Cav's Place

I finally watched the documentary, so I have to follow up on my earlier post on the matter. For further reference, just check out the official site.

Need to make some corrections first. Apparently, due to a mix of my poor short-term memory and what got distorted in the media, I was under the impression that Joseph’s osuary was found in the tomb instead of that of James. Actually, that part might be better left off the table entirely, seeing as the validity of the osuary of James is questionable. Also, it would seem that the symbol above the entrance can’t be linked with anything with any degree of certainty, so that should also be kept off the table.

There is also the question of translation. Everything assumes the names were read correctly. This would seem to be the very likely case, but there is always the possibility of an error. Then again, that possibility exists with all such finds and all we can do is trust the experts.
And one has to wonder why didn’t they compare other DNA as well, seeing if they can prove that Jesus and Mary were related for example? Might not have been possible, but should have been attempted at least.
Getting past that, I still stand by all other things I said in my first post on the matter.

What surprised me was how it failed to get a solid reaction. Dan Brown’s book and the subsequent movie, albeit fiction, attracted much more criticism from Christian officials. That could be because they realized that a strong reaction would only confirm that the producers are hitting too close to home, or because the documentary itself is pretty shabby and they didn’t see it as that significant of a threat.
And the documentary is indeed pretty shabby. But it’s shabby because the evidence is not clear and they didn’t have all the time they needed to investigate further. However, evidence being unclear doesn’t mean it’s false, might also mean that it has been covered up carefully. And, considering the way such investigations are hindered by various officials, that possibility seems quite likely.
What I liked about it, though, was that it did present the facts and talked about probabilities, not certainties, therefore openly revealing the gaps in the available information and not directly leading people on. The message is that it’s likely that this is it, but there’s also a chance that it’s not. I’m not sure how many other documentaries based on similar (or even much less) evidence do that. I find myself appreciating that stance. Then again, considering how touchy the issue is, there was no other way.

What do I personally think about it? I think there is a possibility for it to actually be the tomb of Jesus, but I don’t find it to be quite that high. And no, my religious beliefs have nothing to do with that view, as I don’t believe anything that would conflict with either part of the theory.
You might also want to browse through this for another statistical analysis, which deems it very unlikely.

But, whether that is the actual tomb of Jesus or not, the documentary did its job. It made people consider the possibility for such a tomb to exist somewhere. Indeed, it makes far more sense for it to exist than not.
The key element were the stories that surfaced shortly after the documentary was first aired saying that this can’t be the tomb of Jesus because there is less evidence pointing towards such a conclusion than there was in the case of two tombs found around the turn of the 20th century. It was also said that those discoveries have been purposefully hidden so they would not disturb the current world order. (I’m sorry that I can’t find a link for that right now.)
For me, the fact that it revealed that bit of information means it did all it needed to do. Got people thinking, or at least those who are willing to think. The debates you can find all over the Internet on the matter are proof of that.
And thinking is something people need to do far more of in general. As for thinking about religious matters specifically, figuring out what’s fact and what isn’t would solve a lot of problems. I say that because I’m sure that most, if not all, religions are based on some facts, but that many things were changed since then. Many things only seemed miraculous to the people at the time, but can be explained now, others got “lost in translation”, or either added or left out, either by mistake or purposefully. Saying again, I think most religions are based on some facts. Just that, as soon as they got mass appeal, some people realized they could be used to control others and didn’t waste any time in doing so.

As expected, our president got suspended. I’ll translate and post here the comment I posted on the sites of 4 important national newspapers, which expresses the way I see the situation.

I’ll say from the beginning that I don’t think anybody who desires a position of authority should obtain it. But right now it is the only way we have. That said, out of all presidential candidates supported by a party represented in the parliament (since the others really couldn’t have achieved anything) we’ve had since the ’89 Revolution, including those who could run against him now, Basescu is by far the best. It is my personal opinion and my right to say it.
I stood for hours out in the cold in a train station in 2004 waiting my turn to vote, because I wasn’t in the city listed in my ID card as my home address at the time, so I’ll certainly go vote now as well, especially since I won’t have to go through the same thing all over again, and I’ll vote for him again. I don’t remember voting for the prime minister, senators or deputies for them to be able to decide what to do about the only person that I did vote by name.
Even taking party lists into account, I voted for the DA alliance firstly for Basescu and secondly for his party, PD. The fact that PNL was in that alliance with them made me think twice about my decision, but eventually hoped they’ll keep their mouths shut, seeing that polls placed them well below PD, so they should be thankful for getting the seats they have thanks to them in the first place. But apparently I was wrong.
Now, assuming they won’t get their hands even dirtier and find a way to prevent him from running again in their desperation not to lose the warm cozy seats from under their butts, and assuming they won’t “fix” the elections, the people will express their will once again. And then, when it will prove to be against them, what new excuses will they find not to resign from their positions?
What’s happening to Basescu is what happens to anybody trying to go against the “system”. He can’t win alone, but, if Romanians will wake up and fight alongside him, we might be able to succeed together. When a person better suited for the job than Basescu will come along, my support will certainly go over to them. But that seems unlikely to happen in the near future, therefore he still has my full support.

Got the idea to write this after reading a post on the subject (it’s in Romanian) by Tzuni.

One can say that truth sometimes hurts, but it doesn’t. Somebody may feel hurt when told the truth, but it’s not the act of telling the truth that hurts. Instead, what hurts is the reality that they have just been made aware of. And, whether it is revealed or not, that reality would still exist. If it exists and it has the potential of hurting, then it already hurts, just that they’re not aware of it.
Truth helps, because communication helps. Enunciating something is the first step towards discussing it. In case of problems, discussions are the first step towards solutions. In case of hard facts, the earlier you start thinking where to go from there, the better it is. And there aren’t many hard facts affecting a person that can be kept hidden for a significant amount of time anyway.

Lies, however, truly hurt. And anything short of complete truth is a lie! A lie intended to hurt, hurts by itself, as it doesn’t reveal any reality. A lie intended to spare from a painful truth, hurts as well. It hurts because truth has a tendency to be revealed sooner or later, so the person you think you spare will most likely learn about said reality anyway. And, when that happens, it will hurt even more.
It will hurt more because by now there will probably be nothing left to do about it. Therefore, by lying, or hiding or bending the truth, if you want to hide behind your finger and call it that, you took away their chance to solve the problem in the first place. In doing so, you also proved that they shouldn’t trust you.

If you think there is nothing to do, but the truth in question is something that would qualify as a problem, then ask yourself for how long have you suspected it and what could have been done if the long and winding road towards finding a solution would have been started then. If you still say nothing could have been done, then ask yourself if you don’t actually mean nothing that could let you (or the one you’re covering for) do whatever you (or they) please, without considering how that would affect the one you think you spare by lying.
And if it’s not a problem, but a hard fact, how is the lie helping anyway? I once saw a post card on PostSecret consisting of chalk outline on a street, obviously signifying a fatality, and the text “When their relatives ask if they suffered, I lie and say no.” True, nothing to be done about it, but does lying help? Does never knowing a loved one’s last moments help? (Or, as truth tends to come out, does learning it much later, and realizing you’ve been comforting yourself with a lie all that time, help?) If you believe in an afterlife, does it help in any way not to know in due time that you should perform some additional rites to ease a soul’s confusion after a traumatic end of one of it’s incarnations?

Lying is leaving a solvable problem turn into an unsolvable one. Lying is taking away a chance. Lying is not allowing proper closure when there’s nothing more to be done. Lying is tunneling under the foundation of any relationship, as trust grows from the seeds of honesty, and trust is what any relationship should be based on (excepting romantic ones, where trust comes second to love).
If you think you spare the other’s feelings by lying, you do nothing but lie twice. Firstly to the one you’re hiding the truth from, and secondly to yourself. You’re not protecting them, you’re protecting yourself! You don’t want to have to provide advice. You don’t want to be the shoulder they cry on. Or you don’t want to take responsibility for the action you’re lying about. You don’t want to become, or stay, involved. You don’t want to have to think about it. You don’t want to have to take their feelings into account the next time you do whatever you feel like doing, or next time you have to cover for the one who does. Basically, you don’t want your cozy little bubble burst. Come on, admit it, it’s not them you’re sparing! And, in the long run, you’re not sparing yourself either.

Now let’s move on to another situation. Say you did something you know will get you in trouble and lie in order to get out. Did you know it will get you in trouble when you did it? If so, did you think it was right to do it anyway? If yes, then stand up for what you believe! If not, then why did you do it in the first place?
I do have to admit that lying can buy time in such moments, but only if you know you’re right. If a certain action would bring unjust punishment upon yourself or another and you have a plan to change that, then a lie when faced by a person with authority might be justified for the time being. But only if you know that what you, or they, did was right and plan to do something about it, to make it accepted as such in the future.
But keep one thing in mind. If you think that what you did was right, then it means it would also be right if somebody would do it to you in a similar situation. No double standards!

You can’t have a real friendship, much less a solid romantic relationship, without knowing all there is to know about each other. You can start one, certainly, but it will never last, as you never filled in the network of wide tunnels just under it’s foundation.
You can’t solve a problem without knowing what it is. You can’t get your bearing on a new road without knowing exactly where you started walking from. You can try not to find the truth, but it will almost always find you.

This world would be a far better place if we’d all learn to wear our hearts on our sleeves more. True, once you do, you’re vulnerable. But, if everyone does, we all become a team. Few things are more bonding than knowing each other’s vulnerable spots. You’re no longer the scared prey hiding from the predator. You become a member of the pack. And those that so far were predators, those who took advantage of others’ weaknesses, become your prey. Hunt them down without mercy!

I recently stumbled upon this article and it reminded me of a talk I once had.
I was making a case for one of my favorite topics, namely a strict control of who should be allowed to have children, and I said the first criteria should be health. If you currently suffer from a disease that you could directly pass on to your child, then you can’t have children until you are cured. If your family has a noticeably higher than average incidence of a certain illness or you suffer from an incurable disease that you could directly pass on to your child, then you can never have children and should be permanently sterilized to spare you the trouble of birth control. I gave being HIV positive as an example of an incurable disease, saying that sterilization would eliminate the risk of an accidental pregnancy that could result in either an HIV positive infant or an abortion that could jeopardize the possibly already fragile health of the mother.
What I got for it was a barrage of “that’s discrimination!” and a couple of nicely worded messages explaining that such a measure is not necessary as a currently available treatment is 98% effective in allowing an HIV positive mother to give birth to a child not infected with HIV. Well, besides 2% being 2% too much to be an acceptable risk, read that report and decide for yourselves if such a treatment is a good idea. How selfish are you people?
But enough about a specific case. I said it’s one of my favorite topics, so here I go…

As with most environmental issues, it’s pointless to argue about overpopulation. Those who will understand, already do, those who don’t, won’t. Or perhaps they will, but only when it will be too late, and then they’ll go straight from disbelief to despair. Still, just to lay the groundwork, anybody with either a lot of time and patience or excellent fast reading and comprehension skills can check this out.
It would seem that the population growth rate is finally starting to drop, and the trend is for it to keep dropping. If that trend holds steady and the report is right, then the fertility rate will fall below replacement level close to 2050, but the population will still see a slight increase for a while after that due to the ever extending life span of humans. At some point in the second half of the century, human population will finally start to very slowly drop, but we’ll already be well over 9 billion by then.
The report that site cites calculates a trend, of course, and that can change either way over such a long time span. Not to mention the possibility of humans colonizing other worlds, the probably greater one of Earth finally deciding to be rid of the annoying rash that we are, or the certainly greater one of us wiping ourselves out by then. However, I’ll rather not need to resort to mass killing in order to bring the population down. But we do need to bring it down, and fast!
The optimum human population for Earth has been determined to be between 2 and 3 billion for quite some time now, and the latest reports only confirmed that estimate yet again. We are already at around 6.5 billion and using up about 150% of what our world can provide under good conditions. One could say that, considering the tremendous amount of extra people, we’re using “only” 50% more. But don’t think that’s because of good resource management because it isn’t. It’s only because a large number of those people don’t have their basic needs, such as enough water, food, basic medical supplies or shelter, met.

The population is actually our greatest environmental problem, all others are simply its effects! Doesn’t matter how much you manage to reduce the ecological footprint of one person if you add another to the total the next moment. And, aside from using resources, people take up space. More space for people means less for all the other creatures we share this world with, because Earth isn’t getting any bigger!
So the problem is simple: We need to reduce the population drastically and rapidly. And do that, preferably, without resorting to mass killing. Simple problem, complex solution. But I believe it might still be possible, if we act now.

The first thing we need is a drastic control of who is allowed to have children. You need a license to drive a car, but anybody with a reptilian brain and a functional reproductive system can have a child. That just won’t work anymore. In the wild, the fittest survive and reproduce. In human society, pretty much everybody survives long enough to reproduce. And, what’s worse, those less fit for it are more likely to do it. Therefore, the first obvious step is the wide scale implementation of eugenics. (On that topic, there is another site you might want to check out.)
If the term paints a grim picture in your mind, that’s probably because it has been used to justify ethnic cleansing in the past. But that’s just a case of improper use of the term. If the criteria used are race, nationality, religion, etc., then we are talking about ethnic cleansing. If the criteria used are health and mental and physical abilities, then we are actually talking about eugenics, which is simply a way to ensure that only the fittest will reproduce in a society that allows all to survive.

But this particular kind of eugenics should use abilities to control the number of people, not set clear targets for said abilities themselves, which makes it even harder. That said, I believe step one of the plan is to set a clear limit on how many children should be born. Considering the enormous current population, I think that limit should be very low, perhaps equal to 10% of the total number of people of reproductive age. Next, there should be a massive surveying operation to determine the entire range of human mental and physical abilities, to figure out what exactly constitutes a top result for each ability surveyed. After that, the operation can begin.
I do have a pretty detailed idea of what should happen between the moment a couple decides to have a child and the authorities either granting or denying their request, but that is a subject for another rant. This is about starting the process, and that start won’t be from a clean sheet, so a few more things need to be specified.

At the start of the process, it will unfortunately be impossible to compensate for the children those of reproductive age already have, as doing so would probably mean no new children will be allowed to be born for quite some time, but those who already have children certainly won’t be allowed to have more. The only exception to that rule would be a couple having just one child, and no others born in previous relationships, who want a second and will score high enough to be granted that request.
Something else that must be specified is that preparations for starting such an operation should be completed within a short amount of time, adding to the difficulty. That is because, people being as selfish as they are, once word will be out about such a plan, most of those who want children but don’t think they’ll be deemed fit for it will hurry to have them while they still can. The only way to prevent this would be, unfortunately, forcing those who are already expecting a child to register and banning new pregnancies completely while the preparations are underway. Obviously, such a measure must not be in place for too long. There are more things to clarify about this too, but, once again, that’s another rant.
Also, just to clarify something, this organism will only interfere in the lives of those who specifically want to have children and those who happen to be unlucky enough to end up in an unwanted pregnancy situation. They will not be allowed to butt into the lives of anybody else in any way.

Needless to say, the penalties for anybody breaking this law must be drastic. And by anybody I mean prospective parents trying to have children without approval, those who don’t seem to be able to effectively use birth control, people knowing of an illegal pregnancy and not reporting the situation, or members of the board that approves or denies such requests who attempt to use their influence to alter the outcome of a decision either way.
As a side note, if guilt is obvious in the prospective mother’s case, a full investigation will be carried out to determine the prospective father if there would be no admission of guilt.
Any pregnancy that’s not approved must be terminated as soon as it is noticed. Use of the “day after” pill at most twice per year or of shots at most once per year to terminate a potential pregnancy will not be counted, but any additional use within that amount of time will be considered an abortion.
Anybody knowing of an illegal pregnancy must advise the culprits to terminate it, and notify the authorities if they fail to do so within a few days.

As for the specific penalties, I have some ideas:
– Up to one year in jail for anybody proven to have known of an illegal pregnancy and not report it. Up to one year of prison time will also be added to whatever other penalty will be given to a guilty prospective father who initially refused to admit his guilt.
– Permanent sterilization in a way that will not impair the ability to have sex, but no other penalty, for those who appear unable to use birth control effectively. By that I mean more than two accidental pregnancies in two years, more than three in five years, or more than five total.
– Permanent sterilization in a way that will not impair the ability to have sex plus up to one year in jail for those who did not voluntarily terminate an illegal pregnancy, whether it was accidental or not, in case the authorities learned of it and detained them in time to perform a safe abortion.
– Permanent sterilization, other procedures that actually will impair the ability to enjoy sex in the future, plus a lifetime sentence of hard labor for those who kept an illegal pregnancy hidden and/or evaded the authorities for long enough to make a safe abortion no longer possible upon their capture. In such a case, if the child will be born healthy, he or she will be given up for adoption. The same penalty should also apply to any member of the control authority proven to have used their influence to change the verdict for a petitioning couple either way.

Harsh? Maybe, but without something like this, it wouldn’t get done. And this really is necessary, because we have created a society that does not respect one of the most important laws of nature, namely survival of the fittest. That’s not bad in itself, giving a chance to everyone who wants to live is a good thing, but it causes imbalance. And in order to restore that balance we must firmly control the reproductive instinct. It’s simply a price that must be paid.

Of course, controlling births will not be enough to solve the population problem fast enough, but what I think the other parts of that solution are will be a subject for another rant…
Yeah, complex topic, I’m splitting it in several pieces because, if I were to put it all in a single post, I’d never finish writing it… Or at least nobody’d read it if I would end up posting it at some point…

Oh, and just because I see this one coming: It’s not an issue of what if I won’t be allowed to have a child, the issue is that if I actually would be allowed, the criteria are wrong!

My next rant was supposed to be about overpopulation, but that seems to be going slow. Surprisingly so, seeing as it’s one of my favorite topics. That said, you get this entry till I’ll have that one ready.
General rule for whenever I seem to be beating around the bush in posts like this: If you know me, you probably know what I mean either way. If you don’t know me and for some reason care to know what I’m talking about, all you need to do is ask.

Had one of my many panicky moments Thursday and at some point during it I asked for a sign. Not sure a sign of what exactly, but a sign nevertheless. Probably my mind was steered in that direction after reading an article on the topic earlier that day.
I didn’t expect anything to happen, but it did. Went out of my room to eat that night, looked in the fridge and there I see a dish I hadn’t eaten in close to 5 years. More specifically, not since I was with her on that trip in the mountains, when we met. The mental links took miliseconds to form, so I immediately grabbed it and tried to calculate the probability of this being cooked just now by chance. The result I arrived to by the time I reached the kitchen was something infinitesimal, I said “nice” and then it really hit me. So I followed that with a “shit!”, managed to set the plate on the table, squatted on the floor and burst into tears.
It’s been more than 13 months since I ended up back here with my parents and this is the first time that happened. There were some tears a few more times, but those took a lot of effort, actually trying to cry, fighting to keep crying for just a couple of minutes, listening to songs that sometimes help with that, hugging the teddy bear she gave me… Unlike most, I can’t cry when I’m alone, I need somebody to hug, or at least to be around me, and that’s extremely frustrating considering I feel like crying pretty much constantly since she left. But this time I just burst into tears…
Thank You, whoever heard my call and took care of this. And if nobody did and it was just a very odd coincidence… Well, then I’ll just have to consider myself lucky. It let me cry, and just being able to cry is probably the third best thing that could happen to me right now. But it also gave me a glimmer of hope… And hope can be either good or bad, depends what happens next.

Later that night, I reached a decision. Can’t just sit here, need to do something if I’m to still have the right to hope! Started of course from the most daring action possible, which was certain to send me scurrying back into my hole by morning, then went down the list from there.
A few hours passed, five more options were cut from the list and eventually it was down to starting to go for walks. I have a terrible social anxiety and hate cities and people in general, plus that I’d probably need to go past at least one of those creatures I hoped to never have to see again, otherwise unfortunately known as my parents, both when going out and when coming back in. With that in mind, a walk is a pretty significant step in itself, but the smallest step out of all those considered.
Knowing that if I don’t set the plan into motion as soon as possible I never will, the obvious decision was to go out the very next day, hoping to get up early and perhaps slip out during that time between him leaving and her waking up.

I did get up right during that time, but in a rather unpleasant way. Bad stomach ache and feeling like I was gonna crap in my pants if I don’t rush to the toilet. Either something didn’t agree with me the night before or my internal clock picked a crappy (pun intended) way to be sure I wake up as intended…
Therefore I was awake, but too out of it to do anything but crawl back in bed, try to get back to sleep and, naturally, fail. So I let my mind drift on the thought of reaching a certain park and, mental links being as they are, thought of happening to bump into a long lost friend there. Chances of that are lower than finding a needle in a haystack most likely, but, considering how we bumped into each other the first time, it wouldn’t be quite impossible. Besides, I was sleepy!
What happened next is that I let myself go down that train of thought and imagined what I’d tell her about what happened to me in all this time. So I went through pretty much the entire story of the little over 3 years in which, for the first and probably last time in my miserable existence, I actually felt alive. And I did that lying in bed and talking to myself for over 3 hours, though I did fall asleep after about 2.5, then woke up and picked up where I left off for a few more minutes before falling asleep again, then woke up again, picked up where I left off one more time and finished it. And you know what? It felt good to just say it… As for those who read that and said I’m crazy, all I can say is I wish I were. It seems like a way out, being oblivious to reality and living in your own fantasy world…
Once I was done with that, I looked at the time. Almost 3 PM… Thought there was no way to get out anymore. Friday afternoon, it’s going to be crowded like crazy everywhere. So I said I’ll try Monday… Well, as soon as I said that, I followed it with “The hell I will! If I don’t do it now I won’t Monday either… Besides, I said I will so I have to!”, got up, got ready, and out I went.

Initially thought about just hitting this park very close by here. But I reached the corner, thought of how nasty this one looks and went the other way, to the one I kept ending up in the other (exactly three) times I went out by myself since I got back here, this time finally knowing the proper way to get there… And for the first time I actually went all around the lake (and then some).
– Lots of annoying bugs flying around in tight groups. Actually seem to have brought one home with me. When I took the shirt off it flew off, guess it ended up under it at some point.
– Cute little fluffy doggies, but also big mean-looking ones… The little ones make me happy for some reason, I think I “greeted” each and every one of them that I saw… And I didn’t mind the big ones this time, though I did get drenched in sweat on a few occasions when they went by me too close for comfort.
– No more seagulls and far less ducks than last time… But I did see a momma duck and ducklings, cute!
– Obvious efforts from the city to really make that place great, blocked by the disinterest of the workers. Unfinished little birdhouses everywhere used by people as ashtrays… A heap of trees ready for planting and 3 workers sitting casually in the middle of the pile and smoking… I wanted to scream! Heck, I wanted to pick up the other parts, a hammer and some nails and finish those birdhouses myself…
– A great oak in a place so central I wonder how come I missed it before. Large open place in the high part, path goes all around it and other major paths branch off in every direction from there, and the tree is in a large patch of earth right in the middle of all that… That place felt… Holy is probably the best way to describe it. I wanted to scream “Why isn’t there some sort of fence around the edge of the path, so people won’t just march through if they mean to go straight ahead?!” (and there are quite a few “straight aheads” possible there).
– Really annoyingly many babies!!! ARGH!!! (Notice the difference: Aww, puppies! Aww, ducklings! Eww, babies!) Well, really annoyingly many people actually, but it was Friday afternoon after all…
– One 40+ year old guy, carrying a backpack, going around on roller skates…
– Several groups of boys playing soccer, one of which turned a brilliant backheel pass as I was passing by, quite impressive actually… And too many girls in their early teens with fancy camera phones, mp3 players and dressed and made-up like… Well, you get the point…
– One woman, I’d say in early 20s, sitting on a bench and listening to something that seemed familiar. But she glanced pointedly at me as I passed by so I hurried past, not wanting to intrude in her personal space, and didn’t manage to make it out.
– Not a single person reading a book! How sad is that?
– And lots of couples… Some really sweet (though none that made me feel what I felt while going past another couple a while back), others obviously knowing nothing of feelings. There was a spot I’d have liked to take a picture of to express just that. You had a macho-looking guy and a chick on a bench. Him staring straight ahead and not sparing her any attention apparently. Her more like clinging to than hugging him. Both in fancy clothes and showing off flashy “gear”. And right in front of them, lying on the ground, since there’s not much grass there, right on the edge of the lake, you had another couple. Completely lost in their own world, arms and legs entwined in an indescribable mess. Him with a ’60s haircut. Her… Well, only way I can describe her is “nice”, and I’m not just talking about looks, just gave off that feel. Both appearing to have just thrown on whatever piece of clothing they spotted first on the way out the door. He was giving her something to drink and then trying to see how it made her taste when he kissed her. Darn expressive moment to take a picture of, the contrast…