.

First, he used flimsy arguments to dismiss the arrival of the planet Nibiru, AKA Planet X, which will collide with Earth on that fateful day. According to Dr. Plait, any planet bound by the Sun's gravity (he doesn't explicitly say this, but it's what he meant) which was going to collide with Earth within the next year would be near the orbit of Mars and because of its size (4 times that of Earth) it would be brighter in the sky than Jupiter, which at the moment is easily visible near the moon as a very bright star. He further asserts that such a massive object would have disrupted the orbits of Earth, Mars, and other planets by now with its gravity, something which he says isn't happening.

However, Plait plainly has no idea what he's talking about!

Hello? Reality calling Dr. Phil? Aren't you forgetting something rather important?


Isn't the Solar system a THREE DIMENSIONAL construct? Aren't there things orbiting outside the Ecliptic plane (the plane in which the Earth orbits the Sun)? Isn't it possible that all the telescopes are looking in the wrong place? Couldn't Nibiru be orbiting at an angle oriented -450 degrees from the Ecliptic, and therefore not be where we expect to find it? And if it were there, wouldn't it have a much smaller effect on the planets' orbits, because it was much farther from them? Nibiru doesn't need to collide with the Earth to destroy it, it merely needs to whip past the Sun very quickly, which means it can be traveling far faster than it would otherwise need to if it were going to collide with Earth. Faster speed means it's further still from the distance needed to affect other planets. And maybe they have their cloaking device engaged, the same one Captain Kirk stole from the Romulans.

Simple explanations, really man. You're not fooling anyone.

The self-admitted Bad Astronomer goes on to protest that the increasing activity levels of the Sun have nothing to do with the end of the world. It has been predicted by some that a giant Solar flare will swallow the Earth, burning it to a crisp. Plait dismisses these by claiming there is some sort of cycle to the Sun's activity and that it will reach its peak in 2013 and 2014.

Hello? Even if the Sun wasn't as steady as the day God made it, do you not realize that the Solar Max is merely an average of a prediction, little different than Hurricane Season here on Earth, and that giant solar flares CAN and DO occur at any time, not just during Solar Max, in the same way that hurricanes can and do form outside Hurricane Season?

Really, man, you're being ridiculous here.

And don't you think that if a giant planet whips around the Sun at high speed, making a very close approach, that it might CAUSE giant solar flares?

Plait then goes on to dismiss hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters which could easily be proven to be caused by the gravitational effects of a giant, invisible planet closing in on us at warp speed, claiming that the millions of scientists around the world who know of this could NOT be coopted or threatened to keep their mouths shut by the MIB, Illuminati, and other government stooges who are hiding the TRUTH that Kennedy was assassinated by Yetis fighting for Tibetan independence.

Yeah, right, Phil. Tell me another one.

Worst of all, Plait then tries to put the burden of proof on those who make what he calls "outlandish claims". First he calls them whackos, then expects them to act in a logical and mature fashion by WORKING to prove something which can be easily seen as the truth with the application of just a little imagination and no small dollop of heroin.

Phil, Phil, Phil. What am I going to do with you? I'll bet you expect your children to show their work on their math homework to "prove" they understand how to get the answer. I'll bet you expect your children to speak English in your house. I'll even bet that at one time you expected your children to appreciate all you've done for them. How cruel and selfish of you. The world doesn't need adults who are capable of rational thought, nor those capable of taking responsibility for themselves! What the world needs is more heroes like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian and Snooki. It needs people who willingly, EAGERLY believe every con job the television and the internet sell them. Really, Phil, how do you expect the super-rich to continue to oppress us if we suddenly realized how ridiculous it was to believe they have our best interests at heart while they're robbing us blind?

What really took the cake for me, personally, as a pseudo-journalist who often invents sensational news stories in an effort to get people to click on my ads so I can make some money off their panic, is that he would interfere in the right of someone to seek a certain, relatively painless death for themselves or their children instead of waiting to see if the prognostications come to pass and possibly suffering a horrible death from being flung into space when the Earth's rotation comes to a sudden halt. Nibiru will be easily observed and its effects felt months before the end. If someone's brain is so defective that they can't stand to wait for the inescapable truth one way or the other, and choose to endure eternal damnation by killing themselves instead of letting God do it at the time of His choosing, then the gene pool will be that much cleaner when the survivors try to rebuild society.

The end is so obviously nigh, Phil Plait, Bad Astronomer. The "proof" you seek is coming. Will you keep denying it with your "rationality" four days later just because Santa Claus visited your house? I'll bet you will.

You're going to be awfully embarrassed when the world ends and you tried to keep people calm and realistic. There's no place for that sort of thing on this planet or any other. I suppose next he'll be telling us the world is warming up and the polar bears are dying off because there's no longer enough ice at the North Pole to block the Northwest Passage.

I will pray for your soul in the coming apocalypse, Phil.
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Dead in a Year

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What would you do if you knew you had only one year left to live? Would you muster up the guts to tell the girl (or guy) of your dreams how you felt? Would you tell your boss to shove it? Would you tell your false friends to find someone else to leech off of? Would you travel the world, do things you always wanted to do, but couldn't because you were afraid to or couldn't afford to?

Well now's your chance to find out what you'd do because in one year it will be December 21st, 2012, the day the world ends. Watch out, because there will probably be a lot of other people with less moral restraint than you or I doing all kinds of crazy things. Just in case one of them keeps you from seeing the end of the world, allow me to share with you how it might end.


As far as I know, I was the first to start talking about the "zombie apocalypse" which will strike when the Mayan calendar ends in one year, but the term has become pretty popular lately. You probably thought it was a joke, or that there's no such thing as zombies, but it was NOT a joke and there ARE zombies, and these zombies ARE going to destroy the world in a year's time.

At least, they're going to try.

How could this possibly happen? Well first we need to know a tiny bit of history and the factors which created the current zombie breeding environment.

1. In recent years, the people of America have become incredibly complacent. The end of the Cold War gave us a feeling of invulnerability; we were the sole remaining superpower and the greatest force in Human history, so who would dare piss us off? Add to that the wild success of the first Iraq war, and we started to believe we were infallible. You can see the effects of this in the second Iraq war when the whole world labeled us a rogue nation and we still went into Iraq. We just didn't care what the world said, because we KNEW Iraq was giving WMDs to terrorists.

2. TV programming has gotten steadily dumber. More and more, we celebrate those who are stupid and superficial and of horrid moral character and those who have NO character. Since when does a Kardashian matter? Never. Since when do a bunch of fakes on Jersey Shore matter? Never. Whose life is so lame that Brad Pitt's wishy-washiness matters? No one's. But these are the things being put on our TVs, and even our so-called learning channels are infested with dreck "reality" shows.

3. Mainstream news sources have denounced all journalistic ethics. The result is that when they're not fabricating the news, they're "reporting" on things which don't matter and ignoring things which do matter. A lot of hot air is blown about the "liberal media" and the "conservative media", but that's not what's really going on. The only time a rich person gets in trouble on the news is when another rich person wants them to be in trouble, and the only time a worthy cause gets coverage is when a rich person will profit from it. The OWS "coverage" is merely the latest and greatest example of misreporting and non-reporting. The only way to get actual news is through the internet.

4. The internet is being shackled and soon we will not have access to the only remaining source of truth and unedited information. That's not to say the internet isn't still a wild land full of disinformation, but at least it's POSSIBLE to get ACTUAL news from the internet if you're willing to look for it. You CAN'T do it on the TV, nor in the newspaper, because those are ALL owned by 3 men who have the same agenda: enslaving you. Once they've regained control of the internet, they will again have 100% control over the information you have access to. Good luck making informed decisions!

5. One political party is unabashedly abusing God's word to push its agenda. They make all the noises that a Christian does, and do all the things a Christian does... at least in public. Privately, they commit every crime imaginable, from adultery to drunken driving to stealing from the poor to advocating violence against Americans to bald-faced lying when they get caught red handed. And because they profess so strongly to be believers in Christ, too many believe their lies and they get away with murder. (Literally, in many cases.)

6. Education has become criminal. It used to be illegal to educate a woman. It used to be illegal to educate a negro. We can already see the beginnings of making it illegal to educate the poor. High-quality public education is what made this country great and helped it stay great for so long, but that's going away. First there was a backlash against certain subjects, like Evolution, and trying to replace it with nonscience nonsense. Then there was a complete lack of quality public education, and our children are becoming dumber by the minute. Now there's a movement to eliminate public education altogether and completely privatize the education industry, which will completely deny education to the poor and middle class. Education is the cornerstone of freedom. Without it, you are either a slave or a dead slave.

7. Surge of non-issues and cultivating of irrational hatreds. We spend so much time and energy on insignificant "issues" that we can't see the real problems which are CAUSING all those problems. Is it REALLY the end of the world if we give equal pay for equal work? Is it REALLY the end of the world if we collectively pay for a highway and then some of us use it more than others? Is it REALLY the end of the world if we keep government OUT of the bedroom? Is it REALLY the end of the world if someone uses the word "tar-baby" as a synonym for "quagmire"? Do we REALLY have to threaten violence to all who disagree with us? And because we make no headway in any of these issues, when faced with REAL issues, like the pandemic levels of corruption and treason our elected officials and corporate leaders display, we feel completely powerless to do anything about it, and so we let them continue to get away with it. We barely even notice the rape any more.

8. False Christians confuse and incite Christians to commit acts of violence and hate against each other. We complain a lot about how corrupt and violent Islam and Judeaism are, but they don't hold a candle to what an entire political party has done to foster its unholy agenda. It boggles my mind the evil being committed against our fellow Americans under the guise of Christianity when the Bible very clearly states we should love one another. The New Testament - Jesus' teachings - are the most important part of the Bible. Jesus taught forgiveness and peace and doing what is right. He did NOT teach that we should be slaves, or lie, or shoot Congresswomen for the convenience of whores from Alaska. Really, folks, if you believed in the Bible, I'm pretty sure you'd be noticing that the Anti-Christ is here.

9. There is very little will to protest unfairness. America was FOUNDED upon protesting unfairness. It's in our blood to fight against oppression. And yet, we've been subjugated from within. No one wants to rock the boat. No one wants to risk the ire of the Republican party because they'll take away your job and your home and your health care and your social security. Guess what? They're doing that anyway. You literally have NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE. And yet you still let them rape you.

10. There are entirely too many secret laws and laws which invalidate the Constitution's protection of civil rights. And if you think a lawyer can still protect you, think again. "Justice" is available only to the rich now.

Combine together these factors and many more I didn't have space to mention and you have a breeding ground for mindless zombies who can't think for themselves and who will simply do what their masters tell them to do through the TV news and "reality" shows.

You don't believe me? Then you've been turned into a zombie.

With the unprecedented levels of greed exhibited by the 1%, not only are the poor being robbed, but that's not enough and they're robbing the middle class too. Regular, hard-working Americans, who were doing everything they were told that a good American should do to be successful, are having their livelihoods stolen from them. They worked harder and got less at the end of the day. When you've had your house repossessed and you're living on the street, you don't have the TV or the lamestream media clouding your judgment. You snap out of the zombification process and you start protesting what was done to you.

As the numbers of de-zombified people grows, so too do the protests around the country and around the world. Those in power are getting more and more nervous that the free ride is over and all their illusions will come crashing down. But they're not going to give up without a fight. Evil NEVER lays down and quits.

Instead of realizing they've overstepped their bounds and apologizing like a proper, honorable person would do, they're telling their hoards of zombies to attack the people who have escaped their programming. You see it on the "news" all the time. The talking heads first ignored the OWS movement, then when that didn't work they told obvious lies about it, and when that didn't work they've ordered the police to start physically assaulting them without provocation or justification.

As the election cycle begins, it promises to shatter all previous records of corruption - BILLIONS of dollars have already been spent to buy the elections this year, and BILLIONS MORE will be spent next year. Why exactly are we allowing our "free" elections to be bought? Remember that, it's important.

Over the course of next year, tensions between the still-powerful zombies and the growing de-zombified will increase, and the only thing which will hold them back will be the completely irrational belief that come election time in November, something useful will happen and the treasonous ones will be voted out and honest people will be voted in. In the next six weeks, as America realizes not only that they have AGAIN had their elections stolen and AGAIN put more traitors in office, and that these new people will REFUSE to correct the real problems facing this country because they are afraid to go against the people who bought their office for them, the dam will burst and the oppressed people will do what oppressed people have always done when they have nothing left to lose.

The puppet masters won't stand for that, and will cause blood to flow.

It might even reach John Titor proportions, which is to say a civil war will break out and we will ask Russia to nuke some of our cities to end the war. It'll be like Wierd Al Yankovick's song, Christmas at Ground Zero, except it won't be funny, it won't be accidental, and it won't happen on Christmas, it will happen four days before: December 21st.

And all this because the super-rich thought they needed 100% of the money instead of only their fair share.

It doesn't have to be that way, of course. There are many ways to stop it, though counting on the greedy to do what's ultimately in their best interests - treat people with respect - doesn't seem to be one of them. And relying on Congress to stop sucking at the teats of the rich for five seconds to represent their ACTUAL constituents doesn't seem to be in the cards either. The best option other than a Tea Party-esque armed assault on Washington DC to head off a far worse apocalypse would be to create a Constitutional Convention in each of the 50 states (not 57, Mr. Prez) in which we create an Amendment stating some rather important things that must be changed.

1. Corporations are tools, no different than hammers and cars, and as such their owners and the people entrusted to running them are responsible for their crimes. Like cars and hammers, corporations are not people and are not allowed to be used to influence politics in any way.

2. Money is not speech. No individual may donate more than $100 to a political campaign. No organization may donate value to one campaign without also donating equal value to all campaigns. (Frex, a TV station cannot pick and choose whose ads it runs, it must run everyone's or no one's.)

3. Any candidate who can gather signatures from at least 1% of the voters in a voting district is hereby an official candidate. In multiple-district elections (such as for President), a candidate who gets his 1% in at least 50% of the districts (states) is automatically to be added to all others upon his request of that district (state). All official candidates are to be allotted equal time/money/value in televised debates and campaigning. This is to be part of the charter of a TV station or network.

4. At no time will a candidate be allowed to receive a contribution anonymously. All contributions must be documented. The entire process must be above board and transparent to public scrutiny. No contributions can come from foreign sources.

5. If Congress plays chicken with the budget or the economy, all members who had any part in it will immediately be tried for treason.

6. All special benefits Congress voted for themselves, such as their retirement fund, their health care, and their exemption from the law, are null and void. All Congress members past and present who voted for such things without the express consent of a majority of their constituents shall be tried for treason.

7. Congress shall be forbidden from owning stock in any company or corporation because they are in a position to conduct insider trading and don't seem to have the self-restraint required not to do it. Any Congress member who has profited from the laws they have made any more than the average American is to be tried for treason.

8. No elected official shall be exempt from laws pertaining to drunken driving, drug use, murder, or any other serious crime. Any official trying to coerce law enforcement from arresting or prosecuting them shall be tried for treason. (This seems to be a big problem with governors too.)

9. The President shall have a line-item veto power so that the absurd riders which get tacked on to most bills shall be kept from becoming law.

10. Judges shall not be appointed for life. Lifespans are much too long. No judicial appointment shall last longer than 20 years and no judge shall serve longer than 20 years.

11. Elected officials shall be subject to recall if more than 75% of their voters want it. (Passons do flare from time to time, and recalls shouldn't be subject to whims.)

12. Above all, elected officials are expected to act in a responsible manner toward the country and their office. Those who put anything besides their country first - including political party, corporation, or themselves - shall be tried for treason. We expect our military to be willing to die in service, the least an elected official can do is make a comparable sacrifice. Additionally, all large corporations are required to have as part of their charter the same basic requirements for responsibility toward the country which made you. We don't mind you being rich and influential, we mind you abusing that power. With great power comes great responsibility, and great punishments for not living up to it.


These are the kinds of changes America needs to avoid the coming zombie apocalypse. Will we have the guts to implement them before disaster strikes, or will be have to destroy everything we have first? One thing is for sure: if we don't overcome the slavery the super-rich are trying to impose on us now, we will never have the chance again.

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Never Forgetting

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It was a Tuesday like any other. I had just gone on Terminal Leave from 6 years in the Navy - I was technically still in the military, but about 3 weeks before, I'd taken my first and only helicopter flight off the Bataan (LHD-5) to get on my way back home to Northwest Indiana. I had a total of 6 weeks of Leave stocked up, and I was ready for some major decompression before getting into a new job. I'd spent the past 3 weeks having some fun, and that morning was in my room, doing some writing when, at 9:00, I received a phone call from my Aunt Kitty.

2000

"Are you watching TV?" she asked.

Both buildings struck

"Naw, I pretty much lost interest in it while I was in the Navy," I answered, thinking maybe she was going to ask me to spend the day with her.

"Turn it on. Any channel."

I came out to the living room and hunted for the remote. It occurred to me she wouldn't ask me to do something like that unless something was happening, but I was expecting maybe a Presidential address or something. I had no way to prepare myself for what I saw.

What I saw when I turned on the TV

The first image was a medium-shot of the twin towers, with smoke billowing out of one of them. The other was obscured by smoke or the angle. It took a moment before I realized what the news was saying, that someone had crashed a jet liner into the building. Both, in fact. And as the coverage continued, something else finally made its way into my shocked brain: the other tower wasn't obscured. It was gone.

I watched, unable to tear my eyes away. Unable to stop hoping that some of those people would be all right. I saw something fall off the building, and the newsman said it was a jumper. He said it was ANOTHER jumper. Several people had already jumped.

Immediately after second collapse

Then the unthinkable happened. The second tower started collapsing. I couldn't believe it. The other building had been hit much lower; that it fell was less of a surprise, but this one had been hit toward the top. Only a few floors should have been lost. But no, the whole thing collapsed like a house of cards. I couldn't believe it.

Two days to see the result

I don't remember how or when my phone call ended. Did we talk? Did she just hang up right away to call someone else? I don't remember. All I know is that horrible feeling of dread as they kept showing over and over the impact of the second plane, and the collapse of each tower. I remember being too overwhelmed to feel anything about the Pentagon, or the flight in Pennsylvania destined for the White House. I do remember those brave souls who decided to take back their airplane, who refused to let the terrorists accomplish their mission.

Recovering the flag

I also remember the attitude we had following that day. Before that point, in any TV show or movie, when someone gets taken hostage, they're almost always paralyzed with fear. They'd rather hang on to the microscopic hope that they would be all right, that someone would save them or that the bad guys would have enough honor to let them go. But after that point, it was like Americans realized for themselves that letting ANYONE take them hostage WAS a death sentence. How can you trust that someone who is willing to kill you WON'T kill you when he no longer needs you alive? How can you trust that your death at his hands isn't what he's planning all along, and that he'd just using you as a shield so he can kill more than just you?

Symbolic return

Before 9/11, there were a scant handful of movies which depicted hostage takers giving the police a horrible choice: kill a bus/plane load of hostages, or wait until the terrorists drove/flew their vehicle someplace to kill even more people.

2006

For a few years after 9/11, it looked like America was going to get serious on terror. Like we were going to kick the ass of ANYONE who tried to hold a gun on us. There is NO guarantee that someone demonstrating his willingness to shoot you WON'T shoot you. Better to deny him whatever he wants; you're going to die anyway. Even if he doesn't kill you, you're going to die anyway, so why help him kill others? It seemed like Americans felt that way, and they'd do what it took to rid the world of the scourge of terrorism.

2011

It seemed like they weren't afraid, that they'd accepted that someone could intrude on their lives at any moment with a gun or a bomb or an envelop of anthrax. They could die at any moment, and so they need not worry about it. They would just live their lives, and if death should come knocking, they would defiantly go down swinging and try to take their killer with them.

2011

Today, 10 years later, America has a Holy Site, no less important to us than the Great Mosque in Mecca, the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, Lord Ram's birthplace in Ayodhya, or Vatican City in Rome. And today, right about now, it's being commemorated and the museum is opening. The Twin Towers site is receiving an overhaul, complete with new skyscrapers, and today the Freedom Tower has reached a height of 1000 feet out of the total, planned to be 1776 feet. The Freedom Tower is expected to be complete in 2013, and the other structures in the following years, while the museum and park are open now.

2020

I wish I could be in New York City today.


Timeline of 9/11 attacks.
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Allah be Praised

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Praise Allah for finally deciding to clean up his house! With Obama bin Laden dead at the hands of American soldiers - Navy SEALs no less - this is pretty clear proof that Allah wants nothing to do with the bastard. Together with all the upheavals going on in the Middle East and North Africa, it seems to me that blaming wholesale murder and personal greed on an all-powerful entity was a bad idea.

Let's look at this. When someone tells you to kill other people and live in abject poverty because he claims some all-powerful being told him to tell you to do it, shouldn't you stop and wonder at his proof? How do you know Allah told that guy to tell you to kill people in the most horrible ways imaginable? Why should you live in misery while he lives in a palace? Isn't Allah capable of obliterating anyone he wants obliterated?

And so he has.


Usama Bin Laden was killed in Islamabad, Pakistan, this past Friday. Praise be to Allah for delivering us from the pretender who abused Allah's name for his own personal gain.

The Christians figured out how to stop doing that a couple hundred years ago when the Inquisition was put to rest and the Crusades became passe. Let's hope the Muslims and the Jews figure it out really soon too so we can all play nice and let everyone believe what they want to believe about their Creator.

Now what should we do about Pakistan?

One thing is for sure: let's not do the bastard the honor of defining ourselves and our history with words like pre-bin Laden and post-bin Laden, okay?

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Put the Cat Down

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A branch of my family just lost their cat. Seems she was getting old and it was time to put her to sleep.

Hidey, as she was known, because she liked to hide when she was a kitten, was a very nice cat. Big and fluffy and fat, and very happy to let you pet her all day long if you wanted. She didn't know how to not purr.

But as she got older, she started showing signs that she hurt too much, and they didn't want her to suffer, so they took her to the vet and stayed with her until the purring stopped.

Now she's in kitty heaven.

Most people don't want an animal to suffer needlessly, and so when there's not much hope of relieving that pain, when the animal's life is obviously at an end, most people have no qualms about putting that animal to sleep. But for some reason, when a loved one wants to die with dignity, their family often becomes selfish and won't let them go. Why is it that sometimes ending suffering is justified and sometimes it's not?

Let's think about this. In the first instance, we have an animal, which is in pain, and is going to die. And even if it wasn't going to die any time soon, the pain this animal is suffering is great enough that we feel justified to put it to sleep.

Now imagine someone you care about is also in great pain and no longer wishes to suffer. Usually we think of old people whose bodies are shutting down, bed-ridden or otherwise immobilized, crippled by arthritis or who have had their minds or bodies robbed of them by Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. We're talking about a person who knows he or she has little to live for except knowing he or she will be a burden on their loved ones, who may be in a tremendous amount of pain, and who WANTS to die. Yet, to allow this person to take their own life, or in the case they're so debilitated that they need someone's help to do it for them, is somehow against our code of decency.

Since when are animals more important than people? Since when is it all right for people to suffer needlessly? Since when do we condone torturing our old and infirm just so we can have them around for another day? How selfish and unempathethic does one person have to be to do that to another? And what happens when we're put in the same position and through the miracles of medical technology, we continue to survive through such agony for years instead of mere days?

I love my parents a hell of a lot, and can't imagine the world without them. But I love them enough to let them go if they decide that's what they want to do. Can you say the same about your loved ones?

When I looked up Jack Kervorkian, the well-known advocate of human mercy killing, I noticed that not all of his suicide assistances were clearly for terminally ill patients. Several are questionable, in that they may have been done to ease someone who was merely depressed, and who could have recovered. Which begs the question: assuming there are times when it's right to kill, when are those times?

Few people would agree that a depressed teenager should be allowed to kill themselves, right? A lot more would agree that someone terminally ill, regardless of their age, should be allowed to do so, right? Being terminally ill seems to be a good dividing line, but what exactly is terminally ill? Aren't we all expecting to die some day? Isn't it possible a bus could run us over unexpectedly at any given moment? If someone is depressed enough to make a serious attempt at suicide, isn't that a pretty good working definition of terminally ill?

And what other dividing lines are important? Quality of life? What else?

Tell me. Use the comments below.

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Additional awesomeness you can't do without:
Do Bald Men Have More Sex Drive?
The Happy New Year Philosophy
Nikie St. Giles - 2000

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