Religion may be more than a headache for non-believers

The damage that religion does may start in the brain of the believer. This post cites findings of a team of researchers in Italy who found that "damage to a specific region of the brain (the posterior parietal cortex) can increase a person’s feelings of “self-transcendence,” or the feeling of being connected to others and to the universe." If so, I'm not sure if surgery is the cure for this affliction. In my case, there was no surgery, just a growing recognition of the basic insanity of religious beliefs and practices. But perhaps this was abetted by brain changes. In any case, there's something not quite right about people who fervently espouse religion, but I doubt there will be a physical cure for this anytime soon.
If and until then, education and honesty will still be the most effective liberator.

I am published!

** In December '09 my friend/drummer Rick and I arranged to record five of my songs at Ex'pression College of Digital Arts in Emeryville. We gathered most of the RedHouse AllStars plus a bunch of other musicians and recorded the old fashioned way, on two-inch tape. While I continue to work on the rest of the songs, and on some new ones, I managed to get the first two songs published on iTunes, amazonmp3.com and a few other online stores. When the present crop of songs is finished I intend to publish them all as an album.

In the meantime, here's a link to the current offerings online: