Dangerous Thoughts

Today I got a new Tarot deck.  This one is the UFO Tarot, and it is quite interesting.  The artwork is good, although it might be hard to use for someone not very familiar with the meaning of the cards, because using aliens to portray the cards might not make sense without familiarity with the cards themselves.

It's sort of like the Royo deck in that sense:  if you think about each card the meaning seems clear, but it is not as evident as it is in the Rider-Waite deck.  The UFO tarot's Magician card is not labelled "Magician", but only with the roman numeral I, and it depicts a grey-skinned alien with a DNA double helix hovering over one hand, while the other hand hovers over four symbols representing a flame, a splash of water, a pile of rocks, and a tornado.  That's the Magician, alright, but it takes a little bit of contemplation to see it.  The major arcana cards are usually a lot easier to see at a glance than the minor arcana.  Most of the major arcana has some aspect of the Rider-Waite deck represented, such as the lion on the Strength card, or the priest holding the cross on the Death card.  The illustrations are simply beautiful, and this will be included in my list of favorite tarot decks.

My favorite tarot decks currently include:  the Rider-Waite deck, the Connolly deck, the St. Petersberg deck, the Halloween Tarot, and the UFO Tarot.

This has inspired me to work on designing my own tarot deck.  I'll have to get a sketchbook tomorrow so I can start making my own sketches.  I actually have two ideas:  one is based on a fantasy novel I've been trying to write since the early 1980s;  the other is based on the DC Universe.  One guy has already started a DC Tarot and made a list of characters for a Marvel tarot:  http://members.cox.net/djoakes/sprtrt.htm.  But my ideas are different.  I also plan to address both the major and the minor arcana (although I have no plans to make a complete deck.)

0. The Fool -- Booster Gold

1. The Magician -- Dr. Fate

2. The Priestess -- Zatanna

3. The Empress -- Hippolayta

4. The Emporer -- Aquaman

5. The Heirophant -- Shazam

6. The Lovers -- Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl

7. The Chariot -- Batman and Robin in the Batmobile

8. Strength -- Animal Man

9. The Hermit -- Batman

10. Wheel of Fortune -- Green Arrow

11. Justice -- Huntress

12. Hanged Man -- Hal Jordan

13. Death -- Joker

14. Temperance -- Wonder Woman

15. The Devil -- Neron

16. The Tower -- Legion of Super-Heroes.

17. The Star -- Adam Strange and Alanna.

18. The Moon -- JLA Watchtower.

19. The Sun -- Superman

20. Judgement -- Spectre

21. The World -- Martian Manhunter.

Will Smith recently got into trouble for saying about Adolph Hitler:  ".. using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was good."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-rotello/will-smith-hitler-and-th_b_78481.html

This got him into a lot of trouble with groups like the Jewish Defense League.  But Will did not say that Hitler did what was good.  Will said that Hitler had a backwards logic, which implies that what Hitler thought was good was really evil.

It seems to me that it used to be that people could talk about evil people without being accused of being evil themselves.  To be able to understand what motivates the worst villians is certainly an essential skill for writers, without which we just could not make good stories.  I also posit that it is important for the rest of us to understand, not in the sense of empathizing with ("you poor, poor Hitler!") but in the sense of being able to explain what makes people do evil things, so that we can stop them.

So my first pontification is that people need to be able to talk about, reason about, and come up with ways to explain evil behavior.  Otherwise, we are doomed.

Regarding Gabriel Rotello's article about this commentary (the article linked above), it is an interesting question about whether or not Adolph Hitler believed he was doing something evil.  But what seems more important to me is that the Nazi Holocaust would not have happened if a large number of other people had not believed that it was a good thing to do.

This seems especially relevant to note (and now I am getting REALLY dangerous here) as the United States seems to be going through the same kind of "kulturkampf" that the Germans went through a hundred years ago.  I am not saying that George Bush is like the Nazis.  I am saying that he is like Kaisar Wilhelm II.  If the United States is not wiser than the Germans were, then we could see an Adolph Hitler type figure arise in our lifetimes.  Whether or not this guy realizes that what he is demanding is evil, if the rest of us can not see what is evil, the United States is doomed to tragedy.

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, awarded in 1989.  I've always bristled at accusations that psychology was an inferior field, even if I did feel that perhaps my course of instruction could have been a bit more rigorous.  I think that psychology has provided a lot of help for people, and provided vital insights into the human condition.

But after being depressed for 24 years, it seems that psychology is not what it used to be.  It used to be about analyzing behavior, identifying the reinforcement that continued the behavior, and changing the patterns of reinforcement to change the behavior.

Now, psychology just seems to be about giving people drugs that are supposed to solve their problems.  Meanwhile the problems keep getting worse.

Maybe analysis came out of favor because of psychoanalysts who just analyzed and did nothing else.  But now there seems to be no patience at all with analysis.  Doesn't there have to be a balance?  If your car broke down, you'd lose patience with a guy who kept analyzing and never fixing it, but a guy who just assumed high-octane gasoline would solve your problem, when really it is a leaking radiator, wouldn't be doing any better.  And a guy who figured that the problem of your LOW OIL PRESSURE light coming on could be solved by just disconnecting it ...

People are saying that we need to fund mental health, but if mental health is going to stay in the dark ages, then how much good will it be to fund the dark ages?

 Some people want to make a new generation of beryllium-free nuclear weapons.  They say that the beryllium used as neutron reflectors is highly toxic and they can use new alloys that are safe enough to eat off of.  Because if there is one thing that you do not want when a thermonuclear weapon detonates next to you, that one thing is a lung full of beryllium.

(Nevermind that the plutonium used in the nuclear weapons is much more toxic that beryllium ever will be.  Plutonium is the most toxic metal on Earth.  Plus, it is usually processed with chemicals like flourine and nitric acid.  And what do we do with all the beryllium that was used in all the old nuclear weapons people want to replace with the new ones?)

If you want to read more about the proposed new generation of nuclear weapons, here is a link to the Wikipedia article:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliable_Replacement_Warhead

I turn on CNN, and here Nancy Grace talk about how Kate McCann said that she would get more sympathy if she had bigger breasts.  And I'm thinking "What?  Is the reason I never even thought about this woman that she doesn't have big breasts, or is it because I have not followed every single news story printed?"

So I looked her up.  http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2007/10/16/kate-mccann-if-i-weighed-another-two-stone-had-a-bigger-bosom-and-looked-more-maternal-people-would-be-more-sympathetic-100252-19959495/

Her  four year old daughter was kidnapped, and that's a terrible thing.  Tragic.  It is one of the worst things that can happen to a family.  My question is, do I need Nancy Grace to ask the TV audience whether the world is appreciating her chest size?  Especially since, if she had DD breasts, people would be complaining about that.  I can imagine that she might have said almost anything to her mother late at night, since when a tragedy strikes it is only natural to search for a cause, any cause, anything that might help what is happening make sense.  But does speculation on whether her breast size has an effect on her public image have to be headline news?

I voted on the article linked above, and reduced it's average ranking from 2.4 stars to 2.3 stars.

If I weren't an atheist, my prayers would be with her.  As it is, I hope her nightmare ends soon.

Looks like nobody has responded to my posting yet.  That's not so surprizing since 1) I only started posting about an hour ago, 2) I didn't really post anything interesting yet, and 3) I haven't defined any interests.

In my last blog, the posting that got the most response was one about abortion, so I might as well list that as an interest.  I am interested in the ethics of abortion, and that certainly is a dangerous topic.

I see handcuffs as another dangerous thought topic.  I've always been fascinated by bondage themes in sexual fantasies, but they always struck me as evil.

Speaking of evil, I might as well list ethics as an interest.  Ethics are not particularly dangerous, but are definitely involved in dangerous thoughts.

Other dangerous topics that I might find interesting include religion, race, and politics.  These days, it seems especially dangerous to take any political positions that George W. Bush disagrees with.  He'll accuse you of wanting to start World War III.

Welcome to my new journal, Dangerous Thoughts.  I do not know what I am going to be thinking here.  I may have posts about politics.  I'll most certainly be posting about my thoughts on bondage and sexuality.  I'll may even post about my bouts of depression.  But I do not expect therapy from this site.

I'll take whatever advice I can get, however.

I do not have any pictures up yet.  I may put up some of my own drawings, or I may not.  I'll eventually get myself a userpic of some sort.