Oh, misery! I'm going to take another alka seltzer plus and go to bed. I don't know how viruses developed, but if there is anything remotely like a god that created the horrible things, he can go do something horrible and impossible with himself.
Seriously, I see no logical reason behind viruses, mosquitos, pin worms, tape worms, trichinosis, schistosomiasis or any of the other horrors that fill our world. You have to be a totally blind and unobservant dumb ass to believe any supreme being could be malevolent enough to afflict its creation in such manners. I remember as a small kid right after World War II actually crying over the fear of coming down with polio which was epidemic at the time. It hit several kids in our community and I can still see in my mind's eye pictures of those "iron lungs."
We got delivered from that scourge, not through any divine intervention but through the dedication of a great physician and scientist by the name of Jonas Salk. "God our healer," indeed. Herbert Armstrong didn't want people spending their money on doctors instead of giving it to him, so he condemned all medicine -- until he himself got old and decrepit. Then, doctors started looking pretty damn good to him.
So far, no need to go to the doctor. Over the counter stuff works enough magic at this point. But, when I had strep throat a couple years ago, those antibiotics did the trick. That was bacterial though.
So, like everybody else, I just have to suffer it through. It's part of the natural scheme of things and a part of evolution. Probably no real reason behind it. Viruses just happen and we either win over them or we suffer and die. I really don't think I have to worry about fatality. Misery? Ah, yes, plenty of that.
Pardon me while I blow that faucet in the middle of my face.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
SCOFFING IS SMART
"The last days!" I'm sure the first ancestor I know about, Thomas Dexter of Lynn, Massachusetts (c. 1630), was constantly bombarded with assurances that he was living in those last days.
I don't know who "Peter" was, but he pompously and know-it-all-like arrogantly wrote in II Peter 3:3-4: "...there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking in their own lusts ... saying Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."
Then, he goes on to label them ignorant! You can read the rest of the nonsense if you wish. I had enough of it thundered in my ears over twenty plus years by old Herb and his sychophant lackeys.
A lot of subsequent "fathers," including Thomas Dexter, have since fallen asleep, but that stupid put down is being parroted endlessly as if "Peter" wrote it yesterday. I'm soon going to "fall asleep" and that breathlessly awaited second coming is going to be no more real a possibility than it has been in the intervening two millenia!
It's never going to be real! It's never going to happen for Christians anymore than it happened for worshippers of Horus or Mithra who are two of the templates from which our Jesus the Christ was manufactured.
I don't know who "Peter" was, but he pompously and know-it-all-like arrogantly wrote in II Peter 3:3-4: "...there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking in their own lusts ... saying Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."
Then, he goes on to label them ignorant! You can read the rest of the nonsense if you wish. I had enough of it thundered in my ears over twenty plus years by old Herb and his sychophant lackeys.
A lot of subsequent "fathers," including Thomas Dexter, have since fallen asleep, but that stupid put down is being parroted endlessly as if "Peter" wrote it yesterday. I'm soon going to "fall asleep" and that breathlessly awaited second coming is going to be no more real a possibility than it has been in the intervening two millenia!
It's never going to be real! It's never going to happen for Christians anymore than it happened for worshippers of Horus or Mithra who are two of the templates from which our Jesus the Christ was manufactured.
CONTROL FREAKS
Why do people want everyone to fit the same mold? There's a drive to make everyone conform to what someone with power and influence considers normal and moral.
It's the driving force behind religion and to a lesser extent, politics. Recognizing this, our forefathers had the good sense to keep those two forces separated.
The control freaks have never given up trying to subvert that wise principle. Their natural enemies are thinking people who insist on being unique inividuals who are willing to say "No."
Home schooling parents are often hell bent on making sure their children are unthinking clones of their own opinionated selves parroting the same ignorance and cliches they have fallen for and mindlessly champion.
The power elite try to gain control of every propaganda device available, which we call "the press," to accomplish the same goal. True intellectual freedom hardly exists in today's society. If you dare to state a contrary opinion, the forces arrayed against you seek to drown it out in an avalanche of propaganda.
It worked in nazi Germany, and it's also working in modern-day america.
That's my thought for the early morning.
It's the driving force behind religion and to a lesser extent, politics. Recognizing this, our forefathers had the good sense to keep those two forces separated.
The control freaks have never given up trying to subvert that wise principle. Their natural enemies are thinking people who insist on being unique inividuals who are willing to say "No."
Home schooling parents are often hell bent on making sure their children are unthinking clones of their own opinionated selves parroting the same ignorance and cliches they have fallen for and mindlessly champion.
The power elite try to gain control of every propaganda device available, which we call "the press," to accomplish the same goal. True intellectual freedom hardly exists in today's society. If you dare to state a contrary opinion, the forces arrayed against you seek to drown it out in an avalanche of propaganda.
It worked in nazi Germany, and it's also working in modern-day america.
That's my thought for the early morning.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
SCOFFER AND PROUD OF IT!
My second best time for thinking is near the end of each day when I mull over the happenstances of the day and reflect on their meaning and/or lessons.
Earlier, I listened to a new year's Lawrence Welk broadcast from back in 1971 on PBS. That was a long time ago. I wasn't yet 40 and was still embroiled in the cult. My youngest daughter would come along the next year and my compatriots thought we were crazy to have a baby then as everyone still thought we would soon have to flee as the "tribulation" began in preparation for "the end" in 1975. We shared that nonsensical bit of prophetic garbage with the JWs.
I'd already concluded that nothing remotely like that could happen. I still held to the conviction that we were "god's chosen," but we'd gotten something wrong. Coming to my senses totally took a long, long time.
Here we are, over forty years later and there still is no resurrected roman empire "beast," no false prophet condemning the true followers of Jesus to torture and death. There are still deluded "experts" trying to make sense out of that enigmatic Book of Revelation that is the ravings of some lunatic in need of some powerful modern meds.
A lot has happened in the forty-plus intervening years. Nearly all the elderly people in that audience are long gone from the world scene. Those entertainers are somewhwere near my age now and many are gone.
Meanwhile, the pompous put down, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" from II Pet. 3:4 keeps getting sneeringly thrown in the faces of those who notice that is an accurate description of what are the actual facts.
Yeah, where is that carrot all those blowhards keep dangling in front of their unquestioning dupes as they plod along like dutiful dumb beasts of burden carrying those opulently taken care of "god's messengers."
If you doubt and demand proof, you're smart. Damn right! I'm a scoffer!
Earlier, I listened to a new year's Lawrence Welk broadcast from back in 1971 on PBS. That was a long time ago. I wasn't yet 40 and was still embroiled in the cult. My youngest daughter would come along the next year and my compatriots thought we were crazy to have a baby then as everyone still thought we would soon have to flee as the "tribulation" began in preparation for "the end" in 1975. We shared that nonsensical bit of prophetic garbage with the JWs.
I'd already concluded that nothing remotely like that could happen. I still held to the conviction that we were "god's chosen," but we'd gotten something wrong. Coming to my senses totally took a long, long time.
Here we are, over forty years later and there still is no resurrected roman empire "beast," no false prophet condemning the true followers of Jesus to torture and death. There are still deluded "experts" trying to make sense out of that enigmatic Book of Revelation that is the ravings of some lunatic in need of some powerful modern meds.
A lot has happened in the forty-plus intervening years. Nearly all the elderly people in that audience are long gone from the world scene. Those entertainers are somewhwere near my age now and many are gone.
Meanwhile, the pompous put down, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" from II Pet. 3:4 keeps getting sneeringly thrown in the faces of those who notice that is an accurate description of what are the actual facts.
Yeah, where is that carrot all those blowhards keep dangling in front of their unquestioning dupes as they plod along like dutiful dumb beasts of burden carrying those opulently taken care of "god's messengers."
If you doubt and demand proof, you're smart. Damn right! I'm a scoffer!
JUST THE FACTS, PLEASE!
(From Facebook.)
Early morning again, and of course, I'm thinking. I was reflecting on how historically ignorant the average person is and how that sets them up for all kinds of delusion and deception.
Take the matter of a savior. People are absolutely convinced that the story began about 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. Sorry, nowhere near close to the facts. I recently shared a comparison between Jesus and Horus, the egyptian god and savior. Everything the same! Virgin birth at the winter solstice rebirth of the sun, martydom, etc.
The same was true for Mythra, Apollo, Krishna, a whole host of deities. What we hear preached today is just a variant of what was preached in ancient Egypt, Babylon, India, you name it. It all harks back to astrological nonsense and has the same purpose: keep people feeling condemned and guilty and in need of deliverance so you can provide that deliverance through a formula that keeps you in control of their lives and, most importantly, their purses.
Roman emperors saw the necessity of amalgamating all those competing and confusion-generating systems into one imperial mythology they could enforce upon the masses. Through brute force, they prevailed and even though the system subsequently fragmented, it permeates the western world. To cast it off is practically unthinkable to the average person. Their whole identity is caught up in it. It is enforced through overwhelming societal pressure. Most don't even want to think about it.
It's time to go ahead and enjoy the seasonal partying while we openly acknowledge the ancient mythologies involved, sort of like our acknowleging Zeus and Thor. We need to cast aside those demeaning elements of guilt and need for salvation through a human sacrifice. It's time to openly teach the facts and get rid of all this subservience based on fictional guilt. Let's quit this toadlike prayerful posture of our faces down, our eyes closed, with our asses in the air while we talk to ourselves about our sinfulness and beg for forgiveness from a figment of our imagination.
We all make mistakes. We all hurt others some way, some time. No need for some fictional perfect godman sacrifice. We just need to acknowledge our failing, apologize and make whatever amends are possible and move on. It's called maturity and character. If we're decent individuals, there's no need for horrific threats of eternal punishment to keep us in line. Proper example and teaching when we're young will do the trick. I fall back on the character examples of my parents and other respected individuals every day.
Let's view mythology as historical fact, not some sacrosanct revelation of unchangeable truth!
Early morning again, and of course, I'm thinking. I was reflecting on how historically ignorant the average person is and how that sets them up for all kinds of delusion and deception.
Take the matter of a savior. People are absolutely convinced that the story began about 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. Sorry, nowhere near close to the facts. I recently shared a comparison between Jesus and Horus, the egyptian god and savior. Everything the same! Virgin birth at the winter solstice rebirth of the sun, martydom, etc.
The same was true for Mythra, Apollo, Krishna, a whole host of deities. What we hear preached today is just a variant of what was preached in ancient Egypt, Babylon, India, you name it. It all harks back to astrological nonsense and has the same purpose: keep people feeling condemned and guilty and in need of deliverance so you can provide that deliverance through a formula that keeps you in control of their lives and, most importantly, their purses.
Roman emperors saw the necessity of amalgamating all those competing and confusion-generating systems into one imperial mythology they could enforce upon the masses. Through brute force, they prevailed and even though the system subsequently fragmented, it permeates the western world. To cast it off is practically unthinkable to the average person. Their whole identity is caught up in it. It is enforced through overwhelming societal pressure. Most don't even want to think about it.
It's time to go ahead and enjoy the seasonal partying while we openly acknowledge the ancient mythologies involved, sort of like our acknowleging Zeus and Thor. We need to cast aside those demeaning elements of guilt and need for salvation through a human sacrifice. It's time to openly teach the facts and get rid of all this subservience based on fictional guilt. Let's quit this toadlike prayerful posture of our faces down, our eyes closed, with our asses in the air while we talk to ourselves about our sinfulness and beg for forgiveness from a figment of our imagination.
We all make mistakes. We all hurt others some way, some time. No need for some fictional perfect godman sacrifice. We just need to acknowledge our failing, apologize and make whatever amends are possible and move on. It's called maturity and character. If we're decent individuals, there's no need for horrific threats of eternal punishment to keep us in line. Proper example and teaching when we're young will do the trick. I fall back on the character examples of my parents and other respected individuals every day.
Let's view mythology as historical fact, not some sacrosanct revelation of unchangeable truth!
Friday, December 27, 2013
INFINITE VARIETY
Our guests are back home safely and we're back to a semblance of normal around here. Six dogs are a bit much, even though they're all lovable. Not a one of them has the same kind of personality, even though four of them are closely related poms. The mini pinscher is in a class all by himself and is fascinating.
I just love observing the variety in nature and ruminating about it. I could have been very happy as a scientific researcher of some sort. It would have kept my analytically-based mind very energized. Can't help but muse about what could have been under different circumstances.
Just heard through my sister of the demise of someone else I knew from the old cult. He died at age 84 from complications of melanoma which he battled for years. Like me, he rejected the old cult and religion itself, but his brother under whom I worked for many years fancies himself a representative of the god we both rejected and is the driving force behind another splinter group.
The diversity of personality, etc. applies to all species. It's fascinating when you just back off and observe as best you can. One of these days, people will be reflecting on how different (odd?) and unique I was. Out of the billions of homo sapiens that have lived on this planet, no two of us are carbon copies of anyone else. I see bits of my dad and my mother, as well as other relatives in myself, but I'm still just me. If you have illusions of changing me through any effort of yours, fugeddaboutit!
I just love observing the variety in nature and ruminating about it. I could have been very happy as a scientific researcher of some sort. It would have kept my analytically-based mind very energized. Can't help but muse about what could have been under different circumstances.
Just heard through my sister of the demise of someone else I knew from the old cult. He died at age 84 from complications of melanoma which he battled for years. Like me, he rejected the old cult and religion itself, but his brother under whom I worked for many years fancies himself a representative of the god we both rejected and is the driving force behind another splinter group.
The diversity of personality, etc. applies to all species. It's fascinating when you just back off and observe as best you can. One of these days, people will be reflecting on how different (odd?) and unique I was. Out of the billions of homo sapiens that have lived on this planet, no two of us are carbon copies of anyone else. I see bits of my dad and my mother, as well as other relatives in myself, but I'm still just me. If you have illusions of changing me through any effort of yours, fugeddaboutit!
Thursday, December 26, 2013
I DENOUNCE THE HYPOCRISY!
(From Facebook.)
I had the opportunity to sit a while and talk with my son-in-law, Gary Jannusch, this morning. We talked alot about the situation with his wife and Phyllis' Daughter, Lisa.
They're In a terrible situation where Lisa's condition is concerned. She's been handicapped since birth due to a stroke that occurred during a long and painful birth to a teen age mother who had only inept care in a substandard medical facility on an indian reservation.
She compenstated as best she could and worked for many years as a valuable employee of the State Water Department, but as her condition deteriorated, she encountered great oppostition in finally winning the fight for state and finally federal disability compensation. She also brought two children to successful adulthood and both are prosperous, productive memebers of society today.
Gary works for the USPS, so they do have health insurance, but it is far from really adequate for what they are facing. Lisa has a non-malignant skull tumor that has to removed soon and be replaced with a plate. But, it's locomotion that is the real problem. I was astonished to see how hard it was for her to negotiate the two small steps off our patio. She has one nearly useless leg and knee and her "good" knee is now so deteriorated that she needs an operation badly, but the doctors refuse because she can't manage the rehabilitation that would be required afterward.
She's trapped!
If she lived in one of the "socialist" nations many of our ancestors fled when they were still oppressive and largely religious and class controled monacrchies, she'd have had totally free medical intervention years ago along with all the free rehab needed.
The nations our ancestors left have progressed while we have stagnated and actually retrogressed. The Christian right puffs out its hypocritical chest and proclaims its superiority and righteousness while they denigrate and deny every principle that mostly if not totally fictional Galilean carpenter supposedly advocated.
Whatever you may want to think about me regarding my humanist and atheistic stance, at least, I don't think I qualify as a hypocrite. The Romneys, Kochs and their ilk certainly do!
I had the opportunity to sit a while and talk with my son-in-law, Gary Jannusch, this morning. We talked alot about the situation with his wife and Phyllis' Daughter, Lisa.
They're In a terrible situation where Lisa's condition is concerned. She's been handicapped since birth due to a stroke that occurred during a long and painful birth to a teen age mother who had only inept care in a substandard medical facility on an indian reservation.
She compenstated as best she could and worked for many years as a valuable employee of the State Water Department, but as her condition deteriorated, she encountered great oppostition in finally winning the fight for state and finally federal disability compensation. She also brought two children to successful adulthood and both are prosperous, productive memebers of society today.
Gary works for the USPS, so they do have health insurance, but it is far from really adequate for what they are facing. Lisa has a non-malignant skull tumor that has to removed soon and be replaced with a plate. But, it's locomotion that is the real problem. I was astonished to see how hard it was for her to negotiate the two small steps off our patio. She has one nearly useless leg and knee and her "good" knee is now so deteriorated that she needs an operation badly, but the doctors refuse because she can't manage the rehabilitation that would be required afterward.
She's trapped!
If she lived in one of the "socialist" nations many of our ancestors fled when they were still oppressive and largely religious and class controled monacrchies, she'd have had totally free medical intervention years ago along with all the free rehab needed.
The nations our ancestors left have progressed while we have stagnated and actually retrogressed. The Christian right puffs out its hypocritical chest and proclaims its superiority and righteousness while they denigrate and deny every principle that mostly if not totally fictional Galilean carpenter supposedly advocated.
Whatever you may want to think about me regarding my humanist and atheistic stance, at least, I don't think I qualify as a hypocrite. The Romneys, Kochs and their ilk certainly do!
FORGET STAR TREK
It's quiet. The sun is shining. Phyllis is still asleep while my daughter-in-law and I are at computers, and Gary is probably reading. I love the early morning. It's when I do some of my best thinking.
Thinking and being able to communicate what we're thinking is what sets us humans apart. Those six dogs running around here are certainly intelligent and they have the ability to play us like violins, but they can never approach our level of awareness and intellectual ability.
I really don't think we're going to find many comparable creatures in the vastness of outer space. Evolution is slow and haphazard and a great many things have to line up just right to eventually create a highly capable brain coupled with things like binocular vision, hands with opposable thumbs and a host of other things that make up a civilized human being.
Just the right things have to come along at just the right time and survive to produce what we call a human being. It's a crap shoot!
I personally expect to find all kinds of life in outer space. Where on an evolutionary scale we intersect with that life at any given time is another crap shoot. We humans were nowhere on the projected scale even ten million years ago. I know those scales of time and development are hard to wrap one's mind around, but they exist -- everywhere.
The universe is also an evolving factor. We're used to viewing everything from a homo centric point of view. That just doesn't apply to other stars and planetary systems that are on vastly different scales of time and develoment.
Klingons, Romulans and Kardassians, etc. are interesting fictional creations, but they're still rather unlikely as interstellor actualities.
Thinking and being able to communicate what we're thinking is what sets us humans apart. Those six dogs running around here are certainly intelligent and they have the ability to play us like violins, but they can never approach our level of awareness and intellectual ability.
I really don't think we're going to find many comparable creatures in the vastness of outer space. Evolution is slow and haphazard and a great many things have to line up just right to eventually create a highly capable brain coupled with things like binocular vision, hands with opposable thumbs and a host of other things that make up a civilized human being.
Just the right things have to come along at just the right time and survive to produce what we call a human being. It's a crap shoot!
I personally expect to find all kinds of life in outer space. Where on an evolutionary scale we intersect with that life at any given time is another crap shoot. We humans were nowhere on the projected scale even ten million years ago. I know those scales of time and development are hard to wrap one's mind around, but they exist -- everywhere.
The universe is also an evolving factor. We're used to viewing everything from a homo centric point of view. That just doesn't apply to other stars and planetary systems that are on vastly different scales of time and develoment.
Klingons, Romulans and Kardassians, etc. are interesting fictional creations, but they're still rather unlikely as interstellor actualities.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE
Another annual milestone is just about history and it will soon be 2014. I remember when just getting into this century seemed so far away and all the angst and paranoia about that arbitrary time. People are always attaching some horrible significance to calendar dates. I'm sure the same thing will happen in 2100, but I won't be around to witness it.
And, yes, I'm sure there will still be fanatics claiming Jesus is about to return. Hopefully, they'll be a much smaller minority by that time. I'd like to think superstition is going to decrease and mythology is going to be replaced by reason, true history and science.
I wonder how long we're going to have to deal with "talibans" -- muslim, christian or whatever. The tea party is nothing other than a christian taliban every bit as deluded, ruthless and potentially violent as their middle eastern counterparts. The spirit of the inquisition has never disappeared anymore than the taliban-like southern spirit and goals of the civil war.
I sympathize with the people of Syria, but they were much better off with Assad than they will be if Al Queda manages to take control. They would make Assad look benign by comparison. We're fools to think we can impose western-style democracy in any of those nations.
We can't even shake the stupidities of religion in our own nation. How can we even dream of reforming even more regimented and controled societies? They see through the stupidities and nonsense of christianity just as easily as we see through the same situation in islam. Nobody is willing to admit that their holy book and the faith and power system that is built around it is a mythological sham.
Oh, the imams and ayatollahs can wax just as eloquent as the pope and the mormon bishops, etc. about benign sounding platitudes, but the fact of the matter is that they all sit as potentates of a power structure that keeps millions of people mentally, emotionally, financially and physically enslaved.
I escaped from such a system. I know how thoroughly it warps the minds of its adherents. I was literally insane for a number of years while being convinced that I was one of the chosen elect of god. The whole thing is evil. We have to keep chipping away at it. Maybe we can make the turn of the next century something far different from 2000.
And, yes, I'm sure there will still be fanatics claiming Jesus is about to return. Hopefully, they'll be a much smaller minority by that time. I'd like to think superstition is going to decrease and mythology is going to be replaced by reason, true history and science.
I wonder how long we're going to have to deal with "talibans" -- muslim, christian or whatever. The tea party is nothing other than a christian taliban every bit as deluded, ruthless and potentially violent as their middle eastern counterparts. The spirit of the inquisition has never disappeared anymore than the taliban-like southern spirit and goals of the civil war.
I sympathize with the people of Syria, but they were much better off with Assad than they will be if Al Queda manages to take control. They would make Assad look benign by comparison. We're fools to think we can impose western-style democracy in any of those nations.
We can't even shake the stupidities of religion in our own nation. How can we even dream of reforming even more regimented and controled societies? They see through the stupidities and nonsense of christianity just as easily as we see through the same situation in islam. Nobody is willing to admit that their holy book and the faith and power system that is built around it is a mythological sham.
Oh, the imams and ayatollahs can wax just as eloquent as the pope and the mormon bishops, etc. about benign sounding platitudes, but the fact of the matter is that they all sit as potentates of a power structure that keeps millions of people mentally, emotionally, financially and physically enslaved.
I escaped from such a system. I know how thoroughly it warps the minds of its adherents. I was literally insane for a number of years while being convinced that I was one of the chosen elect of god. The whole thing is evil. We have to keep chipping away at it. Maybe we can make the turn of the next century something far different from 2000.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
THE ACTIVIST PERSONA
(From Facebook.)
I'm up and at it and feel pretty good. I've updated my Craig's List ads and cruised though Facebook, sharing those things that particularly struck me as shareable.
I can't live without a cause. I'm just that kind of guy. Just living day to day aimlessly bores and frustrates me to death. It would be worse than death to me. The last couple of years that I have been into blogging and Facebooking are the most fulfilling years of my life. Writing my autobiography helped, but once it was finished, it was back to observing and inwardly grumbling.
I've always cared, but until recently, there was no outlet for my caring. Now, I can say what I'm thinking and feel that it is helping in the overall scheme of things just a little bit. If I can make just one other person care or feel a bit better, that's rewarding. Just a thoughtful comment could help someone over a rough spot and help them not to give up.
I'm still breathing. I'm still observing and thinking. Though diminished in overall strength and energy, I can still do something, and for that, I am grateful.
I'm up and at it and feel pretty good. I've updated my Craig's List ads and cruised though Facebook, sharing those things that particularly struck me as shareable.
I can't live without a cause. I'm just that kind of guy. Just living day to day aimlessly bores and frustrates me to death. It would be worse than death to me. The last couple of years that I have been into blogging and Facebooking are the most fulfilling years of my life. Writing my autobiography helped, but once it was finished, it was back to observing and inwardly grumbling.
I've always cared, but until recently, there was no outlet for my caring. Now, I can say what I'm thinking and feel that it is helping in the overall scheme of things just a little bit. If I can make just one other person care or feel a bit better, that's rewarding. Just a thoughtful comment could help someone over a rough spot and help them not to give up.
I'm still breathing. I'm still observing and thinking. Though diminished in overall strength and energy, I can still do something, and for that, I am grateful.
Monday, December 23, 2013
HAPPY AND MERRY WHATEVER!
I wish all my friends and relatives a joyous holiday time, however they choose to view it. I'm elated that my step-granddaughter, Holly, has her daughter with her. I don't know the details behind the separation, but I'm happy that she's in a happier situation now. I know everyone is struggling against something. That's just the reality of life from the lowliest amoeba right up the chain of life to us.
We're the only creatures with the capacity to change our circumstances meaningfully and not just accept and deal with the best we can whatever we may find in the environment. I just wish more care and concern were directed toward our responsibilities to that environment and less to the profit at any cost motive.
I could get very discouraged at what I see in the world, but I choose instead to view it as just another cycle that will pass, hopefully without our blowing ourselves out of existence.
This rock we live on will go on for millions of years regardless of how we humans sort things out. I just hope we don't so ruin it that our own existence becomes impossible.
We've all found ourselves in another day to use as best we can and hopefully many more days to come. Enjoy it one and all. Make the most of it.
We're the only creatures with the capacity to change our circumstances meaningfully and not just accept and deal with the best we can whatever we may find in the environment. I just wish more care and concern were directed toward our responsibilities to that environment and less to the profit at any cost motive.
I could get very discouraged at what I see in the world, but I choose instead to view it as just another cycle that will pass, hopefully without our blowing ourselves out of existence.
This rock we live on will go on for millions of years regardless of how we humans sort things out. I just hope we don't so ruin it that our own existence becomes impossible.
We've all found ourselves in another day to use as best we can and hopefully many more days to come. Enjoy it one and all. Make the most of it.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
ENOUGH WITH THE SURVEILLANCE, ALREADY!
What's with all this desire to monitor everything people do? I'm not too concerned about the NSA. If they want to be bored out of their skulls, they can achieve it just by monitoring me.
There's a letter on my desk from State Farm offering the carrot of rate reduction if I just put a spy device in my car so they can sit in judgment of my driving habits. I'm not going to bite that hook! Go chuck that pretty looking worm where the sun doesn't shine!
For example, when I'm driving long distance and the road is not congested, I usually go five to ten mles over the speed limit because I know the Highway Patrol usually allows that under safe conditions. For awhile, the GPS we have in Phyllis' car would chime in wth an annoying "warning" reminder everytime I did that. I think it drove people nuts and it seems to have stopped doing that. Made me want to shout, "Shut up, already!"
We've become such a crime riddled society, that some camera is recording your every move just about everywhere you go. It solves alot of criminal cases, but I just don't like the feeling of being watched. Since nearly everything I do is benign, I don't worry too much about it. But, living in a surveillance world just doesn't appeal to me.
After all, I did read Orwell's 1984!
There's a letter on my desk from State Farm offering the carrot of rate reduction if I just put a spy device in my car so they can sit in judgment of my driving habits. I'm not going to bite that hook! Go chuck that pretty looking worm where the sun doesn't shine!
For example, when I'm driving long distance and the road is not congested, I usually go five to ten mles over the speed limit because I know the Highway Patrol usually allows that under safe conditions. For awhile, the GPS we have in Phyllis' car would chime in wth an annoying "warning" reminder everytime I did that. I think it drove people nuts and it seems to have stopped doing that. Made me want to shout, "Shut up, already!"
We've become such a crime riddled society, that some camera is recording your every move just about everywhere you go. It solves alot of criminal cases, but I just don't like the feeling of being watched. Since nearly everything I do is benign, I don't worry too much about it. But, living in a surveillance world just doesn't appeal to me.
After all, I did read Orwell's 1984!
SACRED TERRITORY
(From Facebook.)
It's the wee hours of the morning and I find I have to again resort to this keyboard over a realization brought forcefully to mind by something I saw on TV just after going to bed. It triggered a realization that happening upon Facebook allowed me to resume something that really began early in my life but was interupted.
I really began what I'm now doing early in my life, in my early teens. I started writing down in a small notebook every day my thoughts and experiences. It was a journal or diary and something I almost instinctively began doing. That didn't last long for a very good reason.
My dad started reading and enjoying what I was writing!
I did not intend or want my private thoughts broadcast to all and sundry, so I immediately quit writing in that little book and never resumed until I wrote my abreviated autobiography in the mid-nineties. How much more extensive that work could have been had I had all those years of private thoughts and experiences to resort to.
Dad had no malicious intent. Nevertheless, when he took the liberty to peruse my most intimate thoughts and feelings, he ventured into sacred territory he would have done much better to stay away from. He stopped my instinctual need to write down and analyze what I was thinking and experiencing for decades!
Now, I feel safe to put on here whatever comes to my mind. It really matters not a bit to me what anyone might think. Really, there isn't much that goes on in my mind or life that I'd have to hesitate to share with anyone these days.
Not so to a sensitive teenager who's going through one of the most turbulent stages of life where they're struggling to find their way in a confusing world of new feelings, experiences and a great deal of emotional turmoil. So, if you have the temptation to invade some young person's privacy for your own curiosity or entertainment, don't do it! That's sacred territory you're invading!
Concentrate instead on being the kind of non-judgmental and totally accessible mentor that person will have no fear of confiding in. I know that's a tall order, but try anyway.
And, MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!
It's the wee hours of the morning and I find I have to again resort to this keyboard over a realization brought forcefully to mind by something I saw on TV just after going to bed. It triggered a realization that happening upon Facebook allowed me to resume something that really began early in my life but was interupted.
I really began what I'm now doing early in my life, in my early teens. I started writing down in a small notebook every day my thoughts and experiences. It was a journal or diary and something I almost instinctively began doing. That didn't last long for a very good reason.
My dad started reading and enjoying what I was writing!
I did not intend or want my private thoughts broadcast to all and sundry, so I immediately quit writing in that little book and never resumed until I wrote my abreviated autobiography in the mid-nineties. How much more extensive that work could have been had I had all those years of private thoughts and experiences to resort to.
Dad had no malicious intent. Nevertheless, when he took the liberty to peruse my most intimate thoughts and feelings, he ventured into sacred territory he would have done much better to stay away from. He stopped my instinctual need to write down and analyze what I was thinking and experiencing for decades!
Now, I feel safe to put on here whatever comes to my mind. It really matters not a bit to me what anyone might think. Really, there isn't much that goes on in my mind or life that I'd have to hesitate to share with anyone these days.
Not so to a sensitive teenager who's going through one of the most turbulent stages of life where they're struggling to find their way in a confusing world of new feelings, experiences and a great deal of emotional turmoil. So, if you have the temptation to invade some young person's privacy for your own curiosity or entertainment, don't do it! That's sacred territory you're invading!
Concentrate instead on being the kind of non-judgmental and totally accessible mentor that person will have no fear of confiding in. I know that's a tall order, but try anyway.
And, MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!
Monday, December 16, 2013
WHAT IF YOU'RE WRONG?
"What if you're wrong?" That's the query believers like to fling at unbelievers like me. It's calculated to engender fear and a feeling of not belonging.
It's a really good question to contemplate -- by the questioner him or herself.
I like to respond with a counter question, like, "do you believe in Allah?" "No," they say indignantly. To which I reply, "Millions do. What if you're wrong?"
Same approach to taoism, hinduism, scientology, mormonism, you name it. It doesn't take any genius to conclude all those fanatically defended faiths and gods can't be real, anymore than Zeus and Thor were real. The names, the mythologies, the trappings differ in details, but the basic mental approach is pretty much the same -- belief in an all-powerful entity with astounding power and transcendence.
So, don't bother trying to scare me with that question. I know too much history and too many facts to fall for it. The days when I could be put on the defensive by such tactics are long gone. I'm no longer a quivering, tongue-tied denizen of fear and insecurity.
It's a really good question to contemplate -- by the questioner him or herself.
I like to respond with a counter question, like, "do you believe in Allah?" "No," they say indignantly. To which I reply, "Millions do. What if you're wrong?"
Same approach to taoism, hinduism, scientology, mormonism, you name it. It doesn't take any genius to conclude all those fanatically defended faiths and gods can't be real, anymore than Zeus and Thor were real. The names, the mythologies, the trappings differ in details, but the basic mental approach is pretty much the same -- belief in an all-powerful entity with astounding power and transcendence.
So, don't bother trying to scare me with that question. I know too much history and too many facts to fall for it. The days when I could be put on the defensive by such tactics are long gone. I'm no longer a quivering, tongue-tied denizen of fear and insecurity.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
RIPP[ED OFF AGAIN!
Marketing! What a deceitful crock of you know what!
I decided to clean up Phyllis's car this afternoon, so I went down to the do-it-yourself carwash at the corner and thoroughly vacuumed it, then gave it a wash. Near the end of the wash, I switced it to "wax" and got a film of clear coat. Looked great!
Months ago, Phyllis got hooked by a product that was supposed to magically restore your car's finish, so she ordered it. I'd been waiting for the temps to get just right and the "spirit" to move me to apply it.
Today was the day. Temps about 60 and me energetic. I started applying to that sparkling clean finish. It took me about 2 seconds to realize that all I was doing was applying a thick coat of clear coat that we could have gotten for a fraction of the cost at any parts store or in the auto section of WalMart.
It's so easy to fall victim to these "carnival barker" salesmen and women. They have this excited tone that gets you going like a holy roller preacher at a camp meeting. It's really the same kind of emotional game, and I have to really watch it even as knowledgeable as I am.
Oh well. There's enough in those two bottles for about three more applications, and you can rest assured that I'm going to use up that liquid gold product.
I decided to clean up Phyllis's car this afternoon, so I went down to the do-it-yourself carwash at the corner and thoroughly vacuumed it, then gave it a wash. Near the end of the wash, I switced it to "wax" and got a film of clear coat. Looked great!
Months ago, Phyllis got hooked by a product that was supposed to magically restore your car's finish, so she ordered it. I'd been waiting for the temps to get just right and the "spirit" to move me to apply it.
Today was the day. Temps about 60 and me energetic. I started applying to that sparkling clean finish. It took me about 2 seconds to realize that all I was doing was applying a thick coat of clear coat that we could have gotten for a fraction of the cost at any parts store or in the auto section of WalMart.
It's so easy to fall victim to these "carnival barker" salesmen and women. They have this excited tone that gets you going like a holy roller preacher at a camp meeting. It's really the same kind of emotional game, and I have to really watch it even as knowledgeable as I am.
Oh well. There's enough in those two bottles for about three more applications, and you can rest assured that I'm going to use up that liquid gold product.
THE CIVIL WAR STILL RAGES
(From Facebook.)
I'm going to get away from this computer and out in the fresh air, but before I do, I want to develop a thought I tossed out earlier.
That thought is that we are afflicted in this nation with a Civil War that has never really ceased. The same attitude that kept slavery entrenched in the old south even after the war was over now permeates the tea party. Those people hate our Union. They hate the fact that they are being slightly thwarted in their attitude of white supremacy and the class rights of the wealthy over the peons.
The real burr under their saddles is the fact that a "nigger" now sits in the White House. They hate the fact that the constitution forbids their imposition of their ignorance-based religion on all and sundry. They yearn for a return to the "stability" of a property owners dictatorship over the entire population of ordinary and inferior people.
They want unlimited ownership of any type of firearm for the same reason slave owners insisted on the second amendment, so they can threaten and keep in line anyone who objects to their plutocracy. It keeps them in a position of intimidation.
I guess that's enough said. I think you get my point.
I'm going to get away from this computer and out in the fresh air, but before I do, I want to develop a thought I tossed out earlier.
That thought is that we are afflicted in this nation with a Civil War that has never really ceased. The same attitude that kept slavery entrenched in the old south even after the war was over now permeates the tea party. Those people hate our Union. They hate the fact that they are being slightly thwarted in their attitude of white supremacy and the class rights of the wealthy over the peons.
The real burr under their saddles is the fact that a "nigger" now sits in the White House. They hate the fact that the constitution forbids their imposition of their ignorance-based religion on all and sundry. They yearn for a return to the "stability" of a property owners dictatorship over the entire population of ordinary and inferior people.
They want unlimited ownership of any type of firearm for the same reason slave owners insisted on the second amendment, so they can threaten and keep in line anyone who objects to their plutocracy. It keeps them in a position of intimidation.
I guess that's enough said. I think you get my point.
Friday, December 13, 2013
GOOD AND BAD NEWS
(From Facebook.)
Up early again to get the poms to the groomers. They came out looking so gloriously beautiful!
Then, off to Sedona where our free thought group was holding a Christless solstice-season party at a members home along beautiful Oak Creek. The usual steady attendees who are either retired or self-employed. It had to be on a Friday as that was our acting president's free day and that did decrease the attendance a bit. Even so, there were a couple new faces.
Our next major community event will be on February 15 when we are sponsoring Seth Andrews, host of "The Thinking Atheist," at Agave of Sedona. The advertised title will be, "Confessions of a Bible Belt Atheist."
Seth was a 30-year Christian and professional religious broadcaster who walked away and founded one of the most popular online atheist communities extant. We're inviting everybody we can, including church pastors and their congregations. It should be interesting. His book, Deconverted, will be on sale after the event.
It's slow go, but we're making progress, and I find that very exciting.
On a personal note, a second blood pressure check this week showed my pressure down a bit after cutting salt drastically but still too high, so on the way home from Sedona, I stopped to pick up prescriptions for lisinopril and amlodipine that had been phoned into our local pharmacy. I hate it, but if my doctor tells me I need it, I'd be a fool not to bow to his expertise.
It's been a long run of near perfect health, and I'm thankful for that. Thanks to those horrible scientists that get denounced by so many religious nuts as satan-deceived fools, I don't have to just wait for the inevitable stroke that would either kill or incapacitate me in unpleasant ways. I'm stuborn, but a fool I am not!
Up early again to get the poms to the groomers. They came out looking so gloriously beautiful!
Then, off to Sedona where our free thought group was holding a Christless solstice-season party at a members home along beautiful Oak Creek. The usual steady attendees who are either retired or self-employed. It had to be on a Friday as that was our acting president's free day and that did decrease the attendance a bit. Even so, there were a couple new faces.
Our next major community event will be on February 15 when we are sponsoring Seth Andrews, host of "The Thinking Atheist," at Agave of Sedona. The advertised title will be, "Confessions of a Bible Belt Atheist."
Seth was a 30-year Christian and professional religious broadcaster who walked away and founded one of the most popular online atheist communities extant. We're inviting everybody we can, including church pastors and their congregations. It should be interesting. His book, Deconverted, will be on sale after the event.
It's slow go, but we're making progress, and I find that very exciting.
On a personal note, a second blood pressure check this week showed my pressure down a bit after cutting salt drastically but still too high, so on the way home from Sedona, I stopped to pick up prescriptions for lisinopril and amlodipine that had been phoned into our local pharmacy. I hate it, but if my doctor tells me I need it, I'd be a fool not to bow to his expertise.
It's been a long run of near perfect health, and I'm thankful for that. Thanks to those horrible scientists that get denounced by so many religious nuts as satan-deceived fools, I don't have to just wait for the inevitable stroke that would either kill or incapacitate me in unpleasant ways. I'm stuborn, but a fool I am not!
Thursday, December 12, 2013
NOT WASHED UP YET!
(From Facebook.)
I'm glad Time Magazine chose the Pope as its man of the year. He reminds me of Nelson Mandela in many ways by not being afraid to speak out on things he knows will enrage a lot of people, even some powerful entities in his own organization.
Forget the theology for a moment. Truth is truth, and I rejoice when I hear it or see it in print. So, he is still hung up on much that I now regard as superstitious nonsense. It wasn't that long ago that I was also. My path to humanist atheism was a long and meandering trek though idealogical swamps and deserts. I didn't wake up some morning with some great revelation that magically came to me during the night.
Enough on that subject. I'm also glad I woke up to the fact that I was giving in too easily to the "old wornout man syndrome." That job I did woke me up. Then, I called my son today to see how he was doing. He was in the middle of a carpet job and has the rest of the week booked up. I mentioned to him that I was going to keep on taking on jobs I can handle. He told me that he recently bumped into someone at the supply store who advertises for carpet jobs around Prescott. The guy is not very big and is 83 years old! Like me, he takes his time and does what he can each day.
Makes me feel kinda wimpy for contemplating quitting all together. I'm not fuel for the crematorium yet!
I'm glad Time Magazine chose the Pope as its man of the year. He reminds me of Nelson Mandela in many ways by not being afraid to speak out on things he knows will enrage a lot of people, even some powerful entities in his own organization.
Forget the theology for a moment. Truth is truth, and I rejoice when I hear it or see it in print. So, he is still hung up on much that I now regard as superstitious nonsense. It wasn't that long ago that I was also. My path to humanist atheism was a long and meandering trek though idealogical swamps and deserts. I didn't wake up some morning with some great revelation that magically came to me during the night.
Enough on that subject. I'm also glad I woke up to the fact that I was giving in too easily to the "old wornout man syndrome." That job I did woke me up. Then, I called my son today to see how he was doing. He was in the middle of a carpet job and has the rest of the week booked up. I mentioned to him that I was going to keep on taking on jobs I can handle. He told me that he recently bumped into someone at the supply store who advertises for carpet jobs around Prescott. The guy is not very big and is 83 years old! Like me, he takes his time and does what he can each day.
Makes me feel kinda wimpy for contemplating quitting all together. I'm not fuel for the crematorium yet!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
STILL LEARNING
Thanks to an email offering to get me set up for Adsense, I came across a plethora of past comments that were never posted. I went through and posted all but one of them which was in foreign gibberish I couldn't begin to fathom.
One of these days, I'm going to find out how to get comments posted without moderation. I know a bad one will come through once in awhile, but I can always delete it when I notice it. I don't want to have to Ok every comment.
Still learning how to navigate this blogging world. I don't think I'm dumb, but there are some aspects which boggle my mind once in awhile.
Still have to look into that Adsense stuff. It isn't as simple as it's cracked up to be.
One of these days, I'm going to find out how to get comments posted without moderation. I know a bad one will come through once in awhile, but I can always delete it when I notice it. I don't want to have to Ok every comment.
Still learning how to navigate this blogging world. I don't think I'm dumb, but there are some aspects which boggle my mind once in awhile.
Still have to look into that Adsense stuff. It isn't as simple as it's cracked up to be.
A GREAT EIGHTEEN YEARS!
Eighteen years ago tonight, I did one of the smartest things I have done in my entire life by wedding my sweet, intelligent, brattty little soul mate, Phyllis. It was an inexpensive event at a square dance and officiated by a retired minister who was a member of the club.
Phyllis looked great in her pink dress, and I guess I looked OK in my matching pink western shirt made pink through the magic of Rit Dye. Square dancers are famous for flamboyant outfits, but we could not find a pink man's shirt in any shop.
When I say that the past eighteen years of my life have been the best, I'm not exagerating. I love my little "brat" and wouldn't change her a bit. She has a red T-shirt with a picture of Rudolph on it and the caption, "naughty but cute enough to get away with it." That's her! She offered to get one like it for her daughter, but she demured, saying, "Mom, that's you, not me." She's right!
I feel pretty good tonight and consider myself one of the luckiest men I know. I finished a job today many men much younger than I wouldn't have looked at even once. Made me feel very good, and I went down to the Ad King office and arranged for my services ad to resume next week. Gene said years ago that I was going to keep working until I dropped. Maybe he was right. But, what a way to go!
Phyllis looked great in her pink dress, and I guess I looked OK in my matching pink western shirt made pink through the magic of Rit Dye. Square dancers are famous for flamboyant outfits, but we could not find a pink man's shirt in any shop.
When I say that the past eighteen years of my life have been the best, I'm not exagerating. I love my little "brat" and wouldn't change her a bit. She has a red T-shirt with a picture of Rudolph on it and the caption, "naughty but cute enough to get away with it." That's her! She offered to get one like it for her daughter, but she demured, saying, "Mom, that's you, not me." She's right!
I feel pretty good tonight and consider myself one of the luckiest men I know. I finished a job today many men much younger than I wouldn't have looked at even once. Made me feel very good, and I went down to the Ad King office and arranged for my services ad to resume next week. Gene said years ago that I was going to keep working until I dropped. Maybe he was right. But, what a way to go!
Monday, December 2, 2013
THE VIRTUAL COMMUNITY
(From Facebook.)
It's bedtime, but I have that urge to write. Funny how that urge seems so powerful. I think it's basically the same thing that drives people to text so much. Phyllis doesn't text, but her day wouldn't be complete if she didn't talk to her daughter by phone at least once. I call others less frequently. but this keyboard beckons me at all hours of the day and night.
We've gathered in villages and settlements throughout human history largely because there's a drive in us to be around and communicate with friends and family. It also provides allies and helpers in a dangerous world.
We're not the only creatures with that pack mentality. Our dogs revel in being with us and communicating by being petted, etc. Sit down near Jubilation and he's beside you immediately, gently but insistently reaching out a tiny paw to request attention. It's not easy to resist that.
We're all different in the ways we feed that need to communicate and socialize, but it's there in all normal, healthy individuals. It's easy to get short tempered and judgmental about how others fulfill that urge. It can also lead to danger if we do things like texting and phoning while driving. I try to avoid calling while driving and often let an incoming call go to message so I can pull over where it's safe to do so, retrieve the message and proceed however I choose from there. Many of them are commercial and unwanted calls anyway.
I appreciate all the communication tools available now, and I'm especially appreciative of the internet and social media. The past year that I've gotten more thoroughly involved in it has been perhaps the most fulfilling year of my life so far.
Ok, now off to bed. Love you all. Glad you're part of my virtual community.
It's bedtime, but I have that urge to write. Funny how that urge seems so powerful. I think it's basically the same thing that drives people to text so much. Phyllis doesn't text, but her day wouldn't be complete if she didn't talk to her daughter by phone at least once. I call others less frequently. but this keyboard beckons me at all hours of the day and night.
We've gathered in villages and settlements throughout human history largely because there's a drive in us to be around and communicate with friends and family. It also provides allies and helpers in a dangerous world.
We're not the only creatures with that pack mentality. Our dogs revel in being with us and communicating by being petted, etc. Sit down near Jubilation and he's beside you immediately, gently but insistently reaching out a tiny paw to request attention. It's not easy to resist that.
We're all different in the ways we feed that need to communicate and socialize, but it's there in all normal, healthy individuals. It's easy to get short tempered and judgmental about how others fulfill that urge. It can also lead to danger if we do things like texting and phoning while driving. I try to avoid calling while driving and often let an incoming call go to message so I can pull over where it's safe to do so, retrieve the message and proceed however I choose from there. Many of them are commercial and unwanted calls anyway.
I appreciate all the communication tools available now, and I'm especially appreciative of the internet and social media. The past year that I've gotten more thoroughly involved in it has been perhaps the most fulfilling year of my life so far.
Ok, now off to bed. Love you all. Glad you're part of my virtual community.
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