Eric Lorson's blog

We all want a cleaner America, but corporate America wants us to do it for them.

It is interesting what happens when you read American news in foreign publications. I found the following article on the BBC news website. A NYC family stopped using all modern conveniences, including turning off the power in their apartment for one year. I found this intriguing, and started reading up on their progress. The Father created a blog called 'No-Impact Man' to track his progress.

On their blog, there is a post about the organization 'Keep America Beautiful,' which I remember from my youth as the organization with the Indian spokesperson. It always seemed like a good idea, with good motives. However, I found out something very disturbing about this group;

“Keep America Beautiful was founded in 1953 by group of businessmen from the beverage and packaging industries who were concerned that government would make them responsible for solving the litter problem by regulating their industries.”

First, I am going to stop apologizing for not posting very often. My life has been insane, so I hope you can deal with that. At least you don't have to deal with my insanity directly.

I just finished reading a book called 'Leaving islam' (Edited by Ibn Warraq), which is a collection of first-hand stories of apostates - people who left islam. What I learned from these people about the 'cult' of islam is absolutely unbelievable.

What struck me first is the fact that islamic children, during their religious instruction, are taught to read and recite the koran, but are not taught what the words mean! They are told that simply reciting the words brings you closer to allah - you do not need to know what you are saying. A local imam provides interpretations, and the most well spoken and charismatic imams are the ones that garner the largest followings.

The first thing each of these apostates (that is what islam calls them - I call them HEROES), did when they began to question their faith was to read the koran from cover-to-cover (translated into their own language) - for many of them, the first time they had ever done so.

Take a look at this news article from the UK. A devout Muslim man murders his wife and four young daughters because they were becoming too westernized. Burns them alive, then kills himself, all while his 17-year-old son is dying of cancer in the hospital. (the son died 6 weeks later, completely alone) This highlights the power and danger of organized religion.

First of all, I apologize for my (second) long absence. In addition to finding out I had to move and then actually having to move within the course of 30 days, I had two family members die - one before and one after Christmas, so this has been a pretty hectic and emotional time for me these few months.

One of the first things I noticed (other than the fact that when you reach the age of 35 your friends and family will no longer help you move) was how death brings people from all religions together, but tends to exclude atheists. If death is the end, then what does it matter? Why even bother attending a funeral if you don't believe in God? It can be very upsetting and sometimes depressing to realize that one day it will be me that dies. It is a very hard reality to face.

But I also spent a good bit of time watching astronomy shows with my son (thank you Science Channel), who wants to be an astronomer when he grows up. (It is amazing to hear a 10-year-old boy tell me that he wants to invent a telescope that will allow humans to see ‘dark matter’). One scientist made a particularly astounding comment, and I paraphrase; ‘every molecule of matter on this planet and in our bodies was forged in the center of a star somewhere. So when we study the universe, we are actually studying ourselves.’

I've been reading a lot on evolution recently, as well as watching several really good television programs on it as well. One of the key theories regarding evolution is survival of the fittest. This is where species with traits that help them survive are able to live long enough to procreate and pass on those traits to the next generation. Over time, this strengthens a genetic line and creates a species that can exist and flourish in a given environment.

In addition, animals born with malformed DNA are typically sick or weak and killed off either naturally or by predators before they get a chance to procreate. This is yet another way that nature ensures that the strongest genetic codes carry on and that species can and will survive.

Humans and our ancestors have also played a part in this game. For hundreds of thousands of years we have evolved, taking our best genetics with us. This evolution has brought us to the level of society that we now know and enjoy today.

I want to bring up an unpleasant, if not taboo topic; has technology and advanced society negatively affected human evolution? Our species is no longer participating in survival of the fittest with regard to animal predators. Society insulates us from the harsh realities of nature. While it appears that our intelligence and natural abilities stem from evolutionary growth, we have come to a time where there is no longer any pressure on our species to maintain many of the skills we developed prior to the birth of civilization. Technology also allows people who would have died in years past to survive illnesses and genetic disorders, often at great personal and financial cost to those directly involved.

I have kids, and I teach them about religion the same way I teach them about everything else – give them access to unbiased information (as much as possible) and let them decide for themselves. In our house we have books on religion, atheism, history and much more, and we encourage them to look things up when they have questions. We also give them our worldview – when they ask for it. One thing I will not be accused of is ramming atheism down my kid’s throats like theists do with religion. And I have recently found that I do not have to.

Not that long ago, my oldest son came up to me and said ‘I have decided that I don’t believe in god.’ When I asked him what brought him to that decision, he related the following story;

Last night I was watching a National Geographic program with my son about the hippopotamus called ‘Ultimate Hippo’. A large part of the show revolved around its behavior and habitat, but they also spent some time discussing the evolutionary history of the hippo. What they proved was both astonishing and very profound, at least to me

In the show, they showed that the closest relative to the hippo was in fact the whale! Scientists showed that hippo DNA is closer to whale DNA than monkey DNA is to human DNA. In fact, whale skeletons share similar bones to hippos, the blowhole of a whale functions in exactly the same way as the nostrils of a hippo, and whales even have stubs of hind leg bones inside their bodies.

The first thing that came to my mind as I watched this was the human tailbone, and how that bone is to us what those tiny leg bones are to the whale - physical evidence of ancient ancestry.

As science discovers and learns from more and more fossils, they are finding irrefutable evidence that shows one species transitioning into another. The amount of evidence, combined with the scientific accuracy of the tools we have leaves me baffled as to how anyone can doubt the accuracy of the theories of evolution……AND YET…

First, I apologize for not posting in a while. My company has had me on a grueling travel schedule. For the past few weeks I have often had to ask the people I am working with what city I am in!

So, where do you get your music? It is not something that most people think about. You hear a song on the radio or TV and like it, so you go to a local music store and you purchase it. But most people are not aware that the music sold by the major record labels generates virtually no money for the artists who actually make the music. A typical CD sale in a music store costs you about $12-$15 and the artist in most cases earns less than one dollar. A major-label song sold on iTunes generates only pennies for the artist.

Why? Because when an artist signs with a record label it is at the beginning of their career when their earning potential is unknown and their eagerness high. The contracts they sign require them to pay for just about every aspect of their career and to even repay the record label for investments they've made before they can see any income themselves. So, even if a record label earns tens of millions of dollars on an artist, that artist is still required to repay the record label for recording costs, travel, just about everything. And the record label retains the rights to your songs, sometimes forever. If this doesn't sound all that pleasant an employment agreement, you are correct. This is why most artists signed to major labels make most of their money from touring and merchandising. Unfortunately, the record labels are trying to tap into those sources of revenue as well to try and collect more revenue on top of their failing business model.

First, I thank everyone who stood up and made their voice heard on Tuesday, regardless of who you voted for.

I am sure that all of you share my glee over the election results. It has renewed my faith that our system can actually work sometimes. We all know that this is no miracle cure or that is going to make everything better, but at the bare minimum the American people were able to voice their opinion loud and clear, despite the best efforts of the Republican spin machine.

Of course, we all know that Bush and the remaining Republicans must publicly attempt to work with the Democrats, and Rumsfeld's resignation and Bush's breakfast with Nancy Pelosi bear that out. However, I do not believe that the Republican Party is going to take this is the wake-up call that they need to change the way they do business. Rather, I think that that is going to be a signal to them that they need to redouble their efforts to slander Democrats, force partisanship, and make sure they win back control in 2008 so they can continue their work of making this a Christian nation.

How many times have you watched an award show like the Grammys, and during an acceptance speech the winner thanks god? When people say that, I wonder. Many artists claim that their works are derived from divine inspiration. I've also heard people say that divine inspiration is the only reason that we have the arts at all.

So, what if the artist is an atheist? Are atheists incapable of artistic expression? What IS funny about this whole topic is how many musicians you know that are atheists. I found this link which provides a list of musicians who are known atheists and I was very surprised at some of the names that I saw:

Johannes Brahms
Peter Buck, the guitarist for REM
Micky Dolenz, from the band The Monkees
Brian Eno
Ludwig van Beethoven
Niccolo Paganini
Neil Peart, drummer for the band Rush
Sir Bob Geldof (an atheist was knighted!)
Billy Joel
John Lennon
Barry Manilow
Dave Matthews
Sarah McLachlan
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Roger Waters
And a host of others……

Not long ago I was on a business trip, alone in a hotel room with my guitar. That evening while watching the evening news I saw yet another story about US soldiers killed in Iraq. At that moment all the anger, fear, shame and hurt that I had been carrying for so long consumed me. Out of instinct I grabbed my guitar and notebook, and this song just burst out of me – that is the only way I can describe the process. When I was done I was exhausted and my emotions were spent.

After listening to what I wrote I realized that this song did not belong to me. I wrote it, but it is not mine. It belongs to everyone who can no longer accept what is going on in our government. With our elections only two weeks away, I need to make a difference, to do something to help fix what has gone so horribly wrong. The best I can give is this song, so I give it to everyone – no copyright issues, no royalties, no ‘terms of use’ restrictions, no record industry lawyers waiting to sue your children. This song, born out of love for this country and what it stands for, belongs to everyone.

The song is called “I Won't Wait”, because waiting is something we cannot afford to do anymore. Those to whom we gave our trust have failed us. We have an obligation to remove those failed leaders and send a message to Congress. Let them know we are watching, we are not stupid, and we are tired of the lies.

The song has been attached to this blog entry, and you can download it here.

(The zipfile above contains the tablature and the lyrics as well as the MP3. Here's the bare MP3. - Brent)

Purchasing acoustic guitars online?

First of all, I would like to thank Brent for giving me the opportunity to post on UTI. I have been an reader of UTI and its associated blogs for a long time, and I have a great respect for all those who post here.

We all know about the record industry's backwards attempt to shore up its revenues by suing people who download music. As a musician, I have seen this as purely selfish and all about profits for the record labels. I always felt that these actions were hurting musicians too, even if it was peripherally. Now I am finding that the music industry is directly attacking musicians and their craft.

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