Me as a kid.

In my defense, I may in fact have grown up, but I am still very immature.

Ask anybody.

The Brontosaurus is back!

Courtesy of Livescience:  

The Brontosaurus is back. Or at least it should be, according to a new analysis of the long-necked dinosaur family tree. 

The study researchers suggest the dinosaur currently known as Apatosaurus excelsus is different enough from its Apatosaurian kin as to be a different dinosaur altogether. Because A. excelsus was famously first known as Brontosaurus until 1903, the species would revert back to that original name and become Brontosaurus once again. 

It's a proposal that excites some paleontologists and leaves others skeptical, but researchers say it's entirely possible that Brontosaurus may eventually regain its place in the scientific nomenclature.

"The big picture is, there are independent groups of researchers looking at these dinos and these relationships, and they are independently arriving at the same conclusion, that the diversity of this family of dinosaurs is greater than previously recognized," said Matthew Mossbrucker, the director and curator of the Morrison Natural History Museum in Colorado. Mossbrucker was not involved in the new study, but is "wholly in favor of bringing the genus Brontosaurus back," he said.

This post is for that little geeky kid in me that was devastated when it was decided that there were no Brontosauruses, and that instead they were simply misidentified Apatosaurus. 

The Brontosaurus had been one of my favorite dinosaurs growing up, right below the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops. And losing it was a little hard to take, I have to admit.

I mean sure the Apatosaurus was essentially the same beast, but I just felt that the Brontosaurus name was way cooler.

Besides it was such a big part of my childhood it was simply hard to let go.

Well now maybe we don't have to, maybe the Brontosaurus is coming back to our elementary science textbooks and our favorite cartoon series in a big way.

Now if only they will reinstate Pluto as a planet everything will once again be right in the world.

Some days I really miss Fred Rogers.

An absolutely perfect statement.

Today we try to start our children's education almost the moment that they open their eyes for the first time, but the fact is that their play IS their education for the formative years.

They learn about their bodies, their environment, their limitations, how to engage with others, how to share their belongings, essentially how to be human beings.

The rest of their learning will go on for the rest of their lives, and hopefully there will always be some time to play. But as a child that is really their most important job.

The REAL way that bills become laws in 2015.

Another childhood memory ruined.

Yeah try putting that to music Schoolhouse Rock.

The most terrible lie ever told.

A few months back somebody accused me of being angry at Jesus, and that was why I was an Atheist. Of course that was so ridiculous, mostly because I have little faith that the Jesus of the Bible actually existed, that I did not bother to respond.

However that started me remembering back to the time when I was the MOST angry about religion.

It was when I was quite young and still working through my understanding of religion and what the purpose of the whole thing might be. As you might imagine from a child's perspective, my first thought was that it was a trick that parents played on their children.

It was also the beginning of my introduction to critical thinking. And it must be noted that all of this took place at a time in my life when I had little difficulty accepting the possibility that ESP, UFO's, and ghosts actually existed. In fact, to be fair, I sort of hoped that they did.

Now I was never told anything about Hell by my mother, and only learned about it when I started to question the existence of God.

Remember I was only seven years old, and in order to frighten me back into obedience I was told that those who "choose" not to believe in God and Heaven will forever be punished by pitchfork wielding demons, while hellfire burned the flesh from my bones for all eternity.  (Nobody bothered to explain how my soul, no longer encumbered with my earthly body, could have "flesh" to burn, but then again none of this seemed to be too carefully thought out.)

I pondered this information as I received it, but my follow up questions as to the location of Hell (And for that matter Heaven), were either ignored or rebuffed.

I remember devouring books about oil drilling and Volcanology assuming that if ANYBODY would stumble onto the entrance to Hell surely they would be the first.

But nothing was ever mentioned. Which to my young mind was insane. Why WOULDN'T we be looking for such and incredible place?

It did not take me too very long to determine that this place of eternal torture was a fantastical tale with no basis in reality. And with that realization came my first experience with rage.

I was to deal with my bad temper often in my life, but I did not usually get so angry that I could not be reasoned with or talked down, but this was one of those times.

How DARE they use such a horrible lie to bully children into submission! How dare they insert such terrifying imagery into our dreams! How dare they make us fear that the deaths of our loved ones will see them punished for all eternity, and perhaps worst yet, that WE may we forced to live forever while being separated from those we love but who failed to earn God's grace.

As if such a place as that could ever be called "Heaven."

What could be the excuse I wondered? Do the adults not know any better? Or do they know, and yet feel they have the right to lie to us because we are children? Or are they in fact as deluded as children themselves, and no longer worthy of my admiration and trust?

I fretted about this for months, refusing to go near a church or to talk to anybody about religion.

I remember being kept in from the playground because I frightened the other children with my talk about the possibility that there was no God.

"What is wrong with you young man? Have you lost your senses? Do you not fear God's wrath?"

"No, I don't. Is that why I must be kept indoors?"

I learned over time to stop talking about my thoughts on the playground. I learned in time to hide my anger from the adults. But I never learned in time to stop exercising my critical thinking skills, and I never again took anything on faith.

Sometimes I still get asked how I could have such disdain for religion, but the answer is quite simple. No idea which, to be successful, must be implanted in the minds of the young or ignorant, is worthy of my respect. Especially when it withers and dies so quickly when exposed to the light of reason.

As you can imagine I had a somewhat lonely childhood, as I was often isolated from others with only books for company. (Nobody wants their precious child to play with the neighborhood Satanist after all.) But ultimately I was rewarded when more and more started to openly express their animus toward religion and began to take great pride in their humanistic nature.

It is not so lonely anymore, and in fact I find that this newer generation is even further ahead of the curve than was I. And perhaps most gratifying of all is that when THEY have questions there are places that are ready and willing to answer them and help them through their journey.

THAT gives me great hope for the future.

I don't think I have ever seen a more accurate depiction of childhood in America today.

Gone are the imaginative romps enjoyed by yesterday's children.

Today's children are mesmerized by electronics. medicated into compliance, and tested to exhaustion.

Adding the income that Bristol will earn from her upcoming show with the Massey brothers, the Palin family will have earned almost 3 million dollars from reality programming alone.

From Think Progress:

Sarah Palin’s Alaska, $2 million: TLC paid Palin $250,000 per episode for eight episodes of her nature-adjacent reality show, below the $1-$1.5 million per episode rate Palin was apparently looking for when she started shopping the program. When Sarah Palin’s Alaska premiered strong, the former Governor reportedly pursued a contract renewal that would have brought her up to the $1 million level. But after ratings declined significantly, and the show’s hunting scenes sparked controversy, TLC declined to renew it.

Dancing With the Stars, at least $365,000: Networks are loath to confirm reality show salaries publicly, but in 2009, Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson’s contract with the show was leaked, providing a sense of the DWTS salary structure, which paid participants a base rate of $125,000 no matter how far they make it in the competition, and an escalating per-week rate as they survive elimination. Under the terms of that contract, Bristol Palin earned at least $365,000 for making the finals, and could have made more if the terms of the contract have been renegotiated more favorably since then.

Bristol Palin’s reality salary is hard to calculate.  But a conservative estimate might put Bristol Palin at $50,000 per episode, the same as what Donald Trump made during his first two seasons with The Apprentice, bringing her $500,000 for the whole run of the show.

If our estimate is accurate, that would bring the Palin’s collective income from reality television alone to nearly $3 million since September 2010.

See, now don't you feel silly about working so hard to make a buck? 

Or for spending all of that time getting a good education? 

Or for teaching your children to both work and study hard so that they can have a good life? Silly, silly you.

If only we could have known that all anybody had to do is quit halfway through their job, get knocked up as a teenager, or have your face mutilated by a plastic surgeon, in order to make millions of dollars, we might not have wasted all of that time becoming educated, learning marketable skills, and working hard to advance in our fields. (When I see my high school guidance counselor again, I am going to punch him in the nose.)

Still I can only imagine how devastating it will be for this family once people tire of them, and they can no longer make a living saying provocative things, or pimping out their children on television for a handful of advertising dollars. 

And when that happens what becomes of a family full of tragically undereducated people, with a newly developed taste for the finer things in life?

After all don't they own a television? And haven't they seen what happened to the likes of Dana Plato, Gary Coleman, and Todd Bridges?  And hell, THOSE kids actually had talent!

Well for the Palin children there will still be one more payday.  All one of them will have to do is write a book about what REALLY happened behind closed doors, in that secretive Palin compound, by the poisoned lake, in the little town of Wasilla.  The only question is WHICH one will it be?