My letter to the Pope

I was reading about Pope Benedict's recent speech to a group of UN delegates sent to Italy for a conference on the impending global food crisis. He stated that technology should find a way to fix the crisis. I think that population, which begets poverty, which begets famine, which begets disease (like that Bible bit?) is a much more important topic, and something that the all powerful church could impact. So I told them they should condone contraception...

I am not an elegant or eloquent man, so writing to the Pope was initially a daunting idea. Of course, the probability that he will ever actually read my letter is somewhere in the infinitesimally small percentage range, so I went ahead and did it for piece of mind.

Letter follows:
_________________________________________________

Dear Pope Benedict,

In your recent statement to the UN delegates in Italy you stated "hunger and malnutrition are unacceptable in a world which, in reality, has sufficient production levels, the resources, and the know-how to put an end to these tragedies and their consequences."

Humanity's technological prowess should be able to conquer hunger and malnutrition. But hunger and malnutrition will always be predominant in countries with high population and high birth rates. Even Thomas Malthus said that population will outstrip any increase in the food supply. Would it not be prudent for the church to endorse contraceptive techniques in order to slow world population growth? Abstinence from sexual relations would be preferable to the church I am sure, but my own country the United States, has shown that abstinence programs do not work better than contraception and safe sex education.

In this day and age, I am sure Jesus would have understood that the health of humanity is of the greatest importance. The church has been reinterpreting the words of Jesus and the Bible for two-thousand years. I do not think literal policy derived from the Bible is possible here. In times past the command "be fruitful and multiply" had a direct correlation to the survival of a community and society. It does not have that impetus any longer. In fact, I would argue that the opposite has become the norm. The survival of humanity may rest in our ability to curb population growth. As you may know, the Earth is already at more than twice the human capacity it can handle naturally. It is only though our technology that many of us survive in the first place.

The fact that the population grows exponentially will eventually lead to far worse problems than hunger. Poverty is directly linked to overpopulation. Disease and pestilence are also on the heels of the hunger problem. I am not a member of your church, but I implore you to consider my words. The church and it's massive resources could lead the charge in reversing this crisis on a different front than technology. Abstinence and alternatives to personal childbirth like adoption help, but could never out pace education about human sexuality and contraception. It is of paramount importance to our survival.

Respectfully,
Christopher Moran

Vegetarian +575 days

Well then, I guess I've actually become a full fledged vegetarian. More than 500 days have passed since I made this choice, and I have no urge whatsoever to turn back. There is so much logic in it. Today I learned that a very large contributer to pollution is the farm factory industry. Never knew that one. Guess it wouldn't have been to tough to figure it out though.

Bizarro's creator Dan Pirera wrote the following (click the pic) and I couldn't say it better myself. I still have trouble going vegan however. No cheese, no eggs, hrmm...

Um, no shit sherlock...

This, for those that know me, and those who have heard me, is a "no shit" moment...

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Northern You have a Northern accent. That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Toys and Violence

When I was a boy, I played mock war with toy guns. I played with action figures (GI Joe, both eras), LEGOS, etc. Yet, here I am pushing 40 and I am a productive member of society. I teach math at a behavioral treatment facility. I am involved in the shaping of young minds and ideals on a daily basis. Things like LEGOS and imaginary battles (remember army men?) breed creativity.

I do take issue with the non creative, non problem solving, violent games that kids can play where using your mind is not the object. They punch in a cheat code and kill away. That is disturbing.

Does it mean those games have no place in a child's life? My parents thought so, but that's just it, my parents were involved. So be involved, make sure you know what your kids are playing. There are tons of video games, even ones with guns and violence, that utilize the brain in more than a mindless killing spree. Play the games yourself. Look them up on the internet. Get a clue.

My parents both worked full time and still knew what I was doing almost all of the time. They were involved but not overbearing. They made sure I understood the difference between reality and fantasy. They didn't shelter me from the horrors of reality, but made sure I understood what the world could be and how I could change it.

Colbert Trash Talks The New Planets

Quite possibly my favorite segment on The Colbert Report to date. Steven Colbert and his writers are geniuses. Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of my personal heroes. What a great clip mixing factual science with Colbertian hilarity. Just watch...

turning heads

turning heads,
originally uploaded by tess j..

Obviously any life threatening disease is a very hard thing to go through and it definitely helps you realize the really (REALLY) important things in life. It took a while to open my eyes and see things the way I do now. At first I was angry and depressed, then confident and understanding, and I am still evolving to this day. I still get caught back up in the stupid things that many people think are important. It's hard to stop behaving the way you are brought up to and the way society tells you to. Animals have that strange tendency to learn bad habits and keep them, no?

It's not something someone can truly understand without experiencing it (or some other life threatening disease/accident themselves). I wish that on no one, except maybe the really bad people on Earth to give them a clue, but I still even want them to survive, they just need nature to smack 'em around a bit. The world would be a much better place if everyone appreciated life the way a sufferer/survivor can.

For me, in my post cancer life, there are two things that are important, knowledge and happiness (a.k.a bliss). Knowledge to me is a deep understanding of the qualitative and quantitative essence of everything from us (humanity) to the universe (everything else). Whatever gets you to your bliss is what you personally live for, mine are: love, family, teaching, and just having fun (flickring is fun :-)). Finding your way through the maze of life is difficult, no doubt about it, but the ride is worth every penny and none of us really should want to give it up.

The universe is an amazing place and we are so fortunate to be able to be here at a time when so many scientific truths are being realized, (one of which is being able to survive cancer). We are like babies who just figured out how to move around and explore. I know I will tick a few people off when I say it is our will and our committment to life that allows us to be here. Go live your lives and be free to be happy and never, ever stop learning. Man, am I ever preachy...

Same sex marriage

I have edited my original post from 2004...

Okay, I have a question. How exactly can and will gay marriage hurt you? This sorry excuse for a modern day witch hunt, an attempt to quash something you do not understand and are afraid of, is as pathetic and closed minded as inquisitions and ethnic genocides.

Some say that there is no equivocation of this circumstance to the others I listed. I disagree. All of them started off with progress in one direction only to be countered by small and closed minded bigots with big discriminations, things that seemed reasonable to the masses at the time.

People are taught to fear and loathe that which they do not understand. It is easy to be a follower, to go along with what others tell you, especially when the leader is someone you respect.

Just as in the past, leaders are telling their followers what to think. And the mindless masses follow.

Sanctity of marriage, bullshit. Marriage is a word that carries a bunch of religous baggage and a whole lot of legal ramifications, good and bad. I believe that goverment, all governments, should allow unions with every right that marriage brings with it to anyone that wants to agree to spend a life together. Unions should only be considered 'marriage' if it had some religous pretense and therefore should be up to the church that issues the 'marriage' in which case, some churches CAN allow same sex marriage. This is separation of church and state, plain and simple (in my mind). The state has ABSOLUTELY no right to interfere in church affairs just as the church has ABSOLUTELY no right to deal in government. I wish it were so simple.

At this point, 2 years later, in my life/learning, I would be all for getting a state sanctioned union, that anyone could have, and telling the church (Catholic marriage in my case) to kiss my ass.

Vegetarianism, Nature and Christianity

Hey! We're trying to sleep....,
originally uploaded by buggs_moran.

Well, here we are at the end of month two of the great vegetarianism experiment and I've got to say this has been the easiest life change I have ever made. When it comes to life altering decisions and my health, willpower has a tendancy to putter out. I have tried diets, fad diets, low carb diets, being 100% sober, working out every day, etc., all high willpower items. They all failed. I think that this one (vegetarianism) is easy because I KNOW in that gray mass of mine that it is the right thing to do.

I honestly don't see myself ever going back. I might stumble or fall here and there, but it will always be what I come back to. Which brings me to my next point, nature. Look at the photo attached to this post. Is it natural for us to think, "hey, there's some potential food..." Of course it is, we're animals, omnivores to boot. But does it mean we HAVE to eat other animals? Is it only because we are told to and media blitzed to (you know; pork, the other white meat, beef, it's what's for dinner, etc.) from a very young age?

Ask any smoker, drinker or overeater how easy it is to give up something and then ponder giving up meat. You might say it's not the same thing, giving up smoking/drinking/gluttony is good for you. You are correct, it isn't the same thing. But I counter with, isn't giving up meat good for the animals? Giving meat up is hard to do if you just say "can I give it up?" But, if you actually THINK about it, not just say "no I couldn't do that", but think of the pain, torture and anquish that animals go through when we murder (shut up, you know it is) them for meat. Remember they have the same intelligence (relatively) as your pet mouse, snake, cat or dog.

This brings me to my third part of this post. I read today in free inquiry that Augustine and Thomas Aquinas denied that we have any duties of charity to animals according to the Bible (I assume). Even a pope in the 1800's supported that idea... What do I think? Funny you should ask that.

If you've ever owned a pet you already know that this is complete bunk. The charity for and livelihood of our pets (as well as other animals) is our responsibility as the only species that has the ability to regard things from a moral standpoint (that we know of, damn that was pretentious of me).

Side note: The main point of this article was in support of the Great Ape Project (GAP), which looks to form "rights" for the closest genetic relatives to humans. I support the GAP. What right DO we have to allow torture and death of these amazing animals (watch the videos on the site, you might change your mind).

Those little birds in the photo there are dead now, and it really pissed me off that they died. I don't know what happened, maybe it was the few days topping 100 with some insane storms, maybe a predator, who knows, but it was more than likely nature... All I know is, that I cared for their well being. Why? What makes little birds with pea sized brains more important and more worthy of life than the mosquito I just smacked off my arm? I don't have the answer... I guess it's all about how much we really care to care, if that makes any sense. Some might say, "we are the superior being, and whatever we decide to do is okay." I leave you with this thought:

Isn't it the mark of an intelligent being to understand our place on this planet, the harm we do to it and the ramifications of our actions? Is torturing and killing animals, wasting natural resources (we could feed people many times over with what it takes to raise one cow) , and destroying the environment really worth it?

not your everyday run-of-the-mill Fear of Failure

not your everyday run-of-the-mill Fear of Failure,
originally uploaded by jhawke.

This is a shot by Jen Hawke, one of my Flickr contacts, a great photographer and a Flick addict. If you haven't played with Flickr yet and you like photography, try it out. She posted it because she is debating her future, I have blogged it because I like the picture and because of something I wrote and liked in the comments. It follows...

"Ya know, I am a teacher. I told myself and my parents (both retired teachers) hundreds of times, "no way will I be a teacher." So I went off to college and got an Aerospace Engineering degree, I am not an engineer, but I would not be the teacher I am if I haden't taken that path and then been in the business world for years before becoming a teacher.

It's all actually pretty simple. Do what you think you might enjoy for a career, try it, if you hate it, change it. So far I've been a cook, a machinist, a construction project manager, a purchasing and shipping manager, and a teacher (for 8 yrs now, the longest profession). All had varying degrees of success and failure. That's life. So go for it, have no fear, try it out, if it fits, good for you, you will be one of the extreme few that go to college and continue on in the same career.

As for Chris (read the photo's comments if you are lost) , go take some computer courses dude, run a side business, learn on your own, it is only too late if you're dead. And if sucks, so what, learning something is NEVER a loss. You might even find that the math wasn't as bad as you remember.

Suggestion to both of you, look into Aleks.com, it is an easy way to brush up on your math no matter what level you are at and it's only like $35/year. You get assessed and then go at your own pace, maybe it will fill in the holes that make you think that math is difficult.

Okay, I am done being a teacher now. I still like this shot 8-P"

Vegetarian Update

Well, it's been four weeks since I stopped eating meat in general. I stilll don't miss it. I find that rather incredible, rather unbelievable and just plain whacky. Most people I talk to about this say that it would be impossible for them to stop eating meat. I usually say that is just because you have been doing it your whole life. You have to give yourself a reason to stop eating it.

I admit, I did cave one night so my wife and I could have sushi. I still haven't quite figured out how I feel about seafood.

Yesterday, we had a cookout and had to have the hamburgers and hot dogs everybody is used to having. I had smartdogs (tasted like a hot dog, grilled okay, but the texture isn't quite there,) portabella veggie burger (good, but better with cheddar and carmalized onions,) and veggie brats (these might go somewhere, I precooked them in beer and then grilled, the taste was good and with saurkraut even better.) A couple of people tried the veggie items, but no one was ready to say, "no more meat for me," oh well.

I've promised my wife that I wouldn't prostheletize to people when we are with them so I figure this blog is a good way to talk about this experiment. As a byproduct of these efforts I have dropped about 10 pounds in the past month, not too shabby.

You're a what? A vegetarian...

I am just starting out on a vegetarian journey. I have eaten and thoroughly enjoyed meat my whole life. There is no doubt about it. When you are raised and live as a carnivore, vegetables are just an afterthought. I will miss steak, bacon, sausage and barbecue, hell, I will miss it all, even pickled pig's feet (thanks Mom). I even wanted to start competing in BBQ, but I guess that is practically impossible now. The story goes like this.

For the past few months I have been toying with the idea of being a vegetarian. My wife thought that it was impossible, that I could never give up something I love so much. I loved cigarettes too, but I gave those up 10 years ago, I still want them, but I know it is a stupid habit (I beat cancer once, probably shouldn't try it again). How much worse could this be? It would be good for me and the animals.

I had done research, seen the effects, understood the consequences of the industry on us and the environment and still didn't do it. Then, two weeks ago, I started experiencing the worst bout with gout I had ever had (the purines in meat are a major contributor to gout). I used it as an excuse to finally make the switch. Something in me, physically and emotionally, clicked.

We are not natural vegetarians. We are omnivores, we don't process cellulose and we have canine teeth. We need the amino acids present in meat. However I arrived at the conclusion that the way we get our food, especially in "civilized" nations, is the problem.

I guess I am what is called a ovo-lacto vegetarian. I will not give up eggs and cheese, but I will try to find them locally from now on. I don't know if I will be able to totally give up seafood (I understand by-catch). Ultimately it has come down to the treatment of animals and an understanding that we could feed so much more of the world if we weren't feeding animals for our consumption.

It is hard to change over thirty years of behavior. I told my wife that I will not prostheletize, but I seem to have a hard time doing that, knowing what I know. I have the same problem with religion and politics. It's like some dirty little secret. "Don't tell anyone the truth because they will lose their appetite." My father was in the meat business for years, and he warned me that I didn't want to know where the food came from, just to be happy that we had it.

I am only a week into my experiment in change. So we will see how well this goes.

This is a nice, short description of Moran

This is a pretty good entymology of my family name from Clan Aran Sweaters:

Moran is the English version of two distinct Gaelic surnames; Ó Móráin, from the Gaelic “mór” meaning ‘big’, and Ó Mughráin, whose meaning remains unclear. The Ó Móráin was a sept from Ballina in north Co. Mayo. The Ó Mughráin were part of the Uí Máine tribal grouping, and were based around Criffon in Co. Galway and Balintubber in north Co. Roscommon. The name ranks today as fifty sixth most common in Ireland, and remains strongest in its original homeland of the western province of Connacht.

Ellison Bay

Ellison Bay
Originally uploaded by buggs_moran.

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Nothing brings me more peace.
Than sitting on the edge of the bay.
During my life's short lease.
And Living another day.

Going Libertarian

I wanted to write this last week, but couldn't find the time...

I have voted my conscience. I am very proud of that fact. I did not vote Republican. Nor did I vote Democrat. And I have NO qualms about it whatsoever. I voted Libertarian. It is not that all of my political feelings lie in their realm, they do not. But then, I have never met a Dem or Rep that totally sides to the Left or Right. I believe that the media have turned our free society into jaded, gossip hungry fools who rely on too few for far too much information.

We need an even playing field.

The government should supply the travel, TV time, and full debates for major party candidates. Major parties could be decided on national interim elections or even party petitions for candidacy in between elections. I am not this way because my guy lost. I think we have lost as a country if we cannot pick, out of roughly 150,000,000 adults, one person, who best exemplifies us as a whole.

I don't even believe I will necessarily see this in my lifetime. But I know that I have done MY part to further this process just by voting.

So, to all of you out there who did not vote.

Don't bother griping to me about the US government, you didn't help pick it.
And next time, inform yourselves, don't rely on the media and help make this a better country ONE VOTE AT A TIME.

Okay, I have a question. How exactly can and will gay marriage hurt you? This sorry excuse for a modern day witch hunt, an attempt to quash something you do not understand and are afraid of, is as pathetic and closed minded as inquisitions, witch hunts and ethnic genocides. Some say that there is no equivocation of this circumstance to the others I listed. All of them started off with progress in one direction only to be countered by small and closed minded bigots with big discriminations, things that seemed reasonable to the masses at the time. People were taught to fear and loathe that which they did not understand. It is easy to be a follower, to go along with what others tell you, especially when the leader is someone you respect. Just as in the past, leaders are telling their followers what to think. And the mindless masses follow.

Hello Universe. This being my first blog I figure I should say something about myself. I am a married genX male living in New England. I teach high school mathematics and to supplement the income that a teacher makes I run a small web hosting/design business. I also play a small part as a minor weather god when I have the time [I find that Nature pretty much takes care of things all by itself. ;)] I will hopefully be spouting off all kinds of mindless dribble as I join the supposed millions of people already blogging. I missed the first bandwagon, so I had to catch up on my own. My blog will not have one topic focused on since I kinda fancy myself as a well rounded individual.