Friday, January 21, 2011

The Chickens, the Scary Words, and the Scientists

* Burger King is promoting a 'buy one and get one free' deal on one of its chicken sandwiches. The ad doesn't say, but is there an extra processing and handling fee for the doubling? There is on all those TV commercials that double your order: Start whisper - "Just pay separate processing." - End whisper. Some say there's no such thing as a free lunch, but Burger King comes close with this deal.

* Notice the State Farm commercial with the smarmy salesman planted in front of a news stand? Try reading some of the magazine titles. You can't. Most of the titles are covered or have a generic title like 'Women.' You can't read titles on most others because they're all defaced with decorations. Apparently, State Farm is afraid to show real magazines lest it be sued for unapproved use or else it doesn't want to provide free advertising. All this from the Insurance Company that wants to 'tell it straight.'

* I have a problem about those 'animal adoption' or 'saving' commercials with the tear jerking music and overrated celebrity begging you for help. These words and posed pictures could easily be applied to little babies, born and unborn. But where are they? Doesn't a figure of 10 million abortions and hundreds of thousands of child abuse cases mean anything each year? I suggest these TV waylaid humans spend their energy on their own species in preference to pets. If they did, our cultural life will suddenly gain new meaning and show some life of its own. I'm all for treating animals properly and with love, but I'm also for treating human life the same way---wait, such treatment should be better. One precious human life is worth more than a million pets.

*Be prepared to run when you hear these phrases. They augur danger and their purpose is to separate you from your money: 'Hello! I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you.' - 'But wait, we'll double your offer for free. Just pay separate shipping and processing.' - 'For a limited time only.' - 'Call in the next five minutes and .....' - 'Special offer for the next 24 hours only.' - 'A $200 value, all yours for $10.' - 'A collector's edition. - 'A Limited edition.' - 'You don't have to do anything. Just take our pill and your fat will simply melt away.' - 'Original price set at $49.95. Now yours for $19.95. Clad with 15mg of pure gold.' [about 66 cents at today's price] [or 50mg, about $2.20 at today's price]

*I keep hearing self-professed thinkers and our scientific community about the possibility of another life in the Universe. For most of them, it's the claim that the Universe is so large, there must be other life. How can life form on a tiny planet around an insignificant sun in a far corner of the Universe and be the home of the only intelligent life in the Galaxy? Such is life. Billions of dollars are spent looking for alien life throughout the portion of Universe we can reach; signals are sent; ears are kept open. Eyes search for signs; infrared and x-ray astronomy look as well. Millions more dollars are spent dealing with UFO claims. People clamor to find an alien explanation for the Bermuda Triangle, the Egyptian Pyramids, the Aztec Pyramids. Books are written about the mysterious goings-on around the World.

And from it all comes---nothing! There's no proof anywhere or in any way that another intelligent life exists in the Universe! Nothing but imagination. We may not be perfect, but I think we're unique.

*Scientists today, as shown on the Science Channel all the time, are trying their best to explain life, the Big Bang and other astronomical and biological miracles in terms of chance encounters, physical interactions, and time. They notably leave out God in all their discussions. I believe that the entire span of life of the Universe was decided by God before He created the Big Bang. Everything that happened after that was guided by God's created physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, etc. Creating and giving mankind the freedom of will and action, however, was a deviation from the original plan. He wanted us to be free to do what we wanted and develop the faith to believe in Him and His works. I've been reading books and articles on astronomy, physics, chemistry, sociology, biology,religion and numerous other areas for fifty years. And my faith is still strong. Mankind has deviated from what could have been for happiness and security for all, and he has divided his thoughts and actions between good and evil. We still suffer from the evil part. When the scientists finally admit that God was the prime mover in creation, they'll probably work on trying to discover who or what created God.

*Honda is showing some mysterious commercials. It claims that it's new Accord is the longest lasting car in it's class. What? This is a new car. How could they determine longevity? Another dimension? They also claim it has the best resale value in it's class. What again? This is a new car. Are their dealers selling them as used already? Do other makes of cars do the same thing?